Chapter 4: The Uncomfortable Married Life Four

  The house was finally bought, and the family also eased up a lot due to Qiu Ye's pregnancy. Her mother-in-law didn't scold her every day, but instead occasionally cooked soup for her. Qiu Ye enjoyed several months of happy married life thanks to her son, and by the time they finally moved into the house, her son was already over two months old.

  Because they had no money and Wang Wei was busy with work, Qiu Ye abandoned their two-month-old child and went to do decoration work herself. She compared prices for every building material, fearing that she would be cheated into buying something expensive. Despite this, she still didn't earn a good income.

  One day she came home late and didn't make it in time for dinner. When she arrived at the door, the big gate of her house was not closed, possibly because Wang Wei forgot to close it after coming back from work. Just as Qiu Ye was about to push open the gate, she heard her mother-in-law's voice coming from inside.

  "This is too much for your wife, throwing such a small child back home and running away without a trace. Is she taking us as nannies or what?"

  "Hmph, I've been watching her these days and she's been acting crazy, doesn't seem like a good person."

  The meaning of this sentence, Qiu Ye understood, her mother-in-law was saying that she was not decent. Qiu Ye's tears came down immediately, what she had been running around for these days, she didn't believe her mother-in-law wouldn't know, now using such vicious language to slander her, this really wasn't her own mother.

  At this time, the husband who should speak up for her was silent, what does this mean, is he agreeing with his mother's words? It seems that all these years of bickering have worn away the emotions between the two people.

  Qiu Ye's tears flowed down her face as she pushed open the door and entered the house. Her mother-in-law felt a moment of discomfort, then went about doing what she was doing as if nothing had happened. Qiu Ye looked at her mother-in-law who had walked away, at her father-in-law who remained neutral, and at her husband who continued eating as if nothing was wrong. Qiu Ye didn't have the energy to resent them anymore. She understood that she and her mother-in-law were natural enemies, and even though she was good, in her mother-in-law's heart, she was still an outsider. Now that she had just given birth to a son, divorce was not possible, so she would just have to put up with it. As long as she raised her son well, then this life of hers would be worth it.

  After simply cleaning up the house, Qiu Ye couldn't wait to move out.

  However, the peaceful days she had expected did not arrive. Her mother-in-law held the keys to their house, and her parents' home was still very close to Qiu Ye's new home. The old lady would often run to Qiu Ye's house for no reason at all, even in winter when buying a bundle of scallions, she had to put them in their house and then come back every day to take one scallion away. Sometimes Qiu Ye admired her mother-in-law's spirit.

  Qiu Ye endured all these small things, after all, her mother-in-law had paid a large part of the down payment for this house. However, there was one thing that Qiu Ye couldn't tolerate: whenever her mother-in-law came over, she would never knock on the door and instead use her own key to let herself in.

  In the summer, because of the hot weather, there was no air conditioner installed at home, so Qiu Ye slept with only her underwear on and left the door open to let in the cool breeze. Several times when she was sleeping with minimal clothing on, her mother-in-law would suddenly barge into the room, trapping her inside. Afterwards, her mother-in-law would also report back to Wang Wei, saying that this daughter-in-law of theirs was so unfilial, and when they came over, she wouldn't even come out to greet them, instead just sleeping in her own room.

  When Wang Wei went to tell Qiu Ye, Qiu Ye said: "Can you ask your mom and dad to knock on the door when they come, leave me some space so I can put on my clothes? If I just wear a quilt out like this, they'll have something to say about it again."

  In her own home, she still didn't have freedom, which was really frustrating. Later, Qiu Ye thought of buying an air conditioner for the house, but in 2007, workers' wages were only over 1,000 yuan. Except for household expenses, she really didn't have extra money to buy those luxury goods. She had asked Wang Wei to get his salary card back from his mother when they moved into their new home, but Wang Wei went several times without success. Every time he went to ask for the salary card, the old lady would cry and say that her son was ungrateful, having forgotten about his mother after getting married.

  Later, Qiu Ye inadvertently found out that the old lady and Wang Wei had said much more than this. The old lady said that she helped her son hold onto his salary card because she was afraid that if he and Qiu Ye didn't last long and got divorced in the future, then giving the money to Qiu Ye would be giving it away to an outsider for nothing. As for the new house they just bought, if not for the old lady being heartbroken over wasting thousands of yuan every year on heating fees and property management fees, she also wanted this house to be under her own name.

  At that time, Qiu Ye only knew that her mother-in-law had never expected them to have a good life together, and she was waiting for their divorce from the moment they got married. Qiu Ye really couldn't understand why anyone would want to be with Wang Wei, who was just a technical school graduate with a mediocre job and an overbearing mother at home.

  However, Qiu Ye's temper had been worn down by years of married life, and even if she knew what her mother-in-law said, she didn't need to argue with her like when they first got married. Now as long as her mother-in-law wasn't scolding her directly, for the sake of the child, she felt that she could ignore it. After fighting with her mother-in-law for so many years, she finally saw the fact that she would always be an outsider.

  As long as she is Wang Wei's wife, her mother-in-law will not change her attitude towards her. Moreover, the husband she relies on for life is also a person who cannot handle the relationship between his mother and wife, more bluntly speaking, he is not a person who can sympathize with others, he will only mediate between his wife and mother, making his wife endure in silence. Qiu Ye felt that her mother-in-law's most heart-wrenching words were that Wang Wei had forgotten his mother after getting married, in Wang Wei's mind, his mother's status has always been supreme and inviolable over the years.

  It's just such a suffocating day, Qiu Ye didn't enjoy it for long, her old lady sold her own old house, added some money, and bought another seaside house in Weihai.

  The house was bought and sold without the knowledge of Qiu Ye and his wife, and after the house was sold, they packed their bags and moved into their new home.

  Qiu Ye did not dare to show any dissatisfaction with her mother-in-law's move. As soon as she entered the house, she said, "You've been living in our place for so many years, and I've been serving you for so long. It's time for us to enjoy the blessings of our children." Then she pretended to look around the house and said, "Dad and mom have worked hard all their lives to get a good house for my son. I'm satisfied now. Son, Mom is here to live with you. Are you happy?"

  Who dares to say they're not happy, so they've returned to the scene of cohabiting in one room. This time, Qiu Ye's mentality is calm and won't be at odds with people unnecessarily anymore.

  She just did some calculations in the room for Wang Wei. The old lady's money from selling her old house couldn't possibly buy a seaside house in Weihai, so she must have added a large sum of money. Where did this large sum of money come from? When they bought the house, didn't they say his mother had no money left and that's why they took out a loan? Now he has enough money to buy a house himself? Wang Wei was asked by Qiu Ye and became somewhat irritated, saying: "That's my mom's money, she can spend it however she wants, you just forget about it. Besides, do you think my mom borrowed the money from outside?"

  In the autumn, she listened to Wang Wei's strong argument with a calm and peaceful heart, smiled, and didn't continue speaking. She really didn't mean to make the old lady take out more money; she told Wang Wei that she just didn't want others to think of her as a fool.

  It's 2013 now, Qiu Ye has been married for 9 years, her son is already 6 years old, and her mother-in-law is still so energetic. Qiu Ye and her colleagues jokingly call her mother-in-law "Wang San Kuang" (meaning crazy), every day she must scold someone at home, mainly Qiu Ye this outsider.

  Qiu Ye lay on the bed, and the stifling marriage of so many years seemed to flash before her eyes. She suddenly thought of a sentence from the internet: "What is life? Life is like rape, either resist or enjoy; work is like gang rape, if you can't do it, let others do it; society is like masturbation, everything has to be solved by one's own hands."

  Qiu Ye thought and thought, but soon became confused again. As she was about to fall asleep, she thought that if she could start over, she would work hard from a young age to make money. When she grew up, she would either find a husband who loved her wholeheartedly without any family burdens or have enough money in her pocket to live a carefree and independent life.

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