Starting from Robinson Crusoe-Chapter 132 - 52: The Rainy Season Approaches

It took five full days to finish rendering all the subcutaneous fat.

On the afternoon of February 3, Chen Zhou finished rendering the last chunk of fat and poured the cool seal oil into plastic bags—hot oil would melt the plastic bags.

Then he arranged the 5kg plastic bags onto wooden shelves in a dark, dry storage room to be used later.

There were four types of seal oil packaging: glass containers, glass jars, large barrels, and plastic bags.

Chen Zhou planned to use the oil from the glass containers and large barrels as cooking oil. There were about ninety jin of this oil, which would last three years if he did not fry and sauté too frequently.

During these three years, even if no more seals landed here, he could fish and render oil or go to the other side of the island to hunt penguins for oil to replenish the fats.

As for the seal oil in plastic bags, it was reserved for lamp oil, expected to sustain high-intensity usage for over a year without issue.

Besides rendering oil, Chen Zhou also cut most of the seal meat into thin strips, salted and simply roasted them near a fire until the surface of the meat strips dried, then hung them on wooden racks to air-dry.

The seal's lungs had already started to rot and smell bad, so he dared not eat them and could only cut them up and throw them in the toilet compost.

The seal's heart and liver were cut into small pieces and briefly fried in a pot during oil rendering. Some were fed to Lai Fu and two cats, while Chen Zhou pocketed some as snacks, and they tasted quite good.

During the oil-rendering process, the fur on the small seal meat chunks was fully stripped off.

Following the processing method of large seal skins, Chen Zhou made many drying racks, tautened the small seal skins, scraped away leftover meat and fat, and neatly arrayed them with the large drying racks, forming a quite spectacular sight from afar.

The two seals brought Chen Zhou immense gains.

Now he could freely eat meat and light lamps without worrying about insufficient fat and protein intake in the short term.

But such abundant gains also accompanied resource consumption, with the most severe being the consumption of table salt.

Chen Zhou originally had two large boxes and several small bags of salt, but after rendering oil and salting meat, he was left with only three bags.

Cooking, stewing, and supplementing the sheep with salt, these three bags could only last two to three months.

Now, new and old issues arise one after another, food and fats turn into a salt problem again to trouble Chen Zhou.

With only ten or so days left in the dry season, he should dig out salt drying ponds quickly under the blazing sun to produce coarse salt.

Otherwise, when the rainy season arrives, he can only use the highly inefficient indoor salt boiling method or wait until the rainy season ends to produce salt on a large scale.

...

On February 5, the large seal's skin completely dried.

Chen Zhou cleaned the sand and other dirt from the fur, and then wrapped Stone with the large seal skin, submerging it in water.

This treatment stage was to last about 2~3 days until the outer layer of longer seal hair could be plucked by hand for the next step.

Perhaps it's psychological.

Nearing the rainy season, Chen Zhou felt the mountain air was becoming more humid than usual.

The wilting plants in the forest also seemed invigorated, stretching their branches and leaves brilliantly, seemingly welcoming the coming rain in advance.

A strong sense of urgency compelled Chen Zhou to speed up his work progress.

From February 5, he moved Stone by day and dug foundations by lamplight at night, ensuring only 6 hours of sleep daily, while reducing meal times to fully rush the work.

On February 8, the materials were finally gathered, and Chen Zhou simultaneously dug the foundation and transported door frames, window frames, doors, and windows up the mountain.

During which he felled quite a few thick trees, drying them in the woodland.

The finished timber brought from the ship would eventually run out, causing him to prepare in advance for future consumption.

On the afternoon of February 9, back at the mountain camp, he unpacked Wang Lingguan's bronze statue and took the entire statue out, laying it flat to study whether its base could be removed.

He was surprised to find that the craftsman who made this bronze statue employed a very traditional technique.

The base of the bronze statue did not use glue nor weld, but rather an interlocking technique to attach it to the statue bottom.

To remove the base, one simply needed to use a chisel and hammer to pry open the interlocking copper strips along the base edges without causing too much damage to the statue.

Moreover, after using the copper base, there's a possibility of reinstalling it back in its original form.

This was certainly a pleasant surprise for Chen Zhou.

Coincidentally, he had brought a chisel and hammer down the mountain, initially planning for a violent takedown, but this time it turned out to be unexpectedly handy.

After working for a while, he successfully removed the statue's base.

The entire base was rectangular, with rounded corners and slightly concave inwards, about 8mm thick, but this was not solid material, rather 'watered down'.

Removing the base revealed that the so-called "pure copper" was merely an external layer, about 2mm thick, whereas inside the copper shell lay a blackened iron block, which added considerable weight to this statue.

If purchased as a pure copper artwork, one would pay extra for this iron block for nothing.

Yet for Chen Zhou, the iron block inside the copper shell was exactly what he needed—

With this iron wrapped inside, he didn't need to worry about copper ion leaching during frying causing food poisoning and risking health.

Most importantly, the base came with its own 'pan rim.'

By pressing down those protruding long iron strips, connecting them one after another, they form a complete pan rim all around.

Though not expected to entirely contain the oil in the pan, it's better than nothing. At least when frying fish or sautéing meat, there's no more concern about ingredients slipping out from the pan sides.

Of course, this 'flat copper pan' was not without flaws.

For instance, no handle, difficult to lift; easily burns hands; too shallow concave curve unsuitable for stewing dishes; lacks a lid, among other defects.

Yet for Chen Zhou, these shortcomings were entirely acceptable.

After reinstalling the statue without its base into the wooden box, carrying the flat copper pan back to the cave, he planned to clean the copper pan and then light a fire for cooking, when he suddenly realized he did not have a suitable stove for the copper pan.

The base wasn't drilled with holes, couldn't secure a rope, nor hang on a rack.

Before using it, he must custom-build a stone or brick stove.

Constructing a stove wasn't a difficult task but would also take some time.

According to plan, solving other matters should be prioritized right now. With the copper pan in hand, meals could be cooked sooner or later.

Helplessly placing the flat copper pan by the kitchen wall, Chen Zhou turned to check on the soaked seal skin.

Perhaps due to the small bucket, after three days the outer layer of seal fur had not loosened.

By today, already four and a half days had passed, even if the water was inadequate and soaking ineffective, this step should end by now.

Removing the fur-wrapped Stone from water, Chen Zhou tried plucking a tuft of wet seal hair from the skin.

"It's ready!"

Looking at the hair stuck to his fingers, he was quite delighted—finally, the seal's preserved brain found its use.

Sparking a fire, he added some oil to the seal brain, mixing and baking it over the fire until the slick mass turned very thick.

Seated on a low stool, he laid the fur on his knees, applying the thick paste of brain and oil onto the skin's inner side, while using a blunt knife and stick to scrape off the long hair from the seal skin.

Adjacent to the campfire, he occasionally utilized the smoke radiated from the wood to dry the fur.

According to a forum buddy's words, smoking prompts the liquid mixture applied on the fur to react, making the fur soft and supple.

Concluding work was detailed and prolonged, allowing no negligence.

Recently working late into the night nearly every day, compared to ground digging under lamplight, handling fur was a rare light task.

Patiently processing the fur, leaving no edge or corner untouched.

Night had deepened, and the campfire's light also weakened.

Fondling the soft and glistening seal fur in hand, feeling the smooth sensation of its fibrous, dense bottom fleece.

Re-hanging the fur onto the drying racks, admiring its unique silvery-white patterns upon it, Chen Zhou was filled with a sense of accomplishment.

His first fur tanning was such a success and the work went smoothly, he could sleep well and have a nice dream tonight.