The Traitor (7)

"I don't want to be reminded of the woman's presence at this house anymore. She had moved onto a better world and so should the trace of her memories at this house..." Mrs. Lin smiled to herself. "Or at least that was what I told my husband. The man was too busy with his work to even realize there was such a gigantic riff between his mother and his wife. He just assumed I have a Zen way of dealing with the passing of my mother-in-law.

"For a man who is so brilliant in worldly affairs, he can be quite dense when it comes to the matters of the heart." Here Mrs. Lin paused for emphasis before continuing, "As they say, like father like son."

Mrs. Lin made sure Xiu Ling heard the last sentence before moving on. "In any case, when everything was settled and done, I came home to the vanity table sitting like a curse in my bedroom. I was about to order the guards to haul it out when Lin Kang strode into the room, telling me it was him who requested for them to leave the vanity table behind for keepsake."

Xiu Ling was befuddled, she had no idea how this tale could be related to her situation but she carried on listening quietly. She believed Mrs. Lin would get to the point eventually.

"At the time, Lin Kang had just reached adulthood and I'd venture to say he has not changed much since then.

"In any case, there were two problems with that statement of his. One, Lin Kang himself did not share a good relationship with his grandmother, at least not good enough for him to want to keep her vanity table, something that was of absolute zero use to a man, as a memento to remember her by.

"And two, if the table was indeed meant for his keepsake, why would he have it placed inside my bedroom and not his?"

Xiu Ling agreed with her mother-in-law's assessment, that was indeed a very weird thing for Lin Kang to do. It felt like Lin Kang was forcing his mother to keep the vanity table on his behalf but why would he do something like that?

Mrs. Lin had the answer. "Regardless, at the time, I did not challenge him. I believed Lin Kang has his own reasons. As the days went by and the wounds no longer hurt as much, I came to realize I appreciate having the vanity table around. It acts as a reminder to not go down the same road my mother-in-law did and to not attach myself to outdated ideals too stubbornly because traditions have dictated it so..."

Here Mrs. Lin held Xiu Ling's gaze meaningfully. "Something that I'm not proud to admit that I've failed at."

"Mother..." Xiu Ling began but Mrs. Lin cut her off, not forcefully but firmly, "I'm not that senile to lose the ability for self-reflection. Anyway, that is not the reason why I wish to talk to you."

Xiu Ling was confused, this conversation was going all over the place like a roller-coaster.

"At the end of the day, I was thankful that Lin Kang forced me into keeping my mother-in-law's vanity table. He was right, it was indeed a meaningful and valuable keepsake.

"And that is the problem with my son. He has the best intention but he does not know how to put them into words. Instead, he relies on tactics that only he himself can understand. This means that oftentimes, he might do things that we do not agree with but that is only because we fail to understand where he is coming from.

"He only wants what is best for us but his intention can be easily misconstrued because this son of mine is horrible with words. I should take full responsibility for that because it is because of me that he has trouble expressing himself. I should have been a better role model for him..." Mrs. Lin sighed.

Listening to her mother-in-law, Xiu Ling was reminded of what the former maid at the Lin household used to tell her, 'Both Lin Kang and her mother are people with pure hearts, their hard-to-approach appearances and personality traits are merely products of their environment."

Xiu Ling now understood what the elderly maid meant.

"Xiu Ling, I do not wish to implant ideas in your mind. I merely wish for you to see things from a broader perspective. When it comes to that silly son of mine, oftentimes, things are not what they seem. There is a rhythm and reason to his actions that only he can understand. You might not realize it but certain decisions that he made might seem controversial or even harmful are intended to help."

Mrs. Lin then proceeded to stand up from her chair. "That is all I wish to tell you today. I hope you will give it much thought and my words will help in clearing up your mind."

Mrs. Lin turned and walked out of the dining room, leaving Xiu Ling behind.

Xiu Ling sat in the chair, mulling over what her mother-in-law had informed her. Could Mrs. Lin be right? It was all a huge misunderstanding? It was a simple case of miscommunication?

Xiu Ling wished Lin Kang would just tell her the truth but she knew the man's habit that had been going on for decades could not be changed so easily. At the very least, she was thankful that her mother-in-law had helped to shed some light on the situation. However, this led to another problem because Xiu Ling did not know what she was going to do with this new information.

Was she going to confront Lin Kang with it or continue like nothing has ever happened?

In reality, Xiu Ling did not really need to do anything because after talking to her, Mrs. Lin had taken it upon herself to talk some sense into her son as well.