Starting from Robinson Crusoe-Chapter 98 - 36: Dog and Cat

The essence of retrieving a bird's nest lies in the word "retrieve."

Whether climbing a tree or a house, the key is not to damage the eggs or the chicks in the nest.

If you destroy them, then there is no difference whether you've retrieved the nest or not.

The crevice on the rock is too narrow, and the surface has no protrusions to climb, making it really hard to retrieve this bird's nest.

Luckily, it wasn't too high off the ground, and it just so happened that Chen Zhou brought a pickaxe and a wooden shovel.

Taking the pickaxe, Chen Zhou, under Lai Fu's eager eyes, grabbed the end of the pick handle, bracing it under the bird's nest, and gently rocked it.

Who knows what kind of bird built this nest, its branches glued to the rock, so sturdy that a slight effort couldn't budge it.

Chen Zhou didn't dare to use a lot of force, afraid of tilting the bird's nest and damaging the contents inside, so he could only gradually increase the upward movement.

The small bird's nest was ultimately no match for the pickaxe and soon yielded.

The branches on both sides broke off, and now it could be moved at will.

Using the thickest part of the pickaxe head to support the nest, Chen Zhou carefully moved it outwards, lowering the height, and amidst Lai Fu's excited whimpers, retrieved the trophy that resembled a small woven basket.

Ha~ha~

Lai Fu stretched its tongue, sticking close to Chen Zhou's leg, looking up into the bird's nest, but limited by its height, it couldn't see what was inside, so it grew even more anxious.

Ooh~

Seeing Lai Fu's tail wagging almost like a propeller, Chen Zhou hurriedly bent down, bringing the nest to its front, sharing the joy of the harvest with it.

The outer part of the nest was made up of fine twigs, small shells, and gravel.

The nest-building bird used saliva as glue, piecing these tiny construction materials together bit by bit, then lining the sturdy shell with soft fur, creating a small nook that shielded its offspring from the wind and provided safety.

In the center of the nest were six bird eggs.

The size of the eggs was similar to that of pigeon eggs, the shells were rough and grayish-white, speckled with tiny black spots like freckles, from an unknown bird species.

Looking up at the sky, with no sign of the circling female bird, Chen Zhou guessed it must have been scared away by Lai Fu.

"You little rascal, really causing trouble.

But not bad either, having only had milk tea, bread, and cookies lately, my mouth was getting really bland.

Thanks to you, today we'll improve our meal."

Saying this, Chen Zhou scratched Lai Fu's chest, his way of encouraging him.

Lai Fu enjoyed interacting with its master, its eyes wide open, looking as though its whole coat was glowing with happiness.

Following the scratching on its chest, it flopped onto the ground, wriggling its back, exposing its belly, kicking out its hind legs, snuggling up to Chen Zhou.

Waving off the dust stirred up by Lai Fu's antics, Chen Zhou pinned its soft belly, rubbing it back and forth.

Ooh~

Lai Fu shifted position, letting out a comfortable low hum, its soft ears drooping on the ground, revealing the pink inner ear flaps.

Bam!

While petting, Chen Zhou suddenly mischievously slapped Lai Fu's belly, picked up the bird's nest and pickaxe, and ran off.

Lai Fu didn't feel any pain, lay there blank for a second, and seeing its master already far ahead, rushed up to chase after him.

Woof~ Woof!

It barked while running, soon catching up with Chen Zhou, and then joyfully circled around him.

Hahaha~

Man and dog sped off together down the pile of broken rocks, onto the grass, heading down the slope.

Stretching his legs, carefully guarding the bird's nest in his hand, Chen Zhou was very happy, very at ease.

In this moment, he didn't need to think about anything, just wanted to keep on running.

Running happily, against the wind.

Ever since the raft was built, after over seventy days, this was his first hearty laughter.

A life of loneliness and fatigue, long silence and endurance.

The accumulated suppression, trouble, confusion, and anxiety during this period were also released and alleviated in this laughter.

Returning to the "mouse hole," Chen Zhou was laughed out.

He bent over, gasping for air, placing the bird's nest into another wooden bucket, preventing the rough road home from damaging the eggs, then went to the edge of the woods to pluck a bunch of fresh grass, leaving it as feed for the "Little Dragon Cat," and finally returned home with Lai Fu.

Adding in the time for the round trip, reaching home just in time for noon.

Fresh grass was laid at the bottom of the chinchilla's wooden box.

Initially, Little Dragon Cat was constantly squawking in protest inside the wooden box.

Later, it accidentally discovered that the leaf tips of the fresh grass would slip through the cracks of the box to its mouth, and it stopped protesting, happily dragging the grass leaves over to chew.

When Chen Zhou reached the cave and put down the wooden bucket, taking out the wooden box to check on Little Dragon Cat, he was surprised to find it curled up and asleep inside the narrow box.

Moreover, it looked very peaceful in its sleep.

If not for its heaving body and occasionally fluttering eyelashes, one might think it had been dead for a long time.

"Is this what they call 'if you can't resist, just enjoy'?"

He placed the small wooden box inside a larger wooden crate, arranging some grass leaves inside.

Chen Zhou planned to release Little Dragon Cat in the evening, to see if this little guy would chew on the wood like a mouse to grind its teeth, then decide whether to switch its cage.

Xiao Huihui lazed around all day, ever since moving to the mountain, it didn't even bother catching mice anymore, waiting every day to munch on the fish.

When first caught, it weighed less than two pounds, now it was a nearly eight-pound fat cat, with a glossy fur coat, a round face, and its golden eyes sparkling with spirit, looking like a different cat altogether.

Now it lay on its back, using Chen Zhou's pillow, on the fur bedding, snoring away.

Even when Chen Zhou moved the wooden bucket and made noise with the pickaxe and shovel, he couldn't wake it, at most making it turn over and continue sleeping.