Chapter 224: The Great Eagle Brings a Gift

Wang Xiaoling looked at this expanse of lush land, this endless green, and was filled with endless wonder in her heart.

When she arrived at her grandfather's house yesterday, it was already dark, and with the exhaustion of a day's travel, she hadn't been in the mood to notice these things; today, opening the door, she was immersed in this green ocean.

The pasture grass here was different from that at the pig farm in Sijiucheng, which could grow tall; most of it here lay flat on the ground, reaching only to the height of one's instep, which was caused by the temperature difference between day and night in Beijiang, yet it looked even more beautiful this way.

"Hahaha, granddaughter-in-law, this is the result of your grandmother and me and the others working for nearly thirty years; whenever we had free time in spring and summer, we would scatter grass seeds nearby, and only slowly did it reach its current scale."

"Grandfather, you are simply too great."

"Hahaha," hearing the praise from his granddaughter-in-law, Lao Dong laughed heartily.

Zhang Ping'an also smiled on the side without speaking; although he had contributed to this, in the final analysis, it was still his grandmother and grandfather's generation who had been able to persist in scattering grass seeds for decades.

"Dad, I want to get down."

"Me too."

"Hehe, alright, don't run too far."

All six children dismounted, running and rolling on the grass, chasing butterflies, feeling completely at ease; Wang Xiaoling eventually couldn't resist and joined the children in their play.

"I wish I could stay here forever, it's so comfortable," Wang Xiaoling lay on the soft grass, not wanting to get up.

At this moment, the sunlight was just right and the breeze was not too harsh; it was truly relaxing, and Zhang Ping'an couldn't help but lie down as well.

Grandfather shook his head and chuckled, leading the two horses to graze on the side; watching the children running in the distance, Lao Dong felt for the first time that he was truly old.

"Screech!" A hawk's cry broke the serenity, and accompanied by the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground, the Huangmao Eagle landed steadily not far from Zhang Ping'an and ran over like a silly bird.

"Ping'an, be careful!" Seeing this, Grandfather hurriedly grabbed a stick and prepared to step forward.

"It's fine, Grandfather. This must be the Golden Eagle I saved when I was hunting with Uncle Watuo in the past; it's here to thank me."

Zhang Ping'an was actually quite surprised; he hadn't expected this fellow to not stay quietly in the Tianshan Shanjie and instead run over to bring him prey.

Wang Xiaoling, on the side, was also startled; she only felt a gust of wind rush toward her face, and then she saw a massive creature blocking the sun.

Zhang Ping'an stood up, and the fellow came forward to rub against him; its height reached up to Zhang Ping'an's waist.

"Why did you come here instead of staying properly in the mountains?" Zhang Ping'an stroked the head of the Huangmao Eagle.

"This is a Golden Eagle?"

Seeing the great eagle being so affectionate toward his grandson-in-law, Grandfather also put down the wooden stick in his hand.

But was this size right? How did it feel like it could grab a person and fly away? Oh right, it seemed a wild sheep had just been thrown down; then grabbing a child of seventy or eighty jin should be easy.

The six children who were chasing and playing also ran over; seeing the Golden Eagle that was taller than them, they didn't dare to get close, and Zhang Ping'an didn't intend to let them touch it either.

"Go back, don't come near human settlements in the future, it will be very dangerous," Zhang Ping'an stroked its head.

"Screech!" The Huangmao Eagle flapped its wings twice and flew away.

"Whew~ It seems the legend is true; this Golden Eagle really knows how to repay kindness. I'll go back and dress this wild sheep first, otherwise, it will spoil in this weather. You all don't go too far."

Lao Dong was someone who had experienced great storms and waves and had seen everything, so he quickly recovered, though he was still very shocked in his heart, both by the size of the Golden Eagle and its act of repaying kindness.

"Mm, alright, take your time, Grandfather." Zhang Ping'an moved the wild sheep onto the cart; good heavens, this wild sheep must weigh eighty or ninety jin.

"You all come back early too, we're having a Full Lamb Feast at noon."

"Got it!"

After Grandfather left, the eyes of Wang Xiaoling and the children looking at Zhang Ping'an were sparkling, filled with curiosity.

"Dad, tell us quickly about you and this golden bird."

"Hehe, alright, this story has to start from eight years ago. It is said..." Zhang Ping'an told a story that was half-true and half-false, but Wang Xiaoling and the children listened with great fascination.

"Wow, Dad, you're really amazing."

"Hahaha," the admiration of children is always the thing a father is most proud of.

"Brother Ping'an, this is too magical. If a Golden Eagle knows how to repay kindness, then the stories about foxes repaying kindness in books must also be true."

"Hmm, maybe."

Finally, the six children also learned from Zhang Ping'an and lay on the ground, squinting their eyes to enjoy the rare time.

"Old woman, bring the Butcher Knife; Laizhong, come over and give me a hand."

"Dad, where did this wild mountain sheep come from?"

"Cough, the Golden Eagle brought it."

"Oh, who is Golden Eagle? A neighbor who moved here later?"

Zhang Laohan had been here eight years ago, but he didn't remember anyone named Golden Eagle nearby, and the name was strange too; could it be someone who moved in later?

"..."

"It's our precious grandson..." Grandfather briefly explained what had happened.

"What? How big must that bird be?"

Zhang Laohan couldn't believe it; he had just moved the wild sheep down and knew its approximate weight, and Grandmother and Zhang Ping'an's mother also looked disbelieving.

"It's true, I saw it with my own eyes. If you don't believe me, wait until our precious grandson comes back and ask him yourselves." This was also a great wonder; if someone else had told him, he wouldn't have believed it either, so he wasn't surprised by the reactions of the three.

After a while, Zhang Ping'an's stomach let out a rumbling protest.

"Let's go, let's head back too."

Helping the six children onto the horses one by one, Zhang Ping'an and Wang Xiaoling each led a horse; fortunately, they hadn't gone far, only two li from Grandmother's house.

"Ping'an, did that wild sheep really get brought to you by a big bird?"

"It did."

"It's true, Dad, such a big bird, I feel like it could carry me and fly."

"Xiao Ling?"

"Dad, Mom, Grandmother, it's true."

"Hehe, believe it now? Ping'an, Xiao Ling, there are freshly baked Lamb Skewers on the tray in the room; take the children and go eat something to tide yourselves over."

Only then did Zhang Ping'an see a mud stove next to Grandfather; no wonder he smelled the aroma of roasted meat as soon as he entered the courtyard gate.

"Alrighty."

"Eat fewer Lamb Skewers, there's still Lamb Pilaf and Lamb Soup for lunch." This rice was something Grandfather had traded for at the market with potatoes; they rarely ate it usually.

"Okay, Grandmother."

Although Zhang Ping'an's parents still found it somewhat hard to believe, everyone was speaking so definitively, and the children certainly wouldn't lie.

When it came down to it, it was just a lack of exposure; the largest birds they had seen in Sijiucheng were probably crows or magpies.

"Alright, don't overthink it, it's likely true; it's just that we haven't seen a Golden Eagle of this size around here," Grandmother said.

Grandmother had lived here for decades, so she had naturally heard the legends of Golden Eagles repaying kindness; there was also the saying that the Golden Eagle was the Guardian Deity of the Grassland, and herdsmen would also tame them through the "eagle-taming" process to train them to hunt for them.

Zhang Ping'an had his fill at lunch; this lamb was different from the domestic kind—fresh, tender, firm, not tough, and chewy, with high protein and basically no gamey smell, truly living up to a species that lived at high altitudes year-round.

After the meal, there were small fruits, strawberries and mulberries, all grown by Grandfather himself; the temperature difference between day and night here was large, so the sweetness was very high, and it was just the right time for them to be ripe.

In the afternoon, after the children were all napping, Zhang Ping'an rode a horse and took Xiao Ling to wander around the vicinity, following the tracks he had walked eight years ago to let Xiao Ling experience it all over again.