I felt my shaving wasn't quite right, so I boiled some more water. Then I took some tinder and put it in the boiling water; I planned to use the steaming fibers to warm my beard.

This allows the hair to absorb water and soften better, making it easier to shave off with a razor.

I ran my fingers along the blade, and it felt pretty good. As the blade made a swishing sound, the stress-relieving sensation was almost intoxicating; I hadn't heard that sound in a long time.

After my beard was completely shaved off, I suddenly felt like my chin had become several pounds lighter.

Then I washed my hair with hot water. Since no one was coming to this jungle anyway, I decided to go all out and just grabbed the razor and started shaving my head.

Before long, all the hair on my head was shaved off.

I touched my bald head and said to myself with a touch of helplessness, "Tang Yi, look, I've saved another twenty yuan on a haircut this time, haven't I?"

I admit that my tonsure technique is quite good; I just lack a temple to take me in.

Just then, Top returned from the mountains and saw me, completely changed. He didn't recognize me or what, and started screaming in fright.

Top's bark summoned all his minions, and now I've become a rare sight in their eyes.

The monkeys stared wide-eyed at the shiny bald head, as if they were Columbus discovering a new continent.

After Top calmed down, he slowly walked over to me, touched my chin, and then touched my bald head, his expression full of worry.

I know this monkey must be worried about me. How did all its fur fall out overnight? Even monkeys don't shed like this! Are you sick?

Thinking about this makes me chuckle a little; I don't know how to explain this to a monkey. But I know that Top has always considered me a friend, and his concern for me is understandable.

All I could do was smile and pat the monkey's head, saying, "Top, I just shaved your head. It will grow back, don't worry."

I don't know if Top understood or not, but seeing that I seemed to be fine, it just went along with me.

However, a few times later, Top saw me shaving myself, and when it saw the razor, it actually ate all my hair.

It was so scared that it rushed over and tried to snatch my razor and throw it away. In its mind, that thing was the one that hurt me and made me lose my fur.

I was both amused and exasperated by this monkey, and to avoid causing this kind monkey any more trouble, I'll only shave or cut my hair after Top goes out from now on.

Next, I attached a wooden handle to the axe I made yesterday, and after sharpening it, I planned to test its performance.

I came to a bamboo tree and chopped hard at the base of the bamboo with the axe in my hand.

As I expected, the bamboo was unharmed by the blow, but my axe slid directly down the bamboo to the ground.

I picked up the axe to examine it, and the sharp edge on the axe head had turned into a thick line that was visible to the naked eye. This is what people usually call a nick or chip in a knife.

Sure enough, metals of this hardness are only suitable for cutting soft tissues. They simply cannot cut down harder materials like bamboo.

I was a little disappointed that the axe I made couldn't chop down trees. But I can't blame myself; it was already quite an achievement to even make the materials.

Besides, I can at least make some decent pots and pans and some everyday items now, especially that sharp razor, which is very useful for removing my beard.

It seems I'll have to smelt in some other metals to increase the hardness of the tools. Then I tried to extract some tin from the refined calamine, but that didn't work so well.

I tried several times but couldn't refine it, so I had to give up the idea.

Actually, what I have is also a kind of alloy, but I've been so busy with other things that I haven't noticed it.

The day I realized my bronzeware was extraordinary was also because I was too lazy to fetch water to polish that axe.

My plan was to just lightly sharpen the axe and use it to split bamboo into strips, but this unintentional act left me with a feeling of both amusement and disbelief about the metal I had just produced.

I was grinding my bronzeware on that whitish, dry whetstone. As the bronzeware rubbed against the stone, I discovered that it was being left with yellow scratches!

I used to add water when sharpening knives, so I didn't pay close attention during the process. But this time I dry-sharpened it, and there are yellow streaks and some greenish-black scratches on it.

Moreover, the proportion of yellow is quite large. If this were in a civilized society, I would be jumping for joy, but its appearance now seems more like a joke.

In the mining industry, experienced miners can use a simple method to roughly determine the type of ore, a method known in academia as the streak method.

When a test mineral is scratched on dry pottery or porcelain, it will leave a streak of varying colors. For example, iron-containing minerals will leave a black streak, while copper-containing minerals will leave a green or dark green streak.

Mine happens to contain the rarest metal on Earth, with the yellow streak of gold. It's probably a gold-copper associated mineral, so it does contain some copper.

This is why the streaks on it have a dark green tinge. However, judging from the finished metal, my axe has a high gold content, at least 70% or 80%.

I was both amused and exasperated. I never imagined that my sole purpose in refining copper would result in a huge pile of gold.

Gold is softer than copper, no wonder it's less effective at chopping bamboo than my stone axe. Perhaps the hardness of this rare alloy is limited to shaving.

Regardless, it is still a metal. It also has a characteristic that other metals do not possess: its inertness and good ductility.

Gold is the most chemically stable of all metals; it will not oxidize or rust, making it the perfect alternative to stainless steel.

It's used to make bowls, cups, and other similar items; it can be passed down through three generations, remaining even after the person is gone.

The thought that all the everyday utensils in my room are made of gold makes my mouth twitch a little. How incredibly extravagant that is!

In the wilderness, it's already incredibly difficult for people to find even a little food and some simple tools. And I've actually gone so far as to use gold to make axes, spatulas, and the like.

If I weren't in the wilderness, those online trolls would have torn me to shreds; this is clearly showing off wealth.