From Robinson Crusoe

Getting used to someone or something leaving is not easy.

When Laifu stopped breathing in Chen Zhou's arms, he didn't shed a tear. When Laifu's body was put into a pineapple wood coffin and buried in the ground, Chen Zhou didn't cry.

His face seemed to have lost the ability to express emotions; he was just numb, even indifferent, as he wielded the shovel, watching the damp soil bury the coffin.

Chen Zhou didn't eat dinner that night. He sat on a wooden chair in the corridor until the sun went down and the earth was completely shrouded in darkness.

In the stillness of the night, the bench seemed to retain the warmth left by the daytime sunlight.

The corridor lights were off, and the surroundings were almost pitch black.

When Chen Zhou instinctively reached for his old companion that had always been by his side, he suddenly realized that he had lost it forever.

……

Killian's attitude towards Chen Zhou was respectful to the point of being obsequious. Over the years, he had grown old and could no longer drift at sea for long periods of time.

Nevertheless, every time his fleet went to the island, he never forgot to bring gifts for Chen Zhou, especially wine.

Among them are sherry and canary wines from Andalusia, Spain, as well as aristocratic wines from Italy, including many so-called "royal wines" made from the Romanée-Conti vineyards in Burgundy, the predecessor of Romanée-Conti.

Excessive drinking can impair memory, so although Chen Zhou accepted all the gifts, he rarely drank any alcohol.

Sometimes he would think, in a petty way, that when he returned to the modern world, he could also convert these drinks into valuables and take them with him.

Whether it's Burgundy, Château Margaux, Château Lafite Rothschild, or Château Haut-Brion from France, or brandy from the Cognac region, or gin from the Dutch, they are all sought-after at high-end banquets in modern times, especially Romanée-Conti and Lafite, whose exorbitant prices per gram even exceed those of gold of the same weight.

While it may be difficult for him to prove that his wines actually come from top 17th-century wineries, it would be nice to open a couple of bottles if the occasion is right and there are friends worth sharing a drink with.

After all, when it comes to alcohol, some people drink it for the price and to save face, while others appreciate the taste and flavor.

……

On the evening of the 17th, Chen Zhou returned to his bedroom in a daze and took down a bottle of brandy wrapped in gold leaf from the shelf in the dark.

He didn't know what he used to pull out the cork, nor did he remember whether the wine was fragrant or rich; he only knew that he had drunk a great deal.

The dream he had while drunk wasn't so muddled; Chen Zhou saw a unique manor in it.

It was a solitary manor, with a high wall outside the bedroom window, beyond which lay a lush jungle.

There is a shallow stream in the garden, with grapevines planted along its banks. The occasional croaking of frogs can be heard, which makes the dogs restless.

The golden autumn sun shone on the grape leaves, making the abundant fruit look especially tempting.

The dog ran and chased under the grape trellis.

It swayed its large, feather-dust-like tail, like a proud young boy carrying a flag, swiftly weaving through the dappled light and shadow.

The croaking of the frogs grew increasingly noisy, then subsided with a "plop" as the dog jumped into the water.

Faintly, Chen Zhou heard the dog's deep and powerful bark.

And so the manor, which bore a slight resemblance to the autumn of my hometown, melted quietly like chocolate under the blazing sun, twisting into a watery oil painting, and then, accompanied by a surge of intoxication, slipped into an unconscious black hole.

……

The following morning, sunlight streamed through the undrawn French windows, illuminating the wooden windowpane and waking Chen Zhou from his deep sleep.

The effects of the alcohol had not completely worn off when he groggily sat up in bed, feeling dizzy and lightheaded, and then collapsed back onto the edge of the bed.

"Laifu?"

He habitually reached his hand down from the bedside, a smile still on his face, anticipating touching that fluffy head.

However, there was nothing beside the bed.

Chen Zhou was stunned for a moment, then suddenly remembered that Lai Fu had been buried on the hillside, guarding its island, its territory and manor, quietly watching the rain and drought come and go.

He propped himself up halfway before collapsing back into the bed, his arms hanging limply at the edge of the bed. Tears finally welled up in his eyes, blurring his vision.

……

After Laifu died, Chen Zhou never pampered any other dogs the same way he had pampered Laifu.

The small team that cooks for Laifu has a new task: they stay by Laifu's grave and regularly clean and tend to his tomb.

Chen Zhou knew that the task he assigned to them was unreasonable. Educated adult laborers should have jobs where they could better utilize their strengths and shine in better positions, but he was willing to be willful this once.

……

At the end of 1669, at the request of Chen Zhou, Kylian's caravan brought many mounting masters and painters from Europe.

They received a generous reward and, at the manor, repainted Lai Fu using brighter, longer-lasting paints, referencing Chen Zhou's original painting. They then framed Chen Zhou's work.

After that, some of the paintings were hung in the rooms of Chenzhou Manor, while others were properly stored in the storeroom.

When Chen Zhou leaves, he will take these paintings with him.

……

In the same year, more and more businessmen began to visit this previously little-known island, either to rest in the port or to do business with the Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, British, or French who had settled on the island.

Every merchant who arrived on the island was amazed by the vitality of this emerging city.

The sight of the dozen or so steel-cast fleets billowing gray smoke as they sailed by at sea was even more awe-inspiring.

Unbeknownst to many, the archipelago had become a well-known supply point during the Age of Exploration, home to the most incredible sailing ships, disciplined soldiers, and advanced weaponry.

More importantly, this place holds boundless business opportunities—

The islanders, who look exactly like the natives, somehow acquired knowledge supposedly from "heaven." Whether it's machinery, agriculture, animal husbandry, or medicine, many principles that people couldn't understand before can be found here.

Of course, besides some verifiable theories, the island is also not without "heresies," such as a cult called "Wang Lingguan," which promotes the theory of a spherical earth and the atheism of God.

In Europe, such inappropriate remarks would have been drowned out by public condemnation long ago.

But on this secluded island, no one can silence the islanders, and no one dares to challenge the authority of the island's rulers.

The steel-cast sailboats were not cumbersome; they were agile, sturdy, and heavily armed.

They proved their fighting prowess many years ago—

A gang of pirates based in the Caribbean, coveting the islands' riches and not content with plundering merchant ships, set their sights on the unsailable sailing ships.

Their fate was total annihilation; even their sea outposts were wiped out by artillery fire.

Some Spanish sailors who had lived on the island for a long time had witnessed firsthand the horrific scenes depicted by the pirates.

It is said that they were all hanged on the gallows in the execution square, left there for half a month, and finally dried up by the sun until they looked like dried fish, so withered that they were no longer recognizable as human.

In the end, even flies couldn't bite off a single piece of flesh from them before their bodies were allowed to be thrown into the sea.

...In contrast to the island's growing fame, Chen Zhou has become increasingly low-key in recent years.

Merchants traveling to and from the islands often heard of the reputation of Admiral Sunday, or would visit the scholar Saturday who managed the island's schools with boxes of gifts, hoping to get their children into the island's schools and let them learn the most advanced knowledge in the world.

Some people frequently interacted with high-ranking officials such as Chen Fu, Chen Lu, and Chen Shou, but few had heard of a true ruler on the island, a "deity" walking in the mortal world.

The manor in the valley of fruit trees was already covered with lush fruit trees.

In 1673, a massive and magnificent building was erected there, with a huge plaque hanging on it bearing only three large characters—

"library".

……

After seeing Laifu off, Chen Zhou saw many of the animals that had accompanied him die as they aged.

Perhaps it was because he was getting older, but his homesickness grew stronger, especially when he was approaching 40, he often dreamed of the snow and wind in the north.

Occasionally, Chen Zhou would dream of his father and mother, his maternal grandparents who lived in a small courtyard in the countryside, his sister, and those classmates and colleagues who were very vague.

When the challenge first began, the parents' voices and appearances were still clear.

So many years have passed, and looking back now, Chen Zhou is surprised to find that they, like Lai Fu, have melted into his dreams.

Sunday and Saturday are both good kids. Their loyalty and ability are never questionable. Even when they are very busy, they often take time to come to Chen Zhou's manor to report to him, chat, and play chess.

Chen Fu, Chen Lu, Chen Shou, and many other cadres who were promoted afterward would visit the manor every few days to see the true king of the island, the master who had retired behind the scenes.

Despite their best efforts to provide companionship for the aging ruler Chen Zhou, they ultimately could not erase the loneliness in his heart.

Ultimately, he doesn't belong to this world.

Here, he is the one who has wandered in a foreign land.

……

Chen Zhou once tried to board a steamship built on the island, attempting to sail out of the archipelago and to a more distant place, to take him back to his hometown, which was still in a feudal society.

However, the Time and Space Administration had already laid an invisible net, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not escape this huge cage.

In recent years, the mysterious material rewards have become increasingly abundant, and many exquisite handicrafts that Chen Zhou never dared to dream of before have been sent to the island.

Rewards such as seeds, tools, and electronic products were plentiful, forming a small mountain in the manor's storage room.

But no matter how many of these things he had, they couldn't make Chen Zhou feel a sense of belonging to this world.

……

He secluded himself in the manor, sometimes contemplating the island's future and wondering what path the world would take because of his arrival.

Sometimes I curse why time is passing so slowly.

He gradually developed an idea—

Write a book.

Write a book that records the past, a book that doesn't belong to this era, a book that records modern life.

The thought, once it arose, was like a flame that burned ever brighter and brighter.

So Chen Zhou immediately started writing, recalling his childhood experiences, writing little by little as he grew up, writing about the absurd post in the cement factory dormitory, writing about the beginning of the challenge...

……

The lines of text on the paper, each one enough to shock the world, grew longer and longer, like Pandora's box, concealing secrets powerful enough to destroy the entire world.

Whichever monarch obtains it will gain the potential to change the entire world order.

However, this book was destined not to belong to anyone. Chen Zhou had long ago decided that after finishing the book, he would seal it in a sealed container and throw it into the dark abyss below Pigeon Cave.

Perhaps someone will discover this groundbreaking book in the future, but that will likely be a very, very long time from now, by which time he will probably be long gone.

……

In addition to psychological changes, physical changes are also inevitable with age.

After turning 40, Chen Zhou increasingly felt that his body was declining.

Perhaps due to spending too much time writing in his study, he began to experience back pain, and the fat on his abdomen accumulated, causing his tall figure to lose its robustness and instead appear somewhat bloated.

Sometimes, when the mood strikes, Chen Zhou will take the dog from the manor out for a walk.

These young men are all descendants of Lai Fu. They are well taken care of and are very close to Chen Zhou.

But Chen Zhou no longer dared to invest as much emotion in them as he had with Laifu—

The second batch of puppies didn't live more than ten years either. He had begun to fear the feeling of loss and therefore dared not start over.

In the first two years of his challenge, Chen Zhou frequently ran between hillsides and beaches to build up his physical strength in order to deal with the indigenous people.

Perhaps because I was young then, even if I was exhausted after a long day, I could fall asleep in bed and wake up feeling completely refreshed.

I'm so exhausted now that I feel tired even if I lie in bed all day, let alone take a nap.

Besides his physical recovery ability being much worse than before, Chen Zhou could also feel that his hearing and sense of smell were no longer as sharp as before, and his eyesight was not what it used to be.

On an island in another world, he experienced the feeling of aging for the first time, feeling his body organs gradually decay.

Although he was not yet 50 years old and had a long way to go before passing away peacefully, the feeling of getting closer and closer to death was still terrifying.

……

Chen Zhou spent two years writing his autobiography.

After finishing the book, he did not linger, nor did he even open it to read it from beginning to end. Instead, he sealed it in an exquisite wooden box, wrapped it with heavy chains, and had it thrown into the seawater in Pigeon Hole.

He then moved out of the manor and back into the factory, taking over power from Fu Lu Shou and Saturday, among others, and mustered his energy to rectify the chaos that had plagued the island in recent years.

Many veterans who colluded with foreign businessmen were taken to the execution square during this upheaval.

Some of them were accused of treason, some of corruption, and quite a few were even accused of murder. Among them were old-school islanders who were familiar with Chen Zhou and students he had personally promoted on Saturday.

Chen Zhou showed no mercy to these people and sentenced them to death.

It was drizzling on the day of the execution. The people who were about to face death on the execution platform were lined up in a square formation. One by one, their heads were stuffed into the guillotine. The rolling heads looked like watermelons, and the flowing blood looked like the flesh of the watermelons.

Surprisingly, zebras, known for their greed and stinginess, were absent from the formation.

This cunning fellow never forgot who the island belonged to; after all, every time someone called his name, it reminded him of the awe he felt when he first saw that tall man. (End of Chapter)