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

Eat elm bark?

In fact, the Ji family also ate it. Mrs. Yang and Grandpa Ji would often chop the elm bark they had peeled off the tree into small sections in the yard, stir-fry it in a pot until it turned yellow, and finally grind it into powder with a stone mill, which was then ready to eat.

The Ji family owns a lot of land, and their harvest has been decent these past two years. Although they don't rely entirely on elm bark for food, the Yang family will add some elm bark powder when steaming vegetable dumplings.

Because chopped vegetable leaves are not sticky, they cannot be kneaded if too little flour is added. However, elm bark is sticky and can be mixed with coarse wheat bran to form bran-based wild vegetable dumplings, which can then be steamed or boiled. This method can save some grain.

Of course, it goes without saying that Yang would definitely mix elm bark into steamed cornbread and steamed buns, which use a lot of flour.

Elm bark has low tannin content. Although it is not bitter, it is very sticky and prickly to eat. When eaten alone, it has a "green" taste. However, it is still acceptable when mixed with other foods.

Ji Yongling had already learned from experience that he didn't need to taste the dry food at home; as long as the color was dark red, it was basically mixed with elm bark.

However, having elm bark to eat is better than eating bitter pine bark or unpalatable bean husks, sesame husks, or buckwheat husks. How unpalatable are the latter? They can only be eaten after being burned to ashes. In reality, they are just filling the stomach and "exchanging one's life" without being filling.

So when the summer grain hasn't come down yet, the farmers here call this lean season the "grain hurdle." It's a tough hurdle to overcome; if you get through it, you're lucky; if you don't, you might become a starving, innocent soul.

Ji Yongling felt a little sad and helpless. Her gaze fell on several women who were able to earn money because they had work to do. She gave each of them a few bundles of cloth and told them to take them home and work on them.

As darkness fell, Ji Mantun and his son had already left, but Ji Manchuan and his brother had not yet returned.

As Yang sat under the apple tree listening to Ji Yongling do the accounts, explaining how many medicinal herbs they had collected in the past two days, she casually muttered to herself, "Why haven't your father and the others returned yet?"

"Is Ling'er here?" A soft, gentle female voice came from the courtyard gate.

"Who is it?" Hearing a sound outside, Madam Yang turned her head and asked.

"It's me, Maihua, your mistress—"

"Oh, Maihua, come in quickly. What are you doing standing at the door? Come in." Madam Yang waved to the door.

Ji Yongling stood up from the low stool, looked at Maihua, and saw that she was thin and still wearing the same patched clothes she had seen last time. So she walked to the courtyard gate, took Maihua's hand, and said, "Sister Maihua, come in and sit down."

"Yes, thank you, Ling'er." Maihua said softly and followed her into the courtyard.

Seeing that Maihua's arms were as thin as Jiling's and her lips were dry and chapped, Madam Yang sighed and said, "Oh, it's so sad for a child without a mother. Sit down quickly, Grandma will get you a bowl of sweet water."

Ji Yongling stopped Yang Shi and said, "I'll go, Grandma." After saying that, she went to the kitchen cave, poured a bowl of water from the teapot, added some multivitamins, and brought it back to the yard to hand to Maihua.

Maihua shook her head and said, "Thank you, Ling'er, but I'm not thirsty."

"Drink up, Sister Maihua, don't be shy, it's just a bowl of water, and I'm still waiting for you to do some work for me." Ji Yongling handed the bowl forward again.

Seeing that she couldn't refuse, Maihua took the porcelain bowl, took a small sip, paused, looked up at Ji Yongling with bright eyes, and said, "It's really delicious, thank you, Ling'er." After saying that, she lowered her head shyly.

Madam Yang asked, "Maihua, why are you only arriving now? Didn't I tell Yongning to come and call you at noon?"

Maihua put down the porcelain bowl, looked up, and said shyly, "I hadn't finished the chores at home yet, and I came over as soon as I finished them."

Yang's face fell, she snorted and said, "With your parents around, you'll never finish your work!"

Ji Yongling sat down next to Yang Shi, picked up a scrap of cloth and needle and thread from the low table, and said to Maihua, "Sister Maihua, I invited you here because I want you to help me make some medicine pouches. Each medicine pouch costs two and a half coins. Here is a sample for you to take a look at." After saying that, she handed over the sample in her hand.

Maihua took the sample, looked at it carefully, and said, "Ling'er, I should be able to make this, but I'm afraid my skills aren't refined enough and won't meet the standards of city people."

Ji Yongling smiled and said, "It's fine as long as it's the same as this sample. It doesn't need to be too refined. We'll just make it ordinary. You see, the fabric I chose isn't that kind of fine fabric."

Maihua bit her lip, nodded, and said, "I can do it, but I'm afraid I can't do many in a day and it will interfere with your work."

Ji Yongling shook her head and said, "My mother and I have already agreed that my fourth aunt will come to your house early tomorrow morning to call you and ask you to come over to cook. My fourth aunt will explain to your mother that you must cook at my house and go back home when it's time to eat."

Maihua hesitated slightly, then said, "I'm afraid my mother won't agree..."

"They will agree, don't worry."

After a moment's thought, Maihua realized that Ji Yongling wanted her to escape her home temporarily. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she bit her lip, looking at Ji Yongling and Yang Shi with gratitude.

She knew that no matter how many medicine pouches she made or how much money she earned, all the coins would eventually end up in her mother's pocket. No matter how much she was paid, her mother would agree. As long as she could earn money, she wasn't going to be a freeloader.

Ji Yongling continued, "Of course, if you work quickly and do more, I'll have my fourth aunt give your mother a rough estimate, and I'll pay you the extra wages privately."

"Thump!" Maihua immediately knelt down on the low stool, covered her face, and sobbed, "Second wife, Ling'er, thank you, thank you."

Yang reached out and pulled Maihua's arm, trying to help her up, saying, "What are you doing, young lady? Get up, sit down and let's talk."

Ji Yongling also reached out to pull her, but Maihua was already sobbing uncontrollably and had directly collapsed onto Yang's lap.

Yang withdrew one hand and patted Maihua's shoulder, tears welling in her eyes. She said, "My child, everyone has seen the hardships you've endured over the years, but no family is wealthy. Besides, they are your parents; no one can bypass them to take care of you. We thought that once you grew up and got married, things would be better, but now, alas..."

Maihua was already sobbing uncontrollably, her shoulders trembling.

Ji Yongling quietly squatted down next to Maihua, took Maihua's arm, and said, "Sister Maihua, don't cry. Let's see how to make this first. Try making it. If you can, you can earn money by yourself tomorrow."

After crying her fill, Maihua sat up, glanced at Ji Yongling apologetically, and said, "I've made Ling'er laugh at me."

Madam Yang waved her hand and said, "Oh, how can you say that? She's soft-hearted more than anyone else."

Ji Yongling shook her head and chuckled, saying, "If I can't help you, I'll laugh at myself."

Maihua smiled shyly again, said thank you once more, and then gently picked up the needle, thread, and fabric scraps on the table, quickly threading the needle.

Looking at the wheat blossoms, Yang clicked her tongue and said, "Young people have better eyesight. This old woman can't even see the needle anymore."

Soon, Maihua finished making a medicine pouch. Ji Yongling inspected it and saw that the stitches were fine and the lines were neat. He nodded and said, "Sister Maihua, your needlework skills are really good. Come and work for us tomorrow."

Maihua smiled shyly again.

Seeing that it was already quite dark, Madam Yang told Maihua to go home early.

Maihua nodded, turned and left, but stopped and looked back when she reached the outside of the courtyard, muttering, "Mother, you see, there are still people who will help me, so no matter how hard it is, I can get through it, right?"