Reborn in the 70s: Pampered by Regiment Commander-Chapter 1167 - 773: Different Perspectives

The fourth watch arrives.

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"I understand, I really do understand now..." Li Xinli looked earnestly at Chuxia, "I see how well Division Commander Zhou treats you. For someone as capable as him, he must be very valued at home, and so naturally his wife is too. You don’t really treat yourself as an outsider, which makes your husband’s family happier. I get it, truly."

"You’re both right and wrong..." Chuxia gave her a smile, saying, "My in-laws are not snobby. Even if Zhou Mikang wasn’t very accomplished, as long as he married me into the Zhou family, they would treat me sincerely."

Li Xinli looked envious, "Then you’re really lucky. I have a classmate who also married into a relatively well-off family. Of course, compared to the Zhou family, it’s not even close, but it’s better than a regular working-class family.

Her father-in-law is the workshop director at the textile factory, and her mother-in-law is a team leader in another workshop. Her husband is a skilled worker. When she got married, everyone was envious.

Her parents also thought their daughter had really climbed the social ladder and that their family’s fortunes would naturally rise. They used to be very enthusiastic people, but now nobody mattered in their eyes anymore.

However, things turned out completely different from what they imagined. My classmate’s in-laws wouldn’t let her work as a regular female worker, saying it was too disgraceful. They looked down on workers but wouldn’t find her a better position either. They just had her stay at home, doing laundry, cooking, and cleaning for the whole family.

When speaking to outsiders, they claimed they cherished their daughter-in-law too much to let her suffer, and then they flaunted their high moral standards, saying as leaders, they absolutely couldn’t use their position to benefit family, depriving others of opportunities.

In reality, they just wanted to treat my classmate like a maid and didn’t allow her much contact with her own family. They explicitly told her not to bring a continuous stream of poor relatives into the family simply because they married her.

They said if her parents genuinely faced something major, they could help. Otherwise, visiting them during holidays was sufficient. Now, her parents regret it and are embarrassed to go outside. Besides going to work, they stay home and avoid going out at other times.

Originally, I thought all well-off families looked down on people this way, but now I understand. Regardless of the circumstances, it really depends on the individual. You can’t generalize."

"Indeed." Chuxia smiled at her, "Rest assured, everything I’m telling you is true, without any exaggeration."

"I know." Li Xinli’s face turned red as a beet, "How could I doubt you? It’s just that when you mentioned it, I thought of my classmate’s situation and couldn’t help sharing it with you.

My classmate is quite regretful now. Besides going out for groceries, she’s confined at home and can’t find anyone to talk to. Occasionally, when she manages to chat with a neighbor, her mother-in-law finds out and scolds her.

I didn’t even know she was like this now. When we met briefly during the New Year, she was so pent up that she poured everything out to me and advised me never to marry into a family significantly better than my own.

She said if she had another chance to choose, she’d rather marry a beggar than marry into such a family, where it’s essentially like being in prison. She’d prefer hard labor over living uncomfortably."

"How were her in-laws before she married?" Zhao Yulan couldn’t help but ask.

"You couldn’t tell back then. She was very eager to make a good impression on her in-laws, cooking, washing dishes, mopping the floor, doing laundry—she volunteered for all the chores. Her mother-in-law often praised her, saying she was even more considerate than her own daughter.

Back then, she told me that young people who are diligent with hands and feet can win over the elders, advising me to behave well when I find a husband’s family too, and that way, I’d be liked and treated as one of them." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Chuxia curled her lips, "I think ’being a beast of burden’ might be a more fitting description."

Li Xinli nodded, "Right, at her in-laws’ now, she’s just a beast of burden, so I’ve made up my mind. No matter who I’m with, I need to understand their family’s character first. I absolutely can’t let myself go to someone’s home to be treated as a beast of burden!"

Zhao Yulan looked at her daughter, then at Li Xinli, and laughed, "You shouldn’t let these unfortunate examples lead you to deliberately behave poorly. Think about it: what parents would want their son to find a lazy, greedy, and bad-tempered daughter-in-law?"

"Mom, we’re just saying we shouldn’t lose our dignity by overly behaving well, not that we should be lazy, greedy, and bad-tempered. Just being as we are now: if they can accept that, there’d be fewer conflicts once married, right?"