From Robinson Crusoe

Chapter 72 Summary

From March 3 to 21, Chen Zhou was busy laying cement load-bearing columns.

The load-bearing columns are made of stones and cement. A circle of cement is applied on the bottom of the column, and the gray-blue color of the stone is exposed above the cement, which is similar to the color of the exterior wall, decorating the entire cave with an atmosphere of geometric art.

Life is as busy as ever, but also very fulfilling.

Although there are no holidays and the working hours are longer every day than when I was in office.

But on the isolated island, no one restricted his freedom, no one stipulated what work he had to complete every day, and there was no noisy roar of machines or thick dust.

When he feels bored, Chen Zhou can walk the dog, play with the cat, weed the fields, take a walk around the surrounding woods, and see if he has any harvest in the rabbit trap.

Or you could take Lai Fu to add salt to the goat family, and see how the male goat's front hoof is recovering.

Since there was an ample supply of dried seal meat, plus the four lamb legs provided by the old goat, Chen Zhou was able to eat meat for every meal. Therefore, he was not very careful when setting the rabbit traps. He just casually placed the noose beside the forest path, and naturally the harvest was not satisfactory.

It’s been a month since the last full inspection of the rabbit set.

In this new month, he caught only one rabbit, which he found several days after it died.

Due to the hot climate on the island, the rabbit carcasses had already smelled bad when they were discovered and were completely inedible.

……

There are meat, oil, vegetables and fruits. Apart from the lack of calcium intake, the nutrition is quite balanced.

In order to make cooking easier, Chen Zhou’s daily meals are relatively fixed.

After getting up in the morning, make a fire, light a bonfire, throw two pancakes into a large iron pot and boil them until they are broken into pieces, then add kelp and minced meat, and cook it into a pot of noodle porridge.

Because he had just woken up and had a poor appetite, he could usually only eat half a pot. The remaining half was sometimes fed to Lai Fu and sometimes saved for dinner.

While cooking the kelp paste and lean meat porridge, Chen Zhou would also boil some water to scald the bowls, or add cold water to wash his hair and face.

Before he got the canned food, he often had to boil water twice - there was only one big iron kettle, so he couldn't boil porridge at the same time.

……

After eating all the canned yellow peaches, he transferred the entire box of cans into a more sturdy wooden package and kept it carefully.

The empty can of canned yellow peaches helped Chen Zhou a lot.

He drilled two holes on both sides of the upper edge of the empty can, then threaded a hemp rope through it, making it into a small kettle that could boil a pound of water.

The small quick kettle uses less firewood and boils water quickly. It can boil more than half a pound of water in a few minutes, which is more than enough for boiling dishes and washing face.

Save time and improve quality of life.

At the same time, the canned food kettle has the advantage of being portable. As long as you bring a flint and some fire starter, you can make a fire and cook something anytime and anywhere. Chen Zhou loves it very much.

In addition to the function of the can itself, the top cover cut off the can is also a rare material.

Thin metal can be directly cut with scissors or cut with a knife and bent into various shapes.

Chen Zhou cut a piece of metal and made a simple pen tip. He rounded the tip so that it would not cut paper easily, and then put it on a wooden stick for use.

The metal nib writes much better than a feather pen, but it has no quill and needs to be dipped in ink more frequently.

Dipping in ink certainly affects writing speed, but Chen Zhou was able to ignore this shortcoming.

Because with this homemade pen, he can create pen sketches with pink and purple pineapple ink.

The pictures drawn with thin and strong pen lines are cleaner and clearer than those drawn with charcoal sticks or feather pens, and can better present the scenes in Chen Zhou's eyes.

……

At noon on the 25th, the four concrete load-bearing columns were completed as scheduled.

Putting down the trowel covered with cement and taking off the work clothes splashed with countless cement spots, Chen Zhou climbed down the scaffolding made of wooden boxes and walked out of the cave to relax.

He walked down the slope along the edge of the platform as usual and came to the field.

After first checking the growth of the transplanted chinchilla food and grass, Chen Zhou stepped onto the ridge of the field.

The growing environment is suitable. After more than two months, the rice has already sprouted tender green ears. Looking closer, one can see a dense circle of green spindle-shaped objects distributed on the tiny rice ears.

The surface of some spindle-shaped objects is cracked, and white particles smaller than rice residue can be faintly seen inside. Those are rice flowers that have not yet bloomed.

Flowering is an important node in the reproduction process of plants.

As long as there are no strong winds or rainstorms during the flowering period and pollination is successful, the rice will be able to produce the vital seeds, and Chen Zhou will have a supply of food for the next season.

As for barley and wheat, they may not be able to adapt to the island's abundant rainfall and grow much slower than rice.

Fortunately, they did not wilt or become infected with diseases or insect pests, otherwise Chen Zhou would have no way to cure them completely.

……

In addition to the rice that is about to bloom, there is another good news - most of the unknown seeds that Chen Zhou placed in his socks have sprouted successfully.

In order to take good care of these tender "little ancestors", he made several trips to the dense forest, dug several buckets of soil rich in humus, and caught a few earthworms to loosen the soil.

Then he built a circle of stones under the windows on the outer wall to form a nursery, filled it with soil, put in earthworms, and planted these unrecognizable seedlings in it.

The top layer of soil in the nursery is nutrient-rich, while the bottom layer is sandy and is resistant to drought or flooding.

Except for insufficient light, it is already a very good growth environment for plant seedlings.

I have no idea what kind of plants these seeds are or what kind of water and soil they prefer.

Chen Zhou can only provide an environment suitable for the growth of most plants. As for whether the seeds can grow, he cannot interfere.

For farmers who have returned to primitive times, relying on the weather for their harvest is the norm.

……

While taking care of the rice, barley, wheat, seeds left by the ship's doctor, and food for the chinchillas, he also did not forget to dry the seeds left over from previous sowings, for fear that they would get damp.

Chen Zhou originally planned to wait until the fertilizer was fermented before planting the seeds in more fertile soil.

However, plans cannot keep up with changes, and he did not expect the impact of the rainy season to be so serious.

If the current trend continues, by the time the rainy season is over and the fertilizer has fermented, these seeds may have grown hair.

In order to avoid unnecessary losses, he screened the seeds again and picked out the shriveled and defective rice, barley and wheat.

Find a few glass bottles and clean socks, sort them into categories, and grow seedlings in advance using the old method, preparing to plant this batch of crops before the first batch of grains mature.

……

There were basically no problems with grain cultivation.

The rainy season greatly limits the activity frequency of birds and rodents. Most of them only go out during the short respite period when the weather is sunny or after the rain, and basically will not run to the fields to harm crops.

Not to mention that there has recently been a new rat catcher near the cave - Ti Zi.

As a cat that grew up in the wild, it has to face the cruel nature and hunt on its own since it left its mother, so it has honed its superb hunting skills, whether it is dealing with mice, hares, birds, or small animals such as insects and frogs.

With the cave as its center, it enjoys the dried fish provided by humans while being self-reliant and "feeding" the family.

The lazy and gluttonous Xiao Huihui is the main target of Grape's relief.

In its eyes, Chen Zhou, who tamed a giant like Lai Fu, often went out hunting by himself, and brought home a bucket full of fish, was obviously a very capable big cat. Although this big cat had no hair or tail, and could not even meow, it was also respected by Tizi.

Xiao Huihui, on the other hand, lies at home all day, either sleeping or on his way to eat.

After establishing his position in the family, Tizi began to fulfill the duties of an elder, sometimes bringing back a mouse for Xiao Huihui, and sometimes bringing back a bird.

Seeing that Xiao Huihui was not interested in these prey and only ate the dried fish, Ti Zi carried the half-dead prey into the cave again.

The most outrageous incident happened when it brought back a frog with one leg bitten off in the middle of the night.

The frog fell to the ground and jumped away in a hurry.

Xiao Huihui ignored it and continued to sleep soundly on the bed, but the croaking of the frogs woke Lai Fu up.

Lai Fu had been teased by a group of frogs before, and hatred for frogs was written deep in his bones. When he heard the frogs croaking, he would start chasing them regardless of day or night.

So Chen Zhou, who was sleeping soundly, heard clanging sounds everywhere in the cave, accompanied by the barking of dogs, the meowing of cats, and the croaking of frogs.

Confused, he thought some ferocious beast had entered the cave, so he hurriedly got up, lit the lamp, picked up the long-handled axe, and followed Lai Fu around the cave five or six times before he found the little frog hiding under the wooden shelf in the storage room.

The cave was relatively dry, but the little frog had moist skin. It was covered in yellow sand while hiding from Lai Fu, as if it was wearing camouflage clothes. If it hadn't been able to help but croak after hiding, Chen Zhou might not have found it until dawn.

After experiencing an extremely "lively" night, Chen Zhou was afraid of Ti Zi, but he could not stop Ti Zi from bringing the spoils to Xiao Huihui.

That was the elder sister's love for her younger brother, and it also dealt a blow to the rats and birds near the cave. It was a serious matter no matter how you look at it.

As the master, he couldn't possibly tie up and put Ti Zi in solitary confinement when the general behaved like this. Wouldn't that dampen his enthusiasm?

Helplessly, they could only temporarily put together two large wooden boxes for Xiao Huihui and lock it inside to isolate it from Tizi. They hoped that this would reduce the frequency of Tizi feeding Xiao Huihui and restore peace to the cave.

……

When talking about farmland, we have to mention the "scarecrow" and the row of rabbit skin flags.

Chen Zhou always felt that it was a unique landscape in front of his house. It could not only scare away birds but also serve as a decoration, and it was extremely cost-effective.

Unexpectedly, after being ravaged by a rainy season, the roots of the scarecrows rotted and the rabbit-skin flags shed their fur and fell down one after another.

The beautiful scenery has since become history.

Chen Zhou used the clean skull and ribs of an old goat to piece together a new scarecrow.

The new scarecrow is about the same height as him, about 1.84 meters including the horns.

It is supported by a wooden frame inserted into the soil and covered with tattered armor woven from rattan - this is Chen Zhou's latest research result. The rattan skin peeled off after blisters has good flexibility and is more suitable for weaving than pure rattan.

The "sheep-headed man" has a cloak made of hairless rabbit skin tied on his back, a white goat head on top, empty eye sockets facing forward, and two circles of ribs tied around his legs. He looks more evil and more deterrent than the previous scarecrow.

After it was made, Chen Zhou walked around the sheep-headed man several times with satisfaction. He felt that this guy should be several times more effective in repelling birds than the first generation scarecrow, and the same would be true for intimidation to humans.

If a native got lost in the woods and happened to come across a field and saw such a thing, he would be scared to death.

……

Time flies, and it is March 3th in the blink of an eye.

It was raining heavily in the morning, and Chen Zhou's raincoat still needed some finishing touches, so he couldn't go out in such rain.

After dinner, he huddled in the cave, lit the oil lamp, and with a reluctant look on his face, he threaded the needle and sewed the hem of his leather raincoat.

In fact, he had regretted a long time ago why he had sewed the stitches so densely.

But the work had already been carried out to this point. In order to make this rare seal skin raincoat more durable and to see it through to the end, he still gritted his teeth and finished sewing the raincoat bit by bit.

The 27th is the day when the twelfth mysterious reward arrives, the 180th day since the start of the challenge, and an important moment to test the results of the super-time and space cutting machine.

If it hadn't been for the heavy rain that lasted from late night until dawn, Chen Zhou would have taken action long ago.

……

It was past noon when he finished sewing the raincoat. He was not very hungry, so he did not eat lunch. Instead, he checked the condition of the concrete load-bearing columns and the new load-bearing beams on the top.

If the humidity on the cement surface is too low, pour a layer of water on it for maintenance.

PO 52.5 silicate cement is a high-end cement with very good quality.

Even if the river sand is not very qualified, the cement does not produce any adverse conditions such as falling off, cracking, or stratification, and it is very firmly bonded to the rock.

The new load-bearing beam is not close to the top of the cave, but is connected to a cement column across the top of the cave, and it is still straight.

Without pressure from above, there is no way to test it, so Chen Zhou can't say whether the wooden load-bearing beam is useful or not.

However, he had been careful when installing these wooden boards and reserved grooves on the top of the concrete columns that could be inserted into the mortise and tenon structure.

When work is less busy in the future, he plans to use some good, dense wood to rebuild the semi-permanent load-bearing beams.

Of course, that may be a long time in the future.

Right now, in addition to going to the beach to test the results and get the reward, he also has to build a temporary shelter around the fields as soon as possible.

There are still more than twenty days before the earthquake. It is a matter of life and death and we cannot delay any longer.

The rain slowly subsided. Bored and anxious, Chen Zhou had no mood to paint, so he took out the small file at the end of the dagger and sharpened the two axes.

In his mind, these two axes were always the most useful rewards he had received since landing on the island.

The time saved by the axes in chopping down iron trees in the early days of landing on the island was immeasurable, not to mention that they also captured two seals, indirectly creating a large amount of fat and food.

Although the subsequent cement and canned yellow peaches are also good, they are just icing on the cake and will not have much impact on life.

Moreover, they are consumables. If you eat one can a day, it will be eaten up in less than twenty days.

More than 20 bags of cement were used to build the load-bearing columns, and the remaining 30 bags should not be wasted. If the cave house is expanded in the future, it will be used again when building new load-bearing columns.

Only these two axes came as a timely help. Without them, he might still be struggling with the iron tree.

Sit on a low stool, hold the axe handle between your legs, and the axe blade is facing you.

Concentrating his attention, Chen Zhou held the hammer surface behind the axe with one hand and used a file with the other hand to carefully polish the axe blade.

The sound of metal friction was heard, and the axe, without any gaps or bent edges, regained its former glory.

Chen Zhou clearly remembered that the two axes were the fourth mysterious reward, which came on December 12, and it has been nearly three months now.

During these three months, the two axes were used intensively every day, and countless trees were chopped down, firewood was chopped, and rocks were smashed.

After such frequent work, the blade of the axe becomes only slightly dull, but it can quickly become sharp after grinding.

The axe handle is sturdy, durable and of high quality.

Since he got it, he has only cared for the axe handle once, applying a layer of care oil.

Today, the texture of the axe handle is still clear, without even a trace of crack.

In this regard, Chen Zhou could only say: "With an axe like this, what else can I ask for?"

　感谢：爱学习的小蘑菇啦、读者尾号8096、别我别、情止浓时、sioth68、读者尾号7564、凝萧、雷哥的小小号、余烬大人、梓琛_AC、五金小黑猫、小雨春风又一刀、西红柿21、浑元形意太极第一真传弟子、sallyz、银河球棒侠、袁某人、三流幻想家、花夜酱、书友尾号8595、书友尾号6165的月票，感谢各位支持！

　　
　
(End of this chapter)