Chapter 362 - 157: Gift (Part 2)
The small black box that produces smokeless coal is undoubtedly a great help in this regard.
Pure wooden windmills and waterwheels are not durable and need frequent replacement of easily worn parts shortly after use.
To make them durable, metal components must be added.
There's quite a bit of scrap iron brought from the ship, some larger pieces weigh forty to fifty pounds, which can be cut into small manageable pieces with space-time cutting for forging or casting.
The main reason for not attempting to forge metal items previously was that the temperature produced by burning wood was insufficient.
Also, Chen Zhou was bogged down with trivial matters, and the rainy season on the island interfered, preventing him from finding the time to build a charcoal kiln or try forging iron products to his needs.
Due to many factors, as of January 1, 1662, Chen Zhou hadn't built even the essential facilities needed for forging metal tools, such as an anvil, bellows, and forge.
...
Now, there's still a month and a half until the rainy season arrives.
Chen Zhou thought he should make good use of this time to first build a charcoal kiln not far from the cave—
The output of the small black box is too low; from September 20, 1661, to today, it has only produced 103 pieces of smokeless coal, totaling 721 pounds.
He is self-aware and knows that his understanding of the metal forging process from watching forging programs is theoretical, and in actual practice, it could take him hundreds of attempts to successfully forge a kitchen knife.
During this process of continual trying and learning, the fuel consumption would far exceed 721 pounds.
It's better to first use ordinary charcoal to practice the technique, and when he has a certain success rate and confidence in his craft, then use the precious smokeless coal to forge metal tools.
Moreover, in many ways, the advantages of smokeless coal cannot be substituted by charcoal.
For example, smokeless coal has excellent high-temperature performance, burning at over 1200°, while charcoal's temperature limit is only around 1000°, which is insufficient for forging materials like high-carbon steel.
Moreover, smokeless coal's burning efficiency is stable, with strong and consistent heat output, reducing the need for frequent fuel additions.
And the stable release of heat helps maintain furnace temperature, preventing metal internal stress imbalance caused by temperature fluctuations.
If the requirements for the forged metal tools are high, charcoal can't compare to smokeless coal under any circumstances.
...
While thinking, Chen Zhou stepped out of the cave and tidied up the leftover dishes from last night.
Seafood dishes are all about freshness, and eating them after a night reduces the taste by several notches.
The harvest from the sea was enough to sustain three people, and there was always fresh seafood to eat, so Chen Zhou didn't really want to eat leftover fish and shrimp.
But seeing how the two natives enjoyed the Chinese food immersed in seasonings last night, he took out a tiered wooden box and packed several dishes he didn't eat, planning to deliver them to the two natives later.
Besides the dishes, there was also quite a bit of leftover fruit platter and lamb and scallion dumplings.
Chen Zhou thought he couldn't finish all these dishes, so he simply picked some from each category, packed two large wooden boxes, and placed them at the small courtyard gate side by side.
"Delivering food isn't something a leader should do, better let them come and get it themselves."
...
After finishing tidying up, Chen Zhou was about to go out and dig some white clay to make more white clay boards or choose a site for building a charcoal kiln. He stopped when he saw the two wooden boxes at the door.
"I don't know the date of the lunar New Year, so let's consider this New Year's Day as the New Year.
Those two guys had a great feast last night and were scared half to death this morning; they likely haven't figured out what celebrating the New Year and holiday means.
Since the two boxes of food have been given, I, as the boss, shouldn't be too stingy. I might as well give each of them a gift to cheer them up…"
Thinking this way, Chen Zhou returned to the cave, walked into the storage room, and began selecting suitable gifts.
He initially thought of choosing two items from the useless mysterious rewards to give to the natives.
After the second-anniversary big gift pack, he received six more mysterious rewards.
This included a blue and white pixiu tea pet, laundry detergent, a multifunctional fire hammer, a stainless steel supermarket shopping cart, a set of sharpening stones with grits ranging from 1000 to 8000, and his Iron Butcher Armor.
Apart from the tea pet and shopping cart, the rest were useful items.
But the tea pet was finely crafted, simple, and charming, and he was reluctant to give it away.
Dismantling the shopping cart into parts serves him more than giving it to the natives, so it couldn't be given away.
Looking back, giving electronic cigarettes to the natives would surely cause more harm than good. If the natives become addicted, it would be troublesome later.
Though nunchucks are weapons, the natives probably wouldn't know how to swing them without guidance, and if they accidentally hurt themselves, it would interfere with work.
As for lip balm, purple clay tea sets, wooden metronomes, shoehorns, Electronic Wooden Fish, and phone cases, some aren't presentable gifts, while others might come in handy.
...
Opening the boxes one by one and seeing each modern item, Chen Zhou felt reluctant to take out any of them.
"Forget it, forget it. Later, when I go out, I'll bring a few glass beads and two ceramic dolls for these two guys from the camp at the foot of the mountain.
After all, they are things they can't make; there's no difference."
"But they work hard for me every day without asking for a dime, and they helped me clean up last night, and if I just give them a few worthless glass beads, it feels a bit excessive."
Thinking further, Chen Zhou recalled the box of canned food he hadn't finished.
"How about giving each of the two a can of food?
Let them taste genuine modern delicacies."
...
Following the routine work of tending the fields, the diligent Ah Tun returned to the wooden house, took out his piece of white clay board, and began quietly reviewing the phonetics he learned yesterday.
Duoduo Lu was outside the house stoking the fire for cooking. They had already agreed that each of them would take turns cooking for the day, giving the other time to learn some knowledge while one cooked, and then teach their companion in the evening, allowing them to learn the "God's" language faster.
Communicating with God is a special ability usually reserved for priests, and now that both have the opportunity to master this ability, they dare not slack off.
...
A bonfire was already burning, and just when they were about to hang a ceramic pot with half a pot of water over the fire, they heard a call from the direction of the cave.
Chen Zhou's orders are above everything else.
Ah Tun immediately put down the white clay board and followed Duoduo Lu running towards the courtyard gate.
When the two arrived at the door, they were greeted by the smiling face of Chen Zhou and the two large wooden boxes at his feet.
"These two boxes of food are yours, so you don't need to cook for lunch or dinner today. Just eat these leftovers!"
Saying this, Chen Zhou opened the lids of the two wooden boxes, showed the natives the food arranged in the plates inside, indicating that these were a gift for them.
Before the two natives could kneel to express their gratitude, he magically pulled out two small cans with a metallic sheen from behind.
"These are for you too, take the boxes, and I'll teach you how to use them."
...
Soon, the two natives sat obediently by the bonfire, watching intently at the small can in Chen Zhou's hands, attentively observing his demonstration.
"You see, this small can can be used to store water, and it's very portable."
Chen Zhou held the empty can and gestured, demonstrating the advantages of the small can through actions and words.
"It can be kept in your arms, fireproof, and with it and the fire striker, you can cook meals anywhere.
Just like this…"
He picked up a few stones, formed a simple stove, poured some water into the small can, fished out a sun-dried small fish, and dropped it into the water, then placed the can with water and fish on the stove and added two pieces of firewood.
"Not long from now, the boiled fish will be ready to eat.
And it can not only cook fish but also boil water, very convenient.
After the water boils, set it aside.
Like this, let it cool, and you can drink it; do you understand?"
...
The use of the can is not much different from the ceramic pot, the only advantage being its portability, as well as its relatively novel material and design.
The two natives were well-versed in using ceramic pots and naturally quickly understood how to use the can, looking joyfully at the gift belonging to them, with hardly concealed delight on their faces.
Here they were overjoyed, not realizing that actually, the gift Chen Zhou originally intended to give them was not merely this metal can.
More importantly, it was the contents inside the can.
However, this always-generous "Celestial God" they revered, driven by greed at the last moment, abandoned the idea of giving them the unopened can, changed his mind, and swallowed the food that was supposed to be their share.