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

However, Ji Yongling stopped Yang: "Grandma, you let me keep all the money I made from selling the ointment a couple of days ago. Use that money to buy meat and tofu today."

Madam Yang shook her head and said, "You made all that ointment. Keep the money for yourself. You're all grown up now. In a couple of years, you'll be ready to get married. Go to the temple fair in a while and buy yourself some things."

Ji Manchuan said, "Mother, let the child pay. Besides, we've earned some money this year. Manqing and I will each contribute some. This time, let's buy a few more pounds of fatty meat, render some oil, and make some meat sauce to keep for later."

"Yes, buy more meat!" Ji Manqing's eyes lit up as he echoed.

Seeing that both her sons said so, Yang was extremely pleased. She waved her hand, took the money she had prepared for Ji Manqing, and said happily, "Alright, this old woman will enjoy the blessings of her sons and granddaughters. Let's buy more meat, steam some more buns, and eat them with minced meat sauce!"

Upon hearing this, Ji Manqing rubbed his hands together and began to swallow hard...

Just after Ji Manqing left, Zhang Sheng from Zhangjiapan, who had previously had a conflict with Niu Lao Er's family over piglets, hurriedly came to their door. He had asked Niu Lao Er to come over and wanted to ask Grandpa Ji and Ji Yongling to come to his house for help in an emergency.

It turns out that his cousin Zhang Baoqing's family had kept one of their pigs before the Lunar New Year. They had been taking good care of it for the past few months, and now that the pig had reached 140 jin (70 catties) and was ready for market, they planned to slaughter it before the wheat harvest. This would both provide some income for the family and allow them to sell it for a good price during the busy farming season.

The Zhang family had originally planned to slaughter the pig the next day, but this morning, when the couple returned from the fields, they found that something was wrong with their pigs. It seemed to have a sudden illness and was about to die, so they rushed to Zhang Sheng's house crying and begging for Zhang Sheng's help to make a decision.

Zhang Sheng rushed over to check the situation. When he arrived at Zhang Baoqing's house, he saw the pig lying on its back in the pigpen with a large puddle of excrement under its rear end and bubbles coming out of its mouth. Zhang Sheng was terrified.

Zhang Baoqing's wife sat on the ground, pounding the ground and crying out, "Gods! You're taking our family's lives! If this pig dies, I won't live either!"

Looking at the pigs lying in the pigpen, Zhang Sheng was anxious but helpless. Suddenly, he remembered the grandfather and grandson from Niujiazhuang who had helped his piglet vomit last time, so he rushed over to find Niu Lao Er and asked him to ask Grandpa Ji for help.

Upon hearing this, Old Master Ji, without saying a word, took Ji Yongling and rushed to Zhangjiapan.

After all, a pig is an important source of income for farmers. They raise it by feeding it grass and hay, and it's not easy to slaughter it. If it suddenly gets sick and dies halfway through, it's almost like taking the life of a family member.

In those days, families mainly raised pigs for fertilizer, and most farmers would raise them until the New Year before slaughtering them. Some families with better conditions, like Zhang Sheng's cousin, might raise two pigs, slaughtering one for the New Year and the other for the wheat harvest. But even with better conditions, they couldn't afford to lose a pig.

When Grandpa Ji and his entourage arrived at Zhangjiapan, breathless, a large crowd of men, women, and children had already gathered in Zhang Baoqing's courtyard to watch the spectacle.

A short, stocky man stood out in front of the pigsty. He was not only dark-skinned and had a fierce look, but he was also carrying a gleaming knife and staring intently at the pigs inside.

He said to Zhang Baoqing and his wife, "Your pig is definitely infected with swine fever, there's no saving it. Before it dies completely, hurry up and bleed it, so you can still eat a couple of hot bites of meat. If you wait until it dies completely, it's all over. Hurry up and bleed it, I've already prepared the knife for you."

Zhang Baoqing anxiously rubbed his hands together, pacing back and forth in front of the pigsty. His wife was still sitting on the ground, crying, cursing, and hurling insults at heaven and earth.

"Make way, make way—" Zhang Sheng pushed through the crowd, letting Grandpa Ji, Ji Yongling, and Niu Lao Er into the pigsty.

Upon seeing Zhang Sheng return with his men, Zhang Baoqing hurriedly stepped forward and grasped Old Master Ji's hands tightly, saying, "Grandpa, I heard you're a highly skilled veterinarian. Please save my family's lives!"

Grandpa Ji grasped Zhang Baoqing's hand in return, patted the back of his hand, and said, "Don't rush, speak slowly. If it can be saved, this old man will definitely do his best."

Zhang Baoqing's anxious heart calmed down a little, and he said, "This pig was fine before I left home this morning. Since we were going to slaughter it, my wife even gave it a special meal this morning. But... but... when we came back from the fields, the pig was like this. I really don't know what kind of sudden illness it has."

Grandpa Ji nodded and listened, his eyes looking at the pigpen. He noticed that the pig looked somewhat like the piglet from Niu Lao Er's previous pig. He then said to Ji Yongling, "Ling'er, do you think this pig looks like the piglet from your Uncle Zhang Sheng's previous pig?"

Ji Yongling had just started observing the pig. She saw that the pig was covered in runny excrement and was barely breathing. It was in much worse condition than the piglet from Zhang Sheng's house. She frowned and said, "Grandpa, this pig is much worse than the piglet from my Uncle Zhang Sheng's house."

Grandpa Ji frowned and said, "No matter what the illness is, the onset is so sudden, it's probably because it ate something bad. Inducing vomiting should help. Ling'er, your Uncle Niu and I will help you, you try to induce vomiting in this pig. Let's try it and see if it works."

Ji Yongling nodded; this was the only option for now.

She knew how important a pig was to a farmer; to raise it with such care and effort, only for it to die in vain, was like having a piece of flesh torn from one's own body.

As Yang had mentioned before, in another village, a family's piglet died of illness. They had already buried it, but the woman of the family couldn't bear to part with it, so she dug it up and cooked it for her family. As a result, two elderly people and the youngest child in the family died after eating it.

Ji Yongling shook her head. She couldn't let the tragedy repeat itself. Without saying a word, she jumped into the pigsty.

Having experience in inducing vomiting in piglets before, Niu Lao Er quickly found a tree branch and handed it to Ji Yongling. He then followed Grandpa Ji into the pigpen.

Ignoring the filth and stench, Ji Yongling took the branch handed to him by Niu Lao Er and squatted down to stimulate the pig's throat. Seeing this, Grandpa Ji and Niu Lao Er quickly helped hold the pig down.

Ji Yongling repeatedly stimulated the pig's throat mucosa with a tree branch. The pig was sensitive and vomited several times. The pigpen, which originally only smelled of feces, was suddenly filled with a sour and rotten smell. The disgusting people standing next to the pigpen all backed away.

Ji Yongling suppressed the urge to vomit and asked Zhang Baoqing to bring warm water, which he fed to the pig several times. However, the pig's condition did not improve and it still looked listless and on the verge of death.

Seeing this, Zhang Baoqing was extremely anxious and was about to climb into the pigsty to help, but Zhang Sheng stopped him: "The pigsty is only so big. If too many people go in, the grandfather and grandson won't be able to move around properly. You have to trust the abilities of the Ji family grandfather and grandson!"

Zhang Baoqing could only clench his fists and stare anxiously at Old Master Ji and Ji Yongling.

The short, stocky man brandished the knife in his hand and said, "Brother Baoqing, just listen to me. This pig is definitely no good. Kill it while it still has a breath left. If it really dies, you won't dare to eat or sell the meat."