Chapter 45: Trading a Goose for an Eagle

“Listen to you! You’re the one coming to my door to buy it; I’m not the one begging you to take it! If you think it’s too expensive, go catch one yourself! A hawk this big—I barely encounter a few in an entire autumn. There are plenty of people who want it!” Wang Mazi had Zhu Erhai completely in his grip and refused to budge an inch.

Zhu Erhai turned to exchange a look with his companion, but the other guy had no money either.

The falconer had already said it: you might not encounter a large hawk even once in an entire autumn. This kind of thing was a matter of luck, not something you could just seek out.

“Give me a discount, and I’ll definitely take it!”

“Five yuan. Not a cent less!”

To Zhu Erhai, five yuan was an astronomical sum.

What was he to do? The hawk was right in front of him, yet he lacked the money to buy it. This feeling of longing without being able to attain was like insects crawling on the soles of his feet, making him incredibly restless.

“I don’t have that much money. How about this—can I trade you something else instead?”

A spark flashed in Zhu Erhai’s mind, and he remembered the large geese raised at his grandfather's house.

In the countryside, geese were significant livestock. The amount of feed three geese consumed could sustain a cow. Since food wasn't scarce near the mountains and grass for geese could be cut by the village, people raised them to sell eggs every year and trade the hatched goslings for cash.

“Trade? For what? I’m not doing it if it’s cheap!”

Seeing that the other party truly couldn't produce that much cash, Wang Mazi didn't want to let this walk-in customer go, so he asked.

“A goose! I’ll trade you a large goose that my family has been raising for three years!”

A large rooster was worth two to three yuan on the market; a large goose was definitely worth four or five yuan.

“How many years old? Male or female?” Seeing that the boy really couldn't come up with five yuan, Wang Mazi found the offer of a goose somewhat acceptable.

Trading a large leopard-spotted goose worth one yuan and twenty cents for a goose worth four or five yuan was a massive profit no matter how you calculated it.

“A female! Two or three years old! She’s still laying eggs!” Zhu Erhai said without hesitation.

“Fine! It’s a deal!”

“Wait here, I’ll go back and get the goose!” Zhu Erhai instructed his companion, then turned and hurried out of the courtyard.

To put it bluntly, Zhu Erhai was the type of person born with a crooked moral compass; he had actually set his sights on his own grandfather's house.

His father, Zhu Jianshe, was notorious in the village for not supporting the elderly. Zhu Erhai’s grandfather, Zhu Maocai, was old and could no longer perform heavy labor. The two elderly spouses lived a very meager life, struggling even to afford enough grain to get by each year.

The old couple had no source of income. They raised a few geese to sell eggs for small change to buy needles and thread, yet even that wasn't safe from his grandson's schemes.

Fearing that Wang Mazi would change his mind and sell the hawk to someone else, Zhu Erhai sprinted home. Once he reached the village and entered his house, he rummaged through the granary and pulled out a fertilizer bag.

Since the vegetation hadn't completely withered yet, his grandfather's geese were out grazing by the pond behind the house during the day. Zhu Erhai headed straight for his grandfather's place.

Zhu Erhai had no intention of consulting his grandfather; he was afraid the old man would refuse, and if things blew up, his father, Zhu Jianshe, would punish him. His plan was to wait for the right moment, grab one, stuff it in the bag, and leave.

In these times, people were simple and honest. The geese the old couple raised were never stolen, so they didn't watch them constantly when they were let out to graze during the day.

This gave Zhu Erhai the opportunity he needed.

The boy walked familiarly to the small ditch behind the house and quickly selected a large, snow-white female goose.

“Come, come! Come eat some grass!” Zhu Erhai plucked a piece of water velvet—a favorite of geese—from the grass, calling softly as he slowly approached.

Geese were generally not afraid of people, so the goose didn't run when Zhu Erhai drew near. Seeing the tasty wild greens in his hand, the foolish female goose stretched her neck out to meet him.

Once she leaned in, there was no turning back.

With quick hands and eyes, Zhu Erhai grabbed the goose by the neck. He pulled the fertilizer bag from his waist, shook it open, and within three to five seconds, he had stuffed the goose inside.

Having succeeded, he grabbed the bag and turned to leave.

On the way out of the village, Zhu Erhai encountered several villagers. Usually, when he ran into aunts or young wives, he would go out of his way to strike up idle chatter, but today he was uncharacteristically silent. As he walked, the muffled *quack-quack-quack* of the struggling goose could be heard from the bag.

He didn't stop once. In less than an hour, he had made the round trip and returned to Wang Mazi's house with the goose.

“I brought the goose! Take a look!” Zhu Erhai dropped the fertilizer bag from his shoulder and opened it for him to see.

Wang Mazi peered inside, saw it was indeed a plump, healthy white goose, and his face immediately lit up with joy.

“Alright, it’s a deal! Take the hawk!”

“It’s a voluntary exchange. No matter when, you aren't allowed to back out!” Zhu Erhai added with exaggerated solemnity.

“Yeah, a voluntary exchange. No backing out!”

Zhu Erhai opened the burlap sack containing the hawk to confirm everything was in order, then signaled to his companion with his eyes: “Let’s go! Home!”

It wasn't until they had left Fang'an Village that the two of them finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hmph, I’ve got a hawk now! In a few days, once it’s trained, we can go up the mountain to catch wild chickens and rabbits! When that time comes, everyone in the village will look up to me!”

Zhu Erhai carefully opened the bag to take another look, his expression one of pure satisfaction and anticipation.

His lackey, Wang Xiaonian, asked, “Erhai, did you go to your grandfather's house to get that white goose?”

“Yeah! My grandpa has six geese! One big white goose can trade for a hawk. We hit the jackpot this time! Consider it a loan from my grandpa; once we catch some rabbits and chickens, we'll pay them back!”

Hearing this, Wang Xiaonian’s face fell. “Doesn't your grandfather know?”

“Nope, I just grabbed it from the ditch behind the house! Didn't have time to tell him!” Zhu Erhai didn't feel there was anything wrong with what he had done. After all, the storybooks said: *In an emergency, act according to the situation!*

“Then what if your dad finds out when you get home? Won't he beat you?”

“It’s my grandpa’s stuff; won't it be mine in the future anyway? Besides, I’m borrowing it, not stealing it!”

“Fine, fine. Just don't forget me when your hawk is trained! I was the one who gave you the tip!” Wang Xiaonian claimed credit.

“Don't worry! Once it's trained, we'll go up the mountain together to hunt rabbits and chickens. You'll get your share of the prey!”

“Erhai, you're a real pal!!”

...

As the two hurried home, they painted grand blueprints for their future. When they arrived, no one was home, and most of the tension in Zhu Erhai's heart dissipated.

The hawk was secured, but how to train it became the new problem before them.

Zhu Erhai wanted to imitate Yue Feng by tying ropes to the hawk's talons, but he didn't know how to tie professional two-way hawk jesses. He and Wang Xiaonian struggled for a long time but couldn't get the legs tied properly.

The thin ropes they had twisted were useless for tethering a hawk; if tied too tight, they would cut into the talons, and if tied too loose, the hawk would slip out the moment it struggled. It was a good thing the door was locked inside the house, otherwise, this simple task of tethering the hawk would have sent the "Big Leopard" running three times over.

In the end, it was Wang Xiaonian who came up with a solution.