Chapter 264 - 118: 7 Sheep_2
Seeing these small creatures dependent on him and under his care, Chen Zhou's mood, ruined by dreams and headaches, somewhat improved, especially the sound of little Gan touched the softest part of his heart.
With a slight smile, he reached out to rub the heads of Gan and the three kittens, stood up, took a sip of water, and pulled himself together as he walked towards the kitchen.
...
The rainy season is much lazier than the dry season, but under normal circumstances, there's still plenty of work to be done every day.
This sleep was quite satisfying, but it left a lot of things at home unattended.
The daily care of crops, inspecting the crops in the wooden house, weeding the mint, dill, and other herbs in the outer wall nursery...
Feeding the little family of Little Dragon Cat, Gan, and Xiao Huihui, preparing meals for Lai Fu, and not forgetting the newly pregnant female mice and the resilient poison-testing mice in the mouse pen...
Once these tasks are completed, there are a few urgent matters needing attention.
The top priority is to check on the state of the mother goat, as kids born on rainy days are prone to hypothermia, leading to death.
Even though the temperature here maintains a steady twenty-eight or nine degrees, in such a frequently wet climate, newborn kids are very likely to die before taking their first sip of mother's milk, as their hooves go soft and they run out of energy.
Understanding the importance of this matter, Chen Zhou used the residual fire in the stove to light the firewood, and after warming up the food, he immediately put on a leather raincoat, donned a wide-brimmed hat, and stepped outside.
After entering October, the intensity and frequency of rainfall noticeably weakened.
Based on Chen Zhou's personal experience throughout the year, the dry season on the island is evidently longer than the rainy season.
If it weren't an isolated island suspended in the sea, the climate here would probably be much drier, and it wouldn't have such dense vegetation and perpetually flowing rivers.
Thanks to the slowdown of rainfall close to the dry season, the lush foliage of the forest provides a rain-blocking function, which works quite well.
Arriving with concern at the location where the goat couple was tied, Chen Zhou saw them eating grass beside the protruding tree roots, seemingly unaffected by the rain, with even their fur not completely soaked.
Despite appearing fine, he remained uneasy and walked over to the mother goat, feeling her belly.
It seemed like an illusion, but he felt the mother goat's belly was slightly bigger than yesterday.
As an amateur "veterinarian," after feeling the belly, Chen Zhou checked the mother goat's backside and found no discharge or blood from its vulva, indicating it wouldn't give birth any time soon, and he then left.
...
Since the mother goat was alright, there was nothing else particularly concerning Chen Zhou.
The live traps on the other side of the mountain didn't require special attention; if they worked, the captured goats would be in the cages, neither escaping nor starving anytime soon.
If no goats were caught, then there was no need to worry; a few empty cages on the mountain weren't exactly in danger of being stolen.
Traveling between the fields and the wooden house, he also took a detour to the cane and aloe field beside the mountain stream, casually snapping off a piece of cane and gnawing on it as he walked.
By the time he returned to the kitchen, the water in the large iron pot was nearly boiled dry.
...
He ate at a leisurely pace, and then fed the "crying" poison-testing mice.
Taking a black wedge-shaped piece of wood from the bedside cabinet, Chen Zhou sat at the bedside and pulled out the Dagger.
From September 30, 1659, to September 30, 1660, an entire year had flown by, and the "calendar" made of pineapple wood was used up; now it was time for the ironwood block.
Solemnly carving a serration at the top of the wooden block, he then played for a moment with the "scarred" pineapple wood block.
Briefly reflecting on a few major events of last year and this year's important tasks to complete, he picked up his backpack, packed the rigging, and herded the clingy Lai Fu back into the cave — lately, this guy had been disobedient and likely to scare away the kids.
Chen Zhou went alone to the other side of the mountain to check on the live traps and snare traps.
...
Sleeping on October 1st made a significant impact on Chen Zhou's life.
Going to bed in the early morning and waking up in the afternoon only to find that after completing the daily tasks, the sun was about to set.
And having gotten enough sleep during the day, it was hard to fall asleep at night.
If it were in modern times, he'd casually watch short videos, read some novels, munch on snacks, and before realizing it, it'd be dawn.
Then continue catching up on sleep during the day, and find it hard to fall asleep again at night, forming a vicious cycle.
Even if one forcibly corrected the schedule for work or study, it would leave them listless over the subsequent day or two, feeling dazed with extremely low work efficiency.
...
Fortunately, Chen Zhou was on an isolated island with no means to kill time, no stimulant-like short videos or games to excite his mind.
Lying in bed at night, blowing out the light, gazing into the pitch-dark cave, he'd fall asleep after struggling for three to five minutes at most.
...
Heading out, he took the glass-covered lantern but forgot to check the lamp oil.
Having reached the cave, Chen Zhou suddenly noticed the lamp in his hand growing dimmer, barely illuminating a wide enough area.
Lifting the lamp to peer inside, there was only a shallow layer of lamp oil left, let alone lasting through a return trip to the cave; whether it could even sustain until reaching the sheep capture site was uncertain.
Silently cursing his carelessness, he walked into the cave, set down the backpack, pulled out a cloth strip, and wrapped a simple torch from a stick left in the cave.
Blowing out the oil lamp, pouring out the lamp oil to soak the cloth strip, he then stuck this unlit torch into the cave.