From Robinson Crusoe

Chapter 64 A bold idea

The canvas on top of the awning is tied to wooden stakes.

The wooden stakes are driven into the sand, with rocks piled around them to prevent them from tilting to the side.

Sixty bags of cement were only stacked in two and a half layers, filling the rain shelter so densely that the wooden stakes were crooked and the ropes on the edge of the canvas were broken, causing the canvas to collapse.

But the ropes connecting the wooden pegs and stakes around the awning were not broken by the cement.

Chen Zhou picked up the broken hemp rope outside the awning and looked at the cut end with a surprised expression.

The cut was surprisingly smooth, like a mirror, and did not look like it was made by any animal's teeth or a knife.

Looking up at the sky, he walked around the awning.

Carefully observing each cut rope, Chen Zhou found that their broken ends were exactly the same - smooth and flat.

And this level of smoothness may have reached molecular level precision, which was definitely beyond the reach of 17th century technology.

Chen Zhou even doubted that it would be difficult to accomplish such high-precision cutting in laboratories in the 21st century.

Just like the indestructible drop of water in "The Three-Body Problem", the technological level of civilization that can create this phenomenon is beyond human imagination.

“In other words, these ropes were cut by the force field or some special container when the reward arrived?

If I were to stay in the sand at 00:00 and wait for the reward to come, would I also be cut in two by this force field?"

Holding the short rope, he suddenly had a bold idea -

Since a force field capable of cutting objects will be generated when the reward comes, can he regard this force field as a huge and extremely advanced cutting machine?

If he could determine the shape of the blade of this "cutter" and the exact location where it fell, he could use it to cut wood, rock, metal, and thus process various objects.

Although the service life of this cutting machine is as long as 15 days, it has a large area, strong function and high working efficiency.

If you want to cut a pile of stone bricks, just stack the stones neatly under the "blade" and wait for the mysterious reward to come, then you can cut one side of the stone into a smooth and flat surface.

Turn these semi-finished stone bricks with one side cut over and put them under the blade again. After another half a month, two flat surfaces can be cut out.

Stone bricks with two flat surfaces can be used.

Especially the gray and green rocks, if they can be cut into stone bricks, they will definitely be stronger than fired bricks.

The same is true for wood.

There is no plane in the carpenter's toolbox. It is impossible to make a piece of wood by yourself without spending ten days or half a month.

And even if you work hard to make a board with a saw and an axe, it will only be a piece of poor quality board.

Not to mention reaching the level of modern wooden boards, it would be difficult to even reach the quality of finished wood on ships.

At this time, all problems can be solved by using this special cutting machine.

If you want to use it to process metal plates, shorten gun barrels, or even cut metal parts, there is no problem.

Just find the exact position of the "blade" and it becomes a simple and convenient cutting machine.

……

"Does this count as cheating by taking advantage of a loophole?"

Chen Zhou didn't dare to say this out loud, for he was afraid that his idea would be noticed by the awarding party, and then the BUG would be fixed, and then his large cutting machine would be gone.

After repeated consideration, Chen Zhou felt that his idea of using the force field generated when awarding prizes to cut objects was very reliable and he had every chance of doing it.

Fearing that things might get more complicated the longer he waited, he decided to measure the shape and length of the entire "blade" as soon as possible, and then move the material he wanted to cut under the blade - this free opportunity only comes once every fifteen days, so he can't waste it.

Pull out the wooden pegs, draw lines at the places where the hemp ropes broke, then go around the awning and connect all the lines together, and a huge square suddenly appears on the beach.

The entire cutting area is five meters long, about three meters wide, and the height is unknown.

The height of the rain shelter is more than two meters. The top of the rain shelter was not damaged when the reward was distributed this time. It can only be determined that the height of the cutting force field is greater than two meters.

In the previous few rewards, Chen Zhou had never noticed similar abnormalities because there were no extra items on the sand.

Of course, this may also be related to his lack of careful observation.

After all, no matter how idle a person is, he would not study whether the sand on the beach is cut in half.

Therefore he could not determine whether the size of this force field was fixed.

Perhaps when the volume of the reward is small, the force field is small, and when the volume of the reward is large, the volume of the force field is large, which is also reasonable.

If the cutting area is fixed and always the same size, it means that the volume of the reward will not exceed five meters long and three meters wide.

Within this range, neither large trucks nor excavators can be put in, and many powerful large lathes and heavy equipment cannot be stuffed in either. Many of the rewards that Chen Zhou had imagined would not appear.

“Let’s try it first, although it’s a bit regrettable if the range is really fixed.

But such an indestructible cutting machine can also outperform many large machines, and the lower limit is high enough.

At least it would save me the time of building a brick kiln or chopping down trees, and maybe even cut out gun parts."

……

Before placing the stones and wooden blocks along the measured range, Chen Zhou first dismantled the frame and pulled out the wooden stakes supporting the rain shelter.

Untying the few strings that still held the canvas in place, he piled the components of the shelter aside and began moving cement, laying it on top of the tarp.

Each bag of cement only needs to be moved two or three meters, which is a short distance and requires little physical effort.

Even though he hasn't recovered from his cold yet and his physical condition is not at its peak, Chen Zhou is working at a fast pace.

It didn't take long for him to move sixty bags of cement and then pull up the corners of the tarp.

When he was gluing the waterproof cloth in the cave, he had already thought that the size of the reward might be very large, so he deliberately increased the amount in advance.

But the plastic sheets left over from these rewards are limited after all. Even if they were all glued together, they would not be able to reach a length of more than ten meters.

Moreover, Chen Zhou did not expect the reward to be so large.

He thought that the largest reward would be a diesel engine or a useless appliance such as a washing machine or refrigerator.

He never expected that the program crew was even more wicked than he expected and actually sent so much cement.

This was obviously a conspiracy that he had to accept with gritted teeth.

Cement is indeed a very useful material, but it also has many disadvantages.

It cannot be used directly. It needs to be combined with water, sand, bricks and stones, otherwise the effect will be greatly reduced.

Moreover, the cement needed to be carried, and he had to plaster and build the walls himself.

At the same time, the storage conditions of cement are very harsh. If the bag is not strong, it is afraid of weathering, and the cement inside is afraid of water. Once it hardens and clumps, it basically loses its use value.

The most important thing is that even if he forced himself to move all the cement to the camp and store it, he wouldn't be able to use it for a while.

It is the rainy season now, and the plastered cement walls will be damaged by heavy rain.

If you want to use cement to build the exterior walls, you have to wait until the next dry season, which is about a month and a half later.

As for building stoves and interior walls, Chen Zhou felt that white clay was good enough and there was no need to use such high-strength cement...

In short, cement is a superior substitute for Yangpo white clay. In modern times, cement that can be mass-produced, combined with mixers, screened river sand, and a large amount of labor, can crush white clay in terms of cost performance.

But here, these cements with limited quantity, difficult application, non-renewable and single function may not be as good as clay in terms of advantages and disadvantages. At least clay can be used to make pottery, but cement cannot.

But there is no way, unless the disease is very serious and you can't even get out of bed.

Otherwise, any challenger would do their best to keep the cement properly, as it represents a higher ceiling for the building.

……

After moving all the cement, Chen Zhou's body was already covered with a thin layer of sweat. He was a little worried that the sweating and then catching a cold would aggravate his cold symptoms, but there was nothing he could do.

Use wooden sticks to push the four corners of the waterproof cloth against the edges of the cement bag, then cover the cement pile with thick canvas, and then cover it with a layer of thin branches. The simple waterproofing work is completed.

The thin branches and thick canvas on the top layer are enough to cope with light rain, and the waterproof cloth on the bottom layer is unlikely to cause any problems unless it encounters heavy rain.

Chen Zhou planned to rest for a few more days, repair and reinforce the big tent in the camp, build a frame on the ground of the tent, and then pour cement into the tent.

If a heavy rainstorm came before he was fully prepared and seeped through the canvas and damaged the cement, there was nothing he could do but let it happen.

Do your best, listen to destiny.

I am still ill and there is no benefit in working too hard.

You have to make the distinction between whether life is more important or cement is more important.

Otherwise, when he is dying and a kaleidoscope appears in his mind, he will regret it so much that he lost his life for cement worth thousands of dollars.

……

After carefully handling every corner of the cement rainproof work and making sure there were no leaks, Chen Zhou began to travel back and forth between the woods on the shore and the beach, carrying stones and trees.

Due to his limited physical strength, he only cut down some slender trees, placed them vertically and horizontally in the approximate area outlined by the sand, and then filled the spaces between the trees with stones.

Sickly, thin trees are plentiful in the woods along the seashore, but stones are hard to find.

After taking all the nearby stones, Chen Zhou's round trip distance became longer and longer.

After working for several hours, a wood and stone mixed wall about half a meter high and completely built around the reward center was finally built.

In addition to testing the length and width of the force field with wooden bars, Chen Zhou also erected several wooden sticks of different heights in different directions on the wall in an attempt to measure the height of the force field.

Don't underestimate these tasks; they are actually very tedious to do.

Going back and forth cutting trees and moving things, the whole morning had passed before I knew it.

As the sky grew darker, the wind gradually died down and the humidity in the air gradually increased.

Worried that he would be trapped on the beach by the heavy rain, Chen Zhou put away the long-handled axe, woke up Lai Fu who was sleeping soundly, and returned to the cave.

……

After entering the forest, sparse raindrops fell from the sky, hitting the leaves on the high ground, crackling, and a bit of harmony was revealed in the chaos.

He quickened his pace. By the time Chen Zhou climbed up the cliff along the wooden ladder and left the edge of the woods below the slope to reach the field, the raindrops were as big as soybeans, hitting the ground fiercely.

He started running as fast as he could, crossing the ridges of the field and running onto the platform.

After entering the cave, Chen Zhou bent down panting. After taking a breath, he immediately turned into the bedroom, took off his coat which was not completely wet, threw it on the ground, and then changed into dry clothes.

While changing clothes, the cold wind blew through my body.

Chen Zhou felt that his condition, which had improved slightly, was showing signs of recurring again, so he hurried to the kitchen and used the remaining sparks from the campfire to ignite thin branches to make a fire for warmth.

A sneeze!

While making the fire, he kept sneezing and clear snot flowed from his nose.

"I'm unlucky to catch a cold in the subtropics."

Chen Zhou subconsciously reached for toilet paper.

Just stood up and sat down again.

Think about it and forget it.

Blowing your nose destroys toilet paper much faster than wiping your butt. Since you have finally got so much toilet paper, you might as well use it sparingly so that your butt can enjoy a few more years of happiness.

He wiped his nose with his hand, flicked it on the ground, and sniffed twice. Only then did he feel a little better.

Hunched over a low stool, fiddling with the small, growing flame, he picked up the notebook on the chair and looked at the "cave kitchen picture" he had drawn that morning with a smile on his face.

In junior high school, he taught himself sketching for a period of time.

At that time, he often placed bottles and jars at home on the table to practice still life sketching. He also secretly used the pocket money given by his grandfather to go to the bookstore to buy several books on painting and copied the paintings in them.

It is said that one cannot do two things at once. During the period when he was self-studying sketching, his academic performance plummeted, and he dropped from the top 50 in his grade group to the top 200.

He was criticized by the teacher at the parent-teacher meeting and was severely beaten when he got home.

My father was always the bad guy. After beating him, he would close the door and disappear.

Chen Zhou later found out that every time after beating him, his father would hide away to smoke.

The tall man often squatted on a curb not far from his home, with his head buried, one hand covering his increasingly graying hair, and the other hand holding a cigarette butt, puffing hard with a slight tremor, and in a few minutes the road was littered with cigarette butts.

His mother almost never stepped forward to stop his father from beating him, nor did she get involved in the beating. She would just cook a good meal for him after he was beaten and gently talk to him about reason.

In fact, adults know many of the things that children do secretly, but they shoulder the burden of life and often don't care.

The mother did not tell Chen Zhou explicitly that for a family like theirs, the only way out was to give up painting, study hard, and get into a good university, but her every move made this point clear.

After this incident, Chen Zhou never painted again until he graduated from university and started working.

He has very complicated feelings about painting.

Deep down in his heart, he has always loved painting and longed to express his emotions through painting.

But all the past events made him afraid of painting. Even when he picked up the paintbrush and faced the paper, he was unable to outline a pattern.

Because he has lost the most basic thing for artistic creation - passion, or courage.

Chen Zhou originally thought that he would never have anything to do with painting again in his life.

Unexpectedly, in the early morning on the isolated island, the moment he grabbed the feather pen and dipped it in the ink made of tree sap, he regained the feeling of passion and the urge to create.

“Can I start over here?”

Stroking the dense lines on the paper, Chen Zhou asked the campfire.

The bright fire lit up his eyes.

The heat wave was scorching, just like his burning heart.

The answer is self-evident.

　Double update on 9/15. Take a short break today and continue tomorrow.

　　Thanks to: Heibanshanjun for the reward!
　　感谢：69ZK、晓瓷、生如夏花980705、科学陈昂、书友尾号6576、珞珈山刘某人、杨春白雪、老土熊、青菜豆腐馅儿的包子、月色下灬、此名称无法显示233、书友尾号6277、魇绝、凤求凰、银河球棒侠、毒奶粉玩家、中国星际终于第一了、鵺dald、快乐的虎哥、无一ft、余烬大人、书友尾号7564、上党知府、蜘蛛咬人了的月票，感谢支持！

　　
　
(End of this chapter)