Chapter 82 Ideals and Ambitions [VIP]
Why don't you want to study?
Tian Baozhu also asked herself this question. She reflected deeply on what she could achieve if she continued reading.
She couldn't take the imperial examinations and become an official like men. Everyone in the family had a clear division of labor and everything was proceeding step by step. There was really no place for her to interfere.
She thought that the knowledge she had learned now should be enough for her to go out and explore the world.
So, she didn't want to study anymore.
She wanted to follow her father and uncle to the south of the Yangtze River to see the wider world and see if she could use what she had learned to earn some money for her family.
She wanted to see how capable she was, and she wanted to prove to the world that girls were no worse than boys in anything except taking science exams.
When Tian Baozhu expressed her thoughts, everyone in the room was stunned.
No one expected that Baozhu, a little girl, would have such ideals and ambitions.
"Cousin, I definitely support you." Chen Yao slammed the table and gave her cousin a thumbs up.
"Dad, Mom, Brother, you will all support me, right?"
Huang Mei's hands, trembling as she held her daughter's, finally recovered. She clutched her chest and said, "Baozhu, whatever you want to do, your parents will naturally support you. But you're a girl, and traveling far away is very inconvenient for a girl, don't you know?"
She knew, she understood, she could overcome it, so she still wanted to do it.
"I can wear my brother's clothes and pretend to be a man. Besides, my father and uncle are going to Jiangnan to sell their goods. They need a woman who is good at speaking to the customers."
Tanaka thought about it carefully and realized that what his daughter said was right. The things sold by these two old men really required a girl to deal with the female customers.
"Mother, if Baozhu wants to go, let her go with her. I, her father, will protect her." Tanaka was looking at his daughter, then at Shen Qingshan, and suddenly felt the same way.
When A Yao wanted to take the children to do business and shoulder the burden of the family, Qingshan must have felt both relieved and distressed for his daughters, just like him.
Huang Mei glared at her husband and spat at him, "You know nothing. Do you still care about your daughter's reputation? If this gets out, how will we ever get married in the future?"
For two months on the road, my daughter had to eat and sleep with a group of men. The men could not care about anything, but the women could not.
This world is too harsh for women like them.
"Mom, right now I just want to make money and don't want to get married. Besides, I don't like any man of my age in the village or outside the village. If I want to get married, I want to find someone who satisfies me." Tian Baozhu mustered up the courage to express her thoughts on getting married.
Listening to Baozhu's words one after another, the elders present really didn't know how to persuade her.
No matter how much you persuade them, they themselves are unwilling to accept it.
Why do we let children study? Isn’t it so that they can have a chance to succeed?
But if I don't persuade her, I will have to watch Baozhu embark on a path that is difficult for the world to accept.
"Mom, please let me try. If this trip doesn't work out, I'll listen to whatever you say when I get home." Tian Baozhu hugged her mother's arm and leaned into her arms.
As an older brother, Tian Baolai naturally supported his sister's idea. "Mom, don't worry about my sister's marriage. Even if she can't get married in the future, I, as her brother, can support her."
Knowing that her brother loved her, Tian Baozhu raised her hand and gently hit her brother.
Huang Mei also felt sorry for her daughter. She raised her hand to caress her daughter's face and sighed deeply: "Since you have decided to go, then you can go ahead and do it without worry. Do you understand?"
Tian Baozhu raised her head suddenly, "Mom, you promised me."
"If you don't agree, then you won't go?" Huang Mei let go of her daughter and looked at Chen Yao again. "Ayao, when are you going into the city? Can I change into men's clothes? You can take Baozhu with you and teach her how to do business on the way."
"Aunt, please ask my cousin to go home and get his clothes. We will wait for you to alter them before we leave. There is no need to rush." Chen Yao held her cousin's hand and was happy for her.
In Chen Yao's room.
Tian Baozhu blushed as she looked at the men's clothes that had been altered to be smaller and placed on the bed.
"Hurry up and put it on. Auntie asked me to watch you wrap it. It must be wrapped flat and tight so that no one can tell the difference." Chen Yao handed over the cotton cloth that wrapped her chest.
Tian Baozhu took it, but she was not as shameless as Chen Yao. She turned her back, took off her clothes, picked up the long cotton cloth and hit herself with it.
The tightening of her chest made it difficult to breathe, but when she combed her hair into a bun like the man, she suddenly felt that the pain was nothing.
"How about it, do I look like a man like this?" There was no bronze mirror in the room, and Tian Baozhu didn't know if her outfit was wrong.
The mother didn't let A Yao help her because she was afraid that she would make a mistake when staying in a hotel on the way and people would find out that she was a woman.
“Like, open the door.
She breathed a sigh of relief. This outfit really made her look no different from a man.
"Dad, uncle, A-Yao, let's go!" He stood by the mule cart, pushed himself up with both hands and jumped onto the cart.
Everyone in the faction laughed out loud.
Chen Yao fell behind, and Yang Jizong grabbed her wrist and said, "Come back early, our reeling machine is not ready yet."
"I understand."
Tian Baolai raised the reins in his hand and drove the mule cart to carry everyone away.
Huang Mei watched her daughter leave, and even as strong as she was, she couldn't help but shed tears.
"Sister, the children are all grown up. We can't protect them forever. They still have to walk the road on their own." Miao stepped forward, held the elder sister's hand and comforted her.
Huang Xing also pulled her aside and said, "All our children are good, let's wait and see!"
On the way, Chen Yao told her cousin in detail the process of doing business with others and how to sign documents.
As for how to deal with individual tourists, it depends on my cousin's ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
"Cousin, when we get to Jiangnan and leave the tea merchant, you can change back into women's clothes. When you go out, you must be on guard against people." Chen Yao handed the tiger bone knife she was carrying to Tian Baozhu.
Tian Baozhu refused to take it: "This is given to you by your father. I can't accept it."
"Cousin, I'm not giving it to you. I'm lending it to you temporarily for self-defense. You have to return it to me when you come back." Chen Yao stuffed the tiger bone knife into Tian Baozhu's hand.
Tian Baozhu deliberately imitated her brother's speech and said in a hoarse voice, "Ayao, thank you. When I go to Jiangnan, I will bring you some local seeds."
"Really? Thank you, cousin. You're so kind to me." Chen Yao looked at Tian Baozhu with a pair of starry eyes. "From now on, cousin, whenever you go to a place, please bring me local seeds, okay?"
Tian Baozhu felt quite uncomfortable when she was called "cousin". She reached out and scratched Chen Yao's upturned nose, agreed to her request, and was full of expectations for her future.
The mule cart was parked outside the store. As soon as Tanaka Masaru and his group came in, the waiter tactfully invited everyone to take a seat.
"I'll go upstairs and ask for leader Chang."
When Chang Wei came down, he didn't expect so many people to come. "Have you thought about it? Do you want to follow our caravan to Jiangnan at the end of June?"
"Once you've made up your mind, let's go." The two elders started talking to him.
Chang Wei was very happy when he learned that they were going there: "What about the recipe for salted eggs?"
"Team leader Chang, I can teach you how to make salt-baked eggs right now. Not only that, you can also have vegetables and soup on the way." Chen Yao stood up and invited him to go to Huangji Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
He had often heard people mention the name of Huang's Supply and Marketing Cooperative in the past two days, so Chang Wei greeted his brothers and went over to see what the store was all about.
At the same time, although Huang Dongsheng was staying in the shop, his mind had already flown back home.
He was thinking about the meeting at home, and when he looked up, he saw his family members appear in front of him, which surprised him.
"Cousin, you, this is..." Huang Dongsheng looked at Tian Baozhu who was following beside his cousin and didn't dare to recognize her for a moment. This must be his sister Baozhu.
Tian Baozhu coughed and reminded him: "You silly boy, when you see guests coming, why don't you move the stools out quickly?"
Huang Dongsheng went to the small room inside and brought out a bench for everyone to sit on.
Chen Yao took the eggs from the counter, took out the salt she brought, and taught Chang Wei how to make salt-baked eggs in front of him.
The salt-baked eggs are still steaming hot and taste better when eaten hot.
Chang Wei swallowed it in one gulp, choking so much that he stared blankly, but he still said, "This is the taste."
"As long as Captain Chang thinks it tastes good, that's fine. When we make the dried vegetables, we'll let Captain Chang try them. If he thinks it tastes good and is easy to carry, please say a few good words for us in front of other caravans." Chen Yao bowed to Chang Wei.
When Chang Wei saw the prices clearly marked on the counter and the various fresh fruits, vegetables and meats neatly arranged in the shop, he understood why Huang Ji was so famous in this small Qingfeng Town.
He finished eating two salt-baked eggs, took out five coins from his pocket and handed them to Huang Dongsheng. "The food is good, I will naturally help you. If there is nothing else, I will go back first."
Everyone stood up to see him off.
Huang Dongsheng touched the five copper coins and dropped them into the money box with a click of his tongue. He then looked at Sister Baozhu and said, "Cousin, why are you dressed like this?"
Tian Baozhu deliberately didn't say anything and let him guess.
Huang Dongsheng pondered for a moment, and suddenly an idea flashed through his mind. Could it be that Sister Baozhu was disguising herself as a man to follow her father and uncle to Jiangnan to do business?
After all, there is a precedent in their family.
"Cousin, you have all been out of Qingfeng Town, but I haven't. I also want to go out and have a look." Huang Dongsheng was howling in the shop, but was slapped by his father and fell silent instantly.
Chen Yao cleaned up the small stove, scooped up the salt inside, put it in a bag and handed it to her cousin.
"If you want to go out and see the world, you must work hard. In the future, you will strive to open Huang's Supply and Marketing Cooperatives all over the world. Then you can be the shopkeeper of any store you want to go to. What a great goal! Work hard, cousin."
The cake his cousin drew was too big for him to finish.
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