For an eagle, the most important thing is undoubtedly the freedom to soar in the blue sky.
Yet, for their own selfish interests, humans ruthlessly strip them of that freedom.
The critical issue is that once stripped, it lasts for sixty or seventy years—essentially the eagle's entire life.
However, there was nothing to be done about it. In any case, Wang An didn't feel much about it, or rather, he lacked that kind of sentimentality.
After all, stealing eagle eggs was already a very difficult feat; capturing a hatchling only a few days out of the shell was even harder.
As for raising a hatchling to adulthood and training it, that wasn't just a matter of being "difficult"—it was an incredibly arduous task.
The reason raising eagles was so hard was that these creatures only ate fresh meat. They refused to touch dried meat, cured meat, rice, or steamed buns.
Thus, not only in this era but even in later generations, the cost of raising an eagle was immense.
Furthermore, relatively speaking, the "Eagle Rearing Method" Wang An used was far superior to the traditional "Eagle Starving Method."
Regardless of how one looked at it, the eagles Wang An raised had been fed by humans since infancy and had grown accustomed to this way of life. The "Eagle Starving Method," on the other hand, forcibly broke and changed an eagle that had previously lived a carefree life.
Comparing the two, the four eagles Wang An raised could actually be considered quite happy.
After several consecutive days of training, the four eagles were basically tamed.
Over these past few days, Wang An had been exhausted to the point of collapse, so he decided to bring the training process to a close for now.
In the future, he would only need to take them out hunting every few days to consolidate their hunting skills.
After resting honestly at home for a day, Wang An put on his police uniform early the next morning.
Mainly, it was Wang Yi's first day of school, and Wang An had to take him to report for enrollment.
In this era, attending junior high school required students to bring their own luggage, clothing, and wooden crates for miscellaneous items from home, as well as grain and pickled vegetables.
Of course, the purpose of bringing grain wasn't for the students to cook for themselves, but to hand it over to the cafeteria in a unified manner. Once the cafeteria cooked the food, it was distributed by class.
Finally, the class monitors would distribute the portions to each student.
When Wang An was a student, a meal ticket system had once been implemented. The school would issue each student enough meal tickets per week, and students would take a ticket to the cafeteria for every meal.
Unfortunately, this method eventually failed because a school is essentially a miniature society, and the students varied wildly in character. Incidents like stealing, snatching, or gambling with meal tickets occurred incessantly.
Ultimately, to ensure every student could eat, this distribution method was devised.
Of course, beyond the meal ticket system, the school had tried many other methods, all with the goal of ensuring all students were fed.
But regardless of the method, students had to bring their own grain from home.
Dressed neatly with his pistol holstered at his waist, Wang An asked Wang Yi
"Are you all ready, Xiao Yi?"
At this moment, Wang Yi was wearing a brand-new white shirt, brand-new trousers, and brand-new canvas shoes. He looked tall and handsome.
Of course, compared to Wang An in his uniform, Wang Yi was still slightly inferior.
Fortunately, fourteen-year-old Wang Yi stood at 1.7 meters, which definitely qualified him as tall among his peers.
Hearing Wang An's question, Wang Yi said with a hint of excitement
"I'm all ready, Big Brother. Let's go."
Wang An smiled and patted Wang Yi on the shoulder, turning to walk out of the house.
As the two stepped outside, Wang Dazhu had already placed Wang Yi's luggage, crates, and grain on the sidecar, and had even tied Wang Yi's bicycle to it.
Wang An kicked the sidecar to start the engine. Amidst a flurry of reminders and warnings from Liu Guilan, Wang Yi sat behind Wang An. Wang An shifted gears and twisted the throttle, and the sidecar drove out of the courtyard.
In less than twenty minutes, Wang An stopped the sidecar in front of Class 2, Grade 7 of the County First Middle School, as Wang Yi's admission notice specified Class 2.
At this time, school management was very lax, so it was perfectly normal for horse-drawn carriages or donkey carts to enter the campus during the start of the term.
When Wang An saw Wang Yi's homeroom teacher, he froze for a moment. The teacher was none other than Comrade Bai Xiuyuan, Wang An's Chinese teacher from his own school days.
After the initial shock, Wang An immediately killed the engine, climbed off the sidecar, and approached, greeting him with a smile
"Hello, Teacher."
Seeing Wang An, Bai Xiuyuan seemed to recognize him as well, but he didn't dare to acknowledge it.
Mainly, the gap between Wang An's previous identity and his current one was simply too vast.
No one would have imagined that a street thug and loafer could actually become a policeman.
Yes, a policeman.
Because the uniforms of the defense guards and the police were the same, and more importantly, Wang An was carrying a gun.
Therefore, Bai Xiuyuan looked at Wang An as he would any student's parent, saying with a face full of smiles
"Sending your student to school? Do you have the admission notice?"
Seeing that Bai Xiuyuan didn't seem to recognize him, Wang An hesitated and decided not to introduce himself. He turned to Wang Yi and said
"Where's the notice, Xiao Yi? Hurry up and find it for the teacher."
After reporting for enrollment and paying the tuition, Wang An still found no opportunity to introduce himself.
Mainly, there were too many parents and students, and Bai Xiuyuan was too busy.
However, Wang An's image in his police uniform was remembered by Wang Yi's classmates and their parents, which effectively gave Wang Yi an invisible "get-out-of-jail-free card."
Who would dare bully the younger brother of a policeman?
After finishing the registration and paying the fees, Wang An helped Wang Yi deliver the cornmeal to the cafeteria.
Finally, Wang An took Wang Yi to find the dormitory.
Student dormitories in this era were just large rooms containing two massive kang beds running east to west. Each kang was about twelve or thirteen meters long, and all the male students in the class had to sleep on these two beds.
By the time Wang Yi was fully settled, it was already noon.
Wang An waved his hand and said to Wang Yi
"Let's go, Xiao Yi. This afternoon, Big Brother is taking you to a restaurant for a good meal."
The school didn't provide meals for the first day. Although Liu Guilan had packed plenty of pancakes and dry rations for Wang Yi, given Wang An's temperament, why the hell would they eat dry rations when they were already in the county seat?
Hearing this, Wang Yi immediately beamed with joy and said happily
"Are we really going to a restaurant, Big Brother? I've never eaten at a restaurant before."
Wang An nodded
"Of course. Your Big Brother isn't short on money."
And so, Wang An and Wang Yi rode the sidecar out of the school.
It had to be said that the school was truly small, because just as the two were about to exit the main gate, Gu Xiaoshuang walked in from the outside.
(End of Chapter)