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

Upon hearing Hu Xirong's wailing, Ji Manqing's voice weakened further. He said, "Wife, I'm leaving now. You take good care of the baby and raise him well. I hid three coins in the mouse hole at the corner of the wall near the cabinet. It's what I had left over from buying meat last time. You can find it by turning over the tattered straw sandal in the mouse hole. I'm leaving it all for you now."

Upon hearing this, Hu Xirong immediately stopped crying and gritted her teeth, saying, "Good heavens, you're still hiding money! Those three coins you hid were earned by your mother. Get up now!"

Madam Yang quickly stopped the two from talking: "Let's not talk about these things for now. Look at Manqing, look at the state he's in, and he still has time to chat about these trivial matters!"

Ji Yongling asked, "Fourth Uncle, besides not being able to move half of your body, is there anything else that's bothering you?"

Ji Manqing closed his eyes again and said, "Oh dear, actually I woke up before dawn. I wanted to open my eyes, but my eye sockets felt like they were glued shut, and I just couldn't open them. I wanted to speak, but I couldn't open my mouth either. Finally, your father woke up and called me, and I was finally able to make a sound, but then I found that I couldn't move my body either."

"Oh dear, I'm definitely not going to make it through this, just like Tie Dan's dad's illness. Ling'er, quickly check if your master left any miraculous medicine, see if your fourth uncle can still be saved!"

Ji Yongling had a general idea of ​​Ji Manqing's problem; it was probably sleep paralysis, likely caused by overexertion yesterday, half of his body getting cold at night, and being frightened in his dreams.

Actually, no intervention is needed; he can recover on his own quickly. However, judging from Ji Manqing's mental state, without some placebo, given his strong psychological suggestion, he probably won't recover anytime soon, or he might experience similar symptoms again after recovering.

Ji Yongling found the key to the problem, so he stood up and said, "Grandpa, Grandma, don't worry, my fourth uncle is fine. I'll go get some medicine for him, and he'll be fine after taking it."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Ji Yongling's words.

Yang held Ji Yongling's hand tightly and said, "Is your fourth uncle really alright?"

Ji Yongling glanced at Ji Manqing, who was still groaning with his eyes closed, smiled and nodded, saying, "Yes, among the medicines left by my master, there is one that specifically treats this disease."

Ji Yongling pretended to go to the cave dwelling and returned to the site with some brownish-yellow powder wrapped in leaves.

Ji Manchuan helped Ji Manqing up and let him lean against him. Ji Yongling's hand trembled, and he poured the whole packet of medicine powder into Ji Manqing's mouth, then brought him a bowl of water and forced him to drink it.

Ji Manqing closed his eyes tightly, his face scrunched up, and struggled to wash the powder down his throat before grimacing and saying, "My goodness, what kind of powder is this? Is it made from bitter gall and coptis chinensis? It's so bitter it could kill a cow." He then got up as if to vomit.

Ji Yongling smiled but didn't say anything. Actually, the bitter ginseng powder she gave Ji Manqing was from bitter ginseng that she had dug up in the ditch before, which she had dried and ground into powder.

People often say that Coptis chinensis is the most bitter, but in fact, Sophora flavescens is even more bitter than Coptis chinensis.

She knew this because Sophora flavescens injection is frequently used in clinical oncology, and there used to be people in her village who specialized in growing Sophora flavescens.

"Father, how are you?" Ji Yongning called out.

Ji Manqing was also taken aback, but immediately put on a surprised smile and said, "Oh my, I'm all better! I can move around! I'm really all better!"

As he spoke, he got up and took a few steps. Seeing that he had recovered completely and was not injured at all, he grabbed Ji Yongling's shoulder and shook him, saying, "Our little miracle doctor's medicine is really good. If I had arrived a moment later, your fourth uncle might have passed away."

Ji Yongling smiled helplessly, "Indeed, luckily I arrived early, if I had been a step later..."

Ji Manqing asked nervously, "What? If we're a step too late, I really won't be able to save him?"

Ji Yongling shook her head and said calmly, "You're lucky you're a step too late—"

Sleep paralysis is a condition that can recover on its own. If Ji Yongling had arrived a little later, Ji Manqing might have gotten up on his own, but Ji Manqing doesn't seem to agree.

"Hey—" Ji Manqing said disapprovingly, drawing out the words, "Without your medicine, it's no use whether you come early or late, your fourth uncle will never get better!"

Ji Yongling smiled speechlessly: "Fourth Uncle, you really trust your niece. Aren't you afraid that your niece's skills are not good enough and she will not cure you, but instead make your condition worse?"

Ji Manqing raised his chin, stretched his arms, and said, "If I don't trust anyone else, how could I not trust my own niece? Even if you kill your fourth uncle, it's just that his lifespan has come to an end, it has nothing to do with you."

However, your fourth uncle needs to make a deal with you. Next time you prepare medicine, could you please put less Coptis chinensis in it? It's so bitter it's unbearable.

Ji Yongling smiled but didn't say anything. Sophora flavescens contains alkaloids such as matrine, oxymatrine, and isoflavone, so it tastes very bitter.

However, she was truly moved by Ji Manqing's unconditional trust. Even among family members, there is no shortage of deceit and treachery.

Hu Xirong pulled Ji Yongling aside and said, "Ling'er, ignore your fourth uncle! When you're preparing his medicine, just add lots of Coptis chinensis to make it bitter, so he won't be so irritable every day!"

When Yang saw that Ji Manqing was better, she put her hands together and said "Amitabha" once, and said, "Okay, it's good that you're better. Don't scare people like that next time. This old woman is easily frightened and can't stand being scared!"

"That's right, Ling'er, you must hide these medicine powders well, absolutely no one can steal them! Look how miraculous this medicine is, one bowl is enough to make someone come back to life."

Ji Yongling quickly explained, "Grandma, no, this medicine isn't that exaggerated. My fourth uncle was perfectly fine. The medicine was just ordinary herbal powder."

"You child, you really treat this treasure like a worthless jewel!" Madam Yang glared at Ji Yongling, then swept her stern gaze over the others, saying, "And all of you, no matter how big or small, do not go to Ling'er's kiln lightly. That is our family's secret chamber, and you must not casually reveal that our family has miraculous medicines."

"Got it—" everyone agreed and dispersed, preparing to go to the fields to continue their day's wheat harvest.

Ji Yongling was both amused and exasperated.

A sad story has come to an end.

When the family arrived at the vast wheat field, many families were already working.

Although the exhaustion of the first day had filled Ji Yongling with inexplicable anger, she also knew that this was how things were in an era of low productivity. Even in the advanced era of mechanized harvesting in later years, there were places that machines couldn't reach, and there were farmers who were unwilling to spend money on mechanized harvesting.

Is farming hard work? Yes! Is it tiring? Yes!

If farming is so hard and tiring, why bother farming at all?

It's that simple: to make a living.

This is true now, and it will be true for farmers hundreds of years from now.

Ji Yongling gritted her teeth, gripped the sickle tightly, and squatted on the ground. Ignoring the itching, scratching, and heat surrounding her, she continued to repeat the actions of grabbing, cutting, and binding even more diligently than yesterday.

She scooped the wheat into her arms with her left hand, then used her sickle in her right hand to cut the wheat down to the roots, and bundled it into sheaves. She repeated these actions endlessly from dawn till dusk.

Just like yesterday, by the end of the day, Ji Yongling was not only drenched in sweat, but also had a sore back, aching legs, and cramps. His left hand, which was scooping wheat, was red and swollen from being pricked by wheat awns, and the blisters on his right hand, which was holding a sickle, had also broken, and were red and painful, as if his skin had been torn off.