"The Widow" Bertha

the next day.

Bertha and Jane got up early in the morning and came to the printing factory where several night school students were.

This is not only Miss Jane Eyre's first time seeing a factory in London, but also Bertha's first time seeing a factory in the nineteenth century.

Standing outside the factory, you can’t see what it looks like inside. However, those walking, squatting on the street, and resting outside in twos and threes are all workers who are completely different from their dress and behavior habits.

Even if Bertha and Jane just stood across the street and watched from a distance, the two well-dressed ladies wandered around the factory, they were still particularly conspicuous.Especially Bertha, today she was wearing a bright blue dress, among the gray streets and simple passers-by, she felt like a peacock strayed into the herd, and she got a lot of sight.

Of course Bertha didn't care, but the curious eyes of others made Jane a little embarrassed.

Fortunately, they are not the most ostentatious existence on the whole street.

It was time for the printing factory to get off work, and many workers came out of the closed gate one after another, including men and women, and there were also children who looked far from underage.When they walked to the gate of the factory, they would see Mrs. Emily Fisher standing on a high place.

Mrs. Fisher stepped on a crude cart, and this was the stage for her to preach as a "political activist".Under the cart, a bony young girl, presumably hired by Mrs. Fisher on an impromptu basis, was stuffing flyers into the hands of passers-by.

"Ladies, my countrymen!"

In all fairness, Mrs. Fisher is not a strong and powerful lady. On the contrary, she who runs the school and raises funds looks elegant and dignified. Bertha was worried about her.

But when she opened her mouth, she was full of spirit and powerful words. The opening sentence was enough for Bertha, who was a reporter, to understand: Mrs. Fisher definitely spent a lot of time practicing her speech skills in private.

"I came here today for no other reason. I just wanted to ask first, why, as a woman, the working hours are longer than men, but the salary I get is less than that of men?"

Her topic was directly related to the real life of female workers, which made many female workers stop after get off work.

"We get up earlier than men, cook water for our husbands, wash and dress our children; we return home later than men, but we still have to sew for the family and take care of everyone's food and daily life. At home, we women We’re busy, we’re doing the same work as men in factories, we’re paying so much, and yet they say we women are protected by men.”

"——It should be that they are protected by us. Without me, my husband can't even find his pants!" The female workers who stopped stopped ran, which was exchanged for the laughter of the workers.

"Yes!"

Mrs. Fisher not only preached, she even reacted quickly and interacted with the shouts of the audience.

The slender lady accepted the female worker's tease: "My husband is still a member of parliament. Without me, he doesn't even know how to breastfeed his children. Just like that, shouldn't it be a woman who is the pillar of a family? "

"I love hearing that!"

"I think that's right, why should a man be in charge of the house?"

"As soon as I got home, I lay on the bed and cried tired, as if we women didn't have a job."

"My fellow countrymen, my friends," Mrs. Fisher continued after they had a break in their discussion, "since we all agree that women should be the family, then we should think about why we are paid so much. , much less than men? Are we passive and sabotage? Are we easy to work?"

Mrs. Fisher's question fell to the ground, but the female workers did not respond.

They looked at each other in blank dismay, and no one interrupted like a joke.

"I know that all the women present have been puzzled by this. Today I can tell you the answer. The answer is the person who pays the salary, the person who makes the industry rules, the person who sits in the parliament and votes, and even the people in power today, From ancient times to the present, from ancient times to the present, men have always been men."

Mrs. Fisher said loudly without waiting for a response.

"Our women's voices are drowned in the power of men, our needs are not seen, our cries are not heard, it is not hundreds of years ago now, fellow countrymen, it is time to stand up and call for the rightful rights that belong to us We have never thought of defeating men, but we should have our own voting rights, and let women decide who controls the fate of women!"

To tell the truth, Bertha saw nothing wrong with Mrs. Fisher's speech.

As a young woman who came back from the 21st century, the right to vote and the right to vote are the basic rights Bertha has had since she was an adult. She has never experienced the feeling of being unable to speak.

But even so, when Mrs. Fisher said these words, there were very few women who responded to her, but a few young female workers cheered for her.

"The ones who responded," Jane said softly, "are all students from the night school."

"..."

really.

Jane is keenly observant, so naturally she can't make mistakes.

Bertha thought for a moment, then said, "What do you think?"

Jane frowned slightly: "I... I don't know."

She paused, and then the pale and thin teacher asked: "Mrs. Fisher believes that women should have the same political power as men, but will this really change anything? It's just voting rights. Whoever is a member of Parliament will be a minister, and ordinary people What does it matter?"

Bertha smiled when she heard the words, and at the same time she probably understood Mrs. Fisher's plight.

The other party's speech was impassioned and logical. From a professional point of view, Bertha felt that she was already a very qualified speaker.She agrees with what Mrs. Fisher said, but at the same time, she feels a little bit emotional about the lack of response.

Miss Jane Eyre's words made Bertha suddenly realize: After all, it's all about high-spirited and low-spirited.

The truth is this truth, but if you explain the truth to someone, the other party must first understand the truth.This is like explaining Goldbach's conjecture to elementary school students. It's not that the knowledge is wrong, but that their foundation is not enough for them to understand the knowledge.

Today's women do not have the concept of political power, so naturally they do not understand the need to have legitimate political power.

"Whoever becomes the prime minister has nothing to do with the common people," Bertha changed her mind, "But it is clearly written in the law that 'people' should have the right to vote, but now women don't, so are they excluded from 'people'?" ? Aren't women human?"

This somewhat made Jane understand a little bit.

But the young girl thought for a moment, and then asked again: "But, to get the right to vote, is it just by shouting loud enough?"

Bertha: "Of course not."

It still has to rely on struggles, sacrifices, cliques with radical progressive political parties, and even the future World War I, which ruined the vast majority of the male labor force in the UK. Such a large country is willing to face up to Power from women.

Just shouting loudly is really unable to shake the tradition that has been going on for thousands of years.

"However, if the street is dirty, taking a broom and sweeping it yourself is cleaning, as is stooping to pick up the litter," said Bertha. "You can't deny it because it's a trivial thing, can you?"

Jane didn't speak, she just looked at Mrs. Fisher across the street quietly, not knowing whether she was meditating or listening carefully to the content of the preaching.

The rhythm of Mrs. Fisher's speech was well controlled. Even though not many people actually listened to her speech, she still ended today's content when the little girl hired finished handing out the leaflets.When several night school female workers helped her get off the cart, someone also found Bertha and Jane across the street.

"It's Miss Love!"

"Miss Eyre is really here!"

"Miss Love!!"

Seeing Miss Jane Eyre's figure, the young female workers all showed surprise expressions, and even three female workers walked towards Jane with their skirts in their hands.

Bertha noticed that they were all young, and the oldest looked about eighteen or nineteen.

The girl at the head was very courageous: "So you are here, Miss Ai! That's great, I thought you wouldn't agree to us."

She was tall, and her physique seemed strong enough.In comparison, the petite and thin Jane was almost an underage girl, but these girls respected Jane very much, and were genuinely happy for her arrival.

Jane was delighted, too, Bertha could see.

She lowered her head, a bit of sincere joy appeared on her pale face, and even brought out a bit of vibrant blush, which made her look more like a young girl than a tutor who suppressed her nature .

"You said it was important," she said, still quietly, but everyone was listening, "so I thought I should take a look."

"Really!"

The tallest female worker was slightly taken aback, then raised a bright smile.

Seeing her laugh out loud, Jane paused for a while, and then burst into a smile.

A silent tacit understanding is formed between them. This tacit understanding is that the female workers who have attended night school classify Miss Jane Eyre into the category of "one of my own".Bertha, who stood aside, didn't feel awkward about this, on the contrary, she was quite happy.

At least now Jane's happiness comes from the heart. She has found a job she loves and can use her expertise, and she also has her own affiliation. Isn't that great?

The appearance of raising a smile is always much cuter than lowering eyebrows in Thornfield Manor.

On the way back to the hotel from the printing factory, the two had nothing to say, but they were not embarrassed.Bertha knew that Jane had a lot to think about at this time, so she didn't bother her.

When they got back to the White Horse Hotel, as soon as they got off the car, the hotel steward greeted them: "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Thames is already waiting for you."

Thomas?

Bertha was slightly surprised: she hadn't asked him to run errands for her lately.

When the two ladies walked into the lobby, they saw Thomas, who was reluctant to change into a three-piece suit, was already waiting here.

"Why," said Bertha, "is there something wrong with the decoration of the bar?"

"What—no."

Thomas looked a little anxious, but it was manageable: "The progress at the bar is going well, it's just Ma'am, Maria wants to see you."

Maria, the gypsy?She has always been very wary of Bertha, even slightly hostile.

I took the initiative to look for it, probably because I was hiding in the dock area for a while, and I was a little anxious not to be able to move back to the Whitechapel area.

Bertha admitted that, in fact, she was deliberately letting the gypsies who had taken refuge in the air, and how could she bow her head if she didn't let Maria in the air?Otherwise, even if Bertha rushed to help, she would not appreciate it.

After waiting for so long, it's time.

"it is good."

The dock area naturally has its own rules, so it must be a bad time for the gypsies to break in rashly.

Thinking that the mysterious and proud gypsy girl was about to bow her head to beg for help, Bertha curled her lips viciously: "It's finally today, so go and meet her."

The author has something to say: Jiang Hua broke into the apartment by crying for her father and mother: brother! !If you don't come out again, I will be overwhelmed by the condemnation of my sisters-wait a minute, why is it you?

Lao Fu:?

Ginger Flower:? ?

Old Fu: My brother wants me to wait for him here.

Jiang Hua: Oh, forget it, you can do it too, hurry up and play!

Lao Fu:? ? ? ?