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

Seeing that Ji Yongling was acting the same as always, as if she had completely forgotten the unpleasantness brought about by Zhu Gou Niu's incident during the day, Hu Xirong went to talk to Jia Ronghua.

"Sister-in-law, aren't those white flour steamed buns I bought especially delicious? They're so sweet, they're just different from the ones we make at home," Hu Xirong said, savoring the taste of the buns.

Jia Ronghua had just finished breastfeeding Ji Yong'an. Recently, perhaps because of the supplements Ji Yongling gave her, her milk supply had increased, and the second child's food supply was finally up to par, so she no longer needed to secretly feed him 'Tiancang' formula.

Jia Ronghua put Ji Yong'an down, looked up and smiled: "It is delicious, it tastes like money, how could it not be delicious? Actually, it's mainly because we grind our own flour and are reluctant to sift it so many times, so our flour is not as white or fine as other people's. Therefore, our steamed buns and noodles are relatively thick."

Hu Xirong pouted and sighed, "The older generation often says that no one can be poor forever. Even a salted fish can turn its life around, and a beggar can have three years of good fortune. As long as you are hardworking and diligent, you will have a chance to turn your life around."

You know, our parents and grandparents worked incredibly hard, but they still couldn't even afford coarse cornbread every day, let alone white flour buns. Clearly, some old sayings are wrong.

Jia Ronghua swept the kang mat with a small broom and said, "Didn't the 'god' in the grasshopper temple say that poverty is a kind of test for us poor people? If we can't pass the test of heaven, we will continue to be poor; if the rich pass the test of heaven, they will become rich! As for us, we don't suffer from disasters or illnesses, and we don't lose any arms or legs. It is already a blessing from heaven that we are not missing any arms or legs."

Hu Xirong disagreed, looked down at Ji Yong'an, and said, "Sister-in-law, these words are just to comfort us poor folks and let us continue to be poor in peace. But I feel that ever since the solar eclipse, our family seems to be on the verge of a change of fortune."

"Look, I didn't make much money selling mugwort before, but now I've made some more from collecting medicinal herbs. Even the dyed thread I made sold for money. I never dared to dream of this before."

Jia Ronghua chuckled: "Didn't you dream of robbing a pawnshop before, all greedy for money? What? Now you're afraid to even think about it or dream about it?"

Hu Xirong looked up, a little embarrassed: "Sister-in-law... I just feel a bit unreal right now. Oh, right, I brought you your share of the money from selling the thread." As she spoke, she took out a handkerchief containing about a hundred copper coins.

Jia Ronghua was confused and asked, "What are you going to do with the money? I didn't do any work, and I didn't go out to sell any thread, so why should I get money?"

Hu Xirong stuffed the money into Jia Ronghua's hand and said, "The dye was given by Ling'er, and the thread was given by Mother. I just did my part and ran an errand, so Mother should take three cents of this money."

Jia Ronghua looked at the copper coin in her hand: "You shouldn't have given it to me."

Hu Xirong patted Jia Ronghua's hand: "Sister-in-law, your Ling'er asked me to give this to you, but she said she didn't want it and wanted her mother to keep it for spending money. Tsk tsk, why couldn't I have given birth to a girl like her?"

Jia Ronghua put away the coins and smiled, "Then I'm just picking up flour off the stove, getting nothing but cheap stuff."

Hu Xirong nodded, then suddenly remembered her main purpose for coming. She then recounted how she met Li Shi at the market that day, how Li Shi was murdered, and how Ling'er stood up for Li Shi in court.

Finally, she wiped away a few tears and said, "What a pitiful woman!"

Jia Ronghua was also quite saddened by what she heard, and said, "Most women from poor families in the world are in dire straits, and it is not uncommon to see someone as miserable as Li. I once heard my grandmother say that when they were young, our Northwest region suffered from a severe drought for three consecutive years, leaving the land barren for thousands of miles. Husbands ate their wives, and bandits and demons ate women and children."

In every household, the first to be abandoned and starved to death are the women and children. If my grandmother hadn't met my grandfather, who was willing to exchange a liter of millet for her life, I guess my grandmother... sigh, it was truly tragic, I dare not speak of it, I dare not even think about it..."

Hu Xirong was also a little sad, saying, "My grandmother also said that women in famine years are not even as good as livestock. Young women can still be sold to earn some money to buy food for their families, but the older women and young girls all starve to death and become food for their families."

My grandma said that she even jumped into a dry well back then, but the well was filled with women's corpses, all covered in white maggots, and the stench was unbearable. She jumped in but didn't die, but couldn't stand it, so she climbed out... Sigh..."

Jia Ronghua looked at the sleeping Ji Yong'an with a sorrowful expression and said, "We are lucky to have married into the Ji family. But we are also women, and we don't know how the world will change in the future."

Hu Xirong wiped away her tears and said, "That's right, so we should be content. Who can say what the future holds? It can't be worse than the three-year drought when people ate each other. Anyway, it's not wrong to raise women to be strong."

"Yes, sister-in-law, I noticed Ling'er seemed a bit off after leaving the county government office today; she was listless. On the way back, her fourth uncle had to act silly to make her laugh. At dinner, she seemed normal again. Please talk to her properly before bed tonight; I'm afraid I might have scared her today."

Jia Ronghua glanced out the window with some concern, then nodded in agreement.

In the rural northwest at night, the moon casts its silvery light, as if covering the land with a white veil, and the entire village of Niujiazhuang is immersed in this peaceful and serene atmosphere.

In Old Ji's courtyard, the clear chirping of crickets was interrupted by several voices.

"How is her mother?" Ji Manchuan asked anxiously.

Jia Ronghua, with a headscarf wrapped around her head, tiptoed out of Ji Yongling's cave dwelling and shook her head: "His head doesn't feel very hot, but it's like he's having a nightmare. He's muttering to himself one minute and kicking and punching the next. I called out to him a few times before he felt a little better."

Ji Manchuan pursed his lips and said, "Alright, then I'll come back to check later. Today's incident really scared the kids. It's not good for children to be too sensible. They act like nothing's wrong during the day, but before going to bed, they were even teaching Yongning and Yongzhou to write on the ground. Now they're having nightmares."

Jia Ronghua also sighed and went into her cave dwelling.

In another cave dwelling, Hu Xirong lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), turned to her side and whispered to Ji Manqing, "Did I beat Yongzhou too hard today? Oh dear, I was so angry at the time that I couldn't help myself."

"You don't know, the child was clearly lying at the door, but Aunt Yinqiao pretended she couldn't get the child in. Watching her act like she was asking a customer to kill a chicken, so insincere and fake, made my teeth ache terribly."

Ji Manqing closed his eyes, turned over, and faced away from Hu Xirong. He said leisurely, "If you have a toothache, go and deal with Yin Qiaogu. If you're so capable, go and scratch her stinky face. What are you doing hitting the child? Look at how badly you've hit the child. He keeps burping in frustration while eating."

Hu Xirong punched Ji Manqing in the back and scolded, "You, as the father, should be the one disciplining our son, but instead you've been washing your hands of it. If I don't discipline him, who will? You? You're just a stickler for the rules, can you really rely on you?"

"If you don't discipline the child when they break something, how can you control them when they're older? Besides, I'm disciplining the child for their own good, so don't just sit there with a bitter mouth and make sarcastic remarks!"