The three gourd gods exchanged glances.
Then they continued to bury their heads in reading.
Although they had a bad premonition, they thought of it as a fairy tale, and fairy tales always had happy endings.
And in their hearts, the best ending was for the little girl to be taken in by a kind person, so she wouldn't starve in the wind and snow, or even to leave her abusive father and give her a good life.
This was a standard fairy tale ending.
A happy ending like the prince and princess defeating the devil and living happily ever after.
“Grandma, please take me with you. I know you'll be gone once the matches are all burned. You'll disappear like the warm stove, the roast goose, and the magnificent Christmas tree.
The little girl quickly struck the whole bundle of matches. The matches burned, and her grandmother had never been so tall or so beautiful. She took the little girl into her arms, and they ascended together in light and joy…”
It's over!
When they saw the latter part.
At dawn the next day, the New Year's sun rose, shining on a small corpse. She was still sitting, holding matches in her hand. When the whole bundle of matches had burned out.
The three gourd gods were collectively devastated!
"Damn!"
You call this a fairy tale??
Xi Gua slumped onto the sofa, speechless for a long time.
Sister Nan Gua, being a girl, was more emotional, her eyes slightly red: "I didn't expect to cry while reading a fairy tale…"
She also had children, and as a mother, she couldn't bear to see stories of children suffering.
If she thought of her own child, Sister Nan Gua couldn't help but shudder. At this moment, she felt colder than the little match girl.
"Are you sure this can be shown to children?" Dong Gua said after a long silence.
After a moment of eye contact, the three fell silent.
Although the little girl died in the end.
But their hearts were filled with a complex emotion, and even after the sadness, there was a sense of relief and happiness.
Especially the beautiful things depicted later, the grandmother, and the happiness of heaven.
This diluted their sorrow for the little girl's death.
…
At the same time.
Jiang Nan's fan group exploded!
Although everyone had said before that Jiang Nan would include sad elements in his fairy tales, many were truly devastated when they actually saw them.
After all, when they said he included sad elements, it was just a joke, and no one expected him to actually do it!
“Old thief Jiang Nan, you are noble! You are amazing! You can even write a fairy tale that kills people!”
“The little girl is so pitiful, why did she have to die…”
“I'm really too young to believe that the old thief wrote fairy tales.”
“Ridiculous, old thief, can't you give the little girl a perfect ending?”
“Actually, besides the first story, the latter two are perfect endings. Snow White is resurrected, and the Ugly Duckling becomes a swan.”
After the baptism of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy," everyone felt that their defenses were already very high, and ordinary sad elements had no effect.
However, a fairy tale like "The Little Match Girl" devastated these readers.
But, even though they were clamoring for a change in the ending, they couldn't come up with anything.
After all, for the little girl, this world was cold.
Only her deceased grandmother could bring her warmth.
No one expected.
A fairy tale brought Jiang Nan so much popularity.
Not only were his readers paying attention, but it also attracted a large number of passersby.
Moreover, it even made it onto the Weibo hot search list within a few hours.
#The Little Match Girl Jiang Nan's Fairy Tale, what is it telling us?#
#Old thief Jiang Nan, please be human!#
On Weibo.
Many parents expressed concern about whether Jiang Nan's "Fairy Tale Collection," the first story, was too much.
Parents discussed on Weibo whether letting their children read "The Little Match Girl" would bring them negative feelings.
After all, this story was a tragedy by all accounts.
There were differing opinions and heated debates on this matter.
“I don’t think so, this Jiang Nan has a twisted worldview!”
“I won’t let my child read such fairy tales. How can children this young be exposed to topics like death?”
“The later ones, 'Snow White' and 'The Ugly Duckling,' are good. I strongly recommend deleting 'The Little Match Girl'!”
“Anyway, I won’t vote for Jiang Nan. Putting aside the fact that the little girl died at the end, if children see such stories, what if they imitate lighting matches and playing with fire?”
“Exactly, this story has a wrong orientation, it shouldn’t be read by children!”
Some parents of this era, starting from some unknown time, had developed a strong desire to control their children.
It could even be described as pathological.
Just like the previous incident where a child was injured because they imitated a scene from a classic animation.
Then those parents directly reported the animation.
The same happened with several other classic animations, citing issues like violent misguidance, and behaviors and language unsuitable for children.
They only shifted the blame to the animation, completely neglecting their own "educational incompetence."
…
Of course, although "The Little Match Girl" was resisted by so many people.
There were also many who supported it.
After all, the subsequent two fairy tales were indeed of high quality, and they also had happy endings. So, the public opinion was only about the first fairy tale in the "Fairy Tale Collection."
It hadn't started printing yet, so it could be changed at any time.
Therefore, with the votes of many netizens.
"Fairy Tale Collection" surpassed the three books by the three gourd gods with absolute popularity, ranking first in the "Fairy Tale King" competition.
The votes were still increasing, and the discussions were ongoing. Some praised Jiang Nan, saying his fairy tales were of high quality, and their children loved listening to these three stories.
Others cursed, and the topic of their curses was naturally those who had previously said it was unsuitable for children.
At this time, many literary critics posed sharp questions.
“'The Little Match Girl' is definitely a fairy tale that both adults and children should read. It precisely satirizes those who think they are giving their children love but are suffocating them!”
The words of this critic also enlightened some people.
Many parents, under the guise of being good for their children, interfered with their children's lives in various ways, even infringing on their privacy.
What was the difference between this and the father who beat the little girl for not selling matches?
One was overt violence, the other was confinement hidden under good intentions.
Moreover, the little match girl at least had a grandmother who loved her. Those children living under their parents' excessive arrangements were left with only suffocation.
“This fairy tale is absolutely worth scrutinizing, and one can gain many deep meanings from it. Protecting children is not about shielding them from these things, but about letting them understand these things correctly, empathizing with the little girl's misfortune, so that children can appreciate happiness more. Although the ending is the death of the little girl, Jiang Nan cleverly used beautiful fantasies to make the event less sad. This fairy tale is absolutely wonderful!”
Another well-known critic also gave this fairy tale very high praise!