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

Ji Yongling shook her head, thinking that Ji Manqing was being too playful as a father. How could he laugh at his child in front of him? Wasn't he afraid of leaving the child with psychological trauma?

Thankfully, I have the soul of a 28-year-old inside me. Laughing at kids? Of course not!

However, when she saw that Ji Yongning's lips were swollen like two sausages and his eyes were so swollen that they were just slits, and you couldn't even find his eyes unless you looked closely, she couldn't bring herself to say anything to comfort him.

Unable to hold back any longer, she burst into laughter, almost laughing herself to the point of gasping for breath.

Ji Yongning looked at the three people laughing around him, feeling very sad and helpless.

After a long while, the three of them caught their breath and stopped laughing loudly.

Ji Yongling pinched her face, trying to look serious, and quickly apologized, "Yongning, I'm sorry, I know you're in a lot of pain, feeling sad and miserable, but I really couldn't help but laugh. I wasn't laughing at you, it's just that you look so, so cute." As she spoke, she couldn't help but laugh again.

With his face so swollen he couldn't make any expression, Ji Yongning said with saliva in his mouth and a wronged tone, "It's not your fault. I was laughed at the whole way back."

At this moment, Hu Xirong walked over, grabbed Ji Yongning, squatted down, and carefully examined his face, still cursing: "You don't believe me when I say you're a coward, but I think you're a real scoundrel, shameless and audacious. Look at you, can you even call this a face? It's about the same as the roasted pig's head offered as a New Year's sacrifice!"

As he spoke, he spat twice into his palm and smeared it on Ji Yongning's face, still saying, "Luckily it was a ground bee sting. If it had been a wasp sting, I bet you'd be waiting for Hua Tuo to shake his head in disbelief, there would be no saving you!"

Ji Yongning took two steps back, trying to avoid Hu Xirong's spittle while washing his face, but his wrist was firmly held by Hu Xirong.

Ji Yongling also stopped smiling, squatted down, and carefully looked at Ji Yongning's face.

Ji Yongning's entire face was swollen and shiny, as if it had been smeared with lard. She searched carefully and found a small, slightly protruding black thorn on the side of her nose.

Hu Xirong also saw it and was about to pull it out with her hand when Ji Yongling stopped her: "I'll do it—"

She quietly took out a pair of tweezers, and with a "whoosh," the half-spike on Ji Yongning's face was pulled out.

Ji Manqing asked in confusion, "Ling'er, what was that thing that flashed in your hand just now? It was silvery and shiny?"

"Tweezers," Ji Yongling replied casually, stuffing the tweezers into his pocket.

Ji Manqing wanted to ask more, but Hu Xirong scolded him disdainfully, "Stop wagging your tail like an old sow and dawdling around! Hurry up and bring a basin of water!"

Because there was no soap at home, Ji Yongling used the water that Ji Manqing brought to repeatedly wash Ji Yongning's face. Finally, she instructed Ji Yongzhou to pick a handful of dandelions and squeeze out the dandelion juice to apply to Ji Yongning's face.

Once Ji Yongning felt a little better and her face wasn't as red and swollen as before, she pouted her sausage lips and said, "Tiedan said there's a beehive in the ditch in front of his house. His grandma said wild honey can prevent heatstroke in the summer, and the immature bees can be sold to pharmacies to make medicinal herbs. I was thinking that it'll be busy with farming soon, so I'd harvest some honey for my family. That's why we decided to go and collect the beehive..."

Hu Xirong calmed down a bit and said, "You two little brats, trying to steal a beehive like other kids, are just like mice licking a cat's groin, practically asking to die!"

Ji Manqing nudged Hu Xirong with his elbow and said, "You dare to talk about death in front of a child! You have no restraint at all!"

Ji Yongning glanced gratefully at his father through a narrow gap, though his father did not see his gaze.

Ji Manqing looked at Ji Yongning excitedly and asked, "Tell Dad quickly, did you find the beehive? Did Tiedan get stung?"

Ji Yongning nodded: "Tiedan was stung too, just like me, our heads are swollen. We saw bees flying in and out of a small mound, so we dug up the soil outside with a digger, and there really was a complete beehive inside, it looked to weigh several pounds..."

Ji Manqing's eyes lit up as he urged, "What happened next? Why didn't you retrieve the beehive?"

Hu Xirong angrily punched Ji Manqing and cursed, "Are you a clay idol? You brainless idiot! Just look at the kid's face, and you'll know why the beehive wasn't retrieved. Do you even need to ask?"

Ji Yongning lowered his head, kicked the ground with his toes, and said awkwardly, "I happily reached into the hole I had dug to take down the beehive, but as soon as I shook it a couple of times, a lot of bees sprayed out, which scared Tie Dan and me so much that we ran home, but we couldn't outrun those bees and got stung."

Ji Yongling imagined the scene of the two little pig heads being chased by bees, and couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Hu Xirong tapped Ji Yongning's forehead with her finger in disgust and said, "Two greenhorns, taking nothing and daring to raid a beehive, even the King of Hell would say you're lucky to be alive!"

Ji Yongling stopped laughing and observed Ji Yongning again. Seeing that apart from facial swelling, he had no other obvious abnormalities and did not need to use anti-allergy medication, she was relieved.

No wonder the older generation says that rural children are tough. Perhaps it is through these repeated falls and bruises that children develop a strong "immunity" and their bodies produce "protective antibodies" against various external damages.

Just when everyone thought the matter was over, they were surprised to find that at lunchtime, in addition to "Little Pighead" Ji Yongning, there was also "Big Pighead" Ji Manqing at the table.

It turned out that everyone hadn't paid much attention to Ji Yongning since he seemed fine except for a swollen head and face that morning.

Ji Manqing felt that Ji Yongning's failure to retrieve the beehive was due to his lack of skill, so he decided to take matters into his own hands. He secretly led Ji Yongning to the ditch in front of Tiedan's house again, intending to retrieve the beehive once more.

Despite his thorough preparations, including wearing a garment on his head, he was still stung.

So now, Ji Manqing's eyes were swollen and bulging outwards, his face looked like he had been punched dozens of times, and his upper and lower lips were so swollen that he couldn't close them, with a gap in the middle that could fit a quail egg, making him look just like a donut from a dessert shop in later generations. And his hands were swollen like dyed leavened buns.

Ji Manqing's eyes were so swollen that it was hard to tell if they were open or not. He looked like he had seen through the illusions of the world and sat at the dining table in a daze.

When Ji Manchuan came to the dinner table, he saw the "pig-headed" father and son. He couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Hahahaha, what tricks are you two up to now? You even have the exact same eyebrows and eyes. Are you afraid people won't know you're father and son?"

Ji Manqing tried to roll his eyes, but his eyelids hurt when he tried, so he had to give up. Besides, even if he could roll his eyes now, his red, swollen, and protruding eyes would prevent others from seeing his pupils.