Women Wearing Men: The Growth Path of the Bastards of the Aristocratic Family

Gu Zhaoxi is very observant at a young age and knows how to discern the mood of adults. She knows to be quiet when it is time to be quiet and not to cause trouble for her elders.On the carriage ride home, it wasn't until her parents' emotions returned to calm that she couldn't restrain her curiosity and asked the question that had been accumulating in her heart for a long time:
"Mom, what is foot binding?"

Xu Shuhua was startled, and then explained: "When a woman is relatively young - like you are now, the feet are tightly wrapped with strips of cloth to inhibit their development and prevent them from growing up, in order to achieve 'Littlefoot' purpose."

Gu Zhaoxi tilted his head: "Why don't you let your feet grow bigger? Are there any benefits to having small feet?"

Xu Shuhua thought for a while and said seriously: "To be honest, I don't think there is any benefit. My mother once had a close friend who had bound feet. She was about the same height as me, but her feet were much smaller than mine. It’s very difficult to move around and I can’t walk much.”

"Every day I can only stay in my room doing embroidery and writing. Sometimes it rains continuously, and my feet still hurt. In my opinion, foot binding is harmful to all but useless. But unfortunately, many men like small feet, and some In order to facilitate marriage and marry into a good family, some women have no choice but to have their feet bound."

Gu Zhaoxi was puzzled: "Since walking with small feet is inconvenient and often painful, why do some men like small feet?"

My daughter is still young and cannot understand many things. If the explanation is not adequate, it will deepen her doubts.Xu Shuhua didn't know how to answer her, but Gu Yunji said lightly from the side: "Because they are perverts."

Gu Zhaoxi was at the age when he was seeking knowledge and wanted to get to the bottom of everything. Hearing this, he said curiously: "Pervert? What is a pervert?"

Xu Shuhua was annoyed that he was instilling bad vocabulary into his daughter, so he immediately gave him a light slap.Gu Yunji received a glare from his wife, coughed a few times uncomfortably, and simply told Gu Zhaoxi: "Pervert is a person with distorted aesthetics and abnormal psychology... Anyway, it is a derogatory term and a curse. Xi'er doesn't need to remember it. live."

Gu Zhaoxi blinked his big eyes: "Why did dad scold them?"

"Because they impose their own preferences on others, regard the pain of others as pleasure, are mentally perverted, and are cruel, so we must scold them."

Gu Yunji explained patiently: "What your mother described is considered good, because she has only seen long-foot binding. There is also a kind of bone-breaking binding, which is when a girl is still young, the remaining four toes are stretched hard. Bend it inward so that it fits closely under the sole of your foot to achieve the goal of slimming the tip of your toe."

"In order to correct the shape of the feet, bamboo boards are added, stone slabs are used to press them, and broken porcelain pieces are even placed. The broken porcelain pieces are tightly wrapped with cloth strips on the soles of the feet, and then the girl is forced to walk on the ground, cutting the The soles of the feet were bloody and bloody, the process was quite cruel, and the pain was unbearable."

In order to make Gu Zhaoxi understand more clearly, Gu Yunji took her little foot and made gestures on it while talking.

Gu Yunji's words were eloquent, and Gu Zhaoxi watched him demonstrate with his hands, as if the broken pieces of porcelain were cutting into the soles of his feet.She was so frightened that her face turned pale, and finally she couldn't bear to listen anymore, so she threw herself into his arms and burst into tears: "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Daddy, I don't want my feet to be bound!"

Xu Shuhua quickly picked up his daughter and coaxed her, giving him a reproachful look: "Why are you scaring the child? Don't say it's Xi'er, I'm scared after hearing that."

Gu Yunji said helplessly: "Foot binding is really not a good thing. Xi'er is young and weak-minded, and is easily affected by other people's thoughts. If I don't tell her more seriously, she might be deceived by others one day and think that foot binding is It’s a good thing.”

"I'd rather leave some psychological shadow on her now than let her think this is normal and suffer the crime of foot binding in the future."

After saying that, Gu Yunji softened his tone and said to his daughter gently: "Okay, Xi'er, don't cry anymore. Daddy promises you that he will never bind your feet."

Although Xu Shuhua did not agree with foot binding, he could not help but worry when he heard this: "If what my cousin said is true, everyone wants to marry a girl with small feet as a wife, and if this trend continues to prevail, I am afraid that in more than ten years, our daughter will Instead, they have become a minority."

Gu Yunji didn't care: "Weirds are different, it's better than suffering at a young age. I can't control others, so I can protect my daughter. There are too many disadvantages of foot binding, not only physical pain, but also psychological torture." My movements are restricted and I can only stay in a small attic, which narrows my horizons."

Xu Shuhua sighed: "It's true. My best friend and I were playmates growing up. Later, she had her feet bound, but I didn't. At first I couldn't tell anything, but gradually the difference became apparent. "I talked about current affairs, but she didn't understand; I talked about Western writing, but she hadn't heard it; I talked about festivals, but she couldn't go out, it was unimaginable. What she could come into contact with was what her family wanted her to come into contact with after screening. , what kind of female red embroidery skills, women command women’s virtues, don’t show anything extra.”

"Obviously she and I got along very well at first, but because of foot binding, we had nothing in common and gradually became estranged."

Gu Yunji said: "Fortunately, your feet are not bound. Beauty is secondary. You must know that foot binding restricts movement, which affects the development of a woman's body and pelvis, and will greatly increase the probability of dystocia. It was already difficult for you to give birth to Xi'er. If your feet were bound, , I’m just afraid…”

Gu Yunji was frightened and did not dare to say any more.

Xu Shuhua knew that his difficult childbirth was still a knot in Gu Yunji's heart, and he felt uncomfortable whenever he mentioned it, so he held his hand and comforted him: "Why are there so many ifs? Isn't this a good thing for me? Don't always push yourself into a dead end." Libi."

"We have agreed now that we will never bind Xi'er's feet. You and I are just a daughter. We always want to ensure that she lives a happy and smooth life. If she doesn't bind her feet, she won't. What's the big deal."

Gu Zhaoxi recalled Feng's words and frowned slightly: "But... my great-uncle said that you can't get married without binding your feet. Doesn't it matter?"

"Xi'er, come here." Gu Yunji held her on his lap and said seriously, "Daddy, let me tell you, first of all, foot binding is not a good thing. If someone refuses to get married because you don't bind your feet, it means that his family doesn't recognize it. The essence of clearing the bound feet is not worth marrying in itself, and there is no regret in losing it.”

"Secondly, a woman's life is not for the purpose of getting married. I have no control over others, but when you grow up, your parents will not force you to get married. Whether you are willing to marry, stay at home and recruit a son-in-law, or It doesn’t matter if you don’t get married for the rest of your life. Anyway, the most important thing is that you are happy, do you understand?”

Gu Zhaoxi looked at his father's serious face and nodded in understanding. Then he suddenly said, "My great-uncle said that men like women with small feet. Dad is also a man. Does dad like small feet?"

"Of course dad doesn't like it. That's abnormal aesthetics, and those who like it are perverts." Gu Yunji smiled and scratched his daughter's nose, "Look, your mother is the most beautiful with such talent. This It’s called healthy natural beauty.”

Gu Zhaoxi swayed her little feet, compared them with Xu Shuhua's, and said enthusiastically: "Then I will grow up to be as beautiful as my mother in the future!"

Gu Yunji and Xu Shuhua were both amused by their daughter's childlike words: "It's natural beauty, not cumin beauty! If it grows into cumin, how can it be so good?"

After all, Gu Zhaoxi was too young to understand what they were laughing at. He eagerly wanted to ask, but his ignorant and innocent look made his parents laugh more and more: "What is cumin?"

Gu Yunji teased her: "Cumin is something to eat. Sprinkle it on Xi'er's little feet and they will turn into fragrant roasted pig's trotters!"

Gu Zhaoxi's eyes lit up when he heard about eating: "That must be delicious? Has Dad ever eaten it?"

Gu Yunji suppressed a smile: "I haven't eaten it. Ask your mother, she might have eaten it, hahahaha..."

Gu Zhaoxi blinked her big eyes and asked Xu Shuhua: "Mother, mother, have you ever eaten it? Is it delicious?"

Xu Shuhua's stomach almost hurt from laughing: "I haven't eaten it either, just ask your dad..."

"Who should I ask?"