From Robinson Crusoe

As the year draws to a close, the marine life that can be found at the beach has also changed.

When the tide recedes, you can occasionally see a giant lobster on the rocky beach, which can be more than 40 centimeters long.

Unfortunately, these rare creatures died on the seabed and were then pushed ashore by the tide.

In most cases, when Chen Zhou walked forward excitedly, what he got was an empty shell with all the shrimp meat eaten by small marine creatures.

But by finding the location of the lobster carcasses, we can infer where the lobsters live in the ocean.

It is about 200 to 400 meters away from the beach. If the wind is calm, the weather is clear, and he has a suitable boat, he can go out to sea to catch shrimps.

However, Chen Zhou felt that it was not worth taking the risk for a bite of food, even if the risk was small.

……

Whether you want to eat lobsters depends on luck, depending on whether the tide is willing to be the "courier" who delivers the food to your door.

Chen Zhou doesn't like things that rely on luck. Compared to the illusory luck, he is more willing to work hard, use his brain, and solve problems with his hands.

The crab pots clustered on the beach are the fruits of his labor.

In addition, there are "octopus jars" that are more than ten meters long. These small ceramic jars have small mouths and big bellies. They are the favorite shelters of octopuses. As long as they are thrown into the sea, they will fall into the trap.

Every two or three days, Chen Zhou goes to the beach and pulls up the hemp rope that runs through the small can, and he can harvest a bucket full of octopuses.

However, due to the size of the small can, these octopuses are not very big, about the size of the common street snack "octopus balls".

With chili peppers and garlic, Chen Zhou would often clean the octopus, peel it, cut it into small pieces and stir-fry it.

When removing the octopus's ink sac, he had a sudden idea and tried to use the octopus's ink as paint, but naturally failed.

The composition of octopus ink seems to be completely different from commonly used ink. Although it looks very black, the color will become very light when you dip a pen into it and write on paper. When trying it, Chen Zhou did not dare to use the expensive fountain pen, but used a feather pen instead.

It would be fine if the color was just light, but there are two disadvantages to writing with octopus ink.

The first point is that it has a strong smell, a fishy odor, which greatly affects one's mood when using it, especially when painting. There are many landscapes full of beautiful images in one's mind, but they are immediately destroyed when one smells this odor.

The second point is even more fatal - the marks left by octopus ink have a very short preservation time and will fade severely and disappear in a short time.

A pigment that cannot be preserved is definitely an unqualified pigment, so Chen Zhou quickly gave up the bold idea of using octopus ink.

……

Eating too much seafood will make you feel sick, and Chen Zhou is a little worried that if he eats a lot of seafood every day, he will get gout early.

There are no painkillers on the island. If you get gout in your thirties, you will suffer for the next twenty years.

Although he grew up in the inland, he was not completely ignorant of gout.

Especially some of the elders around him who are in their fifties and sixties, who drink and socialize all year round. After getting gout, they are in so much pain that their faces are horrible and it is difficult for them to walk. They also have to restrict their diet and cannot drink alcohol or eat meat. It is miserable to look at them.

Gout is difficult to treat in modern society, and he is naturally more afraid of it when he is on an island. He always limits the amount of seafood he eats on a daily basis.

In fact, he was a little too worried about this.

People who are more susceptible to gout are usually obese elderly people over 50 years old who eat a lot of meat and fish all day and do not like to exercise.

With his current amount of exercise, it is basically impossible for him to get gout unless he has a genetic problem or a low ability to break down purine.

However, Chen Zhou did not know this and always exercised restraint in eating seafood and drinking. He did not even dare to be too extravagant even when eating mutton.

For him, this may also be a habit to maintain mental health.

It is a rare behavior to be able to restrain oneself and not indulge in eating when one is alone and does not have to care about the opinions of others.

……

On July 7 and 30, Chen Zhou did almost no work. He either caught pigeons in the pigeon hole or fished by the small lake.

Ever since he discovered the Pigeon Hole, he has always wanted to have a bite of sea urchin steamed egg.

However, the number of pigeons living in the lower part of the pigeon cave was very small and they did not lay eggs. He went to the pigeon cave more than a dozen times but failed to find any pigeon eggs.

Later, he got determined and built a ladder, moved it into the pigeon hole, and used it to explore higher places.

Sure enough, the nests for raising little pigeons were all in the upper middle position. With the ladder, he could finally eat pigeon eggs.

And because there are so many pigeons in the pigeon hole, he can get dozens of pigeon eggs every time.

He ate part of it. I had been looking forward to making the steamed egg with sea urchin for half a year, and when I finally made it, it tasted just so-so.

It was far from the delicacies he had imagined.

He placed the other part in a foam box and placed it on the fire wall, trying to use the stove to hatch a few little pigeons. When the time comes, he will build a few cages for them so that they can lay eggs at home.

However, because Chen Zhou was too busy at work, he always forgot to add firewood to the stove, causing the temperature of the fire wall to fluctuate. In addition, the ventilation conditions of the foam box were poor, and the humidity caused by the fire wall was insufficient, so none of the pigeon eggs were successfully hatched.

He then made other attempts, such as directly catching adult pigeons or newly grown chicks and raising them.

But you have to take everything to heart and do it seriously to succeed.

His hobby-like breeding is actually harming the wild pigeons.

The adult pigeons were locked in cages, watching several big cats walking around the house all day long. They were frightened to the point of mental breakdown, loss of appetite, and refused to eat anything. They were actually starved to death.

Young pigeons don’t know how scary cats are, but they need to be carefully cared for and fed regularly and in fixed amounts.

Chen Zhou would forget about time when he was busy. He was so exhausted after work that he ate a quick meal and fell into bed. As soon as his head touched the pillow, he started snoring. He didn't care whether the pigeons had eaten or not.

With the way he raises things, even a turtle cannot grow big, let alone more delicate birds.

However, Chen Zhou doesn’t really care whether raising pigeons can be successful. His diet is now rich enough, and one more or one less will not have much impact.

Besides, if you fail to raise them at home, you can always catch them in pigeon holes.

There were probably tens of thousands of wild pigeons there. Even if he ate the pigeons as a meal, it would be difficult for him to finish them all.

……

As for the fishing catch of the past two days, it was also very limited. The largest one was less than 5 kilograms, which was completely incomparable to the big fish he had caught before.

And Chen Zhou also discovered something strange.

He had good results using a homemade wooden fishing rod, a fish hook made of a bent needle, and a fishing line made of thin hemp rope.

Now that I have changed to more professional fishing gear, I can’t catch any fish.

I opened the parasol, sat on a small stool by the lake, hung three fishing rods, and sat there for the whole morning.

At noon, I was tired of sitting and looked into the fish enclosure.

"Hey! How strange! There's not even a single scale on it."

After a "rigorous" analysis, Chen Zhou felt that fishing rods made of local materials on the island might give fish a more familiar feeling.

Foreign fishing rods are unfamiliar to fish in terms of color and smell, so no fish can be caught.

……

Regardless of whether he gained anything or not, Chen Zhou had a lot of fun and enjoyment during the two days of rest.

Lai Fu has also had a miserable New Year - in the past four months, Chen Zhou has rarely made time to play with him, and the kittens at home cannot play with him.

Xiao Huihui and Huiqiu, father and daughter, sleep all day and have now turned into balls.

Some time ago, Chen Zhou took a look inside a tortoise shell. Wow, the small space inside the shell was covered with a thick layer of gray cat hair. The tortoise shell, which originally had a matte texture, was completely washed away by these two guys.

However, Bangdang, the cat who was the closest to it when it was young, gradually became distant from it as it grew up.

I don’t know if it’s because he’s timid or because he’s busy catching mice outside, but Guangdang basically no longer gets close to it. Sometimes they go in and out of the cave together, and sometimes they even have to take a detour.

Tizi and Tiger Head mother and son were not afraid of it, but they were nowhere to be seen. They went out at dusk and came back at dawn, and never went into the house, always sleeping in the watchtower, so Lai Fu could not reach them at all.

In addition, after Chen Zhou saw the lamb being bitten to death by a poisonous snake, he refused to let Lai Fu move freely and always kept it locked in the yard.

The farthest we allowed it to go was to the fields to play. As soon as it showed any signs of going into the forest, we would quickly call it back, which made it very suffocated.

……

After being in jail for four months, Lai Fumei's eyes lit up when Chen Zhou finally got a rest.

Chen Zhou has been busy for so long that he hasn't had much time to spend with his pets at home, and he feels guilty towards Lai Fu.

In two days, he took Lai Fu to herd sheep, trap rabbits, hunt wild goats, go fishing, and catch frogs...

As for Lai Fu’s favorite games such as throw and pick up, tug-of-war, and smelling to find things, they were also played a lot, and they played from early morning to dusk.

Perhaps because he hadn't received Chen Zhou's attention for a long time, Lai Fu seemed to cherish this happy time more than before.

It always observes its owner's expression frequently, like a cautious child, worried that it will do something wrong and lose the right to play with him.

It strictly obeyed the orders given by Chen Zhou.

Even if it had to stand still for more than an hour to act as a model for its owner, it performed it perfectly, even though its personality is so active.

Dogs' IQs are far lower than humans', and Lai Fu's little thoughts are written on his face.

When I played with it in the past, the game it was most competitive in was tug-of-war.

A long wooden stick, a thick hemp rope, or a piece of rabbit skin can all be used as tug-of-war props.

Chen Zhou grabbed one end and Lai Fu bit the other end, and they worked together to fight for the prop.

At that time, Lai Fu was always unwilling to admit defeat. Even if he had to bite the stick in two or be dragged away by Chen Zhou, he would do his best to win the game.

Now when playing tug-of-war, its eyes are no longer focused on the tug-of-war props. It often glances up to observe Chen Zhou's expression.

As long as Chen Zhou showed a little bit of weakness, it would take the initiative to let go and hand over the victory that it once valued most.

In fact, Chen Zhou didn't need it to give in. Even if Lai Fu weighed nearly 100 kilograms now, he could not be Chen Zhou's opponent in a head-on confrontation of endurance and strength.

It deliberately lets the game go just because it wants to prolong the game time and is afraid of the days of loneliness.

It’s always heartbreaking to see how sensible furry children are.

……

September 7, dusk.

Chen Zhou didn't go home.

All the ingredients needed for tomorrow's birthday party have been prepared, and all the necessary work has been done.

After the celebration ceremony in early August, he will return to work.

At this moment, he was sitting on the top of the mountain with his legs crossed, leaning against a rock, with his arms behind his head, watching the sun sink into the mountains comfortably.

The wind blew, carrying a faint salty smell of the sea.

Lai Fu lay beside him, squinting his eyes and wagging his tail slowly.

The scenery in the sunny area is completely different from that in the shade.

The dusk is so gentle, covering the forest, the fields, and casting a layer of golden veil on the beach.

Birds returned to their nests in flocks, floating densely towards the treetops.

There were still a few remaining clouds on the horizon, and the light shining through them appeared slightly orange-red.

The heat absorbed into the earth and rocks during the day was quickly dissipating, and Chen Zhou could feel the coolness of the night coming like a tide.

"Go home?"

He touched Lai Fu's head.

Woof~
Lai Fu responded in a low voice, stood up and looked at him.

The afterglow shone into its eyes, making them sparkle.

It seemed to sense that this wonderful time was about to end, and it looked reluctant, but it couldn't speak. It just stood quietly by the side, staring at Chen Zhou without blinking, as if trying to keep him.

"Then I'll go back later."

Chen Zhou smiled, put his arm around Lai Fu's neck, and hugged this huge but childish guy into his arms.

……

On August 8st, the birthday party was held as scheduled.

This banquet was completely different from the anniversary banquet. Chen Zhou knew that he could not eat so many dishes, so he simply treated all the members of the family as banquet guests and prepared separate dishes for them.

Among them are Maoer’s whole fish feast, chinchilla’s fresh grass buns, Lai Fu’s mutton bone soup and boiled mutton.

Even the poison-tester rat, who had the lowest status in the family, got some good food and had a rare opportunity to enjoy a bunch of non-toxic scraps that had been discarded. He ate with so much enjoyment that there was even a scramble for it.

……

The banquet lasted the whole day. Chen Zhou was the only one who was busy, working as a chef, cleaner, and serving dishes.

The several stoves in the kitchen had been working all day and the fire was never turned off, causing the temperature in the cave to rise steadily.

The island was already hot, and after the temperature in the cave rose, the kitchen became extremely hot, especially next to the stove. Chen Zhou was sweating profusely, and he didn't know how much water he drank into his stomach.

Later, he simply moved all the chopping boards to the yard and used the evening breeze to cool himself down.

……

As it was getting dark, Chen Zhou lit up all the oil lamps inside and outside the cave, even the lamp hanging on the watchtower.

He made himself a small cake that was not much bigger than his fist. The cake was decorated with many round little grapes and orange slices.

In the center of the cake is a "miniature torch", which is a candle made by Chen Zhou himself.

The candle-blowing ceremony was held in the bedroom, with all family members surrounding Chen Zhou's desk.

Some of the cats were sitting, some were lying down. The little chinchilla held the bars of the cage with its two paws and looked outside curiously with its black eyes.

As the elder of the family, Lai Fu naturally sat next to Chen Zhou, and no other member could replace his position.

"27 years old."

Talking to himself, looking back on the time since he came to the island, Chen Zhou felt that modern life seemed to have become distant and vague.

During those first few months he had missed home.

But now, he can't even remember what his home looks like.

New experiences have overshadowed the past. Now when he thinks back on the trivialities at the cement factory, he doesn’t even know the names of the most powerful and famous leaders.

I don’t dare to think too much about what I will be like in twenty years.

No birthday song was sung.

Take a deep breath.

Call ~
Blow out the candles.

Chen Zhou closed his eyes and made a silent wish in his heart.

"I wish everything goes well, and I hope I can still be myself." (End of this chapter)