From Robinson Crusoe

With the disappearance of the Spanish, the biggest destabilizing factor, the lives of the indigenous people gradually returned to normal.

……

Chen Zhou remained vigilant until he received definitive confirmation that the Spanish would not land on the island.

He divided the seven natives into two groups.

One group of five, led by him and assisted by Zebra, was responsible for felling trees, preparing building materials, and constructing fortifications.

The other group, led by Sunday, consisted of only two people and was responsible for looking after the fields and tending to the sheep.

Saturday's work is the freest, but also the busiest—he is responsible for preparing daily meals, delivering messages, and handling other trivial matters that are neglected on Sundays.

……

The natives were filled with fear when they were captured, thinking they were bound to suffer inhuman treatment and painful torture.

After living on the island for a while, they were surprised to find...

"Hey! It seems like I'm living a more comfortable life than I did in the tribe."

……

Knowing that the natives had little intention of escaping, or rather, that they were deterred by the threat of hanging and had given up the idea of ​​running away, Chen Zhou relaxed his surveillance slightly to accommodate the two people who were supervising the natives on Saturday and Sunday, giving the natives more private space.

The indigenous people who still sleep on wooden planks outdoors can now separate their own planks and choose a piece of land they like to rest on within the designated "rest area".

Each of them received a small ceramic box from Chen Zhou, which could be used to store tableware or as a reward.

Every morning, just as dawn breaks, the indigenous people are awakened by zebras and begin preparing their own breakfast.

At first, their diet consisted only of simple barley porridge.

Later, Chen Zhou added some dried fish for them, as well as the occasional rabbit that had been caught in a trap—

Rabbits have become a rare sight on the edge of the woodland.

Finally, finding it too troublesome, Chen Zhou simply told the natives on Saturday that they could catch their own fish, clean them, and add them to the barley porridge.

Of course, fishing can only be done after the daily work is completed, and it must be done with the help of a Saturday, Sunday or a zebra. Going out to fish on one's own is not allowed.

After finishing their hot breakfast, washing the dishes and utensils, and washing their faces, the two groups of natives set off with their respective leaders.

……

Comparatively speaking, the group that worked with Chen Zhou was more tiring.

They did hard labor such as cutting down trees, peeling bark, sawing trunks, and digging ditches, or they carried stones with shoulder poles and pushed carts, which required a great deal of physical exertion.

The work of the two who worked with Sunday was much easier.

They were responsible for cultivating the newly reclaimed land, fetching water for the goats, and milking them. These tasks took a long time, but were not as strenuous as those of the larger indigenous groups.

However, everything has its advantages and disadvantages.

Although the indigenous people in the large group were tired, the food they received was of a high standard.

Whatever Chen Zhou ate for dinner, they always got a bite; they were the first to taste the flavors of scallions, ginger, and garlic.

Rice, noodles, boiled seafood, fried squid, and even dumplings, hot cocoa, cold milk tea, and iced juice...

These novel delicacies deeply impressed the natives' taste buds, even if it was just a bite or a small piece.

In their original tribe, their only cooking method was roasting.

Seasonings? Not at all!
The monotonous tastes dominate our lives, but for people who can't even fill their stomachs, good food is a false proposition.

When you're hungry, even stewed cabbage and spinach leaves with leftover rice and tofu can be called "Pearl, Jade, and White Jade Soup." When you're so hungry that your stomach is practically sticking to your back, everything tastes delicious.

Once they got here, they realized that they had never been able to fully utilize the functions of their tongues.

They probably wouldn't understand what bitter, spicy, sour, sweet, fragrant, foul, or salty is without Chen Zhou's cooking. They would have lived their whole lives in the tribe in a daze.

Besides better food, the indigenous people could also learn Chinese and other knowledge by following Chen Zhou.

The other indigenous people were alright, they just had a few common phrases in their vocabulary.

For Zebra, a native who desperately wanted to become a "junior leader," such an opportunity was extremely rare. He wished he could stick to Chen Zhou's side 24 hours a day and obey his orders.

Unfortunately, Chen Zhou had little interest in communicating with these indigenous people who did not speak his language.

The indigenous people were physically exhausted from the manual labor, but he, who was in charge of directing them, was even more mentally exhausted.

Often, the natives could not understand his instructions correctly.

Sometimes he could correct the natives' mistakes by demonstrating, and sometimes he had to call in the translator on Saturday to solve the problem.

It's great not having to work, but having a bunch of clueless idiots under your command means that a busy day can easily lead to high blood pressure.

If Chen Zhou hadn't been relatively mild-tempered and emotionally stable, these natives would have been whipped countless times a day.

……

The two indigenous people in the group did light work, but their lives were far less comfortable than those of the indigenous people in the larger group.

When they finished work each day and returned to the gathering place to cook, all they could hear were their fellow group members boasting about what delicious food they had eaten that day, or talking about the new knowledge they had learned.

And then there's Zebra, who somehow got a house and always sits alone in the corner, muttering to himself.

If you listened closely, the words he was using were eight or nine parts similar to what the two of them usually said on Saturdays and Sundays—this guy was secretly reviewing what he had learned.

If the indigenous people of the larger group finish recounting their day's experiences and then curiously ask the indigenous people of the smaller group what new and interesting things happened, the indigenous people of the smaller group will feel awkward.

In reality, besides their limited knowledge about farming and sheep herding, what they received most from following Sunday was scolding.

Sundays have never shown patience or tolerance towards these “hostile warriors” from large tribes.

After being educated by Chen Zhou, the only improvement he could make was to use the whip less often; as for verbal reprimands, he never hesitated to use them.

Being with Sundays only brings stress to the indigenous people.

The indigenous people in the small group dreamed of moving to the larger group, even if they couldn't eat those exotic delicacies. Just getting rid of Sunday, that nemesis, would be a great thing for them.

Unfortunately, Chen Zhou had not yet applied the work rotation system to the local people under his command, and these "hard days" eventually passed one by one.

……

In Chen Zhou's view, salvaging the cannon was too far-fetched and obviously too difficult for the natives.

His first task was to excavate near-shore woodlands, create complex terrain, and construct real defensive works such as barbed wire, traps, and trenches.

There is strength in numbers.

With various metal tools at their disposal, and after becoming familiar with their usage and application methods, the natives built fortifications much faster than Chen Zhou had imagined.

The beach was quickly dug into the "lunar surface," with craters of all sizes everywhere.

Some of the sandpits are deep enough to fit a 1.7m tall adult, and have spikes at the bottom.

To avoid misunderstandings among their own personnel regarding the trap locations, these sand pits are currently left uncamouflaged and exposed to direct sunlight.

As you approach the woodland, there are many heavy barricades with sharp spikes pointing outwards, arranged like gears.

After passing through the barricades, the enemy was met by three interconnected trenches with drainage ditches.

Each trench was preceded by a low earthen wall to defend against arquebus fire.

Every 5 meters inside the trench, there was an inward-sloping "side chamber," a design that effectively reduced the damage caused by shells to personnel.

Although Chen Zhou didn't know if the Spanish artillery could reach that position, being prepared was better than being unprepared, since he wasn't the one doing the hard work anyway.

……

Numerous new projects have increased the island's demand for building materials to an unprecedented level.

To this end, Chen Zhou specially raised the wooden and stone wall so that it could cut more materials at once.

However, when the wooden and stone wall, which was over 3 meters high, was built, a new problem arose—Chen Zhou could no longer simply lift his leg and step over the wall to see the reward inside.

He had to direct the natives to move all the building materials before he could receive his reward.

……

The intense preparations seemed to speed up the process.

With the last mystery reward of July being claimed on July 17th, the construction of the defensive fortifications entered its mid-stage.

The natives were already able to complete the basic trench digging design and barricade construction independently, without Chen Zhou's help.

As for the placement of TNT and the use of the improved flintlock musket, Chen Zhou did not intend to let these natives know.

Once this side of the trenches was dug, he would set aside Sundays and Saturdays separately, choosing a place far from the crowds, to teach them this knowledge that was ahead of its time.

……

The closer it got to August, the stronger Chen Zhou's sense of urgency became.

At the front of the trench, rows of rather simple wooden watchtowers were erected.

On the west side of the mountain, a beacon tower built with rubble and white mud was also erected.

Damp fuel was piled up next to the beacon tower, and if anything happened on this side, black smoke would billow into the sky.

After completing this phase of the defensive fortifications, the "engineering team" composed of natives moved their work site to the sandy area on the northeast corner of the mountain.

……

In Chen Zhou's mind, late July and early August were the most likely times for the Spanish to land on the island.

To this end, he did not hesitate to temporarily suspend the construction of the defensive fortifications in the northeast corner, and on July 24th, he specially set aside a day to gather Saturday and Sunday to teach them how to use the improved flintlock musket.

A few days after the two men mastered how to use flintlock pistols, he went alone to the southwest and northeast corners and laid enough TNT to blow up hundreds of people.

……

The power of the King of Explosives is the enemy's nightmare, but also Chen Zhou's source of security.

After the TNT was deployed, he felt much more at ease.

And so, time passed day by day, and before we knew it, the last day of July had passed and August had begun.

There are only two weeks left until the new rainy season arrives.

If the Spanish fail to land on the island within the next two weeks, after the long rainy season, Chen Zhou, who is holed up in his cave dwelling and focused on forging, will surely have more advanced "Chen-style rifles" and more Minié ammunition.

By then, conquering this place will be exponentially more difficult. (End of Chapter)