From Robinson Crusoe

Chapter 28 Mother and Son
A beautiful day starts with picking up a set of nail clippers.

Because he loved the house so much, even the torn paper box looked much better to him, so Chen Zhou picked it up and put it in the wooden box for safekeeping.

After a simple breakfast, Chen Zhou also summed up some rules for the mysterious rewards.

Judging from the prizes he received these two times, they were basically small, cheap commodities that would not have much impact on his challenge.

Within this limited range, the probability of high-cost-effective materials such as lighters, hand-cranked flashlights, socks, gloves, underwear, and even transparent tape, folding knives, and notebook carbon pens appearing is not low.

If he is lucky, he may get the lighter he has been dreaming about next time or the next one.

With a vision for the future, Chen Zhou started a new day of work.

According to his plan, he would move the carpenter's toolbox to a cave halfway up the mountain, where he would make hammers and wooden shovel heads out of ironwood.

He learned in advance from "Robinson Crusoe" that although ironwood is hard, it is not resistant to wear and tear, and it is best to wrap it with a layer of iron sheet to extend its service life.

However, he had no iron sheets, only some lead plates.

The lead plates stored on the ship were too thick and had poor toughness. They would easily break in the middle if bent excessively, and it was almost impossible to wrap a pickaxe or shovel with lead.

Robinson had no choice but to use a crowbar instead of a mattock and dig with wooden tools.

Learning from Robinson's lesson, Chen Zhou came up with a special idea.

He attempted to replace the tip of the hammer and the leading edge of the wooden spade directly with metal.

Among the angle irons removed from the ship, there are some parts whose shapes roughly meet the requirements. After adjusting the appearance with a hammer, suitable inlay grooves are chiseled on the ironwood, and finally the parts are placed in the grooves and fixed with nails.

Although the pickaxe and shovel heads made in this way are not as strong as those made of pure metal, the quality has been slightly improved. Especially when dealing with sand and gravel, the advantages of metal materials are more obvious.

However, the idea is always beautiful, but whether it is good or bad in practice is not certain.

All he can do is keep trying and improving.

Chen Zhou loaded the crowbar, tied up the whole box of tools with a rope and put it on his back, put a few pieces of bread and a bottle of cold boiled water in his arms, and set off with heavy steps.

Wearing thick clothes and carrying nearly 30 kilograms of weight while climbing the mountain, he felt the long-lost fatigue.

Unlike the fatigue caused by lack of exercise when I first arrived on the island, this fatigue is entirely due to my physical fitness not being strong enough. In layman's terms, I have too little muscle mass.

Moreover, the edges and corners of the wooden box often hurt my back, the ropes squeezed my shoulders, and the weight fell straight back, and this discomfort added to the burden.

Walking and stopping, every time he walked more than 200 meters, Chen Zhou would put down the box to rest, eat some bread or drink some water.

He moved slowly like this until the afternoon when he finally reached the cave.

There was still a piece of bread left, but the cold water had been finished long ago.

After unloading the wooden box, Chen Zhou sat down on it, lowered his head and bent over, supporting his knees with his hands. His hair was soaked and his whole body looked as if he had been washed.

From childhood to adulthood, he had never done such heavy physical work that lasted so long.

Now he was seeing stars and his ears were ringing, not to mention his heart beating wildly without slowing down.

When we reached the last 200 meters of the journey, the mountain became steeper.

The dim light and wet ground in the shade made his feet slip from time to time, forcing him to expend more energy to maintain his balance, otherwise he would fall or roll down the hillside.

Almost every bit of strength in his body was squeezed out. Many times, Chen Zhou felt that his physical energy had been consumed to the limit. He didn't know what force brought him to bear, but he managed to hold on by gritting his teeth.

Finally having a good rest, he closed his eyes and lay on the rough ground of the cave like a dead man.

The abrasions on his shoulders and back burned like flames, but he ignored them and just lay there.

After a while, his breathing became even and he fell asleep from exhaustion.

He didn't sleep for long. Perhaps he touched the wound when he turned over, and a sharp pain woke Chen Zhou up.

Feeling sore all over, he got up and calmed down a little. Then he realized that there was no one around him and Lai Fu was nowhere to be found.

When climbing the mountain, Lai Fu originally followed him, but later he probably felt it was too boring to rest all the time, so he ran away alone.

Chen Zhou knew that Lai Fu could smell the scent of pythons, and the wild cats in the forest could not beat him. There was only a group of wild goats on the mountainside that posed no threat to the dogs, so he ignored them.

He never thought that it had been away for so long and had not come back yet, which made him a little worried.

He stood up, opened his coat, and looked at the blood scabs that had already solidified on both sides of his collarbone. He patted the dirt on his back as if nothing had happened, closed his coat, and walked out of the cave.

The weather today is different from the past. There seems to be less moisture in the air, as if we have suddenly crossed the rainy season and entered the dry season.

The greenery on the hillside is a little wilted, the sun is about to set, and the shadow is advancing bit by bit, gradually encroaching on the earth.

"Blessing!"

Chen Zhou shouted towards the forest.

The sound drifted into the woods with the wind, startling a few birds. Faintly, he heard a dog barking from the other side of the mountainside.

He left the cave, walked a few steps east, and shouted again.

The dog's barking was clearer this time, but it only barked twice before stopping abruptly, as if it had encountered some danger.

Remembering the wound on Fu's ear caused by the cat scratching, Chen Zhou picked up the crowbar and rushed to the source of the sound.

Although my physical strength has not fully recovered, I have unloaded the burden and every step I take is extremely light.

Almost running, he soon saw Lai Fu chasing him quickly on the platform on the mountainside.

Its yellowish fur almost completely blended into the soil of the slope, and it looked blurry from a distance.

Right in front of it, a small white object was fleeing in panic.

It was a little lamb, as if it was just born, with its legs and feet still a little weak. It ran around and kept using fake moves. It was very agile, but too slow. Even if it tried its best, it could not escape Lai Fu's blockade.

As the lamb ran away, it bleated, calling for its mother's help.

But the sheep were very afraid of Lai Fu and had already run to the other end of the platform, watching him coldly from a distance of fifty or sixty meters.

Except for the ewe that was slightly separated from the group and pawed the ground with its hooves, showing anxiety and worry, the other sheep looked as if nothing had happened. After all, they were not the ones who were unlucky.

"You are amazing, Laifu!"

Chen Zhou was stunned. He didn't expect that something he couldn't do with a gun could be easily accomplished by a dog.

He had finally come across a good opportunity to capture a goat alive, so he was not willing to miss it easily. He hurriedly ran towards Lai Fu with a crowbar in hand.

Lai Fu also noticed the arrival of his owner and his desire to perform became even stronger. Sometimes he rolled over and used his mouth to nudge the lamb to make it stagger, and sometimes he gently bit the lamb's hind legs and pulled it down, perfectly demonstrating what teasing was.

The lamb's cries became louder and louder. Chen Zhou discovered that the mother goat could no longer control the urge to protect her lamb, so she quietly slowed down her pace.

Anyone who has raised sheep knows that catching goats is completely different from catching sheep.

Goats are smart and agile, have strong jumping abilities, their horns are very lethal, they run fast, and are very difficult to catch.

Especially for this kind of short-haired goat, the hair on its neck is like it has been greased, and it is impossible to grab it. The only way is to find an opportunity to grab its hind legs when it runs past.

However, the opportunity to catch the enemy from behind is not easy to come by, and it requires specific terrain to be effective.

For example, in a sheep pen, fence, or narrow alley, or if the flock of sheep is so large that the target is squeezed in the middle like a dumpling, it naturally cannot escape.

But there are a few exceptions to this difficult task of catching goats, one of which is a female goat that has just given birth.

The mother goat's natural desire to protect her young will occasionally lower her vigilance, and she may slowly walk towards the lamb when the lamb calls her frequently.

That's when the opportunity presented itself.

Of course, not every female goat is full of maternal love. Many goats abandon their lambs and run away. Chen Zhou can only take a gamble.

He had no milk powder, so he couldn't even feed a lamb, so he had to kill it for the meat.

If we catch this mother and son, we can find a way to catch a ram later, and then breed and domesticate more sheep. That would be the most valuable use compared to eating them directly.

At this moment, Lai Fu has attracted most of the attention of the flock, and the lamb's physical strength is almost exhausted. It is a good time to take action.

When Chen Zhou was in elementary school, he helped his elders catch sheep.

At that time, he was thin and not as strong as a sheep. He had been hit on the buttocks before, so he was left with a psychological trauma and was a little afraid of sheep's horns.

Since he grew up, the elderly in his family have grown older and have long given up the dangerous animal husbandry. They usually just farm and take care of the vegetable garden. Chen Zhou has never touched a goat again.

He doubted whether he could accurately catch the running sheep's leg, so he decided to take a more secure method - a noose.

The Mongols had lassoes for horses and also lassoes for sheep.

The sheep lasso is shorter than the horse lasso. It is used to clamp the sheep's head with a loose knot that can be tightened to curb the sheep's forward momentum. It is usually used to deal with sheep.

Chen Zhou had no rope or ash pole with him, only a crowbar and a belt.

The opportunity was fleeting, and he had no time to go back to the cave to get a rope. He could only untie his belt and tie it to the bent head of the crowbar, holding up his loose pants in one hand and the crowbar in the other hand and trying his best.

The little lamb finally couldn't stand Lai Fu's teasing anymore, its front hooves softened, and it knelt down directly.

The goat hesitated and took another step forward. The head goat saw that she had left the flock and called out to her.

Just at this moment, Lai Fu stepped forward and bit the lamb's back. The lamb felt the pain and screamed loudly.

When the mother goat heard the voice, she could no longer suppress the urge to protect her child. She lowered her head, showing a pair of curved horns, and rushed straight towards Lai Fu.

Twenty meters, ten meters, nine meters...

Chen Zhou had already arrived close to the lamb, holding a crowbar, trying to appear harmless, waiting for the opportunity.

The mother goat is getting closer!

It had already noticed the sneaky Chen Zhou, and deliberately avoided him for a short distance while rushing towards Lai Fu.

Two meters!

The female goat only calculated the length of Chen Zhou's body, but never thought about the strange stick, and unknowingly entered the attack range of the sheep-lassoing pole.

"Hey!"

He loosened his pants, gripped the end of the crowbar with both hands, swung it in a circle, and loosened the belt buckle.

Chen Zhou took a step forward and put the hook directly on the goat's head.

Although the female goat was running, it did not affect her flexibility at all. She avoided Chen Zhou's lasso with a clever change of direction.

After keeping some distance between them, it stood there vigilantly, observing the reactions of the man and the dog, and then stopped moving.

Seeing Fu's mouth full of wool, the little lamb was in so much pain that it twitched its legs.

Chen Zhou was worried that this guy would lose control and bite the lamb to death after tasting the sheep's blood, so he hurried forward to stop it.

But he could only stop it verbally now because his pants had fallen to his knees.

The trousers that the sailors wore for work were too loose, and they fell down without the restraint of the belt. Just now, when he ran out to catch the sheep with the pole, his trousers almost fell to the ground.

He had to take advantage of the moment when the goat stopped to pull up his pants.

Chen Zhou was busy snatching the lamb from Lai Fu's mouth, calming the excited big dog, puffing up his belly to try to hold up his pants, grabbing the crowbar, and observing the reaction of the female goat.

He looked at the bitten area on the lamb's back. The soft wool had been stirred into a noodle-like state by Lai Fu's saliva. Although there were concave teeth marks, there was no blood. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Holding the lamb under his armpits and reminding Lai Fu to stay calm, Chen Zhou walked gently towards the mother goat, conveying goodwill signals through body language.

Lai Fu was in high spirits and would not listen to him. He wagged his tail and was eager to try, which scared the female goat so much that she retreated several meters.

“Laifu!
sit!"

With a cold face, Chen Zhou scolded it.

Lai Fu kept observing his master's expression as he walked forward. When he saw that his master was angry, he immediately stopped. His eyebrows moved, and his face was full of doubts, as if asking: "Why don't you let me catch it?"

"sit!"

Chen Zhou repeated the instruction.

Lai Fu sat down reluctantly and greatly reduced the frequency of wagging his tail to express his protest in this way.

After making sure that the dog would not cause any trouble, Chen Zhou continued to move forward tentatively.

The lamb was still bleating, and things seemed to be going well. The distance between him and the mother goat was soon reduced to about five meters.

Already able to clearly see the expression of the female goat, Chen Zhou took another step forward.

As long as he gets close to two meters, he will have a chance of hitting the target.

However, the female goat had already seen through the fact that he and Lai Fu were in cahoots, and she didn't buy it at all.

Five meters is the maximum distance it can accept. Every time Chen Zhou takes a step forward, it takes a step back, always maintaining a safe distance.

Over time, he even became less sensitive to the bleating of lambs.

"Damn, how can you be so cunning!"

His patience was almost worn out. Seeing that the female goat was showing signs of returning to the herd, Chen Zhou secretly swore to himself - I would rather kill you and eat your meat today than let you run away.

With a sudden thought, he slowly bent down, placed the crowbar beside him, and at the same time loosened his armpits, allowing the lamb to put its front legs on the ground, struggling and jumping with its fulcrum, thereby attracting the attention of the mother goat.

The mother goat was fooled and thought her child was about to escape from the clutches of the devil, so she took two steps forward involuntarily.

"Three meters!"

Calculating the distance silently, Chen Zhou completely let go of the lamb, and the mother goat hurried over, not noticing that the human opposite had picked up the crowbar.

"I can go to you!"

This time, Chen Zhou did not make any mistake. He used the crowbar as a throwing weapon and threw it directly out.

The goat had never expected this move. The distance between them was less than two meters and they had no time to dodge. They were hit on the neck by the heavy crowbar and they immediately felt dizzy and their front hooves went weak.

After throwing the crowbar, Chen Zhou did not stop. He took a small step forward, ignoring his falling pants, and pounced suddenly, grabbing the goat's hind legs.

baa~
The goat felt her eyes blurry and her hind legs could no longer move, so she ran forward quickly.

Chen Zhou was dragged down by the sudden pull, his knees loosened and he fell to the ground, but his hands did not loosen at all.

The female goat weighed less than half of Chen Zhou's, and she had already used all her strength in the struggle. This pull was her last resistance. After failing to break free, she could not escape the fate of being caught, knocked down and tied up.

Riding on the sheep and smelling its mutton smell, Chen Zhou tied its front and back legs tightly with a belt, then pulled up his pants and stood up.

"Hehehe~"

He smiled foolishly, wiped the dust off his face which was wet with sweat, and grabbed the goat's horns.

The lamb was completely unaware that its mother had been caught. It crawled under the ewe's belly, pressed its head against her lower abdomen, and drank the milk happily.

Every step the ewe took, it followed, completely ignoring the restless flock of sheep in the distance.

"Let's go, Laifu!"

A beautiful day has a perfect beginning and a pleasant ending. Following the afterglow of the setting sun and calling his companions, Chen Zhou walked towards the cave.

　Thanks to: Diporo God, Those Things About Sans and Ketchup, Book Friend 20210201106607942266, Book Friend 33021213159842, crtcy, Oriental Generator, [Galaxy Bat Man], 佪目一笑旧梦如烟, and Contradiction Complex 12138 for their monthly tickets. Thank you all!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)