Seeing Shi Xiaolan still speaking in defense of Yun Dame and others, An Jing truly felt Shi Xiaolan was a good daughter-in-law.
If she had originally been from this world, she would have undoubtedly agreed with Shi Xiaolan, thinking Yun Dame and the others were doing nothing wrong, after all, having no descendants was a serious matter! There must be someone to carry on the family line! How could one let their family lineage die out!
She, An Jing, was not from this world; she came from a modern era of gender equality. Although she could understand why Shi Xiaolan would speak for Yun Dame and the others, she also genuinely couldn’t accept these views.
Of course, she also understood that Yun Dame and the others were actually good people...
But, she truly, truly couldn’t accept their old-fashioned concepts...
Not wanting to argue with Shi Xiaolan about whether Yun Dame and the others were wrong, An Jing simply sighed and said, "Even if you think Niuniu isn’t liked by the family, you can’t just let Niuniu die. Do you also want to die with Niuniu? If you died, what would happen if Brother An Fu’s new wife enters the door and treats Yu Yu badly? With you, her biological mother, around, you could still protect Yu Yu somewhat, couldn’t you? Yu Yu is also very young; she hasn’t even reached the age of three, and you are only thinking about liberating Niuniu, while leaving behind Yu Yu? Also, Niuniu is a person, not some cat or dog; since you gave birth to her, how can you so easily decide her life and death?"
"What can I do?" Shi Xiaolan sobbed, "Seeing Fu Zi and the others disliking Niuniu so much really makes my heart ache..."
An Jing felt powerless seeing Shi Xiaolan and said, "Can’t you just ignore their thoughts and raise Niuniu properly?"
Shi Xiaolan cried even harder, "I want to ignore their thoughts, but I can’t. Every time I see the way they don’t even glance at Niuniu, I can’t bear it... I just can’t bear it..."
"Then don’t look at them." She certainly wasn’t someone who acted based on others’ expressions. Of course, if it were her husband’s expression, she might take a look.
"Living in the same house, how can I not look at them... They are also my support..."
Hearing Shi Xiaolan say this, An Jing didn’t know what to say. Shi Xiaolan was indeed the epitome of a woman from this era; without her natal family, her in-laws and her husband were her support.
If she had a son, the son would naturally be her support too, but sadly, she didn’t; she only had two daughters.
Crying and speaking, Shi Xiaolan then said, "If I could just have a son, how great that would be. Then, I could stand firm in that family. Even if I didn’t look at their faces, I would have support."
After a while, An Jing finally asked, "Do you really just want to die with Niuniu?"
"I don’t want to... don’t want to..." Shi Xiaolan cried while shaking her head, "But I have no other way. I truly can’t stand to see my Niuniu so disliked by them... My heart aches for my Niuniu..."
"Then you two should live separately, out of sight of their dislike for Niuniu, and then perhaps you’ll feel better."
"How can we separate? I am Fu Zi’s wife; it’s impossible to separate."
Actually not wanting to say it, but still An Jing said, "Then you should let Brother An Fu divorce you, and you would be separated." Here, there was no concept of separation, only divorce.
Shi Xiaolan immediately stopped crying, eyes wide open, disbelieving as she looked at An Jing: "An Jing, you..."
Seeing Shi Xiaolan’s reaction as if she had seen a ghost, utterly unable to accept the suggestion she had made, An Jing felt both amused and sorrowful.
She couldn’t stand to see them disliking Niuniu, yet she’d rather die with Niuniu than be divorced?