Lin Baiwei was still somewhat unwilling. "I was almost forty when I gave birth to Xiao Jie. I was an elderly mother, and I also had gestational hypertension, which was very dangerous. I went to the hospital to protect the pregnancy when I was seven months pregnant. Giving birth to him was more difficult than getting my doctorate."
It was truly a life-threatening situation. Doctors advised terminating the pregnancy several times, fearing that both the mother and baby would be lost. Terminating the pregnancy early would at least save the mother.
But Lin Baiwei couldn't bear to part with it. It had been seven months, and she could feel the baby's movements every day. It was a vibrant life, a continuation of her bloodline. How could she bear to part with it?
From seven months into her pregnancy until delivery, she lived in constant fear, worried that she wouldn't be able to give birth and that she herself would die. Fortunately, she was lucky and gave birth to her son without any major complications.
“I only took three months of leave. The doctor gave me a sick leave certificate, and I could have applied for a one-month extension, but I didn’t use it. I was afraid that if I didn’t go back to work, I would lose my job. But even if I had gone back to work for three months, not even for more than a day, I still lost my job because my subordinates took it from me.”
Lin Bai smiled bitterly. She had returned to the company full of energy, ready to make a big splash, but then she received a notice from her boss that her position had been replaced by a younger subordinate, and she had become the subordinate's subordinate. How could she bear such a disparity? Fortunately, her contract expired soon, and she resigned as soon as the time was up, and then switched to her current company.
"Society is inherently unfair to women, especially mothers with children. You're still a success," Ye Qingqing comforted her.
Lin Bai smiled bitterly, "But I put in ten times more effort than others, leaving early and returning late, working from dawn till dusk. In the past few years, I have averaged less than five hours of sleep, and working overtime is common. I spend more time on airplanes than at home. Ten men can't match my hard work."
She wiped her eyes, her voice choked with emotion, "The reason I work so hard is largely because I want Xiaojie to have a better platform to grow up on. I also want to be like other mothers, playing with him every day, telling him bedtime stories at night, and taking him out to play on weekends."
"But I don't even have enough time to sleep, how can I possibly balance work and family? People who say things like that clearly don't have children. They have no idea that for a woman to achieve anything, she has to put in far more effort and sweat than a man, otherwise she'll be left behind."
Ye Qingqing nodded. She understood Lin Baiwei's feelings. Reaching her position was no easy feat, nor could it be achieved by simply spouting a few slogans.
Frankly speaking, it's really difficult for a woman to have both a successful career and the opportunity to be there for her children as they grow up, unless she has an enlightened and virtuous husband. Even the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, a woman as capable as her, couldn't achieve a balance between family and career.
Margaret Thatcher had a poor relationship with her children. Her son was disappointing, and her daughter refused to see her when she died. In terms of parent-child relationships, she was a complete failure.
Therefore, it is really difficult for women to balance family and career, after all, time and energy are limited, and it is impossible to do everything perfectly.
Lin Bai choked back a sob, feeling more and more aggrieved. "I've worked so hard and sacrificed so much, how come Xiao Jie can't see how hard I've worked? I'm nothing to him."
Ye Qingqing took out a tissue and handed it to her, comforting her, "Don't blame the child. Xiao Jie is only five years old. He can't see your hard work, and he can't understand it. He only knows that you are not at home with him. His grandmother is with him. You can't use your own way of thinking to understand the child."
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