From Robinson Crusoe

The night is deep.

Zhao Shu has not rested yet.

He lay on his back on the bed, staring at the dark ceiling, recalling what had happened during the day, his hasty plan, his frantic run through the forest, and the scene when he mustered up the courage to return to the scene and pretend nothing had happened while discussing it with others. A fine layer of sweat appeared on his palms.

His mind was filled with complicated thoughts as he recalled his life in the tribe and everything he had seen after being captured and brought to this island.

"Zhao Shu" is the new name he gave himself.

The surname "Zhao" comes from the Hundred Family Surnames and is the first surname in the list.

Zhao Shu had heard on Saturday that in the leader's hometown, everyone there used a surname from the Hundred Family Surnames.

As a result, both new members and old members alike rushed to adopt a "Chinese name," as if doing so would make them like the leader.

The character "树" (tree) was Zhao Shu's own idea.

He couldn't understand Chinese allusions, let alone what poetry or Zen meant.

The simple characters learned in class, such as "heaven and earth, mountains and rivers, sun and moon, lakes and rivers, flowers, birds, grass and trees," became the main choice for most indigenous people when naming their children.

Apart from Zebra, Saturday, and Sunday, who refused to change the names bestowed upon them by the leader, all the other members of the island now have their own Chinese names.

……

Zhao Shu was among the first of the new island's natives to be named.

He liked this new place more than anyone else, loved everything about it, and longed to climb higher, yearning for more—

Better houses, more delicious food, newer clothes, the leader's favor, and even living in that supposedly impregnable fortress made of cement...

Having been on the island for so long, Zhao Shu's biggest regret was that on the day he first arrived, when the leader was selecting reserve confidants, he performed poorly out of fear and missed the opportunity to rise to the top.

So he watched helplessly as Chen Fu, Chen Lu, and Chen Shou, who were no different from him in the tribe and even less capable than him at work, climbed up to his head.

At the dinner on August 1st, looking at the three people's radiant appearance, he felt that everything should belong to him.

He felt as if someone had stolen his life.

……

Since then, a feeling he had never experienced before has appeared, lingering in Zhao Shu's mind all day long, making his chest feel tight and his eyes bloodshot.

When working, Zhao Shu would always exert all his strength as if venting his anger.

However, most of the time, more effort doesn't necessarily lead to better work.

When planting rice seedlings, Zhao Shu's seedlings were always planted the crookedest.
When sawing wood, his planks were always cut crookedly and unevenly.

Even when cooking, Zhao Shu's food was the worst. He would add too much water, too much salt, or too much heat, making it taste burnt.

The senior staff member in charge of taking care of Zhao Shu had a good personality. He only thought Zhao Shu was young and clumsy, so he rarely criticized him, but he also rarely guided him on the real skills of doing the work.

Only his fellow islanders would occasionally and mercilessly mock Zhao Shu's disastrous work.

Zhao Shu disagreed, believing he was superior to the three men, Fu Lu Shou, and that he had simply missed an opportunity.

Once he finds that opportunity, he will surely be able to stand above everyone else, reach that impregnable gray fortress, and look down upon these ungrateful fools—

That's what he's always thought.

……

However, such opportunities are hard to come by.

After missing the first opportunity, Zhao Shu waited for a long time but couldn't find a second chance.

As the rainy season began, the leader stayed in the factory all day and was nowhere to be seen. He was with his annoying companions and felt increasingly irritable.

In order to seek opportunities, or rather, to find a way to climb the social ladder, Zhao Shu began to use various excuses to approach the senior figures on the island, searching for a chance.

On Sunday, he always had a cold face and spoke in a harsh tone, making him the least liked by Zhao Shu.

He often cursed Sunday in his heart—

"So what if you arrived a few years earlier than me? What are you pretending for? Once I gain the leader's favor, I'll do an even better job than you!"

On Saturdays, he would always mutter things that were incomprehensible, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, chemistry, and physics. Just listening to him made Zhao Shu drowsy, and he hated doing homework the most.

So even though Teacher Liu seemed very kind on Saturday and usually answered all questions, he still couldn't gain Zhao Shu's approval.

After making numerous inquiries, he finally set his sights on Zebra, Kosu, and Kuru.

It is said that Zebra is the closest to the leader, except for Saturdays and Sundays, while Kosukuru and the other two are the other two members of the three-person team that raided the island.

The fact that Kosukuru and his companion could participate in such an important operation together on Sunday shows that their relationship with the leader is quite special.

If we could get some secrets from them and learn information that others don't know, wouldn't we be able to "rise to prominence" in the future, as the Chinese idiom goes?
……

Zebras are quite respected among the natives, and they don't seem like they're easy to approach.

Two new members under his management complained to Zhao Shu that Zebra was very strict with people, even demanding that firewood be cut evenly, and that working under him was a real ordeal.

Hearing this, Zhao Shu felt that Zebra was a troublesome fellow, so he did not go to Zebra first, but instead chose Kosu and Kulu.

After returning from the night raid on the island, driven by the desire to avenge his son, Kuru became more serious and hardworking than before, and would occasionally run with Sunday to improve his physical fitness.

However, he remained as taciturn as ever when it came to interacting with others.

Zhao Shu tried to strike up a conversation with Kulu several times, but failed to obtain any valuable information.

The same was true for Kosu. That ugly fellow was tight-lipped. Not only was the naive Kosu unable to get any unusual information from him, but even the worldly-wise Zebra couldn't get anything out of him.

……

Just when Zhao Shu was at his wit's end and lost all hope, a lifelike portrait brought him a glimmer of hope.

It was a painting of a cat, which was said to be the leader's pet and was greatly loved by him.

To allow the cat to live freely in the forest, the chief specifically ordered that no one was allowed to kill it, and also said that if the cat was injured and a native rescued it in time, they would be rewarded.

The news struck Zhao Shu like a thunderbolt, illuminating his mind.

He thought that if he could be the lucky one who rescued the cat in time, wouldn't he gain the leader's favor?
Compared to honing his carpentry skills, learning Chinese characters, mathematics, and other complex, difficult, and time-consuming paths, this was simply the best path that God had arranged for him.

……

Once the idea of ​​rescuing cats and moving into the factory took hold, it wouldn't go away.

After finishing work each day, whenever he had the chance, Zhao Shu would run into the woods, searching everywhere for the big cat.

As my teacher once said on Saturday, opportunity always favors the prepared mind.

Zhao Shu felt that he was the one who was prepared. He thought that as long as the cat was injured, he would be the first to discover it and report it to the leader.

Then his good days will begin.

……

However, what upset Zhao Shu was that the cat looked unusually robust.

Of all the wild cats Zhao Shu had ever seen, that cat was the largest. It always stood very proudly on a slightly higher branch, looking down arrogantly at the people on the ground. As if it knew that the natives living in the vicinity would not harm it, the cat was not afraid of people at all, but it was also very difficult to approach.

As soon as there is any sign of capture, it will leap up a tree and look at the person trying to catch it with a contemptuous gaze, its face full of disdain.

Observe day by day, wait day by day.

Many times, Zhao Shu was soaked to the bone by the rain, and when he got home, he was ridiculed by his companions.

Many times, Zhao Shu watched the big cat disappear into the lush foliage.

The longer he waited, the more anxious he became, and a bold idea gradually formed in his mind—

He injured the cat himself and then treated it himself.

Cats can't talk, and even the leader's cat can't be that magical. As long as the whole thing is done by himself and no one else sees it, the plan will be foolproof.

……

In a moment of impulsiveness, this guy, blinded by greed, began to take action.

Having never witnessed Chen Zhou's methods, and having only heard snippets about Sunday's ruthlessness, Zhao Shu, in a state of ignorance, did not consider the consequences of his actions being exposed before taking action.

Having become acquainted with Tiger Head before, Zhao Shu began trying to get closer to Big Cat.

Finally, he seized a suitable opportunity. When Tiger Head came down from the tree and there were no tall trees to climb or bushes to hide in, he beat the cat severely.

Before taking action, relying on his supposedly clever mind, Zhao Shu thought of a detail—

Don't hit the cat's head.

He knew that the head was a fatal area for animals, and a heavy blow to it could easily kill them on the spot, so when he whipped the big cat, he deliberately avoided the more fatal spot.

This cat is his stepping stone to success; if he accidentally kills it, he won't receive the reward.

Everything was going smoothly until Zhao Shu never expected that Zebra was a little tired that day and wanted to finish his work early and go home to rest. When he came to the vicinity of the woodland, he heard the cat's mournful cry.

To Zhao Shu's relief, he spotted the zebra's tall figure from a great distance, while the zebra did not see him.

Fearing exposure, Zhao Shu was forced to abandon his self-directed and self-acted drama even though he was only one step away from success.

Before the zebras approached, he crouched low, slipped into the other side of the forest, and secretly circled back to the fields, pretending that he had been working all along and had never left.

……

Everything turned out exactly as he had predicted.

The zebra discovered the cat, which had been beaten and was covered in bruises, and immediately sent someone to report it to the leader.

Immediately afterwards, the leader arrived with his men.

When the chief rescued the cat, he stood around watching, along with the other natives.

The leader, who was rumored to be so powerful, was nothing special in his eyes, and he couldn't see through his "scheme" at all.

While watching, Zhao Shu was extremely nervous, fearing that the leader would pull him out of the crowd and punish him in front of everyone.

He never imagined he would die because of this. He was just an animal. On their island, no matter what kind of animal it was, the end result was the same: to be killed and put into a person's stomach.

The indigenous people couldn't understand the significance of pets to modern people; the concept was too distant for them, and Zhao Shu was no exception.

……

The evening breeze slipped in through the crack in the door, gently pushing away the stale air in the room and touching Zhao Shu's skin.

Recalling everything that happened that afternoon, he felt as if he were in a dream.

Zhao Shu felt fear and panic, but even more so regret. He hated the ungrateful zebra. If it weren't for the guy's interference, his plan would have succeeded.

"There's nothing we can do, we were just unlucky this time, we'll just have to wait for next time."

Zhao Shu thought—

He thought the matter was over after the cat was taken away by the leader, but little did he know that this was just the beginning.

……

Zhao Shu tossed and turned until dawn before finally falling asleep.

Not long after I closed my eyes, I heard the sound of many people running around outside, mixed with chaotic shouts and voices.

Zhao Shu, who was still fast asleep, was shaken awake by his companions. He groggily put on his clothes and, without even washing up, followed the others to the small path paved with stone bricks in front of the factory.

The sky was still overcast, the sun had not yet risen, and everything was shrouded in a misty drizzle.

Most of the natives were disheveled and looked tired when they were suddenly woken up.

But few are as exhausted as Zhao Shu, who struggles even to open his eyes.

They stood in two crooked rows, looking at the four people in front of them with blank expressions, not knowing what had happened.

On Sunday, he wore a thick blue work uniform, a raincoat over it, and a straw hat, with a long knife still hanging at his waist.

He stood ramrod straight in front of the bewildered crowd, like a sharp spear.

The same was true for Chen Fu, Chen Lu, and Chen Shou, who followed closely behind Sunday.

Although they had not received rigorous military training, at Chen Zhou's request, they still tried their best to "stand like a pine tree and sit like a bell," displaying a heroic spirit.

……

cough~
On Sunday, he cleared his throat, and a bright beam of light suddenly shone down from the second floor of the factory.

The beam of light pierced through the morning mist, enveloping everyone in its cold, white light, causing them to involuntarily squint their eyes, which had never seen sunlight.

This was the first time Zhao Shu had ever seen such a spectacular sight. He was deeply shocked, and his drowsiness was instantly swept away.

He had heard from others that the leader could emit light like the sun, but he had never witnessed it with his own eyes. This was the first time he had seen the leader's power.

……

Before Zhao Shu could recover from the shock, Sunday's sharp gaze had already swept over all the assembled natives.

"There's nothing else that's causing you to wake everyone up so early."

I just need your help to come with me to the temple to test the chief's newly acquired artifact.

"As you all probably know, the chief's cat was injured yesterday."

However, what most people probably don't know is that the cat wasn't injured by accident, but rather by someone hitting it.

I know that if I ask everyone directly, no one will stand up and admit it.

But it doesn't matter. As long as you follow me to the temple and pass the test of the divine artifact, you will soon find out who the culprit is and who the innocent are.

No good person will be wronged, and no bad person will escape punishment!

At this point, Sunday paused, gripped the hilt of his knife, stared at the faces of the natives in the front row, and asked one last question.

"That's settled then, anyone have a problem with that?" (End of Chapter)