Chapter 9 Consent
Manbao ran with her short legs to find her sister-in-law, and Koko watched her the whole time without saying a word.
Mrs. Zhou was obviously shocked. She repeatedly asked Manbao what Mr. Zhuang said at that time. After confirming it, she thought for a while and put the things on the stove. She said, "Let's go. I'll take you home first and come back to clean up later."
Manbao has a very good memory and since it just happened, of course she described it clearly. But Old Zhou still asked her three times. Then he squatted on the doorstep, took out some raw tobacco from his waist pocket, put it into his pipe and said nothing.
No one spoke. Qian said to Little Qian, "You should go to work first. This is a big matter. We have to wait until the eldest and the others come back before we can make a decision."
Xiao Qian responded and went back to the school to continue working.
Qian glanced at Old Zhou, took Manbao's little hand and walked into the house, looking down at her.
Seeing the confusion on her round face, I knew that she probably didn't understand the meaning.
After thinking for a while, Qian asked, "Manbao, do you want to study?"
Manbao said: "I have been studying. I have learned the Thousand Character Classic. Mr. Zhuang said he can teach me the Analects of Confucius. I can even count to one hundred."
Qian touched her little head and asked, "Do you like reading?"
Manbao nodded and said happily, "I like it. Reading is so interesting. When I am in a good mood, reading Thousand Character Classic is like singing a song, which makes me feel better. When I am unhappy, I also read Thousand Character Classic, and then I feel happy as I read. "
Qian's eyes were somewhat blank, and it was unknown what she was thinking about. After a long while, she said, "What a pity..."
Manbao climbed onto the bed, snuggled up to his mother, tilted his head back and asked, "Mom, what's the pity?"
"It's a pity you're not a boy."
Manbao pouted and said, "I don't want to be a boy. Boys are dirty and smelly, and not as pretty as girls."
Qian couldn't help but smile, "Yes, our Manbao is clean and fragrant..."
But boys can carry on the family line.
Qian thought she was hard-hearted enough, but at this moment she couldn't help but burst into tears.
Manbao felt extremely distressed when he saw this, and hurriedly wiped her tears. His own eyes also turned red, and he asked in a sobbing voice, "Mom, why are you crying? Don't you like me going to school? Well, then I will go less often in the future."
Qian couldn't help laughing out loud. She wiped her tears and pinched her nose, saying, "What a little rascal. Just like your father, he only knows how to say nice things to please people."
Manbao opened her mouth wide. It was hard for her to imagine that her father was that kind of person.
Qian was only sad for a moment, then she hugged her and said, "Since you can study, then study. There are many benefits to studying. Although you are a girl, you will be more capable than others if you study. You will not be deceived or harmed by others in the future, and you can live a better life."
Although Qian was illiterate and a village woman who had never left the county town, she had her own insights. She whispered, "Look at those men. Those who can read live better than those who can't. Those who know numbers are smarter than those who don't. The same is true for girls."
Manbao nodded vigorously, "The teacher said that reading can make one sensible. Bai Er, that idiot, said that he would not take the imperial examination and would inherit his father's land and live by collecting rent. The teacher said that to him. It shows that sensible people will not feel guilty no matter where they go, and they will behave well. It's okay..."
The following words were a little difficult. Manbao paused for a moment, and it was only after Koko reminded her that she could continue, "You can be invincible if your heart is not defeated and you are not defeated as a person."
Although Manbao didn't quite understand what was said, she felt that Mr. Zhuang was so tall and great at that time. She blushed when she heard it, and she wanted to run around the river at the entrance of the village three times and yell at him, so she remembered it.
She looked at her mother with sparkling eyes and said, "Mom, I want to study and be sensible!"
Qian looked at her serious little face and was almost about to agree to her request, but thinking of the current predicament of her family, Qian kept all her words in her heart and decided to listen to the opinion of the head of the family.
Zhou Dalang and his companions came back at dinner time, when the sun was just about to set. However, everyone was already very hungry, after all, they had only porridge for breakfast.
Everyone simply washed their hands and sat down at the dinner table. Old Zhou was in no hurry to talk about business. He waited until everyone had finished eating before he sat down in the yard and called the eldest, second and third sons to come over to talk.
Xiao Qian glanced outside, frowned slightly, and held the rag without saying anything. Zhou Ersao Feng also glanced into the yard and couldn't help but whispered, "Father-in-law, don't you really want my aunt to go to school?"
He frowned and said, "No way, how much money will it cost, sister-in-law, won't mother-in-law agree to it?"
Xiao Qian grabbed the rag. She didn't really want her aunt to go to school, but she took her aunt home at noon.
In fact, when she heard the news at noon, her first feeling was happiness. Her younger sister would be able to be accepted as Mr. Zhuang's apprentice, and she would have a bright future.
But when she returned to school, she realized that studying costs money.
Even if Mr. Zhuang accepted the apprentice privately and did not accept tuition from my aunt, the apprenticeship gift must be given, and gifts must also be given during festivals. These are just small expenses. Then, if you want to study, you have to buy books, and pens, ink, paper and inkstone, which of them does not cost money?
In fact, Mr. Zhuang's school tuition was not very high, because the bulk of it was paid by the landlords. But before Zhou Silang lost money in gambling, the Zhou family could not send any of their grandsons to school. One of the reasons was that their family background was too poor to support a scholar.
This was unaffordable before and even more unaffordable now.
Moreover, their family also has a mother-in-law who has to take medicine every month, which makes the burden even heavier.
These thoughts completely wiped out Xiao Qian's initial joy, and now only worry was left.
Of course, what Xiao Qian could think of, the other men in the Zhou family had certainly thought more carefully, especially the head of the family, Old Zhou. He didn't want Manbao to go to school at first, but what his wife and Manbao said in the room in the afternoon made him hesitate again and again.
When it was time for dinner , he watched Manbao holding a large bowl in his two little hands, almost burying his little head in the bowl, and eating a bowl of thin white porridge with relish.
When he looked at his three daughters-in-law who had just put down their chopsticks and were about to clear the table, wash dishes and clean the house, the balance in Old Zhou's heart slowly tilted to the other side.
His Manbao is weak, white, plump and cute, and is spoiled by his father and brothers at home. But what will happen ten years later, or fifteen years later?
Would she then also marry a farmer like her brothers and become a peasant woman like her sisters-in-law?
Old Zhou took two puffs of his cigarette, choked for a while, then took out the pipe and knocked it. He said, "You all know about it. Tell me, what do you think?"
Zhou Erlang and Zhou Sanlang looked at each other, lowered their heads and said, "We will listen to our father and eldest brother."
Old Zhou glanced at the two of them, then looked at Zhou Dalang, "Dalang, you go ahead."
Zhou Dalang gritted his teeth and said, "Since Mr. Zhuang is willing to take her in, then we will support her. When she grows up, if she can marry into the town, she won't have to beg for food in the fields like us."
"Right!" Old Zhou slapped his thigh, "That's what I think. How many girls in this world can read and count? Count them all, who among the children in your family is as smart as Manbao? We can't even count the number of egg heads in our family, but Manbao can count them all at once. Our Manbao is pretty, and she will definitely be even prettier when she grows up. She may be able to marry in the county, not to mention the town."
Zhou Erlang was troubled and said, "That's true, but it would cost a lot of money to study. She is still a girl and cannot take the exam to become an official..."
Zhou Erlang's voice gradually lowered under his father's gaze, and he could only poke the third brother.
Zhou Sanlang said, "I will listen to my father and elder brother."
Zhou Dalang & Zhou Erlang: "..."
Old Zhou couldn't help but take another puff of his cigarette and said, "Mr. Zhuang will definitely not accept Manbao's tuition fee, so we can just give him a gift of apprenticeship or something."
Zhou Erlang said, "We have to buy the books, writing brushes, inkstones, and paper. Mr. Zhuang can't accept Manbao as his apprentice. Mr. Zhuang has to pay for these things. Dad, I don't know how much these things will cost."
No one in the family had ever been to school, so they didn't know the exact prices, but the prices of books, pens, ink and paper sounded very expensive.
This was precisely one of the reasons why Old Zhou was most hesitant. He smoked with a calm head and said nothing.
Zhou Dalang's hands were bulging with veins, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Dad, Manbao is a good child. Mr. Zhuang also knows our family's situation. I will ask him to buy them a book they want to learn now. Manbao is still young and doesn't need paper and ink to practice calligraphy. When she grows up a little, the family should have saved some money."
Seeing his eldest son speak, Old Zhou let out a long sigh and nodded, "Okay, let's do this. The day after tomorrow, you and I will take Manbao to become his disciple, and then we will discuss this with Mr. Zhuang."
Zhou Erlang opened his mouth but didn't say anything else. Although he was very worried
He is 46 years old and is about to get married. The original plan was to find him a wife to spend the New Year with so that they could go to the fields together in the spring.
But he spent all the family's money on gambling, and his reputation was ruined. It is estimated that he will not be able to get married within three years.
But the fourth son can get married a few years later, that’s what he deserves, but what about the fifth son?
The fifth child is already fourteen years old, and in two years he will have to get married. The cost of marriage is not small, not to mention that their mother has to take medicine.
There are six brothers in the family. The three who are not married are not counted. As for the three who are married, the eldest brother is steady but not smart enough, and the youngest brother is a very honest person.
The second child is a little smarter, and because he often goes to the market to sell things, he thinks and thinks more than the eldest child.
As soon as the gambling incident came about, he had already made a plan in his mind that after three or two years, the family would be able to save at least three or four hundred dollars, and then he could lend some to the fifth son to find a marriage.
After the fifth child, it is the turn of the fourth and sixth children. After these three younger ones find marriages, the family will have to remain in poverty for at least another ten years, and then the eldest child will also have to start looking for marriage.
He originally planned that it would be better for the family to work together, with parents around and brothers working together, they could actually make money faster than on their own.
Although his younger brother, nephew and son will get married one after another, he may never have any extra money in his life, but at least he will not lack for food and clothing.
But if Manbao's education is added to this plan, there will be no spare money left in the family.
Zhou Erlang scratched his head and finally said with a headache, forget it, anyway, his parents are the ones who run the family and they are the ones who have to worry. Now he just needs to be obedient and take care of his own small family.
