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

The opening of the oil mill gave villagers another place to visit each other.

After the winter off-season, the oil press continues to burn with smoke. The men in the village don't mind that the oil press is dirty. In their spare time, they will come to the oil press to squat by the fire, warm themselves by the fire, and chat idly. Their days are leisurely and happy.

The children would also come over and surround the adults to listen to stories and play games.

For many years afterward, the old well and oil press of the Ji family became the most popular and lively places in the village.

This oil mill is nominally owned by the Ji Manchuan family, but it is actually jointly owned by the brothers Ji Manchuan and Ji Manqing. However, since Ji Yongling funded its construction, Ji Yongling received 10% of the profits, the Ji Manchuan family received 50%, and Ji Manqing received 40%.

This percentage-based revenue sharing was proposed by Ji Yongling.

Originally, Ji Manqing didn't want the share, saying he just wanted to be paid wages, but Ji Manchuan and Jia Ronghua disagreed.

Sometimes, even close brothers can't keep track of accounts as precisely as outsiders.

That 10% was something her father insisted on giving her.

Actually, she has money. She made quite a bit of money last year, so she's not short of cash.

But her father said that her future medicine business would be very expensive, and she had already contributed so much to the construction of the oil mill, so he wouldn't feel comfortable if she didn't take the money.

She was truly moved. In the patriarchal society of ancient times, her father could treat his daughter so well, just like a son.

Her parents had always been very lenient with her. Perhaps it was because they had struggled to have children, only managing to have her and Ji Yong'an after so many years. Therefore, her parents never interfered with her money, knowing that she wouldn't squander it.

Besides, in this day and age, sometimes having money doesn't necessarily mean having a place to spend it. After all, she doesn't ask for much; she just needs to be fed and clothed.

After learning about the oil mill's arrangements, Old Master Ji didn't say much, but repeatedly instructed Ji Manqing: "Your brother and your niece have treated you like this, you mustn't be heartless! You must also discipline Yongning and Yongzhou properly, so that they won't let down their third uncle and second sister in the future."

Ji Manqing patted his chest and assured him, "Dad, don't worry! Do you think I'm that kind of ungrateful scoundrel? I know perfectly well who's good to me and who's bad to me!"

After the Cold Dew, cold winds blow and frost descends.

Although they had moved to another household, because Ji Manchuan and Ji Manqing had to take care of the oil mill, the potatoes and sweet potatoes from both families were dug up with the help of Old Master Ji and Madam Yang.

The cellar in the new courtyard is too small; it can only store some leafy greens like cabbage and radishes. This year, there are so many sweet potatoes and potatoes that it simply can't hold them all.

So the potatoes and sweet potatoes harvested this year are still stored in the old courtyard. Anyway, there are many cave dwellings in the old courtyard, so we can just clear out a few uninhabited cave dwellings to store potatoes and sweet potatoes, which won't make any difference.

That day, the oil mill was closed, and Ji Manchuan and Ji Manqing finally had time to help carry the scales to weigh the dried potatoes and sweet potatoes.

They had promised Huo Zhenglian that they would report the potato and sweet potato harvest to him this year, so apart from the truckload of potatoes and sweet potatoes that had just been dug up and sent to Huo Zhenglian, they didn't dare to eat a single one of the rest.

"Come on, one, two, three, lift it up!"

Ji Manchuan and Ji Manqing struggled to lift and put down the baskets of potatoes and sweet potatoes. They were shocked by what they found when they weighed them.

This year, the yield of potatoes from one mu (unit of land area) was a full ten dan (unit of weight, one shi is calculated as one hundred jin), and the yield of sweet potatoes was even greater, a full twelve shi.

"How could there be so many?" Old Master Ji, who had been farming all his life, found it hard to believe.

Actually, when he was digging up potatoes and sweet potatoes in the field, he had already predicted that this year's potato and sweet potato harvest would be very good. You could tell just by looking at their size; these potato and sweet potato pods were much bigger than in previous years, and you could dig up several more from one pod.

But when he actually weighed it, he was still so surprised he couldn't stop smiling.

“Oh dear, her Uncle Liu Lu said, ‘When you’re poor, you think of ways to change.’ I think that’s absolutely right! Look, if we change the way we plant potatoes and sweet potatoes, and use compost, the yield will skyrocket! So, whatever you do, you still need to be quick-witted! It’s just that our brains are all blockheads at our age, so we still need to rely on the brains of young people!” Ji Manqing grinned, showing his teeth, and said happily.

Ji Manchuan patted the dirt off his clothes and said, "Oh, it's your brain that's blocked. Our brains are perfectly fine! Don't drag me into this!"

"Hehe, Third Brother, you're older than me! Your brain is rusting faster than mine, how dare you flatter yourself?" Ji Manqing said with a grin.

Suddenly, as if he remembered something, he said with schadenfreude, "Ling'er, have you forgotten something important?"

Ji Yongling looked puzzled: "What's wrong? Nothing's wrong!"

She had just been thinking about detoxifying sweet potatoes and potatoes.

Don't be fooled by the high yields of potatoes and sweet potatoes this year; it's because of improved planting methods and the use of compost. But next year might not be so promising.

Potatoes and sweet potatoes, as asexually propagated crops, are very susceptible to the accumulation of viruses, leading to yield degradation and even complete crop failure. The infamous Irish famine in history was caused by potato degradation and disease.

Although potatoes and sweet potatoes exist in this era, and their yields are higher than those of wheat and corn, they are not cultivated on a large scale. One of the reasons is the decline in quality. The quality and yield have not improved; on the contrary, there is a trend of decline year by year.

The only way to improve yield and quality is to detoxify and propagate sweet potatoes and potatoes.

How to detoxify?

Ji Yongling, who once won the first prize in the National Biology Competition, was no stranger to the relevant theories.

The detoxification process for potatoes and sweet potatoes is simply to remove the viruses from their bodies through a series of biotechnological means, so that the stem tips become virus-free stem tip meristems.

In a sterile environment, callus tissue is induced to form through tissue culture technology, achieving dedifferentiation and regeneration into complete plants. Regenerated seedlings that pass virus testing are healthy virus-free potato seedlings.

But how do you do it?

Ji Yongling was deep in thought when he was suddenly interrupted by Ji Manqing.

Seeing Ji Yongling's blank expression, Ji Manqing winked at her disdainfully, raised his eyebrows, and said, "Marriage, marriage!"

What? Someone has already arranged a marriage for her?

Ji Yongling was startled, her eyes widening as she hurriedly asked, "Marriage? Someone's already arranging a marriage for me? I'm still young! It can't be this fast!"

Regarding marriage, she has always insisted on not getting married.

Although this was an extremely difficult thing for a peasant woman in this era, she simply couldn't imagine how someone who had received modern higher education could become husband and wife with an ancient man whose values ​​were so different from her own!

Don't talk about treating men like superiors or bosses.

In ancient times, under this form of marriage, was he the boss, the superior? He was a local emperor in a cage! To put it bluntly, he held the power of life and death over you!

What, you didn't work hard enough in modern times, so you want to keep working hard in a different place?

In modern times, would you dare to easily make decisions or challenge your boss, or easily switch jobs?

Do you have the confidence to say, "If they don't want me here, there are plenty of other places that will"?

Are you under 35?

How can a modern woman who has never learned the Three Obediences and Four Virtues guarantee that she can serve her superiors well in an ancient patriarchal society?

Ji Yongling felt a surge of anger.

She didn't choose not to marry because she wanted to; she simply couldn't accept being imprisoned in a marriage in this era, with no chance to struggle or save herself.

She couldn't accept entrusting her life to a stranger.

She still has a lot to do, and she will not compromise!