After Tong Juan gave birth to her daughter, her husband called her mother-in-law in the countryside and asked her to come to the city immediately to take care of her daughter-in-law. The mother-in-law didn't come right away, saying that there was still something going on in the countryside, and that she would come back when she was done. My husband took a few days off from work and stayed in the hospital to take care of his wife and daughter. Tong Juan's mother had died some years before, so no one from her mother's family came to take care of her.
After Tong Juan was discharged from the hospital, her mother-in-law finally came and brought some fresh vegetables. As soon as she walked in the door, she said, "Look, I've brought you vegetables. Originally I was going to sell these vegetables to make some money, but now I've lost a lot of money trying to take care of my daughter-in-law!"
Originally, Tong Juan was very happy about her mother-in-law's arrival, but when she heard her mother-in-law's words, she felt very uncomfortable. The first time I saw this was when I was a kid, and it was a very good time for me to be a kid, and I was very happy to be a kid.
The first time she heard about her mother's visit to her sister-in-law's house, she came over and reminded her that she should not treat her mother like an old lady. If Tong Juan dared to treat her mother badly, then she, as a great aunt, would never stand by and watch. She also said bluntly that Tong Juan was responsible for all the children's affairs, and that her mother was only responsible for cooking. The first time I saw this, I was in the middle of a conversation with my mother-in-law, and I thought it was a good idea to ask her to do something about the situation.
The mother-in-law only cooks two meals a day, and for breakfast, she lets her mother-in-law have some cookies or something else. When Tong Juan's husband was in a hurry to get to work in the morning, he didn't eat breakfast at home, and her mother-in-law had to go out to exercise in the morning, so she settled for the breakfast stand in front of the neighborhood. All morning, her mother-in-law was exercising and talking to the aunts and mothers in the neighborhood. Until almost noon, the mother-in-law went to the market to buy food, and then went home to make a lunch for Tong Juan.
After lunch, she takes a nap, which usually lasts half a day, and then gets up in the evening to make dinner. After dinner, her mother-in-law would go to the square dance, and Tong Juan's husband would do all the dishes. She would dance until nine o'clock in the evening before returning home and taking a bath to go to bed.
The child is always crying at night, and Tong Juan is just holding and coaxing her to get a good night's sleep. People who are in labor are all chubby, but she has lost a lot of weight since she gave birth. The two meals that my mother-in-law cooks every day are so small that they don't take into account the fact that she's breastfeeding.
One night, Tong Juan was so sleepy that her husband had to go to work the next day and couldn't help her. The mother's husband had to go to work the next day and couldn't help her with the baby, so he took the baby to her mother's room. But the mother returned the child after only a few minutes, saying she was too sleepy to coax the child. After her husband went to work the next day, her elder sister arrived in a huff, blaming Tong Juan and scolding her for not being considerate of the elderly.
It is said that a woman should not touch cold water during her monthly period, but there are a lot of clothes in the house, and Tong Juan had to go to the laundry. The underwear and children's clothes cannot be washed in a washing machine, so Tong Juan has to wash them by hand. Her mother-in-law only washed her own clothes, which was also stipulated by her great aunt. The mother's husband has asked her mother several times to help him with the laundry, but she has always promised to do it, but she doesn't do it at all.
The mother-in-law said she had spent the 3,000 yuan she had given her for food in one week, and she asked her son and daughter-in-law to give her more money. She also said that she had lost enough money by coming to serve her daughter-in-law during her monthly cycle, and that she could not afford to post it. Tong Juan and her husband then had to give another 3,000 yuan to her mother-in-law, and that's how they spent 12,000 yuan a month on food, but Tong Juan still didn't get to eat anything.
When the mother-in-law was not able to return to her mother's house, she was forced to leave the house, but she did not want to return to her mother's house! The mother-in-law was reluctant to go back, saying that she wanted to serve her daughter-in-law and granddaughter, and that she couldn't do it without her daughter-in-law. But Tong Juan insisted that she wouldn't bother her mother-in-law, and that she would raise her own child. In fact, there was a big difference between having a mother-in-law and not having a mother-in-law in this month!