Starting from Robinson Crusoe-Chapter 76 - 27: Divine Artifact of the Isolated Island! (Part 2)
But today it played too excitedly on the land, its fur covered in dirt, turning from a yellow dog to a black dog, with a strong earthy scent, greatly diminishing its cuteness.
Chen Zhou was starving, his eyes bloodshot, and paid no mind to Lai Fu, wolfing down, quickly stuffing two wings into his stomach.
That wasn’t all; he drank some water to quench his thirst, and ate three pieces of white bread with cheese, finally feeling comfortable, and burped contently.
After tidying up the dishes, the outdoor task was completed, and the new indoor task was just beginning.
There was a round grindstone on board, similar in size to a face basin, with a hole in the middle, originally installed on a broken foot pedal frame, which Chen Zhou had removed and brought to the camp.
Before the foot pedal frame was damaged, stepping on the pedal to rotate the grindstone could grind metal or wooden items.
But now, having lost its "other half," the grindstone’s function was greatly diminished.
Chen Zhou planned to take advantage of the shelter not being officially started, with more free time, to first make the foot pedal frame, saving effort later when sharpening knives and axes.
He dismantled many metal pipes from the ship’s anchor winch, which now came in handy.
He moved materials, a chisel, a hammer, a short saw, and other tools into the tent, and also fetched wood and metal parts.
He selected a suitable thick iron pipe, sketched out the structure on the wooden board with a charcoal pencil, and began working under the illumination of the fire.
The structure of the foot-pedaled grinding machine was much simpler than the raft and not very large. Working until midnight, several main components were completed.
Exhausted, Chen Zhou fell onto the bed, picked up the dagger, and carved a short horizontal line on a block of pineapple tree wood.
Feeling the shallow and deep marks on the wood, he couldn’t help but ponder.
"Tomorrow will be the thirtieth day; unknowingly, I’ve already been on the island for a month."
"Tonight’s moon should be as round as the day after I first landed, but unfortunately, it’s raining, and I can’t see it."
Lying on his back in the bedding, resting his arm under his head, looking at the soaked wooden beams, Chen Zhou remembered that tomorrow the second mysterious reward would be revealed.
Mentioning the four words "mysterious reward," his mind immediately conjured up the cheap-looking "pink hairdryer," leaving him conflicted.
Now, he had no hope for any check-in system or lottery system, not even daring to expect much from physical rewards.
Things like off-road vehicles, diesel engines, wind turbines—Chen Zhou couldn’t even dream of them.
Judging from the nature of the first reward, Pinduoduo’s 9.9 free shipping would be the norm for rewards, with the likelihood of anything good arising among the defective modern craft items and poor-quality plastic garbage being minuscule.
Think carefully, what kind of cost-effective items could be found among Pinduoduo’s cheap trash?
"Disposable tissues? Plastic bead bracelets? Cheap laundry liquid? Or are they glass cups, mouse pads, pirated books..."
Turning over, Chen Zhou recalled three divine books.
"’Barefoot Doctor’s Manual,’ ’Military and Land-Dual Use Talents,’ ’Civilian Military Training Manual.’
In Pinduoduo, the price of any one of these three books would not exceed ten bucks.
Alas, if this mysterious reward were these three books, even one would be a big help.
But then again, it’s unlikely.
Blame only myself for always watching short videos, browsing forums, and not diligently studying, so now when I need the book I regret having so few..."
Thinking things over, he figured the best outcome would be a box of electronic lighters or Betadine toothbrushes, practical items.
An electronic lighter ignites quickly, which could compensate for the slow firing of the matchlock gun, possibly allowing for the creation of the first electrical ignition breech gun of the 17th century.
Betadine can disinfect and reduce inflammation, being very effective for superficial wounds, potentially life-saving in a critical moment.
As for toothbrushes, although not as important as the previous two items, Chen Zhou had been using willow branches to clean his teeth for nearly a month, sometimes too forcefully, even causing his gums to get scraped and bleed.
Thus, he missed the soft toothbrushes dearly, and even 9.9 for ten shipped cheap toothbrushes would be better than willow branches.
As he kept thinking, the fatigue from a busy day messed with his mind, and Chen Zhou fell asleep.
......
When there’s something on your mind, you can’t sleep for long.
Before dawn, Chen Zhou got up, swiftly dressed, and hurriedly left the tent, running towards the beach.
Since finishing the transport on the 23rd, he hadn’t gone near the sea.
The rain had stopped at some point, a full thirty days had passed, and the moon had gone through a cycle and become bright again.
The beach at dawn wasn’t golden yellow like during the day, but silver, clean, and quiet.
There was no white trash, no drink bottles, no beer bottles or bamboo skewers from beach barbecues, walking along, it was both beautiful and lonely.
Seeing his master going out, Lai Fu excitedly chased after Chen Zhou.
One person and one dog, like the wind, left two shallow trails, heading straight for the landing spot.
Having learned from the last experience, Chen Zhou knew what characteristics the so-called "mysterious reward" had, so his gaze was not towards the sky nor the horizon but directly at the ground.
Sure enough, there was a familiar-looking small carton.
But unlike last time, this time the carton was bound with blue tape.
Picking up the carton, Chen Zhou was truly afraid it contained a blue Tomcat phone case, hesitant to open it immediately, he weighed it in his hand.
"Seems quite heavy!"
"Could it be that I’m just too excited, and my perception is off?"
He tossed it up and caught it.
Telling himself to calm down, Chen Zhou confirmed that this mysterious reward was entirely different from the last.
Because when the carton fell just now, he heard the sound of metal clashing. A silicone phone case clearly wouldn’t make such a noise.
"So, metal items, multiple, what could they be?
A folding knife? A wine opener? A metal puzzle? A phone holder?...
Or is it the lighter I most want?"
Getting a bit impatient, Chen Zhou carefully peeled away the carton seal along the end of the blue tape, as if the ceremonial action of unboxing could increase the probability of getting good things.
He’d never opened a delivery so cautiously, watching the tape slowly separate from the corrugated paper, peeling away a layer of fine yellow fuzz.
With a thrilling heart and trembling hands, Chen Zhou opened the joined carton lid.
A neatly shaped black small square package came into his view.
The package had a metal frame, both sides covered with poor quality plaid leather, and had a snap buckle.
This little black package wasn’t unfamiliar to Chen Zhou, since he had four almost identical items at home.
One was brought by his uncle from the city as a gift for his mom, one his dad bought at a street stall, one his mom bought on Pinduoduo, and one he himself bought on Pinduoduo.
After all, such seemingly practical, all-in-one cheap items easily incite the desire to purchase.
Indeed, this small black package contained a classic nail clipper set.
Included were nail clippers of various sizes and shapes, along with ear picks, nail tweezers, small scissors, nose hair scissors, blackhead needles, pedicure knives, small files, and a heaps of other small metal tools.
These gadgets were usually coated in black paint, the quality wasn’t too bad, barely adequate for use.
The primary issue was that they were incredibly tiny, and once used, if not promptly put back in the box, they easily got lost.
They’d then be discovered during some major cleaning in hard-to-reach nooks like beneath the sofa or wardrobe.
Suppressing the snap buckle, opening the small box, gazing at the array of little tools inside, Chen Zhou breathed a sigh of relief.
"Just as expected."
He murmured to himself.
The nail clipper set, although not in his expectations, was way more useful than the silicone phone case.
Since arriving on the island, Chen Zhou had been using the dagger or razor to tidy his nails, not only easily cutting his fingers but leaving uneven edges, sometimes causing scratches since itching on the body.
With a nail clipper and small file, this issue could be resolved.
Moreover, the longevity of these small tools is very high, even if they don’t last for 28 years, it’s no problem to keep for three to five years as long as they don’t get lost, greatly improving his quality of life on the isolated island.
Though they can’t help with major issues, handling minor details is more than sufficient.
"Not the best, but not bad either!"
Putting away the nail clipper set, ensuring the buckle was fastened tightly, Chen Zhou felt great.
The previous phone case had hit him hard, lowering his expectations for mysterious rewards again and again.
In the valley, any direction is upwards.
Even something as cheap as this nail clipper set could be considered a "divine artifact."
