From Robinson Crusoe

Chapter 115 Anniversary Feast - Happy New Year to Everyone!
While waiting for the fish to marinate, Chen Zhou adjusted the fire in the stove and cut four wooden skewers - the fish was too big and he was afraid that one skewer would not be able to support the fish.

According to the common practice of grilled fish in restaurants, the fish and side dishes are divided into two parts.

Side dishes usually need to be stir-fried with seasonings such as peppercorns, aniseed, chili peppers, onions, ginger, garlic, bean paste and carrots, and then poured directly on the fish after the fish is roasted and served on a plate.

But Chen Zhou didn't have these seasonings, and he was not going to waste more precious garlic to make side dishes.

High-end ingredients often only require the simplest cooking methods.

Pure wild sea fish will taste good even without seasoning - Chen Zhou comforted himself.

……

The wood in the stove burned fully, the smoke gradually became less and less, and the stove turned into a bright red and yellow color.

Put the seal oil aside, grab the wooden skewer with the fish on it and bring it to the fire, and use a brush to lightly brush the oil on the fish that has been marinated in soy sauce until it is yellowish brown.

Tongues of fire licked the wounds where the fish scales had been scraped off.

The fish meat soaked in salt and soy sauce slowly matures, exuding a pleasant aroma.

This was not the first time that Chen Zhou had grilled food, and he had a precise grasp of the temperature. He stared intently at the fish, observing the gradually "blooming" fish meat and the cracked knife wounds.

……

On the other side, the little eldest picked up a piece of shrimp shell that Chen Zhou had peeled, put it in his mouth, and looked at his younger brothers and sisters carefully. Seeing that they didn't seem to pay attention, he tiptoed to the bedroom, trying to eat it alone.

Unexpectedly, Little Huihui had already set his eyes on the shrimp shell. Without warning, he rushed forward, stretched out his chubby claws and snatched away Little Boss's spoils.

Meow!
With a babyish protest, the little boss hurried to snatch the shrimp shell from his unreliable father.

However, its waist was not as thick as Xiao Huihui's arm, so how could it snatch the shrimp shell? It could only watch Xiao Huihui stuff the shrimp shell into his mouth, and the sound of chewing quickly disappeared.

Meow~
The angry Little Boss stretched out his paws to hold Little Gray's front legs, and put his head close to its mouth.

Little Huihui totally disregarded the feelings of his "darling girl". He stared with his big round eyes at the shrimp shells picked up by the second and third little girls. He was about to snatch them away but was punished by Tizi.

The kitchen became lively with the scramble of two big cats and three kittens. Lai Fu was not to be outdone. He quietly walked to the table where the fried prawns were placed, tilted his big head, and used his nose to push the covering plate, trying to lift the plate off the prawns to eat the delicacies inside.

Chen Zhou was grilling fish nearby. Seeing that the behavior of these clowns was becoming more and more outrageous, he quickly slapped Lai Fu on the head and rescued Xiao Huihui who was being bullied by Ti Zi. The three little guys were also scolded.

Following the principle of giving a sweet date after a slap, Chen Zhou reluctantly lifted the plate, grabbed a few shrimps, and distributed the eight shrimps according to the distribution method: three for the big dog, one for the greedy ghost, two for the pregnant woman, and two for the little guys in total.

How could a mere shrimp satisfy Xiao Huihui? It ate it all in less than five seconds. It still raised its furry head and stared at Chen Zhou's oily hands, its eyes full of desire.

After watching quietly for a while and realizing that his owner didn't understand his thoughts, Little Gray bravely jumped onto the table and tentatively stretched out his fat paws to reach the shrimps on the plate.

Chen Zhou was not satisfied with the shrimps to begin with, and wanted to keep them all for himself. He felt bad about giving away eight of them.

Seeing that Xiao Huihui's behavior was becoming more and more excessive, they simply watched from the sidelines and waited for it to make a mistake. This kind of indulgence gave Xiao Huihui greater courage, and its claws stretched further and further, without any thought that this was a "fishing enforcement."

Just as it was about to reach into the plate, Chen Zhou slapped it hard, flattening the fat on Xiao Huihui's face.

Meow!
I don't know if it was because of pain or shock, but Xiao Huihui jumped off the table with extraordinary agility and rushed to the junction of the kitchen and the bedroom. He squatted on the ground and cried out in grievance, as if he was loudly accusing -

"Why are you still protecting your food?"

……

I have known Xiao Huihui for a long time and I know that it is not hurt at all. Its attitude is just an attempt to blackmail me and ask for medical expenses.

The more times like this happen, the more you should ignore it. The more you pay attention to it, the more violent it will become.

Just like a child, when playing by himself, it’s okay if he gets bumped into something, but once someone tries to comfort him, his grievance will increase tenfold, and he will cry loudly.

Ignoring Xiao Huihui's intense reaction, Chen Zhou continued to grill his fish, covering it with fried prawns.

The meat of this fish is relatively thick, and it is not easy to roast even after removing the scales.

Instead, the abalone and scallops in the big iron kettle were cooked and their fragrance drifted out along with the fishy smell. The hard shells rolled in the water and hit the inner wall of the iron kettle, making a banging sound.

……

Enduring the harassment of cats and dogs, Chen Zhou finally grilled two fishes and went to fish for clams with great anticipation, when he finally discovered the problem -

The shellfish floating on the surface had their shells opened, and you couldn't see the shellfish meat from the outside, but they were still relatively clean.

The further you scoop, the more small grains of sand there are in the spoon. Wait until the boiling water in the pot calms down and look inside through the narrow mouth of the pot.

Hey! How can you eat this?
The round bottom of the iron kettle is surrounded by a circle of small sand like a mountain range. If it is stirred a little, a layer of translucent sand will fly up. It is hard to imagine whether the cooked shellfish inside is still edible.

With a sigh and a moment of thought, Chen Zhou figured out the problem.

I learned my lesson secretly, and decided that next time I cook shellfish, I must wash and clean them thoroughly in advance and scrape off all the sand and gravel on them to avoid this problem again.

Keeping this in mind, he fished out the cooked shellfish from the pot, then poured out the fishy-smelling water and washed away the fine sand in the iron pot.

These shells have been tested to be non-toxic, so even if they are a bit disgusting, they cannot be thrown away. Looking at the cats and dogs who are eagerly waiting for the food, Chen Zhou can only do some "coolie" for them, using a knife to pry open the shells and dig out the shell meat inside for them to eat.

But before that, he still has to complete the last step of grilling the fish - pouring mashed garlic.

Since "garlic freedom" has not yet been achieved, the amount of garlic paste Chen Zhou can use is very limited, so he must use the garlic on the "cutting edge".

Use a small spoon to pick up the chopped and crushed garlic, and spread it little by little on the cracked openings on the fish. Then use chopsticks to break the fish meat into pieces and put it into your mouth to savor it carefully.

Although I don't know the species of this sea fish, and I have never even eaten several kinds of sea fish.

After chewing it, Chen Zhou couldn't find any fault with the taste of the fish.

Just as he had thought before - high-end ingredients often only require the simplest cooking methods.

The roasted unknown fish meat was tender and had none of the earthy smell of the carp or grass carp that Chen Zhou had eaten before.

Although the taste of the fish was a little bland due to lack of seasoning, the freshness and fragrance of the fish made up for it.

In addition, this fish has very few bones, basically only the hard bones in the middle of the fish's body, without any thin bones at all. It is so enjoyable to eat it, bite after bite.

……

While eating fish, cats and dogs all gathered around Chen Zhou, and the abalone and scallops that had just been fished out were also placed on the table.

While his mouth was decomposing the fish meat, his hands were not resting either. He picked up the cooked scallops, pried them open with a knife, cut out the shellfish meat, wiped off the sand on it and fed it to the "big and small greedy ghosts" waiting on the side.

Lai Fu, who had the biggest appetite and made the most contributions, naturally enjoyed the most shellfish meat.

But it didn't seem to be very interested in the food hidden in the shells. After eating a few pieces of shell meat, it lowered its head and walked to the side to lie down. However, Grape and Little Gray were eating happily, especially Little Gray. Chen Zhou had never seen anything that Little Gray didn't like to eat.

……

The courageous dedication of the poison-testing rats opened up more dietary possibilities.

As September 9th drew closer, Chen Zhou nervously prepared his anniversary banquet and many dishes.

Modern food sent as rewards is an integral part of this.

In this strange world, hanging on an isolated island in the vast ocean, a person's soul is so helpless.

Sometimes, he needs food from his hometown to feel safe and secure, to find support in life and direction.

Canned yellow peaches, hazelnuts, pine nuts, a few bitter almonds that were slightly shrunken after being pried open, garlic sprouts and garlic cloves...

They are not the highlight of the feast, but they are the most eye-catching part of it. Without them, Chen Zhou's life would become much more boring.

……

In addition to the "modern anchor" that holds Chen Zhou back and prevents him from getting lost in the fog of loneliness, the food on the island takes up more space.

After all, we will live here for nearly 10,000 days, and local food will always be the main theme of our lives.

Tangerines, oranges, sugar cane, grapes.

Orange, white, pink and purple, either cut or peeled, make up a plate of fresh fruits, with varying sweet and sour flavors.

Noodles, rice, either fried or stir-fried, each has its own fragrance.

What is most attractive to Chen Zhou is the rich variety of meat.

These days he put aside all his work and concentrated on hunting and exploring in the woods.

With Lai Fu's help, and the safety of food ensured by testing poison on rats, he became much braver than before.

Lizards, parrots, unknown birds, snakes that can be seen and killed, particularly large insects, and even various tree frogs, are all unable to escape his clutches.

Not to mention, after this attempt, he didn't develop a new recipe, but instead poisoned a lot of mice.

Unfortunately, they had only been jumping around in this world for about a month before they were sent away by Chen Zhou, the cruel "warden".

But it doesn’t matter, the female mouse’s reproductive efficiency is much faster than Chen Zhou imagined.

In recent days, he put male mice among female mice and found that they showed signs of affection again. He estimated that in about a month and a half, a new batch of poison-testing mice would be born.

……

No strange food has been found for the time being, but Chen Zhou has prepared a lot of normal food - goats, seafood, even pigeons and frogs.

In addition, he had an unexpected gain.

Perhaps it was luck, on September 9, the day before the anniversary banquet, when he went to the beach in the morning, he finally saw the big turtle he had been longing for, but there was only one.

It was low tide at the time, and the huge creature was lying on the wet beach and could be seen from a distance.

Thinking back later, Chen Zhou could never forget how excited he was when he saw the turtle. He wished he could grow a pair of wings and fly directly to the turtle and chop it to death with an axe.

Restraining his impulse, he repeatedly reminded himself to stay calm.

The turtle is very close to the sea water. Once it is disturbed, all your efforts may be in vain.

After suppressing his inner excitement, Chen Zhou took off his backpack, held only the axe, crouched down, and tiptoed towards the turtle.

Twenty meters away, you can vaguely see the turtle's brown carapace and the complex yellow spots of varying shades.

Chen Zhou had seen handicrafts made of hawksbill turtle shells in various treasure appraisal programs. He was not sure that this big sea turtle was a hawksbill turtle, but he felt that it was about 70% similar to a hawksbill turtle.

Therefore, the meaning of this big turtle in his heart is not only the turtle meat or turtle eggs he has never tasted, but also a small moving gold mountain.

Of course, this Xiao Jinshan has the ability to send him to prison for more than ten years.

If there were a few more "little gold mountains", it would not be impossible to give him a 7.62mm peanut to eat.

He quietly approached to within a dozen meters, carefully observing the movements of the turtle. He found that it was staring at him and showed signs of turning around, so Chen Zhou suddenly accelerated.

Just like when he killed the seal, the distance was close enough, and he started to sprint directly on the wet sand.

Chen Zhou kept moving forward slowly with his back bent. He had conserved a lot of energy. Within a distance of more than ten meters, even if the turtle grew hundreds of pairs of legs and turned into a centipede, it would not be able to outrun him.

In a flash, Chen Zhou rushed to the turtle, swung the axe and chopped directly at the turtle's head.

Compared to when he cut the seal, his movements this time seemed a little overly cautious.

After all, hawksbill turtle shells are extremely valuable. A complete hawksbill turtle shell and a hawksbill turtle shell of poor quality are not the same price. Chopping off a corner may result in a loss of tens of thousands of dollars. Naturally, he does not want to damage his future wealth.

Sea turtles have a serious flaw: their backs have extremely high defensive power, but their heads and limbs cannot be retracted into their shells like some land tortoises, causing their defense to resemble the "Maginot Line."

It swims fast in the sea and can evade attacks by making flexible turns.

Once they reached land, they were helpless in the face of the frenzied attacks.

Without the thick layer of fat like a seal to protect against damage, every blow from the axe blade landed squarely on the turtle's head.

With just two chops, blood splattered and the turtle's skull was shattered.

It didn't even have time to let out a howl before it stopped moving and lay obediently on the beach.

Chen Zhou didn't expect the battle to end so quickly, and he felt a little unsatisfied.

Putting down the axe and grabbing the turtle's shell, he tried to drag the turtle's body, only to find that it was much heavier than he had imagined.

The entire turtle's carapace is about one meter long, like a colorful small round table.

Perhaps because it had not been polished, it did not look as gorgeous as the antique tortoise shells Chen Zhou had seen up close, and it did not have the noble aura left by the passage of time.

With such a large carapace, the turtle is naturally quite heavy.

Dragging it on the wet sand encountered considerable resistance. Chen Zhou quietly did some subtraction in his mind. After removing the impact of the resistance, he felt that the turtle must weigh at least 180 kilograms, or even 200 kilograms.

It would be impossible to drag such a large body away on the beach with the strength of his arms alone, so he had to dismember it.

(End of this chapter)