From Robinson Crusoe

The construction of the new ship was not immediately put on the agenda.

After acquiring treasures worth nearly 300 million, Chen Zhou felt a huge weight lifted from his heart, and suddenly felt a sense of relief.

After executing Risoben, he put aside all his work and spent several days fishing on the island with Laifu.

Since preparing to attack the island and capture the natives and Spaniards, Chen Zhou hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time.

Fishing used to be just a way to relieve stress, but deep down it wasn't truly relaxing.

It's different now.

Just like those retired cadres, they receive several thousand yuan in pension every month. Their children's jobs and marriages are all arranged, and they own a house and a car. They have paid off their mortgage long ago, and their pension is more than they can spend.

With such a perfect life about to reach an enviable end, what is there to worry about or be troubled about?

Chen Zhou usually fishes with a bit of a utilitarian mindset, thinking he must catch a big enough fish or several fish that are over 50cm in size.

Now he just sits by the lake all day with his fishing rod hanging down.

When the mood strikes, I'll scatter more cooked barley, not caring how big the fish I catch or whether the fish bite frequently.

If you get tired or bored from fishing, play with Laifu for a while.

When Laifu was young, it always liked to lower its body, stick out its buttocks, wag its tail, and stare at Chen Zhou with unblinking eyes, inviting Chen Zhou to play with it.

But Chen Zhou was busiest when he first started taking on the challenge. Every day from waking up to going to sleep, he had endless work to do and countless things to think about, and he rarely had time to spend with Lai Fu.

Now the situation has reversed.

Laifu has become more stable and has lost the energy of a young puppy. However, its owner, Chen Zhou, who is over thirty years old, is persistent in teasing it, sometimes throwing it bones, sometimes pressing it down and rubbing its belly, and playing and frolicking with it.

Unable to stand its childish owner, Laifu often gives him a look that seems to say, "I can't stand you," yet it has no choice but to comply with its owner, running a few steps and barking a couple of times as a formality.

……

After fishing, Chen Zhou's favorite thing to do is to stroll along the beach with Laifu.

Along the coastline where he landed, many new buildings had been added, the most conspicuous of which was a towering, concrete wall that resembled a gray barrier.

That is the place where the mysterious reward descends. To prevent newly joined islanders from stealing the mysterious reward, or to prevent someone from walking to the place where the reward descends at midnight and being cut into pieces by time travel, the high wall was built on Saturday.

The area enclosed by the high walls is even larger than when the building material reward arrived, so there's no need to worry about it being destroyed by the transdimensional cutting.

The wall is perpendicular to the ground, with no protrusions on the surface for climbing. It is 3.5 meters high, and even skilled indigenous people cannot climb over it to get inside without tools.

Each time a mysterious reward arrives, members of the guard team responsible for transporting the reward will use a tarpaulin-covered cart to take it away and deliver it to the factory's storage room, where Chen Zhou will inspect it.

……

However, as the number of people on the island increased, the effects of the rewards provided by the Time and Space Administration became smaller and smaller.

Although practical tools have been included in the rewards in the past two years, no matter how exquisite or easy to use a single tool is, it cannot compare to several skilled workers, making it somewhat of a waste.

To address the issue of these unused rewards piling up in the warehouse, Chen Zhou specifically created a "work hour ranking".

All islanders who successfully complete their tasks can accumulate enough points to redeem rewards from staff.

But just like the "blind box" that Chen Zhou obtained, the rewards that the islanders redeemed were also opaque. Before receiving the rewards, they themselves did not know what they would get.

It is foreseeable that high-quality metal tools will likely become luxury items in the future, turning into collectibles for veterans.

However, due to the lack of transparency in the rewards, as long as the staff do not engage in any underhanded practices, everyone has a relatively equal chance of getting a good reward. As long as they are willing to work diligently and get a good reward by luck, they can sell the reward and the lower-level islanders can also obtain a ladder for rapid advancement.

The work-hours-for-rewards system was implemented in mid-May 1666, and the islanders' work hours began to accumulate at the same time.

By the end of May, some hardworking veteran workers had earned their first eligibility to redeem their work.

Unfortunately, this group wasn't very lucky. They didn't win any of the big prizes that Chen Zhou had specially prepared, only some steel picks and multi-functional shovels.

Of course, these prizes, though not the best, were still very popular with the islanders. It is said that Zebra spent a lot of money to exchange for two of these prizes.

Tools that are often found on construction sites or in farmland in modern society become "luxury items" on shelves in Zebra's home.

Whenever Zebra invites friends over, he always shows them two metal tools. When he talks about how these tools come from the Chief's factory, or even from "heaven," his face is always filled with longing and reverence, as if simply having these things in his home fills the cabin with glory.

……

Beyond the gray wall, the coastline stretches out to reveal the extended docks.

Newly built small boats, whether sampans with fur-stitched sails, dugout canoes using improved technology, or rafts made of planks, lined up in a long row along the beach.

Wooden stakes were driven into the beach, and wooden planks were laid on top of the stakes. There were some house frames under construction on both sides.

Islanders can be seen here constantly, from morning till night. Some new islanders have even settled their homes by the sea, just to save time.

They can go to work early and leave early, and they can also go out to sea to fish with people who have boats, and catch some meat to eat. If they have a good catch, they might be able to sell some fish to those who are well-off and exchange them for some rare seasonings.

Looking beyond the bustling docks, one can see more than a dozen massive and imposing square buildings in the distance.

Those are the island's gun emplacements.

These forts are identical in design and were built on both sides of the mountain.

With the help of the gun emplacements, the range of the cannons was extended, allowing them to directly strike sailing ships at sea or attack landing enemies; these cannons belonged to the guard.

Every ten days or so, the islanders could see members of the guard training artillery firing on the gun emplacements. The deafening sound was like thunder, which was terrifying.

In front of the fort, there are several huge salt drying fields, from which all the coarse salt on the island comes.

Behind the fort, a grove of lush green trees stretches up the slope along the beach.

The forests near the sea were already sparse, but they were almost completely logged in order to use the space-time cutting technology to manufacture timber, leaving the coastline barren.

In order to protect the island's ecological environment, Chen Zhou specifically issued an order to plant trees and create forests.

The grove here is the result of the new instructions. Although the saplings are still very young, they will eventually grow into towering trees and provide shade for this open land.

……

With more people, even a desolate place comes alive and seems to come alive.

This newly built port was neither as grand and magnificent as modern ports, nor as beautiful as other ports of the same period.

It doesn't even have many wooden and stone buildings, let alone red brick and green tile buildings, large ships shuttling back and forth, or rows of cranes.

But this is ultimately the liveliest place on the island, and an important area for the islanders to obtain food from the sea. From morning till night, it is always busy here.

The islanders come and go here.

The workers moved steadily and methodically between the shipyard and their residences.

Fishermen row their boats, choosing sunny and calm weather to head out to sea and cast their large nets to catch fish and crabs.

The guard stood ramrod straight on the towering gun emplacement, gazing into the distance at the azure sea, its waves crashing with silvery white spray…

……

Walking past the dock and continuing forward, the high slopes on both sides of the Yan River, where once green land had been transformed into velvety fields of crops.

The lush green wheat seedlings spread across the ground, swaying gently in the breeze; the corn tassels drooped, proudly displaying their plump kernels.

Fiery red chili peppers, cabbages wilted under the scorching sun...

The deep red buckwheat flowers have just bloomed, and the dense clusters of tiny white flowers look like snowflakes, painting the fields into a pristine white world.

Unfortunately, the islanders have lived in the tropics since birth and have never seen what snow looks like. They only know that snow, like ice, is white, crystal clear, and can bring a strange coolness.

……

The most frequently seen "big shots" near the farmland are on Saturdays.

Chen Zhou had given up his childhood hobby. He had learned too much about painting in modern times and seen too many masterpieces, which made him realize his own limitations and unwilling to invest too much energy in learning painting.

Saturday is different.

Before meeting Chen Zhou, Saturday had no idea what painting was. After seeing Chen Zhou's paintings, he sincerely wanted to learn this skill.

Apart from Chen Zhou's paintings, the oil paintings he brought from the boat, and the ink paintings in the introductory textbooks of traditional Chinese painting, he had never been exposed to professional painting knowledge.

The great art of painting only opens a small window to Saturdays.

In Saturday's mind, painting doesn't involve many techniques, nor does it distinguish between schools or creative methods.

He simply practiced, understood, and expressed the world he saw out of love and with a sincere heart.

From the most basic sketching techniques to ink painting, even with a busy work schedule, I always make time to go out and sketch on Saturdays.

His paintings are unlike Chen Zhou's, which have a stiff feeling of being constrained by lines.

In the same port setting, Chen Zhou's portrait design adheres strictly to perspective and proportion. The fortifications are straight, the wooden planks are parallel, the people are stiff, and even the waves on the sea are lifeless, like a photograph taken by a third-rate photographer.

While the proportions of Saturday's painting are not very precise, one can still feel a sense of "life" in it.

The sails in the painting seem to be fluttering in the wind, and the people and the afterglow of the setting sun complement each other. Even the small fish hanging on the fishing net and the splashing water droplets appear exceptionally realistic.

……

Mysterious rewards occasionally include music or painting-related equipment, such as sets of colored pencils, rice paper, traditional paints, oil pastels, markers, and oil paints.

Chen Zhou gave all of these things to Saturday.

He vaguely saw a potential in this child—the potential to become a master.

Sometimes Chen Zhou feels that Saturday is another version of himself, carrying his lost love for painting and moving forward without hesitation.

Perhaps it is precisely because we know too little and have not been "contaminated" by those "formal painting techniques" that we can go further and higher on Saturdays, with the fearlessness of a newborn calf.

……

Walking along the farmland into the island, the mountain path that Chen Zhou had traveled thousands of times had long been paved with stone slabs.

This place serves as the island's "transportation hub." At the fork in the road, one can go directly to the pier, or head towards the factory or the execution square.

Due to its convenient transportation, the fork in the road naturally became a small trading market.

The veterans living near the factory and the ordinary islanders living near the square often bring their goods here to barter.

Today, the hard currency on the island is still grain, brown sugar, and chocolate. Sometimes dried raisins, dried chilies, and garlic can also become mainstream items in the market.

Chen Zhou had noticed this market long ago and would occasionally go there to exchange for some small items that he found interesting.

For example, there are painted pottery jars made by the islanders, small and exquisite stone and wood carvings, and some decorations pieced together from seashells.

Perhaps because the islanders' minds have not been impacted by modern information, the objects they make always have a unique aesthetic, a rough and primitive beauty that is completely different from modern handicrafts.

Chen Zhou didn't know whether these things would be considered "property" according to the Time and Space Administration's evaluation criteria.

He thought that, if it counted, he must bring these things back to the modern world.

Perhaps that would be the only way to tell him that what he experienced on the island was not a dream, and that the islanders were real people who existed in another world.

……

Of course, while "shopping," Chen Zhou also reminded himself that the monetary system should be implemented as soon as possible.

Compared to the knowledge the islanders have acquired and the developed manufacturing and construction industries, the island's economic system is clearly too primitive.

Previously, there were no precious metals suitable for use as currency. Now that he has treasure and has acquired a large amount of silver, he can make several coin molds, then mint the silver into coins and issue a currency unique to this island.

……

Besides implementing the currency, there was another major event on the island during May and June that required Chen Zhou's personal supervision and acceptance—

The new temple designed and built by Zebra.

……

For months, the zebra has barely had a full night's sleep.

The burden that the leader personally entrusted to him was far too heavy, and for a time he was almost suffocated by the task.

"Temple"—what a solemn and important task this is! It should, in principle, be designed and built by the leader himself.

Although he wanted to climb the ranks and get the position on Saturdays and Sundays, he never thought he was qualified or capable of completing projects of that level.

But how could he refuse the task assigned by the leader? Zebra knew there was only one way to go upwards, so he refused and could only stay here.

Therefore, despite the difficulties ahead, the zebra reluctantly accepted the task. (End of Chapter)