115 Tradition 3 (2/2)

However, there was nothing she could do about it. To complain about her husband's career because it carried him away from home too much? That was practically unheard of in her time. The only thing she could do was to be a good wife and lent her husband the support that he would need and make no fuss while she was at it.

This was the reason why Mrs. Lin and Elder Lin shared more of a mutually-respectful relationship like one a pair of colleagues would have instead of a pair of husband and wife that grew old together. It was how things were at the time.

Contrary to Mrs. Lin, her mother-in-law adopted to their new found wealth like fish to the water. Her husband had already passed away and she found a renewed purpose with all that money that suddenly appeared in her life.

She bought expensive jewels, threw lavish parties, ordered designer clothes, she was over the moon. Elder Lin was all too glad to provide his mother with more money to throw around because he too was feeling guilty that he couldn't produce more time to accompany his family. If his mother thought money was compensation enough, then he was more than glad to oblige.

However, money could not buy happiness and after the initial high, Mrs. Lin's mother-in-law found herself with too much money but nothing to do with them. Her shopping spree no longer brought her as much joy as it used to do.

Nevertheless, she failed to see where the problem was. She assumed it was because she had not spent enough so her appetite grew bigger with more expensive jewels, more lavish parties and more designer clothes.

By then, Elder Lin had already established his business empire. His mother could spend as much as she wanted and it would not hurt his wallet one bit. However, it did not mean that he could just sit there and watch his mother drain his wealth. In Chinese culture, it was impolite for children to criticize their elders or parents so instead of discussing this issue with his mother, Elder Lin threw himself deeper into his work, not knowing everything his mother had done, it was to draw him home.

Since money was no longer enough to vent her frustration, Elder Lin's mother directed her aggression to other places. The only person of convenience was her daughter-in-law, or Mrs. Lin.

With the desire to find someone to pin the blame on, she saw Mrs. Lin as the reason why she was feeling so frustrated all the time. Everything she did, it annoyed her. She blamed Mrs. Lin for not having the same philosophy as she did, for spending too little, for putting too much salt in the food, for creating too much noise when she walked, basically she managed to find fault with everything Mrs. Lin did.

With a channel to vent her discontentment, for better or for worse, Mrs. Lin's mother-in-law found something else to anchor her life, to fill the void her son had left behind.