The Love of Passerby A

Chapter 465: A Survival Guide for Women in the Old Republic of China (4)

However, these are not what Su Xiangran is concerned about now, because as a woman who has lived in modern times, she certainly understands that foot binding can cause disability, and the damage is irreversible.

And at this moment, no one can save her, and her father will not care about this matter.

Her grandfather, Old Man Su, wouldn't care at all. The only person who could help her brother, Su Yanqing, was currently in the church school and no one knew when he would be back.

And to be honest, even if Cao Wanning let me go today for the sake of my brother, what about in the future?

As long as her mother does not give up the idea of ​​having her feet bound, she will always be in danger, and the older she gets, the more dangerous it will be to bind her feet, and the more painful it will be to eat.

Su Xiangran was not naive enough to think that everything would be fine if she just dragged it on for a few years. She had read the documents and records from the Republic of China period.

In order to bind the feet of girls of a certain age, some people would break their toes and force them into the feet, or even chop off part of the soles of their feet.

Although Cao Wanning is her mother, the idea of ​​being concerned about reputation and emphasizing rules is engraved in her body. However, she cannot completely give up this idea, otherwise Su Xiangran will always be in danger.

Thinking of this, Su Xiangran realized that she had to take action to protect herself, and she thought of two methods.

First, she thought of a medical book she had read in her previous life, which mentioned some special massage and stretching methods that could help the feet maintain their natural shape.

With a little practice, her feet would become more flexible and petite, and her gait would become natural and graceful even without binding.

Second, find a reason to convince Cao Wanning to give up foot binding. Of course, it would take some careful consideration to decide who should say these words to her.

As a Chinese woman who has always listened to advice, there are three main points that can impress her:

First, doing so will lead to financial ruin;

Second, doing so will be detrimental to one’s offspring;

3. Doing so will cause discord between husband and wife;

4. Doing so will cause health problems;

In short, any one of these statements from someone she trusted would make Cao Wanning believe that having her daughter's feet bound was an unlucky thing.

So is there such a person?

There really is one, and that is the great monk of Jincheng Anyang Temple - Abbot Zhineng.

In fact, this monk was not some great monk. It was just that Cao Wanning happened to meet him before she gave birth to her son.

As a result, the smart abbot, probably in order to cheat some money from incense offerings, concluded that the baby in her belly was the incarnation of Wenquxing.

When Su Yanqing was born, the Su family thought he was a son. Later, they discovered that the child was very talented. Therefore, the Su family, actually Cao Wanning, would donate some money for incense every now and then.

As for why it is said that the intelligent abbot is not a high-level monk!

This was because the monk was originally a bandit leader and had been hiding in Anyang Temple for many years to avoid being hunted by many parties.

Later, when warlords were in power, he simply stopped hiding. He took the guns and money he had hidden and found a powerful force to join.

This happened about ten years later. The original owner was not married yet. During that time, her mother Cao Wanning did not dare to go out for several months, for fear that others would think she had some relationship with the bandits.

The topic has gone too far. No matter what, at this timeline, her mother Cao Wanning still believes in the monk.

Thinking of this, Su Xiangran struggled to ask Nanny Hong to help her change her clothes, as she wanted to go see Cao Wanning.

"Young lady, you are not fully recovered yet. You should wait a few days!" Nanny Hong knew that when a girl had her feet bound, every step she took was extremely painful.

Although he had loosened the foot binding to make the young lady feel better, she had just gotten better and it was definitely not the time for her to get out of bed.

How could Su Xiangran possibly wait? If she waited a few more days and her mother tightened the cloth around her, she would most likely become disabled.

"Mammy Hong, I really have something urgent to tell my mother." Su Xiangran looked pitiful.

Matron Hong sighed and held Su Xiangran in her arms: "Young lady, let me carry you over! When we reach the door of Madam's room, you can get down and walk in."

"Thank you, Ma'am!" Su Xiangran said to her gratefully.

Not long after, they arrived at Cao Wanning's yard. As soon as they stepped in, Nanny Hong put Su Xiangran down, with an expression of heartache and helplessness on her face.

She can indulge Su Xiangran when the lady can't see, but if she is under the lady's nose, the rules are as strict as the sky. If she makes the slightest mistake, it will not only be bad for the young lady, but also for herself.

As soon as Su Xiangran's feet touched the ground, it was already very painful because the center of gravity of her body was on one foot. She gritted her teeth and walked to Cao Wanning.

The greetings and salutes were all standard and the facial expressions were just right.

"Well! The rules are good today." Cao Wanning exaggerated in Beijing dialect.

In fact, Cao Wanning did not grow up in Beijing, and he learned the accent later, so it sounds similar to that in Beijing, but it's too deliberate.

"Mother, my daughter is now well again." Su Xiangran said with a smile, "When my mind was fuzzy, I seemed to see the Bodhisattva. Can I go to Anyang Temple to fulfill my wish?"

Cao Wanning paused while holding the teacup, but after a moment, she nodded: "Since the Bodhisattva has blessed you, you should go to the temple to worship."

Our Xiao Ran will probably look like this when she grows up.