Chapter 28: Village children have no access to education
Mrs. Qin walked affectionately with Gu Xixi and told her about what she had seen and heard in the county town.
"At first, I told my husband that I could go to the city to sell vegetables while he stayed at home to water the vegetable fields and weed. He was still worried about me going."
"I refused to listen and came back and slapped the money I earned from selling vegetables in front of him!"
"I'll let him see clearly that we women can also do things beautifully when we go out to do things!"
Gu Xixi pursed her lips and smiled, "You're right."
The old doctor chimed in, "Who manages the money in your family now?"
Mrs. Qin twisted her waist and fluttered her eyelids, "Of course it's me!"
"He knelt before my parents and begged me to marry him, and he promised that I would be the housekeeper after marriage. Now he dares to change his mind!"
Gu Xixi smiled. She quite liked Mrs. Qin's bold and straightforward personality.
Mrs. Qin sighed again, "My family's few acres of land have been burned to such a state that it's hard to say whether we can plant winter wheat."
"Now we have listened to you and prepared the land, and we have more income from selling vegetables. How does that saying go..."
Mrs. Qin frowned and took a breath. When the words came to her lips, she couldn't remember how to say them.
The old doctor came to help, "a blessing in disguise."
"Yes!" Mrs. Qin was delighted. "That's what I mean."
"I have never been to school, and I am not very good at speaking."
Gu Xixi smiled and said, "Everyone knows that Sister Qin has a clever tongue, so don't be so modest."
Mrs. Qin was overjoyed and the more she looked at Gu Xixi, the more she liked her.
"I only have brothers in my mother's family, no sisters. Let's visit each other more often in the future."
"Okay," Gu Xixi nodded in agreement.
She has never made any friends here, and now that someone has extended an olive branch to her, she should return the favor.
"Sister-in-law, if you encounter any problems in the fields, you can always ask me."
Mrs. Qin was somewhat moved. "If I hadn't had your help this time, I really don't know what I would have done."
Gu Xixi said, "This matter was handled thanks to the village chief's active efforts."
Mrs. Qin agreed again and again, "Yes, yes, I don't care what others think, you and Lao Qian are the lucky stars of our family!"
Gu Xixi thought about it and reminded again, "I told you before that although water spinach is easy to harvest, it consumes a lot of water and fertilizer. If we plant it with our local pumpkins, leeks, and radishes in the existing proportions, we can improve the soil."
“It’s best not to expand the planting any further.”
Mrs. Qin hesitated for a moment. "To be honest, my husband told me last night to transplant more plants. I didn't agree, and he said I was making money but not earning it."
"Now that you mention it again, I have made up my mind. I will listen to you and not think about other things."
Gu Xixi's expression became serious.
Crop scientific research has always been carried out in the fields and relied on the cooperation of farmers.
Communication and cooperation between people are the most prone to problems.
How could she wear a book? She almost forgot this!
"Can you do me a favor, sir?"
Mrs. Qin naturally agreed readily.
Gu Xixi said, "The fields of your families who grow water spinach are all connected. Please pay attention tomorrow and see what the situation is for each of them."
Mrs. Qin was a smart person and understood it immediately. "Okay, I'll go and check it out tomorrow morning. If anyone has planted too much water spinach, I can try to persuade them first."
"I can't persuade you anymore, go ahead."
She tried to reassure Xixi, "Don't worry too much. If things really don't work out, we still have Lao Qian!"
Gu Xixi nodded, "Then I'll trouble you, sister-in-law."
Under the big locust tree at the entrance of the village, several boys were fighting each other with branches.
As they were laughing and chasing each other, one of the children almost hit the old doctor with a branch.
Mrs. Qin raised her hand to block it, and scolded with a smile, "You are a bunch of monkeys, you only know how to play and don't even look at the road!"
The little boy was so scared that he stopped, and the other children also stopped chasing and looked over here.
The old doctor was good-tempered and said with a smile, "It's okay, they are just in their naughty years."
Gu Xixi saw that the little boy's clothes were dirty, and his sleeves were shiny, probably because he had wiped his nose repeatedly.
He stood there pitifully, looking like he knew he was wrong and was afraid, but he didn't know how to say "I'm sorry" at this moment.
After walking a long way, Gu Xixi still felt a little sad.
Mrs. Qin glanced at Xixi and said, "The adults are busy working during the day, and the older children can go and help. These little kids have no one to supervise them, and they are like wild children."
Gu Xixi asked, "I don't think I've ever seen children from our village go to school?"
Mrs. Qin smiled helplessly, "Where is the school in the village?"
From what Mrs. Qin said, I learned that Huachidu Village did not have its own village school, and children had to cross several villages to go to school.
Which adults have the time to send their children to school?
Therefore, there are very few literate people in Huachidu Village, and therefore it is impossible to select private school teachers from the village, which creates a vicious cycle.
Gu Xixi recalled that Gu Xixi's father, Gu Bapi, in the book was once the most educated person in the village.
Because he came from a wealthy family and was the eldest son, he was placed with high hopes and sent to another village to study for a few years.
Gu Baopi personally taught his daughter how to read so that Xixi wouldn't be a blind person.
Mrs. Qin continued, "Old Qian has thought about opening our own village school, but there is no one in the village who can be a teacher, and teachers from outside are unwilling to come."
She suddenly stared at Gu Xixi and said, "Xixi, you can read and write, and you are still so capable. It would be perfect for you to be a teacher!"
"I can't." Gu Xixi refused in a low voice.
“I can’t get along with kids.”
Teaching and learning are two different things. Even if you can learn, you may not be able to teach students.
She did not choose to stay in school to teach because of this self-awareness.
What's more, she has never studied ancient textbooks.
After parting with Mrs. Qin, Gu Xixi and the old doctor were stopped at the intersection in front of their house.
I haven't seen you for a long time, and Uncle Gu's hair has become even whiter.
He stood upright in the middle of the road, leaning on a cane, looking like a lone man blocking the way for ten thousand.
Gu Xixi knew that the visitor had bad intentions, so she smiled and greeted him, "Grandpa is here, why don't you go home?"
Uncle Gu slammed his cane to the ground, "You still remember that I am your great-grandfather, and you still know that your last name is Gu!"
Gu Xixi was puzzled, "What is this for?"
Uncle Gu snorted coldly, "You know it clearly!"
"After all, we are all surnamed Gu, but you are helping those outsiders grow and sell vegetables."
"You are holding back on what happened before and are deliberately destroying my family's livelihood, right?"
Gu Xixi looked up at the sky in silence, sighed, and then said, "Grandpa, there are so many vegetable vendors in the city, can you still tell them one by one not to sell vegetables?"
Uncle Gu said stubbornly, "Anyway, we are the only family selling vegetables in Huachidu Village!"
At this point, Gu Xixi no longer had the patience to pamper him.
"Well, you can go find those vegetable growers and tell them what you just said."
"Please go slowly. I have something else to do, so I won't see you off."
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