Chapter 253: Specimens of the Natural History Museum

In the car, on the back seat, Zheng Tan sat together with the two kids, listening to Jiao Yuan nonstop telling Xiao Youzi about the time he went with Jiao Ba to the field training base. He did well on the final exam, so Jiao Yuan spoke with confidence, and the oppressive atmosphere that had hung over them before the exam finally cleared up completely.

Actually, Jiao Yuan was still young back then; even if he saw many things at the time, looking back now he might not remember them clearly, because his comprehension was limited back then, he didn't understand much, and he only cared about running around everywhere to play. What strings his memories together is actually a set of photos taken back then and a few specimens completed under Jiao Ba's guidance.

The specimens included plants and insects, but since they were inconvenient to carry, they were left at home; Jiao Yuan only brought an album, and this album alone could keep him from stopping talking.

From Chu Hua Shi to the training base it's about seven hours by car, so Jiao Ba and Jiao Ma took turns driving, otherwise they'd be too fatigued. The group took a short break midway to let the students use the restroom and such; as for those who got motion sick, they suffered, their faces ashen, but fortunately the few teachers leading the trip were experienced and, besides plastic bags, had also prepared some medicine.

When Zheng Tan woke up from his nap and looked out the car window, he saw many mountains all around; meanwhile, Jiao Yuan and Xiao Youzi were looking at a map, with a small flashlight in hand, and whenever they passed a cave he would turn on the flashlight just for the thrill of it. They were already very close to the field training base that Jiao Ba and the others had mentioned.

So-called field training actually mainly aims to take the freshmen who have just finished their first year out to see and get close to nature. The first-year curriculum includes botany and zoology, and some majors also involve ecology; coming out here lets them personally experience identifying some plants and animals, of course, it's not purely for fun—students who participate in field training still have to write a report afterward.

For Jiao Yuan and Xiao Youzi, this was basically like spending the summer vacation. Zheng Tan was the same.

Strolling around the Chu Hua Da Xue campus, although the school's greenery is good and its land area counts as large among universities nationwide, overall it's just a small patch. Zheng Tan also had experience drifting outdoors, but back then the places he reached didn't have so many mountains; the feeling of mountainous versus plain regions is always different, and the sensations of wandering versus vacationing are worlds apart.

Around three in the afternoon, everyone arrived at the destination.

Chu Hua Da Xue's field training base is built on the mountain. As they went up, Zheng Tan noticed that many places on the mountain had been well constructed—the paved roads and the rows of planned buildings exuded a modern mountain‑city vibe, nothing like the rugged mountain life many people imagine. Of course, this is only a small part of the mountain scenery; looking far into the distance, one can see continuous mountain peaks.

In July and August, Chu Hua Shi's temperature can soar above forty degrees—you could fry an egg on the road and it would cook quickly—but at the training base, opening the car window makes it obvious that the temperature is several degrees lower than in Chu Hua Shi.

Before coming, they had heard that the training base had no electric fans installed, and some students worried they'd be steamed alive; after experiencing Chu Hua Shi's summer, just hearing there were no fans or air‑conditioning sparked all kinds of worries, but once those students got off the bus and entered the dormitories arranged by the base, they immediately felt relieved.

They had done the statistics beforehand, so the rooms had already been assigned; the Jiao family's four people got a small single room, which was prepared for some of the supervising teachers—each room had four beds, and the Jiao family simply took one. This made it easier for Zheng Tan to move around; he didn't have to stay cooped up in his bag all the time.

The rooms had all been cleaned and were reasonably clean, after all they were for the teachers. As for the students' quarters, the conditions couldn't match the teachers'—the students had bunk beds, four beds providing eight sleeping spots, each with its own private bathroom; even though it wasn't as good as the teachers' side, the conditions were still acceptable.

After setting up the mosquito nets, Jiao Ma spread the bedsheets she had brought, the four of them took turns showering, then took a good afternoon nap; after they had eaten dinner in the base's cafeteria, Jiao Ba took the kids to the lecture hall to listen to a talk.

The evening meeting was mainly a mobilization rally, covering various points to note for the training, emphasizing organizational discipline, and giving the students a simple briefing. Even before coming, the students had learned about this, although they still didn't understand many things; but as long as they followed the supervising teachers, everything was simple.

The supervising teachers usually carry a first‑aid kit for emergencies; nowadays children are extremely precious, and if anything happened to them they couldn't bear the responsibility.

Zheng Tan was also brought into the lecture hall; Jiao Ba hoped everyone would listen, so nothing would go wrong later, after all there are plenty of mountains around, this place is even a nature reserve, and in the midsummer it's hard to say what one might encounter—there will definitely be no shortage of snakes, insects, rats, and ants.

Zheng Tan curled up inside his bag, while the Jiao family members sat at the edge; no one would notice Zheng Tan in the bag, and he didn't openly look around—after listening to the speaker on stage for a while, he grew drowsy.

Besides the Chu Hua Da Xue faculty and students, there were also people from other schools who, lacking their own training base, come along with Chu Hua Da Xue every year.

At night, sleeping in this unfamiliar place, Zheng Tan felt no discomfort—the room was filled with the familiar scent of people he knew, so he lay at the head of Xiao Youzi's bed; having slept a lot during the day, he felt energetic at night, the place was very quiet, and if he listened closely he could hear the sounds of certain animals that are usually inaudible. Just as the speaker said during the talk today, this place is a city surrounded by nature.

Perhaps many people in the city think that getting close to nature is a particularly nice experience—fresh air, quiet enough—but in reality, if those people actually came here, they might not be able to endure it.

When they first arrived today, a few boys took a stroll around the vicinity without leaving the base's range; when they came back, the empty drink bottles they had finished contained a large black insect. Zheng Tan had never seen it; they asked several classmates, none recognized it, only guessing it might be some kind of beetle (Coleoptera), so they took it to ask the teacher specializing in entomology. Among the girls, a few who saw it almost screamed, and it's likely they will never pursue entomology in the future.

So. This shows that living in the mountains and forests is not something everyone can endure.

The next day, the supervising teachers didn't rush to take the students out; instead, they took them to the Chishan Shi Natural History Museum, not far from the training base.

Zheng Tan stayed inside his backpack as Jiao Ba brought him in; normally one shouldn't just bring animals in, but since it was a group of college students and teachers, the gate guards and museum staff didn't pay much attention, and they even chatted with a few of the supervising teachers, appearing to be acquaintances. The person in charge inside the museum merely focused on making sure the students didn't cause any damage.

Zheng Tan stayed inside his backpack. He peered out through the zipper seam. The backpack had been altered by Jiao Ma, adding a mesh section; to an outsider who didn't look closely it would be hard to tell what was inside the bag, but Zheng Tan could see outside through the mesh. He also didn't have to worry about feeling suffocated inside the backpack.

Zheng Tan actually wasn't very interested in those plant specimens; the students apparently weren't either—until they reached the animal exhibition area.

Most of the animals one sees in a zoo can be found here, and there are many that aren't seen in zoos—only, here they are merely specimens, devoid of any vitality, their eyes lacking any luster.

Looking at those lifelike specimens that had long lost any vitality, Zheng Tan suddenly felt a chill down his spine, wondering what those animals might have been thinking when they were turned into specimens, or perhaps they had already been dead long before.

Over there, a few teachers and museum staff were giving explanations to the students.

"Animal specimens mainly come in several types: soaked specimens, peeled specimens, skeletal specimens, dried specimens, and slide specimens, etc. A soaked specimen is made by killing the animal's body, not dissecting it, and preserving the whole body as‑is in a soaking liquid. A peeled specimen is generally used for vertebrates such as birds and mammals; one must strip the skin from these vertebrates, remove the muscles on the skin, apply preservative to the inner surface of the skin, then fill it with a prosthetic, install artificial eyes, and suture and shape it into a specimen……"

Zheng Tan looked out through the mesh; after the teacher in front finished speaking, he let another person continue, and that person was the one responsible for making specimens.

The lecturer earlier was a zoology professor from the College of Life Sciences at Chu Hua Da Xue, plus a few botany professors; some of the specimens involved in their research projects came from areas of Chishan Shi, so they naturally knew the people here as well.

The specimen preparator led the students to a corner where some tools were laid out.

"I only bring these out for you because you came; if others came I wouldn't show them!"

The specimen preparator proudly pointed out those tools to the students while also saying a few words about the specimen‑making profession.

"……To put it more recently, people's living standards have improved, they keep pets and develop deep feelings for them, but when a pet dies the owner feels immense grief; however, if the deceased pet is made into a lifelike, structurally complete specimen, it can not only console the owner's sorrow but also be preserved longer……"

Bullshit!

If he could speak, Zheng Tan would probably have blurted out a rebuttal right away. He glanced at the Jiao family members nearby—Jiao Yuan wore a look of disdain at the man's earlier words, Xiao Youzi frowned, clearly disagreeing with him. Because of the angle, Zheng Tan couldn't see Jiao Ma and Jiao Ba's expressions.

The specimen preparator continued, explaining the uses of tools such as scalpels, tweezers, scissors, steel wire pliers, files, hammers, saws, nails, lead wire, thread, and so on; many of the chemical reagents aren't very safe, so he didn't bring them out, but while lecturing the students he would mention a few, for example arsenic trioxide (arsenic), potassium aluminum sulfate (alum), phenol, and lysol, etc.

"Specimen making mostly uses a combination of prosthetics and stuffing. The general process includes skinning, preservation, prosthetic fabrication, stuffing, artificial eye making, suturing, and overall detailing, etc. When skinning, one opens the abdomen and takes out the whole body in pieces……"

Listening to his words, Zheng Tan, still inside his backpack, felt a chill run through his whole body.

In the specimen preparator's speech, he felt that this profession was a beautiful one that lets death be reborn, and he loved this profession.

But in Zheng Tan's eyes, the specimen preparator was one of his current "arch‑enemies".

Although he knew his own kind wasn't worth much money, wasn't a rare protected animal, and Jiao Ba was looking out for him, after leaving the museum that night Zheng Tan still couldn't avoid having nightmares, waking himself up several times. (To be continued…)

ps: (5.11) Friends participating in the character casting contest, please pay attention to the information on the website's homepage.