79 A Sad Dog

"You are so different now," said Wang Mingbao. "You are like an ascetic monk."

"You don't understand. I love it," said Wang Yao with a smile.

"Anyway, I can't stand to live like you on the hill, not for one day," said Wang Mingbao.

It was 2 pm when Wang Yao left Wang Mingbao's home. It was still snowing outside, but it started to let up. Wang Yao walked on the hill, stepping on the snow and admiring the landscape. He took his time. It was very quiet around him and he could only hear his footsteps.

Screech! He heard the sound of a bird.

Wang Yao looked up and saw an eagle hovering in the sky.

What?

Wang Yao sighed quietly.

He could see that it was the eagle who was injured a few days ago. It didn't take long for him to fly again.

The eagle seemed to notice Wang Yao. It dived towards Wang Yao, and stopped a few inches above Wang Yao's head before circling for a short while and then soaring back the sky.

"Goodbye, eagle, come back often!" Wang Yao shouted towards the sky. He didn't care if the eagle understood or not.

Woof! Woof! Woof! Wang Yao heard San Xian barking, as if he was also saying goodbye to the eagle. When Wang Yao returned to his cottage, he found San Xian was still staring at the sky, looking a bit lonely. He walked towards San Xian and touched him gently.

"You are so lonely. How about finding yourself a partner?" said Wang Yao.

San Xian turned his head and took a look at Wang Yao before returning to his dog house. He sat there quietly.

San Xian was sad.

Wang Yao stayed with him for quite a while before going back to the cottage. It was still snowing and it was cold in the cottage. Wang Yao made himself a cup of black tea and started to read a scripture.

It got dark early and the snow still hadn't stopped, so Wang Yao didn't plan to go home to have dinner. But his mother called him to ask him to come home anyways.

The snow almost stopped when he left the hill and it completely stopped when he arrived home, but it started to get windy and extremely cold. The wind blew into Wang Yao's face like small knives.

"Are you going back to the hill tonight?" asked Zhang Xiuying at the dinner table.

"Yes," replied Wang Yao.

"Why? It's too cold up there and you don't even have a heater in the cottage. How can you stand the cold weather? Besides no one will try to destroy your herbal field on such a cold day. Don't go back to the hill tonight." Zhang Xiuying tried to convince Wang Yao to stay at home.

"Don't worry about me, Mom, I'm used to it!" said Wang Yao.

Zhang Xiuying didn't push her son to stay as he had made up his mind.

It was even colder on the hill but Wang Yao had gotten used to it. He was lying in his bed in the cottage with a thick cotton cover. He was very fit so he didn't feel the cold was that unbearable. The night passed quickly.

The next morning, Wang Yao heard a screeching sound from the sky as soon as he walked out of the cottage. He lifted up his head up and saw that the eagle came back. It landed on the biggest tree in front of Wang Yao's cottage.

Woof! Woof! Woof! San Xiao came out of his dog house and barked excitedly.

The eagle had stayed on the tree except for when it went out to look for food since it returned.

"Looks like you are going to stay with us for good!" laughed Wang Yao.

The eagle flapped its wings in response.

"Haha, welcome!" said Wang Yao.

Wang Yao was very happy. He and San Xian now had one more company, who could fly.

Three days after it started to snow, a car came to the village. It was Tian Tuyuan's car. He carried several boxes to look for Wang Yao on the hill.

The wind in the hill was very cold. He had put a lot of clothes on but still shivered from time to time.

He walked along a small hill and looked up to find Wang Yao's cottage half-way up Nanshan hill. He took a deep breath.

Only extremely fit and healthy people can stay on the hill on such a cold day! thought Tian Tuyuan.

He saw Wang Yao inside the cottage. There was no heater inside. The black tea soon became too cold to drink.

"I've brought the medical notes of my mother's friend. Please take a look," said Tian Tuyuan. Tian Tuyuan brought Wang Yao some presents as well as the medical notes.

"I'll read it through and let you know as soon as possible." Wang Yao took a glance at the notes and then put them aside.

"Sure, please let me know as soon as you have a treatment plan," said Tian Tuyuan.

"No problem. By the way, thank you for helping my friend's dad become the mayor," said Wang Yao.

"That's fine," laughed Tian Tuyuan.

He helped Wang Yao only because he believed Wang Yao was worth it. It was not a difficult thing to do and made Wang Yao owe him a big favor—one stone killing two birds.

"Look at you! I can't even find a TV or a computer at your place, only a few scriptures." Tian Tuan Yuan looked around.

"Haha, I also have a dog and an eagle," laughed Wang Yao.

"Eagle?" said Tian Tuyuan in surprise. "Do you have an eagle as a pet?"

"No, it just settled on a tree outside my cottage," said Wang Yao.

"How can you put up with a simple lifestyle like this? That's really impressive!" said Tian Tuyuan.

"I'm just used to it!" said Wang Yao.

Actually, it took Wang Yao a while to get used to a simple life without TV, a computer or all other entertainment. When he was studying in university, he lived on campus. He could talk with his roommates, surf the internet in the library or go home to stay with his family for a change. He used to watch TV and surf the internet a lot. He had been on his own since he spent most of his time in the cottage on Nanshan hill. He still had his mobile phone which could be used to access the internet. But the whole environment was so different from home and university. Now, he had completely gotten used to such a simple and quiet lifestyle. He even started to enjoy it.

Tian Tuyuan, on the other hand, was unable to adjust to a lifestyle like this in short period of time. First, he couldn't stand the cold. So, he only stayed for ten minutes. He left the cottage after serving the purpose of visiting. Wang Yao didn't want to accept the presents at first but Tian Tuyuan was insisting.

"Give me three days; I'll let you know what I've found," said Wang Yao.

"Okay, I look forward to hearing from you," said Tian Tuyuan. Three days was not long.

Tian Tuyuan saw the eagle on his way out and the proud eagle was staring back at him.

"There is surprise everything I visit here!" sighed Tian Tuyuan.

It was not common to see an eagle in the village or on a hill. It was even less common for an eagle to settle so close to the village as wild animals were usually resistive to human beings.