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

Hu Xirong had just finished cooking the noodles and came out of the kitchen with a plate in her hand. Ji Manqing hurriedly went to take it from her.

Hu Xirong looked at the two children covered in dirt and said sarcastically, "Oh, do you two have dog noses? You smell so well! We were just talking about eating, and you two came back. If you had been any later, there wouldn't have been any noodles to eat!"

Upon hearing that there would be long noodles to eat, Ji Yongzhou disregarded the pain in his back and jumped up excitedly: "Oh ho—there are long noodles to eat!"

Hu Xirong slapped Ji Yongzhou on the back: "Look at you two, acting like cowards. I don't know where you went gallivanting off to, you're covered in dirt!"

Ji Yongzhou's eyes widened, and he screamed, "Ah—it hurts, it hurts, it hurts—"

Ji Yongning had no choice but to turn his head away, not looking at Ji Yongzhou, nor daring to look at Hu Xirong.

Hu Xirong said dismissively, "What? Do you think your mother is as strong as an ox? Can I send you to the Western Paradise with one blow?" As she spoke, she lifted the hem of Ji Yongzhou's shirt.

She gasped, "God of Light, who hit you? Or did a cat scratch you?"

Ji Manqing walked over, glanced at Ji Yongzhou's back, and frowned: "This is clearly someone hitting him with a stick!"

Hu Xirong put down Ji Yongzhou's collar, her face darkening, and asked in a deep voice, "Speak! What happened? If you don't tell me, you won't eat today!"

Ji Yongzhou's eyes were already red. He glanced at Ji Yongning's back and burst into tears.

Hu Xirong grabbed Ji Yongzhou's ear and roared, "Are you going to talk or not? You're always running around talking nonsense, look what you've done to yourself!"

Ji Yongzhou just kept crying and didn't say anything.

Hu Xirong tightened her grip and said, "Do you think your mouth is a fine wine bottle, airtight and leak-proof?" After saying that, she let go, picked up a broom from the wall, and walked towards Ji Yongning.

Ji Yongning hurriedly ran behind Ji Yongling, hiding his body and peeking out, calling out, "Mother, Mother, I'll talk, I'll talk—put down the broom and I'll tell you—"

Hu Xirong remained unmoved and walked towards Ji Yongling, saying, "You're still trying to scare me with your 'baby jumping on the bed' act! If you don't give me some explanation today, I'll show you who I am!"

“Mother, Mother, Mother—we were beaten up when we went to pick apricots—” Ji Yongning hurriedly shouted.

Hu Xirong laughed angrily: "Picking apricots? You mean stealing apricots! Well done, you deserve it! Let's teach you to do this kind of petty theft every day!"

Yang hissed and said, "You silly boy, I really don't know what's so good about rotten apricots. Just hearing about them makes my teeth ache."

Ji Manqing looked at her two sons and scolded them in a loud but weak voice, "Apologize to your mother now! Quickly say that you will definitely turn over a new leaf and wash your hands of this criminal business!"

“Mother, I was wrong—” Ji Yongning and Ji Yongzhou said in a low voice.

Hu Xirong glared at Ji Manqing and cursed, "Your kid learned to steal apricots from you, his father! You never teach him anything good, only crooked and evil ways!"

Ji Manqing said innocently, "What did I teach the kids? Stealing apricots is something that village kids often do, how can you blame me?"

Hu Xirong threw down the broom and walked towards the kitchen, saying, "Who stole someone's peaches? Not only did they prick themselves so badly they almost died of itching, but they also left a shoe on someone's tree, making someone come looking for them with the shoe in their hand!"

Ji Manqing looked embarrassed and quickly changed the subject, saying, "Let's eat, let's eat. We finally get to have a bowl of long noodles, so let's not bring up those old, tangled stories."

Upon seeing Hu Xirong leave, Ji Yongning and Ji Yongzhou immediately transformed from their previous weak and helpless demeanor into thuggish underlings of the gang, fawningly and gossiping as they went to massage Ji Manqing's legs and back.

Ji Yongling smiled as he watched the two brothers flirting with danger every day, shaking his head helplessly.

Thanks to Wang Defu today, everyone in the family got a small half bowl of thin noodles, which actually only lasted for two chopsticks.

Yang usually doesn't allow the white flour she bought last time to be eaten. She only makes noodles mixed with black flour for Jia Ronghua and Ji Yongru every two days, since one is a postpartum woman who just gave birth and the other is a three-year-old child, both of whom need to be taken care of.

Ji Yongling picked up a piece of long noodles from the bowl with her chopsticks. Although it was white flour, it actually looked a bit yellowish-brown. However, the noodles were rolled out so thin and long, and were both chewy and soft that she was reluctant to eat them for a moment.

After all, in this era of food shortages, the only time one could enjoy such thin noodles was probably during the Lunar New Year.

The family slurped up the noodles, drank the soup, and ate a bowl of vegetable dumplings, but they were only about half full.

Grandpa Ji put down his bowl, looked at Ji Yongling and said, "Ling'er, tell me how to collect these medicinal herbs, what the procedures are, and what about that medicine bag, what are you going to do with it?"

Ji Yongling also put down his chopsticks and said, "Grandpa, I'll write down the medicinal herbs we want to buy on a wooden board and hang it on the outside wall. I'll have Yongning and Yongzhou run around the village so that everyone can see what herbs we want to buy and what the price is for each kind."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Grandpa Ji then asked, "Then don't set the profit margin for each medicinal herb too high. We're all farmers, and it's not easy for us to earn a little money. Some families are just waiting for the money to buy food to survive."

Ji Yongling hummed in agreement, then glanced at Ji Manchuan and Ji Manqing and said, "In addition, relying solely on the villagers' medicinal herbs will definitely not be enough to meet Manager Wang's demand. I plan to have my father and fourth uncle drive a mule cart to the surrounding villages to collect some. Of course, the price will be lower than if they bring the herbs to our house."

When Ji Manqing heard that he could drive a mule cart to collect medicinal herbs from other villages, he was immediately invigorated and couldn't wait to set off right then and there.

Grandpa Ji nodded and said, "You have a plan, so just make the arrangements. Man Chuan and Man Qing, you both listen to Ling'er's arrangements. Ling'er found this business for you, so you can't let the children down. Especially Man Qing, you need to tone down your beggar-like, arrogant attitude!"

Ji Manqing lowered his eyebrows in grievance: "Dad, people say that the youngest son and the eldest grandson are the old lady's lifeblood. I feel like I was picked up from a ditch, and neither my father nor my mother cares for me."

Yang rolled her eyes and said, "I really didn't plan to have any more children at the time. You were an accident."

Ji Manqing felt even more aggrieved.

Ji Yongling looked at Ji Manqing and comforted him, "Fourth Uncle, look how good it is for you to be the youngest. You don't have to worry about anything or do anything. Your older brothers and sisters protect you."

Ji Manqing said with a mournful face, "Baby, you might as well not have comforted me at all—"

Ji Manchuan and Yang Shi both laughed, and even the corners of Old Master Ji's mouth turned up.

Yang said with great joy, "Your fourth uncle was that old monk's wooden fish when he was a child, and he got beaten every day. Your eldest uncle was the eldest brother and was strict with his younger brothers. If your fourth uncle was even slightly lazy, he would be caught and beaten. Your father was a clever little devil who ordered your fourth uncle around to tease the cat and chase it away every day. Your fourth uncle was also like Wu Dalang, clumsy and weak. He would get beaten for being naughty with the kids in the village, and then he would get a beating from your grandfather and me when he came home. So there's a reason why he's so tough now!"

Ji Yongling chuckled, raising an eyebrow at Ji Manqing: "Fourth Uncle, like father, like son. Yongzhou and Yongning get beaten constantly; you can't entirely blame the two kids—"