The orc wants to register that his family has become Xia of the Xia tribe, will...
The day before setting off back to the grasslands, Jiang Yunlan specially granted Heitu a day off so that she and Mo Rong could have a good get-together.
These two lemming beastmen who escaped from the original clan together seem to be not very close to the other lemming beastmen who came to Xia later because of their past experiences.
The two of them treated the lemming orcs as ordinary members of their tribe, and almost never took the initiative to approach them. They were even less likely to befriend the other lemming orcs in the same way they were friendly to Maple Syrup, Grey Honey, and other orcs.
However, most orcs subconsciously gravitate towards other orcs of their own race, feeling that they are not truly orcs when their own kind are around. This caused Jiang Yunlan considerable worry for Heitu and Mo Rong, fearing that the two young orcs might feel lonely, especially the younger and more outgoing Mo Rong.
Perhaps because they were taken in by Feng Hong when they were still cubs, and were always accompanied by orcs of different races, they didn't show the same affinity for their own kind as most orcs. In their eyes, all orcs of Xia were the same.
They will treat all races equally. Just as Lan will not give preferential treatment to squirrel beastmen simply because they are her fellow race.
Jiang Yunlan later learned of the two's thoughts and stopped worrying about them, but she would give them more time to spend together when possible. After all, they were companions who had relied on each other for survival, and their bond with each other was much deeper than that of other beastmen.
At this time, she was unaware that not only were the newborn cubs in the tribe gradually valuing "tribe members" more than "kindred spirits," but many adult orcs who joined Xia were the same. The orcs' clear hearts could sense who was truly good to them; compared to certain so-called "kindred spirits," those who consistently treated them sincerely were of course more important.
Whether their people are the carnivorous, herbivorous, or omnivorous beastmen they used to despise is irrelevant. Because everyone is a member of the Lan tribe.
This is one of the reasons why the orcs who work for their native clans are increasingly reluctant to return. They have already witnessed what their true people are like and understand what a worthy chieftain should be like.
They knew very well that they could live well in the Xia tribe even without their own people.
Now, like the grassland habitat, the mountain habitat allows orcs to rent stalls to sell their homemade items and purchase houses from the sales office. Some orcs who want to live in spacious houses but don't have enough copper coins will choose to take out a loan to buy a house.
From then on, the orc, burdened with a mortgage, weakly clutched his empty pockets and tearfully decided to buy ingredients from the canteen and cook for himself from then on.
Summer currently prohibits orcs from setting up stalls to sell food in the trading area; each orc can only purchase a fixed amount of ingredients. This food is enough for orcs who are saving copper coins to cook themselves three substantial meals a day, if their culinary skills are up to par.
Incidentally, the beastmen need to buy water from the water house for washing vegetables, cooking, washing their hair, and bathing, while they need to buy tinder, flint, and firewood from the general store. After buying these items, they go to the canteen to purchase food ingredients, and they will buy the sea salt, coarse sugar, chili powder, and other seasonings that are displayed next to the ingredients.
So, the orc, who had also bought pots and pans, returned to his dwelling and suddenly realized that his already meager savings were almost gone.
The orcs were stunned. They hadn't even bought their curtains, sheets, blankets, wardrobes, tables, and chairs yet!
For the first time, the orcs, who had empty houses, grasped the concept of poverty. Looking at their desolate homes, they resolved to work even harder to earn copper coins. Sooner or later, they would save up enough copper coins to buy what they wanted.
The orcs who bought the house together held each other's hands and encouraged one another.
"We need to buy curtains first, otherwise it'll be too bright in the morning and the sunlight will wake us up. You're the best at math and the orc who can control his hands the most, so we'll leave the copper coins for buying utilities with you. Our family is counting on you." The two orcs simultaneously grasped the hands of their most reliable friend, showering him with compliments until he blushed.
Similar scenes were seen among many orcs who co-owned houses.
Xia's "family" appeared in a strange way and gradually increased in number. The beastmen who made up the family were not partners, not mothers and cubs, not even of the same race or brothers and sisters, but simply family members who recognized each other.
Race and age are not important; they only care whether the other person is a family member they consider to be family.
Summer's environment is too unique. There are many orcs at this time, yet not enough; there aren't many orcs of the same race but from different clans. Even fewer orcs would pursue a beloved partner, yearning for a long and lasting relationship with just the two of them. Coincidentally, orcs are accustomed to living in groups, and because of their past experiences, they feel that having their own people around them is the only way to ensure safety.
Therefore, in the Xia tribe, building a home together with friends has become the mainstream practice.
This family model, purely based on affection, lasted for a very long time in Xia before gradually becoming less common.
The beastmen were very satisfied with this arrangement. Because their families were of their own choosing, their desire to protect Xia grew even stronger.
Their home is here; protecting Xia means protecting their family.
Jiang Yunlan, accustomed to families formed by blood ties from Blue Star, was quite surprised when she first noticed this pattern in Xia's family. She quickly adapted and then instructed the orcs in the household registration department to register the group of orcs who had become family.
While some orcs pooled their resources to buy houses simply because they lacked copper coins and wanted to save money, the majority of orcs did so with friends.
The orcs from the household registration office knocked on doors to ask questions, and the booklets in their hands suddenly became much thicker.
Upon hearing the orcs from the household registration office say that they could be found through their household registration in case of an accident, many orcs signed their names without hesitation. They barely listened to anything about the protection afforded to the families of people in special professions, only knowing a little bit about it.
They were not interested in hearing the orcs' hypothetical story of their family members' deaths from the household registration department, and resolutely rejected their explanation.
Anyway, it must be recorded in the law. When they want to know, they will go to the library to find out or ask the teachers at the school to help explain.
These benefits tempted some orcs to deliberately approach public-service orcs such as guardians, warriors, police officers, and healers.
Fortunately, Jiang Yunlan had given everyone a heads-up about preventing scams beforehand, so the group of public servant orcs didn't fall for it. They just looked coldly at some of the orcs who had suddenly become friendly towards them, and made a mental note of their names, planning to have the tribe's police officers investigate them later.
These orcs had better not have done anything wrong, or they'd better not be rude to them.
Sweet words can never win a sincere heart. The orcs, who initially harbored ulterior motives, eventually gave up after several attempts. These orcs only wanted benefits; their efforts were superficial and utterly incapable of moving their target.
Perhaps over time, some orcs will be deceived, but the "family" relationship can be dissolved. Once this rule was in place, orcs who wanted to gain benefits through deception disappeared.
An ordinary day.
Two horse-beastmen who had registered their families suddenly appeared in front of the household registration office.
The household registration administrator looked up and saw the grassland horse-beastmen and the White River Mountain horse-beastmen from two different families. A question mark popped into his head, and then he peeked at the beastmen behind the two beastmen. Their expressions were very interesting, and the way they stared at the neighboring family was indescribable.
If an explanation had to be given, the registrant felt it was like a beastman discovering that his carefully raised animal had been taken away by some beastman he'd never heard of. Confusion mixed with worry; he found it hard to trust that the other party could take good care of his horse-beastman.
"Um... what kind of service do you need?" The household registration administrator suppressed the urge to back away and asked, forcing himself to speak.
Two horse-orcs: "We want to sever ties with our original family and register a family relationship with her/him."
A group of orcs of different races behind them stood motionless, their faces expressionless. Two horse-orcs turned to look at them, puzzled. They almost simultaneously forced smiles and nodded stiffly.
Waaah, their family is going to live with other beastmen.
Seeing this, the household registration administrator silently lowered his head, asking for their information while taking out the household registration book. He crossed out the original information in the household registration book, then asked them to bring their own household registration papers, erasing the names and handprints of the two horse-beastmen on their papers.
He pulled out a new piece of paper and the household registration administrator wrote down the date. The seventh year of summer, the tenth day of the third month of the flowering season, the tenth day of the holiday.
The summer dates begin with the day Lan was found by Feng Hong; that year was the first year of summer.
After years of recording, Jiang Yunlan and 022 could roughly determine the duration of the four seasons in the Beast World. It took approximately 434 days for the Beast World to transition from one flowering season to the next. Using the seven-day summer rest period, the Beast World had 62 rest days a year.
In the Beast World, the hot and snowy seasons are longer, so Jiang Yunlan adds an extra day off for each of these seasons. Therefore, in the summer calendar, there are four seasons in a year. The flower and fruit seasons have 15 days off, while the hot and snowy seasons have 16 days off.
After writing the date, the household registration administrator pressed down the new household registration paper and asked the two horse-beastmen without looking up, "What are your names, and what relationship do you want to register?"
When the two horse-beastmen heard the registrar's question, they readily gave their names, then stammered for a while, unable to think of a way to describe their desire to have a child with each other, or what kind of relationship they should have.
The word "companion" was almost never used by orcs. The two horse-orcs, not having the word in their minds, were immediately perplexed.
The household registration administrator waited for a while but didn't hear anything. He looked up at them in confusion and asked, "Aren't you brothers and sisters?"
The two horse-orcs shook their heads in unison and explained their situation.
The household registration administrator stood there dumbfounded, exchanging bewildered glances with the two horse-beastmen. The registration of family relationships in the grassland habitat had only been underway since Lan's return, a mere ten days or so ago. Lan had entrusted the entire matter to them, but the household registration department truly had no idea what to do.
"Why don't you come back tomorrow? I'll go to the central building and ask Lan first." The household registration administrator was sweating.
At this moment, Jiang Yunlan was handling matters concerning the ship with one hand and drafting supplementary laws regarding family with the other. She was still pondering the obligations and responsibilities of orcs forming partnerships, completely unaware that some orcs were already considering forming partnerships.
In her mind, orcs at this time didn't even have a concept of love, let alone think about such things. Naturally, she had put off considering this matter until now. After all, the appearance of orcs of the same race but different clans in the summer was something that only happened in the seasons before and after her return.
"What? You mean, a grassland horse-beastman and a white river mountain horse-beastman want to be partners?" Jiang Yunlan was surprised and subconsciously glanced at the "Marriage Law" that she had only written as a title and not the main text.
The household registration administrator could hear the surprise in Lan's voice, but he noticed the word "companion" in Lan's words even more first.
As expected, Lan had prepared for this matter in advance and had already thought of how to address him.
The registration administrator sighed inwardly, then excitedly blurted out, almost running out of the central building, "Since Lan has already made up her mind, then I'll register the two horse-beastmen as partners tomorrow!"
Jiang Yunlan, who was deep in thought, suddenly came to her senses and quickly said, "Tomorrow probably won't work, maybe three days later. I'll call them over after I've finished writing the relevant laws."
She already has some ideas; she just needs to organize them.
She couldn't help but feel fortunate that when she had the orcs register their household registration, she had noted down where they came from, which prevented orcs from the same clan from forming couples.
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Author's Note: I wrote 3,600 words in this chapter, I'm so proud. I installed a new desktop yesterday, and now I have a 1.6-meter-long desktop to use! It's really great to use, and it makes writing much more enjoyable.
But I'm sorry, my little angels, I need some time to adjust my state. After tomorrow's update, I will post my update frequency in the announcement section, and I will adjust the frequency every Thursday based on my status. Next week, it should be once every three days.
I'm really sorry, but I've been experiencing writer's block lately, and trying to write more has led me to stay up late. Staying up late worsens my writing, making the writer's block even more severe.
Actually, I've been struggling for a while now, trying to maintain a consistent update schedule while going to bed early, but unfortunately, I've failed. My updates have been very inconsistent throughout July. Those of you who are following my updates may have noticed that I'm updating later and later, sometimes even taking two days to finish a single chapter.
I'm truly sorry for making you follow such an unpredictable story. So, I want to change, starting with my sleep schedule. I want to become the author who can update 3,000 words before midnight again. Please give me half a month to a month; I will adjust my sleep schedule back to normal during this time.
For the next month or so, the update frequency will fluctuate between once every three days and once every two days. I will use the extra time not spent writing the main text to organize the outline of the story, add the map and setting, and try to overcome the writer's block as soon as possible.
There's still a long way to go, and I want to fill that long road with beautiful scenery so that when you pass by and see it, you'll feel that your trip here wasn't in vain.
I know my newly adjusted update frequency might be frustrating for those of you who are following along. If this article makes you feel tired of following it, please come back to read it again in half a month or a month.
I will do my best to present you with better content.
Maybe when I've recovered and come back, I'll still experience writer's block like I am now. But no matter how difficult it is to write, I won't give up. I've even come up with a sequel story that I really want to write. I won't be satisfied until I finish writing Lan and Xia's story.
It's 2:09 AM now. I'm going to sleep. Goodnight, little angel.
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