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

“Mother…” Ji Manchuan called out in dissatisfaction, “What’s wrong with girls? Everyone says my Ling’er is smart and capable! Even if I only have these two girls in my whole life, I’ll accept it even if I don’t have a son.”

Ji Manchuan and his wife only had a daughter after so many years, so naturally they loved her more than boys in most families, and therefore couldn't stand anyone saying anything about Ji Yongling.

Jia Ronghua began to weep again.

"I never expected this to happen today. Everyone says that Huang Daopo is very effective, so when your wife and I went to ask her for help, we didn't expect her to tell us to give the baby away."

I also can't bear to part with the little girl. This newborn baby looks like a little kitten, so pitiful.

"I really didn't expect that Granny Huang would come to our door so quickly today. Ling'er hadn't been found yet, and I was so confused. She even performed a ritual to find Ling'er." Yang said, unconsciously rubbing the back of her hands.

Jia Ronghua placed the bowl of millet porridge on the windowsill, lowered her head, and remained silent.

Speaking of Huang Daopo, Ji Manchuan got angry and said in a slightly heavy tone, "This old woman doesn't seem like a kind person. Which kind person in the temple would let someone give away a baby? Who knows where she'll send the baby away!"

Madam Yang sighed and continued, "It's all my fault for being so naive. But third son, what do you think your Aunt Yinqiao is thinking? Her sons and daughters-in-law are all young and healthy."

"Who knows! Ever since she got a little money, she's acted like a rich man's wife. Humph, if she wants a granddaughter, she can go get one from anywhere! I, Ji Manchuan, will raise my own child even if I have to eat chaff and wild vegetables." Ji Manchuan said with dissatisfaction.

"Father, Mother, where are Lao San and Ling'er?" Ji Mantun's simple voice came from outside.

"Your second brother is back. We'll go out for dinner later." Madam Yang smoothed the hair at her temples with her hand, got off the kang (heated brick bed), left these words, and lifted the straw curtain to go out.

Ji Manchuan looked at his wife and said, "Mother, don't take what Huang Daopo said to heart. And don't take my words about wanting a son seriously either. We have two girls, that's enough."

"Second son, Ling'er has been found. Stay for dinner later!" Yang's voice came from the courtyard.

The second brother, Ji Mantun, stood in the courtyard and said, "No, it's good that she's been found. I even ran to Dongchuangou. The people there said they also lost a girl yesterday. It scared me to death. I thought she had been kidnapped by the Taiping rebels. Now that Ling'er has been found, I'll head back first." After saying that, he turned and walked out of the courtyard.

Then came the sound of a child crying outside; judging from the voice, it should be Ji Yongru from Fourth Uncle's family.

Ji Yongling lifted a corner of the straw curtain and saw Fourth Aunt Hu Xirong scolding Ji Yongru: "Eat, eat, eat! All you know is eating! You're a reincarnation of a glutton!" After saying that, she grabbed Ji Yongru by the collar and slapped her buttocks twice.

Three-year-old Ji Yongru cried even harder and rolled around on the ground.

Seeing Ji Yongling looking outside, Jia Ronghua said to her, "Go out and comfort Ru'er, otherwise your fourth aunt will get angry and Ru'er will get beaten even more."

Ji Yongling glanced at it and walked out.

When Hu Xirong saw Ji Yongling come out, she cursed Ji Yongru again and turned to go into the kitchen.

Ji Yongling pulled up the little girl who was covered in dirt, patted her off, tied up her loose little pigtails, and then stuffed a piece of milk candy into her mouth.

Ji Yongru immediately covered her mouth with her two chubby little hands, looking at Ji Yongling with starry eyes.

Ji Yongling made a "shh" gesture, then whispered to the little girl, "The treasure that I found in the ditch yesterday is as sweet as candy."

Ji Yongru's big, dark eyes darted around, and seeing that none of her older siblings were nearby, she grinned at Ji Yongling and said, "It's so sweet, sweeter than candy. Thank you, Sister Ling'er."

Actually, this is a milk candy that Ji Yongling took from the table in the storage warehouse control room. It was a gift that an old colleague had prepared for his son, but he had forgotten it in the office.

"Uncle Ji, Uncle Ji!" An urgent call came from outside the courtyard.

Grandpa Ji came out of the cave dwelling facing the courtyard gate and asked, "Hengsheng, what's up?"

"Quick, you have to go and see! People from Zhangjiapan are causing trouble at my second uncle's house. My father wants you to take Manchuan and Manqing with you." Niu Hengsheng, the youngest son of Niu Laoda, said breathlessly.

"Manchuan, Manqing, let's go."

Ji Manchuan and Ji Manqing followed Old Master Ji out the door.

"Mother, I'm going with Grandpa to take a look." Ji Yongling called out to the cave where her mother was and followed her there.

Niujiazhuang is named so because it was originally inhabited by people with the surname Niu.

It is said that the ancestors of the Niu family were once tenants of a wealthy family. Later, they acquired some land and settled here.

Later, due to war, the ancestors of the Niu family took in some refugees, including the ancestors of the Ji family.

Therefore, the Niu and Ji families in the village have always been on good terms and supported each other for generations.

Even in the generation of Grandpa Ji, the Ji family and the Niu family still had a very good relationship. Whenever one family was in trouble, the others would rush over to help.

When they arrived at Niu Lao Er's courtyard, the villagers gathered around and could hear a loud commotion.

“My piglets were growing well, squealing happily every day. But after you took your piglet home the other day, these piglets have become sickly and can’t even stand up straight. Look at them for yourself,” said Zhang Sheng from Zhangjiapan, pointing to the piglets that had been carried onto the ground.

“My piglets were lively and energetic when I gave them to you, but they got sick after you fed them for two days. There must be something wrong with your pig feed. Why are you blaming me? Look for yourself, all the piglets in my pigsty are still very healthy!” Niu Lao Er’s family retorted, pointing to their own pigsty.

It turns out that the Zhang family had previously bought three sows and a boar from Niu Lao Er's family. The first two days were fine, but this morning after eating their pig feed, the piglets started to whine weakly.

An old man in the village said it was swine fever, so the family, along with other villagers, carried several piglets to Niujiazhuang to demand justice.

“It must have been your family that sold the sick pig to me and kept the good ones for themselves. Look, even my healthy pigs have been infected. It was your diseased pig that infected them.”

"What? You call them swine fever pigs? These piglets of mine have been kept in the same pen since they were born from their mother, how come they haven't gotten swine fever! It's your fault for feeding them badly, and now you're trying to extort money from me in Niujiazhuang! Let me tell you, stop spouting nonsense!" Niu Lao Er's eyes were bloodshot as he stared at the other man.

His family raises sows every year to produce piglets to make money. If they get a bad reputation for raising diseased pigs, who will dare to buy their pigs in the future?

“Brother Zhang, we’re not veterinarians, so we can’t just say it’s swine fever. Why don’t we go to the county and ask a veterinarian to take a look?” said Niu Gensheng, the village head of Niujiazhuang.

Although he and Niu Lao Er were brothers beyond the fifth degree of kinship, they shared the same surname and came from the same village, and since it involved two villages, he still had to step in.

At this moment, the piglets were all lying weakly on the ground, whimpering softly.

An elderly man from Zhangjiapan stepped forward and said, "Brother Niu Er, look at these piglets. They've been growing so fast since this morning. I'm afraid it's nothing but swine fever."

The villagers from Niujiazhuang who were watching also began to speculate about this: "Don't say it, it really could be swine fever!" "Let me tell you, swine fever spreads very quickly. Look at it now, it's lively and energetic, but it's normal for it to die in the blink of an eye."

"Good heavens! If this is swine fever, my pig was grazing on the hillside with his pig yesterday!" "I heard from the elders that some swine fever cases are quite serious and can even infect humans!"...