Daily life of farming and supporting a family on the ancient Loess Plateau

Ji Yongling gave him an approving look and said, "Because you put in wood dust! A lot of dust is floating in the air. When it reaches a certain amount, it will explode under the right conditions."

What she really meant was that it would explode when it encountered the right temperature, but in this era, there seems to be no concept of temperature or explosion. She could only give a general explanation so that the children could understand.

Erdan's eyes gleamed as he asked, "Wouldn't that be like the firecrackers the rich man sets off during the New Year? If you bury them in the ground, they'll blow the soil up?"

Ji Yongling smiled and said, "There are some similarities, but they are not the same. You just need to remember that wood powder and flour can explode, and after these powders explode, they will also stir up a lot of accumulated dust, causing secondary and tertiary explosions."

Erdan shook his head and said, "I get it. It's like putting an egg on a fire to bake. It explodes everywhere with a 'bang'."

The other kids nodded repeatedly and exclaimed in surprise, but Tie Dan said softly, "Who would be willing to use flour to fry something? They wouldn't even be willing to use wood starch."

Ji Yongning asked, "The latrine sometimes smells bad, so is there also flammable gas in the ash chamber?"

How could you even think of that!

Ji Yongling couldn't help but praise Ji Yongning's associative learning ability. She nodded and said appreciatively, "That's possible, but the ash rings at home are all open, so the flammable gas can easily dissipate, so it usually won't catch fire."

Ji Yongning thought for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter and said, "I've got it! If anyone bullies me in the future, I'll block up their latrine tightly, and when they're pooping, I'll throw a fire into the latrine and splatter them with poop, hahahahaha."

The other friends thought about the scene and burst into laughter, especially Erdan, who even blew bubbles from his snot.

Ji Yongling shook her head and couldn't help but laugh, because she had treated such patients before.

The young patient was waiting for his job interview and went to the toilet out of boredom. While squatting on the toilet, he felt a little lonely and thought of taking out a lighter to light a cigarette to pass the time.

Who would have thought that such a dashing act of lighting a cigarette would lead to such an unfortunate incident? The toilet stall exploded, causing a fire, and he himself was burned. When he was taken to the hospital, his pants were still hanging on his calves.

Sigh, although it's a very sad story, if it were set in an ancient dry latrine, the scene would definitely be quite beautiful and disgusting.

In principle, the accumulation of feces can produce some biogas, the main component of which is methane. However, the concentration ratio of biogas to air must exceed a certain value (15%) for it to burn and explode. Ancient dry toilets were almost open to the elements, so they did not meet the conditions for explosion.

However, what needs to be stopped must be stopped. We can't let the children be naughty and hurt others, nor can we allow them to have dangerous thoughts. So she said sternly, "You're not allowed to do that, not even think about it. It sounds fun, but if it really happens, it will hurt people. Do you want to go to jail in the county?"

The children all shook their heads, promising they would never do that.

When the villagers heard that the old grave of unknown origin had collapsed, they all rushed to see what was going on. Although everyone knew that the person buried in Niujiazhuang was definitely not a wealthy or noble person, they still thought they would go and take a look, just in case they found some treasure.

To everyone's disappointment, there were no treasures at all, only a rotten coffin.

Grandpa Ji and Niu Lizheng discussed that they would fill the grave back up as it was, have Erdan's father, Liu Lu, come to "send it off," and have a few children come over to kowtow, burn paper money, and admit their mistake, and that would be the end of the matter.

Because the children were afraid of being beaten if they went home early, and wanted to stay in the ditch a little longer, Ji Yongling went home first. When she arrived home, Zhao Yunxia had just entered the yard.

"Mother, where is Mantun?" Zhao Yunxia asked Yang as she walked into the courtyard.

Yang was changing the straw in the chicken coop by the courtyard wall when she looked up at Zhao Yunxia and said, "He and Manchuan and the others have gone to the county to deliver medicinal herbs."

"Second Aunt, Yongfei, you're here! Come in and sit down." Ji Yongling greeted as she entered the courtyard.

Zhao Yunxia took the bundle off her shoulder and placed it on the low table under the apple tree, saying, "These, plus what I took before, make a total of four hundred. Count them."

Ji Yongling opened the bundle and saw that the medicine pouches were finely sewn, with ten pouches tied together neatly. He then began to count them one by one.

Ji Yongfei pouted: "Sister Ling'er, you really know your stuff. My mother is your second aunt."

Ji Yongling didn't answer until he finished counting, then looked up and said, "In business, you must keep public and private matters separate. You can't mix them. Publicly, you're working for me, so I have to pay you. Privately, you're my family, so giving you work is also helping you."

“You—” Ji Yongfei pouted angrily.

Ji Yongling ignored Ji Yongfei, took a tael of silver and handed it to Zhao Yunxia, ​​saying, "Second Aunt, this is 1,200 cash. It's the price we agreed on. You can calculate it; it can't be wrong."

Zhao Yunxia took the silver, somewhat excited. She took out her handkerchief, wrapped it carefully, and said, "I calculated it before I came, and it's correct."

Seeing that Zhao Yunxia had put away the silver and was still sitting still, as if she had something to say, Ji Yongling asked, "Is there anything else, Second Aunt?"

Zhao Yunxia sat up straight, looked up at Ji Yongling and said, "Um, your second uncle and two brothers have been helping a lot lately, haven't they?"

"Didn't you say you'd pay my dad and brother? You weren't just making empty promises, were you?" Ji Yongfei immediately retorted.

Ji Yongling understood; they had come to collect their wages from his second uncle and the others.

She nodded and said, "Yes, I meant to pay my second uncle and two cousins ​​for their work, but I also said I would only settle the payment after this period of work was over, because I haven't received the payment for the medicinal herbs yet."

Ji Yongfei snorted and said, "You don't want to get married, do you?"

From the memories inherited from the original owner of the body, Ji Yongling knew that Ji Yongfei, raised by Zhao Yunxia, ​​was somewhat arrogant and always considered herself the granddaughter of a scholar. Therefore, she was a bit haughty among the girls in the village and liked to compete for everything. Especially towards her, she always liked to argue with her, but she didn't seem to have offended her at all, which was really a bit inexplicable.

Ji Yongling looked at Ji Yongfei and said, "I always keep my word. If I say I'll settle things, I will. But whoever works for me, I will pay them. No one else has the right to interfere."

"You—what gives you the right?" Ji Yongfei stomped her foot angrily.

"Second Aunt, Yongfei, if you're just asking about Second Uncle and my two cousins' wages, then I can assure you that I will do exactly what I said before. But if you want to collect Second Uncle and the others' wages today, then I can tell you clearly, no."

"You brat, when did it become your place to make the decisions in this family?" Zhao Yunxia stood up angrily.

Ji Yongling crossed her arms and leaned against the apple tree trunk, saying, "I may not be in charge of this household, but I am in charge of this matter."

"What gives you the right?" Ji Yongfei asked again angrily.

Ji Yongling glanced at the mother and daughter and said, "I was the one who found this business, and the pharmacy owner only recognizes me. Tell me why!"

"What are you so arrogant about? So what if you're collecting medicinal herbs? You're just as poor as us, eating coarse food and pretending to be a city person!" Ji Yongfei rolled her eyes.

Ji Yongling laughed and said, "Yongfei, you'll know whether I'm cool or not once you try."