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

Hu Xirong clapped her hands, her eyebrows dancing with excitement, and said, "I'm telling you good news, and you don't believe me! To tell you the truth, this business was negotiated by my Ling'er in the county. They originally refused to accept it, but they reluctantly agreed because of Ling'er. If you ask me, it's because my daughter is kind-hearted. She said that every family in the village has aged mugwort, and it would be a waste to burn it. She tried her best to help everyone exchange it for some money so they could exchange it for grain."

“Manqing’s wife, what do you want to burn to get money?” an old woman with gray hair and a bun asked loudly, tilting her ear.

Hu Xirong took a deep breath: "Deaf Grandma, it's not burning anything to get money, it's selling Chen Ai to get money."

"Oh, oh, oh, I'll use Chen Ai to pay you back, but I don't owe you any money!" The deaf old woman stood up, hunched over, and took two steps closer to Hu Xirong, saying.

Hu Xirong lost her temper, and everyone under the tree laughed.

Ji Manchuan stood up, stomped his numb feet, and said, "Anyway, I've informed them about this. You guys better hurry up. It's only for the next two days. Once that time is up, we won't accept any more. Only three-year-old aged artemisia is accepted. We don't want any that are too young or too old."

As the couple, Ji Manqing and his wife, bickered and left, everyone started discussing it.

"I reckon it's true; the Ji family wouldn't lie."

"Anyway, the Ji family is paying me. Believe it or not, I'm going to go and collect the mugwort leaves at home."

"Then I'll be going too. I don't have much aged mugwort left. Sigh, I used it all for firewood before, what a huge loss."

Ever since the Ji family announced that they would buy Chen Ai for two coins a pound, Niujiazhuang has been in an uproar.

Many people, forgetting to eat, carried baskets of various sizes filled with three-year-old mugwort in their arms, on shoulder poles, or on carts. Others carried sacks full of mugwort on their backs, shoulders, or in their arms, all heading towards Old Ji's house.

When they arrived at Old Ji's house, they were surprised to find that those who lived nearby had already started weighing their scales in the courtyard, while those who arrived a little later could only wait outside the courtyard.

In the courtyard, Ji Laoliu's family was talking to Ji Laoer and his wife. Ji Manchuan and Ji Manqing were carrying a scale to weigh a sack full of mugwort leaves. The scale was raised high. After Ji Manchuan finished counting the money, he called out the amount to Ji Yongling, who then quickly counted and distributed the money.

Some people were surprised by Ji Yongling's speed in calculating the accounts, saying, "Ling'er is such a fast calculator! Her father just gave the numbers, and she blurted out the amount. Is she right?"

“I just calculated it, it can’t be wrong,” a young man replied.

"This must be the wrong person, the God of Literature, reincarnated into Ling'er's body. If this were a boy, he would definitely be able to become the top scholar!" a round-faced old woman exclaimed.

Ji Yongling ignored their chatter, handed the copper coins to Chen Shi, and said, "Sixth Aunt, this is your family's money for Ai Ye, a total of one hundred and twenty-six coins. Please keep it safe."

Madam Chen smiled, her eyes crinkling into slits, and nodded in agreement: "Yes, I'll definitely keep it safe. Tomorrow I'll have your Uncle Shuanzhu go buy some grain. You don't know, yesterday your Sixth Master almost burned all this mugwort. He said he had saved too much, and he had dried a lot this year, so the kiln couldn't hold it all. Luckily, I stopped him. I was worried that with the hot weather, we'd need a lot of mugwort. I never expected it could be exchanged for money."

Madam Yang also laughed and said, "Does the money in your hand look like it was picked up off the street?"

Madam Chen laughed even harder: "That's right! We have to thank Ling'er for her quick thinking, otherwise, all this kiln of mugwort would have ended up filling the kang hole."

It's really hard for people in the countryside to earn money. Apart from farming and doing hard labor, there are basically no other ways to make a living. So, earning 126 coins at once was enough to make the whole family happy for several days.

When it was the next family's turn, Grandpa Ji and Madam Yang conducted another thorough inspection, firstly to check if all the mugwort was three years old, and secondly to check if it was cleaned properly and if any other miscellaneous items had been mixed in.

Those who sold their mugwort and received their money all left with beaming smiles, boasting to others at their doorsteps how much they had earned. Meanwhile, those who hadn't stored much mugwort, or who had burned it as firewood, watched as others left with their money, and invariably squatted regretfully at the gate of Old Ji's house, sighing in despair.

And so, the shouts and laughter in Old Ji's courtyard continued until nightfall.

At the west end of the village, Ji Laosi, the fourth cousin of Old Master Ji, was arguing with his wife.

Ji Laosi's wife, Yao, sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) wiping away tears: "Since I married you, have I ever had a single good day? I've given birth to nine children, and now, whenever I cough, I can't stop urinating. In these decades, have I ever complained? I've been like an old donkey pulling a millstone, serving you and your mother day and night! It's bad enough that your mother gives me attitude every day, but you, you old scoundrel, even curse me in front of your new wife! What kind of life have I ever had that I can't live like this!"

Ji Laosi, squatting on the threshold, took a deep drag on his pipe, slowly exhaling a wisp of bluish-black smoke, and said, "What's wrong! You can't even be told what's going on? You know perfectly well the ways between our family and the second son's family, yet you still insist on saying you're going to the second son's family to sell mugwort. Aren't you just asking for a scolding? That Ji Laosi wants my mugwort, he's really asking for trouble—what a big face!"

Madam Yao shifted her position, kneeling on the kang (a heated brick bed), and pounded the kang mat, saying, "It's all ancient history, the fifth son has passed away, and you two won't let us, the living, live in peace? What kind of life are we living? We just got married after the New Year, and all our money is gone. The flour jar is empty these past few days. I bet you'll have to grind the remaining few bushels of wheat and eat them all, and then you'll have to tie your mouth shut! We could have exchanged the mugwort leaves for some money, why can't we say so? We won't even be allowed to mention it. Everyone in the village gets a hundred or two hundred coins back! Only our family thinks we have too much money!"

Ji Laosi tapped his pipe on the threshold, got up, and said as he walked outside, "I'm not talking to you anymore, you silly woman. Think about it yourself!"

A moment later, the courtyard echoed with the shouts and curses of Ji Laosi's mother—Old Lady Ji: "You son of a bitch, always eating your fill! If you like Ji Laoer so much, why didn't you marry into his family in the first place! Ji Laoer is a scoundrel, always fooling the village's gossips. You silly old woman, you're as thick as a watermelon with a rind that's a handful thick..."

Yao sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), her teeth grinding together, her fists clenched until they turned white...

Everyone says she's lucky to have given birth to nine sons, but what good is that?

Jiuwa lived in the same courtyard as her. When her mother-in-law and father-in-law scolded her, Jiuwa didn't dare to utter a sound. Now that Old Lady Ji was cursing in the courtyard, Jiuwa and Bawa from the next courtyard surely heard it, but would anyone speak up for her?

Old Mrs. Ji continued cursing: "They're all cowards! They ruined one of my children and now they want to ruin another! They even try to buy herbs from shops in the city. They're obviously scoundrels! You fools just can't see that Ji the Second is just going to the market without a bag—he's up to no good!"

The courtyard was quiet, making Old Lady Ji's voice sound particularly jarring.

After a long while, Ji Laosi, who had been squatting in the shadows by the wall in the yard, finally spoke up: "Mother, say less and go to sleep early!"

"Sleep, sleep, sleep! How can you sleep?! You're over 30 years old, and you've paid off nine out of ten debts—there's still a huge debt left. Don't you think about what your family will eat and drink tomorrow? If it weren't for my daughter, Yinqiao, I'm afraid all of you in this courtyard would have starved me to death..."