From Robinson Crusoe

Chapter 41 New Year’s Eve

Traveling westward along the coast, we had unknowingly moved far away from the landing place.

The sun gradually set, the sea surface was still a deep blue, the birds that had been foraging for food had returned to their nests, and Chen Zhou also stopped.

The winding coastal beach extends into the distance, with the end cut by a cliff. Further away, there is a mountain covered with dense forests, blocking the view.

Maybe it was bad luck, but I didn't get anything from going to the beach.

Although he encountered a lot of fish, crabs and shellfish along the way, they were all unfamiliar species and he did not dare to eat them.

After walking here as if taking a walk and enjoying the evening breeze for a while, Chen Zhou returned to the camp and headed for the cave with his spoils.

As we walked through the forest and up the hillside, we could just see the top of the sun disappear behind the western peaks.

The smoke-blackened marks on the rock wall looked like a fluttering flag, welcoming the returning owner.

Laifu ran and barked, his soft ears dancing up and down as he jumped.

Shaking its head and tail, it rushed to the platform and held down the little gray boy who was out for a walk.

Meow~
As the little Huihui grew fatter, his courage grew day by day. He kicked Lai Fu's chin, swung his front paws to hit Lai Fu's face, and took the opportunity to break free from the suppression of this big guy.

The empty foyer of the cave had no warm lights or candles, and the tone was cold and desolate.

Only the burnt charcoal under the large iron can on the platform was flickering with red light.

"I am back!"

Chen Zhou spoke loudly while carrying a kelp bucket and two birds on his back.

Only Lai Fu responded to him.

Woof~
"It's Chinese New Year."

Stepping onto the open space in front of the cave, a dozen low stone walls come into view.

As he passed by, Chen Zhou patted the stones on top of the low wall.

When celebrating the New Year in his hometown, whenever he met his nephews and nieces who were about four or six years old, he would always touch the little ones' smooth faces, tease them deliberately, and then laugh heartily at the children's awkward looks.

The house in my hometown has an old smell, and old objects can often be found in the tall cabinets in the warehouse, which brings me surprises.

Copper incense burners, glass balls, tin axes, small wooden carts, porcelain dolls...

In the first month of the lunar year, the couplets on the brick wall were covered with paste, the red paper scraps left by the firecrackers, the yellow-brown barrels of the double-kick firecrackers, and the black gunpowder marks on the courtyard wall...

Friends and relatives greeted each other, the elderly dressed in new clothes, looking radiant, and gave fruits and drinks to the children.

People with established families and careers eat melon seeds, watch TV, chat, and play cards, while the tea on the table is steaming.

That was the flavor of the New Year in Chen Zhou's memory, and the atmosphere that was missing here.

Walk into the kitchen, hang up the iron kettle, boil water, scald the skin, pluck the hair, gut the meat, remove the bones, and chop the stuffing.

Wash the kelp, cut into large pieces and set aside for cooking.

Light the oil lamp, take down the pens, ink and cutlery on the small square table, spread a thick wooden board, sprinkle flour, knead the dough, make the stuffing, shape the dough and roll out the dough.

In the warm yellow light, only Chen Zhou and his shadow were busy.

The small dumplings were wrapped and neatly placed on a silver plate, waiting to be put into the pot.

Chop the kelp, sprinkle with salt, and mix.

Stew the bird meat and add some kelp flakes...

The water in the pot gurgled, and the cave was much quieter than usual.

Chen Zhou sat on the edge of the bed, holding a piece of pineapple wood in his hand, carving a mark representing the last day of December, and stroking the dense indentations on the wedge-shaped wood, as if he was reliving the passing of time.

The firewood was dry and the fire was burning. The kelp and bird meat in the iron kettle were stewed and the aroma was overflowing.

Serve the dish, refill the water and wait for it to boil before adding the dumplings.

Two pairs of bird wings were cut into pieces, sprinkled with salt, put on wooden skewers and roasted over a campfire.

Cold milk tea, sweet candied food, cold shredded kelp, kelp stewed with bird meat, and grilled wings.

Chen Zhou finally finished his four dishes and one soup.

The third pot of water boiled, the kitchen was filled with heat, and the dumplings were put into the pot.

The slightly dark dumplings floated in the boiling water, and the dumpling skins wrapped with meat filling gradually became firm. Chen Zhou waited on the side, scooping out the cooked dumplings with long chopsticks. The steam covered his forehead and moistened the tips of his hair.

After clearing the table and placing cold and hot dishes, vinegar dishes and dumplings on it, Chen Zhou was not in a hurry to eat. He first went to get a bottle of arrack, opened it, filled a glass and placed it next to the bowl and chopsticks.

Then he brought in the chinchilla box and placed it on a stool beside the table.

I brought little Huihui home and lavishly fed it with more than ten dried fish.

Finally, he caressed and praised Lai Fu affectionately, took out a wooden plate, scooped out a few pieces of bird meat for Lai Fu, then pulled out a wooden stick from the bird's wings, scraped off all the skin and flesh, and put them all on the plate for Lai Fu to eat.

Ha~ha~
Lai Fu sat upright, looking down at the delicious food on the plate with his tongue sticking out, saliva dripping. Used to eating bread, he was a little at a loss.

Little Huihui was not hungry. He fiddled with the dried fish, rolled over and chewed it, pretending that he was hunting.

The chinchilla curled up in the broken grass, scratching its ears with its front paws from time to time, looking relaxed.

It has long adapted to today's leisurely and comfortable life and has gained a lot of weight recently.

Looking at this group of small animals with different postures, although he knew that they could not understand what the New Year was and what celebration was, Chen Zhou still raised his glass.

"cheers!"

He wanted to say something auspicious like "happy family and all the best" - at home, this task usually fell to his father.

But when the words came to his lips, Chen Zhou choked up.

He gripped the glass tightly, raised it, and drank it all in one gulp.

In a trance, I seemed to hear the festive and familiar traditional music of the Spring Festival Gala, could vaguely smell the cigarette smoke on my father's body, saw my mother cooking in an apron, and saw more and more silver threads in her black hair.

After my father finished his whole set of four-character auspicious words, he would always add "I wish you all to eat and drink well, and eat and drink well" when he was at a loss for words.

That is the humor of a middle-aged man in his fifties.

Chen Zhou never felt that he would miss his father's dry sense of humor.

But at this moment, on New Year's Eve in this alien world, he had to admit that he did miss home a little.

He picked up the dumplings, dipped them in the slightly bitter wine vinegar, and started to eat the stewed bird meat and cold kelp, pouring himself some wine and drinking it.

As I became more drunk, there were fewer and fewer dumplings on the plate.

Chen Zhou's face froze as he was chewing. He opened his mouth and spat out a greasy gold coin.

He put this in when making dumplings.

In his hometown, people generally believe that the first person to eat a coin in a dumpling during the Chinese New Year will be more blessed, have better fortune, and have more success in the year.

Chen Zhou remembers that he was under a lot of pressure the year he took the college entrance examination. He was still reviewing around the New Year and had no time to relax at all. He felt like a taut string that could break at any time.

On New Year's Eve, when his mother was making dumplings, she specially cooked the dumplings with coins in them separately and put them in his bowl.

The coin with a slightly metaphysical color eased his anxiety a little and made him believe that he could get the ideal result in the exam.

It wasn't until I graduated from college that my father told me about this.

Whenever he thinks of this, Chen Zhou is grateful for his mother's care and consideration. It is precisely because of such a family atmosphere and such family members that the past is particularly worth remembering. Lucky people are healed by their childhood throughout their lives, while unfortunate people use their lives to heal their childhood.

Chen Zhou feels that he is a lucky enough person.

When he feels it is difficult to hold on and is too tired, as long as he thinks of his loved ones, he will find the strength to move forward.

After finishing the dumplings and drinking half a bottle of Arrack, Chen Zhou started to feel dizzy.

He stood up crookedly, holding on to the supporting pillars, walked to the entrance of the cave, sat down on the ground, supported his hands behind his back, looked at the vast starry sky and the dark sea in the distance, he felt that the whole world was cold, only this place was warm.

There was a cool breeze and insects chirping on the grass slope.

Lai Fu ate all the bird meat, licked the plate clean, then lay down beside Chen Zhou with his belly exposed, humming softly.

Smiling, he touched Lai Fu's head. The alcohol made his brain even more confused. He grabbed a stone and lay down at the door of the cave. Chen Zhou did not last past midnight and fell asleep in a daze.

In the dream, there may be a small sofa at home, floor tiles that are so old that they can never be cleaned with a mop, a large wooden-framed mirror with a photo in it, and the concerned inquiries of parents.

There are ice cream bars in the refrigerator, and egg fried rice dotted with carrots and green onions in the wok...

All the things worth remembering are swaying and floating with the alcohol, and disappearing along with the dissipation of the alcohol.

……

Chen Zhou was awakened by the urge to urinate.

After sleeping with a stone as his pillow, his ear felt so painful that he got up from the door, holding one side of his head.

Following the direction he remembered, he came to the simple toilet on the edge of the platform, urinated, and became a little more sober. Then he remembered that it was already January 1660, 1.

My first New Year’s Eve on the island passed by in a daze, in such a house, with such a New Year’s Eve dinner.

Not knowing whether there was a monster called Nian in the other world, Chen Zhou took out his matchlock gun and fired a few shots into the sky, treating them as the sound of firecrackers to bring good luck.

The birds resting in the mountains and forests in the middle of the night were frightened by the gunshots and flew up one after another. Their sharp or hoarse calls made the whole world lively.

After sobering up, he remembered that he would take a bath during the New Year, so he put down his matchlock gun and walked to the large iron pot for boiling water.

I reached out to test the water temperature, it was just right, neither too cold nor too hot.

Hang the oil lamp on a shoulder pole and place it against the wall to serve as a light source.

He went into the house, fetched a bucket and two large wooden cups, stripped naked, filled a bucket with water and poured it over his head.

It is warm at first, but as the temperature in the water is carried away by the breeze, the body surface becomes slightly cool.

Rubbing the dirt accumulated on his shoulders, armpits, chest and back, Chen Zhou found that his body was much stronger than when he first arrived on the island.

The most significant increase in latitude is in the upper arms and calves, and solid muscle lines can be seen with just a little effort.

In addition, the shoulders have become broader, and the fat that once accumulated in the lower abdomen has been flattened. Although there are no obvious abdominal muscles, the belly is tightened and when you touch it with your hands, you can feel the bulging outline of the subcutaneous muscles.

The continuous and heavy labor gave him a strong physique, but also left him with more than a dozen scars.

Most of the superficial injuries have healed, but as old wounds heal, new ones appear, and the body is rarely completely intact.

Even when walking in the forest, you may be scratched by branches, not to mention the bumps caused by carrying stones and sprains caused by the wrong way of applying force when dumping sand and soil.

As long as the muscles and bones are not involved, these injuries can be recovered in ten days at most, or at least one or two days. Chen Zhou basically didn't care about it.

He scooped water from the jar cup by cup and carefully cleaned his body from top to bottom, then dried himself with the clothes he had taken off.

When taking a shower, he deliberately saved some hot water and poured it into the bucket later, which was just right for washing clothes.

There is no laundry detergent or washing powder on the island. When Chen Zhou washes clothes, he usually washes them in the river. After removing the dust on the surface, he rinses them with clean water and hangs them to dry. Then he is done.

He was very busy and changed his clothes more often than he washed them. He would only go down the mountain to wash the clothes when the pile of clothes became huge.

Sailors' clothes are not very clean to begin with, and it is difficult to wash them back to their original color without cleaning products.

Especially white clothes, after years of use, they have turned into a mottled grayish color.

The "hardest hit areas" such as cuffs, collars and elbows tend to be black, and even soaking in hot water cannot wash away the sludge deposited between the fabrics.

Cleaning supplies are also one of the pain points of Chen Zhou's life on the island.

But compared with other difficult problems, the lack of soap, laundry detergent or shampoo is just a minor problem.

What he needs most is always modern tools, resources or practical knowledge.

For example, when he went fishing yesterday, if he had an illustrated book of South Pacific mollusks, his New Year's Eve dinner would not have been so shabby.

"knowledge is power."

Since coming to the island, Chen Zhou feels more and more that this sentence is correct.

But in addition to this sentence, there is another sentence that impressed him deeply - a good cook cannot cook without rice.

After putting the dirty clothes into a wooden barrel to soak, Chen Zhou returned to the house to find a set of clean clothes to put on. He should have continued to rest, but he did not feel very sleepy.

The light was dim in the middle of the night, and I had to carry an oil lamp when I went out to work.

Chen Zhou had no choice but to clean up the dishes in the room, put the gold coin he had eaten back into the bedside table, picked up the bird bones on the table, put them in an empty wooden box, and prepared to dump them in the toilet for composting at dawn.

After washing the dishes and clearing the table, he also washed the clothes and hung them up to dry.

The more he worked, the more energetic he felt. The sky became brighter. Chen Zhou estimated that he probably wouldn't have a chance to take a nap, so he had to continue working.

The amount of refined flour is limited. Apart from making dumpling soup once on the boat, I only used some flour to make dumplings last night.

Breakfast was the same old recipe - flatbread with leftovers, mixed with some fishy cold seaweed.

I ate about a pound of dumplings last night, and I wasn’t very hungry this morning, so I didn’t even eat a piece of bread.

The same goes for Xiao Huihui and the Totoro, one is on the bed and the other is in the box, both sleeping soundly.

After picking out a few pieces of bird meat for Lai Fu, Chen Zhou wrapped the remaining kelp in salt and hung it on a wooden rack to dry.

Kelp tastes good and can supplement iodine, helping him absorb calcium in goat milk. It is also easy to store. He plans to add it to his daily diet and set aside a day to collect and dry kelp.

After making sure that the kelp was hung firmly and would not fall to the ground, Chen Zhou came to the cave platform.

The temperature is high in the dry season, above 30 degrees Celsius every day. Even if the cave is on a shady slope, the hot climate does not provide much relief.

Due to the high temperature, the stone walls built on December 12 have completely dried up, and even cracks have appeared on the walls made of yellow mud.

Picking up the long-handled axe with the hammer facing forward, Chen Zhou prepared to test the strength of these stone walls to see if there was any usable material in the various types of soil he had collected with great effort.

There are five stone walls built on December 12, including sunny slope yellow soil, sunny slope white soil, sunny slope gray soil, and forest soil.

After the wall is built and dried, the different soil types can be distinguished from the outside.

The cracking of loess on the sunny slope is the most serious;

The white soil on the sunny slope is a bit flaky, but it is generally solidified and bonded tightly.

Gray soil has the loosest structure. When using it to build a stone wall, the stones do not need to be knocked out. They can be pulled out by hand and discarded directly.

The forest soil is not sticky enough and has the same defects as the white soil on the sunny slope, but it is not as solidified as the white soil. Chen Zhou plans to give it another chance.

After observing them one by one and getting a general understanding of the strength of the stone wall.

Swinging the hammer, Chen Zhou began the real strength test.

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　　Thanks to: UGig for the reward, thank you for your support!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)