Chapter 262 - 251: Public Sentiment
Such things do happen; some families, to ensure their children survive, will give them all sorts of strange nicknames. There are quite a few boys who are directly called sister or sis as pet names.
Some even dress their boys in skirts and pierce their ears when they are young, raising them just like girls, because people believe girls are easier to raise than boys.
So by giving them girls’ names and dressing them in girls’ clothes, it’s like leaning their fate towards that of a girl’s, making it easier for the child to survive.
The current Emperor even has a well-known nickname, Cat Slave.
Anyway, pet names are chosen as humbly as possible.
Zhou Xi said, "No, not in my family, my little sister’s nickname is Manbao, we don’t do humble nicknames at our house."
He paused, then added, "None of our children have died young; they all survived."
As a result, it’s no longer customary in Qili Village to give children humble names, preferring instead to sort them like Old Zhou’s family does, according to numerical order like second, third, fourth, and so on. By doing this, they think perhaps their descendants will also thrive.
The village chief and a group of elders all believe that the greatest contribution Old Zhou and Ms. Qian made in their lifetime is not that they farmed well, nor that they built a large house with blue bricks and tiles, but that they raised eight children, no, including Zhou Yin, actually nine.
Nine children, and not a single one of them died young. It’s rare even in big cities with abundant medical resources, let alone in the countryside.
Of course, from a superstitious point of view, the villagers unanimously believe it’s because their children have good nicknames. Look at this lineup of Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth; it’s probably not even in the good graces of heaven to take any away.