Fourteen: Forced marriage

On the first day of school, Wang Mingming's homeroom teacher calmly walked into the classroom, and the eyes of the students were suddenly focused on her.

Wang Mingming heard that she was a Fagui. Determined to train a new generation for the country. The teacher called her name, and she wrote the word 'Cai' on the blackboard.

The teacher's surname is Cai. She introduced the situation of the school, and also introduced the situation of the principal and teachers. Talked about the rules and regulations of the school.

The class teacher said to the students, "I am a young woman, not a few years older than your female classmates. I was born into a family of eunuchs and was sent to France to study at an early age.

"I have accepted the advanced culture and ideas of the West, and I am determined to strive for the rejuvenation of China. I would like to say a few words to the female students here, and it is also my call to you.

"Women's emancipation is not an empty phrase, it is a struggle. It is up to our generation of young women to take concrete action to achieve it.

"Take the history of Chinese women's small feet as an example, it has a history of hundreds of years in recent terms, and thousands of years in the distance.

"Legend has it that in ancient times, Dayu, his wife was a fox fairy and a little foot. And the women of the world learned from her. They all wrapped their little feet.

"After the Qing soldiers entered the customs, a ban was issued against women to wrap their small feet, because the Manchu people were people from the grassland, and women did not wrap their small feet. He also commanded the men to shave their heads.

As a result, the men surrendered, shaved their heads, and each man wore a big braid. The woman is different, she resolutely refuses to surrender, and her little feet are still wrapped as usual.

The classmates laughed.

The teacher continued: "It's the Republic of China now, the Republic of China overthrew the Qing Dynasty, men have cut their braids, and some of the male students here have their heads cut in two, and some have shaved their heads.

"The men of the Republic of China are emancipated and free. Women are bound by thousands of years of feudal ideology, they are not emancipated, they are not equal and free.

"The feudal dynasties of all dynasties have advocated that women should be three and four virtuous. Raise your eyebrows. Only the political axe of the Republic of China advocates women's emancipation. It's a revolution. It is an epoch-making milestone.

"Since there is resistance to the revolution, we should break through the shackles of feudal ideology and strive to be a female surname in the new era.

"I am here to advocate that female students bravely remove their footcloths, and from here they will start to contribute to the liberation of Chinese women with practical actions.

"I hope that the male students will support them strongly. Fight side by side with them against the feudal forces. ”

The teacher took off her high heels and socks on the podium, and she lifted her skirt and generously raised her feet to show her classmates.

The students were extremely surprised, this is something that the students dare not think of. Some female classmates covered their eyes shyly.

The teacher said: "According to China's feudal etiquette, women's feet are not allowed to be seen, and whoever does this will definitely touch the nerves of the elders."

"The apologists of feudalism and the die-hards saw the women who demanded emancipation as morally corrupt women, as bad women.

"They will persecute them. They will be tied up and thrown into the river and thrown into the well.

"I'm not afraid of these diehards, because Nanjing is the capital of the Republic of China, and the defenders of feudalism don't dare to make a mistake here.

"I am doing this to call on you to summon up the courage to fight against feudal ideas. Fight for your own liberation. Because you are the youth of the capital.

"When I was a child, I was like the female classmates among you, my mother bound my feet, and then I went to school in the West, and my French female teacher helped me unwrap my feet.

"Since then I have been liberated. All the female compatriots we went to study abroad with took off their footwraps. My footwrap was unwound late, my foot was deformed, and it never fully unfolded. ”

The students suddenly applauded. Everyone stood up and saluted the teacher. The yellow cat shouted: "Learn from the teacher and fight for women's liberation." ”

The female classmates were all shocked by the teacher's behavior. They said they had learned from the teacher to make a new female surname. Contribute to the complete emancipation of women with practical actions.

When Wang Mingming returned home, she told her family about the idea of unwrapping her footcloth, but her grandmother and mother objected.

Grandma said angrily: "It is a rule handed down by our ancestors to bind women's feet. Whoever says it doesn't count. The Qing political axe retracted the ban back then, can the teacher be bigger than the Qing political axe?

"This kind of thing about a woman's foot binding is not something that the teacher says to change. You have to listen to what the teacher says, but this matter must not be changed. It's better to follow the ancestral teachings. ”

The mother said, "Your grandmother is right, you have to listen to what your grandmother says." There's nothing wrong with listening to the old man. A woman's beauty lies in her face, body, and feet.

"Three-inch golden lotus, that's the standard of a woman's beauty. Without the three-inch golden lotus, what does a big-footed woman look like, she is ugly, and she is not laughed at to death.

"The girl's family refuses to bind their feet, how will they marry in the future. What man wants a bigfoot woman. You can't go without marrying and be an old girl at home for the rest of your life.

"The teacher wants you to be a new female surname, of course you are right, this is the trend of the times. Mom also supports you. Mom also wants to be a new girl's surname. There are a lot of things with the new girl's surname, so you can do whatever you want.

"It's just that this thing must not be changed. You have to listen to your parents. Read your book well. Don't think about this and that. ”

Wang Mingming was worried when she saw that her mother and grandmother were opposed, and she didn't know what to do.

When my father found out, he said, "Son, our family is not old-fashioned, and the elders of our family are also literate people. It's not old-fashioned, either.

"I agree with the teacher, you should be a female surname in the new era. I encourage you to have the courage to break with old customs.

"You took off your footcloths from your grandmother and mother. Once your actions become a fact, your grandmother will know about them and they will admit it. ”

Wang Mingming's behavior was welcomed by teachers and classmates. Several female classmates also took off their footcloths under her influence.

Father is so open-minded and progressive, why does he want Wang Mingming to marry a forty-year-old man today. Why would my father do this? What happened to him!

Wang Mingming asked his mother: "Father has always loved his daughter and regarded her as the pearl of his palm. What's wrong with him today! Why do you want to marry me like this? Didn't the father know that it would harm his daughter?

"My daughter has two more years to take up the lead in the family. A daughter will definitely be able to make her parents live a good life. Why can't my father wait for me to go out? ”

The mother said, "Daughter, you can't blame your father for this, and your father can't do anything about it." Because he couldn't return the man's money. He was forced by someone else. ”

When Wang Mingming heard this, he was anxious. said, "Isn't this selling my daughter?" The father said that he couldn't sell his daughter. I don't marry, and I don't die either. ”

The father hurriedly said, "Don't worry, didn't I discuss it with you?" If you have a better way, I will listen to you.

"I am a father, and I will never force my daughter to marry. If I sell my daughter, am I still human! You have to understand me and understand me. I was really at my point. ”

The mother said, "You can't do this when you're cornered." If you force your daughter to marry, how can we still behave in the world? Mother said and began to cry again.

Father sighed heavily. Reluctantly, he sat down in his chair.

Wang Mingming knew very well that his father was a small business in the past. That little income can only feed the whole family.

Two years ago, my father met Boss Zhang of Confucius Temple, and during the conversation, he heard that his father had a family in business, but there was no payment to buy goods from him, and he was very interested.

He learned about his father's situation, he was willing to help his father, and suggested that his father take the family house and two acres of land as collateral.

After the two parties sign the mortgage contract, they can deliver the goods to the father first, and then pay him for the goods after the father's goods are sold.

In order to show his sincerity, Boss Zhang asked his father to sign a contract with the next family first, and only after the contract did he sign a mortgage contract with his father and deliver the goods at the same time.

Boss Zhang does not deliver the goods for a day, and the mortgage contract does not take effect for a day.