My sister-in-law transferred a thousand dollars to my mother-in-law, who was so pleased that she posted it on her Instagram.

The caption was sarcastic. [Only biological daughters would think of their old mother like me.]

I liked her post and commented. [Mom's right.]

Then I immediately shared a screenshot of the 5,000 dollars I had just transferred to my own mom.

The caption counterattacked. [Daughters should definitely show filial piety to their mothers with the money they earn.]

***

On the way to pick up the child.

Another mom walking with me looked at her phone and exclaimed, "Ava, look at your mother-in-law's new post!"

It was a screenshot showing a transfer labeled Beloved Daughter with a full 1,000 dollars.

The caption from my mother-in-law. [Only biological daughter would think of her mother.]

She was the leader of the square dance group and had everyone in the neighborhood on her WhatsApp.

Clearly, this was aimed at telling everyone I, her daughter-in-law, was unfilial.

Sure enough, the comments below were barely holding back from calling me out by name.

[Lane, I told you back then to let your son marry my niece. He is down-to-earth and takes care of the family, unlike the current one.]

[Daughters are better after all. Once sons marry, they forget about their mothers.]

[Your daughter-in-law still thinks about you after getting married. You are blessed.]

[Why is your daughter-in-law not filial? She doesn't even give 1,000 dollars.]

[Tsk tsk, indeed daughter-in-law is a stranger who can't be fed. ]

……

Seems like she wanted the entire neighborhood to criticize me.

Every holiday, I give her either gold bracelets or necklaces, along with generous red envelopes.

I even provided her a monthly living allowance.

Yet to her, I was still this awful sinner.

Anger surged within me, but then I took a deep breath and calmed down.

I needed to come up with a way to deal with her.

If she could post, so could I.

I immediately transferred 5,000 dollars to my mom.

She was puzzled, so I quickly sent her a screenshot of my mother-in-law's post.

My mom got it instantly and replied, "Only a real daughter would think of her old mom."

A quick three-finger swipe and I had a screenshot of the transfer page.

I then posted it on my Instagram, two images.

One was the screenshot of the transfer, and the other was my mother's reply.

I captioned it. [Mother-in-law is right; of course, a daughter should always take good care of her mother.]

But that wasn't all—I also asked my relatives and colleagues to help spread my post.

When I got home, as expected, my mother-in-law was sitting on the sofa, her face dark with anger.

I barely had time to send my child to their room before she pointed at me and started yelling.

"You good-for-nothing woman! Is this how you squander my son's money? You just give away 5,000 dollars like it's nothing—5,000 dollars! How are we supposed to live like this?"

I almost lost my breath.

"Mom, please make it clear. Whose money did I use? I earn about as much as your son each month, sometimes even more during peak season. I can spend my money however I want. If your daughter can show her filial piety, why can't I do the same for my own mother?"

"Also, whenever I give you money or buy you gold bracelets and necklaces, you never post about it on social media. It's been years! And now your daughter sends just a thousand dollars, and you're practically beating the drums, wishing the whole world to know you have such a dutiful daughter, all while stepping on me."

"What kind of logic is that!"

My mother-in-law was dumbfounded, slumping back onto the sofa.

"Fine, I can't deal with you. I'll talk to my son later."

I laughed in exasperation. "Talk to whoever you want."

My husband was a technical manager who usually got off work at 6:30.

That evening, after listening to my mother-in-law's complaints, Jeremy also felt a headache coming on.

What she was implying, between the lines, was that I should give her 10,000 dollars.

Jeremy was usually pretty good to me.

We had been married for five years without any major disagreements.

Just when I thought Jeremy would support me, he hit me with a surprising blow.

"Ava, it's just ten thousand dollars. Just give it to Mom."

I was in disbelief, mixed with anger. My mother-in-law's smug look made my blood boil even more.

I snapped back, "Fine, why don't you take our son's tuition for next semester and give it away too?"

Ever since my mother-in-law moved into our little home a month ago, these trivial conflicts have been happening constantly.

From issues as small as cooking oil and salt to those involving our son.

And now, even Jeremy wasn't standing up for me.

Seeing my refusal, my mother-in-law seemed like she wanted to say something more.

But with a single look from Jeremy, she shut her mouth and didn't say another word.

I felt a bit relieved; at least my husband wasn't forcing me.

Caught in the middle, he tried to ease the situation with a symbolic scolding of his mom.

"Mom, saying things like that makes it seem like Ava isn't filial. Family matters shouldn't be aired in public. If someone with ill intentions found out and caused trouble at my workplace, the boss might think I can't even handle my family affairs."

My mother-in-law looked alarmed and worried, "That… that wouldn't happen, would it?"

My husband shook his head, then turned to me and said, "Ava, why would you mess around like that with Mom? What will people think of our family?"

I wanted to argue, but Jeremy continued with a worried expression, "If your colleagues find out, who knows what they'd say about you."

I wanted to say something, but after thinking it over, he had a point.

So I didn't argue further.

In front of my husband, both my mother-in-law and I deleted our posts on Instagram.

After washing up, I came out and noticed Jeremy's shifty eyes, and I knew something was wrong.

On top of that, I noticed my phone had been moved. I immediately sensed something was off.

I checked, and what I saw made me shout out loud.

He had secretly used my phone to transfer ten thousand dollars to my mother-in-law and even sent a message apologizing on my behalf.

My mother-in-law obviously didn't realize that the message was from her son. As usual, she replied in a lecturing tone but didn't refuse the money.

My husband tried to smooth things over, saying, "A harmonious family brings prosperity. A little compromise makes everything better!"

I snorted, "Why didn't you use your money then?"

Jeremy remained silent and called our son over.

Our son gave both of us a kiss on the cheek.

Jeremy smiled in a flattering manner, "Honey, can you really bear to let our son see us fight?"

"Besides, Mom will be leaving soon and won't be staying with us for long. Can't you just bear with it for a few more days?"

Looking at our son's innocent face, my tone softened.

Jeremy immediately transferred twenty thousand dollars to me.

For the sake of the money, I didn't want to argue further.

But I was still somewhat dissatisfied, "This time, your mom was clearly in the wrong. If we back down once, does that mean we'll have to tolerate it every time? Usually, she picks on me and badmouths me to the neighbors behind my back, and I let it go. But this time, posting on Instagram..."

I wasn't even finished when Jeremy tapped my nose.

"I know. That's why I say my wife is so magnanimous."

The money had been given, and there was no point in arguing further.