Wang Qiqi dreamt she had entered a vault, stacked high with unimaginable amounts of gold, silver, and jewels. She could take as much as she desired, but what truly thrilled her was the discovery of a legendary super-treasure space just for her. Overjoyed, just as she was about to start storing these riches, the sound of a phone ringing jarred her. She inwardly cursed the interruption, thinking, Who has the audacity to call so early and stop me from getting rich?

Wang Qiqi rolled over, ignoring it. "Don't be ridiculous," she thought, "I'll answer the phone after I've secured my fortune. Besides, it might be the wrong number."

She tried to sink back into her dream of riches, but perhaps because of the persistent ringing, when she drifted back, the glittering mountain of gold and jewels had transformed. The instant she tried to chant the spell to collect the treasures into her space, a voice echoed from within the cavern: "Time for the exchange."

As Wang Qiqi puzzled over this, she realized everything in the cave—which seconds before had been glittering wealth—had morphed into the one thing she loathed most: excrement. How could she possibly accept this fate?

The treasure was gone, replaced by filth. How could she possibly remain cheerful? To make matters worse, the phone continued its insistent ringing, demanding her attention.

Furious at having missed out on her fortune, Wang Qiqi angrily scrambled out of bed, snatched the phone, and prepared to unleash a torrent of questions—who was calling, and why interrupt her slumber for some earth-shattering emergency?

Wang Qiqi intended to reprimand the caller, but reality inverted the script: she was the one berated by the person on the other end, verbally lashed so thoroughly she couldn't even formulate a rebuttal, managing only an incessant stream of "Mm-hmms." By the time she finally hung up fifteen minutes later, she was spent.

If she had been groggy when she first picked up, Wang Qiqi was now completely, painfully awake. She couldn't help it; yesterday she had rented a new Japanese drama. She spent hours simultaneously emailing Han Tao and binge-watching the show. Time flew by until, alerted by Han Tao, she realized it was already 2:00 AM. Otherwise, she probably would have stayed up all night.

Convinced she was moving quickly, Wang Qiqi washed her face, brushed her teeth, grabbed a few packets of biscuits, and dashed out, hailing a cab at the complex entrance to speed toward Wang Damei’s house. She mentally calculated that she had managed the entire process—from hanging up the phone to leaving—within forty-five minutes.

Wang Damei had been so furious since yesterday that she felt like she was having a heart attack. Her husband shared her anger, and her daughter was out of the question for consultation. Early this morning, Wang Damei had sent Song Yao, her husband, and their child packing, insisting she needed time alone to calm down. That’s when she thought of Wang Qiqi. She needed to talk things over with her. Wang Damei refused to believe that the two children hadn't consulted Wang Qiqi before making their decision; she knew Song Yao and Song Ziwen treated Wang Qiqi as their "Master Strategist" for every major and minor issue.

However, Wang Damei hadn't anticipated that Wang Qiqi, despite the explosive news, would have slept so soundly. This made Wang Damei even angrier. Seeing Wang Qiqi flit in with an expression of pure innocence, Wang Damei snapped, "Come to my room with me." She had sent Song Yao’s family out to buy groceries, and they could return any moment.

Wang Qiqi looked at the stern expression on Wang Damei’s face and mentally reviewed her recent activities. Had she done anything truly outrageous? At most, she had been glued to her apartment, alternating between emails and TV dramas, living a nocturnal life. But surely that didn't warrant being dragged in here for a lecture.

Wang Damei sat in her room’s chair, gesturing for Wang Qiqi to sit opposite her. "Do you know your brother wants to buy the marital home somewhere else? Do you know he doesn't want to live with us after marriage?" Wang Damei still couldn't process it: when Song Ziwen announced his plan to purchase and decorate a separate home for himself and Yang Jing, making it clear that this house wouldn't be their marital residence, Wang Damei's first thought was that Yang Jing must be rejecting the arrangement because Song Yao (the elder sister-in-law) lived there. But Song Ziwen’s explanation only fueled her rage: it meant he was rejecting her.

Wang Qiqi watched Wang Damei recount how she had supported the family, tirelessly acting as their foundation, only for Song Ziwen to disdain her efforts. Wang Qiqi was genuinely stunned—not by the complaints themselves, but by the sight of Wang Damei weeping. This was a monumental event. Wang Damei was an ironclad figure in the Song household, an absolute authority whose word was law.

After venting her grievances, Wang Damei noticed Wang Qiqi staring fixedly at her and felt a touch of embarrassment. "Sorry, I lost my composure for a moment." Wang Damei pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed her eyes. "But Qiqi, my heart aches. Look, before the daughter-in-law has even stepped through the door, my own son is already looking down on me, as if I'm going to abuse his wife."

Frankly, Wang Qiqi believed that based on Wang Damei’s complaints today, once Yang Jing moved in—regardless of whether they lived separately—Wang Damei would pin any future conflicts onto Yang Jing. She would assume her obedient son had been subtly changed by her influence.

Wang Qiqi thought how unlucky she was; even collecting excrement in a dream would have been preferable to acting as a mediator here. But since she was here, complaining wouldn't help. She gathered her thoughts. "Actually, Auntie, Ziwen brother has a valid point. Sister Yao Yao told me you truly love tidiness; you clean the house spotlessly every day..." Wang Qiqi silently made the sign of the cross, hoping for Song Yao’s forgiveness. "...When your sister-in-law moves in, Auntie, your personality will surely compel her to wake up early on weekends to clean. But she only gets those two days off; she’ll want to rest. Surely, Auntie..."

Wang Damei wasn't entirely swayed. "So she wants to sleep in. Don't I want to sleep in? Qiqi, don't forget, I was young once too. I have a job, and I cared for two children without any help from the older generation. Now they are happy, and I, the aging maid, am expected to keep working, yet I can’t even voice an opinion? Besides, a clean house lifts the spirits, doesn't it?"

That was true; Wang Qiqi conceded that a clean house was better than a filthy one. But the problem was... well, Wang Qiqi struggled for words. "Auntie, I'm actually quite lazy too. I hire an auntie to clean my place. I think instead of spending time huā on cleaning, it’s better to learn something or earn some money." Wang Qiqi reasoned that the best way to change Wang Damei’s mind was to show her that the time spent cleaning could yield better results elsewhere. "For example, cleaning takes two hours. Perhaps I could earn a hundred yuan translating a manuscript in that time. Hiring someone to clean costs about fifty, and the result is better than my own cleaning. Moreover, I heard Sister-in-law is studying for that registered exam? That test is notoriously difficult. Normally, she’s busy with work, so she only has weekends to sleep in or study. But according to your wishes, Auntie, she’d have to deep clean? Once or twice is fine, but repeatedly?"

Wang Damei privately viewed her future daughter-in-law pursuing a registered accountant course even as she was getting married with disapproval. So what if her salary was high? Didn't she see how much rent Ziwen was already bringing in? Even factoring in the mortgage, in Wang Damei’s view, her son was doing perfectly well without further self-improvement. Women, once married, should dedicate most of their energy to the family. Actions unrelated to the household, in Wang Damei’s estimation, were dispensable. "Your sister-in-law, she has to take that course. Your brother told me that exam is hard, with such a low pass rate, and it costs a lot of money." To Wang Damei, this was throwing money away with no return.

"But it’s better to study while you’re young! If she doesn't pass now, it will be much harder when she's older. Exams only get tougher, and brother doesn't object. Auntie, why do you have so many objections?" Wang Qiqi thought to herself that once Song Ziwen loved someone, he was completely devoted. If conflicts arose between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, Wang Qiqi could guarantee Song Ziwen would side with his wife. "Besides, in mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationships, distance creates fondness—closeness breeds contempt. Take Luo Yi and me. If I lived right across the hall every day, maybe she'd find fault with everything I do. But since I’m mostly in Jingcheng, and Han Tao is in America, she relies on me, the family representative, to look after her son well. Otherwise, she wouldn't treat me like this." Wang Qiqi mused how many mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationships remained harmonious when the couple lived with the in-laws, unlike the typical scenario.

"And Ziwen brother’s logic is that it's better to maintain politeness by living separately now than to have arguments later," Wang Qiqi said, emboldened as Wang Damei seemed to be listening. "And living apart doesn't mean you stop being family. They can come back on weekends to show their filial piety, right?"

Wang Damei didn't truly absorb the finer points of Wang Qiqi’s reasoning, but one sentence struck her deeply: It’s better to live separately from the start than to end up unhappy later. She knew her own mouth could be sharp; she had made her daughter, Song Yao, unhappy several times, but she was still her daughter, and reconciliation followed conflict. A daughter-in-law was different; every unresolved argument left a permanent knot in their hearts.

Wang Qiqi watched Wang Damei sit silently on the chair. After saying her goodbyes, she went downstairs, where she ran into Song Yao and her family returning. After briefly updating them, she started playing happily with Taotao. (To be continued.)