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

Chapter 600 Euphorbia Plant

The dried-up euphorbias in her home were from when Ji Yongling visited Guazi Village last year to distribute medicinal herbs. The villagers, hearing that she was buying cacti, insisted on giving her a cartload of them. She repeatedly refused, but the villagers persisted. Finally, she accepted them and, upon closer inspection, realized they weren't cacti at all.

The things on this cart only looked like cacti, but they were actually plants of the Euphorbiaceae family. Although she didn't know the specific subspecies of these Euphorbias, she was certain they were Euphorbias, not cacti.

At the time, the villagers of Guazi Village repeatedly warned her that after these "cactus" died and dried up, they looked like a pile of useless rotten wood covered with sharp points, but they were quite poisonous. Because they didn't know this before, a family in the village later used these "cactus" to dry and make firewood, and within a few days, the whole family was wiped out.

Ji Yongling was aware of this; during a previous visit to the botanical garden, the information about euphorbia plants mentioned that the smoke from burning some euphorbia species could be poisonous. However, what puzzled her was how these plants could survive in the Northwest. Perhaps it was related to the low-lying and arid terrain of Guazi Village.

Although these euphorbia plants can survive in Guazi Village, they certainly cannot survive on high plateaus, just like the Castanopsis trees in Jishuicaojiagou, which can only grow in large rivers.

Ji Yongling had originally brought back that batch of euphorbias, intending to study them to see if she could extract anything useful. However, due to limited resources, her attempts all ended in failure. The euphorbias had dried up into firewood, which Jia Ronghua piled next to a haystack, preparing to bury them in the ground.

When Jia Ronghua heard Ji Yongling ask her to pack up the halberd, she asked with some confusion, "Didn't you say that the thing was poisonous? You were planning to extract something from it to make painkillers? What are you going to do with it now?"

Ji Yongling smiled and said, "Mom, oh, the stuff is poisonous, even the smoke from burning it is poisonous, so we can't burn it, but this time it just happens to come in handy!"

Lin Shengwen suddenly realized that Ji Yongling's words a few days ago about wanting to burn the bandits to death weren't just empty talk. He excitedly said, "I know what you're up to! I'll help you light the fire!"

"Light a fire and suffocate the bandits?" Ji Manchuan shook his head and said, "Oh, I'm afraid that won't work! Ma Chenfang's gang of bandits is quite large, and Lijiabaozi is not a small place, unlike the cave we live in. Even if we throw all our halberds in and set them on fire, we still won't be able to suffocate many bandits!"

Ji Yongling nodded and said, "Dad, throwing it in won't do any good, and their walls are too high, how can we throw it in? What I want is for them to come over like wildfire, stepping over the smoke."

"What? Burning the bonfire? Stepping over a bonfire?" Ji Manqing was the first to react, clapping his hands and saying, "Oh, oh, oh, I know! Did you use the excuse of curing illness to get those bandits to step over the bonfire? I suppose those bandits have the same custom as us, stepping over a bonfire to burn themselves when they are sick or in trouble, to drive away evil and ward off misfortune!"

"Fourth Uncle, you're so clever! That's exactly what I was thinking!" Ji Yongling laughed. "Although these bandits commit murder, arson, and all sorts of atrocities, they were probably just defeated soldiers or out-of-town bandits in the past. One or two generations ago, they were all farmers, so the rituals they follow are probably the same as ours. However, we need to think of a way to get more bandits to come out and get their 'illness' by stepping over the fire!"

Upon hearing this, Ji Manchuan instantly perked up and said, "Just tell me what you want to do, everyone supports you!"

"Besides the euphorbia at home, Fourth Uncle, you and Fourth Aunt go to Granny Huang's place and bring back a lot of oleander tree branches. Just tell her I need them!" Ji Yongling instructed. "The smoke from burning oleander is also poisonous, and the damp branches produce even more smoke when burned!"

"Okay, no problem!" Ji Manqing and his wife nodded in agreement.

Ji Yongling had seen oleanders in the corner of Huang Daopo's house before. Huang Daopo said that she had cut branches from Madam Guo's residence in Qingzhou Prefecture and planted them. Because these oleanders have peach-pink flowers and a long flowering period, they can bloom for a long time throughout the year, so she has been propagating and transplanting many of them over the years.

At the time, Ji Yongling said that once her yard was built, she would also plant a few cuttings to admire in the yard. However, she was so busy that she forgot about it, and now it has come in handy.

At this moment, Ji Yongfei, who had been silent all along, looked at Ji Yongling and said softly, "Second sister, let me go to Bacunyuan with you. I'll come and help you!"

Upon hearing this, Yang objected, saying, "What help could you possibly be? Just stay home!"

Since Zhao Yunxia passed away, Ji Yongfei has lost her former vigor and spirit, and she looks somewhat melancholy.

Ji Yongling thought for a moment and said, "You don't need to go to Bacunyuan, but you can help me do something more important."

Upon hearing this, Ji Yongfei's eyes lit up, and she quickly asked, "Is there something more important? What is it? Can I handle it?"

Ji Yongling nodded and said, "You can do it! These next few days, take Shaowa, Yongning and the others around the village and see which tree has good apples. Pick a lot of them and bring them back. I'll have a great use for them."

Ji Yongfei pursed her lips and hesitated, "I'm afraid there aren't many to be found! The fruit is still green at this time of year, and the skin is thick and hard, making it difficult for people with bad teeth to chew!"

"As long as it's edible! They're bandits, we're lucky if they get any fruit to eat, we don't care about these things," Ji Yongling said nonchalantly.

"Alright, I'll go look around here!" Ji Yongfei nodded in agreement.

At this moment, Zhao Yuanbao, who had been sitting under the eaves listening to the Ji family discuss matters, stood up and said, "Sister Yongling, we have some early fruits in my Zhao Village. At this time of year, they're all bigger than my fist!"

The Zhao family's estate... it must be a scene of carnage, a complete mess! Besides, in this weather, those corpses lying in the yard are probably already rotting. Even if there are apples, she can't pick them.

Seeing that Ji Yongling remained silent, Zhao Yuanbao said sadly and sincerely, "Sister Yongling, I know that my family's estate... is unlucky. But I'm not afraid. I can go back and pick fruit. As long as I can help you and kill the bandits, I'm not afraid of anything."

“I’m not afraid either. I’ll go back with my uncle to pick fruit,” Zhao Chunni said, standing up as well.

Ji Yongling smiled slightly and said to Zhao Yuanbao, "Yuanbao, it's not that I think your village is unlucky, it's that I'm afraid you won't be able to bear seeing that scene when you go back!"

Yuanbao shook his head and said, "I can handle it, I really can handle it!"