Chapter 253 - 113: Poison Testing and Fried Prawns (Part 2)
If he didn't have this wooden bucket, he definitely wouldn't be able to bring back all the seafood unless he stuffed the odor-filled seafood into his backpack.
...
With the beachcombing activity successfully completed, Chen Zhou set off on his return journey, his backpack securely fastened and wearing a wide-brimmed hat.
The wall of stones and wood on the beach was still unfinished. He planned to find a large container once he got home tonight to let that big batch of shellfish purge sand, and tomorrow he would descend the mountain to work on the stone wall again.
There's still over ten days left, no need to rush.
Besides, descending the mountain again tomorrow means he can beachcomb more; if luck strikes, he might just stumble upon a big lobster or crab.
...
The act of beachcombing brings a sense of relaxation and pleasure.
Especially in this secluded paradise where natural resources are rich and seafood is incredibly easy to obtain.
Chen Zhou heard that back in primitive society, men were responsible for hunting while women were responsible for gathering.
Thus, the modern man is innately filled with a longing for adventure, a passion for firearms and weapons, and a love for combat in games.
Women, on the other hand, mostly prefer quiet and gentle work, aspiring to engage in fields related to art and music.
But this doesn't mean men cannot find joy in gathering—the joy of harvest belongs to all of humanity.
Pouring the shellfish from the plastic bag into a wooden bucket filled with clean water.
Watching the shells with ink-like patterns spin in the water, like tiny ballet dancers descending from the sky, he felt deeply the beauty of harvest and prepared to capture this scene on a white clay board for memory.
...
That evening, after handling the seafood and feeding the cats, dogs, and mice, Chen Zhou separated all the mice in the mouse pen.
Six mother mice that had given birth were individually secluded in "single rooms."
The other month-old baby mice were kept together, from which the heroic "test poison mice" would be selected.
The two breeding male mice remained in the old mouse pen.
To avoid hereditary diseases affecting the test results, Chen Zhou had to ensure the new batch of baby mice didn't mate with the mother mice.
However, strictly speaking, this batch of baby mice is also a product of inbreeding—they all share the same mother.
Chen Zhou didn't know if this separation would be effective; he just felt it would be more conducive to the healthy and orderly breeding of test poison mice, even if this method was a self-deceiving act.
If conditions allowed, he really wanted to catch two strong and young male mice.
Unfortunately, capturing live mice is significantly harder than catching rabbits or chinchillas, and with time being short, he couldn't afford to set aside his other work just to catch mice.
...
After separating the mice, Chen Zhou first did a simple classification of the seafood.
Shrimp, crabs, sea fish, shellfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers—each was named and labeled with a code by him.
Worried that in future beachcombing he might mistake two similar-looking types of seafood for the same kind and get poisoned, he also sketched fairly detailed realistic drawings of each type of seafood under a lamp.
Indeed, this cautious attitude brought unexpected gains.
Upon close inspection, he found there were actually some "spies" among the larger shrimps.
Their whiskers were shorter and thicker, appearing to be broken, and their bodies had additional faint blue stripes on top of the existing pattern of white, yellow, black, and brown.
If he hadn't picked them up for a closer look under the light, they would have camouflaged among the others, mistaken for another type of shrimp.
"What sinister shrimp, if one of these two shrimp types is toxic, wouldn't I be done for?"
Secretly glad he didn't cut corners, carefully examining all the shrimp, Chen Zhou quickly aligned all the shrimp neatly, picked out those with blue stripes, and placed them separately, finally breathing a sigh of relief.
...
Shellfish are more resilient than crabs, which in turn are more resilient than shrimp.
After a day of being jarred in plastic bags, wooden buckets, and earthen jars, most of the shellfish were barely holding onto life, while a few crabs were still blowing bubbles, and all the shrimp had perished.
During selection, Chen Zhou felt the shrimp numbers seemed a bit high, so he removed some that weren't particularly intact, those missing whiskers or legs.
A moment later, he planned to feed these incomplete shrimp to the test poison mice.
For each shrimp, he planned to divide its head, body, and intestines into three portions, feeding them raw to three test poison mice, and cooked to another three, observing reactions.
The same procedure applied to crabs, sea fish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and other shellfish.
The house had sufficient test poison mice available; if all else failed, he could sacrifice three mother mice—since mice breed quickly, losses could be replenished within a couple of months.
...
On the night of the 26th, Chen Zhou again worked until late before finally going to sleep.
He placed the test poison mice in their "exclusive single rooms," with the names of the seafood they consumed, as well as details on its raw or cooked state and the consumed part, carved at their door.
Mice had a higher acceptance rate for cooked seafood; when presented they would chew it autonomously.
But they were less interested in raw seafood, usually just sniffing before turning away.
Yet in Chen Zhou's "prison," there was nowhere for them to escape.
For these uncooperative mice, the only outcome was Chen Zhou's capture and "force feeding," stuffing the seafood into their bellies, whether they wanted it or not, lest they disrespect the "Prison Warden."
...
September 27th, with three days to go before the challenge's anniversary.
Around ten o'clock, Chen Zhou crawled out of bed, hurriedly washed up, lit a fire to cook, and went straight to the storage room to check the status of the baby mice.
Perhaps the seafood selected during beachcombing looked normal—most of the baby mice were unharmed, showing no signs of poisoning.
Chen Zhou lit the oil lamp and performed a thorough inspection inside the mouse pen; healthy baby mice had cells devoid of misshapen feces or bloodstains, with clear eyes, steady gait, able to eat and drink without any abnormalities.