My mother-in-law takes care of my grandchild, and I pay her 4500 yuan. I was three days late with the payment, and my daughter-in-law's reaction made me change my mind.

Zhao Cuiying's daughter-in-law, Wei Baojiao, gave birth to a daughter, which made Zhao Cuiying very happy. She bought a gold necklace for her granddaughter and prepared a red envelope with 5000 yuan for her daughter-in-law.

Zhao Cuiying married and had children late in life; her son didn’t get married until he was 35. Fortunately, his wife is six years younger, and she had their daughter just before turning 30. Although her daughter-in-law has a somewhat spoiled personality, Zhao Cuiying is willing to tolerate it because she is six years younger than her son.

Originally, Zhao Cuiying lived with her son and daughter-in-law. Despite living with her mother-in-law, her daughter-in-law never washed dishes or cooked; it was always her son and Zhao Cuiying who did the cooking. But Zhao Cuiying is an understanding mother-in-law and is willing to accommodate her daughter-in-law as if she were a young girl.

Knowing that her son married at 35, Zhao Cuiying understands that if she doesn’t accommodate her daughter-in-law and take her side, it would be easy for her son and daughter-in-law to have conflicts. After all, a six-year age difference can be a significant gap. As a mother-in-law, Zhao Cuiying knows she needs to be aware of this and consciously treat her daughter-in-law like a princess.

After her daughter-in-law became pregnant, she and her son moved out. After the granddaughter was born, Zhao Cuiying automatically stepped into the role of "Zhao Mom," moving into her son's house to take good care of her granddaughter. However, her daughter-in-law got very angry at Zhao Cuiying, saying, "Is this how your family treats a daughter-in-law? I knew having a baby would reveal the true colors of my in-laws. Why didn’t you hire a postpartum nanny or book a postpartum care center for me?"

Despite becoming a mother, her daughter-in-law still thinks like a young girl, saying things that are very immature. Zhao Cuiying doesn’t understand why they should waste money on a postpartum care center or hire a nanny when both she and her daughter-in-law’s mother are still young and capable.

Now that her daughter-in-law has a child, Zhao Cuiying thinks that unnecessary expenses should be saved for the baby. Although she feels a bit resentful towards her daughter-in-law for being so immature, she doesn't express these thoughts. Instead, she patiently explains, "I’m retired now and have time to take care of you and the baby. We have enough hands at home; there’s no need to book a postpartum care center or hire an outside nanny. I can take care of you both."

Her daughter-in-law is not willing and says, "I’d rather hire a nanny than live under the same roof as my mother-in-law. I just had a baby, do you think I want to see you every day? Who asked you to move in? Did you ask for my permission? Did I agree? Your presence here adds to my mental burden. Ask any new mother if she wants to see her mother-in-law every day after giving birth!"

These words leave Zhao Cuiying stunned. She considers herself a good mother-in-law, always tolerant and accommodating towards her daughter-in-law, meeting her every need and going along with everything she wants. Why does her daughter-in-law hate her so much? Zhao Cuiying can’t understand it. Are mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law natural enemies? Even though she wants to treat her daughter-in-law like her own daughter, why does her daughter-in-law still dislike her so much?

Her daughter-in-law cries and refuses to let Zhao Cuiying take care of the baby, demanding that she leave immediately. She insists that having her mother-in-law around during her postpartum period affects her mood.

Using her childish thinking, her daughter-in-law makes Zhao Cuiying feel completely humiliated. Zhao Cuiying feels deeply saddened; she has done nothing wrong and has considered everything for her daughter-in-law, yet her daughter-in-law dislikes her so much.

Zhao Cuiying feels wronged, but since her daughter-in-law is in her postpartum period, her wishes must be respected. If her daughter-in-law doesn’t want her help, Zhao Cuiying has to comply. However, since they didn't book a nanny in advance, finding a suitable one at the last minute is difficult. Zhao Cuiying has no choice but to turn to her daughter-in-law's mother for help, asking her to come and take care of her daughter during the postpartum period.

The other grandmother is more agreeable and immediately agrees to come take care of the granddaughter and her daughter during the postpartum period. However, the daughter-in-law continues to complain about Zhao Cuiying: “Why did you call my mother to take care of me? What’s your intention? Are you afraid my mother is too idle? Why should my mom spend her time taking care of me during my postpartum period? I’m already married off, how could I trouble my mom to take care of me?”

At this moment, Zhao Cuiying deeply understands that when someone doesn’t approve of you, even your breathing is wrong. No matter how Zhao Cuiying arranges things, her daughter-in-law has complaints. Even if the other grandmother comes over, her daughter-in-law still finds an excuse to scold Zhao Cuiying, who can only lower her head and accept these criticisms.

To calm her daughter-in-law's anger, Zhao Cuiying decides not to have the other grandmother come over for free. Zhao Cuiying agrees to pay her 4500 yuan per month as a salary, essentially hiring her as a nanny to take care of her daughter-in-law.

Only after her mother-in-law agreed to pay real money did the daughter-in-law finally calm down. She happily started eating with her own mother. Zhao Cuiying left her son's house feeling extremely desolate.

he had originally thought that once her daughter-in-law gave birth to a granddaughter, she could enjoy the happiness of being a grandmother. But somehow, she feels more like an outsider, while the other grandmother seems to take her place. The daughter-in-law often sends various cute pictures of the granddaughter to her own mother but never to Zhao Cuiying. When Zhao Cuiying wants to see a photo of her granddaughter, she has to ask her daughter-in-law many times, who impatiently replies, “Can you stop bothering me? What’s so special about a baby? It’s not like you haven’t seen one before.”

Communication with her daughter-in-law is always extremely difficult for Zhao Cuiying. Even a small request is seen as an annoying demand in her daughter-in-law's eyes.

Zhao Cuiying finally accepted that she was just an ATM, responsible for giving her daughter-in-law 4500 yuan every month, and that she should otherwise remain silent and avoid bothering her daughter-in-law. Any small request from her was seen as a major inconvenience by her daughter-in-law.

At the beginning of each month, Zhao Cuiying transfers money to her daughter-in-law. This month, she was three days late. Zhao Cuiying thought it was not a big deal, but her daughter-in-law wouldn't let it go. She wrote a lengthy post of over 1,000 words on social media, criticizing Zhao Cuiying from head to toe, as if Zhao Cuiying had committed a grievous wrong.

Zhao Cuiying and her daughter-in-law have many mutual friends on social media. Her daughter-in-law posted several updates in a row, accusing Zhao Cuiying of being a horrible person. Zhao Cuiying's relatives and friends called her to ask what she had done to upset her daughter-in-law so much.

For the first time in her life, Zhao Cuiying felt utterly humiliated. She had always lived a diligent and kind life, being accommodating and tolerant towards her daughter-in-law. She never expected her daughter-in-law to be so unreasonable. All her efforts were never appreciated by her daughter-in-law.

Zhao Cuiying was completely disappointed in her daughter-in-law. This incident made her decide to become a "detached" mother-in-law. Since her daughter-in-law already thought she was a bad mother-in-law and never appreciated her efforts, why should she continue giving 4500 yuan each month?

Originally, she was willing to give her daughter-in-law 4500 yuan every month, but now she has changed her mind. Since her efforts were unappreciated and she was always seen as the villain, she decided to save the money for her own future retirement.

Her son also called to ask Zhao Cuiying why his wife had posted such things on social media. Zhao Cuiying, without getting upset, explained the whole situation to him and then said earnestly, "Son, now that you’re a father, I believe you have the ability to judge the situation. I’ve said everything that needs to be said. I don’t get along with the daughter-in-law you chose, and since we don’t get along, let’s just live our lives peacefully apart. I won’t deliberately make things difficult for her, and she shouldn’t interfere with my life. Please teach your wife to have higher emotional intelligence and not to complain about her mother-in-law on social media, as it only makes her look foolish."

Her son heeded Zhao Cuiying’s advice and said he would talk to his wife and have her apologize.

Zhao Cuiying replied, "There’s no need for her to apologize unless she truly realizes her mistake. I don’t need a reluctant apology. If she genuinely understands her wrongdoing, even if she doesn’t apologize, we can still get along harmoniously in the future. If she doesn’t realize her mistake, even if you make her apologize, she will still misinterpret my intentions. Son, I’ve come to understand that whether a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law can get along isn’t something I can decide alone. Let’s leave it to fate; I won’t force it."

Having lived this long, Zhao Cuiying has seen many ups and downs. She accepts that things don’t always go as planned and that sometimes efforts are in vain. Whether people can become a loving family is not something one person can achieve alone; it takes mutual effort.

She has done her best through the process, and while the result isn’t what she hoped for, she won’t force it.