From Robinson Crusoe

Chapter 21 The storm is coming
The river is still calm and gentle as night falls.

Moonlight swirled in the whirlpools, and a cool breeze blew across the water, shaking the slender weeds.

A few glowing insects fluttered around like falling stars. Small fish covered with silver scales occasionally jumped out by wagging their tails, pouting their mouths to catch insects resting on the grass tips.

The frogs crouched among the messy grass roots and made irritable noises, one after another, forming a continuous sound.

The oil lamp cast a dim warmth on the flowing water. Chen Zhou took off his shoes and stepped into the riverbed barefoot.

He held a lantern in one hand and a wooden barrel in the other, which contained a long knife for digging loaches and a wooden wine glass for catching tadpoles.

I vaguely remember that when I was a child, I used to search for loaches in the bottom clay of the slow-flowing river. Chen Zhou walked upstream along the river bank for dozens of meters, trying to find a suitable place.

But the riverbed becomes narrower and narrower as it goes higher, and the water becomes deeper and faster.

After entering the forest, the river flows around a huge ox-heart-shaped rock and forms a small lake.

The trees on both sides blocked the moonlight, making the already difficult to see water surface even more deep and unfathomable.

"Oh, a fisherman's paradise?"

Chen Zhou joked, breaking off a branch and poking the lake water.

The meter-long branch seemed to extend into a bottomless pit and was silently swallowed up by the dark lake.

Seeing that the lake was so deep, Chen Zhou dared not move forward anymore. He returned to the shallow water, took out a long knife, and dug into the mud at the bottom of the river to look for loaches.

After digging out four or five pieces of soil and stirring them up, I found only small shrimps, fish or shellfish with their bodies curled up, and no loaches at all.

Not to mention the living loaches, even the layer of mucus covering the loaches' bodies could not be found.

Loaches have strong adaptability and good reproductive ability. As long as there is no pollution in the water, you will always see them.

Since they cannot be found here, it is obvious that there are no loaches breeding in this river or even on this island.

There was no choice but for Chen Zhou to wash the knife and return downstream to see if he could catch some tadpoles.

His hometown has distinct four seasons.

Frogs on the river bank usually wake up in April and May, pair up to reproduce in June, July and August, and most of the young frogs have grown up by September. When the weather turns cooler, tadpoles are rarely seen.

As for the island's climate, it is divided into only two seasons, dry and rainy, and the temperature does not vary much.

Even though it is October now, except for a little chill after the rain, it doesn't feel cold at ordinary times.

Thanks to this climate, frogs on the island have not become extinct, so tadpoles can be seen everywhere. When Chen Zhou was rowing a raft to transport goods, he often saw tadpole corpses in the puddles on the rocky beach after low tide.

Tadpoles can be found at the interface between fresh water and sea water, and their numbers are even greater in rivers.

Chen Zhou used a large wooden wine glass to scoop them up little by little, and soon he caught more than twenty tadpoles.

Some of them have already begun to take on the shape of frogs, and if you look closely you can see their growing hind legs. Some appear to have just hatched, and are like a small comma.

Not knowing which type of tadpoles would be effective when fed to cats, Chen Zhou brought them all back to the camp, stabbed them to death with the tip of a knife, and stuffed them into the little cat's mouth.

Just over an hour later, the kitten's physical condition became even worse.

After eating the tadpoles, it lay in the box and retched a few times, spitting out some yellow mucus, and then lay down weakly again.

Chen Zhou touched its back and felt that its body temperature seemed to have dropped a little, so he carried the wooden box to the fire to keep warm.

In fact, he already knew in his heart that the kitten's life was most likely to be lost.

But most of the time, he could only ask for a clear conscience. No matter what, at least he had tried to save others.

Silent all night.

The next morning, Chen Zhou saw the stiff body of the little cat in the box.

Its eyes were wide open, and its pupils dilated into a gray flower.

The condition of the little gray cat has improved a little. There is still secretion in its eyes, but its appetite has increased. It often scratches the inside of the wooden box and looks very energetic.

After taking the cat's body to the forest for burial, Chen Zhou couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the grave covered with new soil.

He had only been with the kitten for a short time, so he didn't feel deeply about its death.

It was just that the scene reminded me of the cats he had in his childhood, the one that stayed with him the longest for four years.

It was a fat, big yellow cat. It was kind to people and hygienic. It never urinated in the house, nor did it steal food. It was very good at catching mice.

The kitten at home always follows it and learns hunting skills.

It also knows how to respect the elderly and love the young, and often gives the birds and mice it catches to the kittens to satisfy their cravings. In four years, it has trained more than a dozen good hunters.

On a windy and snowy night, it returned home with its entire scalp torn apart, and the blood at the corners of its mouth had frozen into ice.

Chen Zhou quickly asked his grandparents to apply medicine to it, but it was of no avail. Two days later, the big yellow cat died lying alone next to a pile of corn in the barn.

Looking back now, from birth to death, the big yellow cat has always fulfilled its mission, guarding food and scaring off rodents.

Chen Zhou could no longer remember what it looked like, but he vaguely felt that the cat's fur was like the corn drying in the threshing floor in autumn, golden and very warm.

The big yellow cat was the cat that left the deepest impression on him. Ever since its death, Chen Zhou would think of it every time he saw the cat's body.

After sprinkling some leaves on the grave, Chen Zhou did not dwell on his memories for too long before starting a new day of work.

Before we knew it, it was October 10th, and there were still eight days left before the storm hit.

The long-lasting transportation is coming to an end, but for life on a deserted island, this is just a small beginning.

Chen Zhou plans to stop the transport on October 10 and start building a more solid shelter on the island.

The entrance to this new shelter was to be safe and hidden, and the interior space was to be larger than the dozen makeshift tents combined, in order to store supplies in different categories.

At the same time, the new shelter should be close to a water source, sheltered from wind, exposed to sunlight, and have a thick waterproof roof.

A separate kitchen needs to be built inside the shelter, with a chimney, and the bedroom needs to have space for furniture and a hammock.

After the moving work is completed, building the shelter will become a new, long and arduous project, and it is definitely not a small task that can be completed in a day or two.

In order to reserve enough building materials, Chen Zhou decided to dismantle the entire upper deck, including the waterproof tiles on the top of the deck.

At the same time, he had to dismantle the stove in the kitchen and transport the small bricks to the island in batches.

From the 18th to the 22nd, Chen Zhou was completing his work according to plan.

The complete sailing ship had been dismantled into pieces. The chimney protruding from the ground in the middle of the deck was missing, the thick main mast was gone, and even the two-story tower and rudder at the stern had been removed.

If you look forward from the back of the ship, you can see square gaps sawed out on the outer edges of the lower deck and the cabin, as if they were gnawed all over by some giant sea beast.

On the 23rd, Chen Zhou took advantage of the low tide to chisel a hole in the side wall of the bow cabin, released the accumulated seawater, and transported the sacks on the wooden racks and several boxes of rice soaked in seawater to shore.

He had intended to remove the large capstan used for dropping anchor.

But unfortunately, the job is only half done.

Relying on the rich experience in destruction accumulated during this period, Chen Zhou successfully removed the winch from the keel and separated the cable on the winch.

The heavy anchor lost its fulcrum and fell into the sea, dragging the chain with it, sinking deep into the sand, leaving only the capstan on the ship.

According to Chen Zhou's plan, he only needed to saw off the upper and lower layers of wood, then use a crowbar to pry the winch, move it to the top of the raft below, wait for the high tide to push it down, and then he could carry the winch away.

He didn't expect that the winch used a lot of metal components inside, which greatly increased its weight.

Even if one uses all his strength, even if he bends the crowbar, he can't move it at all.

There was no other choice but to remove as much of the wooden handles and rivets from the winch as possible, and take out all the metal parts inside, ready for future use.

Or wait for the furnace to be built and then make other mechanical components.

For example, the percussion flintlock.

As the tide surged, the raft with its sail raised entered the river along the familiar route. The last trip was completed as scheduled.

Standing halfway up the slope, gazing out to the sea, watching the clear sky and the gradually dimming light, Chen Zhou couldn't help but become more alert to the unpredictable weather in coastal areas.

If you hadn't read Robinson Crusoe, who would have thought that just one day later, this place would be covered with dark clouds and huge waves that could smash a sailboat.

That night, after dinner, Chen Zhou did not rest, but sat on the edge of the bed and picked up "Robinson Crusoe".

He hasn't read a book for more than twenty days since boarding the ship on October 10.

Now he wondered if he had missed anything, if there were other treasures hidden on the ship.

Turning the pages, Chen Zhou seemed to see himself in Robinson's behavior.

Grinding wheel, needle and thread, rum, arrack, rigging, anchor chain...

Whether Robinson found something or not, he carried it ashore one by one.

In terms of the total amount of supplies, he has surpassed Robinson several times.

The raft transport plan proposed by the brother on Tieba was finally successfully verified.

"Of course, this is also inseparable from my hard-working hands."

Praising himself happily in his heart, Chen Zhou couldn't help but close the book and spread out his hands.

His pair of white and slender hands had grown a thin layer of calluses, and there were several scratches on the back of his hands that had not completely healed. The little finger of his left hand was a little red and swollen, and there was blood clots in the nail.

It was caused by me accidentally getting hit when I was moving a cabinet a few days ago. Fortunately, I dodged in time, otherwise the entire back of my hand would have been crushed underneath.

Such accidents often occur during high-intensity labor.

Pillars that were sawed off their foundations, bookshelves that suddenly fell over, branches that broke in the forest...

They either left a bump on Chen Zhou's forehead, or swollen his shoulder, or cut his leg.

Chen Zhou, who lacked work experience, used scars and pain as tuition fees, and gradually learned how to protect himself while completing his work.

When he was studying at home, his parents rarely let him do dirty or heavy work. They just hoped that he would study hard and make a name for himself, which he rarely experienced.

"If mom saw the state of my hand now, she would definitely feel sad..."

Chen Zhou clenched his palm into a fist and looked up at the sky through the non-existent door of the tent.

“Maybe, but she would definitely be proud of me.

I have survived here for 23 days on my own and will continue to do so! ”

The stars are sparse, guarding the half-moon with a hazy outline.

Lying down in the tent, his eyes looked through the canvas on the roof to the distant place.

All the things that needed to be completed in a hurry were finished. Logically, this should be the most relaxing moment, but Chen Zhou felt a little homesick.

He closed his eyes, and all the lights in the tent went out instantly.

It’s like turning off the lights, like returning to the warm and familiar residential building in my hometown.

There is no sound of car horns passing by, and no light from the billboards across the street that stays on all night in the room.

he has slept.

On the 24th.

The sun had not been visible since morning that day, and leaden, gloomy clouds spread from the top of the mountain to the end of the sea.

The dim light makes it difficult to distinguish day from night.

The forest was filled with a gloomy atmosphere, and the sea breeze rushed wildly through the branches, making a whistling sound.

More than half of the seabirds that followed the tide to find food disappeared, and even the frogs that loved playing music shut their mouths.

The atmosphere was heavy, and anyone could see that the weather was about to change.

Chen Zhou had been reinforcing the tent all morning - it was too close to the coast and he was worried that the simple shelter would be blown away by the wind.

There were enough wall panels removed from the ship, and Chen Zhou pressed them all on both sides of the tent. He also installed two doors on the tent and padded the ground inside the tent to prevent it from being flooded.

In the afternoon he began moving barrels of gunpowder away from the camp to prevent them from being set off by falling mines.

Even though these things are afraid of water and moisture and are very delicate, they can easily blow up the entire camp with just a spark.

Chen Zhou wrapped all the gunpowder barrels with canvas and tied them to a tree trunk more than one meter above the ground.

In addition to the canvas, there is a thick layer of branches with leaves on the top of the barrel cover, which is placed in a trapezoidal shape and slanted downward on both sides.

This way, it is not afraid of water on the ground or water in the sky, and can prevent the gunpowder from getting damp.

In the evening, the air became increasingly humid, and strong winds blew stronger and stronger, blowing the leaves in the forest flying all over the place.

It had started raining in the open sea, and the gray cumulonimbus clouds were rapidly approaching the shore.

Chen Zhou huddled in the tent, sat on a low stool and lit a fire.

Next to him was a black sack filled with small pieces of charcoal left over from the fire that had been out for more than twenty days.

These charcoals burn very quickly and can be used as charcoal sticks or as fuel. The biggest advantage is that they do not produce smoke, making them suitable for unventilated tents and rainy days like this.

The fire is bright.

The "doors and windows" on both sides were closed tightly, and the flame flickered very little.

The bread porridge in the big iron kettle was bubbling.

While chewing the candied fruit, Chen Zhou touched Lai Fu beside him and moved his eyes to the wooden box at the end of the bed.

After nine days of simple treatment, the little gray cat's eyes were almost healed. Only a thin layer of white substance covering the surface of the eyeball remained, and it rarely shed tears.

The kitten's physical condition is getting better and better, and it is gradually showing the mischievousness that it should have at its age.

Sometimes it would sneak out while Chen Zhou was putting food and water into the box and play around in the tent. It especially liked to sharpen its claws on the bedside table.

When it is tired, it will lie down on the fur bedding to rest, as if it has long forgotten the companion it once depended on.

Facing Chen Zhou's touch and caress, it was no longer afraid as before, but began to enjoy it, licking Chen Zhou's fingers from time to time, purring with satisfaction.

However, after eating insects for more than ten days, the little gray cat was still very thin.

You can vaguely see its ribs on both sides of its body, its cheeks are fleshless, and combined with its pair of slightly pale eyes, it looks like a tuberculosis patient, with a very unpleasant appearance.

"Want to come out and play for a while?"

Looking at the little gray cat, Chen Zhou smiled and extended an invitation.

When the little guy heard the sound, he grabbed the edge of the box and peeked out. When he saw Lai Fu, he shrank his head back in fear and kept silent.

Seeing this, Chen Zhou reached out, picked up the little guy and put him on his lap.

He didn't know how many months old the kitten was, but feeling its small frame, he estimated that even if he fed it with meat and fish every day, it would be difficult for it to grow too big.

What's more, he had a disease that delayed his growth.

But it doesn’t matter. If I can’t grow taller, can I grow rounder?

Rubbed the little gray cat's head.

In the forest, the sound of rain gradually rose.

　Thanks to ChaSeRuJiu, Huo!Zhe, aws, Ten Thousand Years is Too Long, QieXing, ShuYou20170905155231418, MiZhiMoYuRen, FengDeRoar1994, ShuYou20180701210826034 for their monthly tickets!
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(End of this chapter)