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

Jia Ronghua also said with worry, "That's right. I guess Rongqin didn't dare to tell her family when she came back because she was afraid that Ronghong's wife would make a scene. Fortunately, Rongqin has been much better in the past month or so, but she still cries for no reason from time to time. A few days ago, Rongqin's in-laws sent Nankan back, and Rongqin has been much better since then."

Ji Manchuan nodded: "It's good to send Nankan back. Rongqin will have one less thing to worry about, and the little girl will suffer less with her mother."

Jia Ronghua sighed, "However, it's not a good idea for the mother and daughter to stay at the mother's house all the time. Fifth Aunt said that once Rongqin is feeling better, she should find a husband, otherwise Ronghong won't be able to find another wife in the future."

Ji Manchuan disagreed, saying, "If we find another husband, aren't we afraid that Rongqin will relapse?"

“So we need to find someone we know well and can rely on…” Jia Ronghua said, then suddenly remembered Liu Lü and asked, “Her father, what do you think about marrying Rongqin to Liu Lü? Apart from being a bit arrogant and liking to talk in classical Chinese, Liu Lü is good in every other way.”

“I’m afraid that won’t work. Liu Lu said before that he doesn’t plan to find another wife…” Ji Manchuan was about to continue speaking when Old Master Ji’s voice came from the courtyard.

"Manchuan, go to the market and buy us a few more blades."

“Here you go, Father, isn’t the blade sharp enough?” Ji Manchuan asked as he stepped out of the cave dwelling.

Grandpa Ji tested the blade of a freshly sharpened sickle with his rough fingers and said, "After harvesting the rapeseed, these two blades are dull and unusable. No matter how I sharpen them, I can't get them right. I'd better go to the county and buy two more. The wheat will be ready for harvest soon, and we can't afford to delay anything."

Without hesitation, Ji Manchuan walked towards the mule shed and said, "Okay, I'll hitch up the cart and go buy some."

“Tell your mother to give you the money—” Old Master Ji shouted from behind.

"Dad, I'm going too—" Ji Yongling jumped out of his cave dwelling and hurriedly ran towards Ji Manchuan.

Actually, she was just figuring out how to extract iodine from kelp. She had almost forgotten all of her high school chemistry, and any mistake in any step could lead to failure, so she had to be extra careful.

However, upon hearing her father say that he was going to the county to buy knife blades, she immediately dropped the seaweed she was holding and ran out. She really wanted to go to the blacksmith's shop to see the current ironwork craftsmanship and prices, since iron would be used in many things in the future.

When the two arrived at the market, the market outside Ningping County had almost turned into an "agricultural supplies expo." The market was full of threshing tools such as pitchforks, rakes, brooms, and cow muzzles. Of course, there were also winnowing baskets, sieves, hemp ropes, and straw hats. There were hardly any of the food, needles and thread, and cloth stalls that used to be there.

It makes sense, as harvesting wheat is the most important event of the year for farmers, and even those who set up stalls have to go back to prepare for the harvest. Even the most frugal families will come to the market at this time to replace what they need and buy what they need.

Inside the blacksmith's shop, the blacksmith and his son, shirtless and sweating profusely, were hammering a piece of iron. Sparks flew everywhere with the rhythmic clanging of the hammers.

Ji Manchuan and Ji Yongling stood aside, looking at the finished ironware next to them, mainly hoe heads, shovel heads, and fork heads. The workmanship was still very solid, but it didn't have the steel shine of later generations.

The blacksmith noticed the two men, put down his hammer, grabbed a cloth from the side to wipe the sweat from his brow, and asked, "Fellow villagers, what would you like to buy? Feel free to look around, you can trust the quality of our products."

Ji Manchuan nodded and replied, "I want to buy two sickle blades; the two we have at home can't be sharpened anymore."

“Even if we don’t have anything else, we have plenty of blades for harvesting wheat.” The blacksmith turned around and took two sharp sickle blades from a shelf to the side, handing them to Ji Manchuan.

Ji Manchuan took the blade, examined it carefully, and found the iron to be of good quality, not the flimsy kind. He then inserted it into the clamping slot of the sickle handle he had brought from home, shook it a few times, and saw that the size was just right and it clamped tightly. He nodded in satisfaction and asked, "Shopkeeper, what's the price of this one?"

Watching from the side, Ji Yongling suddenly recalled a traditional hay-cutting tool he had seen in the pastoral areas of Xinjiang in his later years—the scythe, also known as the scythe in some places. Although many places in later years have adopted mechanized hay cutting, many herders still retain this traditional hay-cutting tool.

The tour guide from Gansu who was leading the group said that this tool was often used to harvest wheat in the mountainous areas of his hometown. Because the mountains are all in gullies, the plots are small, and the roads are narrow, machinery simply cannot enter. Some elderly people are reluctant to let the land lie fallow, so they still use this ancient tool to harvest.

Back then, the tour guide even let them try cutting grass. She clearly remembers that the sickle alone was over a meter long, with a long wooden handle on the right, connected to a large bamboo basket for holding wheat; and a wooden handle on the left, connected to the bamboo basket with a thin rope at the long blade.

Because it can be operated with both hands and the handle is long, it is easier to harvest wheat without bending over.

The tour guide once said that this kind of farm tool can harvest wheat very quickly, and one person can do the work of three or four people harvesting with sickles. It is 2 to 3 times more efficient than ordinary sickles.

Ji Yongling thought that Ji Manchuan was a carpenter, and as long as he could forge a long blade, he could make this kind of scythe. Although the iron products of today are not as good as the steel of later generations, they are definitely much faster than cutting with a sickle.

Ji Yongling tentatively asked the blacksmith, "Master, can you forge a five-foot-long blade here?"

The blacksmith was somewhat surprised. He looked Ji Yongling up and down and replied, "He can fight, but he's not easy to fight with. Also, what do you need such a long blade for, kid? To kill bandits? You can use a knife, but we can't just use knives randomly."

Upon hearing that he could fight, Ji Yongling exclaimed happily, "Master, it's good that you can fight, but I wonder how long it will take for you to become proficient?"

The blacksmith thought for a moment and said, "This is hard work. Such a long blade will require at least 30 quenchings, grinding, and sharpening. It will take at least three days."

Upon hearing this, Ji Yongling hurriedly said, "Can you hurry up? I need at least two."

The blacksmith looked at Ji Manchuan, who was standing next to Ji Yongling, and asked with his eyes, "Don't you care about your child?"

Ji Manchuan looked at Ji Yongling and asked in confusion, "Ling'er, blades aren't cheap, why do you need such a long blade?"

Ji Yongling smiled and said, "Dad, I want to try making a new farm tool with this long blade. It will be useful when harvesting wheat, and it will be faster."

Ji Manchuan listened with some skepticism and asked, "Did Granny Liu teach you this again? Wheat isn't grown in the south, so it probably won't work."

Ji Yongling patted his chest and said, "Dad, we're growing rapeseed in the south. Don't worry, it can be used not only to harvest wheat, but also to harvest leeks and grass. As long as we do it right, it'll definitely work well."

Ji Manchuan scoffed, "Good lad, how tall can the chives grow in our dry land? It's just a small patch of chives, with a few long hairs, is it really worth making such a long blade?"

Ji Yongling blinked and said, "Dad, we'll be growing medicinal herbs in the future, and we'll need them."

Ji Manchuan was still somewhat hesitant: "Is it difficult? Can we do it?"