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

After dinner, Yang and Hu Xirong happily spread the cloth and cotton that Ji Yongling had bought on the kang (a heated brick bed) and discussed what to do with it.

The family usually wore coarse cloth clothes that they wove themselves and had almost never bought any fabric. So, although Yang was very distressed about the money, she was extremely happy and kept stroking the fabric.

Hu Xirong also had a happy look on her face. Touching the fabric, she said, "Mother, what are the weaving workshops in the South like? The cloth they weave looks better than the cloth we weave ourselves."

“Yongsong said it himself, Jiangnan is a land of fish and rice, a place of outstanding people and abundant resources, a prosperous and wealthy place. Unlike us, we toil in the yellow earth, relying on the weather for our livelihood. If it doesn’t rain, people will starve to death.” Madam Yang said, rubbing her hair with a needle.

“I think we’re pretty good here. No matter how good the south is, it’s not home. I’d rather stay in this mound of yellow earth.”

"What's so great about it? When it's sunny, you step on a pile of dust; when it rains, you step on a pile of mud. It's a good thing you're not like Yongsong, who has to study and take the imperial examinations. Otherwise, if you just stayed stuck in this clod of earth, all you'd say would be dirt. You'd never be able to produce a single piece of nonsense."

"mother--"

"Get to work quickly!"

With a "rip," Yang cut a piece of dark blue cloth in half, handing one half to Hu Xirong and saying, "Take this to make clothes for you and Lao Si." She then handed the other half to Ji Yongling, saying, "Take this to your mother later."

Actually, this dark blue cloth was originally bought by Ji Yongling for the elderly couple, Yang, to make clothes. However, Yang was absolutely unwilling to spend a penny more on herself and Mr. Ji, so she decided to let her two daughters-in-law take the cloth and use it.

Ji Yongling took the cloth, nodded in agreement, and continued to sit on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) watching Yang Shi and Hu Xirong make quilts without moving.

Here, families can use a single cotton quilt for many years, even until the cotton is completely hardened and torn in many places. They won't throw it away, and even if they replace it with a new one, they will mend the old one and continue to use it.

The Ji family didn't have any extra quilts; they were all over ten years old, and one quilt was just enough for the two of them.

Every summer, Yang would take her daughters-in-law to wash the old cotton quilts to prevent the cotton from clumping together.

Originally, Yang planned to use the money from selling Huangqi to buy cotton-padded coats for her children.

Babies grow quickly, so last year's clothes can only be left for the younger ones. The little jackets that Ji Yongru and Ji Yongzhou wore last year were actually worn by Ji Yongsong before the eldest son separated from the family. They were not only small and short, but also so thin that they were breathable in many places and not warm at all.

Now that they had extra new cotton, Yang thought she might as well make two more quilts. Ji Yongling has grown up and has already moved into her own cave dwelling this year. Ji Yongning and Ji Yongzhou are also growing up and will soon be living separately from each other.

Ji Yongling watched as Yang and Hu Xirong evenly tore the cotton into thin layers, then laid them layer by layer on the quilt lining, then covered the cotton with the quilt cover, and finally used needle and thread to fix the cotton and the two layers of quilt together row by row, and a quilt was made in this way.

Ji Yongling thought that washing such a quilt would require taking it all apart, which would be very troublesome, so she asked Yang Shi, "Grandma, can we make a quilt cover?"

"What is a 'bedding set'?" Yang asked, turning around after finishing the last stitch.

"It's about making a cover out of cloth and putting it over the quilt, so you only need to wash the cover when you wash it."

"This sounds pretty good. To wash the quilt, you just need to take off the quilt cover," Hu Xirong said, bending down from the kang (a heated brick bed).

After thinking for a moment, Yang said, "That would waste too much fabric and wouldn't be worth it. It's not like we're washing the quilts every day."

"Grandma, bring out the cloth you just gave to Mom and use it. I'll buy her new ones next time."

Hearing Ji Yongling say this, Madam Yang was somewhat tempted, but still refused: "No, those are for making clothes for your parents."

"Grandma, can I go dig up some more astragalus? Once I've dug some up, I'll buy some more cloth for my parents."

Yang persisted, "Do you think astragalus is everywhere, just waiting for you to dig it up?"

Ji Yongling had no choice but to give up.

After finishing the quilts, Yang continued to make jackets for the dolls.

Making a padded jacket is quite laborious. You have to cut out the sleeves, front and back panels, and collar of both the inner and outer layers first. There were no buttons in this era, so you also have to make frog buttons.

As Ji Yongling watched Yang twist the sewn strips of cloth a few times and then fasten a pair of buttons, which were beautiful and elegant, he couldn't help but admire the skills of the older generation.

"Grandma, should we make some smocks like duvet covers for Yongning and the others? That way, the cotton inside can be protected and the cotton can be worn for longer," Ji Yongling suggested.

Seeing that there was extra cloth, and considering that the overcoat could also be worn as spring and autumn clothing, Yang agreed.

Hu Xirong was overjoyed because she had three children, and all three of them had new jackets made, so she was extremely happy.

However, Yang had a question in her mind that she didn't voice: "This cotton seems a bit too much. It doesn't seem like 30 jin, but more like 50 jin."

She wondered to herself, "Could the shopkeeper have made a mistake with the weight?"

They were busy until almost lunchtime before Yang and Hu Xirong finally stopped.

Ji Yongning and Ji Yongzhou have already brought Ji Yongru back from their trip to the village.

As soon as Hu Xirong stepped out of the cave dwelling, she saw the children covered in dirt, grabbed a broom from behind the door, and chased after them, gritting her teeth and cursing.

Ji Yongning and Ji Yongzhou, having already learned from their experience, quickly ran out of the yard upon seeing this, leaving Ji Yongru standing there dumbfounded in the garden, her bottom receiving a few solid blows from the broom.

Immediately, Ji Yongru's cries echoed throughout the courtyard. Ji Yongling, feeling both helpless and amused, could only go forward to help Ji Yongru brush the mud off her body.

Just as Ji Yongru finally stopped crying, someone came to the door.

A middle-aged man covered in patches and a boy whose sleeves and trousers were half-short were standing outside the door.

The man looked at Ji Yongling and Ji Yongru with a fawning smile and said, "It's Ling'er and Ru'er. Is your master here?" The boy next to them looked at Ji Yongling and hid behind the middle-aged man.

Ji Yongru couldn't remember who this person was for a moment, mainly because he was frighteningly thin. His eyes were sunken in like cave dwellings on the Loess Plateau, and his cheeks were also deeply sunken in, making his mouth appear to protrude.

"Who are you?" Ji Yongling pulled Ji Yongru behind her and asked.

"Ling'er, who is it?" The rattling sound of the bellows in the kitchen stopped temporarily, and Yang's voice came from inside.

“Aunt Ji, I am Ning’er’s maternal uncle,” the middle-aged man called out to Madam Yang.

Yang and Hu Xirong came out of the cave dwelling in the kitchen one after the other. Yang hurriedly asked Ji Yongling to welcome them in.

"Brother, what brings you here? Come in and sit down." Hu Xirong said as she stepped forward and pulled the boy behind the middle-aged man, and said to Ji Yongling, "Ling'er, go outside and call out to Ning'er and Zhou'er, and tell them that his cousin Huaifeng has arrived."

Because Hu Xirong's elder brother had arrived, Madam Yang asked Hu Xirong to stay in the courtyard to keep her company while she went into the kitchen to continue cooking. Ji Yongling also went to the kitchen to help.

Previously, Yang and Jia Ronghua did not often allow Ji Yongling to enter the kitchen, only occasionally letting her help with the fire.

They say that once a woman gets married, she has to spend every day around the stove. The only time she can relax is when she's a young girl. Now, she can relax for as long as she can.

Ji Yongling sat in front of the stove, pulling the blower with his left hand to stoke the fire, while occasionally adding firewood to the stove with his right hand.