But Song Wei didn’t mind its ugliness.
This little creature was quite interesting. As soon as it emerged and regained some energy, its eyes still shut, it was already opening its mouth begging for food.
Hei Dan watched in amazement. “Sister Song, its mouth is open so wide!”
Song Wei replied, “It’s asking for food.”
Just then, Lin Zhen arrived with some meat paste.
Using chopsticks, she scooped a lump of meat paste and stuffed it into the eaglet’s mouth. The little eagle devoured it ravenously.
Only when it could eat no more did it finally close its mouth, resting its head on the towel and obediently falling asleep.
“When will it open its eyes? With no feathers now, will it be able to fly in the future?” Hei Dan squatted nearby, refusing to leave, still fascinated by the little eagle.
“Of course it will fly. Once it’s well-fed and grown, its down will be replaced by feathers, and then it will take to the skies.”
When the others in the educated youth dormitory heard that the eagle egg Song Wei had picked up had hatched, they all came curiously to take a look.
Gao Le smacked his lips. “Not bad at all. I’d like to raise an eagle too.”
“Woof, woof!”
The border collie that Gao Le and Zhao Su raised circled at his feet, its tone almost accusatory. Border collies are highly intelligent, and it was hard to tell whether it had understood what he said.
Gao Le said, “Alright, alright. With a little master like you around, I won’t keep any others.”
Song Wei asked curiously, “This dog is currently being raised by both you and Comrade Zhao Su, right? If you ever go back, who will the dog go with?”
The expressions of everyone present instantly turned subtle.
The question sounded as though it were directed at a married couple—asking who would get custody of the child if they divorced.
But it wasn’t just Zhao Su and Gao Le; several others also had dogs they were raising.
After caring for them for so long, they had grown attached. Besides, this border collie was truly clever. Though still young, it was already perceptive and could help with small tasks.
For instance, during the busy autumn harvest, when everyone returned exhausted, the border collie would even fetch their slippers while they soaked their feet.
If they really could go back…
Then again, going back was still a distant possibility.
But for those with backgrounds like Gao Le and Zhao Su, it was possible their families could arrange for their return.
“Of course, it’ll come with me,” Gao Le said, patting the border collie’s head. “Mingming was sent here through my father’s connections. If we go back, it’s only natural it comes with me.”
“Bullshit!” Zhao Su immediately objected. “I’m the one who raised it from when it was this small to the size it is now—I practically fed it and cleaned up after it myself. You’re the careless one who always forgets to feed it. I trained it to follow commands like shaking hands. If we go back, it’s obviously coming with me.”
Gao Le’s smile vanished, and he glared at Zhao Su. “What nonsense are you spouting? I raised Mingming carefully too! I even let it sleep in my arms.”
Zhao Su retorted, “Who doesn’t let it sleep in their arms? I give it a bath and wipe its paws every night. It’s this clean because of me.”
“I’ve given it baths too! Besides, Mingming is closest to me!”
The two of them argued back and forth, on the verge of a full-bl quarrel.
These two usually had a great relationship, but this was the first time anyone had heard them argue over a dog. Everyone found it quite astonishing.
Song Wei, who had sparked the disagreement, simply started munching on sunflower seeds.
Beside her sat Wolf One, Wolf Two, the fox, and five little wolf pups lying on the ground. All the animals pricked up their ears, their eyes fixed intently on the two humans arguing.
They seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the drama.
The scene was rather amusing—who knew animals loved gossip too?
In the end, the unfortunate victim was the dog, Mingming.
Gao Le grabbed Mingming’s left paw. “Son, you tell us! Who will you choose in the future?”
Not to be outdone, Zhao Su grabbed Mingming’s right paw.
“Son, I’ve been so good to you. You’d definitely choose me in the future, right?”
Mingming: …………
I’m just a dog—what did I do wrong?
In the end, it simply rolled its eyes, stuck out its tongue, and played dead!
“Hahaha…”
Everyone laughed unkindly, even the dogs and wolves grinned goofily.
Gao Le and Zhao Su immediately snapped, “What’s so funny? You should think about what you’ll do with your own dogs if that day ever comes!”
The girls glanced at each other.
They had indeed fantasized about such a possibility. If it really came to that…
Several girls turned their eyes to the border collie they were raising.
Li Juan’s gaze was full of reluctance and regret—even if she could go back, she couldn’t afford to keep it.
Bai Yunjiao patted the dog’s head. If she could really return, she would genuinely like to keep it.
Liu Linlin felt the same.
But it was just a thought.
The other dog wasn’t such a dilemma. The person who had initially insisted on keeping it was from the special police force. They would return once their mission here was completed.
Knowing that Lin Zhen trained dogs, he had asked Lin Zhen to train his dog along with the wolves, or at least let it join the training sessions when possible.
When he returned, he would take the dog with him to the military unit. It would be best if it could really be trained into a police dog.
As bedtime approached, everyone dispersed.
The eaglet was taken to Song Wei’s room.
In the middle of the night, it got hungry again and let out chirping cries.
Song Wei got up to prepare food for it.
It didn’t make a sound for the rest of the night.
But early the next morning, it started screeching for food again.
This time, before Song Wei could prepare anything, Lin Zhen arrived with meat paste.
“I figured it would be hungry. Did it ask for food during the night?”
Song Wei was braiding her long, straight black hair and nodded. “It called out once around three. This little thing doesn’t eat much but gets hungry quickly.”
They went over to look and saw the eaglet in the small basket with its mouth wide open on the towel.
“Yikes… this thing poops a lot too.”
Small, distinct clusters of white bird droppings were clearly visible on the once-clean old towel.
“Let’s use straw for it. We don’t have enough towels to waste like this.”
Without hesitation, Song Wei downgraded the nesting material for the eaglet, which still couldn’t manage its droppings.
Eagles’ nests are usually made of branches and such—they aren’t so delicate as to require particularly soft materials.
This small basket was now the eaglet’s nest.
After switching the nesting material to straw, the little one showed no signs of discomfort.
Cleaning up later would be simpler too—just toss the soiled straw into the stove and burn it.
“White feathers—it’s grown more feathers than yesterday. I wonder what breed it is.”
After feeding the eaglet and quieting it down, they left the room.
Lin Zhen went to check on the progress of the house construction. Song Wei spent the morning doing miscellaneous tasks—shucking corn, sunning wheat and rice—and joined the elderly women for some gossip.
After finishing work, she returned to feed the eaglet again, then headed into the mountains to roam.
She was still thinking about the tiger from last time and wondered if it was still alive after that kick she’d given it.
Recalling the direction the tiger had fled, Song Wei headed that way.
If she couldn’t find it, she could always look for something else in the mountains—it wouldn’t be a wasted trip.
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