3

After the banquet, my mom secretly pulled me into the room.

"Yuqiao, you're an elementary school teacher, is being an independent woman really as amazing as your sister-in-law says? Now she's even shouting about making her daughter drink papaya soup! Letting your niece sleep on her own? I, an old woman, don't get it, but how can such a small child not drink milk? How can she sleep alone?"

In my past life, my mom also first put a halo on my head, praised me a bit, and then asked me to pay and contribute.

She often brainwashed me, "You're the only one with a stable job in our family! The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility!"

But after dying once miserably, I finally understood—

All of this was just lies they told to make me pay.

She even twisted the truth with the police, knowing my cause of death, all just for my money.

Making me out as someone seemingly sunny and cheerful but inwardly dark and distorted, a self-destructive maniac!

So this time, I easily saw through their lies.

"Mom, if sister-in-law wants my niece to sleep on her own, perhaps she's trying to cultivate Xuanxuan's sense of independence!

If she keeps holding her to sleep, what if Xuanxuan becomes dependent?" I said deliberately loud.

As my mom's smile completely froze, my sister-in-law came over cursing.

"What are you getting at? My Xuanxuan is going to be an independent woman, and it's only right for an independent woman to sleep by herself!"

Immediately, she spoke confidently.

"Zhou Yuqiao, you'll be responsible for Xuanxuan's every need from now on!"

I didn't show any dissatisfaction but instead puzzled.

"I pay to support Xuanxuan? What if she ends up dependent on others, how will she be a self-sufficient independent woman then?"

"In my opinion, sister-in-law, you should prepare a ledger now, and clearly record every expense for Xuanxuan! Make her pay you back when she grows up! That's how you'll cultivate Xuanxuan's independence!"

To prove my genuineness, I casually made up several contrary examples.

My sister-in-law furrowed her brows, pondered a while, then gave up. She then directed my mom to use an electronic ledger to track every expense for my niece.

But my sister-in-law's dream of an "independent woman" didn't last long; it cracked for the first time after six months.