"I..."
Ding Yun found it difficult to respond to this. It was a given that someone would need to take care of the child after it was born.
Those who worked were definitely unable to do so.
After all, an eight-hour workday wasn't just about having the energy to care for a child. The main issue was that a child couldn't be left alone for eight hours, let alone eight hours.
Even being separated for an hour could be risky.
Ding Yun currently had a job, and her parents hadn't reached retirement age yet. Taking a few days off was not a problem, but taking prolonged leave to stay home and care for the child was impossible. The only one free was her mother-in-law, and it was precisely because her mother-in-law promised to help raise the child that the original host had given birth.
But if her mother-in-law broke her promise.
In reality, she was also helpless. After all, she couldn't put the child back. Even hiring someone specifically to care for the child, putting aside whether she could trust them, even if she could.
Financially, she couldn't afford it right now.
So, when it all came down to it, if her mother-in-law broke her promise, there was only one solution: she would have to resign herself and go home to care for the child. This was a choice many working women had to make after giving birth.
It was good if someone could help, but if no one could, it was truly impossible.
If one complained about the mother-in-law, some would say that the mother-in-law had no obligation to help raise the child. If there was no obligation, why did she promise to help in the first place? Why use almost deceitful methods to trick someone into having a child?
It was precisely because of these factors that Ding Yun found it difficult to say anything. After all, she was also unwilling to compromise like this, to become a housewife, and might even be pressured by her mother-in-law to have a second or third child.
"Alas, I didn't think of this back then.
If you had gotten pregnant two or three years later, your father and I would have already retired by then. Even if no one else helped you care for the child, we would have had plenty of time.
We still have two to three years before retirement. We can help out occasionally, but it's impossible to care for the child every day. As for your maternal grandmother, she's too frail to take care of herself, so she definitely can't help with the child.
As for your paternal grandmother, she's a bit displeased with you, her granddaughter, let alone helping you care for the child."
Ding Yun was speechless. Her mother, Huang Pinjuan, thought for a moment but couldn't come up with a good solution. The difficulty lay in the fact that those at home who were free were too old to care for an infant, while those who could care for an infant were too young and hadn't reached retirement age.
This was the biggest difficulty, the biggest contradiction.
One thing no one mentioned was that when parents and mothers-in-law urged people to have children, they usually implicitly expected their daughters or daughters-in-law to sacrifice their careers to raise the children.
Following this, there was inevitably a silence as they looked at each other.
After a long while, Huang Pinjuan said helplessly, "It's come to this, what more can we do? The cart will find its way when it reaches the mountain. Don't worry about it for now, we'll talk about it after the baby is born.
What if your mother-in-law keeps her promise!"
"Why can't we divorce, Mom? To be honest, Mom, I'm currently struggling with whether or not to divorce. I cover all the household expenses, he doesn't contribute a penny, and he doesn't do anything. He only helps me with half the rent when it's due, otherwise, he doesn't contribute a single cent. I also feel embarrassed to ask for more.
I'm even worried now that if I really resign and stay home to care for the child, whether I can get any money from him. And more importantly, I don't want to live a life where I have to ask him for money every month.
That would make me seem inferior to him."
Ding Yun was telling the truth, but she wasn't complaining. She mainly wanted to gauge her mother's opinion on her idea of divorce.
As Ding Yun probed, her mother couldn't hold back anymore and almost jumped up, shouting:
"What? What did you say?"
"Are you crazy? You, why don't you just have him not contribute to the rent and keep him as a kept man!"
"My heavens, I... Oh my, I really don't know what to say to you. How could you be so generous as to overpay? Other families aside, haven't you seen our situation? We're both working, and your father's salary card is with me!
Wait a minute, if that's the case, then you don't have much savings on hand, do you? How could you dare to have a child without any savings? Are you counting on me to help, or are you counting on your husband, Zhou Junyu, to save money, or his mother to be willing to pay?"
"Some things, although they sound mercenary and unpleasant, are indeed the reality. If you have no savings, how can you cope with risks? Your current relationship dynamic is really problematic. Most importantly, you lost from the start and it's hard to change!"
After the outburst, Huang Pinjuan felt the matter was extremely thorny. She never expected her daughter to be so foolish; it was simply naive and brainless.
As for why she felt the matter was thorny.
And difficult to change.
This was mainly because many things were easier to plan and correct in the beginning. For example, after marriage, who would cook, who would wash clothes, who would clean the house, and so on. Many of these were decided at the beginning and were difficult to change later.
Managing money was naturally the same.
This was similar to how many policies were easier to change at the founding of a nation, but difficult to change after a long time.
Once things became a norm, no one was willing to change them, especially those who benefited. In Huang Pinjuan's opinion, her daughter was clearly not a beneficiary; she was just a fool!
If they had known this earlier, they shouldn't have compromised.
They also shouldn't have assumed that their daughter was smart and wouldn't suffer any losses in dealing with people. But the facts proved that IQ had nothing to do with emotional intelligence. It was directly related to life experience and knowledge.
Her daughter, on the other hand, was more naive precisely because she hadn't suffered much.
She hadn't experienced much of society's harshness.
"Mom, so I know now, right?
I plan to stay home from now on and see what Zhou Junyu's reaction is and whether he will compromise. His attitude will determine whether I go back to live with him or, hopefully, divorce.
If we divorce, I want the child to take my surname.
Mom, you won't dislike me, will you..."
Ding Yun was clearly more sensible than the original host. Coupled with the fact that she really didn't want to stay in that garbage pile anymore.
So, at this moment, she quickly explained that she now understood the problem and had a plan for what to do next. Finally, she didn't forget to act cute, clearly stating her intention to stay home for a while.
She had even already decided whose surname the child would take if they divorced.