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

Shopkeeper Ma nodded in satisfaction and said, "You are truly admirable! Although this prescription has not been verified, you could have easily made money from it, but you chose to sell herbs to make a living. Your noble character is admirable, and I will share this prescription with all the medical practitioners in the world. You can take the mugwort leaves first, and as for the other herbs in the prescription, just send them over, and I will accept them."

"Thank you very much, Manager Ma!" Ji Yongling and his daughter clasped their hands in thanks.

On the way back to the village, Ji Yongling asked, "Dad, if I give that prescription directly to Xu Dongjia and Manager Ma, do you feel bad about it?"

Ji Manchuan, puzzled, asked, "What's bothering you?"

"It's such a waste of money! A single prescription could easily fetch ten or more taels of silver!"

"Hiss, how much did you say?" Ji Manchuan stopped and asked, a hint of pain in his eyes.

Ji Yongling smiled and shook her head: "What, are you really in pain?"

Ji Manchuan sighed and said, "If you hadn't said ten or so taels, I really wouldn't have thought about it. Now that you've mentioned it, the thought of giving away ten or so taels of silver for nothing is heartbreaking. But this prescription belongs to Granny Liu. If it could be exchanged for money, she would have done so long ago. Why would she be like us, eating chaff and wild vegetables? Granny Liu gave it to you out of a sense of righteousness, so that you could use it to save more people when the time is right. We can't go to the south, so giving it to Manager Ma to go to the south to save people is much more useful than keeping it in our hands."

Ji Yongling nodded in satisfaction: "Dad, we can make money through other businesses, but I don't want to make money from these prescriptions. If we keep our secrets to ourselves, more secret recipes will be lost. Any technology needs to break through and improve, otherwise we will become weak and backward, and be chased and beaten by others."

Ji Manchuan looked at his daughter with some worry: "What are you thinking about all day long, my little one? There are some of your reasons that I don't quite understand. Don't think too much at such a young age. Thinking too much will affect your lifespan."

"I know, Father. I will definitely live to be a hundred years old." Ji Yongling thought to himself. He had already lived for 28 years in his previous life. In this life, if he lived to the age of knowing his destiny, he would be a centenarian in spirit.

When they arrived home, Old Master Ji and Madam Yang were astonished to hear that merchants from the south would be buying Chen Ai.

Yang said with a long face, "You and your daughter aren't trying to fool this silly old woman, are you?"

Ji Manchuan chuckled sheepishly and said, "Mom, who would dare to lie to you? That's just a sparrow on the shooting range, quite bold, daring to mess with the big boss!"

"Go away, get out of here. My granddaughter is so good. Ling'er, come here and tell Grandma why they agreed to take our mugwort. Every household has plenty of mugwort, but pharmacies usually don't accept it." Madam Yang pulled Ji Yongling over and asked.

Ji Manchuan said with dissatisfaction, "Mother, why don't you believe your child? It's true. They didn't accept it at first, but after Ling'er said a few words, the shopkeeper Ma from the south accepted it."

"Oh my, Ling'er, how come you're so clever? Before, when people in the village went to sell them, no one would buy them! Tell me, if we sold all this mugwort covering the mountains, how much money would we make?" Hu Xirong said excitedly as she came out of the kitchen, carrying a winnowing basket in her hand.

Ji Manqing glared at his wife with disdain: "You're always so talkative. Can't you wait for someone to finish speaking? Third Brother hasn't even explained how Ling'er will persuade Manager Ma in the south yet, and you've already interrupted him!"

Hu Xirong rolled her eyes, squeezed down on the bench next to Ji Manqing, shook the winnowing basket in her hand a couple of times, and said, "Why are you talking if your mouth isn't dry!"

Ji Manqing moved to the other end of the stool and glared at Hu Xirong: "You're so arrogant!"

Ji Yongling looked at the two of them with amusement and said, "Fourth Aunt, there are only so many people in our family. Even if we don't eat or drink, we can't pick all these mugwort leaves. Besides, they don't collect all mugwort leaves. They only collect three-year-old mugwort."

Ji Manqing slapped his thigh: "My goodness! I used so much Chen Ai to heat the kang (a heated brick bed) the other day! How much money did I lose!"

Hu Xirong rolled her eyes again, gloating, "Look at you, you're so stupid, you're practically burning money."

Ji Manqing glared: "Isn't it you who complained that there was too much Artemisia argyi at home and nowhere to put it, so you told me to burn it!"

"I told you to go eat shit, why aren't you going!"

Old Master Ji couldn't stand it anymore, so he coughed and said to Ji Manqing, "The children are all here. Look at you two, all you do is draw pictures with brooms all day long, and talk nonsense!"

Ji Manqing muttered innocently, "I'm like a rat caught in the wind, getting bullied from both sides."

Ji Yongling winked at Ji Manqing and said to the old man, "Grandpa, I plan to collect Artemisia argyi in the village."

"Buy dried mugwort? How much does the merchant from the south want? Isn't what we have at home enough?" Madam Yang asked.

Ji Yongling explained, "That Manager Ma from the south wants a thousand catties. I reckon the floods in the south will likely continue to worsen, and the demand for medicinal herbs will be huge then."

Grandpa Ji took a couple of puffs of his pipe and said, "You need to figure out how you're going to buy it. What price will you pay? There has to be a deal. Otherwise, you'll end up buying from one family and not buying from another. We're all neighbors, it'll look bad."

“I’ve thought it over. Manager Ma will give us three coins a pound, and we’ll buy it in the village for two coins a pound. Although it sounds like we’ll only earn one coin a pound, and we still have to deduct the cost of transporting it to the county, the quantity is large, so the total amount will be much more.”

Grandpa Ji stubbed out his pipe, tapped it on the ground, and said, "That's enough. We've earned enough with our hard work. Everyone in the village has a hard life. A few more coins means a few more mouths to feed."

Ji Manqing quickly flattered him, saying, "Dad, you're the kindest person in the village. You always try to help everyone in the village earn more money."

Old Master Ji rolled his eyes: "Why aren't you spreading the word under the big locust tree! Manager Ma wants the goods the day after tomorrow!"

Ji Manqing quickly stood up and said, "Yes, yes, Father, I'll go right away."

“I’ll come along too, so you won’t have any trouble explaining!” Hu Xirong got up, put the winnowing basket on the stool, and then walked out.

Ji Yongning and his little rascals skipped and hopped out of the courtyard gate.

Madam Yang shook her head helplessly: "Our Ling'er is so sensible. She's so young, yet she's already worrying about making money for the family. She's much better than her parents."

Ji Manchuan: "......."

Under the big locust tree.

Niu Suozi, squatting under the tree roots, asked, "Manqing, are you kidding me? Is there really someone who'll buy this Chen Ai?"

Ji Manqing pulled up his trouser leg, squatted down, revealing most of his dark ankle, and said, "Uncle Suozi, would I dare to lie to you? I'd be tired of living and want my dad to beat me to death!"

Niu Suozi glanced at Ji Manqing: "The key is that this matter doesn't sound very reliable. I've never heard of any pharmacy in the county buying Chen Ai. You just open your mouth and say that someone will buy it, and for two coins. This is too good to be true!"

"That's right, that's right..."

The others echoed this sentiment.