Zhang An was drying the Polygonatum odorifera in the dustpan when he found his second mistress coming over to call him.
"I have time, Second Grandma, what are you doing?"
Elderly people like the Second Mistress would generally not go to Zhang An or the young people easily if they had nothing to do.
Because they don't want to trouble Zhang An and the other young people all the time because of a little thing.
"In the past few days, an old kite has come to my room. It has eaten several of my chickens. It is still guarding today. Go and see if you can get rid of it."
Grandma Zhang felt a little distressed because these chicks were all hatched by her own hens.
It can be sold for a lot of money just by raising it like this, and it doesn't cost much food.
But in the past two days, the old kite has been watching and eaten several of them.
"Ha, an old kite came to the village? Why didn't I hear the cry?"
When Zhang An heard that his second mistress said that an old kite had come to the village, he still didn't react.
He has been at home these two days, but he has not seen the old kite flying in the sky.
And logically speaking, if the old kite comes, he should come to his home.
Because Zhang An’s family has so many chickens and ducks, his goal is much bigger than others.
"It doesn't know how to crow. It squats on the roof of our house and on the big tree every day. If it crows, the chickens underneath will hide."
It turns out that when the second mistress was driving the chickens back to the pen at night these days, she found that the number of chickens in her house was not the same as usual.
She was usually kept in the yard and fed, so it couldn't have been taken away by someone else.
Then I wondered if I had been dragged away by a weasel.
Anyway, the chickens and ducks in the village disappeared, and everyone's first reaction was whether they might have been stolen by weasels.
The Weasel has long been notorious in everyone's mind.
Yesterday, the old kite was even more bold. He ran directly into the yard and snatched the chick away in front of people.
Only then did the second mistress know that the weasel had not stolen it, but the old kite had caught it.
Second Mistress didn't pay attention a few days ago. Ever since she discovered the old kite, Second Mistress has been keeping an eye on him every day.
Who would have known that after this old kite succeeded once, he would come here every day.
There is really nothing we can do today. The second mistress has not let the chickens out yet.
If we don't take care of it anymore, we won't be able to raise this chicken anymore.
So Mrs. Zhang came over to see Zhang An to see if she could catch it or get it away.
If it really doesn't work, we can only wait until Mr. Huang comes back in the evening and then go to him for help.
When Zhang An heard this, it was okay. Normally, the old kite and the goshawk would not come to the village.
Zhang An has not heard of eagles and kites coming to the village for many years.
The old kite is the goshawk in the mountains. Chang Qing has his back against the mountains. There are many of them in the mountains.
But they are very territorial, and there are basically only one or two in an area.
And when you come down the mountain, you can basically only see a pair or a single one.
If there were two eagles, they would have to fight in the sky.
Many years ago, when Zhang An was still young, he could see one or two old kites flying in the sky every day.
When this old kite went down the mountain, he often frightened the chickens and ducks raised in the village and hid them everywhere.
After being wiped out by villagers, it has become somewhat rare in recent years.
Is it because they are all squatting in the mountains and rarely see them coming down the mountain?
Zhang An told his mother and followed his second mistress to see what was going on.
As soon as he arrived at his second grandmother's house, Zhang An saw the old kite that had been circling in the sky.
After flying for a while, no prey was found, so he flew to a nearby tree and squatted down.
The first thing Zhang An felt when he saw it was how big it was.
This guy is probably used to eating here, and he seems to be waiting for the store to open as if he were here to purchase goods.
Seeing that the chickens were not released today, they were hanging in the sky and couldn't leave.
Zhang An looked at the terrain, walked to the backyard of his second grandmother's house, and picked a more suitable place.
You can't drive this guy away. If you drive him away this time, he will keep coming next time.
So Zhang An planned to find a suitable place and put a net on it later.
"Second Grandma, don't let the chicken out right now. I'll go home and get a net and catch it later."
"Hey, okay."
Zhang An rummaged through boxes and cabinets at home and found a large and fine net.
A huge trap was set up in the yard of Mistress’s house.
This is what Huang Erye taught Zhang An before, specifically to deal with these old kites.
Mr. Huang had a bad temper when he was young.
I heard him say before that they had a few native chickens at home at that time.
Later, he was spotted by an old kite from the mountains and came to his house several times to keep an eye on him.
Finally, a small cock weighing three to four kilograms was caught in front of him. How could Mr. Huang bear it now?
He was a wild king in the mountains, yet he was ignored by an old kite.
The next day, I saw the old kite came back after it was full of food, so I tried to get off the net and caught it.
As a result, this was the first time I went into the net, I had no experience, I didn’t catch it, I was run away by the old kite, and I also lost a chicken.
Mr. Huang was not convinced. When he saw this thing coming back later, he started to fight with it.
However, I improved it slightly the second time I went online, but still couldn't catch it.
Although the chicken died, the old kite couldn't take the chicken away.
I don’t know if it’s because he’s out of his mind, but this old kite seems to be at odds with Mr. Huang.
For several days in a row, they came to his house every day to keep an eye on him.
At that time, Huang Ming's father, Huang Zhengbiao, was young and energetic, so he shot the old kite with a gun.
It's a pity that the earth gun can't hit this thing at all. The speed of this thing is too fast. It's useless if you don't get close to the earth gun.
Huang Erye failed several times in a row, and finally summed up his previous experience and came up with this dragnet.
I just let out the chickens at home, but the old kite in the sky couldn't resist the temptation.
After circling for several times, the last one swooped down and started chasing chickens in the yard.
Mr. Huang saw the old kite entering the circle and pulled the rope to cover the net.
In the end, the old kite didn't even think clearly about how he was caught.
After that, Mr. Huang also used this method to help several families in the village solve the problem of eagles catching chickens.
After Zhang An laid the net, he asked his second mistress to let the chicken out and wait for it to come down.
The second mistress raises all small native chickens, even though these chickens are watched by roosters.
But this rooster can only grow up to four or five pounds, so it is no match for the old kite.
If it were a big rooster with reed flowers, come on, let's see who is afraid of whom.
Sure enough, after the second mistress let the chickens out, the old kite that was standing on the pole just now began to circle.
This girl is really addicted to stocking up. I need to teach her a lesson today.
Zhang An found a place to hide in the sky where he could not be seen.
Otherwise, if someone is there, the hairy beast will not come down.
Ten minutes later, the old kite in the sky could no longer see anyone in the yard.
He walked straight down towards the chickens in the yard.
At this time, the yard of Second Grandma’s house was a scene of chaos.
Dust and chicken feathers were flying everywhere, accompanied by bursts of rapid chicken crows.
Zhang An did not pull the rope immediately, but patiently waited for the old kite to enter the net he had set.
After quietly watching it chase the chicken into the trap, Zhang An pulled the rope.
The fine net that had just been laid was turned over in one swish, and the old kite and the chick were netted together.
This guy was over one meter tall when he first spread his wings, and he was very powerful.
Compared with the kites in the mountains, they are much stronger.
Regardless of the fact that one is called Lao Yaozi and the other is called Yaozi, these two guys are not at the same level of combat effectiveness.
The body and weight of the kite are more than half smaller than that of the old kite, and they will be gone in just two picks.
This guy seemed to know that he had fallen into a trap. He immediately flapped his wings and planned to fly up with the net.
How could Zhang An fulfill his wish? He ran over to collect the net, pulled it back from the air and pressed it to the ground.
"Second Grandma, I caught it, but the chick just now may not survive."
Zhang An looked at the chick that was caught by the old kite just now. It was now motionless on the ground and was still shaking slightly, proving that it was not dead yet.
"Just catch it. This one ate my little chicken while carrying it. Anzi, you take it back and stew it."
Grandma Zhang was so happy when she heard that Zhang An had caught the old kite that she wanted to kill him with a knife.
"Second Grandma, this old kite is not delicious. I'll take it back and boil it, otherwise it will come back if I let it go."
An old kite actually doesn't weigh much. After plucking the feathers and removing the internal organs and inedible parts, there won't be much left.
Moreover, the meat of this thing is too unpalatable, and Zhang An is not willing to eat it.
"Anyway, you can play with it yourself, but be careful not to let it run away. There are so many chickens, ducks and rabbits in your house. If it runs away, it will be ruined by it. The grudge is very strong when you carry it."
Grandma Zhang heard that Zhang An wanted to cook it, and she knew that her grandson was quite playful.
The old man didn't say anything, as long as he didn't let him run away.
Now, unlike in later generations, there are too many of these things in the mountains.
Everyone hates it when it comes out of the mountain, but no one feels sorry for it.
Grandma Zhang felt a little distressed when she saw the little chicken on the ground that could not move.
He turned back to the house and came out holding a small basin and a small wooden stick.
Cover the pot with the chicken on the ground, and then gently tap the pot with a stick.
My second mistress didn't do anything, she just knocked lightly a few times.
The chicken that was wilting just now actually stood up tremblingly.
Zhang An knows this method, but it is usually used when the chickens are frightened or frozen. This method can easily save the chickens.
But this guy in front of me can't even move, but he can still stand up. It's amazing.
After seeing that everything was alright with the Second Mistress, Zhang An put the net away.
Carrying the heavy old kite in his hand, he returned to his home.
When Zhang An was holding it, it even wanted to peck Zhang An's hand with its eagle beak.
Zhang An would not coddle it and pinned it to the ground with both hands.
On the spot, he transformed into the Southwest Hammer King and struck hard at it.
He beat him until he lost his temper and could only hang his head.
When I got home, I found a rope and tied it up.
Zhang Ancai collected the net. This net was a thin net, and it was almost broken by it just now.
"It's so big. I haven't seen one this big in many years."
Wang Fang knew that Zhang An had gone to help his second mistress catch the old kite, and was a little surprised when he saw Zhang An coming back with such a big old kite.
"This must be an adult kite. It probably has a pretty good life, otherwise it wouldn't be able to grow to such a big size."
"Then what are you going to do with it? Put it away or how to remove it?"
"You can't let it go. This thing will come to our house every day after it is put away. Then all the chickens, ducks and geese in the yard will suffer. I plan to keep it for fun."
Hearing Zhang An say that he wanted to keep it for fun, Wang Fang put down what he was working on.
"Do you want to play with it? But do you know how to stay up? I heard people say that the eagle can't sleep and needs to stay up for several days and nights."
People in the mountains are no strangers to the eagle, and basically many people have heard of it.
However, there is no record of how to boil it and what method is used.
What everyone hears are just some gossip stories passed down from long, long time ago.
There may be people who do play eagle in some places, but in Changqing Village, or even in the entire town or county, I have not heard of anyone who can play eagle.
"Most people talk about this method of playing, staying up for several days without sleeping. No one knows whether this is true or not. I just play around. If I can succeed, I will be killed if I can't."
Zhang An is not that stupid. He is not familiar with this aspect at all, and he just wants to play it for a while.
I won't be like those who stay up for days and nights. Maybe I won't make it without the kite, and I will burn myself to death.
Huang Erye in the village is a living example. The eagle did not survive and almost got rid of himself.
Moreover, Zhang An doesn't worry about taming the falcon at all. As long as there is space, the falcon will have to be obedient no matter what.
Even if it is disobedient, beat it until it becomes obedient.
"Then you can play with it yourself."
When Wang Fang heard what Zhang An said, she didn't care what Zhang An did.
She was worried that Zhang An didn't understand anything at all, and it wouldn't work if he had to imitate others and endure it for a few days.
"Then I'm going to the river."
Wang Fang and Zhang An were at home, while Zhang Jianguo went to help others collect millet.
Originally Zhang An also wanted to go, but since Zhang Jianguo left, Zhang An didn't have to go.
Zhang An happened to take this time to steam out the pile of Polygonatum japonica he had obtained and dispose of it.
After Zhang An said something to his mother, he took the old kite and went to the yard by the river.
This means that a few little ones are not at home. What if Zhang An catches such a big bird?
He was definitely following behind Zhang An and wouldn't even take him away.
Back in the room, Zhang An closed the door and entered the space with the old kite.
The old kite, who had been untied by Zhang An, was about to peck Zhang An with his eagle beak.
Suddenly, the place changed, and it suddenly retracted its extended eagle beak.
Zhang An seemed to see two big question marks in its small eyes, blinking one after another.
Then it flew into the air and hovered over Zhang An's head.
However, its confusion soon disappeared, and instead it felt close to Zhang An.
After flying in the air for a while, he landed and stood on Zhang An's shoulders.
Seeing this, Zhang An felt that it was almost done.
Immediately, he stretched out a hand and smoothed the feathers on its back.
The old kite also nuzzled Zhang An's palm with his head sensibly.