From Robinson Crusoe

An ugly daughter-in-law must eventually meet her in-laws.

Dozens of experiments have been conducted, nearly a hundred important points have been summarized, and the indigenous people have been trained for two and a half months.

Chen Zhou felt that it was time to take action no matter what.

"A rough start is the best start."

Don't wait until everything is perfectly prepared before you start, because perfect preparation is never possible.

He had mentally prepared himself for the many unexpected problems that would arise after the project started, and was ready to overcome these difficulties.

After all, a factory is a major project, unlike small-scale construction projects such as water storage tanks and toilets. During construction, all sorts of problems and difficulties will inevitably arise.

In response, he could only take it one step at a time, slowly, and try to make every aspect as close to perfect as possible.

……

On January 11, 1663, two days before the arrival of the eightieth mystery reward.

This day marked the 1998th day since the challenge began, and also the day construction began on the island's first factory built entirely with 21st-century building materials.

On the morning of the groundbreaking day, Chen Zhou led the local people in a simple ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Just the night before last, the locals who went out to sea to fish caught a big fish that was over 70 centimeters long. Chen Zhou specially put it in the refrigerator and preserved it until today, and then made a whole roasted fish.

Of course, on such a big day as the start of construction, nine people, including the herding natives on the other side of the mountain, couldn't just eat this one fish.

The banquet also included two whole roasted lambs and several "beggar's shrimp".

This is Beggar's Shrimp, a new dish that Chen Zhou devised based on Beggar's Chicken. The preparation process is similar to that of Beggar's Chicken.

Wrap live lobsters in broad leaves along with minced garlic, chili peppers, scallion leaves, and a little rum. Then coat the leaves with a layer of white mud and roast them directly in the campfire.

Once the mud has dried and the shrimp are cooked, peel off the white mud, then use a knife to pry open the shrimp's shell and eat the tender white shrimp meat inside—it's exceptionally delicious.

The natives initially couldn't accept this grotesque-looking food, but after trying it a few times with Chen Zhou, they all joined the ranks of those enjoying seafood.

However, due to the difference in status, the shrimp caught at sea always had to be selected by Chen Zhou before the rest belonged to them.

If Chen Zhou gets addicted to lobsters, no matter how many lobsters he catches, none of them will go to the natives.

Of course, the natives responsible for the fishing didn't take such a trivial matter to heart.

In their former tribe, the fresh fish they caught did not belong to them at all. Not to mention ordinary members, even trusted confidants like zebras could not eat them; they all had to be offered to the revered chief and priests.

When you come to this island, you may not be able to eat shrimp, but the fish always belong to the fishermen. Even when there is a banquet, everyone gets a share, and the chief never hogs it all.

This alone was enough to earn the respect of all the natives for Chen Zhou. If they were the leaders, they would never have been so generous in sharing the food—they were terrified of hunger.

……

After a full meal and replenishing my energy, it was just 11 o'clock.

The sun was blazing, but Chen Zhou didn't announce a break. Instead, he led the natives, whose faces were tanned dark by the sun, into the rain shelter.

He first showed the natives a model of the entire factory—

In fact, the natives had seen this model no less than a hundred times during this period.

The model is made of two materials: wood and concrete.

The wooden model can be disassembled to help indigenous people understand the factory's internal structure, including the division between various workshops and the location of work areas and rest areas.

The concrete models are divided into several parts, from the initial excavation to the reinforcement binding, and then to the semi-finished and finished products, each with its own independent model.

These models, broken down into several steps, embody Chen Zhou's painstaking efforts.

Ultimately, he still had some doubts about these natives from the 17th century and wondered if they could do the job well.

Sometimes, Chen Zhou wished he could directly impart the knowledge in his head to the natives so that they could better understand what he was trying to say.

……

This distrust is not unfounded, nor is it due to Chen Zhou's prejudice against the indigenous people; rather, there are precedents.

When he taught woodworking to the natives, involving skills such as sawing and planing wood, he would personally demonstrate and explain these techniques to them. There were always a few people who would nod and pretend to understand.

When it came time to assign "homework"—letting these guys saw wood themselves—they were dumbfounded. The work they handed in was either crooked or uneven, as if it had been chewed by a dog.

Education made Chen Zhou understand the helplessness that homeroom teachers felt when dealing with students who pretended to know everything but didn't.

Therefore, when the factory was about to start construction, he still felt a little uneasy thinking about the troubles that some of the natives had caused him.

……

For what seemed like the umpteenth time, after explaining the detailed steps of building the factory from beginning to end, Chen Zhou unveiled another huge whiteboard.

The entire drawing board is over two meters long and nearly 1.6 meters high, with dozens of A4 sheets of paper pieced together to form a huge design.

Chen Zhou drew many details of the factory, including its length, width, height, perspective, and so on, on the design drawings.

In addition to the complex 3D design drawings, Chen Zhou also drew a 2D design drawing, which showed architectural details such as the grid, walls, columns, doors, windows, and stairs.

It can be said that Chen Zhou has painstakingly explained to the natives countless times all the preparatory work that could be done, all the details that could be explained, and all the techniques that could be taught.

He even had the indigenous people memorize the safety precautions for construction.

Moreover, when construction officially begins, he stays at the construction site every step of the way to supervise the indigenous people's work.

If this still doesn't allow for the successful completion of the factory's construction, Chen Zhou can't think of any other way to succeed except by sending a professional civil engineer to provide personal guidance.

……

After a training period of more than 70 days, every indigenous person knew how much the chief valued this "different house".

Chen Zhou even told them directly—

"Anyone who makes a major mistake during construction that causes the entire project to be ruined will be hanged."

Under this pressure, even the few natives who always daydreamed while learning carpentry strained their senses and strained their ears, regretting that they were not good enough to remember every word the chief said.

However, their concerns were quickly dispelled by Chen Zhou.

In addition to models, drawings, and verbal explanations, he also prepared several written documents for the natives to help a few with poor memories to reinforce their learning.

……

Chen Zhou had long remembered that those few people weren't very bright.

Clutching a thick stack of A4 papers covered in writing, he shoved the organized documents into the hands of the natives as he walked past them.

“Every night after I get home, I first read it until I understand it, then I memorize it. I will check it three days later.”

After saying that, Chen Zhou revealed a rare serious and ruthless expression.

"If you can't memorize it after three days, go to Sunday and receive thirty lashes."

I will make him use all his strength.

……

Upon hearing this, the natives who had received the documents felt a sense of fear. They cautiously raised their heads, glanced at each other, and all looked as if a great calamity was about to befall them.

Despite his lack of airs as a leader, Chen Zhou is kind and approachable.

On Saturdays, as their teacher, he rarely punished them in his daily life and always seemed like a nice guy.

Unlike the other two, Sunday was always a ruthless character. From the very beginning, when he killed the natives, he had been serving as the "Punisher."

Of the seven natives, some had not been scolded on Sundays, but all had been whipped.

In the eyes of the natives, this "little devil" with his perpetually cold face was far more ruthless than the chief. Moreover, he was a man of his word and always obeyed the chief's orders.

If you can't memorize this, you'll get thirty lashes on Sunday. You'll either die or lose half your life.

They exchanged glances, and each of them gleaned the same message from their companion's eyes—

"What else can we do? Carry it on our backs!"

……

More than an hour later, the explanation of the entire construction process finally came to an end.

Chen Zhou didn't know how effective this "memory consolidation" would be; he only knew that he had done his best.

He instructed the indigenous people carrying the documents to return to their houses and leave them there, then began urging the other indigenous people to put on their work clothes as soon as possible.

When working with reinforced concrete, you can't always expose your chest. Even in hot weather, you have to wear thick, durable clothes and gloves.

Lacking safety helmets, Chen Zhou guided the locals in weaving a batch of "rattan helmets" during this period.

This thing does not offer much protection to the head compared to a safety helmet, but wearing it on the head can still provide some protection, at least ensuring that the natives will not be killed by falling bricks while working.

Besides, a hat can at least block out the sun, right?

……

At the selected factory site, long nails were driven into the dry, yellowish ground early on to confirm the area, with long ropes connecting the nails.

In addition to the long rope, straight auxiliary lines were sprinkled with charcoal powder.

When the natives arrived at the scene with shovels and picks, Chen Zhou had already been waiting for them for a while.

……

Starting from the afternoon of January 11, the lives of the indigenous people officially entered the "simulated civil engineering" phase.

Their sweat was everywhere in the designated foundation pit.

As time went by, with each inch of solid soil and each piece of stubborn rock being dug out, the foundation pit became deeper and wider.

Under Chen Zhou's supervision, the natives did not make any mistakes while working.

What pleased him even more was that the geological conditions of the land he had chosen were excellent. The soil was very compact, mixed with a large number of small pieces of sand and gravel, and there were very few large, hard-to-dig stones.

The entire process of excavating the foundation pit and treating the ground went very smoothly.

Nevertheless, a full month had passed by the time the foundation pit was completed, and the island's rainy season was about to begin again.

……

There are concerns that by mid-February, heavy rainfall on the island will accumulate in the foundation pit, causing the foundation to loosen.

Chen Zhou planned to find some wooden planks to cover the foundation surface before the rainy season arrived.

He also had to have the natives add several drainage channels within the foundation to direct the accumulated water to a collection pit, which would then be drained after the rainy season.

In addition, Chen Zhou sifted out a batch of small stones in advance.

If the waterproofing membrane on the foundation surface fails to function properly, causing the foundation trench to become waterlogged and affecting the bearing capacity of the foundation, he will lay these stones inside the foundation to increase the hardness of the ground.

Of course, these are all compromises.

If the foundation is seriously damaged beyond repair, he will have no choice but to make a tough decision, abandon the fruits of his labor over the past month, and start over in a new place.

It's better to spend an extra month than to live in a dilapidated house and live in fear for more than 20 years.

……

On February 17, a torrential rain arrived as expected, kicking off a two-month-long rainy season.

Two days before the torrential rain arrived, Chen Zhou and the natives had just finished waterproofing the foundation trench, completely sealing it with wooden planks, white mud, and branches.

On the day of the rain, Chen Zhou went to check the foundation no less than ten times, fearing that the waterproofing facilities were a shoddy construction project that would be breached by the torrential rain on the very first day.

Fortunately, what he feared did not happen.

At least in the early stages of the rainy season, the waterproofing system did its job and held up against the rain.

As for what the situation will be like two months from now, Chen Zhou couldn't say.

……

The arrival of the rainy season gave the indigenous people a chance to breathe.

They were freed from the heavy physical labor on the construction site and began to turn to another job—farming.

……

Since arriving on the island, driven by a hoarding mentality or a desire to prepare for the future, Chen Zhou has consistently set goals for himself that far exceed his personal limits, whether it's raising livestock or farming.

For example, rice.

When he rescued them on Saturday and Sunday, the rice in their home was enough to feed the three of them for more than half a year, not to mention the wheat and barley.

As the island's population expanded, the sense of crisis regarding food reserves resurfaced in Chen Zhou's mind.

Even though he knew that relying on beachcombing, fishing, and the island's existing resources would ensure that everyone would not go hungry, he couldn't help but urge the natives to clear land and cultivate crops.

The addition of tomato and carrot seeds as a third-anniversary reward further solidified his determination to plant them.

If you send seeds and don't even use them, then the seeds are a waste.

……

Even during the factory's construction phase, Chen Zhou did not diminish the importance of farming.

He knew that the natives worked for him so diligently not only because they were afraid of the gun in his hand, but also because no matter how tired they were, they could have a full meal every night.

If a food crisis occurs, not only will work efficiency decrease, but these hardworking "17th-century" oxen and horses will also give up.

Therefore, every few days when he was digging the foundation, he would free up five natives to "take a break" and go back to tend to their crops.

This is also the main reason why the foundation excavation work took so long to complete.

After all, the factory doesn't occupy a large area. Seven or eight people with modern excavation tools could finish the job in twenty days at most if they worked with all their might. It didn't take a whole month.

……

Fortunately, the climate conditions on islands located in the tropics or subtropics are much better than those in Chen Zhou's hometown.

Just like that "blessed land" in India.

In such places, one could survive by gathering and hunting without farming, let alone cultivate the land, fertilize it, and scientifically grow crops on a large scale.

Without wasting time, with proper sowing, the island can harvest three crops of rice and two crops of barley and wheat per year.

Although the yields of these crops are not very high due to their inferior varieties, the large quantity planted means a quick harvest.

By the end of February, the island's food reserves were not only not running out, but had actually increased by several hundred kilograms. Combined with the unharvested crops in the fields, it was estimated that there would be enough to last until the end of 1663.

Moreover, the abundance of food is not only reflected in staple foods, but also in the higher yield of various seeds derived from modern vegetables.

Especially chili peppers; for some reason, they didn't die after being planted on the island.

Over time, the chili peppers grew into small trees, each more than half a person tall, flowering and bearing fruit year-round. Now, everyone on the island loves spicy food and can't live without it.

Even with such consumption, the production of chili peppers continued to increase, and some even overripe and rotted in the ground, which broke Chen Zhou's heart.

If he had more time, he would have even wanted to slaughter a few sheep and make some mutton chili sauce. (End of Chapter)