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

When the people in the courtyard saw Jia Ronghua bring Ji Yong'an out, they all gathered around, laughing and saying they wanted to see the "baby." Babies who are just a month old don't look very good; at most, you could tell if they had double eyelids, big eyes, and a small mouth.

Shuanzhu shouted for his maternal uncle, Jia Rongkui, to come over quickly and put a red dot on the forehead of "Maoyuewazi," which is one of the essential rituals.

In addition, Grandma Jia, the maternal grandmother, also had to dress the "baby girl".

There are specific customs involved. The grandmother or other elderly women are required to sit facing inward on the threshold of the courtyard and personally put pants on the baby. The baby is also required to kick out the steamed buns hidden in the pant legs.

Of course, the most important ritual is the next one, "shaving the baby's head at one month old." "The baby's hair is given to him by his parents." This is the first time a child's head has been shaved after birth, so it is given special importance.

Jia Ronghua held Ji Yong'an and sat him down. Under the watchful eye of his maternal uncle Jia Rongkui, Ji Manchuan bent over and shaved Ji Yong'an's head.

He first smeared the perilla leaves he had chewed on Ji Yong'an's head, supposedly so that the child would not get sores on his head in the future and would grow thick hair.

Then, he took out the scorched blade and started shaving Ji Yong'an's head in circles.

Ji Yong'an was a bit of a simpleton, showing no discomfort whatsoever. His black, pearl-like eyes stared curiously at the adult above him, leaving him completely bewildered.

Of course, not all of a child's baby hair could be shaved off. Ji Manchuan left a patch of "smart hair" on Ji Yong'an's forehead to protect the fontanelle. In addition, he also shaved off Ji Yong'an's eyebrows as if cutting leeks, so that they would grow thick and beautiful eyebrows in the future.

Ji Yongling stared at the gleaming blade in Ji Manchuan's hand, clutching her chest in shock. She was terribly worried that the blade might slice Ji Yong'an's scalp at any moment. However, she underestimated Ji Manchuan's skill; the entire shaving process was remarkably smooth, leaving no mark whatsoever.

Old Lady Jia picked up each strand of the baby's hair, tidied it up, tied it with a red thread, and instructed Jia Ronghua to keep it safe and hang it on Ji Yong'an's kang (heated brick bed). It was said that this could ward off evil spirits and protect the child's healthy growth.

After his head was shaved, Ji Yong'an became a short, bald boy with no eyebrows, making it impossible to tell his gender. He looked rather ugly. No wonder many people call babies born in this month "ugly month babies"—they really aren't pretty.

When the people in the courtyard saw that Ji Yong'an had finished shaving his head, they called out to him to sit on the willow tree.

A group of people came to a willow tree by the ditch not far from the door. Ji Manchuan placed the grain container against the willow tree, and Jia Ronghua put Ji Yong'an inside. The children, like those who sing birthday songs in later generations, repeatedly sang a rhyme: "Back against the willow, sitting in the grain container, live to ninety-nine."

After completing this simple and unpretentious ritual, it's time to eat.

When everyone returned to the courtyard, the kitchen was already filled with the aroma of food. Yang stood at the kitchen door and called for Ji Yongsong and the other boys to come and serve the dishes.

Grandpa Ji invited Old Man Jia and Old Man Ji to sit at the innermost table. When the children in the courtyard saw that the old men were all seated at the table, they pulled up their stools and squeezed onto the outermost table as well.

Ji Yongsong and the others carried plates and began serving the dishes.

The meal was served in a rather unusual way: three hot dishes and three cold dishes, mostly consisting of chives, radishes, and tofu. Only one of the hot dishes had slices of fatty pork on it. The tofu and pork were specially purchased by Ji Manchuan from the county yesterday.

Next comes the soup and noodles.

Looking at the bowls of steaming hot noodles with diced meat, tofu, and scallions floating on the plate, Ji Yongling felt her mouth water. She swallowed and began to help set out the bowls and chopsticks.

The children's stomachs were already rumbling, eagerly waiting for the elders to start eating.

The woman who was busy in the kitchen was also invited out and sat at the middle table. After everyone was seated, Grandpa Ji asked Grandpa Jia and his wife to start eating first, and then he would start eating.

Normally, the women who help prepare the food at the banquet don't sit at the table because they're constantly busy adding dishes and cooking noodles. However, Grandpa Ji and Madam Yang discussed it yesterday and said that since they are all close relatives, there's no need to be formal, so they can all eat together in the courtyard and clean up afterward.

Seeing the adults start eating, the children at the table also picked up their chopsticks and stuffed mouthfuls of noodles into their mouths. Although it wasn't white flour and the broth was just boiled water used to cook the noodles, there was a generous amount of noodles, and the children ate with happy expressions.

Ji Yongling picked up a mouthful of noodles with minced meat sauce. The noodles were as thin as silk and all of uniform thickness, as if they were cut by a machine in later times. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "You really can't underestimate any laborer in the agricultural era. They can bring any skill to its fullest potential."

Old Jia ate with gusto, praising repeatedly, "Brother, life in Manchuan is really getting better! This meal is truly delicious!"

Grandpa Ji's face was flushed: "I've only made a little money recently, and I've spent it all on this meal."

Shuanzhu also said, "Second Uncle, today's food is delicious, even better than what I ate during last year's Spring Festival. My third brother is really amazing. He should find more ways to make money in the future and lead our village to prosperity!"

"That's for sure!"

Although it was a simple, unpretentious outdoor meal, everyone enjoyed it immensely, with genuine smiles on their faces.

After finishing their meal, Ji Mantun and Ji Shuicao hurried off, and the Ji family and Ji Mantun's family also dispersed, leaving only the Ji family and Ji Yongling's maternal family in the courtyard.

The last ritual is "moving the baby to their new home." This takes place when the baby is one month old, and the baby is taken to live with the maternal family for a period of time.

The number of days a family stays at another family's home varies depending on their circumstances. Some stay for six days, which is considered auspicious, while others stay for nine days, which is considered auspicious.

Jia Ronghua felt that the wheat harvest was coming soon, so she would just stay for three days as a token gesture, and Ji Manchuan agreed.

After agreeing on a time to move, Jia Ronghua and her group packed their things and prepared to leave.

While in the kitchen, Yang praised Rongkui's wife's noodle-making skills. Even after they arrived in the yard, she kept exclaiming, "Rongkui's wife, your noodle-making skills are really amazing! You should set up a noodle stall in the county."

Rongkui's wife shook her head with a smile and said, "Aunt Ji, setting up a noodle stall won't work. Rolling out the noodles takes too much time. People are waiting to eat, their stomachs are growling with hunger, and we haven't even finished rolling out the noodles yet. I'm afraid we won't be able to sell more than a few bowls of noodles a day."

Jia Rongkui also laughed and said, "That's right, rolling out dough is too slow, it's better to just go and help out at weddings and funerals."

“It must be tough running around to weddings and funerals. After a whole day of rolling out dough for the rich and powerful, your arms must be swollen, right?” Madam Yang said with some concern.

Rongkui's wife laughed heartily and said, "In the beginning, that was true. After rolling out dough all day, my arms and wrists would be so swollen that I couldn't lift them the next day. But now that I do it more often, I've gotten used to it."