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

Meanwhile, the bearded man and his group took the deer antler vendor and his medicinal herbs to the county government office, where the young scholar and several other onlookers also went.

After interrogation and with the testimony of several passersby, Huo Zhenglian, the magistrate of Ningping County, confirmed the deer antler stall owner's crimes and sentenced him to two years in prison.

The bearded man and his entourage kowtowed to thank Magistrate Huo for upholding justice, praising him as a good official who rid the people of evil. Before leaving, they insisted on giving the young scholar a bag of loose silver.

The scholar, unable to resist the shoving, prepared to chase after the bearded man and return the silver. Just as he stepped out of the hall, a stern voice boomed from within: "Halt!"

The young scholar froze as if his body had been frozen in place. He shrugged his shoulders and slowly withdrew the foot he had stepped out.

“Father…” the scholar said softly, bowing his head like a child who had made a mistake.

Huo Zhenglian looked at his son, who was slouch like a quail, and was furious. He shouted angrily, "You wretched child, what's wrong with your brain? You keep getting tricked and deceived. I'm going to be driven crazy by you!"

"Father....."

It turned out that the young scholar was Huo Zhiyuan, the eldest son of Huo Zhenglian, the magistrate of Ningping County.

"Even a simple-minded girl can tell it's fake, yet you insist on buying it by the pound. And you want to study medicine? You'll kill yourself with your own medicine sooner or later! Go back to your books!" Huo Zhenglian flung his sleeves and stormed off in a huff.

Seeing Huo Zhenglian walk away, Huo Zhiyuan sniffed pitifully, let out a long sigh, slumped his shoulders, and trudged out of the hall with a listless gait.

He looked up at the sky, feeling somewhat sad.

He couldn't understand why, every time he tried to do better and prove that he could learn medicine well, his father would discover his foolishness.

He wanted to do something for his father, such as buying him some nourishing medicinal herbs, but he always ended up making things worse.

"Sigh—" Huo Zhiyuan sighed deeply and dragged his feet toward his own house.

He had only walked halfway when he seemed to remember something, so he turned back and walked quickly toward the market.

.......

Ji Yongling was surprised that the chives she brought sold out so quickly, and she was thinking about whether she should encourage her family to grow more chives and other fast-growing vegetables.

Seeing that the baskets and mats in front of the stall were not very popular, with only a few people occasionally coming over to ask about the prices, Ji Manchuan was not discouraged and chatted idly with Zhang Sheng in a cheerful mood.

In this era, many rural people knew how to do handicrafts, so they would never buy household items if they could make them themselves. However, compared to professional craftsmen, the things made by ordinary people were a bit rougher. Items like cages and mats could be made by ordinary people, but Grandpa Ji made them more refined and exquisite.

Several out-of-town merchants came to Zhang Sheng's herbal medicine stall to inquire about prices, but few of them were genuinely interested in buying anything.

In the Ningping County area, there are many wild herbs in the mountain valleys. They are not precious medicinal materials, and every household will dig some up. Pharmacies do not buy much, so some rural people will take them to the market to try to sell to merchants from other places. Although they can't make much money, it's better than nothing.

After basking in the sun for more than an hour, Zhang Sheng only sold a few pounds of herbs, earning just a few copper coins. Ji Manchuan also only sold a mat and two baskets, both at extremely low prices.

A basket costs thirty coins, and a mat costs eighty coins.

The price was so low that Ji Yongling was speechless. Although the materials for these items were free, they were still very labor-intensive.

It seems that in ancient times, human labor and manpower were truly the least valuable things.

As the number of people in the market dwindled, Ji Manchuan and his daughter ate vegetable dumplings with water from the gourd. Unable to wait for any more customers, they decided to pack up and go buy things for their home.

Just then, the young scholar who had been looking around earlier walked towards them.

Upon seeing Ji Manchuan, he excitedly waved and ran over, shouting, "Uncle, Uncle!"

Ji Manchuan, who was rolling up the mat, heard the shouts, looked up, and exclaimed in surprise, "Oh, isn't this the young man who went to the county office? What brings you here again?"

"Uncle, I've finally found you! It's been a long time coming," the young scholar said, panting and wiping the sweat from his brow with his sleeve.

Ji Manchuan blinked, puzzled, and asked, "May I ask what business you have with me, young master?"

The young scholar clasped his hands and said, "Uncle, I am Huo Zhiyuan. I live in the county and have always loved medicine and herbs since I was a child. Today, I was very grateful to your daughter for helping me see through the fraudster's fake deer antler. I would like to ask you for some advice."

Ji Manchuan glanced at Huo Zhiyuan's brand-new hat and clothes, then looked at his own patched trousers and jacket, and awkwardly curled his toes in his straw sandals. He smiled and said, "Young master, I'm just a hardworking farmer. I really have nothing to teach you. My maid just happened to run into this deer antler matter today. I don't know anything about it and I can't do anything."

Huo Zhiyuan continued respectfully, "Uncle, I just went to the county government office. My father, oh no, the magistrate, said that this wasn't something that could be seen through by chance. It must have been someone with solid knowledge of medicinal herbs and an exceptionally clever mind to be able to expose that swindler. Also, I forgot to tell you, Uncle, that swindler had accomplices, but the magistrate caught them."

"Who has been arrested by the magistrate?" Ji Yongling asked as he walked up behind Huo Zhiyuan.

She had just run to the fields a mile or two away from the market to take care of her personal business when she came back and saw Huo Zhiyuan talking to her father. Thinking that the man probably meant no harm, she went up to him and asked.

"Huh?" Huo Zhiyuan turned around and saw Ji Yongling, then asked in surprise, "Aren't you mentally challenged?"

Ji Yongling smiled. She had already wiped her face clean and was no longer pretending to have a crooked mouth and eyes, so Huo Zhiyuan's question was normal. She replied, "Just now, in order to expose that liar's lies and to avoid his retaliation, I had to pretend to be a fool. Now that he has been arrested, I've returned to normal."

Huo Zhiyuan gave a thumbs-up and exclaimed, "Young lady, you're brilliant! He's not a local, and he's already been sentenced by the county magistrate, so he certainly won't dare to retaliate afterward."

Ji Yongling nodded in satisfaction and said, "The magistrate's impartiality and integrity are a blessing to the people of Ningping County. So—what brings you to my father, young master?"

Huo Zhiyuan repeated what he had just said to Ji Manchuan.

Ji Yongling looked Huo Zhiyuan up and down and saw that he was indeed a child from a wealthy family. She really couldn't imagine that in this era that advocated "all other pursuits are inferior but studying is superior", there would be a child from a wealthy family who was keen on studying medicine and medicine.

Not to mention Huo Zhiyuan's moon-white long gown, which made even the strands of his hair exude an air of refined elegance, clearly indicating that he was a well-read scholar and a promising candidate for the imperial examinations.