Xue Langjing was very puzzled, "Then why doesn't my sister go to be a female school teacher, or an account office or something?" I can have a fixed salary! Or is it more profitable to set up a stall to sell calligraphy and paintings than them? ”

"Alas", the woman shook her head and sighed, "Except for the shop of the Zheng family, the other shops do not accept women's accounts." ”

"Why don't you take it?" Such a brilliant bookkeeper, those shops don't even accept it! I really don't know what to think.

The woman said in a low voice, "After all, there is a difference between men and women, maybe they all think that it is not good to let women show their faces, and they are reluctant to hire them, and they also feel that hiring us women is not as good as men." ”

It's a sad thing.

"What about the female schoolmaster?" It's Mr. Private School.,It's just that generally private schools don't hire female gentlemen.,So she refers to those rich people who invite professors to their daughters or female gentlemen with beautiful wives and concubines.。

I saw the woman cover her mouth and smile, "My sister is the teacher of the women's school, usually if any family invites me, I will go to teach, no one invites, so I set up a stall outside to sell calligraphy and paintings." ”

Xue Langjing was suddenly embarrassed, so people have a fixed identity, and setting up a stall here is just a side hustle.

The woman seemed to see Xue Langjing's thoughts, and explained, "Actually, what my sister thinks is right, our female school teachers are different from men, they can go to official schools, private schools, and home schools to teach. ”

Speaking of this, the woman paused, and her face was stained with a bit of grievance, "The only thing we women can go to is the home school, and we can only teach women, and if it is not a wealthy family, how many people can make a woman go to school, and can afford to hire a husband?"

In other places, there are female school teachers who run their own schools, but they can only accept female disciples, but the number of women studying is small, and the number of people is not even, not only can they not recover the capital, but they also have to post it upside down, which is naturally not suitable for us ordinary people. ”

"That's right," Xue Langjing nodded.

The woman said, "Besides, not all women from rich and noble families will let them study, after all, most people still believe that women are virtuous if they are not talented, so there are very few choices we can choose, and there are several like me, and most of them usually make a living by selling calligraphy and paintings." ”

"Then why is no one invited to write poems and paintings? After all, sister, you also said that there are only a few women like you, and there are not too many of them, and your talent has surpassed that of most men. ”

"No matter what we think we are talented, the average rich and noble family doesn't look down on the calligraphy and paintings made by women, let alone invite them, so we can only set up our own stalls and sell them at prices far lower than those of other literati," the woman explained.

I see!

But after listening to her answer, Xue Langjing still couldn't figure it out, "Sister, I have a question." ”

"Sister, please speak", the woman also took the trouble to answer her question.

I heard Xue Langjing ask, "You said that the world thinks that women are not talented and virtuous, and even many women themselves think so, but why are there many women in this city who are full of poetry and books like you, but are not from wealthy families?" ”

"Alas, this has to start with the founding of our Great Chu."

"You say."

saw that the woman lowered her voice, "Two hundred years before the founding of the Great Chu, in literature, the imperial court encouraged women to study, and even opened official schools for women, and the atmosphere of women being good at studying gradually formed in these two hundred years.

In Wu, I encourage women like my sister you. The ability from Rong, to the later stage, the barracks are directly open to ordinary women.

The status of women has also improved greatly in the past two hundred years, which is why there are such outstanding characters as Lord Zheng Wen and the eldest princess.

It's just that later, it was suddenly suppressed, and with the help of the above, the voices against women's study and martial arts were unprecedentedly high, and this trend was gradually spread.

However, the atmosphere formed over the past 200 years has long been more entrenched, how can it be said that it can be broken up when it is dispersed?

No matter how the court or even the people suppress it, there will always be some people who are persistent, just like the weeds, as long as the roots are still there, they may break the ground again at any time, and once they grow, the wind will not disperse, the rain will not blow, and they will be tenacious. ”

Although the woman's voice was low, the light in her eyes was difficult to hide, and Xue Lang nodded quietly, "I understand, so there are women in the world who are as capable as my sister and my sister." ”

Hearing her words, the woman also nodded deeply, reached out and patted her shoulder solemnly, "My sister is really smart." ”

As soon as the words fell, he listened to the other party again, "Of course, there are many women like Master Zheng who can write and martial arts." ”

"Haha, it seems that my sister admires Master Zheng Wen very much!" Her words successfully amused the woman who had a heavy face.

Afterwards, the two talked again, and Xue Langjing also asked about the situation of several other female school teachers, "Sister, do you know what is the current situation of other sisters?" ”

"It's not too much, there are three sisters whose family backgrounds are similar to mine, and they all have to be so busy to support their families, but another sister, who is now single, has no pressure at home, and her life is much more nourishing than me, which is enviable!"

At the end, the woman couldn't help but sigh.

Hearing this, Xue Langjing looked at the woman carefully, and the woman's face was indeed weathered, which was very different from the female bachelor she imagined who usually stayed in the pavilion to write poems and paint.

"Forgive my sister for being presumptuous, but my sister is married or has children at home?"

"She has been married to a woman for fifteen years, and she has two sons and two daughters."

It turned out that there were so many children, and Xue Langjing also sighed, "It's really not easy for my sister to pull so many dolls." ”

Then he asked, "I wonder what my brother-in-law is doing?" ”

"He's working as a coolie on the docks, earning thirty or forty dollars a day," the woman shook her head and smiled bitterly.

"Sister, you are either a female school teacher or selling calligraphy and paintings, plus with the help of your brother-in-law, this day will not be too bad, right?" Xue Langjing was puzzled again.

But I saw that the woman shook her head again, "If you only live in a mess, it will not be too difficult, but my sister still has to teach the four dolls in the family to read and learn calligraphy. ”

Xue Langjing had to admire, "Sister is really amazing!" ”

The woman waved her hand, "Where, if you really have the ability, you don't need to move outside the city to live." ”

"Since I don't live in the city, how can my sister's lunch be solved, do you want to temporarily close the stall and go to lunch?"

"Meals in the city are expensive, and the second daughter usually cooks at home, and the daughter of the family comes home to bring it, and my husband and wife are like this, and they can also have some money left."

Alas, it's not easy!