Mother's Dereliction Of Duty

Shen Lin turned around and left. "Hey, what a stinky rock…" Song Yuyang snuffed out the cigarette and headed to the mini-store.

******

Shen Lin returned home. As soon as he entered the house, Wang Ruifang looked at him with a puzzled face. "It's only been a few minutes. Why are you back already? You didn't send Xiaxia home?"

"Yes, I didn't." 

"You really didn't?" Wang Ruifang did not expect this. "You let a young lady go home alone at night?" 

"Yes, she took a taxi, and I couldn't catch up with her." Shen Lin changed into his slippers. He walked to the sofa and lay down. He was exhausted. He rubbed his temples in frustration.

"You two? Are you having trouble?" Wang Ruifang noticed Shen Lin's slow breathing. She tried to ask. 

Shen Lin was annoyed and confused. "I made her angry."

"What did you do to her again?" Wang Ruifang looked worried.

"Nothing. Mom, you should go to bed early. Don't get involved in our business. Let us solve it ourselves." Shen Lin turned around and went back to the bedroom.

Wang Ruifang was sitting on the sofa in the living room. She didn't feel sleepy at all. It was not easy for the two children to meet each other again. Their relationship had also improved a lot. Why did Shen Lin, that brat, not seize the opportunity?

The more Wang Ruifang thought about it, the more anxious she felt. She could not just leave her son be. If she let Shen Lin fight for himself, this matter would go to waste sooner or later. She wanted to talk to Zhou Xia personally, but she realized that she did not have Zhou Xia's number.

She walked to Shen Lin's room and looked at the closed door. She knocked on the door. "Shen Lin, give me Xiaxia's phone number. I'll talk to her."

Shen Lin opened the door. His face was dark. "What do you want to talk to her about?"

"I just wanted to tell Xiaxia how much you've changed because of her."

Shen Lin turned his head. "I've changed because I'm an adult. I should be responsible for myself. It has nothing to do with anyone else."

Wang Ruifang's heart ached for her son. She knew that Shen Lin's stubbornness was just a lie. She felt even more upset. 

"I'm your mother. Don't I know what kind of person you are? You've liked all kinds of planes and helicopters since you were young, and you've never been willing to spend the pocket money given to you. You've saved all of it to buy airplane models. Learning aerospace is your biggest dream. What happened in the end? You chose clinical medicine at university and gave away all the aircraft models he had saved up. Ask yourself. What made you give up on the space industry that you've loved for so many years to become a doctor?"

Shen Lin was silent, and after a long while, he slowly opened his mouth, "What's so bad about being a doctor? Aren't you a doctor too?"

"Doctors are good, but you've never mentioned that you like medicine, have you? Why did you suddenly change your major after the college entrance examination?" Wang Ruifang crossed her arms in front of her chest. She looked at her son from head to toe. 

"Shen Lin, don't lie to yourself. Clinical medicine is the course that Zhou Xia has always wanted to major in, right?"

"No, if she really studied clinical medicine back then, she wouldn't be in this state now."

"You are helpless." Wang Ruifang felt heartache and powerless. 

"Do whatever you want. I don't care anymore." In fact, Wang Ruifang didn't have the right to control her son. She was an unqualified mother. 

When Shen Lin had just started primary school, Wang Ruifang started to work hard in Yanbei Hospital. She was trying to get promoted.

Wang Ruifang was from the rehabilitation department of Chinese medicine. The research on Chinese medicine was already very limited. Then, it had to be combined with Western medicine. In addition, there were many medical talents in Yanbei. It was even more difficult for her to make a name for herself. She devoted herself to work day and night. Taking care of Shen Lin had become a burden.

Wang Ruifang had no choice but to hire a nanny to take care of Shen Lin round-the-clock. 

However, the nanny had done her job too well. She would give Shen Lin whatever he asked for. She would listen to everything he asked for. He did not even need to help her with anything. That was the reason why Shen Lin did not do any household chores.

Moreover, the nanny was almost ten years older than Wang Ruifang. Besides taking care of Shen Lin's daily needs, she also did the housework. There was a generation gap between her and Shen Lin. They did not talk about anything else other than what they ate every day. Shen Lin had been in contact with the nanny the most since he was a child. In the end, his antisocial personality had become more and more serious. Naturally, he lost the inclination to communicate with others.

What was worse was that when Shen Lin needed his parents' care the most, no one could give him the love and care that he deserved.