When the female supporting role has a beauty system

Chapter 1240 Qiao Mai of the 1970s 8
Guo Jiantao looked embarrassed: "Qiao Mai..."

“I’m not feeling well at all right now,” Qiao Mai said speechlessly. “If you’re here to upset me with your son, then you can leave.”

"No," Guo Jiantao hurriedly waved his hand, "I brought Wen Shan here specifically to apologize to you."

Qiao Mai glanced at Guo Wenshan, who was also looking at Qiao Mai, who was lying diagonally on the hospital bed, with an indescribable complex expression. He still had some self-respect, so he stepped forward and said, "I'm sorry, I was blinded by my own thoughts before."

Silence fell in the ward. Qiao Mai looked at Guo Wenshan bowing and suddenly felt that this scene was utterly meaningless. She took a deep breath: "I have received your apology, and I don't ask you to understand me."

Guo Wenshan straightened up: "Mom, I still can't understand. I'm your son too..."

“You are my son, that’s true, but I’m still alive,” Qiao Mai said with a sarcastic smile. “Even if we’re dividing the inheritance, that’s something that will happen after I’m gone. Wen Shan, your way of doing things is rather unseemly.”

"To put it another way, your father and I have been divorced for eight years. You inherited all of your father's resources, while Wenting inherited everything from me." Qiao Mai didn't mind being a bit harsh: "You're jealous that Wenting got the company, why don't you complain that Guo Jiantao didn't build a business for you all these years?"

“You naturally put yourself on the opposite side of me, thinking that I should give everything for you. But why should I? I am a person too. Before I was your mother, I was a person first.”

“Just because I became a mother doesn’t mean I have to give everything for you and Wenting. I brought you into this world, and even after divorcing Guo Jiantao, I still pay close attention to your growth. I have fulfilled all my responsibilities.”

“Your grandparents value you, and your father is devoted to you. But you’ve seen Wenting’s situation. She only has me as her mother, and her maternal grandparents’ family doesn’t care about her. If I don’t care about Wenting and only care about you, how will Wenting live?”

"You're now complaining that I handed the company over to Wenting, simply because you didn't get a good deal yourself. A good man should have ambitions beyond his hometown and should make his own way in society, instead of fighting for what belongs to others and trying to gain something for nothing."

Guo Wenshan lowered his head: "I...I didn't think that way."

“Whether it exists or not is no longer important,” Qiao Mai said softly. “I’ll say it again: the company has already been given to Wen Ting, and that’s a fait accompli. I can’t be like your grandmother, exploiting your father to favor Guo Jianwang.”

“You truly are a descendant of the Guo family,” Qiao Mai remarked. “Even though you grew up by my side, your mindset is exactly the same as your grandmother’s.”

"You really...don't resemble me at all."

Guo Wenshan couldn't stay any longer and left the ward in a hurry without saying goodbye to Qiao Mai. Guo Jiantao hesitated: "I know my mother wronged you in the past few years. She's an ignorant old woman, she doesn't understand anything."

“She’s foolish, but she knows how to be biased,” Qiao Mai waved her hand. “I don’t want to keep bringing up the past, as if it makes me seem like I care too much.”

“I’m 38 this year. If God is kind, I’ll probably live to be 70. Even if Wen Shan wants to inherit my estate, that’s 32 years from now.”

"I will most likely get married in the future. If I have another child, my inheritance will naturally be divided equally among my children. I can't just give it to Wenshan. I'm not biased towards him, but I won't be harsh on him either."

"As a mother, I feel I've done enough." Guo Jiantao gritted his teeth: "It's my fault. I haven't been able to build up any business for Wenshan over the years."

"Let's not talk about this anymore. You've seen it all. Let's go." Qiao Mai was exhausted. "Let's not see each other again. We've been over for a long time."

Guo Jiantao paused for a moment, and before leaving the ward, he said, "When I married you, I really wanted to live a good life with you, but how did things turn out like this?"

"Everyone else has done it this way, so why can't it work for us?"

Qiao Mai blinked: "You only see that most people go through this, they are filial to their parents-in-law and raise their children, seemingly without any complaints. But all the good things in the world go to you men, and I'm just destined to burn myself out for my husband's family and children for the rest of my life?"

“You remember Engineer Wang from your machinery factory, right?” Qiao Mai smiled, a hint of envy flashing in her eyes: “What I envy most is Engineer Wang’s wife.”

"Other people also have in-laws to take care of, but how good is Engineer Wang to his wife? He hands over his salary every month, often takes his wife to state-run restaurants, buys her new clothes and high heels, and the two of them often go to the movies together..."

"When I saw Engineer Wang's wife, I realized how unhappy I had been. We've been married for so many years, and I've passed by state-run restaurants countless times, but I've never gone inside."

“All the cloth ration coupons I received each month were used to make new clothes for the children. I haven’t bought a new piece of clothing for several years, let alone high heels.”

"As for going to the movies, we went once before we got married."

“You give your salary to your mother every month. I’ve been supporting the family for so many years. You compare me to those hardworking women, but why don’t you compare yourself to Engineer Wang?”

Now that Qiao Mai had no more scruples and no longer thought about keeping family scandals private, she poured out all the pent-up frustrations of her past life, not caring at all about Gu Jingyue, an outsider, being present.

"If you were like Engineer Wang, would we be unable to make a living? Many women, are they willing to live that kind of life? They just have no choice but to endure it day by day until their children are successful, and only then can they finally catch their breath."

"But can they really catch their breath? If their children are successful, that's fine. But if they are not, they will have to keep working hard until they die."

“But I do have a choice. I don’t want to spend my whole life revolving around one man, I don’t want to worry about my children, and I don’t want to take care of their children in the future. I don’t want to live that kind of life.”

"You all demand that women sacrifice for you, but I'm not willing. Just consider me an oddball. If the price of being a good woman is burning yourself out to dedicate yourself to a man, then I'd rather be a bad woman. At least I'll be happy and free."

Seeing Guo Jiantao remain silent, Qiao Mai chuckled: "You see, you also understand that you can't compare to Engineer Wang. You all want everything, but you're unwilling to give anything in return. You seem to be talking about gender equality, but deep down you still look down on women."

“I’ve left you, so I don’t have to support you and Wenshan anymore. I can go to the movies whenever I want, I can change my clothes every day and never wear the same thing twice, and I can do whatever I want.”

"This is what life is all about. Before, it was just about being alive."