"We have a family rule that women are not allowed to sit at the table and eat." "Mother-in-law, in that case, please move out of my house."

Chen Xixian is a person who is very brave in matters of love. In order to marry for love, she didn’t mind that her partner’s family didn’t have a house or car, and that he came from a single-parent family. Chen Xixian didn’t care at all; she didn’t ask for a house, a car, or a dowry. She just got married into his family on her own.

After the marriage, they lived in the house that Chen Xixian owned before getting married. Although it was her house, the decoration style was according to her mother-in-law’s preferences. Her husband said, “My mom is moving in with us. The elderly have different tastes in decoration compared to us young people. I’ve always advocated respecting the elderly and caring for the young. She is an elder, and we should prioritize her.”

Chen Xixian was a love-struck woman, deeply admiring and loving her husband to the extent that she would go through fire and water for him. Her initial attitude towards her mother-in-law was that, since she was her husband’s mother, she should be good to her and try to win her approval.

So, even though Chen Xixian had her own preferences for the decoration, she still decided to follow her mother-in-law’s tastes, turning the house into a style favored by the elderly. When Chen Xixian’s friends came over, they found it amusing. Chen Xixian said, “I’m doing this to please my mother-in-law. As long as she’s happy, it’s fine.”

Chen Xixian thought that by doing this, her mother-in-law would like her. However, her mother-in-law’s thoughts were completely different. The mother-in-law believed that all of this was thanks to her son. She thought it was her son’s capability that won him a wife who didn’t ask for a house, car, or dowry. She believed it was because of her son’s capability that the house could be decorated according to her tastes.

The mother-in-law treated her son better and better while increasingly looking down on Chen Xixian, thinking she was the one who pursued her son to marry him. After getting married, Chen Xixian had to cook three meals a day for her mother-in-law and husband. Initially, she did this with enthusiasm, feeling that cooking three meals a day for her beloved was a kind of happiness.

Every morning, Chen Xixian gets up early to go to the market and buy the foods her mother-in-law and husband love. Every day, she prepares four dishes and a soup, all according to her mother-in-law's and husband's preferences, without a single dish that she herself likes.

Racking her brains every day to cook dishes that her husband likes is actually very exhausting, but her husband seems indifferent to this. Every meal, he eats heartily, quickly finishes the food, and then hides in the study to play games.

Her husband neither washes the dishes after meals nor chats with Chen Xixian at the table. He just eats all his favorite dishes and then quickly slips into the study, leaving Chen Xixian and her mother-in-law to face each other alone.

At that time, Chen Xixian was still very much a love-struck woman. She accepted her husband's behavior without any complaints and even tried to please her mother-in-law at the table, attempting to start conversations and build a relationship with her.

Seeing her son ignore his wife and quickly hide in the study after meals, her mother-in-law felt that her daughter-in-law was not valued by her son, and thus showed no kindness towards Chen Xixian.

Every time her son went into the study, Chen Xixian would take the initiative to start conversations with her mother-in-law. However, her mother-in-law always kept a blank expression, as if she were deaf, pretending not to hear anything Chen Xixian said, leaving Chen Xixian feeling extremely awkward.

What kind of life did Chen Xixian lead after marrying the man she loved so much? She once thought that as long as she married for love, even if she had to walk barefoot on the scorching ground after marriage, it would still be happiness.

But after living the everyday life filled with chores and expenses, she realized that by being so proactive in not asking for a house, a car, or a dowry, and even bringing her own marital home into the marriage, she ended up waking up early every day like a cheap nanny to buy groceries and cook three meals a day for her husband and mother-in-law. She felt like a worthless young wife, receiving no attention from her husband, and never getting a kind look from her mother-in-law.

After getting married, Chen Xixian felt like she had become a joke. Her friends often teased her, saying, "We don't know what you're after. Your husband has no house, no car, and doesn't earn much. In the marriage market, no one would want a man like him, but you treat him like a treasure. The house is decorated according to his mother’s taste, she lives with you, and you do all the housework. You even get up early to cook three meals a day for the two of them, but they don’t even give you a smile. Is this a marriage or are you just looking for abuse?"

Her mother-in-law became increasingly rude to her, often criticizing her for not doing housework well enough or for spending too much money, even though the money Chen Xixian spent was her own earnings.

Whenever Chen Xixian brought a package home, her mother-in-law's face would darken like a stormy sky. Immediately after, her mother-in-law established a new family rule, requiring Chen Xixian to hand over 90% of her salary each month. The mother-in-law claimed this was for the good of the family, saying, "You young people spend too much money. I can't stand it. Hand over your salary to me, and I'll keep it for you, so you won't have any money to waste."

Chen Xixian found it absurd. "I’m not an elementary school student. I earn my own money, and now I can’t even spend it? Just because I'm married, I have to hand over my salary card? Why?"

At this point, her husband spoke up again. Chen Xixian thought this time he would surely take her side, but unsurprisingly, he sided with his mother again. He said, "My mom is doing this for our own good. Look at how you spend money; you receive packages every day. You should be grateful that my mom cares enough to manage your salary. Which elder would want to control a young person's salary card? Only my mom cares this much. You should be thankful."

Such an absurd situation was described by her husband as being so considerate. For the first time, Chen Xixian realized the ridiculousness of her marriage. She refused to hand over her salary card, leading to a two-month cold war with her husband. He tried to make her uncomfortable with silence and lack of attention, hoping she would give in and hand over the salary card voluntarily.

When they were dating, whenever her husband was unhappy, he would use this kind of cold war to punish Chen Xixian. Chen Xixian really liked her husband, and whenever he treated her coldly, she would lose her appetite and have trouble sleeping.

But after being married for so long, Chen Xixian gradually woke up. Did she receive a lot of love in this marriage? No. Did she gain a lot of money? No. So, what was the point of this marriage? Was it just because she liked her husband? She liked him so much, but was he good to her? He wasn’t particularly good to her before, and even after marriage, despite all her efforts to please him, he still treated her with indifference.

In this one-sided love story, Chen Xixian had tried for so long, but it seemed to have no effect. In the past, when her husband started a cold war, she was very afraid of losing him.

However, after getting married, her husband's cold wars only made Chen Xixian realize that even though they were married, this marriage was meaningless. Marrying someone you love shouldn’t mean being a doormat; it should be about mutual effort and understanding.

It seemed that Chen Xixian was the only one putting in the effort, while her husband was like an emotionless machine, never appreciating her efforts or responding to her hardships.

Seeing her son treat his wife so negligently, her mother-in-law also joined in punishing her daughter-in-law, subsequently setting even stricter house rules.

That day, Chen Xixian made the usual four dishes and a soup. Her husband quickly finished eating in 20 minutes, then put down his chopsticks and walked into the study, leaving Chen Xixian alone with her mother-in-law. In the past, Chen Xixian would try to start conversations with her mother-in-law, but now she didn’t want to say much. Instead, her mother-in-law spoke first. She didn’t want to eat at the same table with her daughter-in-law. She said, "We have a family rule that women cannot eat at the table. From now on, you can eat in the kitchen. I don't want to see you. Seeing you annoys me and ruins my appetite."

Hearing her mother-in-law's words, Chen Xixian felt completely disheartened. Her husband ignored her, sided with his mother in the cold war, and now her mother-in-law, unwilling to accept that Chen Xixian wouldn't hand over her salary card, had come up with this ridiculous rule and said such disrespectful things. What was the point of such a marriage?

For the first time, Chen Xixian responded firmly, "Mother-in-law, then you should move out of my house. I bought this house. Why are you acting so domineering in my house? This is my home. If anyone is setting rules, it should be me. Why should you be the one setting rules? If I want to hand over my salary card, that's up to me. If I want to eat at the table, I will. You have no right to dictate that. If you want to be in charge, go back to your own home and be in charge there. Don't try to rule over mine."

Her mother-in-law turned red with anger and, gasping for breath, said, "How dare you! You chased after my son to marry him and now you dare to speak to me like this? I'll go tell my son about this right now and see how he deals with you."

She ran crying to her son's study, and within half an hour, her husband came to confront Chen Xixian. He said, "She is my mother. She is an elder, and we should respect her opinions. No matter what kind of rules she sets, whether they make sense or not, we should show her some respect. If she sets a rule, we should follow it. You, as the younger generation, spoke to her so disrespectfully just to vent your anger. Have you considered her feelings? What if she falls ill after hearing your words? Can you take responsibility for that? You’re not a child anymore. You're married now. Can you stop being so childish?"

It was always like this. He always sided with his mother. First, it was about handing over the salary card, and now even the rule that women couldn't eat at the table had to be obeyed. Could it get any more ridiculous?

Chen Xixian's romantic infatuation had been completely shattered by the reality of marriage. Her husband had never truly valued her. Such a marriage was not worth maintaining.

In front of her husband, Chen Xixian said, "Mother-in-law, then you should move out of my house. This is my home, and I make the rules here. There is no rule about handing over salary cards, and no rule about women not eating at the table. In my home, I am in charge, not you."

"Son, this woman has gone too far. Teach her a lesson," the mother-in-law urged her son to take action.

Seeing her husband angrily reach out his hand towards her, Chen Xixian preemptively shouted, "This is my house. You and your mother move out. We are getting a divorce. I’m done with this marriage."

Chen Xixian had finally seen the light; this marriage was not suitable for her at all, and she needed to decisively let it go.