From tit-for-tat to long-term love - the road to reconciliation between my mother-in-law and I
Chapter 1: Entering the cage for the first time, cracks begin to appear
In the autumn of 2015, the sycamore leaves rustled on the stone road in the community, and my palms were sweating while holding my marriage certificate. When the security door painted with off-white paint was pushed open, the mother-in-law was busy in the kitchen wearing a blue cloth apron, the range hood was buzzing, and the aroma of braised pork wafted from the pot. "You're back? Wash your hands and eat quickly." She turned around with a polite smile on her face, but the lines at the corners of her eyes were like unflattened paper.
Jianming and I had just received our certificates at that time, and in order to save money, we temporarily lived in my mother-in-law's house. In a two-bedroom house, the balcony was converted into a storage room. My cosmetics could only be squeezed on the glass shelf in the bathroom, side by side with my mother-in-law's enamel cream jars. On the first night, I was lying on the bed listening to the coughing from the next room, and suddenly I felt that my marriage was like a sweater that was too tight, making me breathless.
The trigger of the conflict was a rag. That weekend I was cleaning and threw the moldy kitchen rag into the trash. My mother-in-law came back to cook at noon and noticed it at a glance. She pinched the edge of the trash can and her voice suddenly rose: "This rag is good. It can be used after cleaning. Why are you such a prodigal girl?" I was stunned and watched her pick up the piece of cloth with black spots from the trash can, rushed into the bathroom and scrubbed it vigorously. Gray-green mildew stains floated in the foam. "Mom, moldy things contain bacteria, and using them is bad for your health." I tried to explain, but she slammed the rag into the sink: "I've been using it for decades and it's fine. You are just a charming girl who grew up in the city.
