Chapter 234 - 105: New Member (2)
The designers of modern firearms have all studied battlefield needs, handled guns, fired them, and even experienced actual combat testing. Every component and detail they outline for a firearm takes numerous considerations into account.
From basic modules like the barrel, magazine, and muzzle to the gas tube for chambering, and the bolt handle for loading a bullet.
Then there's the handguard that stabilizes the barrel and prevents burns, along with the rails and rail slots installed on the handguard.
Also, the ergonomic requirements—space needed for all five fingers while gripping, and the comfort of the grip.
Or the materials of the firearm—whether metal, wood, or synthetic plastics, each application involves countless details to explore and numerous structures to optimize.
For someone like Chen Zhou, who has only used a matchlock gun and whose understanding of modern firearms is limited to some publicly available old firearm design diagrams, manufacturing a qualified semi-automatic gun with existing materials really is a big challenge.
To complete this gun, he pondered deeply and drew out all the firearm blueprints he had mastered during his university extracurricular time.
Of course, since it had been a long time, he couldn't remember the exact shapes of many firearm components. He could only draw them based on vague impressions and then optimize them after pondering their reasonableness.
In the process, he often fiddled with the revolver he had taken from the safe and repeatedly perused the files in the safe, hoping to find ready-made firearm designs.
But alas, the ideal is plump, but reality is skinny.
All he found in the documents were Russian text and Arabic numerals that seemed like alien scripts, nothing useful.
...
Amidst all the bustling, August 20 arrived without him realizing it.
That morning, Chen Zhou stopped working on continuing to build the interior walls, nor did he polish plastic or manufacture firearm parts. He kept a close watch on the movements of Tizi.
Since August 18, Tizi hadn't gone out at all.
Chen Zhou prepared an "oversized wooden litter box" for her, so she could take care of her business without leaving home.
Tizi's belly had visibly expanded to a significant size, and her appetite decreased markedly; she wasn't even interested in freshly cooked rabbit meat.
On the 19th, to prepare a "postpartum meal" for Tizi, Chen Zhou braved the rain to go to the forest, shot a few birds with a slingshot, plucked their feathers, roasted them, and fed them to her.
It was clear that Tizi was interested in the bird meat, but she really had no appetite. Under Chen Zhou's strong recommendation, she ultimately only ate a few tiny bird hearts.
As for the bird meat, it ended up being a treat for Lai Fu and Xiao Huihui.
Starting from August 16, Chen Zhou would occasionally stroke Tizi's round belly, carefully feeling how many little lives were inside and whether they were healthy.
By the morning of August 20, when Chen Zhou placed his hand on Tizi's belly, he could clearly feel the kittens moving powerfully inside their mother's tummy.
Though he had some cat-rearing experience, rural cats are very independent, typically not needing their owner's care before birth. They would mainly find their own nest, deliver by themselves, and only when the kittens opened their eyes and were mobile would they take them out.
It was his first time experiencing a situation where care was needed from pregnancy to delivery.
In fact, he had felt two days earlier that Tizi was about to give birth.
Because Tizi's abdomen showed a subtle sag, and her nipples were so swollen that when squeezed, milk would spill out.
However, at that time, Tizi still had some capacity and desire for movement and was not particularly resistant to eating. After careful observation, Chen Zhou dared to confirm—it wasn't time yet.
Thus, he waited anxiously for two more days.
By August 20, Chen Zhou could feel Tizi was indeed struggling to hold it in any longer.
She didn't eat breakfast in the morning and kept circling around the bed, as if trying to jump onto it.
Noticing Tizi's increasingly restless emotions, Chen Zhou put aside everything to concentrate on caring for her.
Usually, no matter how bad Tizi's mood was, as long as she was picked up and placed on something soft to be comforted, she would calm down, and before long, you could hear her purring.
This time, though, none of Chen Zhou's efforts seemed effective.
Tizi's breathing became increasingly rapid; she appeared very tired yet refused to lie obediently on the bed or in her cat nest.
She kept going back and forth between the bedroom and the kitchen, stopping by the kitchen's water bowl to drink a lot of water with her tongue.
Throughout this process, Chen Zhou stayed by her side.
After Tizi drank her fill, she returned to the bed, lying beside the wooden box, and started licking her genitals.
This continued for about an hour. Chen Zhou noticed a sticky yellow-brown liquid oozing from Tizi's vulva, and her abdomen began to rise and fall—the contractions must have started.
Realizing Tizi was about to give birth, he quickly fetched some soft, clean cloths, ready to play the role of "midwife" and clean the newborn kittens as soon as they arrived.
Contractions persisted for over ten minutes. Tizi seemed increasingly exhausted, almost appearing as if she was running out of strength.
At times like these, a glucose solution would be ideal for replenishing energy.
In the past, red sugar water could also help restore strength.
There was no brown sugar in the cave, but quite a bit of granulated sugar, so Chen Zhou had to light a bonfire and use a can to heat up sugar water, intending to let it cool slightly before giving it to Tizi.
Finally, around 9 or 10 in the morning, Tizi began to give birth.
The kitten, wrapped in its amniotic sac, slowly and arduously inched out of Tizi's vulva—it was being pushed out by the uterus's continuous contractions.
Chen Zhou was delighted to see that this little cat was in a good position; its head was the first to emerge from Tizi's belly, so there was no concern of a difficult birth.
Soon, "Little Boss" was completely outside its mother's body, connected only by an umbilical cord.
By this time, the sugar water had cooled down.
Chen Zhou poured the sugar water onto a plate and placed it near Tizi's mouth. Although Tizi didn't seem to have much appetite, she still managed to perk herself up and drink a little. Then, she lowered her head, using her head to nudge the kitten beneath her belly to begin licking its body.
Very quickly, Tizi licked the amniotic sac open, then began licking the kitten's mouth and nose.
From Tizi's behavior before birth, it seemed like this was her first time being a mother, lacking much experience. Yet when actually delivering the kitten, she acted very maturely.
Crouching beside them with a piece of soft cloth, Chen Zhou wanted to help, but watching the diligent Tizi, he found no opportunity to intervene.
Soon after, Tizi cleaned Little Boss's body, particularly focusing on its mouth and nose.
Only after its mouth and nose were cleaned could the little one breathe normally and make loud cries.
Seeing the kitten in good health and perfectly fine, even more relieved than Tizi, Chen Zhou gently placed the kitten beside Tizi's nipple, letting it nurse instinctively.
As the kitten nursed, Tizi bit off the umbilical cord, consumed the placenta, and then continued to lick the kitten's still-damp fur.
The newborn kitten was wet all over, with a very tiny head, slender limbs, and a tail that looked thin and short, resembling a mouse's tail.
Little Boss's paw pads were like pink jelly, crystal clear. Its eyes had not yet opened, and its small ears were flat against its head, looking rather ugly.
Its fur was mainly dark with some yellow stripes, suggesting it inherited more of Tizi's genes and appeared quite different from Xiao Huihui.
...
After delivering the first kitten, Tizi's abdomen didn't seem significantly reduced. Chen Zhou sensed she might be having triplets or even quadruplets.
The subsequent births confirmed his suspicion.
At a rate of about half an hour per kitten, Tizi gave birth also to a second and a third kitten one after another.
Not until the third kitten was cleaned of its amniotic sac, had its umbilical cord bitten off, placenta eaten, and began nursing did Tizi's abdomen finally deflate.
At this moment, Chen Zhou, the "old father," finally set down the heavy burden in his heart.
He knew that Tizi's delivery had smoothly and successfully concluded.
However, Tizi's entire birthing process happened outside the "delivery room," and Chen Zhou did not feel comfortable leaving the post-birth weak Tizi and the three fragile kittens outside. So, he carried them one by one into the "delivery room."
Then, he cooked some rabbit meat for Tizi—
Lately, the rabbit production at the field's edge was barely keeping up with consumption, forcing him to expand the area of rabbit trapping.
Fortunately, rabbits reproduce quickly enough, and even though Chen Zhou seemed to be on a spree of extermination, he couldn't stop their reproduction rate. As long as he went farther afield, catching rabbits was still not difficult.
Postpartum, Tizi's belly was empty, without the uterus pressing on her stomach, her appetite surged.
Nearing the end of her pregnancy, she almost never ate her fill. After feeding the kittens and seeing them off to sleep, she stayed in front of the wooden box, devouring the carefully torn cooked rabbit meat provided by Chen Zhou.