Chapter 450 - 12: A Rare Break (Part 2)
Managing the big picture is not an easy task, especially when it comes to significant matters like construction projects that concern life safety.
Chen Zhou can entrust the cultivation of fields to the natives, and the livestock to the native shepherds, because the loss of a few crops and the injury or death of a few sheep are trivial matters to him.
However, he truly cannot rest easy about the construction of the factory.
After several months, although no one said anything, Chen Zhou himself felt that his spirit was much more exhausted than before, and he might have grown quite a few gray hairs.
After being mentally and emotionally drained for so long, now that he finally has some free time, he really doesn't want to continue investing in study or work—he too wants to relax a little.
...
"Looking at the sky outside, it doesn't seem like it's going to rain heavily anytime soon; why not go fishing for a while?"
Gazing blankly at the books on the table for quite a while, Chen Zhou finally decided to put them away.
The mysterious reward that arrived at the end of November was a fishing rod with a very high-quality texture and exquisite craftsmanship, much better than those in the fishing gift package, and it had not yet been used since its arrival.
Feeling bored today, he decided to brave the rain and go fishing for a while outside.
In fact, whether he catches anything or not doesn't matter; Chen Zhou just wanted to relax his tense mind a bit.
...
Getting up from the ergonomic chair, as he headed to the storage room to get the fishing rod, he passed by the bedroom windowsill and bent down to stroke Lai Fu's big head.
Lai Fu squinted slightly, grinning as it enjoyed the owner's touch.
As if sensing some outdoor activity today, once Chen Zhou stepped into the storage room, Lai Fu immediately stood up, wagging its tail and gazing excitedly outside.
...
The various supplies and mysterious rewards in the storage room had long been sorted into several small piles according to date, type, and other categories.
Some were placed on shelves, while others were stored in boxes.
For supplies that were prone to dampness, like clothing and fabric, a layer of charcoal was placed in the boxes to absorb moisture. Chen Zhou would replace the charcoal every rainy season to ensure the clothes wouldn't mold.
From the outermost part of the storage room to the innermost, the importance of the supplies gradually increased.
All mysterious rewards were placed at the back of the storage room to prevent the natives from peeking through the window, even seemingly insignificant items like silicone phone cases and butt plugs were locked in wooden boxes.
It's safe to say that apart from Chen Zhou, there wasn't a second person on the island who knew what rewards were delivered each time.
...
When cleaning, Chen Zhou cleaned the storage room alone. He only simply swept the floor, without even mopping.
Walking in the storage room, there was a faint smell of dust being dampened.
Chen Zhou's gaze swept over the wooden boxes one by one, finally stopping at the second-to-last box.
He suddenly remembered that the box contained the mysterious reward delivered on January 28th, at that time he was busy commanding the natives to "put a lid" on the foundation pit.
In the hustle, he only had time to hurriedly go to the beach, didn't even unpack the reward packaging, brought the reward home, and then threw it into the wooden box.
Half a month had passed since then, and due to many subsequent affairs needing attention, he had forgotten about this reward.
"Well, there's a blind box waiting for me."
Smiling self-deprecatingly, not knowing whether he's lamenting his busyness or regretting his memory, Chen Zhou lifted the wooden box.
After moving the wooden box back to the bedroom, he returned to the storage room to take the fishing rod contained in the leather bag.
...
Lai Fu stood at the doorway, silent but its gaze was magnetically fixed on Chen Zhou.
Seeing Chen Zhou place the wooden box on the table, its excited expression dimmed, just about to lie down, but upon seeing Chen Zhou take out the long leather bag, it straightened its legs again.
Being with its owner for so long, Lai Fu enjoyed seeing long strip-shaped items like this, besides the mountaineering bag.
Since every time Chen Zhou went fishing, he would accompany it for a long time, sometimes even playing games with it if no fish were caught, which made Lai Fu have a good impression of the fishing rod.
Now seeing Chen Zhou take out the long leather bag, Lai Fu suddenly became expectant of today's activities.
While its ears couldn't stand completely upright, with a little effort they could halfway stand.
Focusing its attention and maintaining this "semi-erect" state, Lai Fu was only waiting for the owner to say they're going out so it could have a good time playing outside.
Unexpectedly, Chen Zhou went to the desk with the leather bag without inviting it or opening the bag, instead opening the wooden box first.
...
Inside the wooden box was a cardboard box placed neatly, not too large, about 60cm in length, and no more than 40cm in width, altogether a rectangular shape, looking like something insignificant.
But Chen Zhou did not underestimate it—
Since receiving the third-anniversary reward, the value of each mysterious reward had been worlds apart from those in the first year on the island.
Even if they were all handcrafted items, the clock far surpassed the Wang Lingguan statue in both utility and worth.
Of course, if forced to discuss the frying capability of the Wang Lingguan statue's base, Chen Zhou could begrudgingly admit that these two rewards' values were indeed comparable.
...
Holding the bottom of the cardboard box, he took it out of the wooden box, feeling its substantial weight, Chen Zhou surmised it was probably a metal or ceramic craft item.
"Is it another iron piece?"
Facing this "blind box" which only saw the light of day a month and a half later than expected, Chen Zhou was more interested than usual compared to directly opening it on the beach.
Carefully cutting open the edge of the cardboard box with Dagger, he tried to keep the cardboard intact.
When he opened the box and saw the item inside, he was momentarily stunned—
Inside was a model of a steam engine gleaming with metallic luster.
Most components of the steam engine were made of brass, reflecting the light of the oil lamps, giving it a kind of golden texture.
But what really captivated Chen Zhou was its delicate and mechanically beautiful structure.
Two cylinders, pistons, connecting rods, crankshaft, steam supply system, condenser…
Numerous intricately designed small parts constituted this not-so-massive machine.
When it started working, the steam generated after heating would enter the pistons, moving reciprocally inside the cylinders, thus converting the piston's linear movement into rotational power through connecting rods and crankshaft, driving machines or ships, trains.
"What a fine piece!"
As someone with a passion for mechanical structures, while Chen Zhou could refuse to learn how to make explosives, he couldn't turn away from this steam engine model.
However, at that moment, he did not directly take the steam engine model out—
There were still other items in another section of the cardboard box.
After unwrapping the separate packaging on the other side of the box, what appeared before Chen Zhou's eyes was a boiler model matching the steam engine model.
It was evident that the maker of the model had excellent craftsmanship and paid special attention to the details of the model.
He not only designed these two models, but also kindly included a set of steam whistles, a switch valve, a quick switch, and some pressure gauges with replacement interfaces, screws, and other small parts.
...
Placing the steam engine model and boiler model on the table, along with all the small components, Chen Zhou wished he could instantly assemble all the parts onto the steam engine and boiler, then ignite it to enjoy its working state.
To know that in recent months, aside from daily work, what he thought the most was how to craft a steam engine suitable for the 17th century.
Chen Zhou believed that with what he had learned, he could fully replicate a practical steam engine.
But that requires time.
He is not a computer, unable to etch all learned knowledge into his brain and extract it for review when needed.
To build a steam engine, he must design bit by bit, recall what he learned step by step, a process destined to be lengthy.
Yet this steam engine model perfectly saved him the time for thinking.
Even if he couldn't scale it up proportionally, just understanding this steam engine's structure and making slight improvements would suffice, and that wouldn't take much time.
...
Picking up parts one by one to observe, just as Chen Zhou's desire to learn and research gradually increased, on the verge of giving up fishing to concentrate on the steam engine, he heard a heavy object fall behind him.
Turning back to look, he found Lai Fu lying on the ground with a drooping face.
Seeing its owner gazing at it, Lai Fu turned its head indignantly, leaving only its stubborn back of the head to Chen Zhou, which made Chen Zhou at a loss whether to cry or laugh, so he had to pack the steam engine model back into the cardboard box.
"Alright, alright, such a small dog with such a big temper, I'll take you out to play then!"