As the saying goes, ignore your elders' advice and you'll pay for it. In my first year as a new bride, I learned to listen to my mother-in-law.
My mother-in-law nagged me to be more diligent, pointing to the neighbor across the hall. "Their daughter-in-law gets up at five to cook porridge. Unlike you, sleeping until the sun is high in the sky."
I understood "five" and "cook porridge," so at four in the morning I rushed into the kitchen to chop up meat for dumplings.
My mother-in-law stormed in, hair a mess, and started yelling at me. I held up my cleaver and explained earnestly, "Mom, I got up earlier than her daughter-in-law."
My mother-in-law complained that I spent money recklessly. She told the auntie downstairs, "Your daughter-in-law knows how to manage a household. She can make three yuan's worth of greens last two meals."
I took her advice to heart and hauled home several bundles of nearly rotten leaves that very day.
My mother-in-law felt sick from the smell. I looked her straight in the eye. "Mom, these only cost two yuan. They'll last for several meals."
Later, my mother-in-law handed me a thousand yuan and told me to manage the household. "You must make four dishes and a soup every day, and remember to pay the household expenses. You need to learn to save money for my son!"
