From Robinson Crusoe

Another workday has come to an end.

As the sun gradually disappeared behind the mountain peaks and its light faded, the farmland was bathed in starlight, and the natives wearing straw hats packed up their tools.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Kuru lagged behind the group, casually plucked a handful of weeds, wiped the mud off his calves and shoes, rolled down his rolled-up trouser legs, and then caught up with the others.

The way home involves passing through a forest, and if you are unfamiliar with the area, you will inevitably stumble and fall the first time you walk there.

But this road was built by the natives themselves, and they knew it very well. Even in the dim light, it did not hinder their progress.

The indigenous people at the front were chatting and laughing, discussing what to do since there was little work to do tomorrow.

Someone suggested going fishing by the river.

They learned from their chief how to make fishing rods and mastered some fishing techniques. Fishing was a very attractive sport, and the natives quickly found a unique kind of joy in it.

Someone suggested cutting down a few trees, firing a kiln of charcoal, and using some white clay and mud to make some usable pottery.

Since Chen Zhou moved to live in the factory, the pottery kiln and charcoal kiln on the other side of the mountain were allocated to the indigenous people because they were too far away.

Chen Zhou plans to rebuild a modern charcoal kiln and a blast furnace for firing porcelain near the factory. However, these two buildings are technologically advanced and are still in the design stage.

Before the construction of these two large buildings began, the indigenous people had relatively easy jobs. Apart from tending to their farmland, fishing, and repairing roads, they did not have any heavy work.

……

With more time available, the natives began to focus their attention on the "chieftain's hobbies."

Just as things popular in the countryside are often popular in the city, after the natives accepted the culture brought by Chen Zhou, they couldn't help but gravitate towards Chen Zhou, regarding everything their leader did as "fashionable" or "trendy," and were quite motivated to learn it.

They learned to play Go, chess, weave rattan, paint with clay slabs, make charcoal, and fire pottery...

Those who possess the most skills and have the most exquisite craftsmanship often become the object of admiration for all the indigenous people.

For example, zebras.

This seemingly burly fellow is surprisingly skilled with his hands. Whether it's woodworking or pottery making, he does it all with great flair. He also has a knack for weaving rattan. Indigenous people who enjoy these skills often seek advice from Zebra to improve their craft.

Kuru, however, is an anomaly among them.

He didn't have many hobbies, and since the sugar-stirring incident, he had returned to his taciturn state, as if there was an invisible barrier between him and others.

He was always the last to leave when he was working, and he was also the last to arrive for dinner, where he would quietly wash the dishes afterward.

To others, Kuru was like an invisible man. He lived among the natives day and night, yet he left a less profound impression than the herders.

Only the natives who lived in the same hut as Kuru vaguely remembered that this taciturn man often talked about his child, the child who was still living in "hell".

Whenever the group ate new food, saw something new displayed by the leader, or heard the Saturday teacher tell fascinating stories, Kuru wore a peculiar expression on his face. It wasn't surprise or envy, but rather a sense of regret.

He regrets that his children and his partner cannot experience such a beautiful place and such a wonderful world.

……

After the natives moved to live near the factory, their homes were upgraded again at Chen Zhou's request.

From the earliest open-air dwellings to simple four-person dormitories, then to double huts, and now to detached houses.

Their cabins occupy a small area and are neatly arranged in a row along the path.

Although the room is small, it has all the necessary functions.

Small bedrooms, small kitchens, small dining rooms, and small living rooms—everything is provided. The locals are overjoyed to be able to live this kind of life.

What others have, Kuru also has—

The detached house was a reward for participating in the factory construction; he contributed his efforts, so naturally he deserved his share.

……

Kuru's small house is located at the very edge of the row of houses, furthest from the factory.

When he returned home, everyone else's houses were lit up, casting a warm yellow glow through the windows. Only his house stood dark in the night, appearing lonely and cold.

With his head down, Kuru turned to look at the sea, and he began to miss his family again.

As he walked slowly forward, passing one small house after another, listening to the sounds of cooking, sawing wood, or cleaning dishes inside, he felt his loneliness intensify.

As he reached the doorway, in the shadows under the eaves, Kuru suddenly spotted a familiar face.

He asked incredulously, "Teacher Saturday?"

"Shh..."

On Saturday, he put a finger to his lips to signal him to be quiet, and then spoke to him in a low voice.

"The leader needs to speak with you."

On Saturday, he glanced at the other indigenous dwellings and asked Kuru.

"If your room is always dark and silent, will other people become suspicious?"

The leader doesn't want others to know that you had a private conversation with him.

Kuru thought about it carefully and gave a negative answer.

He always goes home alone, eats some pre-made flatbread, and turns off the lights early to go to bed. The lights in his room usually only last for a dozen minutes at most.

The other natives are busy cooking or doing other things, and no one is paying attention to whether his room is lit up or not.

Besides, what does it matter if the lights aren't on or if no one is inside? Nobody cares about him anyway.

Kuru knew exactly how his companions treated him.

He's just worried about his family and doesn't want to socialize; he's not stupid.

Aside from the herding natives, there are only six people here, five if you don't count himself.

Kuru might not understand the relationships between a dozen or so people, but he could clearly see what the five people who had been together for almost a year were thinking and how they acted.

……

Upon hearing Kuru's reply, Saturday glanced at the other native huts, said nothing more, simply waved, and headed towards the factory.

Kuru didn't ask why. He didn't know what the leader wanted to see him about, but he had a vague feeling that perhaps going with Teacher Saturday would bring an unexpected surprise.

……

The two walked up the stone-paved path and soon arrived at the factory gate.

This colossal building, unlike anything of its time, stretches out its massive body like a monstrous beast ready to devour its prey, looking down upon everything below.

When the steel-welded door was opened, the jarring creaking sound inexplicably brought a sense of cold solemnity to the hot, dry season.

If Kuru hadn't known he hadn't done anything wrong and hadn't participated in the factory's construction, arriving here in the middle of the night would have terrified him.

Stepping into the factory's first floor, the flat cement floor, the 4-meter-high ceiling, the dim environment, and the narrow corridors create an extremely oppressive atmosphere.

On Saturday, no one spoke, and Kulu didn't dare to make a sound either.

The two could only hear the sound of footsteps on the concrete floor and see the bright light cast by the stairwell in the distance.

Kuru vaguely felt that the light was different from that of an oil lamp; it was exceptionally clean, exceptionally bright, and very stable, with no visible fluctuations.

The closer you get to the stairwell, the more sounds you can hear, as if you've walked from a deserted place into a bustling city.

As Kuru's head emerged from the second floor, one step at a time, the excessively bright light made it difficult for him to open his eyes.

On a flat, uniformly colored wooden floor, Sunday and Chen Zhou stood side by side, chatting and laughing, discussing something.

Above their heads, at the end of a long wire close to the ceiling, was a lamp as bright as the sun, its light illuminating the entire room as if it were daytime, making everything clearly visible to Kuru.

……

Seeing that Saturday had brought the native up, Chen Zhou put away his Chen-style rifle and patted Sunday on the shoulder.

"The reason why new weapons are called new weapons is because they improve upon the shortcomings of old weapons."

It has a stronger ability to adapt to the environment, a longer range, higher accuracy, faster loading speed, and greater power. You must understand that if you only improve a certain aspect of a weapon but cannot make up for its defects, then it cannot be called an improvement.

When you go back to rest, review the structural diagrams of this rifle again, and then copy down twenty copies of the rifle's features and design principles for me.

As Chen Zhou's last words reached Sunday's ears, his slightly pleased face immediately scrunched up into a chrysanthemum-like expression.

Twenty portions!

"You know, the features and design concept of this gun are described in over four thousand words. How long would it take him to finish copying that?"

"Did you hear me?"

Seeing that Sunday was about to leave, Chen Zhou asked him a question out of concern.

This kid is great in every way, except he doesn't like studying. He gets a headache just thinking about doing homework. Last time I assigned homework, he actually begged and pleaded to have someone do it for him on Saturday.

However, Saturday's handwriting was so different from his usual style that Chen Zhou caught him red-handed and made him copy it twenty times as punishment.

From then on, although Sunday no longer dared to slack off, the pain on his face was always genuine after he was given homework.

Chen Zhou was an excellent student from a young age and never needed his parents to supervise his homework. Seeing Sunday like this, he vaguely saw the shadow of those poor students from his school days.

However, now that he is in the position of a parent or teacher, he naturally wouldn't let Sunday go astray.

Moreover, knowledge about weapon design and maintenance is always much more interesting than math and English.

Moreover, regarding what he will do on Sunday, understanding weapons is a matter of life and death; if he is negligent now, he may lose his life because of it later.

As a responsible instructor, Chen Zhou dared not risk his life to personally carry out the plan, but he would certainly take responsibility for the lives of his subordinates, especially trusted confidants like Sunday.

Just like the saying often heard in the military—"Sweat more in peacetime, bleed less in wartime."

……

"heard it……"

He uttered a weak sentence and walked heavily into his room on Sunday.

At this point, only Chen Zhou, Saturday, and Kulu remained in the second-floor hall.

Without bothering to check whether he took out his textbooks to study after returning to his room on Sunday, Chen Zhou first took the spear in his hand back to his room, hung it on the wall, and then reappeared in front of Kulu.

"Don't just stand there like an idiot. You probably haven't eaten yet. Here, have something hot to drink."

Pushing open the door to the living room, Chen Zhou led Kulu to the long table and handed him a chair.

After Kulu sat down awkwardly in the chair, Chen Zhou picked up a thermos from the side, took out two clean silver cups, and poured a steaming cup of milk tea for Kulu and himself.

……

Kuru was flattered and sat upright in his chair, not daring to lean back.

He carefully held the silver cup with both hands, ignoring the scalding hot milk tea, and forced himself to slurp it down despite the pain.

Throughout the process, he kept his head down, only daring to raise his eyelids to peek at the leader like a thief.

This thieving act made Chen Zhou want to laugh.

He walked to the other end of the long table, plopped down in the ergonomic chair, stared intently at Kuru, and asked his first question.

"I heard from other people that you really want to go home?"

Upon hearing this, Kulu's hand trembled involuntarily, and he repeatedly denied it.

"No, no, Chief, I love it here, I don't want to go home."

As he spoke, he put the silver cup back on the table and stood up from his chair. If it weren't for Saturday's intervention, he would have almost knelt down and kowtowed to Chen Zhou several times.

……

Not to mention here, even in the original tribe, it is a big taboo for a captured person to return to the original tribe. If they are caught, they may even be devoured alive.

Not to mention that Kuru had no intention of running away at all, even if he really wanted to go home, he wouldn't dare to admit it!
Despite the chief's usual kind demeanor, every one of these surviving natives had witnessed his ruthless killing prowess. They certainly didn't consider this god-like chief with his mysterious powers to be a kind soul.

……

"Don't be nervous. I don't mean to punish you. I've seen your work attitude. Even if you haven't made any great contributions, you've still put in a lot of hard work."

And I know that although you're not very talkative, you've always studied very hard and haven't made any mistakes.

Chen Zhou smiled, gestured for Kulu to sit down, and continued.

"Besides, there's nothing wrong with missing home. I miss home sometimes too."

"I've only heard that you still have a wife and children in your original tribe, and you really want to bring them to the island to live a new life. Is that true?"

Kuru, whose bottom had just touched the chair, became even more frightened upon hearing this and instinctively tried to sit up again.

But this Saturday, he was pinned firmly to the chair. He was so weak from fear that he couldn't muster any strength. He tried to lift himself up slightly, but was immediately pressed back down.

Not knowing whether the chief's question was a good thing or a bad thing, Kulu wanted to lie to get away with it, but under Chen Zhou's sharp gaze, he ultimately didn't tell a lie and could only nod, affirming the chief's statement.

"Now I'm giving you a chance to bring your wife and kids here. Are you willing to go?"

Seeing that Kulu had given a genuine answer, Chen Zhou was overjoyed and threw out the bait he had prepared for a long time.

He was certain that this "carefully selected fish" would readily take the bait tailor-made for it. (End of Chapter)