Chapter 92 Mingli's aunt would definitely think she was a...
Li Hong's visit today wasn't really just to see Tang Mingli and chat about her daughter's recent events.
She had ulterior motives.
It's been quite a while since my daughter gave birth.
Li Xin is almost weaned, and her daughter has already returned to work at the brown sugar factory. If she hadn't had a C-section, she probably would have gotten pregnant with her second child shortly after giving birth.
The thought that dual-income couples can only have one child worries Li Hong.
She understands the hardship of having only one daughter better than anyone else.
Even if the elders in the family don't say anything, they will blame her in their hearts for not being able to give birth to a son to carry on the family line. Not to mention outsiders, they will openly or secretly mock her for not being able to produce a son.
How much criticism has she endured over the years?
Even her strong personality is largely due to her inability to have a son.
She didn't want to see her daughter suffer the same hardships she had endured.
Moreover, they have no sons, and once their daughters grow up and get married, there will only be two people in the family.
It's one thing on ordinary days, but during holidays and festivals, seeing other people's homes bustling with activity while their own homes are empty and desolate with only two elderly people, one can only imagine the bitterness they feel.
Therefore, regardless of the reason, Li Hong hopes that her daughter can have another son.
But if they have a second child, both the daughter and son-in-law will lose their jobs.
She and her husband discussed it at home for a long time, but they couldn't come up with a solution that would satisfy both sides, so they thought of Tang Mingli.
It's not that I think Tang Mingli is particularly clever, but rather that after being married into the Fu family for so many years, she must know some inside information that is not known to outsiders. Perhaps she has some way to exploit the loopholes in this policy.
When Tang Mingli heard that her aunt had come to ask her how Li Dazhu and Tang Mingmei could have another child without losing their jobs, she stopped yawning halfway through.
Even a fool would know that my aunt wanted to have another child.
It's about having another son, isn't it?
However, she did not immediately refute her aunt's words, but instead asked, "What if it's another daughter?"
This is truly a question of the soul.
Li Hong was stunned by the question.
She had considered the possibility that her second child might also be a daughter, but she subconsciously resisted thinking in that direction.
"No, when your sister was little, I had a fortune teller read her fortune. He said she was destined for wealth and that she would either never have any children or she would definitely have a son."
This isn't just idle talk. There used to be a very accurate fortune teller on a street near the tenement building. She had him tell her daughter's fortune, and he really said that. However, after the Cultural Revolution, that fortune teller stopped setting up his stall and, not long after, I heard he went back to his hometown in the countryside.
But Tang Mingli wanted to shake her head as soon as she heard the phrase "destined for wealth and honor".
She doesn't deny the existence of metaphysics, after all, time travel has happened to her. But it's no wonder someone like Li Dazhu can't get rich; what kind of wealthy life could she have marrying him?
Li Hong failed to convince Tang Mingli, but she solidified her own resolve, adding, "So the next child will definitely be a son."
Seeing how deeply Li Hong believed the fortune teller's words, she felt that the country was right to eradicate superstition; otherwise, countless fools would be fooled by people with ulterior motives.
Tang Mingli clearly told Li Hong: "It is a national requirement that a couple should only have one child. Don't try to find loopholes, or you will definitely pay the price."
Li Hong is well aware of the price to pay, otherwise she wouldn't have come to find him today.
Although the reform and opening up has begun and many bold people have started their own businesses, for most Chinese people who prefer stability, working in a state-owned enterprise and having a secure job is still the most sensible option.
Li Hong would definitely not be willing to let her daughter lose her job at the brown sugar factory.
But having a son is very important.
This is contradictory.
Undeterred, she asked again, "Is there really no way to have the best of both worlds?"
Tang Mingli sneered: "I never would have guessed."
Although the tone was harsh, it was the truth.
As someone born decades later, she had heard her elders talk about how some people outsmarted and outmaneuvered the family planning authorities during the years when the one-child policy was strictly enforced.
They secretly gave birth to their first child, and if it was a daughter, they lied and said the child was gone.
There's the story of a woman getting a fake divorce after becoming pregnant, then hiding away and secretly giving birth to the child.
In order to evade the family planning office, every couple who wanted to have a second or third child racked their brains, and even went so far as to move their entire family from their hometown to another place.
In order to avoid being caught, some even resorted to guerrilla warfare, moving from place to place after a period of time.
In his quest to have a son, he endured a life of constant displacement, which also caused his child to live an unstable life from a young age.
If Tang Mingmei and Li Dazhu are really that determined to have a son, she might roll her eyes to the heavens, but she will still respect and offer her blessings.
After all, everyone has their own pursuits; some people just want to have a son.
Just thinking about it made Tang Mingli want to roll her eyes.
How terrifying! Is rolling your eyes some kind of human instinct?
When Li Hong heard Tang Mingli say there was nothing she could do, she panicked and said, "What can we do? Your sister can't only have one daughter."
Tang Mingli took a deep breath, knowing that it might be pointless for her to say anything more, but she would still play the saint for once.
"You were there when my sister gave birth to her daughter. You must remember what happened then."
“How could I forget? Even if I forget how I gave birth back then, I will never forget your sister.”
Tang Mingli expected to hear this answer, after all, she couldn't forget it either.
"If you haven't forgotten, you should know how dangerous it was back then. Are you really willing to let your sister risk her life again just to have a son?"
Li Hong trembled. She didn't dare, but...
"Giving birth to the first child is more difficult; the second one is easier from now on."
"But I had a C-section."
Neither of them is born through the birth canal. What's the difference between a first and a second child?
As if suddenly realizing something, Li Hong visibly trembled all over.
Tang Mingli took the opportunity to advise, "You should try to see things from your cousin's perspective. Whether she has a son or not is more important than whether she is living a good life."
"But how can we live well without a son?"
"Does having a son guarantee a good life?" Tang Mingli immediately gave an example: "Take my grandmother for example. She had two sons, but did she have a good life? She raised both children with great difficulty, but the younger one died young, and the older one hardly cared for her at all."
Li Hong's face was burning hot.
These words were like a slap in the face to her; it was she who forbade her husband to take care of his parents.
"And then there's Aunt Zhang, our neighbor. She had three sons, but so what? When she got sick, none of her children were willing to take care of her. They all passed the buck, as if she were some kind of plague."
"Oh, and there's Aunt Deng, who's already passed away." Tang Mingli could easily pick out a bunch of examples. "Aunt Deng gave birth to six daughters before finally having a precious son. And what happened then?"
Aunt Deng lived right next to the Tang family, so Li Hong knew her situation better than anyone else.
After having six daughters before finally having a son, Aunt Deng cherished him dearly, giving him almost anything he wanted. She even arranged for her six daughters to get married so that her son could have a better life.
When she grew old, her son abandoned her. If it weren't for her daughter, she would probably have starved to death or ended up on the streets.
Even though her son was so heartless, she still only said that her son had a hard life.
In the last two years of her life, she was unable to take care of herself, but she still couldn't bear to see her son suffer. When her son had a rare moment of kindness and wanted to feed her, she would feel sorry for him and refuse to eat, only opening her mouth when her daughter fed her.
Li Hong sighed.
Tang Mingli thought that the examples she gave should have touched her, but to her surprise, she heard her say, "But having a son is mainly for carrying on the family line."
The implication is that she doesn't want to have a son to take care of her.
Tang Mingli was stunned.
She strongly suspects that these people have a different brain structure, otherwise how could they have such a strong belief?
With Li Hong as a comparison, she now finally understands how much young women have changed over the decades.
I'll kowtow to the family planning policy.
Thanks to this policy, the world has so many more only children.
Seeing that Tang Mingli remained silent, Li Hong continued, "Moreover, I'm worried that the Li family will take their anger out on you. When your sister gave birth, I forced them to agree to a C-section."
Given Tang Mingmei's condition at the time, not performing a cesarean section could have resulted in the deaths of both her and her unborn child.
Since transmigrating, she has always believed in avoiding getting angry and being happy whenever possible, but now she feels like swearing.
Just then, Mrs. Fu, who had gone for a walk in the park with her neighbors, returned.
Li Hong was sitting in a chair that faced away from the main entrance and the dining room, and the Fu family had those large sofas. Because of her short stature, if Li Hong didn't sit upright, she wouldn't be visible from the side facing away from her.
So as soon as Madam Fu opened the door, she couldn't wait to tell Tang Mingli some news that she had only heard that morning.
"Oh dear, Mingli, do you know? Aunt Zhao's granddaughter-in-law got pregnant by accident, but they already have one child, so this pregnancy doesn't meet the policy requirements. After discussing it as a family, they decided not to have the baby."
As Madam Fu spoke, she couldn't help but sigh with heartache.
She was heartbroken and regretful that she was pregnant but unable to give birth.
I feel sorry for the children who cannot be born, and I also feel heartbroken that the adults have to suffer like that.
Li Hong knew, of course, that the people living in this courtyard all had a certain status.
Even someone of such status and position doesn't dare to give birth after becoming pregnant? Doesn't that make it even more unlikely that Mingmei will have a second child?
If she had previously thought that Tang Mingli's "I don't know" and "there's nothing I can do" were just excuses and felt somewhat resentful, then after hearing Madam Fu's words, she began to have doubts.
When Madam Fu approached, she saw Li Hong and swallowed back the words she was about to say. Instead, she greeted her, "So it's my dear in-laws' aunt. It's been a long time. How have you been lately?"
Li Hong quickly stood up and replied, "I'm fine. How about you? How have you been lately?"
"I'm fine too."
After exchanging greetings, neither of them knew what to say next.
Li Hong had not yet fully recovered from the shock of what Old Madam Fu had said.
Madam Fu felt that she had been too rash just now, why did she have to rush to say it for a minute or two?
Now that's bad. Mingli's aunt will definitely think she's an old lady who likes to gossip about other people's business.
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