"That elderly person is his grandmother," Gu Nuan explained to her mother.
Gu's mother no longer had the slightest worry. As a daughter-in-law herself, she knew very well that marrying wasn't just about the man, but also about his entire family. Therefore, the nature of the woman's in-laws is of great importance.
It's not to say that it's always good if the husband's family is wealthy. Gu's mother, having lived to a ripe old age with extensive social experience, had seen plenty of women who married into families better off than their own, yet they didn't necessarily rise in status. On the contrary, they often endured insults from their husband's family due to their own family's modest means, especially the biting remarks from mothers-in-law and sisters-in-law.
In such times, it's crucial for the man a woman marries to be able to hold up a protective umbrella for her, to provide a haven.
