From Robinson Crusoe

Chapter 22 Plan
The dark night was greeted by a torrential rain like a galloping horse.

The raindrops were like thousands of arrows, hitting the roof and making crackling sounds.

Pushing the wooden door next to the fire open a crack, Chen Zhou looked at the world outside the tent.

The drizzle came with great force, and in a blink of an eye, it turned from silk into strands, and from strands into threads, weaving into a white silk ribbon that poured down from the sky.

Water droplets poured into the house, hitting the burning charcoal, making a soft hissing sound, accompanied by a smell of evaporating water.

The thunder rumbled, and Lai Fu was so scared that he hid in the corner between the bed and the wall, with his tail tucked in and a look of fear.

The occasional flashes of thunder tore through the dark sky and illuminated the woods as if it were daytime.

In just a moment, the soil on the forest floor was flooded, and the fallen leaves and dead branches were carried away by the streams and rushed down the slope in a hurry.

The newly raised floor surface inside the tent was not yet solid, and when it was rubbed by the stream, it fell off piece by piece like a piece of shortbread.

Chen Zhou was tamping the ground while adding charcoal to the fire. The bread porridge in the iron kettle was already emitting the aroma of grains, which made him drool.

Meow~
The little gray cat jumped out of the wooden box, raised its tail proudly, and made a slightly hoarse cry.

It walked to the stool, tilted its head and rubbed Chen Zhou's leather boots, then sat gracefully by the fire, wrapped its tail around its front legs, squinted its eyes comfortably, and enjoyed the warmth that came towards it.

The soil along the door had been stirred into a muddy mass. The wind was howling with the rain, and from time to time there were the crisp sounds of branches being broken in the forest.

The wooden boards covering the tent also groaned in pain, which made Chen Zhou worry about the quality of the shelter.

"Do you want to go out and take a look?" He hesitated.

The wind and rain outside are so strong that such weather naturally creates laziness, making people want to stay in the warm and dry room and not want to go out.

But the worries in his heart became more and more intense. In order to put his mind at ease, Chen Zhou finally put on a thick coat, a wide-brimmed hat, wrapped himself tightly, and walked out of the tent.

The moment the door was opened, the strong wind that rushed into the house dimmed the fire. The red charcoal crackled and emitted smoke, and was almost extinguished.

Chen Zhou quickly closed the door.

The heavy rain made it impossible for him to open his eyes. He could only hold down the brim of his hat with one hand and shield his forehead with the other hand as he moved forward in the water.

In the darkness, Chen Zhou could only see things about one meter in front of him, and all he could see was rain.

He touched the side of the tent and saw that the wall panel was not blown away by the wind. He felt relieved, but did not return to the tent immediately. He went around to the other side in the heavy rain and found a wall panel that had tilted to the side. He quickly propped it up and thus nipped the crisis in the bud.

When I returned to the house, the water in the bread porridge had almost run out and a burnt smell was wafting out.

When Chen Zhou took down the iron kettle to check, he found a layer of black bread crumbs stuck to the bottom of the kettle. It looked a bit like uncooked rice crust, but tasted bitter and had a smell of charcoal ash.

Fortunately, he came back in time, otherwise this big pot of bread porridge would have turned into bread paste.

After taking a few quick sips, Chen Zhou found it too hot, so he had to put the iron kettle aside and wait for it to cool down.

It was still early and the rain was still falling. He didn't dare to sleep, so he moved the stool to the end of the bed, leaned his back against the wooden box, and read a book by the fire.

The door was still ajar.

On the one hand, Chen Zhou wanted to see the intensity of the precipitation.

On the other hand, he was worried that the tent was sealed too well and the burning charcoal would cause carbon monoxide poisoning, which would unknowingly cost him his life.

There are no neighbors on the isolated island. If he suffers from severe lack of oxygen and becomes unconscious, he will have no ability to escape.

Alone, overlooking any detail could be fatal.

The reason why the powder keg was moved out of the camp was also because Chen Zhou was afraid of low-probability events.

There were trees all over the hillside, and the gunpowder barrels were placed in the camp. If struck by lightning, the whole camp would be blown up.

At a distance, even if this almost impossible coincidence occurred, the most that would result would be the loss of a barrel of gunpowder.

With only one person and a few guns, not much gunpowder would be consumed in 28 years. Even if all the gunpowder exploded, it would not affect life too much.

Chen Zhou was very clear about this, so he was unwilling to take the risk.

Flipping through the book, he read it in detail, paragraph by paragraph, filling in the forgotten details.

As he read backwards, he discovered an unexpected memory error - an earthquake.

In Chen Zhou's memory, not long after Robinson landed on the island, a major earthquake occurred, which almost buried Robinson alive in the cave he dug.

The earthquake frightened Robinson Crusoe and forced him out of the cave, where he was forced to live in a tent under the wall outside for several days.

Worried that there would not be enough time and that the caves and crypts would not be able to bear the weight and would be destroyed by an earthquake, Chen Zhou subconsciously ruled out these two options when planning the new shelter.

But now it turns out that the earthquake did not occur a month after landing on the island as he remembered, but on April 17 of the following year.

Even if the dates Robinson recorded were not accurate, he had more than a quarter to build the shelter and make preparations.

With so much time available, caves and semi-underground houses become the best options, as long as load-bearing and earthquake-resistant preparations are made in advance.

If you are still worried, you can move out around April 10th and move back in after the earthquake.

In addition to earthquakes, Chen Zhou also discovered that the cannibalism rituals of the indigenous people here were not random, but had traces that could be followed.

The first time Robinson observed the natives eating people was in December of the twenty-third year after he landed on the island.

At that time, the natives boarded canoes and landed on the beach in the northwest corner of the island, where they held a cannibal feast.

Two years later, in December of the 25th year after landing on the island, the natives landed on the island again at the same location.

There were a large number of cannibalistic natives, more than 30 of them. When they were making a fire and roasting meat, a captive who was left to be eaten took the opportunity to escape, dodged the arrows of the pursuers behind him, swam across the creek, and was rescued by Robinson.

The prisoner was Friday, who accompanied Robinson for half his life.

About a year after Friday was domesticated, also around December, another large group of natives brought captives to the island and performed a cannibalism ceremony.

From these three practical observations we can see that:

1. The cannibal natives have fixed locations for holding ceremonies. They usually land on both sides of the mountains on the island, either at the northwest or southeast corner of the mountain.

2. Unless something unexpected happens, the cannibal natives will not go deep into the interior. They will only hold a feast on the coastal beaches and return after enjoying the spoils.

3. The ceremony is usually held once a year, most likely in December. This is not because the natives choose an auspicious date, but because December is the dry season, the sea is calm, and it is safe to travel.

In addition, from the information provided by Friday, we can also know that the island where the cannibal natives live is not far from this island. It should be an archipelago.

The tribes on the island were still in a very primitive and barbaric stage, with constant fighting between the new and old kings.

Between victory and defeat, women would probably be used as trophies, and some of the defeated diehards would be taken to the island and eaten.

Compared with the wars among Chinese tribes involving tens of thousands of people, the conflicts among the indigenous peoples were only minor skirmishes, with the number of people fighting between tribes rarely exceeding a hundred.

When Robinson rescued Friday, the thirty or so cannibalistic natives were almost all the elite troops of the new king.

These natives had not yet developed armor, had strong physical fitness, were skilled in close combat and hunting, and were very accurate with bows and arrows, but were very superstitious. At the sound of gunfire, they would be frightened and flee in all directions, with their morale collapsing.

While summarizing, Chen Zhou took out his notebook and picked up a feather pen to write down these rules.

“If the natives really come to the island every other year, will they come this December?”

“The twenty-third year is an odd number, and they go to the island every other year, which means they will go to the island every odd year, at most in a different location.

If they really follow the rules, we should be able to see them if we climb to the top of the mountain by the sea in December this year, or at least see traces of the cannibalistic rituals."

Continuing to flip through the pages, Chen Zhou wrote down the patterns of rainy and dry seasons in the book.

According to Robinson's experience of living here for 28 years, the island should be divided into two rainy seasons and two dry seasons each year.

The first rainy season begins in mid-February and ends in mid-April. The dry season lasts from mid-April to mid-August, with little rain. From mid-August to early October, it is rainy. From mid-October to mid-February, it is less rainy.

But this rule is not always accurate. Due to the influence of the monsoon, the rainy season is sometimes longer and sometimes shorter.

For example, this year, the rainy season lasted significantly longer than usual.

But once this last rainstorm is over, the island will enter the dry season. The continuous sunny days will even dry up the rivers and wither the weeds.

However, the dry season here is not as extreme as in the African savannah.

After all, even if water vapor is scarce along the coast, it will not disappear.

In the book, Chen Zhou also discovered the most livable place on the island - the Fruit Valley.

Robinson once went deep into the island and discovered a river. He walked upstream along the river and found that the river gradually became narrower and shallower.

Walk another three kilometers and you will come to another riverside.

The river here is wide and the water is clear, making it a more suitable source of fresh water than the river next to Chen Zhou at this time.

There are grasslands on both sides of the small river deep in the island, which is convenient for grazing. There are rich plants, including tobacco leaves, aloe vera, wild sugarcane, wild melons, and wild grapes.

Starting from the wild grapes, walk north for more than six kilometers, and go into the ridges on the north and south sides, you will reach the "Fruit Tree Valley".

The mountains in the north and south form two natural barriers, blocking the monsoons from the sea.

There is a field at the foot of the mountain.

The wilderness is densely populated with trees, including hard Brazilian ironwood, cocoa trees, wild citrus trees, wild lemon trees and wild orange trees.

There are also huge cedar trees - in the Bible, it was the wood used to build Noah's Ark.

In addition to the pleasant climate, hidden location and rich resources, there are springs in the fruit valley, and you can even drink fresh water in the forest without digging a well.

Compared with the edge of the island, this place is simply a paradise.

Looking at the book, Chen Zhou had already planned the infrastructure in the valley area in advance.

Crops are grown on both sides of the river, and goats can be raised or grazed on the road leading to the valley.

Fruit trees in the valley should be selected with good taste and large fruits and transplanted outside, while those in the valley should be used to build houses...

The residential areas, farms and ranches are not far from each other, making travel convenient. If the diet is too monotonous, you can also change to a river channel, build a fish pond and raise some delicious and non-toxic fish and crabs.

That day can be described in one word - beautiful!

As he was thinking, just when the pastoral idyll with rice and fruits all over the ground appeared in his mind, Chen Zhou suddenly patted his head and sighed.

He only thought of the advantages of the Fruit Valley, but forgot that it had a most fatal flaw - it was too far away.

It’s more than ten kilometers from the small river to the top.

The land route is bumpy and the water route is changeable.

During the rainy season, the river is wide and can be transported by raft, but the weather is not suitable. During the dry season, the weather is suitable, the river is narrow and it is easy to run aground.

It would take him at least a year or two to transport all the supplies into the valley relying on his own strength.

"unless……"

Chen Zhou flipped forward two pages of his notebook, staring in amazement at the pattern of the cannibal natives landing on the island.

“It would be nice if I could capture a few natives to help me with the work, but how can I capture them alive and educate them to become civilized people?

Is this too dangerous?"

Friday, a simple and honest man, cannot represent all the cannibalistic natives. After all, they are primitive people who kill without blinking an eye.

Even though they are not as smart as modern people, they are brutal enough.

Even as simple as Friday, it took him about a year of living with Robinson before he gradually gave up his habits of cannibalism, not wearing clothes, and eating raw food.

If he were to be honest, Chen Zhou didn't think he could tame several natives at once.

Therefore, he quickly gave up this dangerous idea and decided to follow the old plan. He first looked for a suitable place to build a house around the mountain, and then slowly moved to the island after establishing the first base.

"There are still 28 years left, why rush?"

No matter how much he tried to persuade himself, the desire for the natives seemed to have the ability to regenerate. It kept popping up in Chen Zhou's mind and he could not let it go.

He is not like Robinson Crusoe, who lives alone and feels lonely.

I have only been on the island for more than 20 days. Although it is sometimes boring to be alone, it has not reached the level of torment.

However, no matter how high a person's ability is, there is a limit. If you want to live comfortably, you must rely on external forces.

Originally he had placed his hopes on the "mysterious reward", but when he thought of the garbage phone case thrown in the box, Chen Zhou's heart sank.

Counting on that prank "reward" certainly wouldn't work.

Relying solely on these hands, without the help of large machinery, any project will take years.

Although twenty-eight years may seem long, it is actually not enough to withstand any hardship.

How long does it take to reclaim twenty acres of arable land by the river?
How long does it take to build a house that is strong enough and beautiful enough?
How long did it take to create water-powered mills and threshers?
How long does it take to fire pottery, build a brick kiln, or a forge?
How long does it take to breed and domesticate hundreds of goats?
After finishing all this, how many days are left to enjoy life?
Touching the calluses on his hands and thinking of the endless work in the future, Chen Zhou closed his notebook irritably.

Logically speaking, one should suffer in the face of survival challenges, but not always.

Who could endure being a slave for twenty-eight years?

After careful consideration, he still wanted to find a way to deal with those natives.

Of course, haste makes waste. Both violent oppression and sorcery are just empty talk.

Practice brings true knowledge.

Chen Zhou plans to observe these natives for a few years starting from December this year.

After the flintlock rifles are modified, the marksmanship is practiced, and they have sufficient self-defense capabilities, they can capture one and have a close contact with it to see whether their nature is similar to Friday, or whether they are cold-blooded and cruel.

If they were all honest people like Friday, you could use gentler methods and educate them slowly.

If there is no cure, then they can only be treated to lead bullets.

Chen Zhou felt that he had no psychological burden when shooting at these savage cannibal natives.

Having made up his mind, he added a few more pieces of charcoal to the fire.

The rain was still coming down and the bread porridge had grown cold.

Looking outside, there was only heavy rain, and I wondered if the sailboat had been torn to pieces by the storm.

He took out the silverware and added some bread porridge to Lai Fu the kitten.

Thinking that he would have nothing to do tomorrow and would still be free, Chen Zhou uncorked a bottle of arak, took a sip, and savored its soft aroma with a hint of sweet dates. His face couldn't help but turn red.

"The captain's collection of high-end wine is extraordinary. Even I, who can't drink, think it tastes good."

"One more bite."

Silver Spoon Porridge, I don’t know whether it should be eaten with rice or with wine.

Chen Zhou's thoughts gradually became confused, his body gradually became weak, he slid off the stool, fell headfirst beside Lai Fu, and began to snore.

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(End of this chapter)