33 The Gues (1/2)

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.

A sigh could be heard on the other end of the line, before Xiu Ling continued, ”That is good, at least she has you guys to look after her. I do not know how I am supposed to thank you Joann.”