1990s: Spring Water Family

Chapter 231 You're a very skilled mother-in-law!

"I don't really care; whether it's a boy or a girl, they're my own children."

The next second, Wu Meng's expression changed slightly, and she sighed helplessly: "But my parents-in-law don't think that way."

"Do your in-laws want a boy?"

Lin Xiyu felt a pang of worry for her.

"Yes."

Wu Meng frankly admitted, "They really want a grandson, and they buy boys' clothes for the baby."

Lin Xiyu couldn't understand: "Now that everyone is an only child, why are you still so sexist?"

"I used to hear you say that Gu Bin's maternal grandfather wanted a grandson and insisted that he take his surname, but I just took it as a joke."

Wu Meng smiled bitterly: "I never thought something like this would happen to me. I'm really worried. What if I give birth to a girl and my in-laws don't treat me well? How am I supposed to live like that?"

Where is Li Liang?

Lin Xiyu frowned slightly: "What is he thinking? Does he want a son or a daughter?"

He doesn't say it.

Wu Meng looked wistful: "I can tell you want a son too."

"It hasn't been born yet."

Lin Xiyu tried to comfort her: "Whether it's a boy or a girl, we'll talk about it after the baby is born. If your in-laws don't like it, you can raise it yourself. At worst, you can go back to Shanghai and not have to take care of them. You'll be happy to have some peace and quiet."

"I think so too"

Seeing that she shared the same idea, Wu Meng chuckled and smiled happily: "Xi Yu, we really are good sisters. I knew coming here was the right thing to do. As long as I talk to you, I can forget all my worries."

"Have dinner at my house."

Lin Xiyu smiled and said, "I'll make you your favorite pork rib and yam soup."

"Don't eat."

Wu Meng smiled and declined, saying, "I have to leave after a few more words. I need to get home before dark, otherwise I'll have to put up with my mother-in-law's attitude if I get home late."

Are you going back to your parents' home alone?

Lin Xiyu frowned: "Where's Li Liang? Didn't he come back with you?"

"He's busy with training, he doesn't have time."

Wu Meng said with some frustration, "If I had known he was always training and never home, I wouldn't have come back from Shanghai. Now we still can't see each other. What's the difference between this and living apart?"

"Is military training that busy?"

Lin Xiyu looked surprised: "Don't you all live together? You can at least see each other in the morning and evening, right?"

"Don't even mention it."

Wu Meng complained irritably, "Looking at Liangzi's schedule, I now know what it means to get up earlier than the chickens and go to bed later than the dogs. I'm not even awake when he leaves in the morning, and I'm already fast asleep when he comes back at night. We're husband and wife in name only, but we've completely missed every opportunity to see each other."

Lin Xiyu suppressed a laugh and said, "You can stay up a little later and wait for him to come back."

"It's not that I don't want to wait for him, it's that I can't stand the sleepiness after I got pregnant."

Wu Meng shrugged helplessly: "Back in Shanghai, I used to stay up late all the time. At first, there were fewer people in the company, so I worked overtime day and night, and there were times when I stayed up all night. But I can't do that now. Since I got pregnant, I always feel tired and exhausted. I want to take a nap after eating, and I can't stay awake."

Pregnancy is quite tough.

Lin Xiyu continued, "That's why they say a life without having children is incomplete. You can't understand the hardships of being a mother, and you can't truly comprehend the meaning of the word 'motherly love,' nor truly understand how great motherly love is."

"I can already feel it now."

Wu Meng gently stroked her slightly protruding belly and sighed, "I have given up so much for this child, not only a job with an annual salary of hundreds of thousands, but also a carefree life."

“Before, when I was alone, I didn’t understand how difficult it was to get along with my in-laws. Now it’s different. Even the smallest things can cause friction. I don’t want Liangzi to be caught in the middle, so I’ve been putting up with it. I don’t know how much longer I can endure this.”

-

Are you planning to live with your in-laws indefinitely?

Lin Xiyu tentatively asked, "Have you ever thought about buying your own house and moving out to live alone?"

Liangzi's mother was unwilling.

Wu Meng pouted, revealing a hint of dissatisfaction: "She said the house allocated by the army is quite large, enough for four people, and there's no need to waste money on that."

"Buying a house and seeing its value appreciate is also a form of investment."

Lin Xiyu couldn't understand: "Didn't you ask Li Liang to persuade her? Rising housing prices are inevitable. If she doesn't buy now, she'll definitely regret it later."

"I tried to persuade them, but it didn't work."

Wu Meng smiled wryly: "That's how their generation is. They're too tight on money. They just like to save in the bank and are reluctant to spend any of it. It's not just my mother-in-law; my mother is the same way. I told her to buy a house back in '99. She had her eye on a development and even paid the deposit, but then she changed her mind. Now, houses in that area have at least doubled in value."

"Wang Fan is hoarding land in the east again."

Lin Xiyu treated Wu Meng as an outsider and told her the news she had received without hesitation: "Judging from his tone, the housing prices on both sides of Jingshi East Road will see a big increase. It's not too late to buy now. You and Li Liang should discuss it. If your mother-in-law is unwilling to buy, you two should buy it yourselves. You'll feel more at ease if you have your own house, and you can move out anytime if you have a conflict with your in-laws."

"Ugh."

Wu Meng's eyes darkened, and she sighed again: "I want to buy it, but I'm afraid Liangzi will have reservations. He listens to his mother too much, whatever she says goes, and he has no opinions of his own at all."

Why is Li Liang like this?

Lin Xiyu was unusually surprised: "He usually seems quite sensible, not like someone who's blindly filial."

"Yes, you used that word so perfectly."

Wu Meng finally found an outlet for her frustration and vented her frustrations: "I finally understand. He's just blindly filial. Whenever I have a conflict with his parents, no matter if I'm right or wrong, he'll make me back down."

"They said his mother suffered a lot as a teacher in the countryside all her life, and now that she's finally back, she should enjoy her retirement. We, as the younger generation, should do more if we can, and not be so petty and make everyone unhappy."

-

Do you do all the housework in your family?

Lin Xiyu grew increasingly uneasy as she listened, and a deep worry welled up for her friend: "Can't his mother help you with anything?"

"Share the burden my ass."

Wu Meng was in a bad mood and couldn't help but swear: "I do all the housework. Even though I'm pregnant, I can't be idle. In his mother's eyes, I don't have a formal job and I rely on her son to make a living. A full-time housewife is equivalent to a full-time nanny. She should be treated like a beast of burden and serve the two old people."

"Why don't you have a job?"

Lin Xiyu defended her friend, saying, "They earn hundreds of thousands a year in Shanghai, surely they know that?"

"Hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted."

Wu Meng's eyes darkened: "Her mother has old-fashioned ideas. As long as it's not a state-owned enterprise with a formal position, it's as if she doesn't have a formal job. As soon as I say that I can make money, she says that all the money I earn is used to buy a house in Shanghai. It's a bottomless pit. She can't pay off her bank loan and she'll drag Liangzi down with her."

"You didn't see how she acted. She was clearly blaming the other person, but she made it seem like she had suffered some great injustice. She fooled Li Liang and his father into siding with her, making me the sinner in the family."

-

"Your mother-in-law is quite shrewd."

Lin Xiyu realized, "No wonder you're having a hard time at his house. Your mother-in-law is such a good actress; even if it's not your fault, she can make it seem like it is. And if Li Liang keeps siding with his mother, you're bound to suffer." "That's exactly right."

As Wu Meng spoke, she became increasingly distressed, and her eyes involuntarily reddened: "Living in that house was so stifling, I really couldn't take it anymore."

"You still need to have a good talk with Li Liang about this."

Lin Xiyu couldn't bear to see her sad, so she gently comforted her: "You two are husband and wife, you can't have any estrangement. Only if he understands you, is of one mind with you, and thinks of you in everything, can you avoid being wronged."

"It's no use telling me this; he needs to understand it himself."

Wu Meng said with a sob in her voice, "It's not like I haven't tried to communicate with him. But if I say too much, he thinks I'm being dramatic and that he's always arguing with his mother over housework."

"How about this."

Lin Xiyu genuinely cared for her: "Once Gu Bin returns from Shanghai, I'll have him talk to Li Liang. They're close, and he'll listen to what Gu Bin says."

"Uh-huh."

Wu Meng's eyes flashed with gratitude, and she nodded vigorously.

-

The two best friends had great ideas, but things didn't go as planned.

Wu Meng couldn't wait for Gu Bin to return, and her in-laws were embroiled in trouble again. A few days later, she came to Wangfu Pond West Street again, and appeared in front of Lin Xiyu with red eyes.

The incident this time was still caused by Wu Meng's mother-in-law, who secretly found a doctor she knew to perform an ultrasound on her daughter-in-law.

At five months, the sex of the fetus can already be determined.

The doctor realized it was a girl and told the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and the mother-in-law's expression immediately changed.

After that, she found her daughter-in-law extremely displeasing and openly or secretly belittled her, saying that her womb was useless and that she couldn't give birth to a son.

Wu Meng felt bad and argued back a few times. Her mother-in-law took the opportunity to pretend to be sick, lying in bed and speaking sarcastically, saying that her daughter-in-law was unfilial and that she had married into the Li family to bring her bad luck.

Caught between his mother and daughter-in-law, Li Liang couldn't persuade either of them, so he simply stayed at the company's camp and didn't go home for several days.

With her son not coming home, the mother-in-law became even more upset and vented all her resentment on her daughter-in-law.

Wu Meng had had enough and couldn't take it anymore. Every time her mother-in-law said something to her, she would retort. The argument escalated, and in the end, her mother-in-law yelled at her to have an abortion.

They said that if she couldn't give birth to a son, they wouldn't acknowledge her as their daughter-in-law and would make Li Liang divorce her and find someone else who was obedient and filial.

Wu Meng couldn't bear this injustice, and she also made a harsh statement: if she wanted a divorce, she would get a divorce and completely sever ties with her in-laws.

She felt relieved when she said it, but regretted it as soon as she left home.

A woman, sobbing and afraid to go back to her parents' home, ran to Lin Xiyu to complain.

-

"What? His mother is making you have an abortion? That's outrageous! What kind of mother-in-law is that?"

"What's wrong with girls? She's a woman herself, why is she so sexist?"

"That kind of person is just despicable. It's already good enough that her daughter-in-law is willing to have a child for her, but she still finds fault with it. She deserves to get sick and be angry to death."

Wu Meng explained the whole story in a halting manner, which not only made Lin Xiyu indignant, but also alarmed Grandma Gu, who verbally attacked her mother-in-law and expressed her strong dissatisfaction.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

Hearing what the two said, Wu Meng cried even more aggrievedly.

Does your mom know?

Lin Xiyu couldn't bear to hear it and tried to comfort her.

"do not know"

Wu Meng choked up as she said, "I was afraid she would get so angry that she would grab a kitchen knife and fight her mother-in-law to the death."

"Given your mother's temper, that's certainly a possibility."

Lin Xiyu knew Wu's mother's temperament well and nodded in agreement.

"This kind of thing"

Grandma Gu, considering things from an elder's perspective, had a different view: "It's not really right to keep it from her, is it? If you two really want to get a divorce, her family will find out sooner or later."

Wu Meng pouted when she heard about the divorce, and felt like crying again.

"Mengmeng, tell me the truth."

Lin Xiyu keenly noticed the subtle change in his expression: "Do you want a divorce, or not?"

"."

Wu Meng bit her lower lip and remained silent.

"You still have feelings for Li Liang, don't you?"

Lin Xiyu thought for a moment and then asked, "The divorce was just a fit of pique, wasn't it?"

"."

Wu Meng lowered her eyes and remained silent for a long time.

There are different ways to talk about divorce, and there are different ways to stay together.

Lin Xiyu continued patiently, "You have to think this through. If you are heartbroken and really want to leave Li Liang, it's not difficult. If his family can't accept you, then you can break up. You can raise the child yourself and have nothing to do with them anymore."

"If you still have feelings for Li Liang and want to give him another chance, then you need to think carefully about what you expect from him, what concessions you hope he will make, how you will get along with his family in the future, and what is the maximum you can tolerate?"

"Xi Yu is right."

Grandma Gu, with her rich life experience, saw things more clearly: "The fact that you and your mother-in-law have fallen out is irreversible. When a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law quarrel to this extent, there are cracks in both of their hearts that are difficult to repair. Even if you force yourself to go back for Li Liang's sake, the future situation is not optimistic."

“If you take my advice, take this opportunity to be frank with Li Liang and tell him your demands honestly. If he can do it, then forgive him and give him another chance. If he can't, then there's no need to keep torturing yourself. There's no need to go back to that home.”

Will Liangzi agree?

Upon hearing this, Wu Meng finally reacted, her tearful eyes filled with anxiety and confusion about the future.

"So, you're saying you still have feelings for him?"

Lin Xiyu didn't need to ask again to understand the underlying meaning in those words.

"."

Wu Meng lowered her eyelids again, neither admitting nor denying.

In Lin Xiyu's eyes, her expression at that moment was an admission of consent.

“Since you still have feelings for him and want to save this marriage, then do as Grandma says. Only in this way can the conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law be truly resolved.”

Lin Xiyu truly deserves to be called a good friend. She gave him immense confidence in her own way: "It's okay if Li Liang can't do it. If you want a divorce, then so be it. You give birth to the child, and I'll be her godmother. I'll pamper her like a princess and let her grow up freely and happily."

"Uh-huh."

Wu Meng's eyes lit up, as if she had taken a reassuring pill; her uneasy heart miraculously calmed down at that moment.