From Robinson Crusoe

The rainy season on the island is different from the torrential rains in the north; it only lasts for a short while, and it is not entirely similar to the plum rain season in the south.

It would be inaccurate to say that it rains every day on the island after the rainy season begins.

However, based on Chen Zhou's experience of living here for more than three years, although it doesn't rain every day during the rainy season, it's almost the same as raining every day.

……

During the rainy season, which lasts for more than two months, rainy days account for at least 80% of the days, most of which are short-lived downpours that gradually stop, leaving only lingering clouds in the sky.

The remaining precipitation consisted of continuous rain throughout the day, a rare occurrence but the most annoying.

The rain started and never stopped, but there was little coolness outside; instead, it was hot and humid, which Chen Zhou, who came from the northern inland region, found extremely uncomfortable.

Even today, three years later, he still feels a little down when he sees the drizzling rain outside.

……

The gloomy rainy season not only brings psychological depression, but also hinders many ongoing tasks on the island.

Construction of the factory has been temporarily suspended.

The natives returned to their dilapidated cabins near the gallows, and Chen Zhou also left his sunny outdoor villa and returned to his cave dwelling.

Having not been home for more than two months, a thin layer of dust had settled on the bookshelves in the cave dwelling, and the floor and glass were no longer as shiny as before.

However, seeing the bedroom without a single footprint reassured Chen Zhou.

This shows that no one secretly entered the cave without permission during his absence, indirectly proving the indigenous people's awe of him.

……

The poorly maintained residence urgently needed cleaning. To reduce his workload, Chen Zhou called over on Saturday and Sunday and led the two of them in a day-long deep cleaning, finally managing to wipe the forging room, kitchen, and bedroom spotless.

As for the storage room, because it contained too many mysterious rewards and many artifacts and tools far beyond its time, Chen Zhou didn't want Saturday and Sunday to see it.

Even though these two people have proven themselves trustworthy through their actions, people are still curious after all.

Once their curiosity is aroused, they will surely struggle to uncover the secrets when given the chance.

Sometimes human nature needs to be tested, but more often than not, it's better to give up testing human nature.

Even if they behave well enough on Saturdays and Sundays, Chen Zhou doesn't want them to struggle with whether or not to cross their inner bottom line, as that would benefit no one.

……

On the morning of February 19th, the sky was still overcast.

The cave dwellings, which are in the shade, don't receive much sunlight to begin with, and they become even darker during the rainy season.

A light drizzle was falling outside the window. Inside the cave dwelling bedroom, two oil lamps were lit, illuminating the desk and Chen Zhou sitting behind it.

He had just finished breakfast and was about to go out to check on the crops when he went up to the watchtower and glanced around, only to find that some natives were already up and working in the fields wearing straw hats.

Suddenly, he found himself with nothing to do.

……

Stretching and leaning back in the soft ergonomic chair, Chen Zhou stared quietly at the empty desk, feeling a little sleepy.

Laifu returned to its old haunts, lying lazily under the bedroom window, neither sleeping nor getting up, but simply watching its owner quietly, gently wagging its tail.

It's already a four-year-old dog, past its lively and active age, and its personality has become more and more stable.

When Chen Zhou was busy with work and ignored it for several days, it would always take the initiative to come up to it, implying that it wanted to play.

Now, Laifu seems to understand human behavior better. Even though it needs companionship, it won't cling to people like it used to.

It learned to wait, using its short lifespan to wait for human favor.

……

Little Totoro, Little Grey, Grey Ball, and Guangdang moved to the new house with Chen Zhou, and then moved back together.

Their intelligence is limited, and after leaving the cave dwelling for more than two months, they are still somewhat unfamiliar with the environment when they return here.

Especially Guangdang, it has forgotten about the farmland it used to patrol, and has stayed indoors for the past two days, not daring to go out.

The little Totoro was the least affected; no matter where it moved, it lived in its own little villa, and the storms outside had nothing to do with it.

As Chen Zhou sat behind his desk in a daze, several cats were walking around the room, sniffing and scratching here and there.

Their footsteps were so light that almost no sound could be heard inside the house, except for the continuous sound of rain outside the window and the rhythmic ticking of the clock.

The clock was a reward delivered on January 13th. Chen Zhou knew it was valuable as soon as he opened the package. Fearing that the natives might damage it during transport, he took it directly to his new home and placed it in his bedroom as a decoration.

It wasn't until a few days ago, when leading the natives back to their cave dwellings, that Chen Zhou brought it back and adjusted its time.

After the rainy season begins, the sun is not visible, making it impossible to determine the time using a sundial.

Thankfully, Chen Zhou had obtained the mechanical watch in advance; otherwise, adjusting the clock would have been a real hassle.

……

The faint sounds of mechanical movement can always give people a definite feeling that time is passing by second by second.

Chen Zhou casually picked up a few books from the bookshelf, intending to continue reading and learn about explosives manufacturing or advanced techniques in rattan weaving. After quickly reading a few pages, he found himself lacking interest in learning.

For the past few months, I've been thinking about the construction of the factory, worrying about the Spanish invasion, supervising the natives, dealing with the details of farmland and livestock, and the trivialities of daily life.

Coordinating the overall situation is no easy task, especially for major events like construction projects that involve life and safety.

Chen Zhou could entrust his farmland to the natives to manage, and he could also hand over his livestock to the native herders, because the loss of some grain and the death or injury of a few sheep were minor matters to him.

But he really couldn't put his mind at ease about the construction of the factory.

Over the course of several months, although no one said anything, Chen Zhou himself felt that he was much more tired than before, and he probably had a lot more gray hair.

After working so hard for so long, he finally has some free time and doesn't want to continue studying or working. He wants to relax.

……

"Judging from the sky outside, it shouldn't rain heavily anytime soon. Why don't we go fishing for a while?"

After staring blankly at the books on the table for a while, Chen Zhou finally put them away.

The mysterious reward that arrived at the end of November was a fishing rod of very high quality and exquisite workmanship, far superior to the items in the fishing gift package. It has not been used since it arrived.

Feeling bored today, he decided to go fishing in the rain for a while.

Whether or not there is any gain is not important; Chen Zhou just wants to relax his tense mood.

……

As Chen Zhou got up from the ergonomic chair and headed to the storage room to get his fishing rod, he passed by the bedroom window and bent down to pat Lai Fu's big head.

Laifu squinted his eyes slightly, grinned, and enjoyed his owner's caresses.

As if sensing that there would be outdoor activities today, it immediately stood up after Chen Zhou entered the storage room, wagging its tail and gazing out the window with great excitement.

...The various supplies and mysterious rewards in the storage room had already been divided into several small piles according to date, type, and other distinctions.

Some were displayed on shelves, while others were packed in boxes.

Some moisture-sensitive items, such as clothing and fabric boxes, are lined with a layer of charcoal to absorb moisture. Chen Zhou replaces the charcoal every rainy season to ensure that the clothes do not get moldy.

From the outermost to the innermost part of the storage room, the importance of the supplies gradually increases.

All the mystery rewards were kept deep inside the storage room to prevent the natives from peeping through the windows. Even insignificant items like silicone phone cases and anal plugs were locked in wooden crates.

It can be said that, apart from Chen Zhou, no one else on the island knew what the rewards were for.

……

When cleaning, Chen Zhou cleaned the storage room by himself, simply sweeping the floor without even mopping.

Walking into the storage room, you can faintly smell a damp, dusty odor.

Chen Zhou's gaze swept over the wooden crates, finally settling on the second to last one.

He suddenly remembered that the box contained the mysterious reward that had been delivered on January 28th, when he was busy directing the natives to "cover" the foundation pit.

In the midst of his busy schedule, he only had time to rush to the beach. He didn't even unpack the reward before taking it home and throwing it into the wooden box.

He forgot about the reward for half a month because he had too many things to deal with afterwards.

"Great, there's another blind box waiting for me."

With a self-deprecating laugh, Chen Zhou picked up the wooden crate, unsure whether he was lamenting his busy schedule or regretting his poor memory.

After moving the wooden box back to the bedroom, he returned to the storage room and took the fishing rod that was in the leather bag.

……

Lai Fu stood at the door, silent, but his gaze was fixed on Chen Zhou as if drawn by a magnet.

Seeing Chen Zhou place the wooden box on the table, its excited expression immediately dimmed. Just as it was about to lie down, it saw Chen Zhou take out a long leather bag, so it straightened its legs again.

Having been with its owner for so long, Laifu's favorite things to see, besides backpacks, are long, narrow items like these.

Because Chen Zhou would spend a long time with it every time he went fishing, and sometimes when he couldn't catch any fish, he would play games with it and have a wild time, which made it develop a fondness for the fishing rod.

Seeing Chen Zhou take out the long leather bag, Lai Fu immediately felt excited about today's event.

Although its ears cannot stand up completely, they can stand up halfway with effort.

With its attention focused and ears perked up, Laifu was just waiting for its owner to tell it to go out and have some fun.

Unexpectedly, Chen Zhou walked to the desk with the long leather bag, but instead of greeting it or opening the bag, he opened the wooden box first.

……

Inside the wooden crate was a cardboard box. The box wasn't very big, only about 60cm long and no more than 40cm wide. It was rectangular and didn't look like anything important.

But Chen Zhou did not underestimate it—

Since receiving the third-anniversary reward, the value of each mystery reward has been vastly different from the reward from the first year of arriving on the island.

Even though they are both handicrafts, the clock far surpasses the Wang Lingguan statue street in terms of practicality and price.

Of course, if one were to insist on bringing up the fact that the base of the Wang Lingguan statue could be used for cooking, then Chen Zhou could only reluctantly admit that the two rewards were indeed roughly equal in value.

……

Holding the cardboard box by the bottom, Chen Zhou took it out of the wooden crate. Feeling its heavy weight, he guessed that the box probably contained a metal item or a ceramic craft.

"Is it still just a metal thing?"

Faced with this "blind box" that had been delayed for half a month before finally seeing the light of day, Chen Zhou was more interested than when he usually opened the box directly on the beach.

Carefully cut the edges of the cardboard box with a dagger, trying not to damage the integrity of the cardboard.

Upon opening the box and seeing the contents, he paused for a moment—

Inside the box was a model of a steam engine, its metal surface gleaming.

Most of the components of the steam engine were made of brass, which, when reflected by the oil lamp, gave it a golden appearance.

However, what captivated Chen Zhou even more was its exquisite and mechanically beautiful structure.

Two cylinders, pistons, connecting rods, crankshaft, steam supply system, condenser...

This machine, which is not particularly large, is made up of many ingeniously designed small parts.

When it starts working, the steam generated after heating will enter the piston and reciprocate inside the cylinder. This reciprocating motion of the piston will then be converted into rotational power through the connecting rod and crankshaft, driving the machine, ship, or train.

"What a good thing!"

As someone with a deep passion for mechanical structures, Chen Zhou could refuse to learn how to make explosives, but he couldn't refuse this steam engine model.

But at this moment, he did not immediately take out the steam engine model—

There were other things in the other part of the cardboard box.

Unpacking the individual packaging on the other side of the box, Chen Zhou saw a boiler model that matched the steam engine model.

It's clear that the model maker has excellent craftsmanship and pays special attention to the details of the model.

He not only designed these two models, but also thoughtfully included a whistle, a switch valve, a quick switch, as well as some pressure gauges, replacement ports, screws, and other small parts.

……

Chen Zhou placed the steam engine and boiler models on the table and took out all the small parts. He wished he could instantly install all the parts onto the steam engine and boiler, then light it and admire its working state.

It's worth noting that in recent months, in his spare time, he has been thinking most about how to build a steam engine suitable for the 17th century.

Chen Zhou believed that with his own knowledge, he was fully capable of replicating a practical steam engine.

But that will take time.

He is not a computer; he cannot memorize all the knowledge he has learned and retrieve it when he needs it.

To build a steam engine, he had to design it bit by bit, recalling what he had learned, which was bound to be a long process.

This steam engine model perfectly saved him the time of thinking.

Even if he couldn't scale it up proportionally, he only needed to understand the structure of the steam engine and make some minor improvements, which wouldn't take much time.

……

As Chen Zhou picked up each part to examine it, his desire to learn and research gradually increased, and he wanted to give up fishing to focus on figuring out the steam engine, he heard a heavy thud behind him.

Looking back, I saw that Laifu was lying on the ground with a long face.

Seeing its owner staring at it, Laifu turned its head away in dissatisfaction, leaving Chen Zhou with only a stubborn back of its head, which made Chen Zhou both amused and exasperated. He had no choice but to put the steam engine model back into the cardboard box.

"Alright, alright, you're such a big dog, but you have quite the temper. I'll take you out to play!" (End of Chapter)