Then the mother-in-law coughed gently, leaned back into a comfortable position on the sofa, and continued, "Daughter-in-law, Xiao Lan, this is what I'm thinking! I'll say it out loud for you to hear, for you two to hear, and see if what I say makes sense!"
Chen Lan nodded and looked at her mother-in-law. Her own mother also looked up at her mother-in-law, as if waiting for her to continue.
Seeing both of them staring at her intently, the mother-in-law paused and continued, "Let's start from the opening of this reading club. We will treat reading as the top priority in our valley. From now on, our valley will establish a rule: those who live in our valley must be able to read and write."
Chen Lan strongly agreed with her mother-in-law's idea. Although reading was not the only way to make a living in this era, Chen Lan, who had experienced modern life, knew the importance of learning knowledge. Life would get better and better in the future, but the old ways of thinking from the past would surely not be able to adapt to the arrival of the new era. Therefore, the only way to avoid being left behind by the times was to continuously learn new knowledge.
The mother-in-law sighed softly and looked out the window, saying, "Our burden is even heavier now! Most of the men in the valley are injured and cannot farm or do heavy labor. Brother Xiangdong and a few others are going out again to bring back dozens of Mingxuan's comrades and their families to the valley, meaning dozens of households and over a hundred people.
In the future, the burden of farming in the valley will basically fall on the women. If the young ladies and young wives cannot read and write, how will they operate those farming machines?"
This is exactly the principle of "giving a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teaching a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." It's not about directly feeding them with delicious food and drinks, but about teaching them practical skills and techniques for survival. In the future, there will be more and more various machines in our valley. If one cannot even read a single character, how can they operate machines for production and for living?
After speaking, the mother-in-law picked up her teacup and took another sip. When she looked up, she saw four pairs of big eyes staring at her, as if waiting for her to continue.
Seeing that their expressions were not of impatience, but rather of rapt attention, the mother-in-law didn't hold back. She coughed gently and continued in an orderly manner, "We will start with this batch of young wives, young ladies, and children, requiring everyone in our valley to be literate. Otherwise, they are not fit to be people of our valley. We will let them go as far as they can, and not shame our people. If we arrange it this way, what do you think the final effect will be?"
Chen Lan naturally would not object. On the contrary, she felt that her mother-in-law's idea was exactly in line with her own. So, she smiled and said, "I think there's no problem. What Mother-in-law said is exactly what I thought!"
The mother-in-law smiled, patted Chen Lan's hand, and then looked at her own mother, tentatively asking, "Daughter-in-law's mother, do you think this method is feasible?"
After listening to her mother-in-law's speech, the mother nodded repeatedly, generously using a string of flattering words, praising, "Daughter-in-law, you are truly wise! And quite bold and responsible! Women reading can indeed make them understand things. By letting the women in the valley read and write, we are subtly influencing their children."
Chen Lan strongly agreed with this statement and couldn't help but nod. Her mother was absolutely right. In this era, it was mostly mothers who stayed at home to take care of the children. Therefore, the kind of person the mother was would, to some extent, set an example in the minds of the children who had not yet fully developed. This is the principle of "near vermilion, one becomes red; near ink, one becomes black."
Although it is not said that a child's future is necessarily related to their parents, it will leave a general outline in the child's heart, which almost determines the direction of the child's future life. Therefore, reading is an opportunity that women in this era should cherish.
The mother looked at the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law who were listening attentively and nodding continuously, and continued, "A mother who loves to read will have a broader vision and perspective to help her children grow into even better versions of themselves."
The mother paused to drink some linden flower tea and glanced at the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law again. She felt even more that her daughter-in-law's idea was a very good one, so she said with firm conviction, "Therefore, a mother who is learned and well-educated is a valuable asset to three generations of a family."
Chen Lan thought that her mother, having attended the Imperial City Women's School, naturally had a knowledge and insight that ordinary village women could not match! Su Dan Novel Network.
It truly proves the saying, "If you have poetry and books hidden in your heart, time will never defeat beauty." Yes! Although everyone says, "Time makes people old." However, a woman who loves to read will never grow old!
Chen Lan also gave her mother-in-law a thumbs-up and then said sincerely, "Mother-in-law, you truly are a remarkable woman who can read and write, possessing culture and insight. You understand the importance of women reading for our valley and for our descendants. I warmly support and resolutely endorse your suggestion."
Praise from the mother and daughter made the mother-in-law blush a little. She waved her hands in embarrassment and said, "No, no, I'm not as good as you say! I'm just saying what comes to mind! As long as I haven't said anything wrong and made you two laugh!"
The mother immediately feigned displeasure and said, "Daughter-in-law, what are you talking about? How can your breadth of mind and vision be comparable to ordinary women?"
Hearing her daughter-in-law continue to praise her, the mother-in-law became even more embarrassed and repeatedly waved her hands, "No, no, I'm nowhere near as good as you say!"
After speaking, she immediately got up and said, "Daughter-in-law's mother, I won't chat with you any longer. I'm going out now to help Mingwei and the others with their reading club and get this reading matter sorted out."
As soon as she finished speaking, she hurried to put on her coat, hat, scarf, and gloves, opened the living room door, and quickly walked out.
Chen Lan looked up through the large glass window of the living room at the courtyard outside. She only saw her mother-in-law's hurried figure leaving the courtyard gate and walking further and further away. She thought, "My mother-in-law is truly worth ten men!"
Chen Lan had great faith in her mother-in-law's ability to mobilize people, so she didn't concern herself with organizing the people in the valley for reading anymore.
She simply took out fifty pencils, fifty erasers, a large pencil sharpener, and one hundred notebooks from the system's warehouse and gave them all to Mingwei to keep.