Chapter 45: Great Goose for Great Eagle
"What are you talking about? You came to my door wanting to buy it, it's not like I'm begging you to buy! If you think it's expensive, go catch one yourself! I only run into a Great Eagle this big a few times all autumn, plenty of people want it!" Wang Mazi completely had Zhu Erhai cornered and didn't budge an inch.
Zhu Erhai turned his head and exchanged glances with his companion, who also didn't have the money.
The guy who catches eagles said that he only runs into a few Great Eagles all autumn. This kind of thing is hard to come by.
"Lower the price a bit, and I'll definitely buy it sincerely!"
"Five yuan, I can't go any lower!"
Five yuan was also a sky-high price for Zhu Erhai.
What to do? The eagle was right in front of him, but he had no money to buy it. This feeling of not being able to get what he wanted was like worms crawling on the soles of his feet, making him incredibly agitated.
"I don't have that much money. How about I trade you something else?"
A light bulb went off in Zhu Erhai's head, and he remembered the great geese his Grandpa raised at home.
Great geese were considered large livestock in the countryside. The amount of food three geese ate could feed a cow. It was only because there was plenty to eat near the mountains and goose grass could be cut near the village, and because selling goose eggs and hatching goslings could earn a little money each year, that people raised them.
"Trade something? What? I won't do it if it's cheap!"
Seeing that the other party really couldn't come up with that much money, Wang Mazi was also reluctant to give up this customer who came to his door, so he asked.
"Geese! I'll trade you the great goose I've raised for three years at home!"
A large rooster was worth two to three yuan on the market, and a great goose was definitely worth four or five yuan.
"How old is the goose? Is it male or female?" Wang Mazi saw that the other party really couldn't come up with five yuan, and hearing that he was willing to trade a great goose, he could reluctantly accept it.
Trading a Leopard worth 1.2 yuan for a great goose worth four or five yuan was a definite profit no matter how you calculated it.
"Female, two or three years old! It still lays eggs!" Zhu Erhai said without hesitation.
"Alright! Let's trade!"
"You wait here, I'll go back and get the great goose!" Zhu Erhai instructed his companion who came with him, then turned around and left the courtyard gate.
Speaking of Zhu Erhai, he was definitely the kind of person who was born with a crooked heart. He actually set his sights on his Grandpa's house.
His father, Zhu Jianshe, was known throughout the village for not supporting his elderly parents. Zhu Erhai's Grandpa, Zhu Maocai, was old and couldn't do heavy work. He and his wife struggled to make ends meet each year, living a very difficult life.
The old couple had no source of income. They raised a few geese at home, relying on selling goose eggs for some small change to buy bits and pieces like needles and thread. Even so, they couldn't escape their grandson's covetousness.
Zhu Erhai was afraid that Wang Mazi would go back on his word and sell the Great Eagle to someone else, so he ran home at a trot. After entering the village and going home, he rummaged through the storage room and found a fertilizer bag.
Since the grass and trees hadn't completely withered yet, the few great geese at his Grandpa's house were eating grass and active by the water puddle behind the house during the day. Zhu Erhai went straight to his Grandpa's house.
Zhu Erhai had no intention of discussing it with his Grandpa at all, fearing that his Grandpa would disagree, and if it escalated, his father Zhu Jianshe would punish him. So his first plan was to find one, catch it, stuff it in the fertilizer bag, and leave.
In those days, the customs were simple. The few great geese the old couple raised had never been lost, so they wouldn't watch them constantly when they let them out to eat grass during the day.
This gave Zhu Erhai room to operate.
This fellow, familiar with the route, came to the small ditch behind the house and quickly selected a pure white great female goose.
"Come, come, come! Come eat grass!" Zhu Erhai pulled a piece of water celery, which great geese loved to eat, from the grass, calling out softly while slowly approaching.
Great geese were usually not afraid of people, so when Zhu Erhai approached, the great goose didn't hide. Seeing that the other party had wild vegetables it liked to eat in his hand, the silly great female goose stretched out its head to greet him.
Once it greeted him, there was no turning back.
Zhu Erhai, quick-witted and quick-handed, grabbed the great female goose by the neck, then took out the fertilizer bag from his back waist, shook it open, and in three to five seconds, stuffed the great goose into the bag.
After succeeding, he picked up the bag, turned around, and left.
On the way out of the village, Zhu Erhai met a few villagers. Usually, when he met Aunts or young wives, Zhu Erhai would deliberately strike up a conversation and chatter a bit. Today, he was extremely abnormal, not saying a word, and as he walked, the muffled struggles of the great female goose could be faintly heard from the bag.
He didn't stop walking the whole way. In less than an hour round trip, Zhu Erhai returned to Wang Mazi's house carrying the great female goose.
"I brought the great goose! Take a look!" Zhu Erhai put down the fertilizer bag on his shoulder and opened the mouth for the other party to see.
Wang Mazi leaned in to look and saw that it was indeed a fat and strong great white goose. His face immediately lit up with joy.
"Alright, I'll trade you! Take this Great Eagle!"
"Voluntary exchange, no going back on it anytime!" Zhu Erhai also said very solemnly.
"Okay, voluntary exchange, no going back on it!"
Zhu Erhai opened the snakeskin bag containing the Great Eagle again to confirm there were no problems, then winked at his companion: "Let's go! Home!"
The two didn't relax until they were out of Fang'an Village.
"Hmph, I have a Great Eagle too! In a few days, once the eagle is trained, I can go up the mountain to catch pheasants and Rabbits! By then, everyone in the village will look up to me!"
Zhu Erhai carefully opened the bag and looked again, his expression satisfied and full of anticipation.
Wang Xiaonian, who was acting like a lackey beside him, said, "Erhai Ge, did you get that great white goose from your Grandpa's house?"
"Yeah! My Grandpa's house has six geese! One great white goose can be traded for a Great Eagle, we made a huge profit this time!
Consider it borrowed from my Grandpa for now. When I catch Rabbits and pheasants, I'll give them back!"
Hearing Zhu Erhai's words, Wang Xiaonian's face fell: "Your Grandpa doesn't know?"
"Nope, I took it directly from the ditch behind the house! I didn't have time to tell my Grandpa!" Zhu Erhai didn't feel that what he did was a problem at all. After all, the storybooks said, desperate times call for desperate measures!
"Then won't your dad punish you when he finds out at home?"
"It's my Grandpa's, won't it be mine in the future! Besides, I'm borrowing it, not not returning it!"
"Alright then, when your eagle is trained in the future, you can't forget me! I was the one who told you the news!" Wang Xiaonian spoke of his contribution.
"Don't worry! When it's trained, we brothers will go up the mountain together to catch Rabbits and pheasants, and you'll get a share of the prey!"
"Erhai Ge is loyal!"
...
The two brothers rushed home while painting a grand blueprint for the future. When they got home, no one was there, and half of Erhai's hanging heart relaxed.
He had brought the eagle back, but how to train it became the problem before him.
Zhu Erhai also wanted to imitate Yue Feng and tie ropes to the eagle's two claws, but he didn't know how to tie the professional two-loop eagle leash used for tying eagles. He and Wang Xiaonian worked for a long time but couldn't tie the eagle's legs properly.
The thin ropes they twisted were simply not good for tying the eagle. If tied too tightly, the eagle's claws would lose circulation. If tied too loosely, the eagle would break free with a struggle. It was fortunate that the door was locked inside the house, otherwise, just tying the eagle would have been enough for the Leopard to escape three times.
In the end, it was Wang Xiaonian who came up with an idea.
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