Chapter 16 Sons and Daughters
Mr. Zhuang patted Manbao's head and said with a smile, "Take your writing brush and ink home today. Tomorrow is a day off and I'll go to the Bai family. You can come back to the school the day after tomorrow. You are still young, so you don't need to learn anything special. Just learn some characters with me first. Next year, when you are older, you can start writing and formally studying."
Tomorrow is the fifteenth day of the lunar 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, carrying the box containing the writing brush, inkstone and inkstone.
As soon as they got home, Erya and Ertou, who were still at home, came over 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 from now on. Do you understand?"
Manbao was unhappy and pulled Ertou and Erya and said, "When I learn 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 laughed, "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 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 be pulling weeds in 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 she didn't dare to cry out loud. She lowered her head and went to pick up the dirty clothes.
Manbao's face puffed up with anger, 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 earlier? Ask Ertou to find it for you and teach you how to read. If you feel tired, just take a rest. If you feel hungry, tell me and I'll 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 arranging the 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 others, so he can only talk to the system.
"Koko, why doesn't Second Sister-in-law let Erya learn to read?"
The system simply and crudely 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 he only needed to look at the meaning.
So she widened her eyes slightly and asked, "Why, isn't she a woman too?"
"This is human thought that has been ingrained for thousands of years," the system said. "Its root lies in agricultural society, where production relies on physical strength, and men are stronger than women, so men are valued. Over time, this has formed a distorted ethics, where humans believe that only male offspring can carry on the family line, while women are merely subordinate to men."
Manbao said: "My parents love me very much, and my brothers also value me."
A flash of electricity passed through the center of the system, and it cut off the conclusion it had drawn without saying it out loud.
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 in the collection system, not the 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 inferior to 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 only eat dry rice during busy farming seasons," the system said. "Your sisters-in-law are supposed to bring and pour footwashing water for your brothers and sisters. Your brothers never bring footwashing 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 manual labor."
Manbao thought about it and agreed.
She lowered her head and thought for a moment, then asked, "Will women become stronger than men one day, and will people start favoring women over men again?"
The system said, "According to the research of future historians, before slave society, there was a matriarchal society, that is, a society dominated by women. This should fall into the category of what the host said, valuing women over men."
Manbao asked curiously, "Were women stronger than men back then?"
"No, they win by giving birth. Because they can give birth to children and create labor, their status is higher than men. Children only recognize their mothers and don't know their fathers."
Manbao 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 treated equally?"
The system seemed to gaze at its host from above, and after a long pause, it said, "It will be possible in the future. Thanks to the development of technology, the advancement of productivity, and the change in production relations, more mental work will be required in the future. In terms of intelligence, many girls are just as capable as boys, so slowly, both genders will be on the same level."
Manbao didn't understand the first half of the sentence. The system also felt that explaining the relationship between productivity and production relations was too abstruse and difficult to understand, 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 because Erya is better at making money than Ertou, 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 that, 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 on studying?"
"That's a boy. Have you ever seen a girl spend money to go to school?"
Manbao: "Me!"
Feng couldn't help but laugh, "Little aunt, you're different. Besides, Mr. Zhuang didn't charge you tuition, and he didn't even ask you to buy textbooks. It didn't cost you anything."
(End of this chapter)
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