From Robinson Crusoe

His hands were still holding the fish's gills without relaxing. After resting for a few seconds to gather some strength, Chen Zhou exerted force and completed the final drag.

This huge fish, which was enough to make a fisherman feel trapped in a maze and hang on the body of his car, and show off around the city for a whole day without wanting to go home, finally landed steadily on the shore.

After going into the water, Chen Zhou was soaked from the waist down. After getting ashore, he felt cool in the breeze.

The firewood in the campfire was almost burned out, and the faint flames flickered in the darkness, making people feel neither warm nor safe.

After dragging the fish to a rock surface more than two meters away from the lake to prevent it from suddenly coming back to life, Chen Zhou dived into the water and rubbed his belly.

Before fishing, he dug a hole in the woods and cleared out the remaining food residue in his stomach.

His stomach and intestines were much cleaner than usual at this time. He could even feel the burning and stinging caused by the stomach acid eroding the gastric mucosa.

He took off his water-filled shoes and poured out the water in the shoe compartments. He twisted his trouser legs, getting used to the feeling of the wet trousers sticking to his legs. Then he picked up the axe and chopped down a few bushes nearby in the dark.

Now he urgently needed to dry his clothes and body, and eat something at the same time -

This hunt lasted much longer than he had imagined. So far, he had not eaten anything for almost ten hours and had only drunk some cold boiled water.

If the fish had come later, and he had eaten the grilled fish and replenished his energy before fighting again, the fishing session might have ended long ago.

He added firewood patiently and saw Lai Fu lying leisurely beside him and resting.

Chen Zhou was wondering why it didn't come over to beg for food. It hadn't eaten anything all day.

In the gradually brighter light of the fire, he discovered that the fish he had prepared had disappeared.

Angry and amused, he wanted to pretend nothing had happened. He fished out the live fish again, gutted and cleaned it, while thinking about it. In the end, he woke up Fu and scolded him.

It wasn't that he felt sorry for the fish.

The resources of this entire island are not enough to supply him alone, let alone a hundred people.

He was worried that Lai Fu would develop this habit of eating randomly, and that he would accidentally eat poisonous food, or eat fish too hastily and get a fish bone stuck in his throat.

This guy eats as if he has no teeth and always wolfs down his food. He once had a sheep bone stuck in his throat when he ate it, but fortunately, sheep bones are big and he vomited it out after a few dry heaves.

Although raw fish bones are softer and more flexible, unlike sheep bones, they also pose a risk of getting stuck in the throat.

Before, when Chen Zhou fed fish to his cats and dogs at home, he would remove the hard bones or fry the fish until it was crispy before feeding it to them.

As for the dried fish that Xiao Huihui and Tuo Zi often eat, since they are so small, the kittens can eat one in one bite after they are dried, so there is no danger in eating them.

……

Lai Fu was pulled up and scolded while he was half asleep. He had no idea what mistake he had made. He could only wag his tail slightly, approach Chen Zhou with an innocent look on his face, and flatter him.

There's nothing we can do about this guy who's good at cheating.

Being hungry and in a hurry to warm himself by the fire and eat something, Chen Zhou did not bother to argue with Lai Fu. He quickly picked up the frying pan and fried a few fish to fill his stomach. Only then did he have time to look at his trophy.

The bonfire was already burning brightly, and the light by the lake stood out like a small lighthouse on a dark island.

The big fish had no strength left when it was dragged ashore. By the time Chen Zhou finished his meal, it was dying.

The homemade fish guard could not contain this huge creature, and Chen Zhou had no way of locking up the big fish to let it catch its breath and live a little longer to recover its energy and spirit.

Looking at its gills opening and closing and its painful struggle, out of humanitarian spirit, he took out his dagger and prepared to kill it.

This fish looked very similar to the small colorful fish he had caught before. Its head accounted for about a quarter of its body, its tail was relatively wide, and its body was slightly bloated.

Looking closely at its scales in the light of the fire, one could hardly find the colorful colors of the small fish except for the red light reflected by the flames.

The fish's back is mainly covered with silvery-white scales, occasionally mixed with a few black scales. On the fish's belly, the silvery-white scales are mixed with light golden patterns, which looks extremely gorgeous.

Chen Zhou used a dagger to measure the fish's head, but couldn't find the heart of the fish. In the end, he brought a more useful axe.

Straighten the fish head on the stone surface, turn the axe, and hit it hard with the hammer.

With a muffled sound, the eyes of this huge fish that roams the waters lost their luster.

……

After catching the "Fish Ancestor" to take the blame, Chen Zhou looked down on the remaining three or four pound, palm-sized little bastards.

Of course, the main reason was that it was already difficult enough for him to bring this big guy home, and he wouldn't be able to carry more.

It was a rare moment of kindness for him to release all the small fish, and he did not forget to ask them to call an older ancestor over.

Without a fish guard or fishing rod, and only carrying a mountaineering bag and cooking tools, Chen Zhou tied up the big fish with the mountaineering rope in the bag, put the strap on his shoulder, and walked towards the camp at the foot of the mountain in the dark.

According to the lunar calendar, January 1 should be around the fourth or fifth day of the first lunar month. There will only be stars but no moonlight in the sky, and the visible range will be extremely low.

If you enter the forest, you can hardly see your hand in front of you.

The conditions were so bad and he didn't have an oil lamp, so Chen Zhou naturally couldn't risk going home overnight and could only stay in the camp for one night.

……

Entering the unused shelter of the camp, lying on a hardwood plank covered with a dirty canvas, he stared at the dark wall - where the big fish was hanging.

Smelling the moldy and rotten smell on the canvas, Chen Zhou felt like an unclaimed corpse in a charity cemetery, waiting for a kind corpse driver to take him away.

Thinking about the cats and mice at home, he turned sideways and reached out to touch Lai Fu who was sleeping beside him.

Lai Fu was originally lying beside him, but after being touched, he fell backwards to the ground as if he had been hit by a brick, revealing his soft belly.

When Chen Zhou rubbed its warm belly, it hummed and licked the back of Chen Zhou's hand with its tongue in a flattering manner.

It was late at night, and outside the camp, animals that hibernate during the day and come out at night made all kinds of noises.

The leaves were shaken by the wind, rustling, and the sound of rushing tide could be faintly heard.

With his hand on Lai Fu, Chen Zhou closed his eyes tiredly and lost consciousness soon after.

……

After sleeping on the floor all night, Chen Zhou, who was used to sleeping on a bed and covering himself with a quilt, felt a little uncomfortable.

When he woke up, he felt a sore back and waist. He went to the river, washed his face with clean water, and forced himself to be strong. He went to the small lake alone to pick up the fishing gear he had left there. After returning to the camp, he carried the big fish on his back and went to the cave.

……

After returning home, the first thing Chen Zhou did was not to feed the cats and mice, nor was he to check the crops, take care of the crops, or see how the goats were doing.

He simply brought out two mirrors, took out paper and pen, hung the big fish on a wooden rack, stood next to the big fish, looked in the mirror, held paper and pen, and took a "hand-drawn photo" with this behemoth.

After a simple sketch to outline the contour, he turned the wooden frame and drew several drafts from different angles. Then he put away the paper and pen with a sense of satisfaction, took out a ruler from the auto repair tool box, and carefully measured the length of the big guy. The fish was 114.5cm long from the front lip to the tip of the tail, which was about the same length as he had estimated.

As for the weight, I guess it lost a lot of water after being left out overnight, or maybe it was because he was exhausted last night and overestimated this guy.

After another estimate, Chen Zhou felt that the fish should not weigh more than 40 kilograms, at most just 40 kilograms.

In fact, if he was not afraid of trouble, he could use the 500g bag of fine salt or instant noodles given in the annual gift package to determine the standard unit of mass, and then make a scale to measure the fish's true weight.

It’s a pity that at this moment Chen Zhou was not interested in how heavy the fish was, but was very interested in how to eat it.

……

Growing up, he had only seen fish this big on TV shows or in videos.

Many people fish for this kind of big fish, but few eat it. Faced with such a huge food, he really didn't know how to deal with it for a while.

It is still unknown whether this fish is poisonous or not.
Although he had caught fish that looked very similar to this big fish before, the largest of those fish was only a dozen centimeters in size.

The length of this fish has increased tenfold from that. Chen Zhou really doesn't dare to say that they are the same species. After all, Yao Ming didn't grow to 18 meters, right?

To be on the safe side, it would be better to cut two pieces of meat first and let the poison test rats do their job.

The new litter of mice is already in good health, and there are six more mice in this litter than the previous one.

And the female mice were also pregnant with their third litter.

It is foreseeable that if the consumption rate is not fast enough, the number of mice will increase and the resources required to feed them will increase.

Faced with this kind of creature that reproduces very quickly, Chen Zhou's attitude is not to feel sorry for it, just use it as much as you can, giving them food and water is because they are there to do this.

Because the fish is so large, the poison testing requires the collaboration of multiple rats.

Some are responsible for gnawing the head, some are responsible for eating the cheeks, some are responsible for chewing the meat, and some are responsible for drinking the blood...

When he took out a kitchen knife, gutted the fish, removed the internal organs and cleaned the blood, Chen Zhou was surprised to find that it was actually a female fish, and its bulging belly was full of fish eggs.

The fish is big and has a lot of fish roe. The fish roe divided into two balls is enough to fill a medium-sized pottery jar.

The tip of the knife cut a hole in the pale yellow outer membrane, and the bright yellow fish roe squeezed out from the hole. Each grain was distinct and looked very appetizing.

……

The fishy smell from the dissected big fish attracted the greedy little cat who was still at home.

Unfortunately, Tizi and Hutou were out hunting, and the first to arrive at the scene were the father and daughter Xiaohuihui and Huiqiu.

Xiao Huihui has seen and eaten everything. He is a little lazy, but he is brave. When he is greedy, he will be braver than usual.

Chen Zhou washed the tortoise shell and placed it in the storage room. The other kittens in the house were afraid of this strange thing, and even Tu Zi walked around it.

Only Xiao Huihui was not afraid at all. He even treated the tortoise shell as the new cat bed prepared by Chen Zhou for him. He often lay in it to rest, feeling very comfortable.

Seeing the unfamiliar giant this time, Huiqiu was obviously afraid of the dead fish. He followed Xiao Huihui and walked forward a few steps, then stopped more than two meters away from the big fish. He lowered his front body, stared at the body of the big fish, screamed, and shook his tail nervously. The hair on his back stood up, just like a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Compared with its overreaction, Xiao Huihui, the old hand, seems much calmer.

It walked slowly to the side of the fish, circled around Chen Zhou, and then leaned over the edge of the wooden barrel containing the fish's internal organs and sniffed.

Smelling the smell of fish blood, viscera and fat, Xiao Huihui's mouth opened slightly and his eyes lit up, as if he was very satisfied with the taste of the fish.

Like a thief, he quickly turned his head to see what his master was doing. To make sure he wasn't staring at him, Little Gray stretched out a paw at a speed inconsistent with his size and hooked out a piece of white internal organs from the bucket. Before he could put it into his mouth, his head was hit hard.

Meow!
Throwing away the internal organs and giving Chen Zhou a dissatisfied look, Xiao Huihui left the wooden barrel in a huff and sat far away on the platform. His eyes seemed to be attracted by a magnet and still involuntarily floated towards the wooden barrel.

It was not until Chen Zhou put a lid on the barrel that its gaze shifted to the side.

……

After a lot of effort, he separated the fish's head from its body, tried his best to drain out the remaining blood in its body, and washed it with water. Then Chen Zhou began to remove the scales.

The big fish with its scales scraped off was no longer as beautiful as before. Its body was covered with scars and was divided into three parts on the chopping board - head, body and tail.

The fish body was cut in the middle and divided into six large pieces stacked together.

After finishing all these, Chen Zhou took a short break, drank some water and ate some food to replenish his strength, and then comforted the frightened gray ball.

Then he went to check on the condition of the poison-testing rats.

Nearly two hours had passed since the mice had eaten the food, and they still looked very energetic and showed no signs of poisoning.

Based on previous experience with testing poison on mice, Chen Zhou knew that the fish was not poisonous, so he put his mind at ease and started thinking about how to eat it.

Fish heads are a precious food ingredient in many areas. They can be made into hard dishes such as chopped pepper fish head, casserole fish head, and braised fish head. They can also be boiled into nutritious fish soup.

Unfortunately, Chen Zhou didn't know much about cooking river and seafood, so he had no idea how to deal with the big head. He didn't even know which part of the fish head was edible and which part tasted good. So he decided to put the fish head directly into a large iron can, add a little salt and garlic, sprinkle some cooking wine to remove the fishy smell, and stew the simplest fish head soup.

If it tastes good after it is cooked, he will eat more of it. If it doesn’t taste good, he will feed it to the cats and dogs.

There is not much meat in the fish tail, so he wants to fry it.

The most important fish body has been divided into six pieces, and he wants to make it into three dishes - one braised, one steamed, and one directly grilled.

Some time ago, he used grass leaves to weave a steamer with a diameter of 18cm. He hadn't had time to use it yet, so he took this opportunity to try it out by cooking fish.

As for the can of fish roe, it can be used to make soup or slow-cooked with braised fish.

Chen Zhou had eaten stewed fish roe before. It was stuffed full into the film and chewed like millet rice. It was fragrant and hard, and tasted very special.

He really wanted to know whether the fish roe of this "foreign big fish" would taste different after being stewed.

He used the soy sauce and salt that came with the anniversary gift package very frugally, and there is still quite a bit left, just right for cooking this fish. It’s a pity that among the other seasonings, he only had garlic.

Those unknown plants on the island that are similar to peppers cannot produce the same effect as peppers, and there is no trace of onions and ginger.

However, if you want to make the stewed fish more flavorful, he has a "secret recipe" - the sauerkraut buns in the old-style sauerkraut beef noodles.

When stewing fish, sprinkle that stuff into the pot, it will add a bit of sour and spicy taste. When eating, give it a psychological hint and think of it as eating sauerkraut fish.

In addition to sauerkraut buns, he also has sauce packets for spicy and sour beef noodles.

Given the current poor conditions, it is impossible to prepare a modern feast that is both delicious and beautiful. He can only resort to this last resort and get some "defective products" to satisfy himself.

I drank some water to quench my thirst and looked up at the cloudless blue sky, knowing full well that the fish meat would not last long in such hot weather.

To avoid waste, Chen Zhou did not delay, so he started a fire, put a pot on the stove to boil water, and started preparing ingredients and seasonings, cutting meat and cooking. (End of this chapter)