Rebirth: He Decides to Lie Flat
Chapter 470 - 470 465 Thinking Ahead

Chapter 470: Chapter 465: Thinking Ahead Chapter 470: Chapter 465: Thinking Ahead The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflict has been a major and unsolvable issue in life since ancient times.

Thinking about this, Hong Jing’s mother also worried. She herself never suffered on this matter, because when she married Hong Jing’s father, her mother-in-law was not in good health and passed away within a few years. Moreover, they didn’t live together, so their relationship was quite harmonious.

However, many of her friends and colleagues were not as lucky as she was; some even ended up getting divorced due to their mother-in-law’s interference.

One could say that it would be quite good if there was even one mother-in-law in ten households who was reasonable and didn’t meddle in her son and daughter-in-law’s affairs; she didn’t have the confidence that her daughter would definitely encounter such a person.

But then again…

For some reason, people are just so contradictory.

On one hand, she wanted her daughter to find someone better off than herself, and a family background better than their own to be deemed worthy; on the other hand, she was worried that in finding such a person, her daughter would be scrutinized and looked down upon.

Yet if she found someone with lesser conditions, she felt her daughter would be at a disadvantage.

She was worried about the future mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship, but if the man had no mother, she would think there was something defective about his character…

In short, there was no one without flaws she could be completely reassured about.

“Wife, think about it, Xiaotie has no parents, but we know from what our old aunt says that there’s definitely nothing wrong with his character. It might sound bad at first to say he has no mom and dad, but what about later? After they get married and start their life together, won’t we effectively have gained a son? Then, it’s not like marrying off a daughter, but taking in a son-in-law.”

Upon hearing this last sentence, Hong Jing’s mother’s heart was severely shaken.

She remembered her own parents, who were teachers. Although they were intellectuals for sure, sometimes their words could be very hurtful.

Last year, a tumor was found on her father’s lung. Surgery to remove it would be a major operation, and it would have been mostly reimbursed at a public hospital, but he insisted on going to a private hospital because the doctor there had returned from abroad and the hospital had better conditions and services. He was already old and didn’t want to suffer in this regard.

Fine, if he wanted to go, he could go.

But the old couple did not want to dip into their own savings, so they expected the three siblings to pay for the surgery.

Hong Jing’s mother had an older sister and a younger brother. Logically, if they were to contribute to the surgery cost, it should be split equally among the three of them, but what her mother said infuriated Hong Jing’s mother.

“Your sister and brother all have sons; they need to save money to buy houses for them in the future, the burden is heavy. You don’t need to do that; when Hong Jing gets married, it doesn’t matter if her dowry is a little more or less, so you should contribute more to the surgery cost, and let them contribute less. You don’t have any objections, do you?”

No objections? Why should I?

Thankfully, her brother was sensible and didn’t agree, saying that if anyone should contribute more, it should be him as the son, and it made no sense for the daughter to pay more.

Otherwise, this matter would become a thorn in her heart. After all, the old lady was getting on in years, and if you objected, it would seem like you didn’t care about the old man, and there was also the fear of upsetting her. But if you agreed, how suffocating it would feel inside!

Why should having a daughter make me less than having a son?

So finding a son-in-law, though it didn’t seem like recruiting exactly, Xiaotie’s situation made it seem close enough. Thinking about it this way, it seemed not too bad.

“What do you think? Tempted, aren’t you?”

Watching Hong Jing’s mother’s face change with uncertainty, Hong Jing’s father knew she was swayed by his words; to tell the truth, he was even swayed by his own arguments once again.

“Wife…”

“Bang, bang, bang…”

Hong Dad still wanted to persist and persuade some more, when suddenly a knocking sound came from outside, followed by their precious daughter’s voice, “Open the door, I need to use the bathroom, if you don’t open it I’ll pee my pants!”

Hong Dad & Hong Mom: …

Hong Mom said angrily, “This damned girl… When did she become so, so crude and foul-mouthed?”

Hong Dad, covering half of his face, urged her, “Hurry up and open the door for her.”

Hong Mom went to open the door, and Hong Jing stood at the entrance, huffing heavily at her mom.

“Still huffing? Who are you huffing at? You damned girl…”

Hong Dad quickly went out and pulled her back into the bedroom, and Hong Mom said angrily, “Even if we agree, we can’t just say yes to her so easily, look at that behavior? It’s all because you spoil her!”

Hong Dad: …

Alright, good habits are nurtured by you, and bad tempers are caused by me.

“I’ll go talk to her, you calm down first.”

After Hong Dad finished speaking, he turned and left. When Hong Jing came out of the bathroom, he followed her into her room.

“Dad went to see Xiaotie today, you know?”

Hong Jing looked up at him, didn’t utter a word, clearly waiting for him to continue.

“Although yesterday your mom and I shared the same view, disapproving of you two being together, after I met him today, or more accurately, after Xiaojiang talked to me, I changed my mind.”

Hong Jing’s eyes lit up, but before she could speak, her dad added, “Don’t be too happy just yet. I was persuading your mom just now, and she was starting to budge, but then, look at the way you treated your mom?”

Hong Jing looked down, silent.

“Dad has to criticize you here. From your birth to growing up, your mom raised you all by herself. Under no circumstances, because of anyone, can you treat her like that. Do you know that hurts your mom’s heart?”

“But…”

“Don’t ‘but’ me yet, you need to know that sharp conflicts often can’t solve problems. You need intelligence, and you need to present conditions that can move her to persuade her. Like yesterday, you were just mad at us, focusing on how we disagreed and venting at us, without considering whether your actions were worsening our impression of Xiaotie. Not only did it not gain our agreement, but it also made us oppose even more strongly.

The logical thing to do? It would be to list and demonstrate Xiaotie’s favorable conditions to us, one by one. That way, we could consider and evaluate whether being with Xiaotie is really appropriate or not.”

“Speaking of which, dad still has to criticize you. The moment you decided to be with Xiaotie, you should have anticipated our opposition. Since you thought of it, didn’t you prepare any strategy or two in advance? You’re already twenty-two this year, not a child, but an adult. Next year after you graduate, you’re going to enter society, where you’ll encounter more complex people and issues. You might even need to think three steps ahead for every one you take…”

Hong Dad took this opportunity to impart a lengthy lecture to his daughter. Although she benefited from it, Hong Jing felt it was a bit too verbose. However, she clearly understood the central idea of her dad’s speech, which was that they had already agreed to her being with Xiaotie!

Because of this, she had a bit more patience than usual listening to her dad’s reasoning, and she was even moved when he talked about how to mediate conflicts between Xiaotie and them if they arose after living together in the future.

The old man sure thinks ahead, even considering living together after marriage.

But, Dad said Xiaotie is going to take the postgraduate entrance exam?

When was this decided, and why didn’t she know about it?