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

After leaving Xu's Pharmacy, Ji Yongling took Ji Yonghua to Buzhuang.

On the way, Ji Yonghua's eyes flickered, and he mustered his courage to ask in a low voice, "Ling'er, why didn't you say so earlier when you went to discuss the price of the medicine pouch? If I had known, I wouldn't have gone in."

Ji Yongling looked at Ji Yonghua in confusion. Ji Yonghua pursed his lips and said, "Everyone talks about prices in secret, afraid that others will find out. If you let me know, then they'll know how much money you made."

Ji Yongling smiled and said in a light voice, "It's nothing, just a little money. We earn a little bit to give to Grandma and the others, and also to help the aunties and girls in the village earn some pocket money. It's okay if you know."

Ji Yonghua's eyes darted away for a moment before he said, "Aren't you afraid my mother will find out how much money you make?"

Ji Yongling shook his head: "I make money honestly and openly. Whoever can make this money, go ahead and make it! If you can't, just watch me make it."

Ji Yonghua swallowed hard and said solemnly, "I promise I won't tell my mother the price Manager Wang gave you."

Ji Yongling smiled dismissively.

As the two were talking, they arrived at the cloth stake.

When the shopkeeper saw that the guests were two little children, he didn't pay much attention. He glanced at them a couple of times, then immediately stood up and said with a smile, "Oh, isn't this the little girl who bought thirty catties of cotton last time? What? Did your family give you money to spend again today? What do you want to buy? I'll give you a discount."

Ji Yongling smiled slightly and said, "Boss, I'd like to buy some fabric for making sachets. Could you give me some recommendations?"

She originally wanted to buy fabric scraps, but then she thought that since the fabric scraps were all different sizes and the medicine pouches needed to be the same size, cutting them according to the template would waste a lot of scraps. It would be better to use a whole piece of fabric, since her cutting templates were all square and large pieces of fabric would be less wasteful.

The cloth shopkeeper was a straightforward man, and he kept rambling on and on: "Oh my, you're such a clever girl. Luckily, your dad bought a lot of cotton last time, and now the price has gone up again. Sigh, I can't even afford to stock up anymore. At such high prices, who's going to buy? Oh, by the way, you said you wanted to buy cloth to make sachets? Uncle can give you some advice."

As she spoke, she pulled out a roll of dark red fabric that shimmered like satin, holding the edge with one hand and stroking the fabric with the other, saying, "Girl, let me tell you, this is the most fashionable fabric in the capital. Many nobles are scrambling to buy it. If you make it into a sachet, I guarantee it will sell well."

Ji Yongling glanced at the fabric; it was indeed of excellent quality, suitable for wealthy families to make clothes. Using it for medicine pouches would be too extravagant, unless it could be sold to rich people at a high price.

"Do you have any sturdy yet simple materials? I need a lot," Ji Yongling asked.

Seeing that Ji Yongling wasn't very interested in the fabric in his hand, the shopkeeper put it down, licked the saliva from the corner of his mouth, and said, "That's just coarse cloth woven by farmers themselves. Let me show you." As he spoke, he bent down and rummaged under the counter, pulling out a roll of dark brown fabric.

"How about this? Let me tell you, girl, although this cloth is woven by a local farmer, look how dense and solid it is. It's almost the same as the cloth produced in the weaving workshops in the south. Moreover, I personally went to the dye house in the city to dye it, so it won't fade easily or turn white."

Ji Yongling touched the cloth. Although she didn't know much about fabrics, she could still make a general judgment. For example, although the cloth in front of her retained the roughness of coarse cloth, it was indeed quite dense. If the threads were finer, it would be much smoother, and the dyeing was also even.

Ji Yongling mentally calculated the approximate amount of cloth needed and asked, "How much is one bolt of cloth? Are there other colors available?"

The shopkeeper eagerly asked, "One qian eighty cents a bolt, and we also have indigo and crimson. How much do you plan to buy?"

"Can you lower the price? I need a lot."

“Girl, I’m not lying to you. You can tell from the fact that my shop is located in this market that we mainly sell to the poor. We just make a little money, that’s enough. This cloth is woven and dyed locally. If it were transported from the south, you definitely couldn’t buy it at this price. But how much do you want, girl? If you really want a lot, I’ll give you a slight discount, but only a little bit, not more.”

"Ten horses, please. All of these colors are acceptable."

"Ten bolts?!" The cloth shopkeeper and Ji Yonghua exclaimed in surprise.

Ji Yongling nodded gently: "Yes, ten horses."

Ji Yonghua snapped out of her daze, tugged at Ji Yongling's sleeve, and whispered, "Second sister, there's too much. Let's buy less."

The shopkeeper also said, "Girl, you should discuss this with your family. If you buy too many, who will you sell the sachets to? Which shop in the county town would buy so many sachets? Don't waste money like this." What he didn't say was, judging from your clothes and appearance, you don't seem to be from a wealthy family.

Ji Yongling said confidently, "No need to discuss it. I can make the decision. I want ten bolts, one and a half qian each. How about that?"

"This, this, you really want ten bolts? If you really want them—okay, I'll sell them to you!" the cloth shopkeeper said through gritted teeth.

Seeing Ji Yongling's unwavering determination, Ji Yonghua hesitated, wondering whether to try to persuade him again. The truth was, his family had never bought a complete bolt of cloth before; they always bought scraps or wove their own. Buying ten bolts now would surely earn them a scolding from their family for being spendthrifts.

On second thought, since five thousand medicine pouches were to be made anyway, Second Sister must have planned it all out and wouldn't waste them. If she bought too many, she could keep them to sew clothes.

"Master, do you have thread of the same color as this cloth?" Ji Yongling asked, remembering that she needed both cloth and needle and thread.

"Yes, yes, yes, we're a fabric store, we only have fabric and needles and thread." The fabric store owner said with a smile, taking out a large bunch of threads of various colors from the counter.

"This is silk thread. Look at its luster, how bright it is. This is cotton thread. Although it can't compare to silk thread, the color is still quite vibrant, isn't it?"

Ji Yongling stared intently at the silk threads, unwilling to look away. These were all genuine silk threads; although the colors were limited, their texture and luster exuded an indescribable beauty.

Seeing that Ji Yongling kept looking at the silk threads, the cloth shopkeeper laughed and said, "No girl doesn't love these silk threads. But listen to your uncle, it's not cost-effective to use these silk threads to match those cloths, it's really not cost-effective. These silk threads are for rich people to use for embroidery. Come, come, look at these cotton threads, these are the things that are useful for ordinary people like us, they're sturdy and economical."

Ji Yongling turned her gaze to the cotton thread, thought for a moment, and said, "Then let's buy cotton thread, one bundle of each color."

The shopkeeper deftly separated the threads, then took out a few needles and said, "Seeing how straightforward you are, these needles are a gift from your uncle. Take good care of them. If you lose them and want them back, you'll have to pay to buy them."

Ji Yongling smiled and thanked him, then paid the money.

After buying their things, the two drove their mule cart home.

On the narrow country road, dust flies everywhere, while the fields on both sides are full of hope.

Ji Yonghua hesitated for a long time, wanting to ask some questions, but after opening his mouth several times, he felt embarrassed and didn't ask.

It wasn't until they were almost in the village that he couldn't hold back any longer and asked, "Second Sister, weren't you nervous or scared when you were negotiating with Manager Wang?"

Ji Yongling looked at Ji Yonghua with confusion and asked, "Why are you nervous? Why are you afraid? We are having a fair trade, and everyone is equal."

Ji Yonghua twisted the hem of his clothes and said, "Although I am older than you, my second brother and I always feel very nervous and a little scared when we see the accountant at the landlord's house."

Ji Yongling tightened the reins in her hand and turned to look at Ji Yonghua: "What are you afraid of? We're all human. He doesn't have any more noses or eyes than us."

Chi Yung-hua scratched his head and said, "I just feel that these rich and powerful people are not easy to mess with, and I'm afraid of them from the bottom of my heart."

Ji Yongling's lips twitched, and he said, "What you're afraid of isn't him as a person, but the power and influence he wields."

Ji Yongling looked back at the road, no longer looking at Ji Yonghua, and said, "Because of 'rank,' in this world, people are divided into ranks from birth. The lower the rank, the more miserable one's life is, even worse than that of an ant. Are we farmers really born to be inferior to others, to be a lower class? Are those who become kings and generals, those wealthy people who own vast amounts of land, really born with good fortune, noble lineage, and superiority?"

Ji Yonghua stared blankly at Ji Yongling, who was driving, with his mouth agape. After a long while, he said, "People often say, 'Like father, like son,' and 'His father sells scallions and garlic.' Those rich people are just better off being born into wealth and having better lives than us. We farmers have to work hard and barely survive. Their fathers are rich; they were born into wealth."

"One day all the landlords and rich people will be overthrown, and only the peasants will be the true masters of this land." It seemed to be Ji Yongling talking to himself. Ji Yonghua didn't hear it clearly, and the words were already blown away by the wind.

Ji Yonghua glanced sideways and saw a few strands of hair at Ji Yongling's temples dancing in the wind. Her expression was serene yet powerful, as if she had become one with this land.