Quick Travel System: Age Strategy

Last night, Uncle Huhe came to their yurt and told them who would pick them up and take them to the city tomorrow, and how to arrange their work.

The work I do every day is different now.

There is no need to grow so many crops on the grassland in autumn. Their main job is to learn from the herdsmen how to feed cattle, sheep, horses, and a small number of animals such as chickens, ducks and pigs.

The grassland here also wants to raise some fish fry by the river this year, but it is just an idea in the mind and has not been implemented.

After being used to eating big meats, for them, occasionally having some light porridge and side dishes is just a snack to relieve the loneliness in their mouths.

The grassland here is vast and boundless. Generally speaking, people from the city don't come here specially. The last time I came to see Uncle Huhe was to talk about the educated youth going to the countryside.

After each trip, the herdsmen have to send people back safely, otherwise it would be difficult for one person to leave the grassland.

The cadres from the city all come here on tractors, and the gas for this trip costs a lot, so they are unwilling to come here.

Relatively speaking, grasslands have fewer restrictions than other places and are more open.

So there are very few thin people here, and the men all look very strong.

Even the educated youth who came here were quite thin in comparison, and you could tell the difference at a glance.

When Mayila saw her coming, she immediately left the other male educated youth and walked over, "Guli, why are you here just now?!"

"I just ran into an acquaintance and chatted for a while."

"Acquaintance? Who?" When Mayila asked this, the other two male educated youth came over and greeted them.

Cheng Cheng politely replied, "Let's go, let's gather first."

He took a look at the male educated youth who had come with Mayira and was now waiting silently behind him, and called him to go to the gathering point together.

"Hey, you haven't answered me yet!?" Mayila was forced to be dragged to the gathering.

It was not convenient to ask any private questions when she was among the educated youth. Mayira was full of curiosity, and it did not subside until she got on the bus.

Uncle Da is a typical Mongolian man. Even in his robes you can tell he is fat and strong, and he can speak a few words of Mandarin.

The Lele cart he was pulling was actually a grassland ox cart, and the name here is a little different.

The educated youth greeted Uncle Da, and Uncle Da enthusiastically took out a handkerchief from his robe, which contained a few slices of dried beef. He handed it to the educated youth and asked them to taste it.

"The tribe leader told me yesterday that I would take you to the city today on a horse-drawn cart. This is our first meeting, so I'll treat you to some beef jerky from the grassland."

"No, Uncle Da, we can't eat this jerky."

"Yes, you can keep it for yourself. We are embarrassed to take the ride."

"That's right, if we continue to eat your food for free, what will become of us?!"

……

"A little bit of dried meat is nothing. I won't give you much, just the length of a thumb per person. Just eat it. Since you are a guest, don't be so formal." After saying this, Uncle Da stretched out the hand holding the dried meat forward.

"Okay, let's try it. Thank you, Uncle Da." Kuturuk took it and shared it among the educated youths, with each of them holding one.

The educated youth did not forget to thank Uncle Da while pinching the dried meat.

"Thank you, Uncle Da."

"Thanks for the jerky, Uncle Da."

"Thank you, Uncle Da."

……

Uncle Da put the handkerchief handed by Kutuluk back into his robe, took out a hand-rolled cigarette, lit it, took a puff, and waved, saying, "You're welcome. You can have a taste when you're bored on the road. Come on, kids, get in the car."

The educated youths got on the horse-drawn cart one by one. The body of the cart was made of wood, and handrails were thoughtfully built on both sides.

The five educated youth from the frontier area had never seen this style of car before, and they were surprised when they sat in it.

Uncle Da was thoughtful enough to lay a thin blanket in the middle, so even if you sit in the middle your butt won’t feel bloated, and you can lean on the railings on both sides like a cushion to support your body.

"You haven't seen it before, right? This horse-drawn cart was the home of the herdsmen on our grassland a long time ago. Later, houses were built and this cart became a means of transportation."

"I usually use this to take my tribesmen to the city. If I want to sell the animals I raise, I'll use another vehicle, a horse-drawn cart, which is faster than an ox."

Uncle Da’s explanation helped the educated youth gain a deeper understanding of the grassland, and they also learned how the herdsmen live through these few words.

The ox carts and horse carriages here are also somewhat different from those in other places.

After knowing the origin of the car, everyone asked about the hand-rolled cigarette he was smoking. Uncle Da did not hide anything and answered every question.

Tell them that this type of cigarette is cheaper than those sold outside, and the method of making it is also very simple. You can just buy some tobacco leaves from the city, wrap them in paper and light them.

It means smoking more useless matches, and wasting one match for each use.

Uncle Da joked: "I should quit smoking. It's better to save some matches for making fire instead of smoking this stuff."

In that era, you needed a receipt to buy matches, and a box of matches cost at least five cents.

The life of grassland herders is entirely self-sufficient. When encountering severe droughts, tornadoes, and sandstorms, it is difficult for these animals to survive. They have to take into account the survival of both the animals and themselves.

It is not so easy to save the money on hand. Even though they can eat meat now, they know in their hearts that this is happiness. No one can guarantee whether God will suddenly play a joke on them in the future.

Uncle Da didn't seem lonely along the way even when sitting in the rickshaw, as he could chat with everyone by himself.

Occasionally seeing cattle and sheep roaming freely on the grassland would make one feel that time was peaceful and quiet. The slow life on the grassland allowed the educated youth to adapt quickly.

As the saying goes, when the wind blows through the grass, you can see cattle and sheep. Under the blue sky and white clouds, cattle and sheep are strolling on the grassland. When the lamb hears the sound of the horse-drawn cart, it will raise its head and look over here with a confused look in its eyes.

Seeing that they were all looking at the lambs, Uncle Da continued, "You should be able to catch up with the estrus period of the ewes in a while, and then we should breed them."

"Uncle Da, how many months does it take for a ewe to be pregnant?" The person who asked this question was Mayira.

But she asked the question that was on everyone's mind. The educated youth had never been exposed to this knowledge, and it was a blind spot that was completely untouched for them. It instantly aroused their desire to learn.

"Normally it's five months, which is the spring of next year. Your task will be heavy by then, because it's the estrus period again. Both ewes and rams are in estrus twice a year. The ewes that didn't get pregnant last time have to be bred with rams, and after that you still have to take care of the lambs. I'm not just talking about sheep, it's the same for cattle, only horses are in estrus a little differently, they're in spring and summer."

"Uncle Da, why are you so busy in the spring?!"

"Of course not. Spring is still a good time for planting. Although the crop yields on our grasslands are not abundant, we still plant some for eating or storing."