[Not a wish-fulfillment story + a woman's growth + an inspiring journey of self-improvement + slow burn + realistic relationships]
Xu Xiaoxiao met Wang Shaozhou through a matchmaking setup when she was 28. After they had been dating for a year, Xu Xiaoxiao's future mother-in-law pressured them to get married. Wang Shaozhou was Xu Xiaoxiao's first real boyfriend. Since he was eager to admit his mistakes, the two continued their relationship.
Still, at Xu Xiaoxiao's and her mother's insistence, they waited until she was 30 to marry, and she joined the ranks of women who move far away to marry.
After the wedding, her mother-in-law, Zhao Guiying, urged them to have a baby, and her own mother tacitly agreed.
In the end, she did have two children in three years.
But when her second child was less than a year old, the internet company where Xu Xiaoxiao worked went bankrupt. At 37, Xu Xiaoxiao resolutely quit her new job at a manufacturing company and officially became self-employed.
Her mother-in-law didn't understand, while her mother worried anxiously.
Xu Xiaoxiao: “Every step is a struggle. Four years of college and ten years of work, all for nothing. I'm not even as practical as Wang Shaozhou, who only finished middle school.”
Zhao Guiying: “Sigh, what does it matter if my daughter-in-law is highly educated? In the end, she still has to rely on my son.”
Whenever Xu Xiaoxiao complained to Wang Shaozhou, he would say, “Mom's getting old. Don't take what she says to heart. She's only trying to do what's best for us.”
