Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 297 The Raven with a Steadfast Determination to Compile

On Wednesday morning, a dusty van pulled up in front of Shenzhou Zundi.

After a journey of two thousand kilometers, two days and two nights, Zhai Da's pet finally arrived in Harbin.

Peng Hao rubbed his bloodshot eyes and handed the crow that had escorted him all the way to the boss. Zhai Da looked at it and saw that the big crow seemed a bit listless.

Even so, when she saw Zhai Da, she still let out a couple of "ga" sounds and recognized him instantly.

Zhai Da patted Peng Hao on the shoulder: "How's it going? Is everything alright?"

"Brother Shunli, this bird is a bit strange."

"Demon?"

Peng Hao recalled the incident on the road: "I couldn't bear to lock the car at night. Sometimes when I didn't have time to shower in the hotel, it would open the door and come out for a stroll. When it saw me come out of the bathroom, it would go back inside. It even pecked a bottle of mineral water and broke it. I guess it was thirsty?"

Zhai Da raised an eyebrow at the crow: "Oh? It's not surprising that it drinks water. The vet said this crow is almost ten years old. It probably learned by watching humans drink water. As for how it goes back to its cage on its own..."

How much do you crave a government-affiliated position?
It's not surprising that trained birds can do these things; some parrots can even perform tricks. But this one used to be wild.

The crow tilted its head and cawed.

Zhai Da thought for a moment and then opened the birdcage he had made himself.

The crow looked at the wide-open door, seemed to ponder for a moment, and then darted out.

The force was so great that Zhai Da almost lost his grip on the cage.

This enormous crow soared into the sky above Harbin.

Peng Hao hurriedly said, "Brother Da! Don't run away!"

Isn't this just letting go?

Zhai Da didn't move, but simply tilted his head back, his gaze following the crow.

With a wingspan of over a meter, this large bird, flying low like an eagle, rapidly soared into the sky, demonstrating its powerful flight capabilities.

It rose higher and higher, until it completely surpassed all human creations, offering a panoramic view of this unfamiliar city.

On the edge of the horizon, the sun is rising slowly, its orange light reflecting in the scarlet eyes, while the wind carries the sound of freedom.

The crow flew rapidly, even circling the Shenzhou Mansion for a long time, before flying over the Harbin Institute of Technology campus.

But in the end, it went lower and lower, slowed down and folded its wings, landing steadily on Zhai Da's shoulder.

It seems to be its favorite spot.

Zhai Da, who had been patiently waiting, smiled slightly: "You've passed the first hurdle and the second. From today onwards, you're officially employed."

Keeping a pet requires effort and emotional investment. If the crow doesn't show enough intelligence, Zhai Da doesn't want to cause trouble for himself.

He doesn't have time to worry every day about whether the bird will get sick from being caged, or whether it will come back once it's released.

It seems that this crow is indeed very clever.

In nature, there are occasionally some special individuals who, either because they have witnessed something or because they have received some benefit, develop a loyal and lasting trust in humans.

And whenever this happens, it always brings joy to people. Perhaps for tens of thousands of years, the pleasure of taming animals has been hidden in our genes.

Peng Hao was stunned and felt a pang of envy.
Da Ge is Da Ge, even his pretentiousness is so refreshingly unique!

This reminded him of the falconers he had seen on television, the falconers on the grasslands.

Zhai Da flicked a peanut, which the crow nimbly caught.

"Gah!"

Zhai Da stroked the bird's head: "Now that it has a formal position, it needs a name."

After thinking for a moment, I recalled Peng Hao's description:

"How about I call you Little Aquarius?"

Peng Hao:.
crow:.
"Don't like it? The black one is called 'Little Coke'? Peng Hao, what do you think?"

Peng Hao hesitated for a moment, then said, "Why don't you just call me 'Little Black'?"

"That's so uncultured. I'm at least a writer."

So, does the little Aquarius have culture? Peng Hao felt that he was indeed destined to be uncultured.
It wasn't a waste of time to drop out of school
In the end, however, Zhai Da still agreed to the suggestion; the name was just a code name, purely for humans to show off.

He could come up with some cringeworthy names like "Mysterious Tail," "Wind Chaser," or "Golden Crow," but he just couldn't bring himself to say them.
"Alright, let's go with Blackie. The bird is already so cool, so let's keep the name simple, otherwise it'll be too much."

Two hours later, when Lu Wei lazily came out of the bedroom, she saw a huge black bird in the living room.

Standing on the floor, about the same height as the sofa, he stood perfectly straight, sizing her up.

For a moment, both sides were stunned, and Lu Wei froze on the spot.
Xiao Mutou recalled that Zhai Da had told her he would keep a crow, and she naturally wouldn't refuse any of Zhai Da's requests, thinking it wasn't a big deal. But she always imagined it to be the size of a parrot.
Is that a crow? This pot isn't big enough to stew!

In front of Xiao Hei was a mat with many squares and buttons, which looked like the kind of thing children use to learn to talk.

The somewhat unusual-looking crow hopped forward, extended its claw, and pressed one of the buttons.

"Good morning!"

I pressed another one.

"mom!"

Little Wooden Head's pupils dilated.
She is ill and under normal circumstances, she will never show any expression.

But this is clearly a special case.

On the balcony, Zhai Da, who was busy at work, poked his head out: "This is the pet bird I mentioned before. Its name is Xiao Hei. Don't worry, it has been vaccinated, dewormed, and quarantined. It's also very well-behaved. I've already taught it some rules."

Zhai Da was just cleaning and modifying the birdcage, which will later be connected to the balcony window with a double-sided door. Besides serving as a nest, it will also make it convenient for Xiao Hei to go out for a stroll.

Before things are ready at the industrial park, Xiao Hei will stay at home temporarily. Originally, this period was for them to get to know each other and prepare for free-range breeding in the future, but now it seems there is no need to worry.

Lu Wei hesitated for a moment and then asked, "Was it talking to me just now?"

Zhai Da smiled and said, "I trained him temporarily. This guy is very smart."

Xiao Hei naturally wouldn't learn human language on its own, but before Lu Wei got up, Zhai Da had already interacted with it for an hour, teaching it by luring it with peanuts, wanting to give Lu Wei a surprise.

This guy learns things very quickly.

As he spoke, Xiao Hei stepped on it again.

"Good morning," "Mom."

Little Wood nodded hesitantly and politely replied, "Good morning, Little Black."

Little Black tilted its head in confusion for a moment, then nodded in imitation and stretched out its front paws.

Then I accidentally pressed a button.

"it's beautiful."

Little Wood: "Thank you."

In short, Shenzhou Zundi has a new member.

This is the first time in two lifetimes that Zhai Da has kept a pet.

Electronic pets don't count.

This gave him a sense of excitement, like getting a new toy.

Although the way the human and the bird get along is somewhat special, one is "a self-evident and self-reliant heart", and the other is "trusting each other so that they can accept each other even if the bird flies away".

Xiao Hei is basically free-range.

During the day, the windows are usually kept open. When Xiao Hei first arrived, it exhibited behavior similar to a "nest-recognizing pigeon," flying around freely at dawn and returning to eat peanuts at dusk.

So much so that Little Wood worried every day that this guy wouldn't come back.

Although we couldn't say we had any emotional attachment to it, it was still Zhai Da's pet, and it's a real shame that Fei is gone.

Occasionally, Zhai Da could still see Xiao Hei on campus. Its size was actually quite easy to distinguish. If it weren't for some eagle flying into the city, Ha Cheng wouldn't have mistaken its size.

But Zhai Da doesn't allow it to fall casually on his shoulder; it's too conspicuous and also affects his classes.

Every evening, whether at home or on the rooftop of Shenzhou Zundi, he would take some time to give Xiao Hei some simple training.

The method is simple: standard and clear instructions, timely food rewards to provide positive feedback, and a touch of praise and affectionate interaction.

Yes, after doing some research, Zhai Da realized that "praise" is also very important in animal training, especially for intelligent animals, as they can distinguish between them.

For subjects like "come," "go," and "retrieve lost items," Xiao Hei can understand them after only two or three tries and remember them. He can even distinguish some human language words.

This raised Zhai Da's expectations for him even higher.

Sometimes Zhai Da felt that he was giving Xiao Hei peanuts as "positive feedback" for training, and Xiao Hei was also giving him "positive feedback" with its efficiency and wisdom.

And so, Zhai Da became completely obsessed with playing with birds. Every day he would look around the campus, and as soon as get out of class was over, he would go home to train them. Xiao Hei's progress was incredibly rapid.

Before we knew it, it was Friday evening, and the interview team from Yangshi finally landed in Harbin.

　Sorry, I haven't been feeling well these past couple of days, it's too late.

　　Actually, I updated earlier a while ago and had some drafts saved up, but they've all disappeared due to recent fluctuations.

　　This is how drafts are: you put in all your effort when you're building them up, but they disappear without a trace when you're not. If you have any other commitments or aren't feeling well, they vanish into thin air.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)