Going to My Boyfriend's House for a Meal on Dragon Boat Festival, His Mother Was Selling Watermelons Under the Scorching Sun, I Left 100,000 and Walked Away

(From a reader submission, images in this article are from the internet)

Going to my boyfriend's house for a meal on Dragon Boat Festival, his mother was selling watermelons under the scorching sun, I left 100,000 and walked away

People nowadays all say, "Money isn't everything, but without money, you can't do anything at all." But in my view, although money is a necessity of life, compared to the heartfelt care my boyfriend's family and my boyfriend showed me, it amounts to nothing. Seeing the effort my future mother-in-law made so that my boyfriend and I could get married smoothly, I was moved right then and there, feeling so happy that I had found such a good family to marry into.

I grew up in a single-parent family. My father passed away when I was still very young, and after that it was my mother alone who managed his business. She had to busy herself with the business and raise me at the same time, living a life that was both tense and busy, so it was inevitable that she had a somewhat forceful personality. Since I was little, she liked to control everything about me. After growing up, I was somewhat unused to it, feeling that as an adult I could make my own decisions about some things, but whenever I thought about how hard it was for her to raise me all by herself, I generally wouldn't argue with her.

Other things weren't such a big deal. Even when I was going to university and she insisted I give up the fashion design major I liked to study the business administration she wanted me to study, I gave in. But after I started dating, she opposed it because she was very dissatisfied with my boyfriend's family background. This time I was unwilling to give in no matter what, and I fought wits with her at home, using every trick I had; in the end, it was all about being with my boyfriend. At first she still used her usual high-pressure tactics to try to force me to give up this relationship, but later, seeing that I truly persisted and showed a toughness I had never shown since childhood, she finally had no choice but to compromise, but she put forward a requirement that seemed very simple to her: the groom's family had to come up with 200,000 in bride price.

At the time I was very worried my boyfriend couldn't come up with it, and thought maybe I should help him myself, but unexpectedly, after he talked with my future mother-in-law, she agreed. Hearing that, I felt very happy. On Dragon Boat Festival, I went to my boyfriend's rural home for the first time to have a meal, but after my mother-in-law finished cooking and brought the dishes to the table, she said she had something to take care of and went out. I waited a long time but still didn't see his mother come back to the table. In that situation, I naturally wouldn't start eating early. He said his mother had something to do and told me not to wait, but when I offered to go out and look for her myself, my boyfriend said it was too sunny outside and he would go instead. Later, when I saw that neither of them had come back, out of curiosity and a bit of confusion, I went out myself to see what had happened, and it turned out the two of them were busy under the blazing sun loading watermelons onto a truck to sell. It turned out that in order to come up with the bride price my mother had demanded, my future mother-in-law had contracted a watermelon field, and now it was harvest season. To save money, she did everything herself, leaving early and returning late every day, personally seeing to it all.

At the time I didn't disturb them, but quietly came back, left a bank card I had with me that had 100,000 in it, and walked away. I know my mother asked for the bride price just to ensure I wouldn't suffer in the future, but everything I saw before my eyes made me believe that even without bride price money, given how good my boyfriend's family was to me, I could still live very well. I'm determined to go back and persuade my mom to give up asking them for a bride price. Everyone, do you think I did the right thing?