Child Bride’s Peaches and Plums Are All Over the World

Zhao Ning wanted to call Father Qu Uncle Qu for a reason. He was very old, at least on the surface. He looked around fifty, older than his father.

It was past noon when Qu's father and his mother-in-law rushed back from the village chief's house, and there was only a little porridge left in the kitchen, so he called his son across the yard, "Xiaobao, come and eat."

Xiaobao pushed open the window, and said in a childish voice: "Father, I have eaten." He was a little embarrassed, they had eaten all those pancakes and meat, originally he wanted to save some for his father and mother, but The wife forbade them to stay, stared at them and ate them all.

Father Qu looked back at the gruel in the pot and frowned slightly, "Where did you eat it?"

"Madam invited me to eat."

The frown on Father Qu's face relaxed, and he said with a smile: "That's good, that's good."

He turned around and shared the gruel in the pot with his mother-in-law. Qu's mother didn't think of her four daughters, and Qu Dazhu didn't even ask.

The two of them went back to the house after eating the gruel. It was cold and rainy outside, so it was more comfortable inside.

Father Qu hugged his son and asked, "What did Madam invite you to eat for lunch?"

Xiao Bao drooled and said, "After eating pancakes, there's a lot of meat inside, Dad, can we do the same in the future?"

Father Qu lovingly stroked his head and said: "That's white flour and meat, how can we have those things at home? But we are lucky, we can have a noble person to stay overnight, so we are lucky to have a meal once in a while."

And Qu's father knew that only Xiaobao could have this kind of good luck, because he was young and more likely to be sympathized with. He is very satisfied and grateful for Li Baolu's generosity.

But Qu's mother suddenly looked up at her daughter who was sitting on the kang holding the insole, and asked with a frown, "Did you also eat your wife's food?"

Zhao Di nodded.

Mother Qu twisted her arm and scolded: "You don't know how to raise money-losing goods. You are so big for nothing. If you have good things, you will fill your stomachs. We are exhausted to support you. You don't know what to think about it." Parents, feel sorry for us..."

After screwing the eldest, she went to screw the second and third again, until she beat all four daughters once, and let out all the anger in her heart.

Qu's father sat on the side with downcast eyes as if he didn't see it. Seeing the four sisters being beaten, Xiao Bao rushed over to stop his mother. Now, what a big deal, my wife gave it to them, don't they dare not eat it?"

"Can't we leave some for our parents just to eat? I think they just don't care!"

Zhaodi and Laidi only dared to cry with their heads down, but Pandi gritted her teeth, and the tears in her eyes were unwilling to fall. The wife said that if you want to be your own master, you must first have a strong heart!

She stared straight in the direction of the main room, thinking that her whole life might be like that of sister Hua'er next door, getting married when she was fifteen or sixteen years old, and continuing to live like this in a different place, and the children she gave birth to would also be the same. Like their family, even though she would not abuse her daughter like her parents, her husband's family may not be like her.

If the family lives well, the daughter she gave birth to may grow up to be like her and marry. Not even meeting each other.

Didn't two baby girls drown in the village last year?

Pandi slowly clenched her fists, looking in the direction of the main room with more eagerness.

And Li Baolu, who had a keen hearing, also turned dark, she sat cross-legged on the kang and remained silent.

Gu Jingyun fought chess with himself for a while, seeing her so dull, he swept the chessboard and sat beside her, shook her hand and said, "If you don't have the heart, take them away."

Li Baolu shook her head, "Life is your own, and you have to walk your own way."

That being said, Li Baolu still called the five children over after lunch break, gave them pens and paper, and said with a smile, "I have nothing to do, let me teach you how to write some simple characters."

The eyes of the five children were all sparkling. Li Baolu first taught them to recognize their own names, because their names made a lot of hand gestures, and it took half a day just to recognize these three characters.

Li Baolu taught them how to count when they saw that they knew each other well.

In modern times, children aged three or four can count to one hundred, and those who are smarter can do simple addition and subtraction within ten. There are very few ten-year-old adults who can count to one hundred without a single mistake.

Because they rarely need these.

The small markets here still use barter a lot. Most of the things they need money to buy are salt, and the rest can be obtained through item exchange.

It is enough for a family to have one person who can count.

So when Li Baolu taught them to count, even the oldest Zhaodi was sweating profusely, because she would always get confused when counting.

On the other hand, Pandi quickly counted from one to one hundred, her fingers were still consciously scribing one after another on the table, Li Baolu couldn't help but stare at her secretly.

Xiaobao also performed well, but compared to Pandi, he was still a bit inferior.

When making dinner, Li Baolu couldn't help but bring her by her side, "How old are you this year?"

Pandi resisted the urge to lower her head, looked up at Li Baolu and said, "I am nine years old this year, and I will be ten years old after the new year."

Li Baolu patted her head pityingly. She was nine years old, but she was only a little older than Xiaobao, only six or seven years old.

"Ma'am," Pandi asked after holding back: "Do people in the city buy girls to serve them? What do girls usually do?"

"Wealthy people only use girls. They have to do everything. Normally, they do whatever the master asks them to do." Li Baolu asked softly, "Do you want to be a girl?"

Pandi was silent for a while, then shook her head, "I don't want to be a girl, they have to listen to others, but I don't have skills, I can't support myself."

Li Baolu could hear her hesitation and bewilderment, she sighed slightly, but couldn't bear it, and said in a low voice: "There is no skill to learn."

Pandi almost shed tears. She mentioned to her parents that she wanted to go to the city to help cook as an apprentice. When she grows up, she can even work as an apprentice in the kitchen, but her parents went to the city and heard that being an apprentice I have to give the master two pieces of bacon every year, and I have to work for five or six years in vain before leaving the teacher, so I don't want to.

In their view, daughters are losers. They will get married at the age of fifteen or sixteen, become an apprentice at the age of eight, and when they are fourteen years old, they can get married with two years' wages. It is cheaper for outsiders, it is better to stay at home to take care of the children, do housework, and even work in the fields when they are older.

So no matter how much she begged and refused to agree, how could she learn the craft in such a situation at home?

She is at a loss and afraid of the future. Sometimes she thinks that living is hard. At that time, she wants to be like her elder sister and second sister. If only she can think about nothing, do nothing, and just listen to her parents' arrangements to grow up and get married. .

But after thinking about it, she felt scared again. She had come to this world with great difficulty, but she was in a daze, at a loss. When she was about to die, what else could she leave behind besides a bunch of children?

Who can still remember her, and what is worth remembering about her?

Looking at her kind but firm wife, Pandi confides to her the unformed fear and confusion in her mind, hoping she can give herself an answer. Is it better for her to be like her, or be like her sisters? That will be happy?

Li Baolu opened her mouth wide, and said after a while, "I don't know, maybe thousands of people will not be able to give you a unified answer to this question. There are tens of millions of people in the world, and there are thousands of different temperaments, and each person's choice is different. They are all different, I think the best choice is from the heart, even if it hurts, at least the heart will not regret it.”

She paused and said, "If it were me, I would rather die soberly than live in a daze."

Pandi's eyes sparkled, "Ma'am!"

She gritted her teeth, knelt down in front of her and said, "Madam, take me away, and I will definitely repay you in the future, even if it means paying back with my life. I think, I want to live a little more meaningful, at least, at least I am I want to see what the county is like and how other people live, so that even if I die, I won’t be in vain to come to this world.”

"Are you willing to leave your house?"

Pan Di suppressed the tears in her eyes, nodded and said, "I'm willing!"

"Okay, I'll take you with me when I go."

Pandi kowtowed to Li Baolu gratefully, got up and wiped away tears, then continued to help her wash and chop vegetables.

Li Baolu didn't say how to take her away, and she didn't ask either.

When Li Baolu and Pandi returned to the main room with the food, Gu Jingyun was explaining to Xiaobao with the "Three Character Classic".

The "Three Character Classic" was their enlightenment book, they knew it by heart, including the allusions in it, but when Gu Jingyun interpreted it, the two adults couldn't help but be fascinated by it, let alone Xiaobao, if it wasn't for Gu Jingyun's precious status, He was afraid that he would pester him to continue talking.

Gu Jingyun put the book aside, and said to the siblings who were about to leave: "You guys stay and eat together."

From the corner of Pandi's eyes, she saw her mother watching her side. She shook her body, but she didn't dare to respond. She pulled her younger brother and bent down, saying, "Thank you, Mr. and Mrs., but our family has already made dinner, so we will have dinner." Stop eating."

After finishing speaking, he dragged his brother out quickly, but Gu Jingyun didn't stop him.

Mother Qu frowned and watched them approach, "What did the nobleman tell you just now?"

Pan Di paused and said: "Young Master said that my younger brother is very good at reading, so I asked my younger brother to go to him tomorrow when he is free, and he will teach my younger brother how to read."

Mother Qu's eyes lit up, she immediately pulled her son and asked, "Xiaobao, is what your third sister said true? Did your nobleman really teach you to read and write?"

Xiao Bao nodded.

Mother Qu clapped her hands and almost flew up with joy, "I knew it, I knew my little treasure is the smartest."

Pan Di secretly breathed a sigh of relief, Xiao Bao secretly grabbed Third Sister's hand, and showed her a big smile.

Pandi also pursed her lips and smiled, and the siblings tacitly kept silent.