Chapter 357 - 155: Entering Year 3 (Part 2)
He prepared to put on his most imposing outfit—the Iron Massacre, and then, armed, he would go to pay his respects.
When worshiping the statue, he would treat firing the gun as a form of prayer to the heavens.
While intimidating the natives, it could also enhance the momentum of the entire ceremony, adding a solemn, militaristic demeanor.
The posture for worshiping the statue was also important; it couldn't be the single-knee kneeling for allegiance, but must be a double-knee kneel, with the head knocking on the ground with a sound.
Of course, as the "one closest to the gods," Chen Zhou naturally could skip this set of rituals.
After all, Wang Lingguan once even lent his own pedestal for him to cook on, the relationship was that good, bowing could make it seem unfamiliar.
...
In fact, if analyzed by modern standards for regions that emphasize rituals, Chen Zhou's ceremonial process could be considered quite rudimentary.
There's no need to offer various tributes, no restraint from meat, no bathing or fasting, no specific style of dress, no music or dance, and even the incense burning step was omitted.
But that's unavoidable; festivity requires a crowd, and there are only three people on the island, no matter how you stir it up, it just can't be festive.
Later, after teaching the natives to speak Chinese, Chen Zhou plans to assign the ritual arrangements all to Wang Lingguan, saying it's God's will.
That way, if rescuing and taming more natives in the future requires expanding the scale of the ceremony, he would have an excuse.
After all, Wang Lingguan can't speak, so whether it's real or not, more or fewer dishes, whether to light incense, fire a gun, or kneel, it's all up to him.
...
It was already dark.
Duo Duo Lu and Ah Tun returned to the wooden house, lit the oil lamp, and facing the pinyin board made of white clay on the wall, began to read aloud, learning how to pronounce Chinese pinyin.
Since Chen Zhou found out they could finish working the fields and herding sheep in just half a day, he assigned them this new task.
To create more teaching materials, Chen Zhou had to dry more white clay boards.
He plans to add a 'writing' assignment once the natives read fluently, with these white clay boards serving as their writing material.
Listening, speaking, reading, and writing—all these must be mastered to truly learn a language.
Moreover, he couldn't always handle taming natives and educating them all on his own; if more natives were rescued later, he'd be overworked.
First, cultivate two trusted elites, give them necessary status, and provide military support at crucial moments, then let them slowly manage the other natives; only then could he free himself—Chen Zhou thought.
...
The immature chanting did not last long before Chen Zhou, having put the catch back into the yard, opened the door and walked in.
"Rest tonight, come with me."
After dropping this line, as he was about to leave the room, Chen Zhou added, "Don't put out the lamp."
Having lived together with Chen Zhou day and night for nearly half a month, there was much interaction in daily life, plus Chen Zhou intentionally increased the use of some language frequency, so the natives already understood some common words.
Especially those such as "come, go, front, back, up, and down" used to command them.
With a puzzled look at Ah Tun, unsure why the Celestial God wanted them out at night, or why they shouldn't extinguish the lamp before leaving, Duo Duo Lu obediently stopped chanting, picked up the coat draped on the bed's edge, and followed his companion out of the wooden house.
...
That night, not only was the wooden house where the two natives resided lit up, but even the distant end of the crop field was bright, emitting a faint yellow light in the darkness.
Oil lamps were hung under the watchtower within the walls, and even several floor lamps were set up atop the wide walls, making the entire hillside glow brightly with lights.
Walking ahead, Chen Zhou said nothing, but the two natives could already sense an unusual atmosphere from the outdoor setup, stepping carefully and nervously.
...
The usually tightly closed wooden gate of the walls stood wide open, and within the courtyard, a lamp was placed every two meters.
Several short tables were joined to form a long table spanning half the courtyard, covered with untreated ingredients.
Two bonfires burned brightly; the water in the pots was already boiling.
Green onions, braided garlic, red chilies, mint, fennel, flour, rice, oranges, lemons, sugarcane, grapes, Citron fruits...
The dazzling array of ingredients made the two natives' eyes widen, not to mention the skinned wild mountain goat hanging upside down on the wooden frame, exposing its pale flesh.
"Stop looking; we're having a feast tonight.
You there, go get some firewood; we'll need it for cooking later!"
Chen Zhou patted Duo Duo Lu's back—
This guy hadn't turned eighteen yet; with improved nutrition over the last half month, not only did his back broaden considerably, but he also grew a bit taller.
Before Duo Duo Lu could act, the quick-witted Ah Tun had already stepped ahead to find something to do, despite sometimes appearing wooden at times but occasionally showing more perceptiveness than the clever Duo Duo Lu.
...
Urging both natives into action, Chen Zhou went straight to the workbench, picked up a kitchen knife, and began handling the fish he caught today.
All three of them had hearty appetites; even with plenty of ingredients, they would be gone within two days.
Even if they couldn't finish, they could still share with the cats and dogs, or the "taste-testing mice" moved outside could have a treat, so Chen Zhou planned to cook more than one dish.
With just the fish, there was a braised fish, a stewed fish, and a grilled fish.
Regarding seafood, some would be stir-fried, some simmered, and some steamed, with various methods creating different flavors.
And tonight's highlight, lamb and green onion dumplings, had to be made with the freshest lamb and green onions for full flavor.
Apart from the main dishes, Chen Zhou also wanted to make a few fruit platters.
It was a pity that the goat hadn't birthed yet after getting pregnant, so he had no access to goat milk for aiding fermentation, or else making yogurt for cold drinks or ice cream would create a superb treat.
...
The ample spices allowed Chen Zhou more room for creativity.
His culinary skills were average, with only a few signature dishes above passing level, while most were barely edible, far from delicious.
Since coming to the island and improvising with limited resources two years ago every day,
as they say, practice makes perfect, over time Chen Zhou's kitchen skills were nurtured.
Especially his knife skills.
Before, he had to use a grater to make shredded potatoes; now he could cut uniformly thin slices with his eyes closed, although he had the knife skills now, there were no potatoes.
Cutting the vegetables and recalling the taste of familiar vegetables like potatoes, pumpkins, wax gourds, eggplants, and corn, Chen Zhou couldn't help but miss their flavors.
"Right, wasn't it mentioned in the original work that cassava is the staple food for these natives?
If this world is truly built according to the settings of 'Robinson Crusoe,' these two should know what cassava is!
Thinking of this, Chen Zhou was just about to call the two native boys over to ask when he recalled the language barrier; it would be hard to explain cassava, so he abandoned the idea.
Moreover, he knew cassava was a high-yielding plant rich in starch.
Logically, if there were large amounts of cassava in the tribe, people would be lean at most, not so thin that their chests stuck to their backs, forcing reliance on fishing to sustain the tribe.
From this perspective, whether this Archipelago really had cassava was still an unknown.
"It seems that there is probably no cassava here.
But just to be sure, once I teach these guys to communicate normally with me, I'll ask them.
It's not impossible that they only know how to dig wild cassava without understanding how to cultivate and produce food, leading to hunger by digging all up."
...
His wandering thoughts didn't affect Chen Zhou's nimble movements.
Like performing magic, dish after dish was taken out of the pot, turning into steaming servings.
The two natives were utterly dazzled, fixing their eyes on the spinning large kitchen knife in Chen Zhou's hand or his flipping frying pan, or staring at the finished dishes on the table.
They had never imagined food could be handled this way.
Tonight, undoubtedly, Chen Zhou opened a door to a new world for them once again.