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

"Ouch, blood! My crotch is bleeding!" Ji Manqing exclaimed as he looked at his hand covered in blood after rubbing his buttocks.

Ji Yongling suppressed a laugh, but seeing the old man's disappointed look, he quickly reminded him, "Fourth Uncle, there's a chicken at the bottom of your ditch."

"What?!"

At this moment, Ji Manchuan, carrying a wooden shovel, also came running down the slope with a thud, cursing as he ran: "I told you to wait for me, and you thought you were so great? You rushed down so fast all by yourself, you must have gotten stabbed! Look, you've ruined the ditch mound now!"

Ji Manqing turned his backside and looked at the chicken under his buttocks. He saw that the chicken's head and neck were a bloody mess, its feathers were covered in blood, and its body was lying limply on the ground.

He quickly got up, glared at the dead chicken on the ground, and asked, "Whose chicken is this? How did it get into my ditch?"

Seeing that Master Ji's face was dark and he looked like he was about to raise his hand to slap Ji Manqing, Ji Yongling quickly explained, "The chicken was brought by my Uncle Baoqing. It was startled and flew out of my Uncle Baoqing's hands before you pushed it under the ditch."

Ji Manqing looked embarrassed, took off his straw hat, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and explained, "I really didn't see it. I'm so sorry, your chicken died with its eyes wide open in disbelief."

Zhang Baoqing smiled awkwardly and said, "This chicken was originally a thank-you gift for my niece. Anyway, it's going to be killed and eaten, so it doesn't matter if it dies sooner or later."

Old Master Ji said with a stern face, "Manchuan, go and bring our old hen back to your brother Baoqing."

Zhang Baoqing and his wife hurriedly waved their hands.

Zhang Baoqing's wife said loudly, "No, no, this chicken was originally for my niece. I'd feel bad if you didn't accept it. But now it's perfect, Uncle Ji, you can't refuse. This chicken should be yours." With that, she grabbed her husband and tried to leave.

Zhang Baoqing realized what was happening and quickly said with a smile, "That's right, that's right, perfect timing. Um... I only have a few kids at home, we have to hurry back. Uncle Ji, niece, and Brother Manqing, you can come visit me sometime. We'll be going now." With that, he pulled his wife away.

Ji Manqing looked at Old Master Ji, then at Ji Manchuan, then at the chickens on the ground, scratching his head helplessly, unsure of what to do next.

Grandpa Ji tilted his head back and closed his eyes for a moment before turning to Ji Manqing and saying, "You're the one who crushed the chicken, so you clean it up. Once you're done, take half of it to Baoqing."

Ji Manqing immediately beamed with joy, looking at Old Master Ji with an obsequious expression, as if he had a tail and would wag it proudly.

He said, "No problem, I'll clean and sanitize this chicken for our Colima, I guarantee it will be spotless, not a single feather will be wasted, and I'll keep it all for my third brother to use as a calligraphy brush."

After saying that, he ignored the chicken blood on his pants, picked up the chicken from the ground, and prepared to boil water to pluck its feathers.

Ji Manchuan lifted the cart shaft from behind, cursing, "Your ditch is really strong. From now on, we won't need to slaughter the pigs and chickens at home. We can just have you use your ditch to kill them."

Ji Yongling and Ji Yongning, along with a few others, busied themselves helping Ji Manchuan push the cart into the yard.

This incident threw the family into a flurry of activity once again.

Just as everyone was unloading the wheat, the grandfather and grandson hired by Ji Mancang's family arrived.

The old man, a farmer, looked reserved with his dark red face. He pursed his chapped lips and said to Grandpa Ji, "Fellow villager, your eldest son and I have sorted out the wheat and put it all in the granary."

We'll stay here one more night and leave tomorrow morning. I came especially to tell you, brother, how much we appreciate the kindness of our fellow villagers and your scythe. We know how to make this scythe, and we'll go to the county town to buy a blade tomorrow.”

Grandpa Ji hurriedly stepped forward and grasped the old man's hands, saying, "Fellow villager, you and your grandson have done a great job for my eldest son's family this time. My eldest son wasn't here and didn't take good care of you. If you come out to harvest wheat again next year, remember to come to Ningping County and Niujiazhuang again. I will definitely have my eldest son's family take good care of you."

The old man hurriedly said, "Fellow villager, you've taken very good care of me. I'll remember it. If I come to harvest wheat again next year, I'll definitely come back."

The two elderly people held hands and chatted, while Yang brought over a plate of steamed buns.

This was something the family had agreed upon a couple of days ago. Grandpa Ji said that the two migrant workers had done a great service to Ji Mancang's family this time. He knew that given Ji Mancang's wife's personality, she would definitely not be willing to give the migrant workers food for the journey, so he asked Yang to prepare some steamed buns to thank them.

He originally thought that the Maike family would leave during the day tomorrow, and planned to deliver the steamed buns tomorrow morning, but he didn't expect them to set off tomorrow morning.

Grandpa Ji pulled his hand away from the old man's, took the plate, and said, "Fellow villager, I don't have much for you to carry. I've steamed several pots of steamed buns these past few days. Pack these for the child to eat on the road."

The old man, a migrant worker, hurriedly declined, saying, "Fellow villager, I can't accept this steamed bun. Your eldest son's family has been taking very good care of me these past few days, I can't take your steamed bun."

Grandpa Ji grabbed the old man's hand and said, "Fellow villager, don't refuse. You have a long way to go back, and harvesting wheat is hard work. Even if you don't think about yourself, you have to think about the children. Hurry up and pack it."

Yang and Ji Manchuan also urged him to accept it.

The old man, his eyes moist, wiped his eyes with his rough, cracked hands and said, "Then I'll accept it. Thank you so much, fellow villager! If I have enough grain at home to fill my stomach, when I come again, I will definitely bring a basket of steamed buns made from my own freshly harvested wheat."

"It's just that I'm old, and I don't know if I'll be able to come next year. If I can, I definitely will; if I can't, I'll definitely send my grandson."

Grandpa Ji patted the old man on the shoulder: "Come if you can! If you do come, I'll have my family take good care of the villagers."

"Yes!" The two old men clasped hands and made a promise.

No one expected that such a simple agreement and promise would lead to the old man, a wheat harvester, bringing his son and grandson to harvest wheat for the Ji family every year thereafter. He also brought steamed buns made from the new wheat, but instead of steamed buns, they were baked on stones. Presumably because the journey was long and steamed buns wouldn't keep, they carried the flour on their backs and baked them on stones along the way.

This promise was kept until the old man could no longer harvest wheat. His descendants and the descendants of Grandpa Ji became friends, and they continued to keep their promises.

A single sentence can represent a lifetime—what a heavy promise.