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

Ji Manqing said with a bitter face, "No family has any surplus grain. How can we let the grain go moldy? Then no one will starve to death! We are not rich landlords with mountains of grain that we can't finish eating and feed to the dogs."

Huo Zhiyuan stopped smiling and dared not speak again.

Seeing this, Ji Manchuan said, "Ling'er, tell me, how do we supplement selenium? Do we need to?"

Ji Yongling thought to himself, "Later data showed that most of the land in China is in low-selenium or selenium-deficient areas. As a poor Northwesterner in this era, we can't have the various selenium-rich foods and selenium-fortified salt that we have in later generations. Now we are short of food, how can we not be short of selenium?"

But she couldn't say that out loud. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Although our family doesn't have this 'willow hunchback disease,' we might still be deficient in selenium, after all... but it's not easy to supplement selenium."

First, we need to find selenium mines, which is the most difficult and important part, because this substance can both prevent willow disease and treat those who already have it. Moreover—”

"And what?" Ji Manqing and Huo Zhiyuan asked in unison.

"Moreover, if our soil contains enough selenium, the vegetables and grains that grow will not only taste better, but also increase in yield!"

"That's so nice!"

"Where is this selenium mine you mentioned?" Huo Zhiyuan asked, frowning. In his memory, he didn't recall ever hearing about this selenium deposit in the books about local customs and traditions he had read.

Ji Yongling only knew that when he watched a documentary in his previous life, it mentioned that Enshi, Hubei Province, had the world's only independent sedimentary selenium deposit.

But what is Enshi called now? How could a village girl like her know?

Ji Yongling looked at Huo Zhiyuan. Although she didn't know who the man in front of her was, a rich young master was always knowledgeable and might know.

Ji Yongling tentatively asked, "I wonder if there are any places called Enshi, or Enzhou, Shizhou, Enxian, or Shixian?"

Huo Zhiyuan pondered for a moment, then said excitedly, "I've never heard of Enshi, but there is one in Shizhou. Could it be that the selenium mine you're talking about is located in Shizhou?"

Ji Yongling opened his mouth, swallowed, and said, "I've only heard Granny Liu mention Enshi, or maybe Shizhou. I'm mistaken. But this selenium mine might not be called a selenium mine locally; it might be called by other names."

Huo Zhiyuan smiled and said confidently, "It's alright. I know the general area. I can ask around later."

Speaking of selenium mines, Ji Yongling suddenly thought of Ji Yuting from the depression, and her younger brother who was losing hair and nails. Could it be selenium poisoning?

"Probably not, where would the selenium come from?" Ji Yongling immediately dismissed this guess.

"Dinner's ready! Manchuan, Manqing, come and get the food!" Madam Yang called from the kitchen.

Upon hearing that it was time to eat, Huo Zhiyuan quickly stood up and said, "Uncle Ji, I've already eaten, I'm not hungry. I've asked all the questions I needed to ask. I've stayed too long today, so I'll take my leave now."

Ji Manchuan grabbed Huo Zhiyuan's arm, fully displaying the hospitality of a Northwesterner, and said, "Hey—since you've come to my humble cave dwelling, you have to do me the honor of having a meal. Otherwise, people will say that the Ji family is stingy, only serving food after seeing off the guests!"

Grandpa Ji also stood up to persuade him to stay, saying, "You silly child, it's your first time visiting and you don't want to eat. What will your parents think if you go back hungry?"

Helpless, Huo Zhiyuan could only sit back down.

Ji Manchuan and Ji Manqing brought out two plates. One plate contained cold daylily salad, cold grasshopper salad, cold chive salad, cold radish salad, cold radish leaf salad, and two bowls of locust flower fried eggs. The other plate contained several bowls of long noodles in soup, with some chunks of fatty meat, diced radish, and chopped green onions floating in the bright red soup.

Ji Yongling helped place the plates of food in the middle of the table and put two bowls of locust flower fried eggs in front of Huo Zhiyuan.

Ji Manqing served several bowls of noodles to everyone, but the bowl for Huo Zhiyuan was noticeably larger and contained significantly more meat. He also took another bowl to the door for Qiwen, who refused to come in to eat.

Generally speaking, when male guests come to a house, it is the men who keep them company at the table, while the women and children stay at the table and eat whatever they can in the kitchen. This is because the family is poor and food is limited, so when guests come, they must be fed first. This is the least they can do, and it is also a helpless act of "putting on a brave face."

The Ji family was no exception.

The men were bound to stay in the courtyard to entertain the guests, and Ji Yongling consciously prepared to go to the kitchen, but was stopped by Master Ji: "Ling'er, sit outside and eat with us."

Ji Yongling was taken aback and looked at Ji Manchuan. Ji Manchuan nodded and said, "Sit down and eat. I'll take your bowl."

Huo Zhiyuan was also taken aback, because as far back as he could remember, when guests came to his house for meals, it was always the men who accompanied them, and the women and girls were always separated.

Ji Yongling sat down next to Ji Manchuan, and only then did the old man Ji speak: "Young Master Huo, we peasants don't have many rules. Although Yongling is a girl, she has learned some skills now, and we all treat her like an adult. Besides, you've come to ask for medical advice, and we country bumpkins don't know anything about it and can't answer your questions, so let Yongling keep you company."

Huo Zhiyuan nodded, then glanced at Ji Yongling again. He saw that she showed no shyness or excitement, but simply sat down naturally, as if it were her duty. He didn't think much of it and prepared to pick up his chopsticks to eat.

Ji Yongzhou and Ji Yongru sat on the threshold of the kitchen, holding bowls of rice porridge in their small hands. They slurped it down without chewing.

Ji Yongru stared at the locust flower fried eggs in front of Huo Zhiyuan and whispered, "Brother, why isn't he eating them yet? They smell so good, can't he smell them?"

Ji Yongzhou swallowed hard, placed the rice bowl on his knees with both hands, and said, "It's best not to eat. Grandma said that if he can't finish it, we'll have some of it."

“Brother, he’s eating, he’s eating, one bite, two bites… he’s going to finish it…” Ji Yongru was about to cry.

"Shh—don't make a sound. Mother said if we embarrass ourselves today, she'll throw us into the ditch to feed the wolves." Ji Yongzhou quickly freed one hand to cover his sister's mouth, his eyes still fixed on the locust flower fried egg near Huo Zhiyuan's mouth. Seeing him stuff the last bite into his mouth, his eyes were immediately filled with disappointment.

“Brother—” Ji Yongru felt extremely wronged.

Ji Yongzhou straightened his back and stared at Huo Zhiyuan's bowl of noodles, saying, "Look, he only took one bite of his noodles before putting it down."

Ji Yongru also craned her neck to look at the bowl in front of Huo Zhiyuan, her eyes welling up with tears.

Huo Zhiyuan turned to face the kitchen and did not notice the two children's eager gazes. He only noticed that there were only a few noodles in the Ji family's bowl, which could be picked up with a chopstick, while his bowl was overflowing with noodles. He took a bite and felt a dryness in his throat, so he stopped eating.