The Rules (2)

Joann was not as surprised as Xiu Ling thought her best friend would be when Xiu Ling revealed to her Lin Kang's sudden confession. That was because Joann had predicted this turn of events. After all, there had been plenty of signs. Xiu Ling was too near to the centre of attention to notice them.

Regardless, Xiu Ling wanted to get to know her friend's honest opinion. She asked, "Joann, what do you think?"

It was a loaded question.

Yes, Lin Kang had been making progress, doing the right things but Joann could not be sure she fully trusted the man yet. Replacing his previous secretary with Yi Nian was a good first step and helping her with the situation with Lee Mu also helped improve Joann's impression of the man.

However, Joann had not forgotten what the man had done in the past. As Xiu Ling's best friend, she was privy to many things that others were not. She knew how much Xiu Ling had suffered under the man's hands. Xiu Ling might have forgiven him but Joann did not think she was ready to look past that yet.

Of course, she knew it didn't matter whether she had forgiven Lin Kang or not, after all, she would not be the one in a relationship with the man. She simply did not want to see her best friend get hurt again. She was going to be on the lookout on Xiu Ling's behalf.

However, she did not know how much she should say to warn Xiu Ling, if any. While she was worried that her friend might get hurt, if the man really had turned over a new leaf, Joann did not want to be the reason that broke up what would be a happy relationship. It was truly hard to gauge what she should say.

In the end, Joann threw the question back to Xiu Ling. She was going to listen to Xiu Ling's answer before deciding what to say. "Well, what do you think of the man? Do you think it will be wise to accept his confession? I'm sure you've thought long and hard about this already, why don't you share your opinion with me first?"

Joann was right on that front. Ever since Lin Kang revealed his feelings to her, the thought had been stuck on Xiu Ling's mind. She would find herself thinking about it no matter what she was doing.

"You're right about that but..." Xiu Ling shook her head and sighed, "The more I think about it, the more confused I get. Some days I feel like saying yes but after giving it some thought, I would shy away from the decision that I've made earlier. The mind's a mess."

Xiu Ling's answer might have appeared to be pointless but for Joann, it had revealed a vital information. Her best friend had indeed thought about saying yes!

This proved that Xiu Ling did reciprocate Lin Kang's feeling, at least to a certain extent. This was valuable information for Joann because this meant that she wouldn't tell Xiu Ling to just say no and run.

If Xiu Ling did consider saying yes after giving it so much thought, it meant that she saw herself having a future with Lin Kang. Consequently, it also meant that this was more than a flitting crush.

This complicated things slightly.

Joann did notice that her best friend had gotten a lot more confident lately. That was most exemplified when she came up with the plan to deal with Lee Mu's blackmailing. Furthermore, there was a glow about her friend recently like she had just come into some good news. Now, Joann could assume that good news was Lin Kang's confession.

In other words, Lin Kang had become a good influence in Xiu Ling's life recently. Joann did observe her best friend was much happier and relaxed.

After all that she had been through, Xiu Ling deserved a chance at happiness. However, Joann did not forget that it was also because of Lin Kang that Xiu Ling had to go through those things to begin with.

Joann considered all pros and cons, incorporating Xiu Ling's happiness as well as Lin Kang's history, and she came up with this solution. "Xiu Ling, I cannot say that I have a concrete answer for you and since that is the case, we shall follow the tradition. Remember the rules of our little club? Everything takes three months. So my advice is give the man 3 months to try it out and I believe you can come to a more informed decision then."

Joann's advice was meant for more than just Xiu Ling because she was going to take her own advice as well. Joann still had plenty of reservations about the man but she was going to hold her tongue for at least for another three more months.

She would not breathe a word against the man because she did not want to influence Xiu Ling's decision. That would be unfair to Lin Kang.

Furthermore, Xiu Ling and Lin Kang's relationship wasn't serious enough for Joann to say anything yet.

Joann hated to jinx it but perhaps this would not amount to anything, Xiu Ling might end up saying no after three months. After all, no one could guarantee what would happen in the future.

Xiu Ling concurred with what Joann said. It was probably still early for her to commit to any decision. Lin Kang did say he was willing to give her as much time as she needed. Yes, a trial period of three months sounded just perfect to Xiu Ling the more she thought about it.

While her mind might not be conclusively made up by then, she would have more things to go on with compared to now. She would have known Lin Kang better and Lin Kang would get a better understanding of her by then.

Yes, giving each other a chance for three months sounded like the perfect idea.