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

Yu Wangdi thought that it might be because Yongling had been talking business with the adults in the county recently, so she had unconsciously started to speak and act like them.

He smiled, nodded vigorously, and said, "I've thought it through. As long as it doesn't cost any money, we have plenty of energy. Let's get started! Just tell me how to do it, and I'll do it. It's just a matter of putting in some effort and time, no big deal!"

Ji Yongling inwardly praised the cheerful boy from Northwest China and said, "Alright then. Brother, first find an unused large jar, then go to the riverbank outside and fetch some sand."

She originally wanted Yu Wangdi to build a pond, but considering that the scorpions might escape if the pond had mud walls, it would be better to use a large vat.

But as soon as she said she wanted a large vat, Ji Yongling regretted it. She still thought this was the future, where a large vat was a very valuable possession, and even if it was abandoned, it would be repaired and reused.

To Ji Yongling's surprise, Yu Wangdi actually found a large, abandoned vat.

Actually, it wasn't completely abandoned. It was just that the tank cracked from freezing water in winter, and the succulent couldn't bear to throw it away. So it covered the cracks with yellow mud, tied the tank body with rope, and cleaned the inside. It's usually used to store some miscellaneous items.

Ji Yongling touched the large jar that Yu Wangdi had painstakingly carried over. He saw that the inner wall was glazed and intact except for the large diagonal crack. He thought that the scorpion should not have an easy time escaping inside.

She instructed Yu Wangdi to pour sand into the bottom of the jar, and then took a few broken tiles from the corner of the yard and placed them on the sand at the bottom of the jar to form a mound.

To prevent the scorpions from escaping or their natural enemies from invading, Ji Yongling asked Yu Wangdi to find a bamboo sieve for sifting wheat that was about the same size as the mouth of the jar, which just covered the mouth of the jar.

And just like that, the simple scorpion tank was set up. Although raising scorpions in a tank is not conducive to ventilation, the Loess Plateau has little rainfall and is not as humid as the south, so mold diseases rarely occur and will not affect the growth of the scorpions.

Next up are the scorpion species.

In later generations, the scorpions artificially bred in farms were all superior scorpions bred through hybridization, with better reproductive capacity and adaptability. However, nowadays, only wild scorpions that have been captured can be used. These wild scorpions are highly aggressive, and most are inbred, resulting in low reproduction rates and poor adaptability. Therefore, they can only be domesticated and selected by humans.

As for when he will succeed, that can only be determined through Yu Wangdi's repeated practice and exploration.

Scorpions like to eat juicy, soft insects, but there were no readily available scorpion foods to buy in this era, so Ji Yongling had no choice but to tell Yu Wangdi to dig for earthworms in the riverbank.

In addition, he was instructed to dig a hole the size of a bowl in the sieve on top of the jar, connect a funnel, and light a torch above the hole to try to lure insects at night using the firelight, so that the insects would fall into the scorpion chamber for the scorpions to prey on.

Having prepared everything, Ji Yongling clapped his hands and said, "Brother Wangdi, these are basically all the things you need to prepare. The rest is up to you."

Yu Wangdi nodded excitedly and said, "Yongling, don't worry, I will definitely do my best to explore and become the first scorpion farmer in Ningping County!"

Ji Yongling noticed that Yu Wangdi's voice was filled with unprecedented joy, as if he were about to do something earth-shattering.

She didn't want to dampen the enthusiasm of the young people, but she still had to say some things. She said, "Raising scorpions isn't something you can make money from overnight. Scorpions caught outside are very wild and difficult to raise. It takes a lot of time for these scorpions to adapt to the conditions in this tank after they've been caught, so you should be prepared to raise them for nothing this year and not make a single penny."

Yu Wangdi patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, if it doesn't work this year, it will work next year. Even if it takes three or five years, I will try to succeed. What we farmers have in abundance is time and effort. Once it's really grown, I will definitely raise ten or eight vats of them."

Ji Yongling smiled and said, "Commendable courage."

Next, Ji Yongling explained to Yu Wangdi how to catch and harvest scorpions in the autumn and how to dry them in the shade. Yu Wangdi listened attentively, almost taking notes with paper and pen.

What Ji Yongling didn't know was that after she left, Yu Wangdi followed Ji Yongling's advice every day, going out at dawn to dig for earthworms on the riverbank, and catching scorpions in the afternoon and evening, putting the scorpions he caught into a jar to raise.

Meanwhile, Yu Wangdi would light a torch on top of the jar every night to lure insects. Later, he discovered that if the torch didn't go out every night, the number of insects he caught would be enough for the scorpions to eat, so he stopped digging for earthworms.

After several months of trial and error, Yu Wangdi finally managed to raise scorpions successfully. He even took his son, Naowa, to raise them together. The scorpions they raised were sold to scorpion buyers, bringing in a considerable amount of income for the family.

Of course, this is something.

After having dinner at Ji Shuicao's house, Ji Yongling and his daughter hurriedly drove to Niujiazhuang.

I made a detour to Ji Shuihua's house halfway there.

Ji Yongling only knew that Ji Shuihua had married into a wealthy family with many rules, and that Ji Shuihua rarely returned to Niujiazhuang. This was the first time she had come to Ji Shuihua's house.

In Ningping County, where cave dwellings are the most common type of dwelling, families who can afford to build brick and tile houses on the plateau are generally either wealthy or of high status. The two large brick and tile houses in front of her stand out prominently against the backdrop of flat farmland, giving her a feeling reminiscent of visiting the grand mansions of Shanxi merchants from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Although it gets dark late in Northwest China in summer, in Ningping County it's almost 21 PM, but we stayed at Ji Shuicao's house for a long time today, so it was already quite dark when we arrived at Ji Shuihua's house.

Ji Manchuan stepped forward and knocked on the door, calling out, "Second sister, second sister, it's me, Manchuan."

The courtyard gate creaked open, and Ji Shuihua stood inside the threshold, silently handing over the bundle in her hands.

In the dark twilight, Ji Yongling couldn't see Ji Shuihua's appearance clearly, but he could feel that she exuded a sense of loneliness and stubbornness.

Ji Manchuan took the bundle, but without opening it, he handed over a handful of silver coins.

Ji Shuihua didn't reach out, but asked in an icy voice, "Aren't you going to open it and take a look? Aren't you going to count them?"

Ji Manchuan chuckled and said, "What are you counting, Second Sister? Of course I trust you. I know how many pieces of cloth you gave me." After saying that, he grabbed Ji Shuihua's hand, put the money in her hand, turned around, got on the mule cart, and drove away.

Ji Yongling looked back from the mule cart and saw Ji Shuihua still standing inside the threshold, standing there for a long time until she could no longer see her.

When we returned to Niujiatun, it was already dark, and everyone in the village had gone to bed.

In the courtyard of the Ji family home, Grandpa Ji and others were still waiting for Ji Manchuan and his daughter. They were relieved to see that the two had arrived home safely.

Ji Manchuan briefly explained Yu Fengshou's condition to the family. Only after hearing that Yu Fengshou was getting better did everyone feel relieved and disperse to rest.

Just as Yang climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed), Ji Yongling came in and said, "Grandma, find me a strip of cloth; I need it to tie things up."

Yang hadn't originally planned to light the lamp, but after hearing Ji Yongling's words, she climbed off the kang (a heated brick bed), lit the lamp, and went to rummage through the bundle of rags, muttering, "I have a use for all these rags; I'm going to use them to mend clothes for the family. You mustn't waste them, kid. Remember to return them to me after you're done."

“I know, Grandma—” Ji Yongling grabbed a few long strips of cloth and ran out.

Yang shouted from behind, "We really wouldn't dare to waste it—"