The pastoral life of the grass tribe chief

The next morning, Lu Yao's family got up early.

After breakfast, Lu Jihong, Lu Jiling, and their two sisters-in-law killed a chicken.

Remove the internal organs, chop ginger, garlic, shiitake mushrooms, chili peppers, etc., put them into the chicken cavity, coat the surface of the chicken with seasoning, wrap it in aluminum foil, and marinate for one or two hours. The kiln-cooked chicken will be very flavorful.

Cai Mingchao and Xu Xu followed Lu Lide to Wumutang to help Lu Yao catch and feed the fish.

Both of them drove here, their cars filled with small tables, chairs, drinks, and snacks, planning to eat roasted chicken here at noon.

A group of kids followed on bicycles and electric scooters, and when they arrived at Wumutang, each of them was carrying either a dog or a cat.

A group of cats and dogs were playing happily when suddenly a "major disaster" struck, leaving them all dumbfounded.

But these little brats were not to be trifled with, and they dared not resist at all, all looking utterly hopeless.

Big White has long since become a spirit. If you can't afford to offend it, you can at least avoid it. Early in the morning, it ran to the neighboring village to chat with Blackie, Whiteie, and Yellowie about important matters in life.

Cai Xiaoyan just finished her postpartum confinement period, and this morning she came with her daughter, husband, and sister-in-law.

She also brought two English shaded dogs, each weighing over ten kilograms.

Both cats are bathed and dewormed every month and vaccinated every year, but the family is still worried that the child will get infected with germs.

To prevent his eldest niece from having conflicts with her family, and because getting angry is bad for her health, Lu Yao suggested that she bring the two cats down with him so he could take care of them for a few months until the child could crawl and had a stronger immune system before taking them back.

Cai Xiaoyan usually takes her two English Finger Cats outdoors to play. They are not afraid of strangers. However, when they see a group of tabby cats that are twice their size, they are so frightened that they tremble and curl up in the pet carrier, not daring to move.

When she saw a group of tiger-faced paparazzi, she was so frightened that she fainted.

Lu Yao fed them wheatgrass juice before they woke up.

They were still too scared to move.

A group of cats and dogs, seeing that the two big guys were clumsy and timid, ignored them and went about their own business.

The two English Finches stayed in the pet backpack for a while. Seeing a group of cats and dogs playing happily in the wide and beautiful fields, and not showing any hostility towards them, they gradually relaxed their vigilance and revealed envious eyes.

When Cai Xiaoyan saw that they wanted to come out, she opened the pet backpack.

She had been Lu Yao's shadow since she was a child, and knew that her uncle's cats and dogs would not bully their companions unless their companions showed hostility. She was not worried that they would bully her two pet cats.

The two English Finless Puppies slowly stepped out of the pet carrier and lay down at their owner's feet, cautiously surveying their surroundings. They would retreat back into the pet carrier if they sensed any danger.

Seeing that the group of cats and dogs still ignored them, the two English Chinchillas stood up and cautiously walked to the edge of the yard, hiding behind flower pots and peeking around.

Wang Xiurong sat nearby picking chives. It was the first time she had seen the two big cats looking so clumsy, and she laughed so hard that her dentures almost fell out.

Cai Xiaoyan smiled too.

The daughter in her arms seemed to be infected by the laughter of her great-grandmother and mother, and a smile also appeared on her wrinkled little face.

"Grandma, come quick! Mengmeng is smiling!"

Cai Xiaoyan smiled when she saw her daughter and happily called Wang Xiurong over to come and see.

"Our Mengmeng must be dreaming about delicious food."

Wang Xiurong looked up and saw the little guy laughing silently and happily, and she smiled kindly in return.

Liu Man, Cai Xiaowen, and other girls, the younger sister-in-law, were returning from sightseeing and playing in the water when they witnessed this heartwarming and happy scene. They quickly took out their phones and snapped a picture.

"Grandma, you look so beautiful."

Liu Man walked over and handed the photos she had just taken to Wang Xiurong.

In the photo, Wang Xiurong looks like a Bodhisattva, radiating a pure and compassionate light.

Wang Xiurong was beautiful when she was young; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to give birth to such a handsome son as Lu Yao.

She's the kind of person who gets more beautiful with age, not in terms of physical beauty, but in terms of her overall aura.

Her smile is infectious; it's the kind of innocent smile that seems carefree yet carries a hint of shyness. People like her are naturally vengeful; no matter how much they hate someone, they forget about it completely the moment they turn around.

"No, I'm not good-looking at all. I'm old."

Wang Xiurong became embarrassed by the praise, and a shy smile spread across her face.

The others, seeing this, also laughed happily, their laughter echoing across the sunny Wumu Pond.

When Lu Yao and the others returned after feeding the fish, they saw this happy and heartwarming scene and took out their phones to capture it.

Two English Chinchillas were also photographed. They had moved to a different spot, hiding in the grass, peeking out at a group of laughing humans, still looking rather silly.

After everyone had some tea, Lu Yao checked the time and saw it was nine o'clock. He then carried a hoe to the terraced fields below the bamboo forest to build a kiln.

Xu Xu, Liu Jing, and a group of kids also went along.

Cai Xiaoyan put her daughter in the stroller and asked her daughter's maternal grandfather to look after her, and then she went to join in the fun.

Cai Mingchao is past the age of joining in the fun. He scrolls through his phone, plays with his granddaughter, and chats with his father-in-law over tea.

However, neither the father-in-law nor the son-in-law were people who could barely utter three words in a long time; apart from drinking tea and smoking, they never spoke a third word.

If you really have nothing to talk about, just tease Liu Meng.

Liu Meng stared wide-eyed at her maternal grandfather and great-grandfather, as if asking why the two of them hadn't spoken for so long. Besides smiling, all they could do to amuse Mengmeng was say "hmm" "hmm".

Lu Yao and his group arrived at the terraced fields under the bamboo forest.

These terraced fields used to be planted with rice, but later they were used to grow vegetables instead. Then they stopped growing vegetables and started growing fruit trees and cassava, otherwise they were left barren.

In recent years, Lu Yao's family has been growing cassava on their fields to feed fish, and they also cook some to eat.

Fish love to eat both cassava leaves and roots. The leaves can be picked and thrown directly into the pond, while the roots need to be shredded into strips using a cassava machine so that the fish can eat them quickly.

When Lu Yao was a child, cassava was one of the staple foods in his family. When cassava was ripe, they would eat it for two out of three meals.

In the past, cassava could only be boiled with pickled vegetables, and it was not very oily. Well-off families would add pork bones, and they still couldn't stop eating it.

Life is good now. Cassava stew with free-range chicken, along with some rice, ginger, peanuts, and carrots, is truly delicious. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

Some varieties of cassava are poisonous, so you must be sure to find out before cooking them. People who are allergic to them should not eat them.

The mud left after digging cassava is best for building kilns. Large, hard clods of soil are not suitable, as they are difficult to build and prone to collapsing during firing.

This is true of every industry; insiders can solve problems easily, while outsiders can't even find a way to get started no matter what they do.

The same applies to building kilns. Those who know how can build a tall kiln in a few minutes, while those who don't can't even build one in half a day.

Lu Yao was a kiln-building expert when he was a child; he could build one with his eyes closed.

Besides selecting the right soil blocks, the most important part of building a kiln is constructing the kiln door.

If you don't know how to build a kiln door with mud blocks, you can use three blue bricks or three stones instead. However, when sealing the kiln, be careful not to touch the hoe, otherwise the hoe will be ruined and you may even hurt someone.

Lu Yao chose a spot and dug a shallow pit with a hoe to store charcoal ash when firing the kiln.

When building a kiln, the soil blocks at the bottom should be harder and larger, while those at the top should be smaller. This is so that the bottom layer can withstand the pressure and will not collapse.

Whether to place the earthen blocks first or build the kiln entrance first is up to you.

The construction of the kiln entrance depends on the wind direction of the day. Choosing the wrong wind direction will lead to trouble when firing the kiln, as you will be choked by the thick smoke.

Lu Yao was used to arranging soil blocks around the edge of the shallow pit first, and then building the kiln door.

The process of capping the roof requires skill; if you don't know the technique, one piece will fall off as you place it, and in severe cases, it can cause a collapse, rendering all previous efforts futile.

The trick is to start building with long strips of earth five or six layers below the top, with one end extending into the kiln. While maintaining stability, the space becomes smaller as you go up, making it easier to seal the top.

If you really can't top it, just place a large brick or a stone slab as a roof when you reach a suitable height.