https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-552-Glory-and-Honor-for-the-Clan-1-/12580356/
Chapter 553: Bringing Honor to the Family (2)
Chapter 553: Bringing Honor to the Family (2)
After Lu Jiaxin went to bed, her uncle went to visit her seventh grand-uncle. When he arrived, the seventh grand-uncle was discussing matters with the village head and a few elders of the clan.
Seeing Lu Dabo, the seventh grand-uncle felt relieved as Lu Dabo was in charge of Jiaxin's funding for the clan's children's education, which gave him a significant say in the village affairs.
After taking a seat, Lu Dabo asked, "How are your discussions going?"
The seventh grand-uncle and the village head were inclined to agree, but they were concerned about the villagers' reaction. There was no precedent for this, and the villagers tended to be short-sighted, believing that a daughter claiming a share of the mountain forest would set a bad precedent and harm the interests of the male heirs. They also worried that there wouldn't be enough land if too many people applied for plots.
After listening, Lu Dabo shared his own family's situation: "I have three sons. My eldest and second sons each have three sons, and my third son has two. Look at my family now—have any of us built new houses (bricked caves)? To date, we only live in this house, which was built over a decade ago. As for the future..."
He deliberately paused before continuing, "I won't even mention Jiaxin's four children, who grew up in the city and won't return. As for Jia Zong's three, Lu Shan has already established himself in Si Jiu City with a residence and a shop; Lu Yun and his wife help the second son run the noodle restaurant, so they will definitely stay in Si Jiu City as well; and Lu Tao, with his job, is even less likely to come back. Jia Yao's two sons—the older one joined the Railway Bureau, and the younger one, even if he doesn't get into college after high school, will also come to the city to look for work."
"None of my eight grandsons will return to the village to build houses. Likewise, those who leave to study will not return to live in bricked caves. With the family planning policy allowing only one child now, those with the ability will seek their livelihoods elsewhere. Granting land to daughters will not affect the village."
The example of Lu Jiaxin's eight grandsons never returning to build houses was highly persuasive. Of course, the most important point was his mention of the family planning policy. In the past, when families gave birth to as many children as they wanted, no amount of land would have been enough. Now that the situation has changed, it is easier to persuade the villagers.
The seventh grand-uncle remained silent.
The village head agreed with Lu Dabo, saying, "Uncle, with the family planning policy, a family can only have two children at most, and if the firstborn is a son, they can only have one more. In the future, the village population will decrease, and the tension over land allocation will ease. We can grant land to the village daughters."
Lu Dabo added, "The policy only allows for two children. If both are daughters, no more children are allowed. It would be good for them if daughters could apply for land."
After some thought, the seventh grand-uncle suggested, "Each family can only apply for land once. As for the mountains, we can allocate them according to the number of people, just like how we divided the fields, right?"
Everyone agreed that this method was feasible.
The next morning, Lu Jiaxin woke up at dawn. After washing up, her aunt brought her breakfast—her favorite lamb dumplings, this time served with pickled cucumbers and pao cai (a type of Chinese pickled vegetable).
Taking a bite of the pao cai, Lu Jiaxin exclaimed, "Aunt, your pao cai is delicious! Where did you learn to make it?"
Her aunt smiled broadly at Jiaxin's praise. Though she was nearly seventy, her teeth remained intact and neatly arranged, perhaps due to good genes or her attention to skincare. In contrast, Lu Dabo had lost most of his teeth and could no longer eat hard food.
Her aunt replied happily, "I learned it from the pao cai made by Wang Laotai, our neighbor. Her pao cai is exceptional, and it took me a lot of effort to learn how to make it. When your second aunt returns for the Chinese New Year, I'll teach her how to make it too. You like it so much that I'm sure customers will love it if we sell it in the store."
Lu Jiaxin flattered her, saying, "Customers will definitely want more after tasting it, and our business will get even better!
After breakfast, the group set out to visit the ancestral graves. The mountain path was rugged, but the branches and weeds by the road had been cleared, and it seemed that the path had been maintained recently.
Lu Dabo laughed and said, "During the Qingming Festival, we went to visit the graves and asked the villagers to tidy up both sides of the road. I'm also planning to call on the villagers to pave this road with stones during the farming off-season, so we won't have to worry about slipping even when it rains."
Lu Jiaxin thought it was a good idea, but she wasn't sure if the villagers would be willing to help. However, she didn't want to dampen Lu Dabo's enthusiasm. Older folks often sought a sense of purpose and longed for the respect of their descendants, which gave them a sense of accomplishment.
It took them about half an hour to reach the graves. In the past, Lu Jiaxin had always taken the lead in paying respects to her mother, but now that they were visiting the ancestors of the Lu family, she followed Lu Dabo's lead.
Lu Dabo stood in front of a grave and said, "Father, this is Jiaxin, the daughter of Hongjun, your third son. This child is very promising. She has donated money and goods to the state to help many orphaned children and has also sponsored the education of children in the clan. Father, now everyone in Feng County knows about our Lu family."
The character 'home' in the next generation's names was chosen according to the order in the clan genealogy, while the latter characters were chosen based on the phrase 'glory to the ancestors'. However, he never imagined that the one bringing glory to the ancestors in the next generation would not be his sons or nephews, but Jiaxin.
This was also because Lu Hongjun had only one daughter, so the name followed the order in the clan genealogy. At that time, Lu Dabo had hoped that she would marry into their family, but Lu Hongjun had not agreed.
Lu Jiaxin didn't mind listening to his ramblings. The older generation often had such hopes, wishing for their descendants to bring glory to the family and prosper. Her older brother's four children were all very ambitious and would surely succeed in life. As for Lu Shan and his brothers, they seemed to be doing well for now. Lu Cheng had joined the Railway Bureau, and Lu Hui was in high school. As long as he stayed on the right path, he would do well in the future. As for the second wife's children, she didn't bother with them.
As Lu Jiaxin still had to visit the school, they didn't stay long after paying their respects. On their way down the mountain, Lu Dabo said with some regret, "You're leaving tomorrow, and it's all so sudden that we didn't have time to prepare anything. If only you could stay a couple of days longer, then we could have held a ceremony to worship our ancestors."
The main reason for his regret was that Lu Jiaxin hadn't informed him of her visit beforehand; otherwise, he would have definitely made the necessary preparations. This girl had a habit of doing things unexpectedly these days.
In the past, due to the strong bias towards boys in rural areas, she hadn't been allowed to participate in ancestral worship, even though she was an only child. That was why she had a strong aversion to such activities.
Not wanting to dampen the mood, Lu Jiaxin quickly came up with an excuse, "Uncle, I came back to take care of some business, and since it was nearby, I took the opportunity to come and visit you and Aunt. Next time, I'll definitely let you know in advance when I plan to come and see you."
The school was not far from Lu's village, just a ten-minute walk away. What they called a school was actually just a few cave dwellings, with one cave per grade.
As Lu Jiaxin stepped inside, she noticed that the lighting was inadequate, but everything else seemed fine. However, spending years studying in such an environment would be detrimental to the children's eyesight.
"Is this the environment the children study in?" Lu Jiaxin asked.
Lu Dabo nodded, "Yes! A couple of years ago, we heard that the higher-ups would allocate funds to build a school, so I didn't mention it to you. But after waiting for two years, there was still no news, so I asked around and found out that the county didn't have the funds to build it anymore."
The reason he hadn't told Lu Jiaxin about the school earlier was that he had heard that the county would allocate funds to build a teaching building. He knew that with her temperament, she would have donated money to build the teaching building, and the children would have been studying in spacious and bright classrooms by now. So, when he received the news that the plans had fallen through, he was furious.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
