Table for Two

When they arrived at their home, Mrs. Xiu still had said no words. She followed Xu Jing and Joann obediently into their house.

Sylvia was already asleep by then so they did not need to explain the situation to her. It was different for Mrs. Xu who was still awake.

Mrs. Xu heard the door open and she walked out to see who it was since it was already so late at night. She frowned with confusion when she saw Xu Jing and Joann accompany a woman her age whom she had not seen before.

Joann noticed this and sent Xu Jing to explain the situation to his mother while she escorted Mrs. Xiu to the living room where she tried to make her best friend's mother as comfortable as she could. She offered her choices of drinks or food but all the answer she received from Mrs. Xiu was silence.

On the other hand, after Xu Jing explained everything to Mrs. Xu, the woman was extremely sympathetic of Mrs. Xiu's situation. She was appalled at the way the Lin family had treated their in-law, getting all fired-up on Mrs. Xiu's behalf. In fact, she was feeling so sympathetic towards Mrs. Xiu that she volunteered to share her bedroom with Mrs. Xiu should the elder woman need the company or think sleeping on the living room couch was too uncomfortable. Needless to say, her animosity towards Lin family only increased after hearing what had happened to Mrs. Xiu.

To think Lin Kang had the audacity to toss his own mother-in-law out of the house, that was a crime worse than murder in Chinese culture.

While the entire Xu family fussed over Mrs. Xiu, the elder woman just sat there on the living room couch silently and completely unresponsive. It felt as if she was very deep in thought so eventually the members of the household stopped disturbing her.

Mrs. Xu and Xu Jing returned to their respective rooms to rest while Joann sidled away to give her best friend a call. She did not dare to do that in Mrs. Xiu's presence unless it triggered some kind of unwanted reaction in the elder woman. Based on how fragile she looked, Joann did not think Mrs. Xiu could withstand any more additional instigating stimulus.

When Joann's phone call was answered, she breathed a quick sigh of relief because Xiu Ling no longer sounded as emotionally distraught on the phone as she was earlier.

It was Xiu Ling who started the phone conversation by asking the most urgent question on her mind, "Joann, how is my mother doing?"

"She is a bit shaken but for the most part, fine. She is now sitting in the living room, looking like she is in deep contemplation about something. We will take good care of her and she can stay here as long as she wants, don't worry about that, Xiu Ling," comforted Joann.

"Don't mention it. This is what friends are for, right?" Joann said with a smile before adding with a hint of concern, "By the way, how are things over there? I hope things are settled down by now and everything is fine."

"Thankfully Lin Xi has slept through the whole commotion or else I really do not know how the situation would have impacted his growth… But what am I supposed to say when he wakes up the next morning and realizes his grandmother has disappeared? Hopefully he is still too young to understand what has really happened." sighed Xiu Ling weakly.

"In my experience, some explanation is better than none. Perhaps you should still explain to him that Auntie Xiu has to return home overnight on the account of some emergency back home. I am sure a child as bright as Lin Xi will understand," Joann suggested.

"I suppose so…" Xiu Ling said, "We will cross that bridge when we arrive at it, so I will just ignore it for now. In terms of everyone else, the house has returned to relative peace.

"Mother has retired to her room, probably tired from all the commotion, while Lin Kang…" Xiu Ling paused as if to listen to her surrounding before continuing, "The man has fallen asleep. I have not had the chance to talk to him but since he manages to fall asleep, it means that he probably isn't that angry anymore, right?

"In any case, I will talk to him first thing tomorrow morning, hopefully his mood will be more permissible then. I will broach the subject of leaving the house to visit your place, I believe he will allow something like that." Xiu Ling sounded like she was convincing herself rather than Joann.

Joann hated how defeated and subservient her best friend sounded on the phone but as a fellow female, she understood the challenges Xiu Ling faced in a culture like theirs. Oftentimes, they were simply deprived of choices other than the ones allowed by the man of the house.

Xiu Ling's words pulled Joann out of her reverie, "Joann, I really do not know how to thank you for what you have done tonight. I do not know what would have happened to mother without you."

"Xiu Ling, there you go again. I have already told you, don't mention it. Do not worry too much, I am sure everything will be fine…" Joann said before ending the phone call with, "Then I will see you tomorrow, Xiu Ling, take care and good night. Don't worry about Auntie Xiu, we will take good care of her until you arrive."

"Thank you again, Joann. Good night."