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

Although the Ji family ate late today, everyone was all smiles because they had steamed buns and juicy stir-fried pork. Even though each person only had three slices of pork, everyone ate with great relish.

In Ji Yongling's opinion, pork without soy sauce or cooking wine, only salt, is hardly delicious. However, in these days when she eats nothing but vegetable leaves, vegetable dumplings, and vegetable porridge every day and rarely has meat, being able to eat two pieces of fatty, glistening pork is very delicious and satisfying for her.

With his mouth full of oil, Ji Manqing smacked his lips twice, savoring the taste of the meat, and said, "If I could eat fatty pork once a month, life would be wonderful!"

Ji Manchuan shook his head, a slight downward smirk on his lips, and said earnestly, "I advise you to be more down-to-earth and not to have unrealistic dreams!"

Ji Manqing put down his chopsticks and said, "Third Brother, that's not very nice of you to say. How can you call this daydreaming? Let Ling'er come up with a few more ways to make money for the family. Don't say we have to eat meat once a month. It's not too much to eat meat once every ten days or half a month."

Ji Manchuan was speechless for a moment, then sneered, "What a wonderful dream! Why don't you dream something even bigger? Like, picking up steamed buns while walking, or tripping and finding gold—that would be incredibly awesome!"

Ji Manqing thought for a moment, then chuckled, "It's not impossible. I'm afraid that's how the Emperor behaves in the palace!"

Grandpa Ji interrupted his two sons, saying, "Eat quickly, and then rest well. The adults and children have been exhausted these past few days."

Ji Manqing laughed and chimed in, "That's right, that's right, look how thin my calves have become from walking so much."

Ji Manchuan glared and said, "Your pig-like legs have only ever been dark, never thin!"

Ji Mantun watched his two younger brothers chatting enviously, then stood up, patted them on the shoulder, and said, "Take a good rest. I'll take Yongbai and Yongsong back first. There's not much work tomorrow, so I won't come over. If there's any work later, just let me know."

Madam Yang stood up and said, "If you don't come tomorrow, you're not allowed to carry wood anymore, understand? I'll cut a piece of meat for you to take back to Yongfei and her mother."

Ji Mantun reached out, trying to stop his mother: "No need, Mother—"

Unfortunately, they couldn't stop her; Yang had already strode into the kitchen.

Ji Yongling took out two hundred and forty copper coins from his pocket, handed them to Ji Mantun, and said, "Second Uncle, this is your and my two brothers' wages. Take it."

Ji Mantun hesitated for a moment, then declined, saying, "We can't accept this. My father and I eat and drink here every day. How can we take wages? This is not appropriate."

Ji Yongling forcefully stuffed the copper coin into Ji Mantun's hand, saying, "We agreed that everyone would get one. Second Uncle, if you don't take it, we won't dare ask you for help in the future."

Ji Mantun hesitated, saying, "This—no, no—" and was about to put the money down.

Grandpa Ji pushed Ji Mantun's hand away and said, "Alright, here are the children, take them. This is your wages, you and the two children deserve it!"

Ji Mantun had no choice but to accept it.

Seeing that Ji Mantun had accepted the money, Ji Yongling counted out piles of copper coins and placed them in front of Old Master Ji and the others, saying, "It was agreed that everyone would receive wages for the past few days of working on the herbs. Now I'll act as the manager and distribute the wages to everyone."

Yang took out a small piece of meat and stuffed it into Ji Mantun's hand. Looking at the silver coins on the table, she sighed and said, "I really never thought that even though half of my body is buried in the yellow earth, I can still enjoy the blessings of my granddaughter and receive copper coins from her." As she spoke, she wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her hand.

Ji Manchuan said somewhat embarrassedly, "Mother, it's all because your son is incompetent and hasn't been able to let you enjoy the blessings of having a son."

Madam Yang put on a smile and said, "It's the same whether I enjoy the blessings of my granddaughter or not, since I'm enjoying the blessings of my children and grandchildren anyway."

Hu Xirong beamed, shoveling the coins in front of her into her own hand, and said, "Mother, you can still enjoy the blessings of your granddaughter. At your age, I'm content with the blessings of earning my own money. As for the blessings of children? Tsk tsk, I don't count on Yongning and the others! It's a miracle they're not driven to death by anger."

Ji Manqing glared at her: "You've been living a life of luxury since you entered my family! Without my Ji family, would there be Ling'er? Without Ling'er, would you be where you are today? Getting paid and making money by selling thread!"

Looking at the smiling family, Grandpa Ji was also somewhat moved and said, "The older generation often says, 'When people are diligent, life is good; when families are harmonious, everything prospers.' People are respectful and courteous, but they can't eat all the food; they quarrel and argue, but they still can't eat all the food. When brothers are united, cattle and sheep abound; when sisters-in-law are harmonious, food and clothing are plentiful."

Your mother and I are old and have no other hopes. We just hope that you brothers and the younger generation can always live in harmony, respect each other, and have a good life together.

"We know, Dad—" the three Ji brothers said in unison.

After the meal, Ji Yongling watched Ji Mantun and his son leave, then reported the day's settlement to his family. He then took out fifteen taels of silver and gave five taels each to Yang Shi, Hu Xirong, and her father, saying, "Give everyone this first, and keep the rest as capital. Whether we're buying medicinal herbs or doing anything else, we'll need money."

Hu Xirong smiled so broadly her eyes disappeared. She picked up the silver, looked it over from left to right, and said, "Ling'er, you'll be absolutely fine in managing the accounts. Your aunt can trust you completely."

Madam Yang also put away the silver, and said with a smile as if coaxing a child, "It's good to be able to make money. You must hide the rest of the money well. I dare not hide it in the kang hole, nor in the cabinet, nor under the kang table. If a thief comes, he will run away. Let me tell you, the safest place is in the mouse hole. The mouse can't take it away."

Ji Manqing blinked and looked at Ji Yongling: "Fourth Uncle is good at hiding money, Fourth Uncle will teach you."

Hu Xirong looked up at Ji Manqing with suspicion: "Hmm?"

Ji Manqing chuckled: "Just kidding with the kid, I don't have any money to hide."

Grandpa Ji breathed a sigh of relief and said, "You kids are more quick-witted than us adults, and you know the accounts better than we do. You just need to manage the rest of the money well. In such a short time, our whole family will have money to share. I never dared to dream of such a thing."

Seeing the happy faces of her family, Ji Yongling also felt joy from the bottom of her heart and said, "Grandpa, Grandma, we will definitely earn more money in the future, and we will definitely be able to eat white flour buns every day and meat every month."

The whole family was overjoyed to hear this. The wrinkles on Yang's and Old Master Ji's faces were tinged with happiness, making their weathered faces seem a few years younger.

The family members dispersed, some busy cutting grass, others unloading the truck...

Ji Yongling took four coins from his wages and secretly gave them to Ji Yongzhou and Ji Yongning, telling them to hide them well so that their mother wouldn't find out and take them away. Then he picked up a tree branch and taught the two brothers to write on the ground.

Education is one of the few opportunities for ordinary people to rise above their circumstances, regardless of the era.