31 The Door (1/2)
With the group of men completely heedless to her cries for help and orders to stop, Xiu Ling looked frantically around the room for help. Eventually her eyes landed on Mrs. Lin who stood not far away from them.
She extricated herself from the guards who were dragging the struggling Mrs. Xiu away and ran towards her mother-in-law. As she reached Mrs. Lin, Xiu Ling collapsed onto her knees and begged, ”Mother, please order them to stop. They will listen to you. Please do not let them toss my mother out! Please, mother, please…”
Xiu Ling choked on her words from the blubbering tears.
”Xiu Ling, don't you dare get on your knees for that woman! I have raised you to be better than this!” A scream drifted from the direction of the front door.
Mrs. Lin smiled satisfactorily to herself and instead of answering Xiu Ling, she ignored her daughter-in-law as she turned to address one of the guards who was standing nearby.
”You there, have you guys missed this one? You people have to be more efficient with your work,” Mrs. Lin said while waving her hand at Xiu Ling. She assumed their order was to toss both the mother and the daughter out.
The guard was initially confused before he smiled awkwardly as he leaned in closer to Mrs. Lin to explain the situation to her, ”Young master only told us to evict Auntie Sun and he specifically told us to make sure the young miss stay inside the house.”
The guard then leaned back to continue his work.
Mrs. Lin frowned. She thought to herself, 'What is Lin Kang up to? Why he insist on keeping this woman around? Why not clear this house of the sore sight once and for all? Is it to heighten the pain of separation?'
Ultimately, Mrs. Lin could not understand the meaning behind her son's order but since it came from Lin Kang, she knew better than to go against it. In the end, she comforted herself with thoughts like, 'O well, at least having one out is better than none. Eventually, I will be able to chase this lowly woman out of my house as well. Patience.'
At that moment, the thick wooden front door slammed shut to disrupt Mrs. Lin's thoughts. It seemed to have attracted Xiu Ling's attention as well because she turned to look at the closed front door.
Repetitive knocking echoed through the spacious living room. Mrs. Xiu was slamming her hands desperately and angrily at the door. On top of that, the old woman yelled, ”You bunch of heartless people! Give me back my daughter! Give me back my grandson! If you do not hand them back, I will call the police!”
Mrs. Lin smirked at the hollow threat. In that moment, she wished for the old maid to really give the police a call so she could report her back for noise pollution and trespassing into a private territory.