From Robinson Crusoe

Chapter 69: Medicine That's Not Medicine

It was drizzling and the view was slightly obstructed.

Walking through the wet forest and stepping over the rain-soaked grass.

Before reaching the beach, Chen Zhou saw from afar that the wood and stones surrounding the mysterious reward had shifted slightly.

Although he vaguely guessed that his idea was successful, he did not dare to open the champagne in advance.

The higher the expectations, the more painful the disappointment.

If you get closer and find that the displacement of wood and stone is caused by wind or the misalignment caused by deformation of sand, you will be dumbfounded.

Keep going.

The closer he got, the faster Chen Zhou's speed became.

He was so excited that he could not keep walking. He ran all the way without even looking at what mysterious reward was contained in the collapsed rain shelter. He went straight to the nearest pile of wood and stones.

Rushing closer, the vibration caused by Chen Zhou's leather boots stepping on the sand affected the pile of wood and stones.

Starting from the top, a crack thinner than a hair appeared on the surface of all the long wooden strips and stones.

As Chen Zhou approached, the crack slowly widened, splitting the wood and stone in half, which either slid down or tilted to the side, as if a huge building collapsed in an instant.

"Fuck, I'm invincible!"

The cut surfaces of the stones and tree trunks were as smooth as mirrors, as if they had been polished, and when rained on, they could clearly reflect a person's face.

Chen Zhou's face was filled with shock as he looked at the reflection of the scattered "mirrors".

He rushed over to the pile of cut wood and stone, picked up a stone at random, and felt that the cut on the edge of the stone was as sharp as a knife.

When I touched the cross-section of the stone, I felt it was much smoother than any other material I had touched before, such as silk and glass. I could not even feel any resistance when I ran my fingers over it.

It seems that the cross-section cut by this invisible "blade" may be smoother than modern graphene materials.

Being so smooth, it has more uses than just paving floors or building walls.

Based on Chen Zhou's limited knowledge, if you choose a square piece of metal that is large enough, draw a circle on it, and then adjust and cut it multiple times, you can make the metal into a bearing with an extremely smooth outer edge.

Axles made from this type of bearing don't even need lubrication.

Cut slabs of stone can also be used as grain transport pipelines.

After the hydraulic processing plant is built, the pipes made of this kind of stone slabs used to transport grain will never get blocked.

Or you can use cut metal or stone to make arrowheads, which will definitely be sharper and more pointed than the carpenter's crossbow arrows.

He also had an idea - to use this "cutting machine" to cut some thin glass sheets, and then find a way to sell them to some institutions that manufacture optical instruments and medical devices after returning to the modern era.

Chen Zhou knew that photolithography machines and many optical telescopes required extremely smooth lenses.

In modern times, the most advanced polishing technology is ion beam polishing technology, which can polish the roughness of lithography machine lenses to a level close to that of the surface of a neutron star.

He didn't know how rough the cutting surface of this "trans-time and space cutting machine" that could deliver rewards across time and space could be, but he thought it should be no less than ion beam polishing.

Even if the roughness of the cross section is slightly worse than that of an ion beam, it doesn't matter; the world's second-best lens can still be sold at a sky-high price.

If you look at it this way, the rewards brought by this "Super Time and Space Cutter" are not important. Its existence itself is the most important.

I wonder how many lenses can be made by cutting such a large circle at a time.

This is not a cutting machine, it's clearly a money printing machine!

Thinking of the wonderful life in the future, Chen Zhou couldn't help shaking his head, reminding himself to stay calm and dispel those unrealistic ideas.

To be precise, he did not have any instrument to measure roughness. All these ideas were wishful thinking, built on the shaky castle of "I think".

Furthermore, even if the cross-section of the cut material can reach the molecular level, it is still a bit far from the lens of the top-level lithography machine.

As far as Chen Zhou knows, by the year he participated in the challenge, the most advanced lithography machine lenses on Earth had pushed their precision to the atomic level, and it is said that the fluctuations on the lens surface are no larger than the size of an atom.

From this perspective, the lenses cut by this super-time and space-time cutting machine may not be up to standard.

Of course, no one can use the tip of their finger to tell whether the cross-section of a stone is rough at the molecular level or at the atomic level.

Chen Zhou couldn't predict what would happen in the future, so he could only cut some lenses in advance and save them for later use, as an investment that required no capital.

As for this large pile of stones and wood that have been cut once, they need to be cut again to be made into stone slabs and wooden boards.

After cutting twice, Chen Zhou had to roughen the sections slightly before they could be used as building materials for laying on the ground or building walls, otherwise they would not be able to hold the mud at all.

From this perspective, being too smooth is not a good thing.

……

Patiently collect the half pieces of wood and stone surrounding the area, and then calibrate the cutting line.

With so much material to locate this time, Chen Zhou's judgment on the position of the "blade" was extremely accurate.

He could even guarantee that the error on the newly drawn cutting line would be no more than two millimeters.

Adjust the position of the wood and stone along the new cut line.

He strived to make the two sections parallel, and kept the thickness of the stone bricks at about 8 cm and the thickness of the wooden boards at around 4 cm, so that it would save effort when building walls and laying floors.

Moreover, the 4 cm wooden board is not only suitable for laying floors, but is also sufficient for making furniture or as a wheelbarrow bed.

It is of just the right thickness, neither too thin to be fragile nor too thick to be cumbersome.

Chen Zhou used a wooden stick to draw several construction lines on the beach, and carefully placed the wooden strips and stones. From time to time, he went to the woods on the shore and cut some new trunks or branches to fix the position.

The rain seemed like the sky's tired breath, sometimes heavy and sometimes light, hitting the edge of the wide-brimmed hat.

It accumulated in the dents of the leather, flowed down, and dripped down the sealskin raincoat.

Chen Zhou's shoulders remained dry, but his trouser legs and waist were not protected by the straw raincoat and were completely wet.

The sunlight was sometimes strong and sometimes dim, and a special wall made of wood and stones gradually took shape on the beach.

Before he knew it, it was noon and he never stopped. Chen Zhou had gotten up early but had not eaten yet, and his stomach was already growling.

He took out the bread from his arms and took a bite. It was too hard, so he had no choice but to stuff it back into the plastic sheet. Estimating that the work would be finished in half an hour, Chen Zhou continued to work despite being hungry.

After two rounds of felling, by the time the wood and stone cutting site on the beach was built, a large area of the coastal forest had become bare.

After putting down the last stone and adjusting the position and angle, Chen Zhou rubbed his neck, looked up at the sky, and found the wooden pole that was stuck in the sand last time.

These thin wooden poles of different lengths are used to measure the height of the "blade". The longest one is close to four meters, and the shortest part exposed above the ground is two meters and eighty centimeters.

After pulling out the wooden poles and taking a closer look, we found that they were intact except for being slightly tilted.

Chen Zhou speculated that the blade most likely fell from the sky and cut out such a rectangle, otherwise the height would not be so outrageous.

But if the blade and the reward were cut from top to bottom, it would be difficult to explain how the reward appeared inside the awning.

According to this rainfall pattern, the cement should have been pressed on the top of the awning, directly crushing it instead of breaking it up.

The huge statue of Wang Lingguan should have left a deep dent on the beach, instead of just leaving a shallow mark as if it was gently placed on the sand.

The blade is invisible and uses advanced technology that is unknown to humans.

After thinking for a while and failing to get an answer, Chen Zhou simply gave up trying to solve the puzzle.

He felt that no matter where the blade came from or how it cut, it had nothing to do with him. He just needed to make sure that he could use the cutting machine.

Just like a driver driving a car.

Not every driver understands cars, is familiar with the principles of engines, and understands how the circuits that control car lights, air conditioning, and audio work.

As long as they can skillfully use the steering wheel, switch gears, and step on the clutch and brake, while keeping a clear mind and normal vision, they can become a qualified driver. The same is true for Chen Zhou. …

After finishing the exterior wall, Chen Zhou was in a good mood thinking that he would be able to obtain a large number of high-quality stone bricks and wooden boards in 15 days.

Holding his empty stomach, he walked towards the camp on the hillside in the drizzle. After walking nearly a hundred meters with his head down, he suddenly remembered that he was so busy studying how to cut bricks and wood boards that he had not received the reward yet.

In the first few months of the challenge, such a mistake would never have happened.

This is also the fault of the program team. If they had given more useful things, Chen Zhou would not have taken the "mysterious reward" so lightly.

He now even felt that this mysterious reward was not a reward at all, only the word "mysterious" was somewhat related.

He hurriedly returned to the reward point, stepped over the wooden and stone wall with great effort, lifted the sagging canvas of the rainproof awning, and Chen Zhou saw a small rectangular box wrapped in a black packaging bag.

The entire packaging box is about the same size as a box of instant noodles. It has no handles and is quite heavy to carry, weighing approximately twenty kilograms.

It had been raining for most of the day, and if the outer packaging of the reward was still made of corrugated paper, it would have been soaked by the rain that soaked through the sand.

Thanks to the black plastic packaging on the outside, the small box was only stained with some sand and mud, and the interior was not damaged.

The rain hadn't stopped yet and his stomach was still empty. Chen Zhou was too lazy to open the box here, so he simply threw the box out of the cutting wall, then carefully climbed over it, picked up the box, and ran straight to the camp.

……

After entering the tent, Chen Zhou was still a little uncomfortable seeing a whole row of wooden boxes on the ground serving as waterproof racks and the empty interior of the tent after the cement had been removed.

He casually placed the box on top of the wooden box, went outside to collect some thin wooden sticks, brought back two worn-out little chairs, and chopped them into kindling with an axe.

He took out the bread and dried meat that he had been carrying in his arms for the whole morning, started a fire with a flint, and made do with baking a bread and roasting a piece of seal meat in the tent.

The seal meat is salted and dried, and then roasted, which makes it slightly salty and perfect for eating with rice.

The only flaw is that both foods are very dry, especially the dough, which had been dried out before baking and had little moisture left. It became even harder after baking and tasted like the mooncakes distributed by school during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Take a bite and the tooth marks are clearly visible.

When chewing, the flour residue inside even pricks the tongue.

It had been a long time since he had eaten such hard food. Chen Zhou was so hungry that he tore the roasted seal jerky with force and swallowed it with difficulty along with the bread.

Even though his stomach was empty, he was unable to finish a whole bread and two pieces of dried meat. He filled his stomach a little, observed the rain in the forest, then picked up the unopened reward and prepared to go home.

Before leaving, Chen Zhou did not forget to extinguish the fire in the tent and covered the charcoal with remaining embers with moist soil.

The gunpowder barrels tied to the trees near the camp had long been moved into the shack. If they were really set on fire, all the supplies in the camp would be destroyed.

Even in the rainy season, we cannot ignore hidden dangers and must pay attention to fire prevention.

……

Walking back in the rain, as soon as I reached the field, I heard Lai Fu's anxious voice from afar.

Normally, when it gets up early in the morning, it goes out to poop. But this morning, before it had finished dealing with the feces in its stomach, it was tied up by its owner, and Lai Fu had to hold it in for most of the day.

Until now, when it could distinguish Chen Zhou's footsteps in the rain, it couldn't help it and started barking loudly.

When Chen Zhou ran back to the cave with the box in his arms, he saw Lai Fu squatting at the kitchen door with his tail sticking up, a look of resentment on his face and half a piece of dog shit hanging from his butt. He couldn't move for the time being.

You have to accept the sins you have committed, even with tears.

Chen Zhou could only take off his clothes first, put the reward box on the food rack, and then wait patiently for Lai Fu to solve the "dog problem", then untie the leash and shovel away the dog poop.

Fortunately, the interior is still in a rough state. Except for a layer of wooden boards where the bed is placed in the bedroom, the rest of the place is still sandy ground, covered with a layer of soil, which can be cleaned up with a wooden shovel.

After cleaning up the dog poop, Chen Zhou comforted the resentful Lai Fu for a while and played the fetch game with him for half an hour to consume his energy. Only then did he have time to drink some cold boiled water, light a campfire, and cook some lean meat porridge.

There was still one lamb leg left from the four lamb legs that were brought back from slaughtering an old goat a few days ago. When cooking the porridge, Chen Zhou shaved some lamb meat into it, added some dried kelp, and sprinkled a little fine salt - in two days, he might have to supply salt to three sheep, so he had to use it sparingly now.

After cooking the porridge and eating the meal, the sun was about to set and the light outside was dim, as if night had arrived early.

The rain had been falling on and off all day and had only just stopped at this moment.

The birds hiding in the woods flew out of their nests at dusk, showing off their flying skills over the grass, somersaulting up and down, and preying on insects that were unable to turn flexibly due to the rain.

Not wanting to stay at home to continue sewing the lower part of the raincoat, Chen Zhou picked up the wooden barrel and prepared to take advantage of the rain to dig some river sand and put it in the cave to dry, and do an experiment with cement in advance to see if the river sand here was suitable.

When he walked out wearing his straw raincoat, he saw a black package on the food shelf in the kitchen. He thought that even if it contained modern industrial waste, the answer would be revealed sooner or later. It would be better to open it now to avoid thinking about it in the middle of the night.

Having enjoyed the benefits brought by plastic bags, Chen Zhou was particularly careful and gentle when opening the packaging this time. In order to avoid damaging the black packaging bag which was not tough enough, he even used a dagger.

Cutting a straight line on the side of the box and tearing it into the shape of a pocket, Chen Zhou poured out the boxes inside.

The box is made of white cardboard without any patterns or slogans on it. There are only two lines of black numbers on the bottom, which look like the production date and shelf life.

“2025年9月30日20:30。

Valid until December 2065, 12. ”

Reading the numbers, Chen Zhou was surprised and asked, "What the hell is this? The shelf life is so long, can it be forty years?"

“That means it won’t deteriorate until I complete the challenge and leave the island.

Judging from the box and the quantity, it is probably food or drinks, or possibly canned food.

But this is the first time I’ve seen a can with a shelf life of 40 years, so let’s open it and take a look…”

Pulling open the cardboard on the side of the box, Chen Zhou saw a row of four golden cylindrical cans that looked like brass.

He took out a can and felt even more depressed when he saw the packaging without a pull ring on the top and the can body had no information at all.

“It’s OK to send a box of canned food without a can opener, but these cans only have the production date and expiration date, not even the manufacturer and place of origin, so who knows what’s inside.

You are like an old sow putting on bras, one set after another, playing Russian dolls with me?
Could it be the jet set meal produced by a small workshop?

Or maybe the manufacturer didn't give you any advertising fees, so you just cleaned up the outer packaging.

You even said you were from the Time Travel Administration. How stingy! I despise you!"

He raised his middle finger towards the ceiling of the cave, pressed the can onto the stool, took out a dagger, pierced through the can lid, and cut a circle along the edge of the can.

As soon as a quarter of the circle was cut out, a lot of yellowish transparent liquid squeezed out from the place where the dagger pierced, and at the same time, a sweet smell that Chen Zhou was particularly familiar with came out.

It's the smell of peaches and sugar water mixed together!
This turned out to be a can of canned yellow peaches!
"Oh my god, God is kind enough to give us such good things when distributing food for the first time.

If I had switched the order of this box of canned food and the sixty bags of cement last time, I would have recovered from my cold long ago!"

When I was a child, my family was not well off. When I had a cold, I would always see other children eating delicious food, but I couldn’t. I would only bring some snacks and fruits during festivals or when my uncles and aunts came home from outside.

Among all the rare foods at that time, Chen Zhou’s favorite were canned yellow peaches and canned strawberries. The bright yellow and red colors in the glass jars made his heart sweet as honey just by looking at them.

It is often said that for children in the north, canned yellow peaches are also a cold medicine.

Chen Zhou felt that what he said was correct. Unfortunately, he had never had such a sweet medicine when he had a cold as a child. He never expected to receive a box of canned food after coming to another world.

He pulled out the dagger that was stuck in the can and licked the syrup that smelled of yellow peach clean with a slurp.

Closing his eyes and savoring the moment, Chen Zhou felt extremely happy.

"It tastes good, but it's still not as good as the canned food I ate when I was a kid..."

Licking the corner of his mouth, Chen Zhou was a little reluctant to open the can and eat it all.

Take out the cans from the box one by one and count them. There are twenty cans in total.

He even thought of saving it for the Chinese New Year, so that in the next 28 years, at least half of the New Year's Eve dinners would have a real delicacy.

(End of this chapter)