The pastoral life of the grass tribe chief

"Old Yao!"

As Lu Yao left Lu Jiming's house and passed by the ancestral hall, a familiar voice called out to him.

Immediately afterwards, a young man of similar age to Lu Yao walked out from the first alley to the right of the ancestral hall, carrying a two-year-old boy in one arm and leading a three-year-old girl by the other.

"You call him 'Old Yao'?"

First, I am not old.

"Secondly, I am of a higher generation than you, you should call me Uncle Yao."

"Little sister!"

Lu Yao turned off the engine, got out of the car, and walked towards the young man.

The young man was named Lu Changping. Although he was the same age as Lu Yao, he was a generation younger than Lu Yao.

Lu Changping grew up at his maternal grandmother's house and only transferred back to his maternal grandmother's house in the fifth grade, where he was in the same class as Lu Yao and Lu Chong.

He has three older brothers, and his parents dreamed of having a daughter. He did look like a girl when he was little, so everyone called him "Little Sister".

When he first returned home to attend school, he was not familiar with the other children his age in the village, and he was also somewhat introverted. In addition, his grandfather liked to take advantage of others, so he did not get along well with the villagers, and his peers did not like to play with him.

His parents were also stubborn and wouldn't let him play with his peers, so he always kept to himself.

At first, Lu Yao didn't play with him because his parents were too fierce. If he played with him, his parents would scold him mercilessly. However, he would still greet him when they met and wouldn't let his classmates bully him at school.

After all, they are cousins. He can bully them, but if others bully him, it's disrespectful to Lu Yao.

Behind the village stands a starfruit tree over two hundred years old, planted by the ancestors of the eldest branch of the family and considered their common property.

Once, Lu Chong fell from a starfruit tree while picking starfruit. He happened to see this while picking starfruit himself and quickly ran back to the village to call Lu Yao.

The reason he went to call Lu Yao was because he was afraid that others would not believe him, only Lu Yao would believe him.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yao called his grandfather over, and then ran with Lu Changping to see Lu Chong.

Lu Chong was lucky; he fell along with the broken branch, which absorbed a lot of the force, but he only broke his wrist.

Afterwards, Lu Chong was still afraid of his parents and dared not play with him.

Lu Yaotian was fearless and would ask him to go to school together, come home together, go fishing together, and swim together every day. When they got into fights, he would ask Lu Yaotian to carry his schoolbag and clothes and stand guard.

He ignored his parents' curses and kept calling them uncle and aunt whenever he saw them, shamelessly mooching food and drinks off them.

At first, they kept quiet with sullen faces, but after a while, they probably felt it was too heartless to treat a child like that, so they would just say "uh-huh". Over time, their responses became more and more natural, and they would even feel uncomfortable if they didn't hear it for a day.

The two families' parents didn't have much contact at first, but as the two children visited each other more and more frequently, the relationship between the two families got better and better.

Lu Yao was the king of the kids; all the little brats in the village followed his lead.

He played with Lu Changping, and naturally the other kids played with Lu Changping too.

Parents also dared not let their children stop playing with Lu Changping.

Lu Yao's "dominance" is terrifying.

If he speaks up, the other children will ostracize your child, which is the cruelest punishment for a child.

Some parents didn't believe in superstitions, but in the end they still bought snacks and took their children to beg Lu Yao to let him play with their children.

Nowadays, Lu Changping's family has a harmonious relationship with the villagers. Even though there are still a few families who don't interact much with his family, at least the grudges in their hearts have been removed, and they no longer act like enemies when they meet.

"You're getting more and more handsome."

Lu Changping was already used to everyone calling him "little sister" and wasn't angry at all, letting the two children call him "Uncle Lu Yao".

People nowadays are less concerned about seniority, which can be seen from the way they name their children. Only those with more traditional ideas still name their children according to seniority.

"What's the use of being handsome? You're the one who's amazing, you get one every year."

Lu Yao picked up Lu Changping's daughter and teased her as he spoke.

"Sigh, if I had a choice, I wouldn't get married."

Lu Changping smiled wryly.

"As the saying goes, those inside the wall want to get out, and those outside the wall want to get in."

"You married people envy the freedom of us single people, but you don't know how many single people envy your life with your wives, children, and a warm bed."

Lu Yao understood Lu Changping's distress.

The relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law has been a perennial problem since ancient times.

Lu Changping's mother and his wife couldn't get along and argued every time they met, making him the most miserable person caught in the middle.

There was no other way, so his wife stayed at her parents' house, taking care of the children and doing handicrafts, while he worked as an excavator operator for a relative in a neighboring city.

My brother-in-law isn't married yet, so there's no conflict for now. But once he gets married and has children, his parents-in-law and brother-in-law's attitudes might be completely different, putting both sides in a difficult position.

"I heard you're planning to stop working with your relatives and start your own business."

Lu Yao asked him again.

"You know my situation. I don't want to be separated from my wife and children for a long time anymore, otherwise my children won't even recognize me as their father."

"I saved some money over the past two years, and with a loan from the bank, I bought a used excavator, planning to find work in the county town."

"Once the loan is paid off, I'll rent a place in the county town and then slowly save money to buy a house."

Lu Changping said.

"The small-scale property rights in the county town are not bad; the houses are not old and the transportation is convenient."

Lu Yaodao.

"I'm also considering this. For poor people like me, buying small-scale housing is more cost-effective than buying commercial housing."

Lu Changping said.

"If someone has money to buy a house but is still poor, then what kind of person is someone like me?"

Lu Yao said jokingly.

"Didn't you see what they say online? 1,000 to 5,000 yuan in savings is poverty, 5,000 to 100,000 yuan in savings is hardship, 100,000 to 800,000 yuan in savings is just enough to make ends meet, and 800,000 to 2 million yuan in savings is considered well-off. If you're not poor, what are you?"

Lu Changping also joked.

"Dad, I'm hungry."

Lu Changping's daughter suddenly cried out that she was hungry.

"My sister and brother-in-law are here. We're going to Wumutang to eat kiln-roasted chicken."

Lu Yao extended an invitation.

"No, I'm going to my mother-in-law's house with my wife and kids after dinner."

Lu Changping said.

Are you spending the Lunar New Year at home?

"Yes, I'm here."

"I'll invite Lao Chong and the others out for a few drinks then."

"It might be very late."

"If you can come out, it's fine no matter how late it is."

After they parted ways, one went home and the other went to Wumutang.

When Lu Yao returned to Wumutang, everyone had almost finished eating.

He's eaten so much kiln-roasted chicken that it doesn't matter whether he eats it or not; what he enjoys is the process of bringing joy to others.

"This is getting a bit greasy. I'll go cook some catfish porridge."

As he spoke, Lu Yao went back to the kitchen to get busy.

All the materials are readily available; all you need to do is kill the catfish, so you don't need anyone else's help.

Lu Yao took the several catfish that had been kept in the pond for three days and slaughtered them.

When slaughtering a catfish, be careful not to get pricked by its hard spines on both sides.

The body of the catfish is very slippery and it is very difficult to catch. If you don't know how to catch it, use a towel or wear gloves.

Grab it tightly with one hand, turn its belly towards you, and use the other hand to forcefully snap the neck tendon of the catfish backward. Make sure to snap the neck tendon, otherwise the hard spines will prick your hand while it is struggling before it is completely dead.

Then pull the chin down to remove the gills and intestines.

If you're too weak, use scissors.

The ingredients for cooking various kinds of porridge are all similar, but people in southern Guangdong usually add two kinds: preserved mustard greens and pickled radish.

Everyone was already about 60-70% full, so Lu Yao added less rice and more water to make porridge soup to quench their thirst and cut through the greasiness.

Lu Lide and Wang Xiurong liked to eat taro, so Lu Yao cut a taro and put it in to cook.