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

Then, not far away in Ji Laoliu's field, shouts of "It's going to rain white rain! Hurry up and harvest the wheat!" came from the field.

"It's going to rain white powder, hurry up and harvest the wheat!"

Shouts for harvesting wheat echoed across Niujiazhuang, conveying goodwill through these calls.

In each threshing ground, people of all ages and backgrounds pitched in, like a unit competition, to harvest the wheat drying in the threshing ground.

The Ji family also spared no effort in harvesting and packing the wheat.

Ji Yongling, along with the two brothers Yongning, was in charge of the first step. They first laid the sack flat, opened the mouth, and used their hands and arms to continuously scoop out wheat grains. Once the sack was filled to the brim and could stand upright, they quickly carried it to the adults.

Yang, along with Jia Ronghua and Hu Xirong, were in charge of opening the sack, while Old Master Ji and the men were responsible for shoveling wheat into it with wooden shovels. After about a hundred shovelfuls, the sack was almost full.

The men tied the opening tightly with hemp rope, then grabbed the opening of the bag and swung it up, thus loading the sack onto the cart. Once the cart was full, they quickly pulled it back to the yard and unloaded it into the kiln.

So they shoveled the wheat, bagged it, and loaded it onto carts. No one cared that the chaff flying up while loading the wheat stung their eyes and seeped into their clothes; no one cared about the itching on their skin or the scrapes on their hands. Their only thought was to finish loading the wheat and get it back to the yard before the white rain started.

After a great deal of effort, all the bags in the yard were finally transported back to the courtyard and stacked in the kiln, allowing everyone to finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Ji Yongling shaved his head full of wheat husks and said, "Finally, I feel at ease and at ease."

With his hands behind his back, Grandpa Ji looked up at the sky, seemingly talking to himself or Ji Yongling: "In this land where we farmers have to rely on the heavens for our harvest, we've never truly felt at ease or secure."

With cloudy and bewildered eyes, Yang stared at the apple tree branches swaying in the strong wind, and said wearily, "We rely on the weather and the land for our livelihood, but we don't rely on our own strength. Alas, who can explain the affairs of God?"

Ji Manchuan smiled and said, "Dad, Mom, what's wrong with you? You're talking so solemnly. We farmers have been doing this for generations."

We had just finished talking about relying on the weather, and everyone was waiting for the rain, but it seemed like fate was playing a trick on us. A little while later, the wind stopped, the rain didn't come, and the scorching sun came out again, the sky returning to its bright, hot state it had been an hour earlier.

Everyone hauled the wheat they had just brought home back to the threshing ground, and once again turned the wheat over, spread it out, dried it, and turned it over, continuing the same work.

Ji Yongling asked Grandpa Ji, "Grandpa, how much wheat will we harvest this year?"

A faint joy appeared on Old Master Ji's dark red face as he said, "This year's harvest is not bad; it looks like one mu can yield about one dan (a unit of weight)." (Reference: Volume 3 of the Hejian Chronicle)

Ji Yongling was speechless at the sheer volume of production.

Grandpa Ji continued, "That's great. If you encounter a bad year, and there's a hailstorm or frost, not only will you get no wheat, but you'll also have to pay for your labor and seeds."

Ji Yongling could only sigh that no matter how hard farmers worked, even if they risked their lives, the grain yield was still pitifully low. However, the farmers of this era were very easily satisfied. Even if the harvest was unsatisfactory, as long as they had enough food to survive, that was enough.

They didn't seek to be full or to have good food; they only sought not to starve. Perhaps it was precisely because of this that they created generation after generation of indomitable people from Northwest China, and forged their character of hardship, perseverance, and tenacity.

Today's lunch included chicken soup stewed by the Yang family, and everyone could smell its rich aroma as soon as they entered the courtyard.

Ji Yongling was practically drooling with envy; it was the chicken soup she hadn't tasted in so long! Although the chicken soup that was served at the end was quite clear because of the high water content, with hardly any oil on top, its aroma was still irresistible.

With a large family, Ji Manqing chopped the chicken pieces into very small pieces, so everyone only got a few small pieces. But everyone still enjoyed the meal. In the end, Yang generously announced that she had saved a small half-jar of chicken soup for tomorrow.

However, in the end, none of the people actually got to drink that small half-jar of chicken soup.

As the sun was setting, Tiedan came over and called Grandpa Ji over, saying that the second son of the deaf grandmother's family had suddenly gone blind, and the deaf grandmother had also fainted from crying. He asked several elders in the village to come and help take care of things.

Upon hearing this, Old Master Ji didn't say a word. He called Ji Yongling and they got up to leave. The Yang family couldn't sit still either. Despite their exhaustion from unloading the wheat, they all followed Old Master Ji out the door.

When they arrived at the deaf grandmother's house, there were many people gathered in the courtyard, and some of the older people, such as Ji Laosi and Ji Laoliu, were called over.

Niu Gensheng frowned deeply as he ushered Grandpa Ji inside and said to the elderly people, "What are we going to do now? Wenping suddenly went blind a while ago, and his wife was so worried that she came to me to borrow an oxcart. As soon as I arrived, the deaf grandmother fainted while crying."

Upon hearing this, Grandpa Ji's expression quickly turned serious. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Is Grandma deaf awake yet?"

Niu Gensheng shook his head and said, "She just woke up. I pinched her philtrum to wake her up, but she just lies on the kang (heated brick bed) with tears streaming down her face and doesn't say a word. Sigh, I don't know why this old woman's life is so miserable."

Old Ji sighed and said, "Yes, this family has an old woman and four children, all relying on Wenping and his wife. Now Wenping can't see anything. Deaf Grandma, this, this... I'm afraid she's heartbroken... sigh..."

Grandpa Ji looked at Niu Gensheng and said, "Gensheng, you are the village head. You tell us what to do, and we will listen to you."

Niu Gensheng said with great difficulty, "Well, I mean, let Yongling take a look at Wenping first. If that doesn't work, we can all chip in and send him to the county to see a doctor. What will happen to this family if Wenping falls ill?"

Ji Laoliu said worriedly, "Brother Gensheng, someone like me probably can't raise the money. You know my situation."

Niu Gensheng nodded, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't make things difficult for everyone. Those who can contribute should contribute, and those who can't should do their part. It's all up to everyone's will. We can't just stand by and watch the deaf grandmother's family collapse like this, and we can't let the four children learn from those children in Kushui Village."

When the children of Kushui Village were mentioned, everyone around looked sad.

The four children from Kushui Village died because their father suddenly died and their mother ran away. Feeling helpless and desperate, they dug a pit in the ditch, hid in it, and ate raw Pinellia ternata seeds before passing away in agony.

Old Master Ji frowned and said, "Well, let's do it your way." After saying that, he turned around and called Ji Yongling into the kiln.