Chapter 734 The Sad Past
It turns out that Aunt Wang's hometown is in Taihang Mountains, where girls are raised to work for the family and earn dowry for their sons.
At that time, it was considered good for a girl in their village to finish elementary school. As for going to junior high school, there was not a single girl of her age.
"But is there no one in charge of the nine-year compulsory education?" I have never seen such a place and cannot understand this situation. In my understanding, nine-year compulsory education is mandatory, so how can it not be implemented?
Aunt Wang laughed and said, "The primary school where we live isn't a proper one. Two or three nearby villages joined together to run one school, located in the clan's dilapidated ancestral hall. There are only two teachers in the school, teaching about twenty children of all ages. Junior high school, on the other hand, requires going to town. Every family has two or three children, and how could they all be sent to school? The better-off families could only send one boy to junior high school."
I felt very uncomfortable. When I was indignant about my mother's favoritism towards others, there were still people who could not even guarantee the most basic right to education.
Actually, I was not unaware of the existence of such things before, but I only saw them on TV, which was very far away from me. I just sighed while watching TV.
But now it’s different. Aunt Wang is a real person who lives next to me. This kind of shock is something that can be achieved by watching a documentary.
My voice was a little hoarse, "What about now? Is your hometown still like this?" I have money now, so it shouldn't cost much to donate to a Hope Primary School.
"I heard that things have improved a lot in recent years. At least the children can complete their nine years of compulsory education. Some kind-hearted people donated money to renovate the dilapidated ancestral hall, and there are more volunteer teachers." Aunt Wang said with some relief, "I won't talk about my hometown. I haven't been back in all these years, so I don't know the specific situation."
Her words gave me the idea of making the first large expense in my life meaningful. Once this idea came to my mind, I suddenly felt that I was a young person with a sense of social responsibility.
Before I could get excited, Aunt Wang sighed and continued, "When I was seven, my younger brother was born. I had just started school, and every day, in addition to doing housework, I was also responsible for taking care of the child, washing diapers, cutting grass for pigs, and digging wild vegetables."
I don’t know if Aunt Wang had never talked about this with anyone before, but she seemed to suddenly have the urge to talk, and once the floodgates were opened, all the sufferings of the past poured out uncontrollably.
Her parents originally didn't want her to go to elementary school, thinking that going to school was a waste of time. Later, they heard that an illiterate girl would not get a good marriage price, so they reluctantly let her study until the fourth grade, and then dropped out and went home.
Taking good care of her younger brother became her most important responsibility.
Her father went down the mountain to work in the town, and her mother and she did farm work at home. Any good food at home had to be left for her father and brother, and she and her mother could only eat coarse grains.
Aunt Wang joked, "I never would have guessed that coarse grains are more expensive than fine grains in your city. If I had known this, I would have eaten more back home. Now I can't bear to eat coarse grains."
I was overflowing with sympathy just now, but suddenly I burst out laughing.
Since moving to Fontainebleau, I have become aware of food prices, and naturally know that coarse grains are more expensive than ordinary rice and flour.
"What happened next? Did you come out by yourself?" After listening to the story for so long, I had forgotten what I originally wanted to ask Aunt Wang.
Aunt Wang's eyes dimmed. "Later, my father met some people at the foot of the mountain. After learning that he had a daughter, someone was willing to spend 8,000 yuan as a betrothal gift to marry me.
Eight thousand yuan is nothing now, but it was a sky-high price in our eyes at that time. Our family’s annual income was only one or two thousand yuan, and this was several years’ income for our family.
I was only seventeen years old that year, but my parents agreed without any hesitation. However, my father said that I could not get married until I was eighteen. The man agreed. Others said that my parents were reluctant to let me go, but I actually knew that they just wanted me to work at home for one more year.
Everyone in the village envied my parents for marrying me into a good family and saving money for my younger brother.
In fact, what difference does it make to me? It’s just a matter of working at home or at someone else’s house. It’s just a way to make a living.”
I smiled a little awkwardly, and went back home to work.
Aunt Wang seemed to see my embarrassment and said with a hearty smile, "It's different at your house. I'm a domestic worker now. I have a work permit and earn money through my own labor. And I earn more than those who work in factories.
This time when I came back, your dad gave me a raise, saying that as long as I work hard, he would give me a raise every year."
I've heard from my mom before that a live-in nanny like Aunt Wang, who is experienced, skillful, and has good character, can earn five to six thousand yuan a month.
The key is that she eats and lives at home, and has almost no other expenses. My father also pays for her insurance at his factory, so when she gets old, she can retire and get a pension like people in the city.
"So what happened next? Was that man your current husband?"
Aunt Wang smiled. "Yes and no. I'm divorced now, so to be precise, that man is my ex-husband."
I was surprised. "Did you get a divorce during the time you resigned? Tell me more about that."
Aunt Wang patted my hands and said, "Don't be impatient, listen to me and I will tell you slowly."
When Aunt Wang was eighteen years old, her family could find no reason to keep her, so they bought two new pieces of cloth, stuffed them with old cotton from the house, and made two quilts for her to take with her when she got married.
Of course, this so-called dowry was looked down upon by the husband's family, who always felt that this was a daughter-in-law bought by their family.
Since she was bought, he naturally wouldn't treat her well. At the beginning, the man was nice to her. After all, they were newly married, and when her mother-in-law bullied her, the man would occasionally say a few words to help her.
Later, as time went by, the man became addicted to alcohol and would beat and scold her at any time.
At first, others comforted her, saying that everything would be fine after she had a child, so she endured it.
After I got pregnant, life at home was indeed much better, but after I gave birth to my daughter, life went back to the way it was before.
At this time, someone told her that it would be good if she had another son, and she believed it again. So a few years later, she gave birth to another son.
This time life was indeed much better than before. Her mother-in-law's attitude towards her was different, and her husband seemed to have become more sensible. He quit drinking and started working hard to earn money, saying that he wanted to buy a big house for his son and send him to college.
The good days only lasted for two or three years. Somehow, her husband became addicted to gambling and lost all his savings of several years. Then he started drinking again.
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