Chapter 153: Chapter 152: Misunderstanding
Zhang Aihua led his group over. He opened his mouth to say hello but hesitated, unsure of what to call them. Finally, he just called out, "Miss Jiang, Mr. Qin! It’s great to see you’re both okay!"
When all those vultures first showed up, they were scared half to death.
They had suffered heavy losses in their previous encounter with the vultures.
They had spent days hiding in a narrow cave. The air was foul, a thick mix of smells that was nearly suffocating.
When he came out and saw the beach littered with vulture carcasses, Zhang Aihua’s first thought was, ’Jiang Si’s group must have found some way to kill them all.’
Jiang Si nodded. She glanced at them and asked casually, "You’re all okay, too?"
Everyone quickly chimed in, "We’re all fine." They added, "Thank you so much for the supplies. If it weren’t for Mr. Qin and Miss Jiang, we really don’t know what we would have done."
They had nearly run out of food while hiding in the cave for the past few days.
Seeing so many vulture carcasses, they all began to scheme. ’Will Jiang Si leave some for us? After all, there are so many. They can’t possibly eat them all, right?’
Jiang Si simply nodded, saying nothing more as she went back to collecting vulture down.
Zhang Aihua asked cautiously, "Mr. Qin, did you... deal with all these vultures yourselves?"
Qin Shen looked up at him. His pitch-black eyes held an inscrutable, intimidating power. The people behind Zhang Aihua felt that this was not a man to be trifled with and took a fearful step back.
Zhang Aihua had assumed Qin Shen would be too proud to answer, so he was surprised when the man actually deigned to speak.
"No. They died from eating poisonous snakes."
In that instant, any thought Zhang Aihua’s group had of dragging the vultures back for food completely vanished.
They would have to resort to the dangers of ice fishing after all.
Suddenly, Niu Niu’s excited shout rang out again. "Sister, I found another Vulture Egg!"
Zhang Aihua’s eyes lit up. ’So the vultures had eggs.’
The others also subconsciously glanced toward the vultures’ hindquarters.
Zhang Yiwen noticed that, aside from the gun-toting monkeys, there was a girl in Jiang Si’s group who was about his age. She was fair-skinned and cute, and more importantly, she had found a Vulture Egg that piqued his interest. He immediately charged toward Niu Niu.
He rushed toward Niu Niu. Zhang Aihua tried to stop him but couldn’t. Suddenly, Big Black and Little Black shot out from the side and tackled him to the ground.
Song Yufang shrieked in terror, "My son!"
Zhang Aihua also rushed forward like a madman, reaching to pull the gun from his jacket.
BANG—
The moment he pulled out his gun, Qin Shen fired a single shot, knocking it to the ground.
Zhang Aihua stood frozen, staring at his hands, which were numb from the impact.
In unison, the troop of monkeys aimed their guns at them. The rest of Zhang Aihua’s group was instantly terrified.
They hadn’t expected things to escalate so quickly.
Song Yufang collapsed to the ground, sobbing, certain that her son had been mauled to death by the vicious dogs.
However, Zhang Yiwen suddenly scrambled up from the snow, wiped his face, and said indignantly, "You guys are horrible! You let your dogs lick me!"
Niu Niu glared at the scrawny boy before her. "You’re the one who came charging over! Big Black and Little Black were just protecting me!"
"Hmph! I wasn’t going to do anything. Can’t I just take a look at the Vulture Egg?"
Niu Niu lifted her chin proudly. "If you wanted to look, you should have just asked! I wouldn’t have said no. But you were so reckless you scared Big Black and Little Black. You have to apologize!"
Zhang Yiwen said solemnly, "Fine, I’ll apologize. But they pounced on me, so they have to apologize too!"
"That’s ridiculous!"
"It was self-defense!"
"This is just a misunderstanding!"
The two children started arguing, neither one willing to back down.
Zhang Aihua snapped out of his stupor. Seeing that his son was alive and well and that Big Black and Little Black hadn’t actually hurt him, he rushed to apologize to Qin Shen. "Mr. Qin, I was just acting instinctively to protect my son. I had no other intention, please don’t misunderstand."
Song Yufang, fearing this misunderstanding would cause Jiang Si’s group to stop helping them, also hurried to speak to Jiang Si. "Miss Jiang, my son is just immature. I haven’t raised him well. Please forgive me for my poor parenting." She then clamped a hand over Zhang Yiwen’s mouth, cutting off his non-stop bickering with Niu Niu. Lowering her voice, she hissed at her son, "Hurry up and apologize to the adults and to the young lady!"
Zhang Yiwen knew how to read the room when it counted. He knew Jiang Si’s group had provided them with a great deal of help. If they were driven away because of him, the peaceful life they had worked so hard to find would be over.
Zhang Yiwen obediently bowed to Jiang Si and Qin Shen. "I’m sorry, sir, ma’am. It was my fault. Please forgive me. I won’t be so reckless and scare the young lady or Big Black and Little Black again."
It had started as a small matter. Qin Shen had only gotten angry because Zhang Aihua had pulled a gun, but he could understand a parent’s instinct to protect their child.
Jiang Si nodded on behalf of her group. "If it was all a misunderstanding, then it’s over."
Zhang Aihua breathed a sigh of relief and shot his son, Zhang Yiwen, a venomous glare.
Jiang Si and Qin Shen walked over to Niu Niu, preparing to move the Vulture Egg onto their transport vehicle.
Zhang Yiwen’s eyes darted around, his curiosity piqued, but Zhang Aihua kept a firm grip on him, afraid he’d cause more trouble.
After inspecting it, Qin Shen and Jiang Si confirmed that this Vulture Egg was also completely intact. They should be able to try hatching it.
A moment later, Qin Shen single-handedly lifted the pale blue-green Vulture Egg—which was a meter tall and over half a meter wide—and gently placed it amidst the bedding on the transport vehicle.
The amount of vulture down they had gathered would be enough to last them a long time.
Now that Zhang Aihua’s group was here, Jiang Si decided to stop collecting.
Jiang Si called out to Niu Niu, who was still hoping to find another Vulture Egg, "Niu Niu, time to go!"
Niu Niu looked up with a smile. "Okay, coming!"
Big Black and Little Black bounded joyfully after her.
Zhang Aihua’s group watched them climb into the transport vehicle and drive away, full of envy.
’To still be using a transport vehicle, they must have a large reserve of fuel.’
As soon as they were gone, Zhang Yiwen broke free from Zhang Aihua’s grasp and shouted, "Dad, watch! I’ll find you a Vulture Egg too!"
Zhang Aihua shot him a fierce glare. "How old are you? Have you no sense at all? You nearly got all of us killed!"
’It was a good thing Qin Shen and Jiang Si decided to let it go. If they had really wanted to make an issue of it, they might have killed them all.’
Zhang Yiwen pouted. Song Yufang came over to comfort him. "There, there. Just don’t be so reckless next time. Your father was about to risk his life for you."
"Okay."
The others in the group had been annoyed with Zhang Yiwen, but seeing Zhang Aihua and Song Yufang reprimand him, they didn’t say anything.
Lei Hu looked at the vulture carcasses and suggested, "President Zhang, should we do what Jiang Si’s group did? Pluck some of this down for warmth and to make clothes?"
