Ten Years of Mother-in-Law and Daughter-in-Law: Letting Go and Being Reborn

In 2013, Xiao Jiaojiao hurriedly registered her marriage to Li Mo and transferred her household registration for the sake of her in-laws' demolition compensation. From then on, she stepped into a life of hardship as a daughter-in-law. Her pregnancy sickness was so severe that she had to endure it alone in Shenzhen. Her in-laws showed no concern and visited only once, dropping off some groceries before rushing away. When she quietly remarked that a bowl of preserved pork rib soup smelled too strong, Li Mo called her out in front of everyone, prompting his mother to cry and blame her.

When Xiao Jiaojiao started bleeding as she went into labor, her mother-in-law's first response was to accuse her of doing something reckless. During childbirth, the pain of an episiotomy left her close to breaking down, but her mother-in-law cared only about her newborn grandson and ignored her cries of hunger. During her three days in the hospital, Xiao Jiaojiao had rice wine eggs containing alcohol, while Li Mo's lunchbox held fresh vegetables and lean meat. When she wanted to take a bath during her postpartum recovery, her mother-in-law waved a pair of fire tongs and berated her, afraid that she would get sick and become a burden to her son.

After enduring everything in silence and naively hoping for harmony between herself and her mother-in-law, Xiao Jiaojiao finally saw the older woman's favoritism and coldness, and realized she would always be an outsider in this family. At last, she came to her senses. She stopped trying to please them and stopped giving in. All she wanted was to take good care of her child, then head to Shenzhen after the New Year and start a life of their own with Li Mo, living once for herself and her child.