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These words came so suddenly that Lin Mo was stunned. However, her expression soon became tangled again. After a long time, she stammered, "I do. But, but... it's not like this..."
For a moment, Lin Mo didn't know how to start.
She came to ask the gang leader for help because she didn't want to get married, but now she says she wants to get married. Isn't this a joke?
Unexpectedly, Cheng Xi didn't laugh, but helped her finish what she couldn't say: "You just don't want to get married blindly?"
Lin Mo's eyes lit up and she nodded vigorously. "Blind marriage, dumb marriage"—these words really hit home with her. Being randomly assigned someone by her mother and brother to marry, without even being able to object, wasn't that like being blind or dumb?
Cheng Xi nodded slightly: "Have you ever thought about what kind of person you want to marry?"
Lin Mo hesitated again this time, and after a while he said, "I don't know, maybe it's like Dad."
Her father is a man who can support the family. He is the captain of the Lin family and the backbone of her mother.
When her father was alive, her mother never cried, and even though they were not particularly rich, they could live a peaceful life.
This was indeed a standard answer, but Cheng Xi didn't show any encouragement. Instead, she continued to ask, "So when you get married, will you still wield swords and guns and go to the battlefield?"
This question made Lin Mo confused. She hesitated and said, "How can you still be like this after getting married?"
"Why not?" Cheng Xi asked back.
"This...this..." Lin Mo suddenly had an idea and dragged He Ling out. "A Ling said before that accountants like them can't get married."
"Who said they can't get married?" Cheng Xi raised her eyebrows. "I never said that."
Lin Mo was dumbfounded: "But Ah Ling said that you can't marry an accountant. If you marry, you'll become extroverted and will leak gang secrets..."
"Leaking secrets is a matter of integrity and morality. It has nothing to do with whether you're a man or a woman, or whether you're married or not. Besides, there are many married women working in the hospital on the island and the cloth mills on the shore. If they can do it, why can't you?"
Lin Mo was overwhelmed by the string of questions. How could she have thought about all this? After a long while, she stammered, "But those weaver girls are different from us. We don't do what women should do..."
Looking at the panicked little girl, Cheng Xi sighed, "Indeed, it's not a woman's job to manage accounts, fight on the battlefield, or lead a large gang. Women should stay at home and take care of their husbands and children. If they can do some work to supplement the family income, that would be even better."
These words were so ordinary and so familiar that Lin Mo's breathing stopped.
She had heard this said by many people, but never once had she felt so suffocated in the chest that she wanted to shout out loud.
She didn't learn martial arts for this. She just wanted to be like the gang leader, able to stand in front of those men with her head held high, without having to lag behind or feel inferior.
Lin Mo's eyes were red from holding back his breath, and he didn't know how much effort it took before he finally spoke: "Then if I get married, can I still learn martial arts?"
"Of course you can learn martial arts, and you can even continue to be my maid, but if you want to go into battle, you are not capable of doing so now," Cheng Xi replied.
Lin Mo gritted his teeth and said, "Why? Because I'm married and want to have children?"
Cheng Xi shook her head. "Because you don't have a clear goal, no direction to strive for. If you take being a wife and raising children as your responsibility, how can you leave home?"
Lin Mo was stunned by these words and said anxiously, "But I want to go into battle! I want to fight like the gang leader!"
"Is it enough to just go into battle? Why can't you be a captain like your brother, or even command a fleet? How can a soldier who doesn't want to be a general be a good soldier?" Cheng Xi looked at the little girl calmly and spoke from the bottom of her heart, "Other women have no choice, but you have chosen a completely different path. The end of that path should not be 'supporting a husband and raising children'."
Lin Mo's mind buzzed. Had she ever thought about these things? Had she ever thought about becoming a captain or a general? In fact, no, all she could think about was becoming stronger, so that people would fall in love with her without a dowry.
That man may be a calm and capable man like his father, or he may be a young talent with superb martial arts and a straightforward personality. After marriage, the two of them will respect each other and have children together.
And then? And then what?
It was not until this moment that Lin Mo realized that she had never imagined what would happen next, because those things were too familiar, just like every married woman she had met.
After getting married, one naturally puts the husband first, respects parents, takes care of children, and manages household chores. What else could it be?
But now, the gang leader told her that she had another path to take, a path different from others.
For some reason, her eyes suddenly became hot, and she fought back tears as she said, "But what about the child? I have to take care of him..."
"There is a nursery in the gang. As long as the child is over 1 year old, you can ask someone to take care of him or her." Cheng Xi said lightly. If a woman wants to break away from her family, social assistance is indispensable, and nurseries and schools are the key.
Unfortunately, she doesn't have the financial resources to run many schools now, but a nursery can barely do the job. Besides, such a place can recruit some little girls, feed them, and pay them wages, so that they don't all work in vain.
When these people grow up and can enter factories, they can use vocational education and selected further studies to popularize their knowledge. In this way, the problem of education costs can be solved relatively cheaply.
Lin Mo knew about the orphanage and how much the cooks, weavers, and tailors loved this place.
But she didn't expect that even her own problems could be solved by the orphanage.
After hesitating for a moment, she continued, "What if my husband doesn't agree?"
"Then find someone who will agree to marry you." Cheng Xi said simply, "If you can also lead troops, fight in battles, and excel in the military, there may be men who appreciate you."
"But no one has ever walked this path before. Is it really possible?" Lin Mo endured it again and again, but finally asked the question in his heart. What the gang leader said was too unbelievable. Could a girl from a fishing village like me do it?
"If you want to take this path, there will inevitably be criticism and humiliation, just like A Ling and the others. Every step will be extremely difficult and full of thorns.
But someone has to keep going, paving the way for future generations." Cheng Xi's eyes lit up with a smile. "Being someone's good wife, someone's good mother, how can it be as satisfying as being yourself?"
Lin Mo had never heard such words before. She raised her hand to cover her mouth, unable to hold back tears. It turns out that learning martial arts not only strengthens the body and prepares one for battle, but can also lead one to take the same path as her father and brother. Can she do it?
Only two tears fell, and Lin Mo suddenly raised his hand and wiped them away.
She whispered, "I want to try it!"
Looking at the girl who had cleared her gloom and rekindled her confidence, Cheng Xi sighed, "Then you have a lot to learn. Not only martial arts, but also how to lead troops and how to fight. And you have to recruit a few of your sisters and put them under your command. If one day I reveal my identity, you will be my personal soldiers."
Lin Mo's face flushed and he nodded vigorously.
Looking at her like this, Cheng Xi sighed in his heart. It was true that no matter when, as long as a crack could be chiseled in the stone, these seedlings would rush to take root and grow against the wind.
If she had used more effort, could she have freed more people?
However, just after he finished speaking, Lin Mo remembered something and hurriedly said, "Boss, should I also try to persuade Ah Ling? She seems to really not want to get married!"
Cheng Xi raised her eyebrows: "It doesn't matter whether you marry or not, as long as it's your own choice, it's no big deal."
"What will happen to her when she gets old?" Lin Mo asked anxiously. "Won't it be bad if she's all alone and has no one to take care of her?"
"Ah Ling is also a member of the Red Flag Gang, so naturally someone will take care of her in her old age." Cheng Xi paused, "Amo, everyone has their own path to choose. There is no right or wrong. As long as you can think clearly about the pros and cons and don't neglect yourself, that's enough."
Lin Mo opened his mouth, as if he thought of something, and then closed it again.
Because she suddenly realized she couldn't imagine what kind of man the gang leader would marry. Could any man be stronger than the gang leader? Could anyone be worthy of her? If she married, would the Red Flag Gang change its name? Could it be that because of this, the gang leader didn't care whether A Ling married or not?
Shaking his head, Lin Mo whispered, "I understand."
The little girl didn't look like she "knew it", but it wasn't hard to guess why she kept quiet. Getting married might not be a big deal for other women, but it meant something different to her, the leader of the Red Flag Gang.
With a hint of cunning, Cheng Xi said: "Do you think I don't want to get married?"
Lin Mo was stunned. Isn’t it?
She didn't ask, but her expression couldn't lie. Cheng Xi smiled and shook her head: "Your brother is right about at least one thing, that is, I am different from you. As long as you are in a high position, you will naturally face fewer rumors. Just like those big bosses, everyone knows that I am a woman, who dares to urge me to get married? Whether to choose someone to marry into the family or adopt a child, to find a few concubines, or to spend the rest of my life with a compatible person, the choice is in my hands. This is brought by identity and status. So you have to understand that it is meaningless to just learn from me. The key is how to find your own path and give yourself more choices."
In fact, there is nothing wrong with getting married and having children. What is wrong is that some people regard this as a result.
Because "taking care of the husband and raising children" has never been a choice, but a default attribute imposed by the world.
When we ignore the false proposition of "self", any effort and investment are accompanied by risks, which can easily lead to an imbalance in mentality and even a subversion of life.
Without self, strength, and goals, how can one choose? This isn't modern society, not the era when women can go to school, but she's willing to open up new paths for these young women, giving them more choices.
Lin Mo really understood this time. After a long moment, she whispered, "A Ling has already made a choice."
Cheng Xi smiled: "Yes, she has a goal to strive for, the ability to make money, and with me as her big backer, she can indeed make her own choice."
"I don't have a choice now, so I have to listen to my mother and my brother." Lin Mo said softly again. Even if he was the gang leader, he could only delay time for her for two years.
Cheng Xi continued to nod: "Just being a maid can't convince anyone."
"Then I'll be a captain, a general." Lin Mo raised her voice, her eyes gradually brightening. She didn't want to marry blindly, nor did she want to give up the martial arts she had worked so hard to learn. She wanted more!
In those eyes, there was something that could be called "ambition", burning fiercely, yet also full of vitality.
Cheng Xi smiled and raised her hand to touch the little girl's head: "It will be painful and dangerous, but as long as it is what you want, it is worth it."
Breaking down worldly barriers is never easy, but what does it matter if you work your way through them? Life is short, so why not live it to the fullest?
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