Chapter 179 - 76: The Long-Awaited Reward (Part 2)
Chen Zhou playfully teased Lai Fu while taking off his fur raincoat, hanging it by the stove—once the fire is lit, it'll dry quickly.
"Just wait, I'm starving too.
Sigh, still need to wash the pot and the dishes first..."
Muttering to himself, he placed the rain-soaked reward box next to the stove, tidied up the utensils, and picked up the large iron kettle, planning to scoop some dirty water from the puddle on the grass to wash with, and later boil to sterilize.
Seeing Chen Zhou about to head out, Lai Fu quickly got up, wagging his tail, eager to tag along, but Chen Zhou mercilessly pushed his head back into the cabin with his hand.
"You just stay put inside for a while, or I'll have to wipe you down again."
He shut the door heavily, hearing Lai Fu scratching the walls inside. Chen Zhou scolded with a drooping face, and the cabin fell silent.
"Understands everything, just has his own little ideas."
Jumping down from the elevated platform, his body shook, and a chopstick that had been lying horizontal on a plate fell into the muddy water below.
Seeing the chopstick covered by muddy water, Chen Zhou didn't bend down to pick it up, just reminded himself that when the sunroom is finished, he should build a small step at the doorways of the two rooms to avoid jumping in and out, wasting energy.
...
Washing the pot and dishes, he used a piece of discarded seal skin as a cloth to wipe them clean, boiled water, and cooked.
Removing his damp coat, shoes, and socks, he plopped down on the bed, leaning against the wall, and took up the reward box covered in a black packaging bag.
After waiting all day, finally, he could reveal the answer.
He placed the packaging bag next to the campfire, and in his hand, it felt scorching hot.
Still, using a small knife, he cut a straight line and tore open the bag.
Opening it up, aided by the firelight, Chen Zhou saw a layer of colorful cardboard packaging wrapped around the box insider the bag.
The box was black, with a black lid on top, looking quite simple, resembling the small paper boxes used for gum in rural convenience stores.
Looking again at the text printed on the side of the cardboard packaging facing the opening—smooth feel, sturdy, shockproof, windproof, high-end inflatable.
"Oh, could this be?"
His heart filled with joy, and Chen Zhou directly pulled off the black packaging bag, revealing the true nature of the box inside.
Just as he suspected, it was a box of inflatable windproof lighters.
The whole box of lighters was neatly placed in a grooved base, just like the lighter packs often seen at supermarket entrances, except these had an additional black plastic cover on top.
The lighters were arranged 6 vertically and 8 horizontally, each in a different color, made from plastic but not transparent.
He removed the plastic cover, took out one lighter, examined its bottom, and found it was also an opaque design, making it impossible to see how much butane was inside, dampening his joyful mood as if doused with cold water.
Based on his experience with lighters, generally, a high-quality inflatable lighter would either be solidly constructed, with a metal casing and a weighty feel.
Or, while made of plastic, the plastic would be transparent, allowing you to see how much gas was left inside.
This kind of opaque design, along with the plastic shell, and the so-called windproof and shockproof features, usually signifies the worst quality, prone to issues within a few days, either failing to ignite or producing a particularly small flame.
"Let's hope this time it was shipped by a conscientious seller.
Wishing upon stars and moons, ever since my second mysterious reward, I've been hoping for a lighter; now it's here, please don't let it trick me!"
He tried the lighter in his hand; since it was fresh out of the package, it was new, igniting smoothly with a blue flame, showing no apparent problems.
But the windproof feature was unreliable.
Because when Chen Zhou merely left a gap in the door, allowing the outside wind to flow in, the lighter's flame was blown out instantly, rendering the windproof claim merely a marketing ploy.
Closing the door, looking at the blazing fire, recalling how he'd placed the reward box next to the fire earlier, Chen Zhou couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive.
If a spark from the fire had ignited the outer packaging, not to mention causing the lighters to explode, starting a fire alone could have cost him half his life.
Moreover, there was still half a barrel of gunpowder in the cabin, and if the fire spread, even if he escaped, all his accumulated belongings would be utterly destroyed.
Unknowingly, he had walked on the brink of the underworld; Chen Zhou felt fortunate he had built a fire-resistant low wall with a layer of stone slabs around the stove in advance, or if an accident had occurred, things might have turned out very differently.
...
Nearly two hundred days had passed since he first used the flintlock, and he had chipped away a layer of the flintlock's iron blade.
Chen Zhou had long grown accustomed to the feel of the flintlock, gaining more insight into using this fire-starting tool from the 17th century.
Currently, there was no urgent fire-using task to attend to, so he decided to store the lighters, reserving them for quick fire-starting during future outings.
This type of near-single-use lighter had excellent sealing; normally kept in a convenience store for eight to nine years, it could still work properly; as long as the case wasn't damaged, it should last until the challenge ended.
With 48 lighters and a low usage frequency, he may still have some left after enduring these 28 years.
Besides regular fire-starting, Chen Zhou wanted to use the electric igniter inside the lighters to make an electric ignition improved version of a flintlock gun, combined with the spring removed from the genius artifact, potentially giving a qualitative boost to the flintlock's firing speed.
However, the previous improved design wasn't completed, and now with new components added, he had to start designing again, removing some bulky structures to provide a framework for the new structure, which definitely couldn't be made in a short time and likely awaited the next rainy season.
...
In the early days of the challenge, a box of lighters like this would have been a divine artifact.
Especially for someone like Chen Zhou with no wilderness survival experience, he completely lacked the patience and skill to achieve fire by friction and found it difficult to make a more convenient bow drill fire starter.
If it weren't for the flintlock from the ship, for a long time, he would have worried about preserving fire and starting flames, potentially causing various dangers and troubles, delaying countless precious time.
But 195 days later today, whether having a lighter or not was actually no longer so important for Chen Zhou.
Even if the flintlock wore out, he could create another flintlock or even preserve fire by covering charcoal with earth or make a bow drill fire starter—
In circumstances with tinder, the fire-starting speed of a bow drill even surpassed a flintlock; it was only that the bow drill fire starter was too large, lacking in portability compared to a flintlock.
After dinner, serving the four "Divine Beasts" at home, he shoveled a scoop of earth onto the burning charcoal in the stove to preserve the fire.
He gave the wood a new scar.
Lying on the bed, looking at the ceiling shrouded in darkness, listening to the sound of the wind and rain outside, Chen Zhou turned over, finding it hard to sleep.
Having gotten used to resting in the cave, moving outside made him feel the lack of a homey atmosphere.
Being too exhausted in the previous days, he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, but tonight, he felt a bit homesick for the cave.
The bed was low, with half a shoulder sticking out, and stretching out his hand, he could reach Lai Fu lying on the ground.
The fire had dried Lai Fu's fur, and as his fingers slipped in, he could feel some tiny particles of soil, a bit rough.
"Lai Fu, are you asleep?"
Chen Zhou murmured.
He then felt a moist, warm, and soft object cover his hand; it was Lai Fu's tongue.
Licking his owner's hand, Lai Fu stretched his rear legs, pressed against the timber wall, let out a low growl from his throat, moved closer to the bed, and gazed at Chen Zhou's face with a tilted head.
"Lai Fu, do you think I could survive until 28 years later?"
Chen Zhou asked, touching and rubbing Lai Fu's head in the dark.
"Lai Fu, can you stay with me until the challenge ends?"
The cabin offered no reply, only the sound of raindrops tapping on the roof.
After a moment of silence, Chen Zhou spoke.
"Lai Fu, have I ever told you, you are the best dog I've ever met..."
Saying these slurred words, with his chin resting on the edge of the bed, his eyelids started to uncontrollably droop.
Half-asleep, he grabbed Lai Fu's soft and warm ear, clutched it in his palm, his head leaning to the side, face pressed to the bed edge, transforming its shape.
The drizzle floated through the forest, no light shining around the leveled meadow.
A half-cut timber beam was suspended between robust trees, with darkness spreading like a blanket covering half of the small house.
All doors and windows were shut, faint snores could be heard.