From Robinson Crusoe

When Chen Zhou started the challenge, he was exactly 25 years old.

Having lived on the island for many years, he has unknowingly turned 34.

Nine years passed in the blink of an eye. All the affairs on the island were taken over by suitable people, and Chen Zhou gradually retreated behind the scenes and moved into his manor in the Fruit Tree Valley.

……

Thanks to the plants sent as a mysterious reward, many kinds of trees have been planted in the mountains and forests near the manor.

Lychee trees, durian trees, cocoa trees, autumn white apricot trees, peach trees...

Some of them are still young, while others have grown into towering trees, bearing abundant fruit.

Outside the gate, the lawn, enclosed by a wooden fence, is always neatly trimmed, and a well has been dug in the yard with a water pump installed on it.

However, this water pump wasn't the one Chen Zhou had initially taken from the ship. That one had long since rotted away due to disuse. This water pump was forged by a blacksmith on the island, which Chen Zhou had commissioned.

Yes, the island's artisans are now skilled enough to forge ironware themselves according to blueprints.

Chen Zhou brought many old craftsmen from Europe who were eager to make money, and they taught the islanders to develop the island's manufacturing industry.

Carpenters, blacksmiths, bricklayers, veterinarians, and leatherworkers—as they learn and gradually acquire professional skills and understand traditional handicrafts, more and more people are propelling the island's industry onto a promising path.

Next to the hand pump, several nurseries were built with bricks and stones, where unknown flowers from the island were planted. Further away was a fishpond where Chen Zhou usually released the fish he caught.

Here, the fish live a life of luxury, needing no hunting, as food is delivered to their door every day.

The cat is mischievous, often reaching out its paws to grab the fish in the pond, or lingering by the pond, its mouth watering at the smell of fish.

Sometimes they slip into the water, hurriedly jump ashore, their paws covered in mud, and when they return to the house, they leave a line of dirty paw prints on the clean floor of the villa.

……

It was another dry season, the weather was hot, the insects in the forest were all silent, and the manor was very quiet.

Several slender, unnamed shrubs in the courtyard were blooming with five-petaled white flowers. Sunlight shone down from the sky, illuminating the petals and making them appear exceptionally translucent, like white porcelain.

The thin green leaves were also illuminated by the light, making their outer edges look like they were edged with gold.

Tiger Head lay lazily among the flowers in the nursery, his belly rising and falling. He would occasionally get up to lick the fur on his belly before lying back down to continue sleeping.

The dog, panting heavily from the heat, lay listlessly on the wooden porch outside the villa.

Chen Zhou lay back on the rattan recliner, his eyes slightly closed, enjoying the gentle breeze, with an open book on the round table beside him.

A series of disordered flapping sounds came from the roof above; it was his pet parrots playing around.

These birds, originally from the island, are clearly better adapted to the climate here.

Sometimes they mischievously imitate dogs barking, trying to attract attention. Once the cats and dogs get tired of it, they flutter away and disappear into the nearby woods to hide.

……

The hillside behind the manor was kept very clean, with square bricks paving the slope, and a small grave mound that stood out in particular.

The small grave mound had no tombstone, but a rain shelter was built next to it. Inside the shelter was an exquisite little wooden villa, which contained the little Totoro's favorite food bowl and running wheel.

The little chinchilla died a few days ago.

For the past two years, it often stood motionless in its nest, lost in thought. When Chen Zhou found it dead, it was leaning against the corner of the cage, still standing, with its two small front paws slightly together, as if it were bowing to someone.

When it was alive, Chen Zhou would often put small items into the little Totoro's hands, and after it obediently took them for a while, he would give it a snack.

The little chinchilla is always very obedient. It stares with its big, dark eyes, neither moving nor making a sound, just holding the things its owner gives it and waiting for a reward.

When it passed away, perhaps it was clutching an invisible little object in its paw, waiting for Chen Zhou to feed it roasted melon seeds.

Arrested for no reason, and then living a life of plenty, surrounded by a bunch of strange, furry creatures, no one knows how the little chinchilla's tiny brain will think about its life.

Whether it was loneliness or happiness, it has left this world forever.

After its death, Chen Zhou did not capture any more chinchillas and even ordered the protection of the chinchillas' habitat.

When those little sprites, carefully navigating the scree slopes and avoiding predators, retreat back into their burrows, will they know that there was a companion who gave his life to bring them eternal peace...?

……

Chen Zhou was enjoying the cool air in the corridor with Lai Fu and Xiao Hui Hui.

Laifu was indeed very old; its striking golden fur had faded to grayish-white, and its nose and mouth were also turning white.

In the past year, Laifu has started losing teeth. All of his longest canines have fallen out, and even some of his carnassial teeth, which are used to tear raw meat, have fallen out.

It exhibits an aged appearance similar to an eighty-year-old, its posture is no longer as upright as before, and its hind legs are becoming increasingly weak.

When Chen Zhou called it, it would always seem to be hard of hearing, pausing for a moment before responding. It would slowly stand up, walk slowly to Chen Zhou's side, then stubbornly raise its head, trying to put its fluffy head into Chen Zhou's palm, and then stick out its wet tongue to lick Chen Zhou's arm.

It is very old, but its love for its owner remains the same as before and has never faded.

As the most senior and veteran guard on the island, Chen Zhou treated Lai Fu with extremely high honors.

This large dog, once regarded as a mythical beast by the islanders, has its own ten-person nanny team dedicated to preparing its three meals a day and cleaning its house.

After losing its teeth, Laifu has difficulty tearing raw meat. Even when the meat is cooked, it is difficult for it to swallow. It can only eat the meat if it is torn into small strips.

Although the nannies never dared to neglect Laifu and always eagerly chased after him to feed him, Laifu never appreciated it.

It seemed to realize that its owner had spent enough time with it, and like a willful child, it would only eat a few more bites if Chen Zhou personally tore off pieces of meat to feed it.

Sometimes, when he gets into the mood, Laifu will stand at the end of the wooden corridor, straighten his hind legs, and shout a few times towards the sky.

But it is no longer the young and strong dog it once was. Its bark is no longer as powerful and resonant as before; instead, it is somewhat hoarse, as if it has spit out phlegm.

At this time, Chen Zhou would always walk to Laifu's side, rub its head, squat down, hug Laifu in his arms, and praise it.

"Good buddy, good young man..."

Laifu wagged its tail excitedly, nudging Chen Zhou with its head and whimpering proudly. In the past, when Laifu tried to snuggle into Chen Zhou's arms, it was very strong, and if you weren't careful, it would knock Chen Zhou to the ground, which would earn it a light scolding from Chen Zhou.

Now that it has lost its strength, Chen Zhou misses the strong Lai Fu of the past.

……

Saturday's paintings are getting better and better; Chen Zhou said he has long surpassed his teacher.

Chen Zhou, a self-proclaimed amateur "painting enthusiast," feels incredibly proud to have produced such an outstanding student.

When Chen Zhou saw Saturday's paintings a few years ago, he felt as if he saw another version of himself who was sticking to his hobby. He once planned to put down his paintbrush and focus on doing other things, things that were more meaningful.

However, recently he has picked up his paintbrush again, using the purest sketching to outline the most accurate shapes on the paper, leaving Fu, Xiao Huihui, Hutou, Tizi, and Guangdang on the paper one by one.

When he occasionally came to the manor on Saturdays to report on his work, he would also draw these small animals with his teacher, his "father".

No matter how well he drew other things on Saturday, when it came to cats and dogs, his drawings were never as vivid or lifelike as Chen Zhou's.

Saturday often said that his painting skills were not as good as Chen Zhou's.

Only Chen Zhou knew that it was because Saturday's painting lacked love.

……

After the first batch of female dogs that Killian sent to the island all became pregnant, Chen Zhou never let Laifu mate again. For an old dog in its twilight years, this was not an easy task, and Chen Zhou wanted Laifu to stay with him for a few more years.

One of the female dogs also had golden fur and looked very much like the Golden Retriever of later generations.

It gave birth to eleven puppies, each of which looked just like Laifu.

All eleven puppies are being raised at Chen Zhou's estate.

Before Laifu started losing his teeth, he often played with the puppies.

The puppies didn't open their eyes until 17 days after birth. Then they slowly began to toddle and learn to walk. As their bodies grew stronger, they followed Laifu with their chubby little legs. When Laifu stopped, they all swarmed around Laifu's belly and clung to his legs, looking for milk.

As a first-time father, Laifu had no choice but to lie on the ground and let the puppies wreak havoc on him.

The little guys are growing bigger and bigger, and their energy is increasing. They run around on the lawn every day, either chasing their dad or chasing their mom. They also tease Little Grey and Tiger Head when they see them.

Despite being quite chubby, Little Grey still displayed the agility expected of a feline when chased by the puppies. He leaped onto the table in a flash, looking down at the pile of golden fur balls below with a smug expression.

If the little guys get impatient and keep barking, grabbing at the table leg but unable to reach it, it becomes even more aggressive. Sometimes it will deliberately stick its big, fluffy tail under the table, like fishing, to lure the puppies, making the puppies run back and forth under the table in a hurry.

Once, eleven puppies were huddled together, pushing and shoving each other under the table waiting for Little Grey to come down. One of the puppies was pushed by its companions to the edge of the table leg and accidentally bumped its head, howling in pain, which attracted the attention of its parents.

Laifu was already old and naturally had no way to teach the troublesome Little Grey a lesson.

The mother dog, however, was in her prime and immediately began to settle scores with the culprit. She chased Little Grey around the yard several times, leaving several plow marks on the lawn that Chen Zhou had cleaned.

From then on, Little Grey stopped paying attention to the little guys.

Moreover, as the puppies grow up, it no longer has an absolute advantage in speed. If it were to race on flat ground, it would not be able to outrun the puppies at all. Only when it is close to a wall does it have a chance to escape the pursuit by climbing over the wall or jumping to a high place.

……

The puppies that most resembled Laifu were left at the manor to keep Chen Zhou company.

The puppies born to the other female dogs were given by Chen Zhou to the veterans on the island.

All the veterans who received puppies cherished them, treating them even better than their own children.

This is a gift from the leader, the offspring of the divine beast raised by the leader. No matter how adorable this little thing is, even if it looked like a toad, it would still be kept at home.

Influenced by Chen Zhou, following the trends of soy sauce and bicycles, a dog-owning trend has emerged on the island.

The mother dogs gave birth to only about thirty puppies at most, which was not enough for all the people on the island.

Many self-proclaimed "connections" and "high-ranking officials" began to beg and plead for information, even offering exorbitant prices to buy dogs from those who owned them.

Unfortunately, the "dog owners" were all wealthy people carefully selected by Chen Zhou, and they didn't care about a few pennies.

Besides, the puppy was personally requested by the chief to be given to them. How could they dare to sell it? Would that be selling a dog? That would be slapping the chief in the face.

Those who manage to rise to the upper echelons of the island are not brainless. Even if someone else only provides money, or even if they contribute something else, they would not give away their dogs unless they no longer want to stay on the island.

Unable to find the dog on the island, some clever people came up with other ideas—

For example, they could have the wealthy merchant Killian, who frequently visited the island, bring them back some dogs from overseas.

Since his first visit to the island, Killian has come to the island at least four times a year.

In order to get closer to Chen Zhou, this "benefactor," he even spent a lot of money to build a manor on the island. Many of the pieces of furniture in Chen Zhou's manor were "extra" pieces that Killian had when he built his own manor.

The frequent visits to the island, coupled with the Spanish prisoners who were forced to settle there because they couldn't pay the ransom and were unable to leave, and the subsequent introduction of European craftsmen, led the islanders to gradually become acquainted with these outsiders of various appearances.

Ordinary islanders have no contact with the Killian, but the middle and upper echelons of the island can always find a way to make contact with them.

Faced with their urgent request for a "dog," Killian didn't hold back at all, directly asking for an exorbitant price.

In their transaction agreement, the value of different dogs varies.

Small dogs are the cheapest, and black and spotted dogs are also inexpensive.

The most expensive dogs are the golden retrievers that resemble Laifu, with prices clearly marked at 2000 or even 5000 silver coins each. Even the veterans on the island, who have accumulated considerable wealth through trade and other industries over the years, still find this price painful.

But money is something you earn to spend.

You can't be without what others have. Seeing others flaunt the dogs bestowed upon you by the leader, the veteran's eyes gleamed with envy. Once the competitive spirit was ignited, he would grit his teeth and afford to pay even twice the price, let alone 5000.

Once the veteran got serious, silver coins filled Killian's pockets.

Soon after, the money flowed through Killian's hands to Chen Zhou's, and then quietly returned to the ordinary people on the island, repairing their houses, adding new furniture, and improving their living standards free of charge. (End of Chapter)