Chapter 16 Sons and Daughters
Mr. Zhuang touched Manbao's head and said with a smile, "Take the writing brush and ink home today. I'll go to the Bai family tomorrow, and you can come to the school the day after tomorrow. You are still young, so you don't need to learn anything special. Just learn some Chinese characters from me first. When you are a little better next year, you can start writing and studying formally."
Tomorrow is the fifteenth day of the month. His school only has two days off a month, the middle of the month and the sixteenth day.
Manbao happily agreed and went home with his father and brother, holding the box containing the writing brush, ink and inkstone.
As soon as they got home, Erya and Ertou, who were still at home, came up and touched the inkstone with their hands in awe.
As soon as he stretched out his claws, Feng slapped them away and said, "Don't touch it. This belongs to my aunt. You must stay away from it in the future. Do you understand?"
Manbao was unhappy, and pulled Ertou and Erya and said, "When I learn how to write, I will teach you."
Feng thought for a moment and said, "Aunt, forget about Erya. Just teach Ertou."
"Why, Arya is smarter than Ertou."
Feng smiled, "It's useless for a girl to learn this. Erya still has to go and pick grass for the pigs."
Manbao said: "Why is it useless? After learning Chinese characters, you can read books by yourself in the future. There are many stories in the books, which are very interesting."
Feng was amused. "If she has the time to read stories, she might as well go weed the fields. We can tell her as many stories as she wants."
Erya couldn't help but said, "Mom, I want to learn to read."
Feng patted her head and said, "Don't push your aunt. Have you washed today's clothes? If not, go to the river and wash them."
Erya felt a little aggrieved, but didn't dare to cry out loud. She lowered her head and went to pick up the dirty clothes.
Manbao was so angry that her face puffed up, but before she could lose her temper, Feng carried her to a chair and carefully placed the box in front of her, "Aunt, where is the paper you brought back? Ask Ertou to find it for you to recognize the words. If you are tired, take a rest by yourself. If you are hungry, tell me and I will get you something to eat."
Manbao looked at his second sister-in-law in a daze, thinking that this was the second sister-in-law he was familiar with, but the one who was talking about Erya just now was also his second sister-in-law!
Manbao sat on the chair in a depressed mood. Feng Shi could not see any sadness on her little face. After making arrangements with her aunt, she went to the kitchen to busy herself.
Ertou has already run to look for the manuscript paper that Manbao had brought back from Mr. Zhuang.
Manbao has a lot of things to say and questions in his mind, but he can’t ask anyone else and can only talk to the system.
"Koko, why doesn't my second sister-in-law let Erya learn to read?"
The system simply and roughly told Manbao the results of the future human research, "Because she favors boys over girls."
This was the first time Manbao heard this word, but it was simple and easy to understand, and you only needed to look at the meaning.
So she widened her eyes slightly and asked, "Why, isn't she a woman too?"
"This is the inertial thinking of mankind for thousands of years," the system said. "The root cause lies in the agricultural society. Production depends on physical strength, and men are stronger than women, so men are valued. Over time, a deformed ethics has been formed. Humans believe that only male descendants can be the incense of the family, and women are just vassals of men."
Manbao said: "My parents love me very much, and my brothers also think highly of me."
A burst of electricity flashed through the center of the system, and it cut off the conclusion it had deduced and did not speak it out.
The system said: "You are the only exception. Haven't you noticed that, except for you, the status of the women in your family is lower than that of the men?"
Keke is a collection system, not an education system, so he doesn't know that there are some things that cannot be said to children. He gave Manbao an example, "Your mother is below your father, your sisters-in-law are below your brothers, and your nieces are treated far worse than your nephews."
"Usually, your brothers and nephews eat dry rice for breakfast, while your sisters-in-law and nieces eat porridge. They can only eat dry rice during the busy farming season," the system said, "your sisters-in-law should bring foot-washing water to your brothers and sisters, but your brothers never bring foot-washing water to your sisters-in-law."
Manbao was stunned. "My mother said that my brothers have to do hard labor, so they have to eat dry food."
The system said: "Your sisters-in-law are also doing hard work."
Manbao thought about it and agreed.
She lowered her head and thought for a while, then asked, "Will there be a day when women are stronger than men and people start to value women over men again?"
The system said: "According to the research of future historians, the slave society before was the matriarchal clan, that is, a society dominated by women, which should belong to what the host said about valuing women over men."
Manbao asked curiously, "Were women stronger than men at that time?"
"No, they win by giving birth, because they can give birth to children and create labor, so their status is higher than men, and the children only recognize their mothers and don't know their fathers."
Man Bao pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Neither is good. I don't like favoring boys over girls. We are all human beings, so shouldn't we be the same?"
The system seemed to be looking at its host from above, and after a while it said, "It will be possible in the future. Because of the development of science and technology, productivity has improved, and production relations have also changed. In the future, more mental work will be required. In terms of intelligence, many girls are no worse than boys, so slowly, the two can stand on the same level."
Manbao didn't understand the first half of the sentence, and the system felt that explaining the relationship between productivity and production relations was too profound, so it told Manbao directly, "The economic base determines the superstructure. If your sister-in-law can make more money than your brother, then your brother will have to listen to your sister-in-law, and your sister-in-law will be more assertive."
Manbao grabbed her little face and asked, "Does that mean that Erya is better at making money than Ertou, so Ersao will love her more and let her learn to read?"
The system said: "In theory, yes."
Manbao immediately jumped off the chair and said seriously, "I think this is wrong. Second sister-in-law should love Erya because she is her daughter. How can she love her just because she can make money? I want to go and persuade Second sister-in-law."
The system didn't block it.
Manbao ran to the kitchen to find Feng and said, "Second sister-in-law, Ertou and Erya, do you prefer Ertou to Erya?"
While washing the pot, Feng asked with a smile: "Where did you hear this, little aunt? Ertou and Erya are both my children, how could I not like Erya?"
"Then why don't you let Erya learn to read and write?"
Feng said as a matter of course: "It's useless for her to study."
Manbao was stunned. "Why, how can it be useless? Studying is very useful, otherwise why would so many people spend money to study?"
"That's a boy. Have you ever seen a girl spend money to study in a school?"
Manbao: "Me!"
Mrs. Feng couldn't help but laugh, "Little aunt, you are different. Mr. Zhuang didn't charge you for tuition fees, and he didn't even plan to ask you to buy textbooks . It didn't cost you much."
