After Mei Si taught the whole family a lesson, Mei's mother and grandmother began to question their lives. They suddenly realized that although they used to talk about gender equality, some of their actions were far from being gender-equal.
The two deeply reflected on their actions and decided that they must strive for gender equality in the future.
So... the next morning, the men of the Mei family didn't get to eat breakfast.
"Why isn't there any breakfast for us?" Looking at his mother and wife eating fruit and drinking rice porridge, Dad Mei patted his empty stomach and protested.
"Want some?" Mom Mei glanced at Dad Mei and raised an eyebrow as she asked.
"Hmm!" Mei's father's eyes lit up, thinking that his wife was just teasing them when she said there wouldn't be any breakfast for them.
"If you want to eat it, make it yourself!" Mom Mei rolled her eyes at Dad Mei and said.
"If Mom won't do it, why won't you?" Mei Liang rubbed his rumbling stomach, leaned closer to his wife, and said with a hint of complaint.
"Mom won't allow it. She said it's not fair to cook for you every day! She said she won't cook for you anymore and you'll have to cook for yourselves." Qian Tu glanced at Mei's mother furtively, then leaned close to Mei Liang's ear and whispered.
"..."
With empty stomachs and the steamed buns that Qian Tu had secretly slipped to them in their pockets, the three of them went about their business.
They initially thought that Grandma Mei and her mother were just talking and wouldn't last long, but when they returned home that evening and found that the dirty clothes hadn't been washed and there was no dinner, they finally realized that they had to take action.
“You’re doing something wrong,” said Mei’s father, sitting in the living room.
“What’s wrong? We need to achieve gender equality!” Aunt Mei said with a serious expression.
"Where in our family is there a lack of gender equality? We've always respected you both," said Mr. Mei, wiping his face and looking at Mrs. Mei with a helpless expression.
"Your respect is just lip service; you still discriminate against us in your hearts," said Aunt Mei, rolling her eyes and pursing her lips.
"When did I discriminate against you?" Mei's father felt wronged. When did he discriminate against his wife and mother?
“You never make breakfast, we wash the clothes, and we even clean the floor…” Aunt Mei began to recount the chores she and Grandma Mei did every day.
"Wait a minute!" The more Mei's father listened, the more uneasy he felt, so he quickly interrupted Mei's mother.
“If we do all this work, who will go out and earn money?” Mei’s father asked, glaring at his wife.
“Uh…” Aunt Mei paused. She hadn’t thought about this. She only thought that the women shouldn’t have to do all the work on their small plot of land.
When Mei's father saw that his wife's eyes were wandering, he knew he had hit the nail on the head.
“It’s not that we don’t want to help you with the work. If we have time, we definitely will! The key is that we work outside every day to earn money to support our family…” The more Mei’s father spoke, the more he felt that he was in the right, and his voice became louder and louder.
"Excuses! Didn't Mom and I earn money before? We still did chores when we came home. What about you? From the past until now, when have you ever washed clothes or cooked a meal? In the end, you just think women should do more housework!"
“How could I not have washed clothes? I washed all your clothes when you were in postpartum confinement,” Mei’s father retorted loudly.
"Isn't that what should be done? Didn't I give birth to your child? If you don't want to wash, then don't get me pregnant!" Mei's mother put her hands on her hips and glared at Mei's father. Her expression seemed to say that if Mei's father dared to talk back again, she would take action.
"Sigh! How about this, starting tomorrow, you go out to earn money, and we'll stay home and do the housework." Mei Liang felt that things couldn't go on like this; if they continued to be at odds, the family would fall into chaos.
He suggested switching places so his mother could experience firsthand the hardships of working outside.
“Okay! Let’s do it!” Mei’s mother readily agreed, having received her daughter-in-law’s signal.
After the family meeting ended, Mei's father took his two sons out for dinner.
"Mom, why did you agree to that?" Qian Tu hugged her son and looked at her mother-in-law with a headache.
My husband and father-in-law now manage a big hotel, and there are so many things to do every day. Can they possibly handle it all?
"Didn't you make me agree?" Mei's mother was taken aback. Wasn't it her daughter-in-law who had just given her a look, signaling her to agree?
"Huh? Me? When did I get your consent?" Qian Tu pointed at herself, somewhat bewildered. When did she get her mother-in-law's consent?
"Look at you, wasn't it you who gave me that wink?" Aunt Mei was getting a little anxious. Had she misunderstood?
"Mom! I meant you shouldn't agree!" Didn't she shake her head? Did her mother-in-law interpret it as a nod?
"What should we do? I've already agreed. If I go back on my word now, they'll definitely laugh at us!"
Mei's mother was so anxious that she kept pacing around on the ground.
"Sit down quickly, you're making me dizzy!" Grandma Mei said, holding her head.
"Mom, do you think I should go and talk to Liangliang directly later?" Mei's mother sat back down next to Mei's grandmother and decided to ask for her opinion.
"Let's go for a day and see. One day should be enough. If it doesn't work out, we can talk about it tomorrow." This matter involves their dignity, so we can't just give up after agreeing.
"Mom, will you be back at 2 pm tomorrow?"
Mei couldn't help but ask.
"What are you going to do coming back at 2 pm? It'll be good if you can come back before dark tomorrow. If there's something going on, we can talk about it in a couple of days!" Mei's mother frowned and said.
“Oh, then I’ll call the leak and tell him to come back in a couple of days,” Mays nodded and said.
"Oh my god! How could I have forgotten about this?" Mei's mother slapped her thigh, finally remembering that the Wang family was coming over tomorrow afternoon.
"Hey? Did Mei Liang say that on purpose just now? He already knew we couldn't go tomorrow." Mei's mother suddenly realized that Mei Liang knew about the meeting with the in-laws tomorrow.
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