Chapter 180 - 77: Waiting
Most of the time, predicting the future is a good thing.
But sometimes it's not so delightful.
Chen Zhou knew a disaster was coming, but he couldn't foresee how severe the impact would be or how intense the destruction might be, leaving his heart uneasy and tortured.
After getting up on April 12, he once again flipped through Robinson Crusoe, carefully checking the important events that happened on specific dates from landing on the island to the earthquake and then leaving the island.
In the book, Robinson clearly stated that the recorded years and dates were accurate, meaning the earthquake would surely arrive on April 18 as scheduled.
Right after the earthquake, a storm would follow.
With about six days of safety left, Chen Zhou first went to the camp down the mountain, moved out a few lead plates onto the beach, waiting for the next cut to turn them into lead strips to be embedded on the wheel surfaces.
Then he checked and maintained all the shelters again and reinforced the wooden cabin on the mountain.
The earthquake might affect the structural strength of the wooden cabin. Facing such a terrifying natural disaster, Chen Zhou couldn't even rely on the cement-bearing columns in the cave, let alone the temporary shelter constructed in just a few days.
He was very worried about the wooden cabin being damaged in the post-earthquake storm.
Leaks, collapses, dents—any of these situations could leave him at his wits' end.
He especially feared the collapse, losing the shelter in stormy weather, unable to make a fire or keep warm, which could easily make him seriously ill, just like Robinson.
During this time, Chen Zhou would flip through Robinson Crusoe every day, only looking at the descriptions before and after the earthquake.
He read it so much that he was almost able to memorize those few pages.
According to the book, the earthquake this time was not strong, did not cause terrifying disasters like tsunamis or volcanic eruptions, and even the trees on the island weren't much damaged.
The only commotion worth mentioning was the dislodging of a huge rock on the mountain by the sea, which sank into the sea.
And the earthquake came quickly and went quickly as well.
In eight minutes, the ground shook three times, and then there were no more aftershocks.
Less than half an hour after the earthquake ended, a fierce and swift storm arrived, bringing more than three hours of heavy rainfall to the island.
Afterward, the rainy season waved goodbye, took away all the thunderclouds, and left behind a vast clear sky.
By any consideration, this disaster posed no threat to his life.
Chen Zhou increasingly felt he was worrying unnecessarily and often tried to comfort himself.
Continuous psychological suggestion eased his anxious mood. To be safe, whenever he traveled out, he tried to stay away from the mountain top and dead trees, avoiding being killed by unexpected falling objects.
...
Life became more cautious and careful, yet he couldn't stop working.
Caring for the fields, reinforcing the embankment, feeding the cats, dogs, and sheep, checking the traps, occasionally moving some stones to the beach to serve as materials for the next cut were habitual tasks. If he suddenly stopped these, Chen Zhou would feel uncomfortable instead.
Besides everyday chores, he also took a dozen window frames with glass from the sheds at the camp down the mountain, intending to complete the sunroom first.
However, he didn't plan to directly install the windows in the sunroom but wanted to wait until after the earthquake to install them.
Now, he only installed the window frames.
Glass is fragile, and if damaged during an earthquake, it can't be repaired, and shattered glass all over the ground is very dangerous.
Even wearing boots, he feared being stabbed by glass shards, not to mention Lai Fu, who walked "barefoot".
...
By April 16, the rough frame of the sunroom was fully assembled, and a gap was purposely left between the wooden cabin and the sunroom passage.
Chen Zhou placed a stake outside the gap, laid a short beam on the roof beam, and erected a triangular short corridor along the gap.
The short corridor had no door, leaving both sides open, with stairs connecting to the ground, serving a similar function to a vestibule.
Chen Zhou hung a bucket, hand axe, leather cloak, and wide-brim hat in the short corridor, conveniently changing them each time he went out or returned home.
...
In terms of living experience, after staying for a few days, the wooden cabin offered him more safety and comfort than the cave.
The cave's outer walls were incomplete, the kitchen, bedroom, and storage room weren't separated, completely connected, piling up only the outer wall of the bedroom was useless. If animals or enemies wanted to enter from outside, they only needed to take a few steps and turn the corner.
Moreover, the cave opening was too large, when the wind blew, it often filled the cave, whistling around the bearing columns, giving a huge psychological pressure.
The cave also lacked ceilings and floors, usually walking in it didn't feel like being at home, it felt like living in an unfinished building or the wilds—which indeed was the case.
Without a ceiling, when lying in bed at night, looking up, there were only the few corrugated cardboard paintings he hung under the beams, the rest were expanses of sand and stone.
Occasionally, a few stones or sand would fall, covering the beddings with dust, he had to carefully shake the bedding every night before sleep to avoid being poked awake by unknown stones.
Living in such a place was neither safe, warm nor hygienic, and every aspect was inferior to the newly built small wooden cabin.
Even the only advantage of "spaciousness" felt tight and insufficient upon closer inspection, occupying most of the space with various supplies, barely enough room it seemed.
Upon careful reflection, the cave's greatest advantage might only be its potential.
Once the outer walls are built, the ceiling and floor installed, the internal space organized, a few pieces of furniture added, and a firewall erected, it will surpass the wooden cabin.
...
On April 17, knowing the earthquake would happen tomorrow, Chen Zhou's mood, which had stabilized, tightened again.
During breakfast, he often left the room, squatting in the short corridor watching the mountains, fearing the ground might suddenly shake and then the front cliffside might start to collapse, bringing a catastrophic scene.
Facts proved, his worries were baseless.
Finishing three bowls of porridge, the mountain was still the same mountain, and the trees were still the same trees, unchanged.
With such a mood, work naturally couldn't proceed, Chen Zhou took out his improved fishing rod he made a long time ago, preparing to fish a few in the small lake and raise them in the water pit, to see if they could develop into a small fishpond.
According to Robinson's observation rules, mid-April marked the start of the island's dry season.
In fact, since April 13, both the frequency and intensity of precipitation had noticeably decreased.
It was expected that in a few more days, sunny skies would dominate the island over rainy days.
Thanks to the gradually rising temperatures and increasingly long periods of sunlight, rice had already blossomed.
As a "domestic northernmost northerner," Chen Zhou was observing blooming rice flowers for the first time in real life.
As they bloomed, they squeezed out of the tightly packed green packets on the rice ear, the flowers were small, some light yellow, and some light green, with projecting anthers like insect antennae, looking like aphids crawling over the rice ear from a distance.
Rice flowers were not only aesthetically peculiar, but also had a short blooming period.
Relying on his intuition, Chen Zhou estimated that rice flowers bloomed and closed in less than an hour.
If it weren't for his concern for the field, visiting it like clocking in at work every morning, noon, and night, he might have missed the sight of the rice blooming.
Following the plant reproduction process, after blooming comes pollination.
Seeing the dry season approaching, butterflies, bees, and other helpful pollinating insects would also become active. Chen Zhou was in good spirits, believing that with the right time, place, and people, his field would yield a good harvest.
Actually, he underestimated rice.
As a self-pollinating plant, rice's pistils and stamens are adjacent, and the pollen is extraordinarily small, so wind alone can achieve pollination without needing insect assistance.
Most crops he knows are cross-pollinated plants, like corn grown in large areas in his hometown, which needs insect pollination.
Cross-pollination's main characteristic is that self-pollinated crops experience significant yield reduction, and offspring are thin and unhealthy, prone to early death.
The knowledge passed orally by the older generation to Chen Zhou made him believe that if insect pollination didn't occur, crop yields would drop.
However, this is unreasonable, entirely because he threw his biological knowledge aside.