The Turning Point

Loud crying from Lin Xi brought the three back from their reverie, reminding them the real reason they were having this argument.

Following the family hierarchy established by the Chinese culture, it fell on Lin Kang to make the decision with regards to Lin Xi's fever. If he followed Xiu Ling's way, he would offend his mother and vice versa. In the tumultuous relationship between mother and daughter-in-law, the man which was both the son and the husband often played the role of a mediator, and seeking compromise was his most important job.

Mrs. Lin had confidence her son would side with her because Lin Kang had less of a reason to worry about offending his wife compared to offending his mother. After all, in spite of his earlier proclamation, Xiu Ling had no actual power in the Lin household. She was an extra albeit necessary component attached to Lin Xi while Mrs. Lin was the man's biological mother.

Therefore, it was to her surprise and horror when Lin Kang said, "I will bring Lin Xi to the hospital. Xiu Ling can come along."

Mrs. Lin failed to understand why Lin Kang would make this decision. The suspicion that her son had lost his mind returned.

"But Lin Kang, you do not understand..." Mrs. Lin started to protest but she was once again cut off by Lin Kang who added, "I will make sure the doctor do not administer any intrusive procedures and try to hold off the prescription of drugs. I am bringing Lin Xi to the hospital only for him to be examined by a professional. After we are done, we will make a pit stop at Sensei Wong's place. We will also get him to take a look at Lin Xi's fever. That way, we will get the best of both world, now is there any objection to this arrangement?"

Naturally, Xiu Ling had nothing to say since she was already used to her voice not being heard at the Lin family; Mrs. Lin on the other hand, also had nothing to say because Lin Kang had given her a compromise, she knew better than to push her luck.

With nothing but the boy's weak whimper as the answer, Lin Kang concluded after a few seconds, "In that case, we are leaving now. Xiu Ling, take good care of Lin Xi and mother, please watch over the house when we are gone."

Lin Kang turned to walk back out the front door. Mrs. Lin nodded and Xiu Ling quickly made to follow.

After Xiu Ling closed the door behind her, Mrs. Lin stood in the living room, not quite sure what to make of the whole situation. Yes, she had gotten her way... well, sort of but she failed to understand why Lin Kang would even make that compromise for Xiu Ling.

On the surface, he said it was for Lin Xi's sake, it was to keep the whole family together so the boy could grow up in a complete and wholesome family but Mrs. Lin knew even if Lin Kang followed her way fully and ignored Xiu Ling, the woman would not have been able to do anything about it. She would be forced to go along with Lin Kang's decision.

This, Mrs. Lin could not comprehend. Why would her son purposely seek to mediate between herself and Xiu Ling?

If Xiu Ling is as unimportant to Lin Kang as her title of a contracted wife would suggest, Lin Kang should not have given any consideration to her feelings so his action confused Mrs. Lin.

As the sound of car engine driving out of the garage drifted through the front door, Mrs. Lin sighed to herself and turned back to the kitchen. This was a conundrum that she was unable to solve so she decided to forget about it for now.

...

As they rushed to the hospital, Xiu Ling sat in the passenger seat, nursing Lin Xi in her arms. She adjusted her posture often trying to make it as comfortable as she could for Lin Xi.

After they left the Lin family mansion, Xiu Ling felt more relaxed because for one, Mrs. Lin was no longer there to breathe down her neck and for two, the boy had finally stopped crying.

While Lin Kang drove the car, he kept sneaking surreptitious looks at the woman sitting next to him.

Even though he did not want to admit it, when he saw the defiant look on his wife's face earlier, Lin Kang found it to be quite alluring.

For normal romance webnovels, this would be where the turning point of the story came in when the cold, aloof CEO husband realized he was actually in love with his wife and then turned into a doting husband. Of course, such a development only occurred in fiction, this was much too unrealistic for real life.

Human feelings and impression are changed little by little, day by day through extended interaction and prolonged time together. A whirlwind romance is not impossible but extremely rare.

In any chance, this was not one such story, if Lin Kang was ever prone to love at first sight, he would have proposed to Xiu Ling when he first met her, why would he wait until now for the sudden burst of love to kick in? That would have been too unrealistic.

While it was true that Lin Kang's impression of Xiu Ling had improved, it had grown to more of a slight fondness than a searing love.

This was not unlike men of power recognizing and admiring strength in kindred spirits. There was mutual respect but they would not fall head over heels over each other for no reason.

Of course, this was not to say that this would not lead to an eventual happily-ever-after. After all, even the most memorable romance had to start somewhere with both characters starting to appreciate each other in a positive light and who was there to say this was not the case for this one?