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

Although Ji Manchuan felt that since he already had two boys, Shaowa and Guowa, it wouldn't be a problem for another young man to live in the house. However, he also had a daughter, Ji Yongling, and as her father, he had to be more careful to avoid gossip.

Besides his wife Jia Ronghua, Ji Manqing was the one who understood Ji Manchuan best. He could tell what his brother was struggling with the moment he saw his brother looking at Lin Shengwen with such uncertainty.

He patted his chest and said, "Young Master Lin, if you don't mind, you can stay in my courtyard for the next few days! It'll be perfect for us uncle and nephew to have a good chat. Your uncle really likes you!"

"Really? Can we stay a few more days?" Lin Shengwen asked, his eyes shining.

Ji Manqing said cheerfully, "As long as you want to stay, you can stay for as long as you like!"

And so, Lin Shengwen was arranged to stay in Ji Manqing's courtyard.

Lin Shengwen slept exceptionally well that night, and he didn't wake up until the next day, after the roosters had crowed several times and it was fully light.

Today is another sunny day, the sun is so bright it's blinding.

Ji Yongling was going to perform a nail removal surgery on Lin Shengwen today. She arrived early at the door of Lin Shengwen's room to wait. When she saw that he was awake, she gathered Ji Manqing, Ji Yongning, and the other children over for a "bedside clinical teaching" session.

She first briefly explained the formation mechanism of paronychia, as well as how to treat and prevent it. Finally, she used Lin Shengwen's toes as a negative example, saying, "Don't wait until this point! Toes like these have already become infected and must be removed, otherwise it may cause more serious infection."

As she spoke, Ji Yongling glanced at Lin Shengwen, who immediately curled his toes in embarrassment.

“Removing the nail isn’t difficult, but you must learn how to disinfect properly!” Ji Yongling said, pulling Lin Shengwen’s feet, which were resting on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), and placing his heels on a stool before starting the disinfection process.

"The process will be very painful, so I will try to be as gentle and quick as possible. Just bear with it. If you can't help it, you can scream!" Ji Yongling repeatedly instructed.

Lin Shengwen smirked, his tone full of arrogance and unruliness: "It's just pulling out a fingernail, a trivial matter! You just go ahead and use the knife, why would I complain?"

Ji Yongling shook his head helplessly. Removing an armpit without anesthesia would be extremely painful!

She said seriously, "Stubborn! Don't use your willpower to challenge physical pain! Pain is pain, it's not something shameful! If you can't bear it, just say so! I'm starting!"

Lin Shengwen chuckled, seemingly unconcerned, and said, "Let's begin!"

Ji Yongling moved as gently as possible, first making a small incision in the nail groove of Lin Shengwen's big toe, then gently scraping with a sharp blade to widen the gap between the nail and the nail bed. She then pressed and pried the nail along the gap from the tip and one side until it was completely free. Next, she used pliers to clamp Lin Shengwen's nail and forcefully pulled it to the other side, completely separating it from the nail bed.

“Okay!” Ji Yongling nodded.

Ahhh, it's finally out! Lin Shengwen let out a long sigh of relief, trembling.

It hurts so much! I understand so well! This is absolute torture! Why do they always have to make him suffer like this!

Just now, to avoid being looked down upon by Ji Yongling, Lin Shengwen gritted his teeth and only dared to whimper, not daring to shout. Heaven knows how painful that was; his lips were bleeding from biting them, and his mouth tasted of blood.

"You really are resilient; no wonder you're a martial artist!" Ji Yongling smiled and comforted Lin Shengwen, who was pale with pain.

"It's alright...it's okay...it's okay..." Lin Shengwen forced a smile, his lips trembling.

Ji Yongzhou blinked his admiring eyes and said, "Mr. Lin, you're amazing! I was trembling with pain just watching you, but you didn't utter a sound!"

Lin Shengwen took a deep breath and said, "How can a real man be like a weakling who can't even endure a little injury or pain!"

Ji Yongling looked at him with admiration and said, "You'll probably still be in a lot of pain these next couple of days, so get some rest. If you're in a hurry to get to the county, have my fourth uncle drive you there!"

"No, no, no, I'll stay in your Niujiazhuang to recuperate until I'm fully recovered!" Lin Shengwen quickly said.

“Alright!” Ji Yongling nodded.

Then, she reiterated the precautions for the future. She knew about paronychia; it was prone to recurrence, and she didn't want to become a nail remover again.

The journey had left Lin Shengwen utterly exhausted. After removing the nails, the Ji family went to the fields, and he slept for the entire day.

Early the next morning, Ji Yongling came to Ji Manqing's house to change Lin Shengwen's dressing. Upon hearing the noise, Lin Shengwen immediately jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed) on one foot, enduring the excruciating pain, and hopped to the doorway.

"How are you? Does it still hurt?" Ji Yongling asked with a smile as she walked towards Lin Shengwen.

Lin Shengwen suddenly felt a surge of tenderness and happiness, and said, "It's alright, it doesn't hurt much."

"It'll probably still hurt for a few days! But young people recover quickly!"

Seeing that Ji Yongling was about to reach the door, Lin Shengwen suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He jumped over the threshold and was about to pounce on the ground.

In the blink of an eye, just as Ji Yongling reached out to catch Lin Shengwen, Lin Shengwen had already been scooped into Ji Manqing's arms by the quick-thinking and agile Ji Manqing.

Ji Manqing blinked his big, dark eyes twice and said with disdain, "You kid, your feet still hurt, and you can't stand up, so you just lie down on the kang (heated brick bed). Look, you almost tripped, luckily I'm quick! Otherwise, your chin would be turned into an underbite! From now on, when you drink noodle soup, your chin will be in the bowl before your mouth!"

"Uncle, you don't have to be so quick!" Lin Shengwen took a breath, forced a smile, and muttered to himself.

Ji Manqing had no idea that Lin Shengwen's brilliant idea to use his good looks to seduce him had been ruined by Ji Manqing. He helped Lin Shengwen up and waved to Ji Yongling, saying, "From now on, I'll take care of changing Young Master Lin's dressings. I'll guarantee you'll be satisfied!"

"Ah!" Lin Shengwen wailed, "Uncle Ji, are you sure you can do this? Look how thick your fingers are, I'm afraid you can't handle this delicate work!"

"Don't underestimate your Uncle Ji! No way!" Ji Manqing patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, I guarantee nothing will happen!"

Ji Yongling thought that Ji Manqing had already checked the dressing changes many times, so there shouldn't be any problems. Therefore, she gave the items to Ji Manqing.

To everyone's surprise, a few moments later, screams like a pig being slaughtered echoed from inside the room. Ji Yongling could only silently apologize to Lin Shengwen; that's how interns develop their skills.

……