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

Ji Manchuan arranged the grain on the mule cart according to Grandpa Ji's instructions, and was now hesitating about where to put the books and seeds on the cart.

Ji Yongling volunteered, saying he was willing to vacate the large wooden cabinet in his cave dwelling to store these things.

Old Master Ji, knowing that the mule cart was obtained through the risk of Ji Yongling and her father, agreed without saying anything.

During the meal, in front of the family, Ji Manchuan handed Yang the twenty taels of silver left over from selling astragalus at the market the day before, and asked Ji Yongling to tell him what he had bought and how much each item cost. In addition, he carefully took out a handkerchief containing some biscuits and beef jerky, saying that he had bought them from out-of-town merchants for the family to try.

In fact, Ji Yongling never thought of taking these things out for her family to eat. She always felt that the food in the reserve should be kept for emergencies, and of course, it could be taken out occasionally to stave off hunger.

After all, in this era, any natural disaster could cause widespread famine, and without some food reserves, one would feel truly uncertain.

However, on the way, after Ji Manchuan finished eating a biscuit and some beef jerky, he thought they were so delicious that they were the most delicious food in the world. He hesitated and said that he wanted to keep some to take home for his family to try.

She agreed; they're family, after all. And now it seems the Ji family is quite nice; sharing some food from the storage silo shouldn't make them selfish or lazy.

When the adults heard that the biscuits and beef jerky were bought from merchants from out of town, they assumed they must be very expensive and declined, saying, "Keep them for the children, we adults don't need them."

Finally, after much persuasion from Ji Yongling and Ji Manchuan, each person only tried one piece and then stopped eating.

The younger ones, however, took just one bite and their eyes widened as they exclaimed that it tasted better than candy and pork.

Unfortunately, after eating just one piece, Yang snatched the handkerchief away and hid it in the black cabinet next to the kang (a heated brick bed), saying, "Such delicious food should be saved for the New Year."

Ji Yongling said helplessly, "Grandma, this stuff isn't expensive, and there will be more later. It'll go bad if we keep it hidden."

Ji Manchuan chimed in, "Yes, Mother, it's hot, they'll spoil. There weren't many to begin with."

Yang glanced at Ji Manchuan, locked the cabinet, stuffed the key into her clothes, and said with an air of "no one can do anything to me," "I haven't even said anything about you, a grown man, wasting money and buying all this fancy food."

Ji Manchuan shrank back and remained silent.

Ji Manqing said shamelessly, "Mother, let Ling'er go dig up astragalus again in the future. That girl has sharp eyes." Before he could finish speaking, "slap!" Old Master Ji slapped him on the back of the head.

"Why don't you go dig some up? Do you think astragalus is some kind of clod of dirt that's everywhere?"

"father--"

"roll--"

Ji Manchuan said gloatingly, "Hey Manqing, if you have nothing better to do, go and clean up the mule cart manure."

Grandpa Ji coughed and said to Ji Manchuan, "You said this astragalus sold for more than twenty-four taels, is that right?"

Everyone immediately focused their attention on the silver on the table.

"Oh my goodness, more than twenty taels! I've never seen so much silver in my life." Hu Xirong reacted and her eyes lit up. "Ling'er, from now on, your aunt will follow you. You don't need to cut grass, wash clothes, or work in the fields anymore. Just come with your aunt to the ditch to find astragalus every day. Digging up one stalk is as good as digging up ginseng."

Ji Manqing glanced at his wife and mocked, "Look at you, so capable! You're always running around in that ditch, you've trampled that mountain path to pieces, and I've never seen you dig up a single Scutellaria baicalensis root. Even if Astragalus membranaceus were right under your feet, you'd kick it away like a blind man, mistaking it for weeds!"

"That's because I'd never seen one before. Now that I've seen it, I know what it looks like. From now on, I'll keep my head down when I walk, and see if I can miss a single one!"

"It's almost time to settle things. Go do what you need to do. What kind of fate and luck do you have?"

"Cough cough—" Old Master Ji's face turned red with anger, and he coughed a few times.

When Mr. Ji and his wife saw that Mr. Ji was coughing, they stopped choking and lowered their heads to eat their food.

Yang gritted her teeth and said, "How did we manage to match you two rascals into a couple?"

"Grandma, what's a 'live treasure'?" Ji Yongru asked in a childish voice.

Everyone laughed.

Yang glared at Ji Yongqing, then lowered her head to count the money. Only after she finished counting did she look up and smile, saying, "Actually, Manqing and his wife are right. Ling'er should take her two younger brothers to the ditch to search more often. Maybe they can dig up more. One tree can cover a year's expenses."

Grandpa Ji coughed silently.

Madam Yang glared at Old Master Ji with dissatisfaction, counted out ten taels of silver from the treasury in front of her, and pushed it to Ji Manchuan, saying, "We agreed that you and Ling'er dug up the astragalus, so you should keep half of this money. In the future, whatever valuable things the Manqing family digs up, you can divide it like this. But now that you've bought so many things for the family, your father and I will take a little more advantage. You can take the remaining ten taels back with you."

"Mother, you should keep it too." Ji Manchuan pushed the money back to Yang Shi.

“Take it. Yong’an is still young, and Ling’er’s mother hasn’t finished her postpartum confinement. We’ll need to see doctors again in the future, and that will cost money.” After saying that, Old Master Ji turned to Ji Manqing and said, “Fourth brother, don’t worry too much. If it weren’t for Ling’er, where would we get this money? In the future, whatever you find in the ditch, you can exchange it for money. Keep half of it.”

"Understood, Father." Ji Manqing and Hu Xirong nodded happily.

Seeing that Ji Manqing and his wife didn't make a fuss, Old Master Ji was secretly relieved. Then, he looked around at everyone at the table and said sternly, "Furthermore, no one is allowed to talk about this money, big or small. Anyone who speaks of it and brings trouble to the family will be kicked out of this house!"

"Yes, yes, we promise not to tell." Everyone at the table, big and small, nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, Ji Manqing slammed his hand on the table and shouted, "We're doomed! There are bandits on the road now. How are we supposed to follow the market now?"

Hu Xirong also shouted, "Will these bandits come to our village?"

Madam Yang slapped Hu Xirong's arm hard: "You really haven't brushed your teeth in three years—your mouth is so foul! What if you're right?"

Hu Xirong pouted and blinked innocently.

Ji Manchuan thought for a moment and said, "It shouldn't be that bad. Those bandits were all killed; none of them escaped."

Ji Yongling nodded and said, "I saw that band of bandits. They don't seem like bandits from the mountains who have gathered together as displaced people. They look more like soldiers who ran away from some large camp."

Ji Manchuan also said, "I remember now, these people look trained. Otherwise, even if General Wudu's men were injured, they wouldn't have been unable to defeat a small group of bandits."

Ji Manqing breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good. If they are deserters who ran away from the main camp, their numbers shouldn't be too many. If we wipe out this group, we won't have to worry about their accomplices coming to retaliate."

Grandpa Ji sighed and said, "Even so, we can't let our guard down. If these bandits were able to escape from the camp, there's no guarantee there aren't other deserters or bandits."

Mrs. Yang also said worriedly, "Yes, everyone should be more vigilant in the future and carry sticks with them when going to the market."

Grandpa Ji nodded: "I'll go and talk to the village head, and tell the villagers and the neighboring villages to be careful. If they find any suspicious people or situations, they must let each other know."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Seeing that Old Master Ji had left, Ji Manchuan looked at Ji Manqing with a mocking expression and said, "Who was it that said they wanted to kill a few more bandits? Now they're afraid of running into bandits?"

Ji Manqing stretched out his neck: "Who's afraid? There are no cowards in our Ji family! Third brother, don't you think about how many women and children are in the family?"

Ji Manchuan patted Ji Manqing on the shoulder and walked out of the house with an "I understand" look on his face.