Chapter 268 - 120: October and November
The rainy season arrived as expected, bringing abundant rainfall before the clouds slowly drifted away.
A faint rainbow lingered in the mist on the distant mountains, spanning the forest, beautiful and magnificent.
Outdoor activities were no longer restricted; a layer of seal oil was applied to the raincoat, marking the end of its duty.
The wide-brimmed hat, worn and peeling, had thin leather that could almost be torn by hand. This "old buddy" that had served well was placed by Chen Zhou into a wooden box. He decided to weave a few straw hats to achieve "hat freedom."
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Construction inside the cave dwelling continued.
As the weather grew hotter, the priority of the ice cellar in the kitchen was gradually elevated to preserve food.
Moreover, expanding the storage room and setting up a small rodent breeding room were also important—the kitten grew bigger and naughtier, becoming increasingly curious and often jumping onto the mouse enclosure and peering at the lives of the "apartment" of the test mice.
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On October 10, Chen Zhou acquired a steel pen and a small bottle of ink, and at the same time, the stone mill, built into the wooden and stone wall, was finally completed. He could now grind wheat into flour.
Of course, the stone mill was just beginning to take its "round" shape and still required further processing and adjustments from him.
However, compared to the difficulties of cutting stone, this was not much trouble.
Eager to eat pancakes or dumpling soup soon, Chen Zhou worked overtime and completed the stone mill by October 18. After a trial, the results were excellent.
The flour ground by the stone mill was not as refined as modern flour, but it was a rare treat for him.
After heartily enjoying several meals of flour-based dishes, Chen Zhou used the stone mill to grind some coarse salt.
Entering the dry season, without interference from rain, his salt drying field could function normally again. Now, with more sheep to raise, the salt consumption was also high. If he relied solely on the salt dried last dry season, it wouldn't last very long.
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With the stone mill resolved, space in the cave dwelling became even more scarce.
The winnowing machine, foot mortar, and stone mill were not small devices, and they feared exposure to wind, sun, and rain; placing them in the kitchen made the already limited space even more cramped.
Chen Zhou initially considered studying pottery, but realizing that once ceramics were successfully fired, he would need space to place all the pots and jars. Instead, he decided to first expand the cave dwelling, with the ice cellar excavation also being a long-planned task.
After setting the plan, busy and bustling, the day of the twenty-sixth mysterious reward delivery arrived unknowingly.
On October 25, he and Lai Fu went to the beach, tidied the wooden and stone walls, and took away the two newly cut "steel pickheads," reviewing the rewards this time.
After crossing the invisible threshold of a year, life gradually settled into a routine. Despite the significant difference in living quality compared to modern times, there were no major difficulties.
Under these circumstances, the rewards delivered to the island provided increasingly less help to Chen Zhou, even if the rewards themselves weren't bad, and were actually quite good.
The twenty-sixth reward was a classic set of four bedding items, including a duvet cover, quilt cover, two pillowcases, and a bed sheet.
The set was sized for a double bed, made of silver-grey velvet, with very sturdy material, clearly not a cheap product.
Unfortunately, the cave dwelling hadn't had the ceiling installed yet—this was initially planned to be done during the rainy season, but an entire volume on wickerwork crafts unexpectedly appeared, leading him to capture a flock of sheep and completely disrupt his plans.
Without a ceiling, the cave dwelling often had its old problem of dirt falling from above, and in such an environment, any good furniture couldn't stay clean.
Although Chen Zhou wanted to replace his bedding with the four-piece set to enjoy the soft and warm modern fabric, he couldn't. He had to store the set in the wooden box and wait until the ceiling was installed and the interior clean before spreading it on the bed.
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Without using explosives, even with more durable steel picks, the speed of expanding the cave dwelling remained slow.
In a week's time, Chen Zhou only expanded the space by about six square meters.
The slow pace was partly due to limited manpower and also because Chen Zhou's time was not very ample.
Crops, pets, learning, livestock farming, and occasional small events consumed a lot of time. The actual daily time available for digging sand and stone to expand the cave dwelling was only about five or six hours.
Being able to spare these five or six hours, it's because Chen Zhou was a notably diligent and hardworking person. If it were an African guy or an Indian fellow, they wouldn't finish the six square meters even in a month or two.
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Although six square meters wasn't large, it was more than enough to place three grain processing machines, and there was still room for two wooden racks for storing sundries.
After days of digging, Chen Zhou felt some fatigue from such monotonous work.
Since October 25, he shifted his focus to pottery work.
Pottery making for him was a highly creative and novel job.
The roughly shaped pieces, once placed into the kiln and fired by flames, could develop various issues or remain intact.
This process was somewhat akin to opening blind boxes.
The unknown always brought anticipation and curiosity, especially this kind of risk-free unknown.
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An old friend on a forum mentioned in their "Ceramics Firing Guide" that firing ceramics is an ancient and complex craft. For those unfamiliar with it, the quickest way to master it is through practice and skill acquisition.
In the process of making pottery, Chen Zhou deeply agreed with this statement.
He first found that his process of shaping clay was too slow, so he made a hand-powered potter's wheel to help him mold the clay into a pot or bottle shape.