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

Seeing that everyone was about to leave, Old Lady Ji slammed her hands on the ground and howled, "I don't agree! Make Niu Lao Er return my two rows of wheat before this matter is over! Niu Lao Er's wife is fine now, but my old woman's leg was kicked so hard that she can't stand up!"

Those who were about to leave stopped and looked at Niu Gensheng.

Niu Gen laughed angrily: "I call you Auntie, and you're the oldest in the village in terms of seniority. You should at least set a good example for the kids and stop causing trouble like this."

Old Mrs. Ji gritted her teeth and said, "What trouble have I caused? My leg must have been broken by that guy surnamed Niu. If he won't give me wheat, he should at least pay for the doctor's visit!"

Niu Lao Er was furious and shouted, "My goodness! Are you trying to extort me again today? With my wife in this state, did I ever ask you to pay me compensation? Did you say that because her leg is bad, I have to take care of you for the rest of my life?"

Old Mrs. Ji glared and said, "That's right, my legs are bad, you have to take good care of them until they're healed!"

Old Master Ji looked at Ji Lao Si: "Lao Si!"

Ji Laosi spread his hands and said, "I have no solution either."

Ji Yongling sneered, "There's no shortage of people who make a fortune by extorting others, no matter the era!"

She quietly bypassed the crowd, walked behind Old Lady Ji, and while everyone was distracted, she swiftly shot a steel needle toward Old Lady Ji's buttocks with a "whoosh," then pulled it back with an invisible thread, so fast that no one saw what flashed before their eyes.

"Ouch!" Old Mrs. Ji screamed, nimbly bracing herself with one hand to stand up. She twisted her neck to look behind her and cried out, "What bit my crotch? Ouch, it hurts so much!"

"Grandma Ji, how come your leg is better so quickly? Don't you need to see a doctor?"

Old Mrs. Ji cried out, rubbing her bottom with one hand and pulling down her pants with the other, trying to see what it was. Hearing someone say that, she cursed, "What? Do you want me to be crippled so you can take care of me and see me off when I die?"

The Niu family members across the street dispersed with laughter. Ji Lao Si's nine sons looked at their father, and Ji Lao Si waved his hand, telling them to help Ji Lao Tai back home.

The fierce battle for wheat on the edge of the field has come to an end.

……

The harvesting, threshing, and winnowing of wheat were finally over, and all the able-bodied men in the family were exhausted. Next, there was the task of drying the wheat.

There's no need to get up early to dry wheat; the best time is usually around 10 a.m. At this time, the wheat drying ground has already been heated by the sun, and the coolness and moisture on the ground have dissipated. Walking barefoot on it will feel scorching.

The entire Ji family mobilized to spread the wheat evenly across the threshing floor.

Grandpa Ji looked at the sky and said, "The sky is covered in mackerel patterns, so we don't need to turn the wheat while it's drying. The sky has been clear and blue lately, so we need to hurry up and dry the wheat properly."

When it comes to grain, no farmer dares to cheat or shirk responsibility. As the saying goes, "wet wheat in the granary will rot completely." Freshly threshed wheat cannot be piled up; it must be spread out and dried in the sun in time, otherwise it will become hot and moldy.

There are also specific techniques for drying wheat. "Wet wheat should be turned eight times a day, and it can be stored in the granary after three days in the scorching sun." The wheat in the field should be spread out thinly and turned frequently. Therefore, the people drying wheat under the scorching sun are never idle. They have to keep turning the wheat with a pusher and rake.

The wheat in the threshing ground is usually dried in the scorching sun for three consecutive days. When it makes a "crunchy" sound when you bite into it, it's ready to be stored in the granary, and the family's food supply for the year is secured.

At that time, there were no plastic sheets, and people were afraid that the wheat would get wet in the rain at night. So after drying for a day, the wheat had to be bagged and transported home, and then transported back to the threshing ground to continue drying the next day. Although it was tiring and troublesome, people would rather work themselves to death than waste food than have the wheat sprout and mold.

That day, there was only one cartload of wheat left in the old Ji family's threshing ground. Ji Manchuan and Ji Manqing told everyone to go and rest, leaving the two of them to load the cart in the threshing ground.

Just as Grandpa Ji and his companions came down from the field to the courtyard gate, before they could even enter, Zhang Baoqing and his wife rushed over, covered in sweat. They had come specifically to thank Ji Yongling.

Holding a pair of old hens by the wings, Zhang Baoqing said gratefully, "Uncle Ji, we really owe it to my niece that day, otherwise my husband and I would not know if we were still alive!"

Grandpa Ji took off his straw hat, fanned himself with his hand, and said, "Oh, it's all just a small matter. You two are just lucky. The child didn't do anything either, so don't worry about it."

Zhang Baoqing chuckled sheepishly: "Second Uncle Ji, you have no idea, that day my wife and I were practically at the gates of hell when my eldest niece forcibly dragged us back."

I was supposed to come the next day, but I was busy harvesting wheat and couldn't get away, so I made a special trip today. You absolutely have to accept this old hen.

Grandpa Ji waved his hand and said, "Take it back quickly. I have chickens at home. It's really no big deal. There's no need for such a heavy gift."

Zhang Baoqing handed the old hen with its claws tied and flapping its wings to Grandpa Ji, saying, "That won't do. My elder brother said that giving away a chicken is too little; it can't compare to the life-saving grace of my niece that day."

Zhang Baoqing's wife also said, "That's right. If it weren't for my niece coming to our rescue in the middle of the night, I'm afraid my family would have had to hold a funeral."

Grandpa Ji pushed the chicken back to Zhang Baoqing, saying, "It's not that serious. Even if my Yongling can't get there, you can go to the county to see a doctor. Take this chicken back quickly and leave it for your children to lay eggs."

Zhang Baoqing insisted on shoving the chicken at him, but Old Master Ji refused to accept it, and the two pushed and shoved it back and forth.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way—I can't stop!" Ji Manqing shouted at the top of his lungs.

The people at the gate all looked toward the slope leading down from the field.

Ji Manqing held the cart shaft high, pulling a cart full of sacks of wheat down the slope in the field. As he ran, he used his heels as brakes, and his straw sandals were almost burning.

"Make way! Make way!"

"Cluck cluck cluck!" Zhang Baoqing's grip on the chicken loosened, and startled, it flapped its wings and flew away.

Zhang Baoqing, disregarding the chicken, quickly dodged to the side, and the others also made way for him.

Ji Manqing charged down the slope as swiftly as if driving a chariot, leaving two heavy tire tracks on the ground behind the cart.

Just as Ji Manqing rushed to the courtyard gate, the cart shaft collided with the ground with a loud bang, and the cart finally came to a stop.

Ji Manqing plopped down on the ground, and the wheat rolled around in the sack due to inertia, with a lot of wheat leaking out from the gaps in the sack.

Seeing that he had landed safely, Ji Manqing breathed a sigh of relief, patted his chest, and exclaimed with lingering fear, "Oh my god! I almost overturned and was buried alive by the wheat. Oh dear, my ditch is about to split in two."

He looked up and saw everyone staring at him with complicated expressions. He grinned and said, "Oh, Brother Baoqing is here. Why don't you come in and sit down?" As he spoke, he felt something wet under his buttocks and reached out to touch it.