Chapter 403 Do you want to go to school?
Lin Wanxia said "tsk", "The Zuo family is really annoying the third sister."
The fourth sister-in-law nodded, "When the third sister came back this morning, she heard that the Zuo family wanted to divorce her and she still has this attitude. Just like before, she ran to the Zuo family to make trouble without saying a word. She just came back! She started crying as soon as she came back, saying that she regretted the divorce!"
Lin Wanxia nodded, filling in the missing information, and she could eat melons with peace of mind.
"Dad, what should I do now?" The third sister cried and looked for Jiang's father for advice.
"I have no choice! Didn't you shout for a divorce yesterday? Then you try to see if it is like you said that after you get divorced, there will be a bunch of men waiting for you to choose."
The third sister cried even louder.
"Cry, cry, cry! You cry when you get into trouble." Father Jiang was annoyed by her crying, and stood up and walked out, "I don't care! Anyway, you have already lost my face, you can leave or not, it's up to you!"
"The third brother is like this, where are you going?" Mother Jiang said.
"Go dig a hole for myself, and you can bury me directly when I get angry to death."
Lin Wanxia stood up when she heard it.
She still remembered what the old man said to her a few days ago.
The fourth sister-in-law grabbed Lin Wanxia's sleeve, "Don't worry! Dad won't be upset, he should go to find a way for the third sister. Dad is a person who protects his shortcomings, and sometimes he just doesn't spare people with his words."
Lin Wanxia: "..."
Father Jiang left, and the house suddenly became lively.
Everyone talked about their own things.
The second sister, the third sister and Jiang's mother sat together to talk about the third sister's divorce.
The fourth brother and Jiang Sinian were talking to the second brother-in-law.
Lin Wanxia and the fourth sister-in-law were chatting idly.
Lin Wanxia turned her head and saw Xiaoliu holding a basin of water and about to wash her clothes. She called her, "Dongxue."
"Sister-in-law?"
"Do you want to go to school?" Lin Wanxia went straight to the point.
Dongxue's eyes lit up and then slowly dimmed. She shook her head, "No. There's no point in going to school."
"How can it be useless? Studying can change your destiny!"
Dongxue lowered her head, "My parents won't let me go."
The fourth sister-in-law sighed, "It's not just Xiaoliu. Our little girl should have gone to school this year, but now she's playing at home."
"Don't worry about your parents. If you want to go to school, I'll pay for your tuition." Lin Wanxia promised, turned to the fourth sister-in-law and said, "The same goes for my eldest niece."
Xiaoliu suddenly raised his head with a look of joy that he couldn't hide, and then shook his head again, "It's useless."
The fourth sister-in-law also sighed, "It's not just about money. If the old people don't change their mindsets, it's useless even if you give them money."
Lin Wanxia emphasized, "I will give the money directly to the school."
"I understand what you mean." The fourth sister-in-law shook her head, "But giving money to the school and being able to go to school are two different things. Even if you give the money to the school, our mother can go and make a fuss to get it back, right? Even if the school insists on not giving it to her, she can still not let the children go to school."
Xiaoliu added in a low voice, "Fifth sister-in-law, you have to go to the next village next door to go to school, which is six miles away from home. It takes half an hour on the road. But I have to get up early in the morning to help the fourth sister-in-law cook for the whole family, and I have to feed the chickens and pigs. Besides, we have to eat at school at noon, and mom won't bring me lunch. I don't have money to buy it."
The fourth sister-in-law nodded: "Yangzai is only three years old. I went to school by myself in the past two years . Since we are too busy, our mother asked Xiaoliu to help me cook. However, Liu, if you can really go to school, your work will be done by your sister-in-law. You just need to take good care of your niece.
However, now is not the busy farming season, you can go to school for a few days. You will still be called back to work when the busy farming season comes. Even if you go to school, you will fish for three days and dry the nets for two days. "
After the sister-in-law finished speaking, she added to Lin Wanxia: "Xiaoliu is very smart. He took the first place in his grade in his school in just one semester! He was awarded a certificate." She gently pushed Xiaoliu, "Show the certificate to your sister-in-law."
Xiaoliu turned and went back to the inner room. After a while, he came out with a cloth bag.
It is not appropriate to call it a cloth bag, it is just a child's old clothes.
Xiaoliu opened it layer by layer with great care.
Inside was a certificate with one quarter of it burned off.
You could still make out what was written on it:
Congratulations to Jiang Dongxue, a first-grader at Xizhang Primary School, for winning first place in the first semester.
Lin Wanxia stared at the half-opened certificate in astonishment.
The fourth sister-in-law looked in the direction of Jiang's mother and explained in a low voice: "It was posted on the wall before. It was on the empty wall between the stove and the square table."
Lin Wanxia followed the fourth sister-in-law's hand and looked over.
The walls of the Jiang family were made of adobe bricks covered with a layer of fine mud.
The light in the room was slightly darker than the white walls, but it was still visible that there was a rectangular area on the wall that was lighter in color than other places. It should be where the certificate was placed before.
"Later, Xiao Qi was asked to light a fire. He was too playful and didn't watch the fire carefully. The firewood in the stove fell out and ignited the firewood outside. When I saw it, Xiao Qi's award certificate was already on fire, and the table was almost on fire.
Xiao Liu came back and saw the award certificate and started fighting with Xiao Qi. Our mother took sides and blamed Xiao Liu.
Later, Dad came back and said that it was useless for girls to study, so he didn't let Xiao Liu study. I also tried to persuade him, but you can see that I am not influential at home, and no one takes my words seriously."
Xiao Liu's tears flowed down again when he heard what Fourth Sister-in-law said.
Lin Wanxia took out a small pack of tissues from her pocket and took one to wipe Xiao Liu's tears.
Papermaking technology is still a little bit behind, so the tissue paper that Chen Manshu made is not that delicate.
But it is still original enough, and the raw materials can be vaguely seen on some papers.
But it is softer than most toilet paper on the market.
Besides, toilet paper is rarely used in rural areas. Most women use a menstrual belt filled with grass ash when they come to relatives.
Xiaoliu shook his head and wiped his face with the back of his hand, "Paper is very expensive."
Lin Wanxia took Xiaoliu's hand and wiped the black dirt around Xiaoliu's eyes. "No matter how expensive it is, it is not as valuable as Xiaoliu's future. Xiaoliu, don't cry, and don't put your fate in the hands of others. Now is still the time when knowledge can change your fate.
This time I can definitely help you return to school. However, what I can do for you is temporary. Your fifth brother and I will leave after the New Year. If by then it is really like what Fourth Sister-in-law said, if your parents both stop you, you must learn to resist.
Even biological parents are not always right. Do you understand?"
Xiaoliu seemed to understand, but she felt that the fifth sister-in-law was particularly powerful. She wished she could be half as powerful as the fifth sister-in-law. The fourth sister-in-law,
on the other hand, looked thoughtful.
***
It gets dark early in winter, and every household has lights on. Jiang's father and his family just came back, reeking of alcohol and looking unhappy.
Lin Wanxia looked at Jiang Sinian, who shook his head.
Jiang's mother couldn't wait to ask Jiang's father, "His father, how is it?"
Jiang's father still looked ugly and his tone was not good, "Are you anxious now? Weren't you two very arrogant when you asked for a divorce in the Zuo family?"