The pastoral life of the grass tribe chief

Lu Yao put the seeds in a breathable feed bag and soaked them in cool water for a day.

Change the water every half day.

Generally, the seeds will sprout white buds after changing the water three times, and they can be evenly scattered in the field.

Lu Yao soaked the wheatgrass seeds and then went to set up the shrimp traps.

There's a good catch every day, including white shrimp, goby, minnow, goby, bamboo fish, whitebait, small crucian carp, and many other common small fish. The most common are bitterling, fighting fish, and rice paddy fish.

Even cats don't like to eat fighting fish; they catch them and then feed them to poultry.

Bitterlings are a bit bitter, so I stir-fry them and save them to feed my cats and dogs.

If you're lucky, you might also catch catfish, eels, snakehead fish, soft-shelled turtles, and tortoises.

Yellow catfish used to be everywhere, but now they are almost nowhere to be seen.

In summer, mud snakes can often be caught, but they are usually dead after being submerged in water for several hours. Otherwise, they would be great for making soup.

Lu Yao stir-fried a good two jin (1 kg) of the food, gave some to his parents and sister-in-law, and kept some for himself as a snack with drinks.

After setting up the shrimp trap, it was getting late, so I went to bed.

The winter solstice has arrived, and Longchong Town is filled with processions of people visiting ancestral graves to pay respects. Every now and then, cannons can be seen exploding in the sky, and colorful scraps of paper and threads fall down, covering the treetops and scattering all over the ground.

Fireworks and firecrackers are prohibited to prevent fires.

There are policies and measures to counter.

Since fireworks and firecrackers are banned, businesses have invented firecrackers that won't cause fires.

This time, Lu Yao and his group were paying respects to their grandparents.

Lu Lunnian was also one of five brothers. He was the oldest but also the longest-lived, as all four of his younger brothers predeceased him.

Lu Lide's generation had the most children because of their high survival rate; even the least had four.

However, things changed again with Lu Yao's generation.

The younger the woman is, the fewer children she has. Many only have two children, and quite a few only have one. If you add those who are not yet married, the number is less than a third of that of her parents' generation.

Despite this, more than 130 people came to pay respects to their ancestors today.

Except for special circumstances, almost everyone comes back to visit the ancestral graves and pay respects to their ancestors.

The offerings were a joint effort agreed upon by everyone; otherwise, we simply couldn't have put them down.

Many people hadn't seen each other for a long time, and they gathered in small groups to chat.

"Yao, Chong, you guys should get married soon, I'll be a grandfather next year."

"Wait until my grandson calls you uncles, then we'll see if you'll still have the face to show yourselves."

Lu Yao, Lu Chong, and several unmarried uncles and brothers were chatting enthusiastically when suddenly someone walked over and arrogantly addressed them.

When the group turned around, they saw Lu Yao's eldest son, Lu Jiwang, who was also Lu Lunnian's eldest grandson.

Lu Jiwang is the oldest among Lu Yao's generation, and everyone respectfully calls him Big Brother.

He is twenty-two years older than Lu Yao, and is exactly fifty years old this year. His eldest son is only two years younger than Lu Yao.

"Anyway, I'm not having any more children. It's your business how many you want to have."

Someone muttered to themselves.

"If you don't have children, who will take care of you in your old age?"

"When you get old and sick, there won't even be anyone to take care of you at your bedside."

Lu Jiwang loudly questioned him.

"I haven't thought about how old I'll live."

"What's a few years of suffering in old age compared to living a carefree life in your youth? It's better than suffering all the time when you're young."

"Besides, who can confidently guarantee that their children will take care of them in their old age and see them off in their final days?"

Today's young people have their own set of theories and scoff at many traditional ideas.

However, their seemingly absurd theories can leave people speechless.

Lu Jiwang was speechless after being rebuked and could only slink away.

After paying respects to the ancestors, we had lunch together in the village hall.

The public hall, sometimes called the hall below the hall, is a common hall used by a family or clan. It is used for important activities such as ancestor worship, discussing important clan matters, and holding weddings and funerals. It is a simplified version of the ancestral hall, and every village in their area has one.

The other four Lu clan villages in Maoyuan Township were all separated from Maotian Village. The public hall of Maotian Village used to be an ancestral hall, and the villagers still habitually refer to it as the ancestral hall.

Later, the five natural villages donated money to build a new ancestral hall, which enshrines the common ancestor of Maotian Village, Maodong Village, Maoxi Village, Maonan Village and Maobei Village. The ancestor worship is usually held on the afternoon of New Year's Eve.

Compared to the village's main hall, the ancestral hall is larger in scale, more exquisitely decorated, and has stricter sacrificial regulations.

The Lu family in Maotian Village is divided into the main branch and the Han Palace branch.

The term "Da Fang" is literally what it means; it refers to the descendants of the eldest son in a family.

The Han Palace House was passed down from the youngest son's descendants.

The two households each account for half of the population.

Maodong Village is a two- or three-house village.

Maoxi Village has three or four houses.

Maonan Village has five or six houses.

In addition to the seven-household households, there are also several households with five or six houses in Maobei Village.

Today, the Han Palace staff also had a meal together in the public hall.

The main hall is generally divided into an upper and lower hall, with a courtyard in the middle. The houses on both sides used to be where the villagers lived, but now they have all moved out, so the space is used to store the utensils for weddings and funerals and for meals.

The main family members had their seats set up in the main hall and the rooms on both sides, while the Han Palace family members had their seats set up in the lower hall and the rooms on both sides.

If you don't mind the hassle, the two families can have a meal together. The reason for having separate meals is that it's easier to arrange when there are fewer people.

As the saying goes, the dragon has nine sons, and each of them is different.

Comparatively speaking, the eldest son's family members are more honest and kind, and their descendants are diligent, frugal, and studious, with many becoming university students or officials; the Han Palace family members are more shrewd and calculating, good at socializing, and many of them are business people who make money.

Most of the vegetables and meat served at the gatherings were grown or raised by the villagers, and prepared by the village's head chef. The portions were generous, and the food was delicious and hygienic.

The vegetables and meat provided are not free; they are deducted from the sacrificial expenses.

Each household has a fund for ancestral worship, which is managed by a respected elder. Once the fund is nearly used up, a notification is sent in the group chat, and everyone can donate freely.

Most wealthy people are not stingy with donations of this kind, often giving thousands or tens of thousands of dollars at a time.

Each generation has several outstanding chefs, including many female chefs; they are plentiful. Younger generations like Lu Yao and Lu Chong have no chance to showcase their talents.

The female chefs are often wives from other provinces, some of whom had never even killed a chicken when they were married into the family. They can develop excellent cooking skills within a year or two of marriage.

No one forced them; they forced themselves to do it.

We're both mothers, but other mothers can do everything, preparing delicious meals for their children every day. You can't do anything. While other children eat and drink well, your child can only stand by and drool.

What are you feeling?

We can't just shamelessly beg every time, what's the difference between that and being a beggar?

If others don't care, are you willing to be inferior to them and trample on your own self-esteem?

People fight for a breath of air, Buddhas fight for a stick of incense.

I'm not any less intelligent than anyone else. If others can learn it, why can't I?

Roll up your sleeves and get to work.

If you don't understand, just ask.

If you don't get it the first time, try again, try three times, until you can make a delicious dish.

Mothers in southern Guangdong are all excellent chefs and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners; this is how they became skilled.

……