Chapter 202 - 89: Rest Day
On the evening of May 19th, before it got dark, Chen Zhou cut off the ripe rice ears, pulled out the roots of the rice, and loosened the soil.
The compost fermented in the platform toilet was ready.
After resting for two days, he would apply a layer of fertilizer to the land where the rice was planted to increase the yield of the next season's crops.
The plump rice ears were placed by him on the bedroom windowsill to dry them preliminarily; after removing the moisture, they would be hulled.
Of course, this is also because there's currently only a model machine of an earthen pestle, with insufficient weight in the internal clay grinding plate. Although it can barely process rice, the results are not good.
The theoretical issues have been thoroughly researched, and it won't take many days to construct a real earthen pestle.
For the fatigued Chen Zhou, it's also time to take a break.
...
On May 20th, Chen Zhou, who had given himself a holiday, slept in and didn't get up until around ten in the morning.
After boiling water for cooking, he fed Lai Fu, Xiao Huihui, and Dragon Cat. He washed his hair with hot water, moved the mirror to the outdoor platform, and shaved his overgrown hair.
While cutting his hair, Chen Zhou noticed that his neck and chest displayed different colors. Due to often rolling up his sleeves to work, the exposed forearms and upper arms were distinctly different in shade.
The sun on the island during the dry season was intense. Even with a wide-brimmed hat, activities in forested areas with tree shade still resulted in unavoidable tanning.
After shaving his hair, he also trimmed his beard, slightly altering his scruffy image, no longer resembling a strange brute escaped from an asylum.
Not forgetting what he promised Lai Fu yesterday afternoon, he took the small wooden box for catching Dragon Cats, a water bucket, pickaxe, and other tools, and under the increasingly hot sun, he called Lai Fu. Chen Zhou headed towards the gravel slope.
Leaving the shade, entering the sunny side of the mountain, the temperature suddenly rose.
Especially midway up the mountain, with no shelter, it felt like being in a furnace.
In such a bright sunny day, Lai Fu was also exhausted from the heat, its tail drooping, panting heavily with its tongue out.
Following behind Chen Zhou, it kept a close eye on the water carried on the shoulder pole, occasionally trotting a few steps forward to lick the water. Before reaching the destination, it had already drunk a layer of water from the bucket.
After drinking, Lai Fu had to pee, running here and there, leaving numerous spots on the dry ground.
Watching Lai Fu running back and forth, Chen Zhou felt a bit sorry for it, yet also wanted to laugh, and couldn't help but call out to it.
"Alright, alright, we're almost there, stop running.
Seeing you so hot, we'll just flood a couple of holes.
It's okay if we don't catch a Dragon Cat. In the afternoon, I'll take you fishing and give you a bath. Look at your fur, it's so dirty you've turned into a little black dog."
Woof!
Lai Fu responded to him, seeing the gravel slope ahead, not only did it not stop, but it even sped up, shooting down like a bullet.
This wasn't because it was particularly interested in catching Dragon Cats, but because there were trees at the bottom of the mountain, where it was somewhat cooler than in the places directly exposed to the sun.
Seeing Lai Fu lacking enthusiasm, Chen Zhou also felt a little disappointed.
His main purpose for coming was to make up for neglecting Lai Fu, whether or not they caught a Little Dragon Cat wasn't really important.
...
At home, there was a dog, two cats, and along with the Little Dragon Cat, a total of four pets.
Among them, Chen Zhou's favorite was undoubtedly Lai Fu, who never betrayed his affection. Ever since they landed on the island, it had been guarding the house, catching sheep and rabbits, even once barking to warn him, preventing an attack from a python. It had done great work, deserving of all the care and attention.
After Lai Fu, he used to prefer Xiao Huihui and wasn't too friendly towards Tizi.
But as time passed, Xiao Huihui's lazy, gluttonous nature sharply contrasted with Tizi's diligent and hardworking demeanor.
Moreover, of the two cats, Xiao Huihui, due to its laziness, had less interaction with him, sometimes lying in his arms like a stuffed toy, unmoving, unable to provide emotional value.
On the contrary, Tizi often brought back small animals, made significant impacts on mice and wild rabbits, and after being "released from prison," it had rapidly gained favor in his heart.
Now, if Chen Zhou were to choose between Xiao Huihui and Tizi, it would be a pretty tough decision.
Because he felt both cats were important, one winning due to long companionship, while for the other, apart from not enough time spent together, there were no other shortcomings.
As for the Little Dragon Cat, it was the pet with the least presence.
It wasn't like those spoiled pets, clawing at boxes or throwing tantrums. Apart from being a bit restless when it was first captured, it quickly adapted to a worry-free life of eating and sleeping.
Moreover, it instinctively knew how to defecate in designated areas within its wooden box and would separate clean food from those contaminated by waste or water, always quiet, never showing fear or aggression towards the cats and dogs.
Maybe because food was too abundant, or wild animals naturally wary of humans, Chen Zhou barely saw the Little Dragon Cat begging, only seen it rolling in the box or shaking its body.
Later, he recalled that Dragon Cats could bathe in sand, so he prepared a dish of dried white soil for the little one and placed it inside.
When the Little Dragon Cat made contact with the white soil, it was like a crocodile performing a death roll, turning into a spinning top, rapidly rolling around, enveloping the plate with "white smoke."
After its bath, it seemed to collect its previously manic behavior, standing upright, holding its little paws, blankly waiting for Chen Zhou to return it to the box.
Compared to animals with lower intelligence and weaker self-care abilities, the Dragon Cat seemed too well-behaved and clever.
It was because of this obedience that Chen Zhou had rarely paid attention to it.
Aside from adding hay and water, occasionally bathing it, he rarely played or communicated with it. In fact, after raising it for so long, he hadn't even given it a name.
Chen Zhou didn't know if modern pet Dragon Cats also had such an independent and stable nature, but assumed they were different from the one he captured.
Thus, keeping this somewhat distant relationship, coupled with the Little Dragon Cat showing no discomfort in solitary life, making almost no noise, at times of busyness, Chen Zhou sometimes even overlooked its presence, only tending to the cats and dogs.
On the way to the gravel slope, reflecting on the past, Chen Zhou thought this current mode of interaction was quite nice.
If he were to find a mate for the Little Dragon Cat, the situation might not be as good as now.
Besides, he still didn't know how to distinguish the gender of Dragon Cats.
Nor did he know if they would fight and compete for affection, tearing each other apart.
And whether opposite genders could get along, what their reproductive abilities were like, if they would reproduce like rabbits, with a litter every few months, increasing endlessly, eventually bankrupting him with their consumption.
Carrying the shoulder pole, following far behind Lai Fu, seeing it had found a Dragon Cat hole and was wagging its tail nearby, Chen Zhou quickly interrupted his thoughts and quickened his pace.
The water in the bucket sloshed back and forth, spilling some over the edge.
Originally planning to give up the Dragon Cat capture, seeing the wet soil and Lai Fu's keen interest, he didn't want to waste the water, deciding to give it a try.
Since it's a rest day, there's no need to be so goal-oriented; catching something or not, having fun is what matters.
Plus, he just remembered there are also bird eggs to collect near the stone pile, so if they fail at the capture, he could still find some bird nests and get several eggs to boil and eat, which would taste delicious.