Having heard these words too often, Gu Sang could only respond with silence.
The preference for sons over daughters has always existed, even in modern times, let alone in the thoughts of the ancients.
Seeing the Beautiful Elder Sister busy in the kitchen, Gu Sang got up to help.
Although the Beautiful Elder Sister tried to stop her, Gu Sang still noticed some unwashed vegetables and helped clean them in the sink.
"Sister, your daughter is so well-behaved. You're so good at raising a daughter," Gu Sang praised.
Unlike most parents who only belittle their children or say negative things, the Beautiful Elder Sister didn't do that.
She simply nodded in agreement, her eyes filled with proud smiles, and said:
"She is indeed very obedient and rarely gives me cause for worry."
"Actually, even though children are young, they know how to think. It's mainly up to us adults to educate them. For example, when we scold or hit them, we should also tell them what they did wrong."
"Children have simple thoughts, so we need to tell them where they went wrong so they know how to correct themselves."
Hearing these words, Gu Sang couldn't help but smile.
"Yes, it reminds me of something from my childhood. At that time, I used to steal my grandmother's medicine because it was sweet and tasted like sugar water when dissolved."
"I would steal Grandmother's medicine every day. At first, she didn't notice and thought she had misremembered."
"Later, she bought a new batch, which I also stole and finished. Grandmother then suspected me, asked me, and I admitted it. Then she spanked me."
"But I didn't know why Grandmother hit me. I thought she was hiding the tasty stuff from me. Later, when I went to a classmate's house, I saw they had the same medicine."
"I even persuaded my classmate to drink it together with me."
The Beautiful Elder Sister laughed happily and shook her head, saying: "Haha, how did you later find out that this medicine wasn't for drinking?"
"My classmate was greedier than me. I stole one packet a day, but he got up in the middle of the night to secretly make some. A box of over twenty packets was finished by him in one day. How could that not be discovered? Later, his parents beat him severely and told him it was medicine and shouldn't be drunk carelessly."
"We were lucky to be alive then, not having died from it."
The kitchen once again erupted in laughter.
The husband opened the door and came in, hearing the laughter from the kitchen, he asked with a smile:
"What are you chatting about that's so amusing?"
After a while, the husband took off his suit jacket and brought some fruit to wash.
After washing, the husband shooed Gu Sang and his wife out of the kitchen, put on an apron, handed the fruit platter to his wife, and said:
"Miss Gu Sang, come and eat some fruit. You're a guest, how can you be in the kitchen?"
"Wife, you should go out too. Go chat with our guest."
"I'm going to showcase my culinary skills. At noon, I'll let you taste my cooking."
Gu Sang and the Beautiful Elder Sister went to the living room, sat on the sofa eating fruit and chatting, and the conversation turned to the topic of children's talent education.
"Actually, I personally quite like the guzheng and would like my daughter to learn it."
"But she already has dance and painting classes. If we enroll her in a guzheng class too, she won't have any time to play."
Gu Sang asked: "Have you asked if she likes the guzheng? Actually, children nowadays have such heavy coursework, unlike when we were young and had less homework."
"If she wants to learn guzheng, you can enroll her when she expresses interest in the future."
"And to be honest, if you like it, you could learn it yourself. Guzheng isn't hard to learn, it's hard to master."
"But we're not aiming to participate in professional competitions. Learning it casually, being able to read music and play is enough."
The Beautiful Elder Sister smiled and sighed, saying: "I'm tone-deaf by nature and completely clueless about music. I'm afraid I'm too stupid to learn."
"But what you say makes sense. We'll see about it later."
"Maybe I'll get a sudden urge one day."
"For now, let's save some money for the child to learn first. After all, these various talent training classes are quite expensive nowadays."
Gu Sang nodded: "I know that, they are indeed quite expensive..."
At this point, Gu Sang changed the subject and asked: "Have people said anything about you enrolling your daughter in so many training classes?"
The Beautiful Elder Sister replied: "Yes, many people think enrolling in so many training classes is useless, but in this society, when everyone is enrolling in training classes, we can't not enroll, can we?"
"This isn't about vanity or comparison, it's forced internal competition. We can't let her be out of place in the future when all her friends are participating in various competitions."
"Since I gave birth to her, I must do my best to give her a good life. I can't let her feel inferior to others and live in insecurity."
Gu Sang nodded deeply in agreement. They all had experienced some insecurity to varying degrees in their childhood.
Some came from parents' disparagement in front of others, some from friends all learning English while they couldn't afford to...
Because Gu Sang asked intentionally, wanting the ancients to know some of the current thoughts on children's education in the future world, the Beautiful Elder Sister spoke without reservation. As they talked about past education, both their eyes inadvertently revealed some downcast emotions.
When parents don't defend their children in front of others during childhood, it can create a sense of inferiority in them, and this sense of inferiority will accompany them as they grow up.
The ancients listening to the two talking all fell into reminiscence.
Then they sadly discovered that all parents in the world seem to be the same, liking to belittle their children in front of others.
Because people in the Central Plains value humble education.
There has never been a parent who, when others praise their child, would say, "Yes, my child is great and capable."
At this moment, they suddenly realized that what they hated in their childhood and vowed that when they had children, they would definitely praise them, but when they actually grew up, got married and had children, they became just like their parents, only saying in front of others, "Oh, my child is thoughtless, how can they be as lively and lovable as your child."
They were so immersed in this kind of recollection that they temporarily forgot to say how useless it was for girls to learn so much.
It wasn't until the hostess's mother-in-law made a video call to her that the ancients' attention was brought back to the present.
The livestream didn't show the mother-in-law's face to the ancients, so they could only guess from her voice that this mother-in-law was quite young.
Mother-in-law: "Qian, I've sent you some local specialties. They should arrive around tomorrow, so pay attention to the courier's call tomorrow."
"Last time you came back home, the vegetables in the field weren't ripe yet. Now they're ripe, so I've sent them to you. Remember to eat them while they're fresh."
The Beautiful Elder Sister smiled and politely thanked her: "Thank you, Mom."
The child, hearing her grandmother's voice, ran to her mother's side and sweetly called into the phone: "Grandmother, next time I come back, I'll dance for you. The teacher praised me for having a talent for dance."
The child's grandmother's voice was filled with laughter, "Alright, oh my, my good granddaughter is so well-behaved. Granddaughter, what do you want to eat? Grandmother will send you a red envelope..."
