"Yun Jiao, you must be mistaken. Girls have never been allowed to enter the ancestral hall, and there has never been such a thing as a girl going to school. The villagers will definitely not agree."
Girls in the family are used to work and get married when they are old enough. I have never heard of any girl going to school.
"Village head, what you said is wrong. Are girls not human beings? Girls also have the right to choose to receive knowledge.
I've received all kinds of education since I was young, otherwise how could I lead everyone to make money?" Xie Yunjiao said.
"You are different." Gu Lichang said with a stiff face.
He simply couldn't believe how violent the villagers' reaction would be if he suggested sending girls to school.
"What's the difference? Am I not a woman?" Xie Yunjiao said unhappily. "Anyway, I'm putting this out there. If you want to open a school, there must be equality between men and women. Otherwise, I won't pay a teacher to teach here."
Xie Yunjiao thought of something and said, "And I will also invite embroiderers from the town to come over a few times a month to teach the girls embroidery."
The little girls in the family all know some needlework, but it is all simple needlework.
For a girl, learning embroidery is just like for a boy to go to college, both have to pay tuition.
Although the girls learned embroidery, they would not starve no matter where they worked in the future.
But the tuition is not something that ordinary people can afford, so even if someone in the village wants to learn, they will be discouraged by the high tuition.
Xie Yunjiao suggested inviting an embroiderer to teach the girls embroidery, which was a great thing.
"Yun Jiao, are you telling the truth?" Village Chief Gu was a little excited.
He also has a granddaughter. If she can really learn embroidery and work in the cloth shop in town in the future, she can earn a lot of money every month.
Having a skill makes it much easier to get married.
"Of course I keep my word, but I have to say first, most of the embroiderers in town are literate and well-mannered. The girls in our village are too big and rough, how can they catch their eye? It's best for you to learn some cultural knowledge for a while first, to cultivate your mind and body, and then go to learn from the embroiderers."
"Yes, yes, you make sense." said Village Chief Gu.
Now he no longer objects to letting the girl go to school.
The next morning, Village Chief Gu called a meeting of the villagers in front of the bamboo weaving factory. When they heard that the training was free, they became very enthusiastic and soon the whole village came.
But when they heard that girls would also go to school, some people immediately expressed their opposition.
"Our Zhaodi and Laidi need to work at home, otherwise we won't have time to work in the bamboo weaving factory. I don't agree."
"Yeah, I don't agree either. If Shuidi isn't here, who will cook for the elderly at home?"
"Girls are just money-losing goods. Why do they need to study so much?"
Anyway, no one agreed to let the girl go to school.
"I think it's good for the girl to come to school." Aunt Tian said.
"Aunt Tian, of course you said that. Your daughter-in-law gave birth to a girl this year. There are two girls in the family, but no one is born with a boy." Someone said.
Auntie Tian was immediately annoyed. Even she, who was good-tempered, lost her temper: "What's wrong with having a girl? Your family doesn't have a girl? A girl is no longer your child? They work so hard to help with the heaviest work at home, and in the end, before they can enjoy the happiness, they have to marry into other families, have children, and work.
Besides, aren't you a woman yourself? Why do you look down on girls?
I said that for Niuniu's sake, unlike you who only think about yourselves."
"Aunt Tian is right. So what if she's a girl? Is she not a human being? Doesn't that mean she has no chance to learn?" Xie Yunjiao walked out of the crowd.
"I have already contacted the embroiderer, and she has agreed to come. But she also told me that the girls should first learn some cultural knowledge before learning embroidery, so that they can get the hang of it faster."
She went to find an embroiderer, and the embroiderer was willing to teach her for money.
It was she who asked everyone to learn cultural knowledge. If she hadn't said so, those people would definitely not let their daughters go to school.
After hearing Xie Yunjiao say that she would invite an embroiderer to teach the girls, the villagers' opposition became less and less.
But some people objected: "They all go to school, and we have to work, so who will take care of the housework?"
"I think nothing is absolute, and many things don't have to be done by girls alone. It's more efficient when everyone works together.
And I have already agreed with the teacher that the girls’ school start time will be half an hour later than the boys’, and the school dismissal time will also be half an hour earlier, so that they still have plenty of time to do what they need to do.”
Xie Yunjiao knew that the ideas of these people were already deeply rooted, and it was impossible to expect them to change all at once, so she could only retreat in order to advance.
Sure enough, when she said this, the villagers completely agreed.
Anyway, it doesn't interfere with work and the girls can learn knowledge and embroidery. Why not do it?
After the conflict over going to school was completely resolved, the teacher who was hired was soon put on the job.
Since we have to teach in the countryside, no better teachers are willing to come.
Xie Yunjiao searched for a long time before she found an old widower. The old man was rather stubborn and was unwilling to teach female students at first, saying that he had never heard of a woman studying in a school.
Xie Yunjiao had no choice but to use money to shut him up, and the teacher agreed for the sake of the money.
He wants to teach for a few more years and then retire, using the money to live a good life.
He originally thought that the countryside must be shabby and dilapidated, with flocks of chickens and ducks everywhere, and it must be dirty and messy.
But he was shocked when he came to Hexi Village for the first time. Hexi Village was not shabby at all. Not only that, the village roads were very clean and tidy, without any weeds, and there was no feces everywhere as he had imagined.
His living quarters were also arranged very appropriately. Although he lived in the village ancestral hall, it was very clean and his bedding was new.
There are people to help with cooking and laundry every day, so he can just focus on teaching.
He came to his senses only when the children, wearing brand new and uniform clothes, greeted him in unison.
If possible, he would not leave. It would be nice to continue teaching here.
Although they were students from the countryside and some of them were rather naughty, when he showed his ruler and said he was going to hit them, those who were a little naughty didn't dare to move and went to school obediently.
Every time the villagers passed by the ancestral hall, they were very pleased to hear the sound of reading aloud inside.
Hexi Village was so poor in the past that few people in the village had the opportunity to go to school.
Now you don’t have to leave the village, you can go to school in just a few steps, and it’s free!
All this is thanks to Xie Yunjiao!
Xie Yunjiao also fell in love with the brand new Hexi Village. She felt that under her care, Hexi Village had changed a lot and living here was more comfortable and free than in the city!
Even Ye Baien, who had seen a lot of the world, was amazed at the changes in Hexi Village, saying that it was better than the prosperous capital.
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