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

Ji Manqing didn't believe it, saying, "Anyway, you just didn't put it in the right place this time, you put in too little! That means you've lost more than half an acre of beans. What are you going to plant now? Chop off your fingers?"

Hu Xirong rolled her eyes and said, "Impossible, absolutely impossible, I would never skimp on my clothes!"

Ji Manqing shook the bag in his hand and said, "What's impossible? The bag is empty, how can it be impossible! Hurry up and go back and fill it with some more. I'll dig the hole you left over!"

Hu Xirong said angrily, "Why should you dig my pit? Why should I go back and fill it with beans? There are plenty of beans, there's no way I'll leave any short!"

Ji Manqing glared at her and said, "You old hag, the bag is all empty, and you're still pecking at the ground like a crow, so stubborn."

Hu Xirong gritted her teeth and roared, "Say it again if you dare!"

Ji Manqing crossed his arms and said, "You think I have to say anything just because you tell me to? I won't! I'll tell you, you just put too few beans in the container! If you keep arguing, go back and put in the beans, or I'll dig a hole for you. Putting in beans is no easier than digging a hole!"

Hu Xirong snatched the cloth bag from Ji Manqing's hand, threw it at him, and yelled, "Go ahead and fill it up if you want! Don't slander an innocent person! I've filled it with plenty of beans!"

Seeing that Hu Xirong and Ji Manqing seemed about to have a family fight, Ji Yongning quickly stepped forward and said, "Dad, is it possible that my mother really did take more than she should, and that I... I added too many beans?"

"What?" Hu Xirong and Ji Manqing exclaimed in unison.

Like a quail that had made a mistake, Ji Yongning lowered his head and said softly, "I think I accidentally spilled too many beans."

Ji Manqing asked in confusion, "How many beans did you make in one nest?"

"Big... about... five or six?"

"How much?" Ji Manqing asked, raising his voice.

"Maybe... ten or so?"

"How many are there exactly? Tell me honestly, don't make me dig up the nests to count them!" Ji Manqing roared.

Ji Yongning backed away, looking aggrieved, and said, "Dad, you didn't tell me to plant several in one nest. I was thinking that planting more beans would help them sprout, just in case some beans don't grow, so..."

"I'll ask you one more time, how many were destroyed in one den?"

"A handful!" Ji Manqing answered loudly, then turned and ran, shouting as he ran, "Dad, you said I could go back after I finished counting the beans, so I'm going back now!"

Ji Manqing stomped his foot in anger, turned around and chased after Ji Yongning, shouting as he ran, "You plague emperor, you stop right there, or I'll make you lose your temper!"

Ji Yongning and Ji Manqing chased each other across the field, their feet sinking deep into the mud.

Hu Xirong shouted happily, "I think we should hang a millstone behind the ditch for you and your son. While you're running around in the field, you can also smooth out the soil for us!"

Ji Yongning was eventually caught up by Ji Manqing and received a few solid slaps on the buttocks.

Ji Manchuan and Grandpa Ji were arranging beans in a basket cart in another field when they heard Ji Yongning's wailing and rushed over to see what was wrong.

Ji Manchuan stopped Ji Manqing's hand from swinging down again, saying, "What's wrong with this? If a child makes a mistake, just teach him properly. Why hit him so hard?"

Ji Manqing, furious, put his hands on his hips and cursed, "This scoundrel gave us some beans, but he scattered a handful in one pot! Even a rich man wouldn't dare to be so reckless!"

Ji Manchuan was both angry and amused. He said, "Alright, this is the first time the child has learned something. He remembered it after just one lesson. It's good that the child is telling you now, otherwise you would have to wait until the seedlings have grown to know, and then it would have been too late."

Seeing that his third uncle had rescued him, Ji Yongning, tears streaming down his face, sobbed twice, clutching his swollen buttocks, and quietly moved towards the edge of the field. Soon, taking advantage of the gap in his father's and third uncle's conversation, he limped off to find Erdan to get his slingshot.

Children always remember the good times but not the bad ones.

However, this caused trouble for Ji Manqing and Hu Xirong. They couldn't let the beans go to waste, so they had to go back and dig out the bean holes that Ji Yongning had prepared, and then put the extra beans into other holes.

After harvesting the beans from the two plots of land belonging to the Yang family, they felt even more tired than when they used to load the beans onto a basket cart.

She kept rubbing her neck all the way home, and as soon as she got there, she groaned, "Ouch, my neck, it's so sore! People use their arms to chop beans, but not only my arms, my neck is also suffering. Oh dear, this field has made me even worse than a stiff neck, I can't live like this, it's ruined my neck!"

When Ji Manqing saw his mother return, clutching her neck, he quickly asked, "What's wrong, Mom? Didn't you say you had a stiff neck before you left?"

Yang waved her hand and said, "Don't mention it again. You keep turning your head over the place. You turned your head too much and twisted your neck."

Ji Manqing grinned and said, "Mom, I know how to treat this. I'll fix it for you and make sure it's safe." He then ran back to the kitchen and took out a short rolling pin.

Yang said with a long face, "What are you planning to do, murder your mother?"

"Mom, I heard that if you have a stiff neck, you can roll it with a rolling pin a few times and it will be fine."

Yang asked with a mixture of belief and doubt: "I've lived for decades, how come I've never heard of this? Who told you about it?"

Ji Manchuan, who was standing to the side, questioned, "You're not trying to hit our mother on purpose, are you?"

"Do you think I'm the kind of person who would dare to mess with the powerful?" Ji Manqing said with dissatisfaction.

"You are--"

Seeing that Ji Manchuan had killed the conversation, Ji Yongling quickly stepped in to please Yang Shi, saying, "Grandma, let me give you a massage." As he spoke, he began to massage Yang Shi's shoulders and neck.

After being pinched a couple of times, Yang exclaimed, "Oh, that's quite a skill! These two pinches feel so good!"

Ji Yongling smiled without saying a word; these were professional rehabilitation techniques she had learned during her rotations in the rehabilitation department.

After watching for a while, Ji Manqing said that he had learned Ji Yongling's kneading technique and reached out to help Yang with her kneading, but Yang dodged him.

Yang scolded, "You're so strong, don't try to twist my thin neck like a chicken's neck and break it!"

Ji Manchuan laughed and said, "Good job, Guangguang! You can learn a skill in just a few glances. I'm afraid even an old sow could become a doctor."

Ji Manqing looked at Ji Manchuan with a smile in his eyes: "Third brother, even Liu Bei had to set up a stall to practice before he could achieve great things. You are my own brother, shouldn't you let me practice?" As he spoke, he put his hands on Ji Manchuan's neck.

Ji Manchuan couldn't dodge in time, and his shoulder and neck were already gripped by Ji Manqing's big, rough hands. He could only sigh.

He straightened his back and said with righteous indignation, "Fine, since I'm the elder brother, if I don't go to hell, who will? Come on, let's see if your hands are harder or my neck is harder!"

Soon, a series of pig squeals echoed through the yard.

"Ah—ah—stop it! Don't pinch me anymore, don't pinch me anymore—"

"Just two more squeezes, just two more—"

"Ah—ah—you've killed your brother!"

Yang laughed at the sight and said to Ji Yongling, "Look at your father and his wife, anyone who doesn't know better would think we're butchering a pig. Tsk tsk, luckily I'm a smart old woman and didn't fall for it."