Chapter 31：The Door

With the group of men completely heedless to her cries for help and orders to stop, Xiu Ling looked frantically around the room for help. Eventually her eyes landed on Mrs. Lin who stood not far away from them.

She extricated herself from the guards who were dragging the struggling Mrs. Xiu away and ran towards her mother-in-law. As she reached Mrs. Lin, Xiu Ling collapsed onto her knees and begged, "Mother, please order them to stop. They will listen to you. Please do not let them toss my mother out! Please, mother, please…"

Xiu Ling choked on her words from the blubbering tears.

Mrs. Lin smiled satisfactorily to herself and instead of answering Xiu Ling, she ignored her daughter-in-law as she turned to address one of the guards who was standing nearby.

"You there, have you guys missed this one? You people have to be more efficient with your work," Mrs. Lin said while waving her hand at Xiu Ling. She assumed their order was to toss both the mother and the daughter out.

The guard was initially confused before he smiled awkwardly as he leaned in closer to Mrs. Lin to explain the situation to her, "Young master only told us to evict Auntie Sun and he specifically told us to make sure the young miss stay inside the house."

The guard then leaned back to continue his work.

Mrs. Lin frowned. She thought to herself, 'What is Lin Kang up to? Why he insist on keeping this woman around? Why not clear this house of the sore sight once and for all? Is it to heighten the pain of separation?'

Ultimately, Mrs. Lin could not understand the meaning behind her son's order but since it came from Lin Kang, she knew better than to go against it. In the end, she comforted herself with thoughts like, 'O well, at least having one out is better than none. Eventually, I will be able to chase this lowly woman out of my house as well. Patience.'

At that moment, the thick wooden front door slammed shut to disrupt Mrs. Lin's thoughts. It seemed to have attracted Xiu Ling's attention as well because she turned to look at the closed front door.

Repetitive knocking echoed through the spacious living room. Mrs. Xiu was slamming her hands desperately and angrily at the door. On top of that, the old woman yelled, "You bunch of heartless people! Give me back my daughter! Give me back my grandson! If you do not hand them back, I will call the police!"

Mrs. Lin smirked at the hollow threat. In that moment, she wished for the old maid to really give the police a call so she could report her back for noise pollution and trespassing into a private territory.

Looking at the smirk on Mrs. Lin's stony face, Xiu Ling knew her mother-in-law was not going to come to her aid. She released her grasp on Mrs. Lin and turned back to race towards the front door.

Before she could reach it, Xiu Ling was held back by two pairs of powerful arms. It was again the group of guards.

Xiu Ling struggled vehemently, trying to shake them loose, shouting at the top of her lungs, "Let me go! Let me go!"

However, she was no match for the professionally trained and physically strong guards. They held Xiu Ling in place in a manner that would not injure her. One of the two who pitied her tried to console her by saying, "Miss, I am so sorry but we cannot let you out. This is the young master's order."

The man's concern though had gone to waste because Xiu Ling continued to struggle. On the other side of the door, the banging became even stronger and louder. Mrs. Xiu yelled, "Xiu Ling, what happened to you?! You bunch of animals, don't you dare lay a finger on Xiu Ling! Have you not done enough for the night? Xiu Ling, are you alright? Answer me, Xiu Ling!"

"Mom!" Xiu Ling wailed and there was practically nothing else that she could say then other than, "I am sorry…"

Then, Xiu Ling slid weakly down the men's vise-like grip as if all the fight had left her.

On the other end of the door, the loud banging also gradually dwindled to an infrequent tapping before disappearing altogether. Not much had been said between Xiu Ling and Mrs. Xiu but plenty had been communicated. There were plenty of questions and scenarios that they needed to be concerned about. Things like, if Mrs. Xiu continued to create more commotion, will Lin Kang decide to toss Xiu Ling out with her as well? And in that case, would they be allowed to visit Lin Xi in the future? Would their lives be completely cut off from the boy from then on?

No matter how they envisioned it, in none of the scenario are they happy and content.

A sense of futility crept all over Xiu Ling and Mrs. Xiu's heart, and Xiu Ling wept silently for the fate and the odds that were stacked heavily against them.

Since Xiu Ling appeared to have given up on her struggle and the banging from outside the door had stopped, the show was over for Mrs. Lin, the woman yawned and returned to her bedroom.

Since Xiu Ling had given up on her resistance, the guards also relinquished their hold on her. They were not horrible men per se, they were simply doing what they were told. Since Xiu Ling had stopped struggling and given up the idea of leaving the house, naturally, they were more than willing to let her go.

After some time, Xiu Ling forced herself to snap out of it. It was futile to worry about things in the future and things they could not change, she better focused on more immediate concerns. The fact that her mother had gone quiet on the other side of the door worried her. Since she was not allowed to help her mother, she was going to find someone who could.