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

Yang slapped Ji Manqing's arm, her eyes filled with the joy of reminiscing, and said with a laugh, "Don't look at me, it's your own fault for being bitten! Look at your arm, it's as black as the bottom of a pot, if the grasshopper doesn't bite you, who will it bite?"

From a young age, when I washed myself, I was always perfunctory, just wetting my body with water and never bothering to scrub away the rusty grime. When I washed my face, I only cleaned the clumps on my cheeks, leaving the rest for farming, so getting bitten by grasshoppers was normal.

Ji Manqing felt even more aggrieved. He looked at Yang Shi with resentful eyes and said, "Mother, am I really your biological son?"

Madam Yang rolled her eyes gracefully and snorted, "You've been asking this question since you were a child! With your looks, you're as dark as Jingde (Yuchi Gong), exactly like your father when he was young. Where could I find someone as good as you!"

Suddenly, Ji Manqing had a brilliant idea. He said excitedly, "Mother, you're fair-skinned, and my third brother and the others all look like you, except for me. Maybe you were switched at birth, that's how it's always portrayed in operas. There's a scene in the opera about a blood test to prove kinship, a story of mother and son recognizing each other. Mother, how about we prick our fingers, squeeze out a couple of drops of blood, and test it?"

"Get out, get out! If you want to chop off all five of your fingers, fine, but don't drag me into this!" Madam Yang slapped away Ji Manqing's large, dark hand.

"Mother, what if I really was picked up by you? Maybe, like in the plays, I'm the only son of some high-ranking official who was lost among the common people. You see, if they recognize us and come to our door, do you think I should take them back? It's such a difficult decision!" Ji Manqing said, feigning some worry.

Yang laughed in exasperation, slapped Ji Manqing on the back of the head, and said, "You better get as far away as you can, go see where your official father and mother are, hurry up and cling to their thighs, or you'll miss out on the warmth of their favor."

"Sigh—I suggested calling you 'Ball Egg' or 'Silly Egg' as a nickname, to see if I could reverse it and make you sound smarter, but your dad wouldn't agree. I think you're just as silly as a fool. Do I have to tell you you were picked up from a dung heap before you'll believe me?"

Ji Yongning, who had just returned from a stroll outside the courtyard, overheard Yang Shi and Ji Manqing's conversation. He grinned and asked, "Grandma, what's my dad's nickname? Why doesn't he just call me Black Egg?"

Ji Manqing roared, "Get the hell out of here!"

Ji Yongning blinked at his father and asked, "Dad, also... you and Mom are both so dark-skinned, but I'm not that dark. Do you think I was adopted? Or, how about we do a blood test to determine kinship?"

Ji Manqing raised his hand to hit Ji Yongning, but Hu Xirong beat him to it.

Hu Xirong slapped Ji Yongning on the back of the head and roared, "Can black be the same? Your dad was born black, I got tanned from working in the sun, I can be made white! You little brat, what do you know! Besides, white chickens can lay black eggs, but black chickens can't lay white eggs?"

Ji Yongning muttered under his breath, "What's the difference? You two both look equally dark-skinned anyway."

"Ji Yongning! Get the hell out of here!" Hu Xirong roared.

Ji Yongning took off running. Hu Xirong clutched her chest, mimicking Xi Shi holding her heart, and said, "People say that raising sons is like having a debt to collect, and they're absolutely right. I think I gave birth to these two kids just to get revenge, specifically to annoy me, and they won't be satisfied until they've made me die! Alas, my heart is colder than the ice block of the Lotus River in the dead of winter."

Ji Yongling looked at the family laughing and arguing with warm eyes, and a tender and satisfied smile unconsciously appeared on her face. She didn't even realize that there was a deep sense of longing in that smile.

Under Yang's suppression, all the peppermint and mugwort ointment made by Ji Yongling was sent to Xu Shirong.

Xu Shirong opened the gourd, and a refreshing fragrance wafted out. He looked down at the ointment and saw that it was a bright green color, clean and free of impurities, and looked cool and refreshing. He asked, "Yongling, what kind of ointment is this? It smells so nice. What does it do?"

Ji Yongling replied, "This is peppermint and mugwort balm. It can repel mosquitoes and insects, and also relieve various pains and soothe nerves. It is most suitable for use in summer, especially for people who are going on long journeys. It is the perfect thing to have on hand."

Xu Shirong extended a finger, rubbed a little on the back of his hand, and immediately felt a cool and refreshing sensation. He nodded and asked, "It looks good, it's a good product. But aren't you worried that people will try to make it just because they hear the name?"

In fact, each pharmacy has its own unique, homemade ointments, but these are all secret recipes, as vital as their lifeblood. However, Ji Yongling hadn't yet changed her medical thinking habits from later generations, so she didn't think about hiding anything and very "honestly" named the medicines after their main ingredients.

Ji Yongling bowed to Xu Shirong and said, "Please bestow a name upon me, Uncle Xu."

Xu Shirong nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "How about we call it Cooling Balm?"

Upon hearing this, Ji Yongling noticed that it was somewhat similar to the cooling balm of later generations, and nodded in agreement.

Xu Shirong then asked, "What price do you plan to sell this little gourd for?"

Ji Yongling had already discussed the price with Yang and others at home, so he said directly, "Twelve coins per gourd, that's the price for you. You can decide how much to sell it for yourself."

Xu Shirong knew that peppermint and mugwort were common herbs in the ditch, and no one wanted them at the market, but the ointment was so clear, delicate and free of impurities, it must have taken a lot of effort to extract, and there must have been other things added.

He thought for a moment and said, "I doubt this will fetch a good price in my shop. You know, I mainly cater to poor people. But fortunately, there are quite a few traveling merchants who are willing to keep some ready-made ointments on hand for their journeys. So I'll leave these with me for now and try to get a better price."

"Next time you make it, you'd better use a nicer rouge box. I'll have someone send it to Manager Wang. There are many wealthy people in the prefectural city; it'll definitely sell well and fetch a good price."

Ji Yongling agreed, "Okay, thank you, Uncle Xu. I'll make two kinds of packaging. One will still be packaged in this gourd, which will be cheaper, and the other will be packaged in a rouge box, which will be more expensive."

On their way back, Ji Yongling and Ji Manchuan went to a porcelain shop and bought some simple green porcelain boxes.

Ji Yongling fiddled with the boxes. To be honest, although she thought these rouge boxes resembled artifacts from a modern museum—simple yet elegant—she still felt a little sorry for them being used to store ordinary ointments. After all, the medicine wasn't that valuable, and the boxes didn't match the boxes' appearance.

However, considering the price of a box of rouge for wealthy women in ancient times, she felt better.

These are all thought patterns developed in hospitals in later generations. They immediately feel an overwhelming sense of sympathy when they see rural patients, and they never choose expensive medicines, only the ones with the highest cost performance.

Now that we're in ancient times, she's hesitant to make money, afraid to ask for high prices or engage in deceptive practices. She always thinks of the poor farmers and wants practical and down-to-earth things.

It seems he's destined not to make a fortune; truly, "one with impure desires cannot enter the Buddhist path, and one lacking in wolfishness cannot enter the business world."