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

"Father, Mother, yesterday when the sun was high in the sky, I was cutting pig feed when it suddenly got dark, and I almost cut my foot."

Just as I was terrified and about to run home, I suddenly heard a voice coming from my great-grandfather's dugout, saying, "Little one, come here quickly, your great-grandfather has a treasure for you."

So I crawled into the old man's dugout, but as soon as I got in, the earthwork turned upside down, and then I don't know anything anymore.

"When I woke up today, I had this iron ring on my finger. Through this ring, I can enter a celestial granary, which contains many treasures, but only I can go in alone. You can try it if you don't believe me." Ji Yongling said, removing the iron ring from her index finger and handing it to Ji Manchuan.

Ji Yongling thought that since everyone in this era believed in ghosts and gods, her parents should be able to believe it if she told them a story about ghosts and gods.

Ji Manchuan picked up the iron ring, examined it carefully from left to right in the light by the door, blew on it, and muttered, "Looks like a ring." Then he shook his head and handed it to Jia Ronghua.

Jia Ronghua touched the iron ring, then rubbed it on her clothes, but found nothing unusual. She then handed it back to Ji Yongling.

Ji Manchuan sat cross-legged on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), watching Ji Yongling put the iron ring back on her index finger. He tilted his head and thought for a moment, then sighed at Ji Yongling and said, "You are also a lucky child."

Your great-grandfather was quite a formidable man. Back in the day, he traveled all over the country, working as a镖师 (bodyguard/escort), a 货代 (trade merchant), fighting against Taiping rebels, and even saving a high-ranking official. He'd seen it all.

Later, your great-grandmother and several children were captured by the barbarians from the west, and your great-grandfather was sometimes lucid and sometimes confused.

When he's lucid, he'll advise the other grandfathers that no matter what, the child must study and learn skills. When he's confused, he'll say he's not from here, that he woke up too late, and that he needs to go back to his own place.

Upon hearing this, the hairs on Ji Yongling's body stood on end. She stared intently at Ji Manchuan, her eyes filled with anticipation, hoping he would continue.

Ji Manchuan then sighed again: "I remember that my grandfather, that is, your great-grandfather, and several brothers all said that they wanted to adopt a son for your great-great-grandfather to carry on the family line. The great-great-grandfather refused on the spot, saying that he didn't care about what happened after he died, and he didn't care about the floods after he died."

Ji Manchuan paused for a moment, looking at his daughter with a smile in his eyes, and continued, "Now that your great-grandfather has chosen you to inherit his things, although your mother and I are not knowledgeable, we know that some things cannot be told to others. After all, as the book says, 'A gentleman is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime.'"

Jia Ronghua nodded quickly, glanced outside cautiously, then looked at the iron ring on her daughter's hand, and whispered, "Ling'er, do you want me to wrap this thing with a red cloth strip before you wear it? I've seen the elders in the village wrap half a red cloth strip around their rings."

Ji Yongling raised her hand, turned her palm and the back of her hand over, looked at her fingers, and said, "I'll wrap it with hemp rope and put it on later."

Then, she put her hands behind her back, took out a tube of milk powder, and said, "I found milk powder that my little sister can eat in the granary. This is the best thing to feed a baby."

Jia Ronghua took the pretty tin can from Ji Yongling's hand, looked at Ji Yongling with a puzzled expression, then turned to look at Ji Manchuan and asked, "Her father?"

Ji Manchuan looked at Jia Ronghua and said, "Since Ling'er said it's something the old master left in the granary, it must be something good. Anyway, Er Yatou doesn't have enough to eat, so let's use this to supplement her diet. But, how about I try it first? The baby's stomach is weak, what if she doesn't like it?" After saying that, Ji Manchuan looked at Ji Yongling.

Ji Yongling nodded: "Dad, you should make a cover for this box with a straw rope to prevent others from seeing it."

"Yes, yes, don't let anyone see it. This thing looks so rare." Jia Ronghua held the milk powder can in her hand, rubbing it and looking it over.

Just do it.

Ji Manchuan went outside and found a bundle of thin straw rope. He then came inside and started weaving it, comparing it to the milk powder can. In no time, the straw rope flying in Ji Manchuan's hands became an insulated sleeve for the milk powder can, complete with a lid.

Ji Manchuan clapped his hands, picked up his masterpiece, examined it from all sides, and said to Ji Yongling, "How is it, Dad?"

"Dad, your craftsmanship is truly exquisite, like a work of art by a master craftsman." Ji Yongling flattered his father with a smile.

"Stop joking around and hurry up and figure out how to cook it. Once you've tried it, you can give it to Er Yatou," Jia Ronghua said, displeased.

Ji Yongling quickly told Ji Manchuan how to prepare the formula, but then she suddenly realized that there were no bottles. She didn't know if there were any bottles in the storage room.

Ji Manchuan carefully memorized what Ji Yongling said, repeating it softly to himself. Finally, he asked Jia Ronghua, "Is the new water spoon I made for Er Yatou in this room?"

"Yes, it's here." Jia Ronghua knelt on the kang (a heated brick bed), opened a wooden cabinet in the corner of the kang, took out a wooden spoon wrapped in oil paper, and stuffed a straw-woven milk powder can into it as well.

The wooden spoon was polished smooth, and the key feature was a small spout on one side, like a ladle spout, which made it less likely to spill when feeding a baby.

"Father, Mother, don't you want to know what else is in this Heavenly Granary?"

Ji Manchuan was taken aback, then looked up and said, "Whatever it is, it all belongs to your great-grandfather and was left to you. It's not for us, so we can't pry into it."

Jia Ronghua nodded and said, "It's already a blessing from your great-grandfather in heaven that we have milk powder for this baby. People shouldn't be too greedy."

Ji Manchuan continued, "Don't worry, those are your things. You can do whatever you want with them. Your parents won't look at them, ask about them, or ask for them. If you want to take them out, take them out and use them. If you don't want to take them out, hide them well. Be careful that people don't find out, or it will bring trouble."

Ji Yongling felt relieved and nodded with a smile.

She feared that if the parents knew about the storage facility, they would become like vampires, endlessly exploiting it.

Fortunately, they are as simple and unpretentious as this fertile loess soil, and they are not greedy.

Of course, the greedy will eventually end up penniless.

Ji Manchuan was about to lift the straw curtain to fetch hot water from the kitchen when he saw Old Madam Yang carrying two bowls of food toward him. He quickly stepped forward and took one of the bowls, saying, "Mother, you could have just asked me to fetch it, why did you bring it yourself?"

Madam Yang glanced at her third son and said, "Your wife is in confinement now, and as her mother-in-law, I have to take care of her. I don't want people talking behind my back and saying I'm a wicked mother-in-law."

As Yang entered the room, Ji Yongling got off the kang (a heated brick bed) and called out, "Grandma!"

Yang handed the bowl in her hand to Jia Ronghua, turned around and sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed). She looked down at the sleeping baby and said, "Third brother's wife, drink this bowl of millet porridge first. Tomorrow I'll get some soybeans and have Third Brother go to the county to exchange them for some soy milk for you. Today is the first day of your postpartum period, and you went out in the wind. Drink some soy milk so you don't get sick later."

"Thank you, Mother. Millet porridge is enough." Jia Rong put her mouthpiece to the rim of the bowl and blew on the millet porridge in her hand; it was indeed quite thick.

Madam Yang then turned to Ji Manchuan, who was standing at the door, and said, "Give this bowl of egg drop soup to Ling'er. The little one hasn't eaten since yesterday and must be starving."

Ji Manchuan quickly handed the bowl in his hand to Ji Yongling, who said, "Thank you, Grandma, thank you, Dad."

Ji Yongling looked at the bowl, which was chipped, cracked, and had already been repaired.

I had only ever seen repaired bowls in museums before, but now I was holding this antique bowl in my own hands.

The copper nail used for repairing the bowl was rusted, its light red hue shimmering on the rough porcelain shards, creating a vivid and lifelike scene, like a landscape painting. It was inexplicably beautiful.

Suddenly everyone fell silent; it was so quiet.

Ji Yongling looked up at Madam Yang.

This is a typical weathered face from the Northwest Plateau, with dark wrinkles creeping around the corners of the eyes and forehead, some gray hair, and sunken eyes that look somewhat cloudy.

She stared at the baby, but her eyes were somewhat vacant, as if she were looking at something else through the baby.

Ji Manchuan also looked at Madam Yang and called her "Mother".

Madam Yang wiped her eyes slightly, looked up at the paper-covered wooden window, and sighed, "Third son, what are we going to do? Ronghua has taken so much medicine over the years, and she only managed to have two children, both girls. How can your father and I feel at ease if you two are separated from your husband?"

Actually, Huang Daopo was reluctant to part with the grain she was given, and the old man had just scolded her for it.

But what could she do? She hoped that all her sons would have a good life. The other three all had both sons and daughters, but only the third son had two daughters.

So, she prayed to gods and Buddhas, burned incense and took medicine, all because she wanted her third son to give birth to a son as soon as possible.