From Robinson Crusoe

Chapter 36 Dogs and Cats

The essence of robbing bird nests lies in the word "robbing".

Whether you are climbing a tree or a roof, the key is not to damage the eggs or chicks in the nest.

If they are destroyed, it will make no difference whether the bird's nest is emptied or not.

The crack in the rock was too narrow and there were no protrusions on the rock surface for climbing, so it was really difficult to dig out the bird's nest.

Fortunately, it was not high from the ground, and Chen Zhou happened to have a pickaxe and a wooden shovel with him.

Taking the pickaxe, under Lai Fu's eager gaze, Chen Zhou grabbed the end of the handle, pressed it against the bottom of the bird's nest, and shook it gently.

I don't know what kind of bird built this nest. The outer branches are stuck to the rock. It is very solid and cannot be shaken without slight force.

Chen Zhou didn't dare to use too much force, for fear of tilting the bird's nest and damaging the things inside. He could only increase the amplitude of the push little by little.

The small bird's nest was ultimately no match for the pickaxe and was quickly defeated.

The branches on both sides are broken and it can now be moved freely.

Chen Zhou used the thickest part of the pickaxe to hold the bird's nest, slowly moving it outward and lowering the height. Amid Lai Fu's excited hums, he took the trophy that looked like a small woven basket.

Ha~ha~
With his tongue sticking out, Lai Fu pressed against Chen Zhou's legs and looked up into the bird's nest. However, due to his height limitation, he could not see what was inside, so he became more and more anxious.

Woo~
Seeing that Lai Fu's tail was about to turn into a propeller, Chen Zhou hurriedly bent down and handed the bird's nest to it, sharing the joy of the harvest with it.

The outermost part of the bird's nest is built with thin branches, small pieces of shells, and sand and gravel.

Nesting birds use saliva as adhesive to piece these small building materials together bit by bit, and then cover the sturdy shell with soft hair to create a sheltered and safe nest for their offspring.

There were six eggs crammed in the center of the nest.

The bird eggs are similar in size to pigeon eggs, with rough, grayish-white eggshells dotted with freckle-like black dots. No one knows what kind of bird laid them.

Looking up at the sky, Chen Zhou couldn't find the circling female bird. He guessed that it must have been scared away by Lai Fu.

"You've done so many bad things, kid.

But it’s not bad. During this period, I either drank milk tea or ate bread and biscuits, and my mouth was almost dry.

Thanks to you, the food is improved today."

As he spoke, Chen Zhou scratched Lai Fu's chest. This was his way of encouraging Lai Fu.

Lai Fu also likes the interaction between his owner and him. He opens his eyes wide and his hair seems to be glowing with joy.

Following the force of scratching its chest, it lay on the ground on its side, twisting its back to expose its belly, and kicking its hind legs, moving straight towards Chen Zhou.

Raising his hand to fan away the dust raised by Lai Fu, Chen Zhou pressed its soft belly and rubbed it back and forth.

Woo~
Lai Fu changed his posture and let out a comfortable low hum. His soft ears drooped to the ground, revealing his pink inner earlobes.

Snapped!
As he was touching Fu, Chen Zhou suddenly did something naughty. He patted Fu's belly, picked up the bird's nest and the pickaxe, and turned and ran away.

Lai Fu didn't feel any pain. He lay on the ground for a second. When he saw that his master had gone far away, he quickly got up and chased after him.

Woof! Woof!
It ran and barked, and soon caught up with Chen Zhou, then circled around its owner happily.

Hahaha~
The man and the dog ran down the pile of rubble, stepped onto the grass, and headed down the slope.

Stepping out of the way and carefully looking after the bird's nest in his hands, Chen Zhou smiled happily and relaxedly.

At this moment, he didn't need to think about anything and just wanted to keep running.

Running happily into the wind.

This was the first time he laughed out loud in more than seventy days since the raft was built.

A lonely and tiring life, endured in silence for a long time.

The depression, worry, confusion, anxiety and other emotions accumulated during this period were also released and relieved in this laughter.

When he returned to the rat hole, Chen Zhou was tired of laughing.

He bent down, panting, and put the bird's nest into another wooden barrel to prevent the eggs from being damaged by the bumpy road on the return journey. Then he went to the shaded area at the edge of the woods and pulled a bunch of fresh grass to use as feed for the "little chinchilla". Then he took Lai Fu home.

Including the time for traveling back and forth, I got home at noon.

Fresh grass is placed at the bottom of the wooden box containing the chinchillas.

At first, the little chinchilla kept whining in protest in the wooden box.

Later, it accidentally discovered that the tips of fresh grass leaves would flow through the gaps in the wooden box to its mouth, so it didn't bother to protest and just grabbed the grass leaves and started chewing them.

When Chen Zhou arrived at the cave, put down the wooden barrel, took out the wooden box to check on the little chinchilla, he was surprised to find that it had curled up in the narrow box and fallen asleep.

And it sleeps very peacefully.

If it weren't for its heaving body and fluttering eyelashes, one would probably think it had been dead for a long time.

“Is this the proverbial ‘since you can’t resist, start enjoying it?’”

Put the small wooden box in the big wooden box and put some grass leaves inside.

Chen Zhou planned to let the chinchilla out again at night. He would then observe whether this guy would chew wood and grind his teeth like a mouse, and then decide whether to change the cage.

Xiao Huihui is lazy and gluttonous all day long. Since moving to the mountain, he doesn’t even have to catch mice. He just waits to eat dried fish every day.

When it was first caught, it weighed less than two kilograms. Now it has become a big fat cat weighing nearly eight kilograms, with beautiful fur, a round face, and a pair of bright golden eyes. It is completely different from before.

Now it was lying on its back, resting its head on Chen Zhou's pillow, and sleeping soundly on the fur bedding.

Even if Chen Zhou moved the wooden barrel and took out the pickaxe and shovel to make noise, he couldn't wake it up. At most, he could make it turn over and continue sleeping.

Unable to bear its behavior, Chen Zhou walked to the bed, pulled off the quilt from under Xiao Huihui, and tried to wake it up.

Meow~
With an impatient cry, Xiao Huihui slowly got up reluctantly, stretched lazily, shook his hair, and then jumped off the bed with a muffled sound.

"This little life you've been living is amazing!"

In order to ruin Xiao Huihui's sweet dream and fearing that it would get bored and play with the newly caught chinchilla, Chen Zhou closed the lid of the chinchilla's wooden box, then took out a medium-sized silver bowl and prepared to boil the eggs and eat them.

The big iron kettle used for cooking was taken to the cave. It was quite a long way there, and he didn't want to waste time because he had to go fishing in the afternoon.

These six bird eggs are small enough to be cooked in a silver bowl.

The capacity of the silver bowl was incomparable to that of the large iron kettle, and it boiled quickly after the fire was lit.

Wipe off the very little dust on the bird eggs, rinse them in cold water to ensure the surface is clean, and then put them into the pot.

He didn’t have the courage to eat fish he didn’t recognize, but when it came to eating bird eggs, Chen Zhou was quite confident.

After all, he had never heard of any bird eggs being poisonous since he was a child.

In his opinion, this thing is synonymous with clean, safe and nutritious, and it is also one of the best foods on the island.

But I am always busy with things and have no time to rob bird nests, let alone look for the pigeon holes mentioned in the book.

Thanks to Lai Fu today, he was able to eat boiled bird eggs.

Looking at the bird eggs shaking in the boiling water, Chen Zhou touched Lai Fu's head beside him with a sly smile on his face.

"Laifu, how do you think we should divide these six bird eggs?"

Ha~ha~
Lai Fu couldn't speak, but he enjoyed his master's touch, panting with his mouth open, tongue hanging out.

"You're not saying anything, does that mean I'm the one making the decision?
Then let’s do this.

You found the bird's nest, so you deserve the first credit. I also deserve the credit for taking it down and bringing it home.

According to the distribution of merit, you should eat four bird eggs and I will eat two bird eggs. "

Lai Fu tilted his head, not knowing whether he understood or not. A drop of crystal saliva just flowed from the tip of his tongue, and he stared at the silver bowl with his eyes wide open.

“But during this time you ate my bread, slept in the cave I found, and drank the water I brought up.

I didn't ask you for any money for these things.

I think it is very reasonable to charge you some interest now.

I personally think that it is too much to ask you to pay all the board and lodging fees at once. So I will only take four bird eggs from you this time, and keep the rest for you to pay back later.

what do you think? "

Acting like an insurance salesman, Chen Zhou pinched Lai Fu's loose lips and pulled them left and right until Lai Fu could no longer tolerate the teasing and turned his head away. Then he continued speaking.

"Oh?

If you don't say anything, that means you agree!

Then these six bird eggs are all mine, and you are not allowed to cheat and ask for food later!"

Woo~Ah~
Lai Fu snorted. He didn't understand what his master was saying and could only express his emotions in this way.

"say?
Speaking means you agree!

I love you so much Laifu."

Holding the dog's head tightly, Chen Zhou kissed Lai Fu's forehead fiercely, pressed it to the ground and ruffled its chest hair, then stood up and took the silver bowl with his hands cushioned by thick canvas.

Cold boiled water has been prepared nearby, just waiting for the bird eggs to be cooked.

Pour out the boiling water in the bowl and place the eggs in a bowl of cold water to cool.

Before the eggs had completely cooled down, Chen Zhou couldn't wait to take out an egg, pinched it between his fingers, and peeled it.

The inside of a bird's egg is similar to that of a chicken's egg, with a tough membrane between the shell and the egg white.

Chen Zhou vaguely remembered what he had learned about this membrane in biology class.

But time has been too long, and the useless knowledge has been buried deep in my memory and I can't remember it at all.

The peeled bird eggs emit an indescribable fragrance, and the egg white inside is smooth, tender, white and elastic.

Just take a light bite and you can see the orange-yellow egg yolk. The slightly crispy and extremely dense taste is truly intoxicating.

Of course, it also makes cats and dogs salivate.

Little Gray, who had run to the cave entrance to play, meowed and ran back.

Lai Fu, who was close to the water, was the first to get the moon. He was already sitting on the ground, stretching out his front paws and trying to shake hands with Chen Zhou.

Before feeding, Chen Zhou often asks Lai Fu to shake hands.

Over time, it comes to think of this as a necessary ritual for obtaining food, and most of the time, this ritual works.

But this time, the owner ignored it, but quickly ate the remaining half of the egg and peeled a new one.

At this time, Xiao Huihui also came to Chen Zhou, raised his tail, rubbed his trouser legs with his head and body, and circled around him, looking hungry too.

"No, it's already been agreed that this time it's all mine.

Didn’t you just agree to it?”

Pushing away Lai Fu's big claws that were pressing on his thigh, Chen Zhou grabbed Xiao Huihui by the scruff of the neck and lifted it aside.

"Even if Lai Fu has no merit, he has worked hard. You are sleeping soundly at home and you want to eat?
No, no, no…”

Maybe because he hadn't eaten boiled eggs for a long time, Chen Zhou felt that this simple boiled egg was more delicious than any hotel meal he had ever eaten.

A small bird egg could not satisfy his voracious appetite at all. He ate one like melon seeds, and wanted to eat the next one after finishing one.

He quickly peeled off the eggshell and swallowed two more bites.

Looking at the remaining four bird eggs soaked in the water, he really wanted to keep them for himself as he had just said to Lai Fu.

But looking at Lai Fu's longing eyes, he felt a sense of guilt again.

After all, it was Lai Fu who discovered the bird's nest. Without it, no one would be able to eat the boiled bird eggs.

Besides, no matter how he tried to argue with Lai Fu, the "little mute", he could not have a clear conscience.

While struggling internally, Lai Fu suddenly leaned forward, put his chin on Chen Zhou's thigh, raised his eyebrows, looked upward, and stared at his master's face pitifully.

Chen Zhou couldn't stand this kind of trick.

The slight sense of guilt in his heart suddenly reached its peak, and he could only raise his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay, stop looking at me like that, let's split it in half."

Chen Zhou took out three bird eggs and shook them in front of Lai Fu, then adopted a stern tone.

"sit!"

Lai Fu immediately lowered his head, sat upright on the ground, gently wagged his tail, and waited for his owner to feed him as usual.

From an ignorant puppy who couldn't understand Chinese at first to a good hunting helper who obeys orders now, it has become an indispensable part of Chen Zhou's life.

"Good dog!"

Praising Lai Fu, Chen Zhou peeled the eggshell and threw it into the air.

click!
Lai Fu stared at the bird egg, jumped up quickly, and swallowed the egg into his stomach.

"You are just like Zhu Bajie eating ginseng fruit, wasting good things.

Can't you just chew it?"

He peeled another bird egg and put it to Lai Fu's mouth.

Lai Fu pretended to chew it twice, then swallowed it back into his stomach with a gulp.

"This is the last one, the remaining one is mine!"

To remind Lai Fu, Chen Zhou peeled the last bird egg, placed it in his palm and handed it to it.

Lai Fu licked Chen Zhou's hand of saliva in a flattering manner and rolled the bird egg into his mouth. He wagged his tail happily and stared at the last bird egg in the bowl without blinking, looking unsatisfied.

“NO~”

He firmly pushed Lai Fu's dog head away, ignoring its confused look.

Chen Zhou picked up the bird eggs in the bowl, peeled them, and before he had time to eat them, Xiao Huihui ran over again with a thick face.

meow~
When it comes to being cute, Xiao Huihui's methods are much more skillful and diverse than Lai Fu's.

Not to mention anything else, just this sweet voice is enough for Lai Fu to learn for half his lifetime.

If that doesn't work, it will squint its eyes to show its affection and make purring sounds to please people.

Or it would jump onto Chen Zhou's thighs and "wipe" its owner's face with its tail while massaging him with its little paws.

Don't be fooled by the fact that it is a male cat. When it really shows off this trick, it is more charming than a female cat.

“Well, one is a give, two is also a give.

I have already given away three bird eggs. If I were to be stingy with this last one, they would look down on me.”

He sighed and placed the last bird egg in front of Xiao Huihui.

Be a good person to the end. Chen Zhou also helped it stop Lai Fu who stretched his head over to snatch it, and gave it earnest advice.

"Gray, you can't eat my food for free.

After the new house is built and we move in, you have to catch more mice to protect our granary!
If the rats eat all the seeds, we will have to rely on fish, mutton and bird eggs to survive."

Having said that, Chen Zhou scratched his head.

"Damn, why do they feel like they are happier without food?"

Meow~
Xiao Huihui held the bird egg in his mouth, glanced at Lai Fu, took brisk steps, and took it to the corner of the cave to eat.

Not knowing whether its cry was a response to himself or a warning to Lai Fu, Chen Zhou patted his stomach which was filled with only two bird eggs, reluctantly took out the hardtack and cold milk tea, and continued with his lunch.

　Thanks to: Uncle Wow for the reward!

　　感谢：悦然电子、五行咸鱼、五金小黑猫、诡见愁、我只想当旁白、暗云、卯时麻衣、水月Wu声、活！着、心中侠客大气龙蛇、书友20230124233051381、D调坏坏、书友20181605170154014、山城一把刀、鹏鹏他爸、啊啊啊1112、老六啊、书友20181206103441995、香蕉巴拉克、欧冶子的斩舰刀、帝幻覺、书中应有颜如玉、书友160415110508157、紫荆苏的月票，感谢各位的支持！
　　
　
(End of this chapter)