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

"Sixth Grandma, did Chun'er eat pork during the New Year?" Ji Yongling remembered that Sixth Grandpa's family slaughtered a pig during the New Year and gave Grandpa Ji a few pounds of meat, so she asked.

"We rarely get to eat meat, even once a year. We keep a close eye on it from the moment the pig is slaughtered, and we're the first to grab it once it's cooked," Chen sighed.

Ji Yongling put down the straw rope in his hand and said to Grandpa Ji and Madam Yang, "I'm going to see Chun'er."

Grandpa Ji nodded and said to Madam Yang, "Do you still have the candy that the eldest son brought back last time? Make some for Ling'er and take it over to Mei'er to make tea."

Ji Yongling went to the Chen family's house. The arrangement of the cave dwellings in this courtyard was almost the same as that of the old Ji family's house.

Shuanzhu's wife was wiping Ji Yongchun's bottom when she saw Ji Yongling arrive. She quickly offered him a seat and then called Ji Yongmei to shovel soil and press down the excrement.

Ji Yongling waved her hand: "I came to see Chun'er. This is some candy that my grandparents asked me to bring for Chun'er." As she spoke, she waved the candy wrapper in her hand at Ji Yongchun.

The elderly couple surnamed Chen had three daughters in their lifetime before finally having a son named Shuanzhu. However, Shuanzhu and his wife then had three more daughters. Since their eldest son didn't make a name for himself, they now only have two daughters, Ji Yongmei and Ji Yongchun, whom they cherish very much.

Ji Yongling saw Ji Yongchun leaning listlessly on his mother's shoulder. Even when he heard about candy, his eyes only lit up, but he didn't move.

Ji Yongling carefully observed Ji Yongchun's complexion, touched her small hand, and took her pulse. She then offered to shovel soil and press down the excrement, but actually went to observe Ji Chun's feces.

When Shuanzhu's wife saw Ji Yongling squatting next to Ji Yongchun's excrement, she quickly picked up Ji Yongchun and pulled Ji Yongling over, saying, "Ling'er, come here quickly, it's dirty."

Ji Yongling used a small twig to turn over the feces and said, "Auntie, look, there are these worm-like things in Chun'er's poop." In fact, they were tapeworm segments, but she couldn't explain it to Shuanzhu's wife.

"Ah, this. I'm very careful about what I feed Chun'er. She's never eaten anything unclean. How could there be bugs?"

“Auntie, it’s not that the food was unclean. It’s probably that Chun’er ate raw or undercooked pork, so she has worms in her stomach,” Ji Yongling said, straightening up.

"I remember now. When we slaughtered the pig for the New Year, the child was greedy and secretly stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth before it was even cooked. When I saw it, I even managed to pry some out. What should we do?" Shuanzhu's wife said with some regret.

"What should we do? Will the worms in my sister's stomach crawl out by themselves?" Ji Yongmei heard this and rushed over, looking up at Ji Yongling with pleading eyes.

“Auntie, don’t worry. Do you remember Granny Liu from out of town across the ditch? I used to run into her often when I was gathering firewood and cutting grass. She taught me a lot of ways to cure diseases and save lives, and she also gave me some folk medicine powder. One of the powders was said to expel worms from the stomach if you drank it.”

When Shuanzhu's wife heard that it was Granny Liu, she felt much more at ease.

It is said that Granny Liu was an old lady from a large medical clinic in the south. Her ancestors were even imperial physicians. However, due to offending a villain, her family fell into poverty, so she came to the north to seek refuge with relatives. Unexpectedly, her relatives' family had been attacked by bandits and had long since disappeared. Granny Liu, with her young grandson and leaning on a jujube cane, begged her way to Ningping County, finally settling down in two abandoned cave dwellings on the bank of a ditch opposite Niujiazhuang.

However, I heard that last year, after Grandma Liu's grandson was carried away by wolves, he went mad, refused to eat or drink, and died.

Ji Yongling went home and pretended to rummage through her cave dwelling. In reality, she took albendazole from the medical storage in the reserve and crushed it with a machine. She poured the powder into a bowl, dissolved it in water, and then took the bowl to Sixth Grandma's house.

Although she resigned from her job at the hospital in her previous life and changed careers, she was very happy while recuperating in the village, treating villagers and livestock alike. The satisfaction from saving lives was something nothing else could provide. However, unpleasant memories of her time in the hospital would occasionally wake her up in the middle of the night, so there were probably some people and some diseases that she just couldn't touch.

After taking the medicine, Ji Yongchun had diarrhea several times.

Ji Yongling then gave Ji Yongchun some rehydration salts from the storage warehouse to drink.

Soon, Ji Yongchun said his stomachache was gone, he ate something, and even wanted to get out of bed to play. When Shuanzhu's wife and Sixth Grandma saw that Ji Yongchun was in good spirits, they immediately clasped their hands together and bowed to the sky, muttering something under their breath.

Not long after Ji Yongling returned home, Sixth Grandma Chen brought another bowl of millet to the door, thanked Grandpa Ji and his wife profusely, and praised Ji Yongling endlessly.

When Grandma Ji heard her sister-in-law thanking her and praising her granddaughter, she was overjoyed. Although she said, "It's nothing, it's just that the herbal powder that Granny Liu gave me is effective," her body trembling with laughter betrayed her true feelings.

Grandpa Ji smiled and puffed on his pipe, looking at Ji Yongling with affection. He only knew that his granddaughter would always lend a hand to Granny Liu when she worked in the ditch, and sometimes she would go to the opposite ditch to do needlework for the old lady. Granny Liu was a capable woman, well-read and knowledgeable, and she would often teach her granddaughter things. At the time, he hadn't thought much of it, but now he realized he should have let his granddaughter go to that side of the ditch more often.

By evening, Grandpa Ji Liu and Shuanzhu also came to the door. It turned out that the two had gone to borrow money from several married daughters to take Ji Yongchun to Yangjiaji to see a doctor and get medicine. When they returned and heard that Ji Yongling's folk medicine powder had cured the child, they immediately came to thank him.

Ji Manchuan was also there, and listening to his elders and brothers praise his child, he felt incredibly sweet inside.

Back then, after Jia Ronghua got married, she didn't conceive for a long time, and some people in the village started gossiping. Finally, Jia Ronghua gave birth to Ji Yongling, but then there was no further news, so the villagers said that she was having trouble having children and advised her to adopt one of her brothers' sons.

He thought that his nephews and nieces all had their own parents, and it wasn't like he and his wife couldn't have children. If they really couldn't have a son, he would find a husband for Ji Yongling.

And so they raised Ji Yongling as both a daughter and a son, just in case they only had one daughter in the future, she would have to be able to carry on the family line like a son.

But now, it seems that his daughter is more capable than most boys, which makes him very proud.

Work at sunrise, and rest at sunset.

After seeing off Grandpa Ji and his companion, the family prepared to rest.

Just as Ji Yongling was about to close the courtyard gate, she saw a hurried figure. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was her uncle's eldest son, Ji Yongsong, returning home. Wasn't he studying in the county? Why was he back so late?

"Brother, why are you back?" Ji Yongling asked as he reopened the courtyard gate to welcome Ji Yongsong back.

"It's Ling'er. My father sent me back to check if anything happened when the earth dragon turned upside down at home. Where are Grandpa and Grandma?" Ji Yongsong stepped over the threshold and walked towards the cave dwelling of Grandpa Ji and Grandma Ji.

Grandpa Ji and Grandma Ji lifted the straw curtain and came out of the cave dwelling. Seeing that it was Ji Yongsong, they hurriedly asked Ji Manchuan in the yard to take Ji Yongsong's bundle.

Ji Yongsong sat down, took a sip of water, and rested for a while before explaining why he had come back.

It turns out that yesterday, the celestial dog eclipsed the sun and the earth dragon turned over, causing some houses to collapse. Rumors spread throughout the county that this was an unusual phenomenon from the heavens, that the dragon vein was shaken, and that calamity would soon befall them.

Ji Yongling was somewhat speechless. But seeing everyone's solemn expressions, she also pretended to be serious.

Ji Manchuan frowned and asked Ji Yongsong, "Didn't the county magistrate hire a master to govern the town?"

"The magistrate said, 'The Master did not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits.' He also punished the person who requested the ritual with a cane. There's another matter..." The thirteen-year-old boy took a deep breath and continued, "Recently, bandits have started to appear again in our Qingzhou Prefecture. I heard that a small group of bandits has taken up residence in Xinning County and has robbed several houses."

With a "thud," Grandpa Ji's pipe slammed heavily onto the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).