I went to my son-in-law’s house and saw the mother-in-law working hard like a maid, while the daughter sat around, eating all kinds of snacks, and even said something extremely embarrassing to me.

That day, I went to the city to visit my daughter and her husband. Before leaving, she told me:

“Mom, just rest. When we get there, my mother-in-law will take care of everything. She is very capable…”

Hearing that, I felt reassured and secretly happy for my daughter to have a decent husband. But as soon as I stepped through the door,  I almost didn’t recognize my mother-in-law  — her hair was disheveled, she was carrying a heavy garbage bag, her clothes reeked of food. Inside the house, my daughter was sitting on the sofa, holding a cup of grapefruit tea, her feet propped up on the table like a queen, laughing and chatting with her friends on the phone.

I thought I was in the wrong house.

I asked softly:

“Hey, your mother-in-law isn’t home?”

He turned around calmly:

“What a strange question you asked while cooking. You suddenly wanted to retire, and in the end your son-in-law asked you to come live with us and take care of the house!”

I stared.

“Your mother-in-law cooks? And you…?”

It calmly:

“I work all day, I’m tired. Besides, I’m a bad cook, so my mother-in-law doesn’t let me touch the kitchen. It’s convenient!”

At that moment, the mother-in-law walked out of the kitchen, sweating profusely, holding a pot of hot soup, her mouth still smiling tiredly:

“Please sit down, I’m done cooking, you should eat now.”

I couldn’t stand it anymore, rushed straight to the kitchen, pushed the food tray aside and asked directly:

“Tell me the truth, are you living here voluntarily or are you forced? Why do you look like a maid?”

The mother-in-law trembled, but before she could say anything, my phone rang. It was my daughter’s next-door neighbor calling.

“Sister, are you at Lan’s house? I’ve been meaning to tell you for a long time but I was afraid you’d be sad. Her mother-in-law came to look after the house, it’s not a happy time. When she goes to the supermarket, her son-in-law asks her to buy dozens of bags of stuff, wash the car, look after the kids, clean the house, cook, and then at night she goes to sleep in the storage room. Sometimes when it’s too cold, I even bring an old blanket over… I feel sorry for her!”

I was stunned. When I turned around, my mother-in-law silently bowed her head, tears falling onto the steaming tray of food.

“I… don’t want to bother my children. They told me to come and stay, I thought I was still healthy, if I could do something I would help… But now I want to take a day off… it’s hard.”

My daughter saw me looking and quickly defended herself:

“Mom… don’t listen to the neighbors’ nonsense. My mother-in-law volunteered…”

I sighed, pulled a chair and sat down next to my mother-in-law, holding her hand tightly:

“From tomorrow, you don’t need to stay here anymore. Go back to your hometown and rest with me. What kind of children let their old mother become a servant?”

And the next day, the mother-in-law really packed her things and left that house, leaving both my daughter and son-in-law bewildered.

As for me, I didn’t say a word, just left a piece of paper:

“Being a parent, no one spares any effort. But with children like this, living any longer will only make you sad.”