Chapter 366 - 159: Major Reward
The day the charcoal kiln was completed was February 1, 1662.
This charcoal kiln was much smaller compared to the abandoned kiln at Chen Zhou’s grandmother’s house, but each time it could produce several hundred pounds, or even close to a thousand pounds of charcoal. It was more than enough not just to supply him for forging practice but also for firing pottery.
Of course, firing pottery requires setting up a separate high-temperature furnace, as using a pottery kiln certainly can’t produce qualified porcelain.
The forging furnace needed for forging is the same; Chen Zhou even had to create a separate room just for the furnace to store charcoal, metals, and semi-finished metal tools.
Actually, small tools are manageable, but many parts for constructing waterwheels and windmills are large pieces made from a combination of wood and metal, making it impossible to place them in a cramped space indoors.
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At the end of the day’s work, Chen Zhou boiled a large pot of hot water and enjoyed a comfortable hot bath.
Saturday and Sunday didn’t have such luxury; they could only bathe in the mountain stream and were responsible for washing their clothes and Chen Zhou’s dirty clothes afterward—
Yes, after discovering that the indigenous people were more diligent and capable than he had imagined, Chen Zhou also tossed his clothes to them to wash.
He found that most of the time, the clothes washed by the indigenous people were cleaner than those he washed himself.
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February 2 will bring another mysterious reward.
Having been busying himself like a true craftsman for an entire month, Chen Zhou finally could enjoy a clean night of rest after his bath, sipping some wine and having a good meal, hoping that the reward coming tomorrow would bring some useful items.
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This busy month saw Chen Zhou not only completing the construction of the charcoal kiln but also finding time to lead the indigenous people to clean up the remains of their burned countrymen on the northeast beach.
Thanks to having dragged most of the bodies together and burned them on the day of the indigenous massacre, even if it didn’t cause a plague, it would have stunk up the place.
The three of them worked together, and it wasn’t long before all the remains of the skeletons were thrown into the sea, and the burn marks on the sand pit were filled.
When the rainy season arrives, two months of heavy rainfalls will completely erase the traces of the massacre here.
Apart from cleaning up the traces of the massacre, Chen Zhou teamed up with two indigenous people to push two canoes into the sea while the tide was high.
After a month of sun exposure and wood-eating animals’ gnawing, both canoes sustained damage to varying degrees, though they were still barely usable.
Chen Zhou moved these giants to a spot near the foot of the Broken Cliff, picked a hidden corner there, and dropped his homemade anchor, then covered the canoes with a layer of dry branches and leaves for camouflage.
By then, the two indigenous people had already mastered quite a few words.
They told Chen Zhou that to preserve the canoes better, they must be dragged ashore and buried in sand.
Alternatively, drag them ashore and put some wooden beams underneath to keep them off the ground.
Chen Zhou knew that burying them in sand could lock the moisture within the wood, preventing it from drying and cracking; the elevated storage was to avoid waterlogging and mildew at the bottom of the boat.
He also knew that brushing a layer of tung oil or wood varnish on the canoe would be more convenient.
The problem was that the canoe was too large, and its current state wasn’t very good.
With their combined strength, plus a pulley system, they could forcefully drag the canoe ashore if they wanted to.
But once ashore, it would require regular inspections, which he deemed unnecessary.
If he wanted to go out to sea, he could entirely spend some time building a better and sturdier boat himself, one with sails and an anchor, instead of using the indigenous people’s boat.
Moreover, he had no plans to go out to sea anytime soon—there were still many things left unfinished.
Chen Zhou was someone who liked to work according to plan; he rarely acted impulsively. Detailed plans made him feel fulfilled and secure.
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Having lived together for more than a month, experiencing three mysterious rewards, Saturday and Sunday had also figured out the pattern.
On February 2, before Chen Zhou got out of bed, the two had already freshened up, tidied their bedding, and were looking after the farmland while waiting for Chen Zhou to take them to the beach.
Their sensitivity to time wasn’t due to innate talent but because, when Chen Zhou taught them knowledge, he also made a calendar.
Farming is a task very sensitive to time.
When to plant, when to cultivate, when to irrigate, when to fertilize, when to harvest—understanding these without a concept of time just wouldn’t work.
Moreover, the seasonal cycles of rain and drought on the island, the maturity cycles of common fruits, the mating and pregnancy periods of goats, all needed to be judged through precise time and not just relying on "feeling."
To ensure the two indigenous people understood the importance of time, Chen Zhou repeatedly emphasized the concept of time in his compiled materials and also educated them on "festivals" as regularly occurring events.
"Feasts," "rituals," and the divine "gifts" left them with deep impressions; these things made them develop a clear understanding of time.
Once Chen Zhou finished drafting a calendar of all the days for the 12 months of 1662 on white clay tablets and instructed them to circle the days as they passed, they finally realized that once the calendar covered in numbers was filled with circles, the year would have passed.
Three important holidays were highlighted using pineapple ink.
The two indigenous people checked the days, counted the unmarked numbers, and were filled with anticipation for the upcoming holiday on August 1.
Close to August 1, there was also September 30, and January 1—they had just celebrated New Year not long ago and had a general understanding of what festivals meant in their hearts.