Chapter 32：The Savior

Back in the bedroom, Lin Kang was troubled by the same question that was on his mother's mind earlier, 'Why didn't I kick Xiu Ling out alongside her mother? Why did I purposely order the men to make sure that she stays?'

Under normal circumstances, Lin Kang would have sent both women packing after receiving the insult that was as offensive as he did. There should be no reason to hold him back from bundling Xiu Ling off as well. All he ever wanted from the woman was the child and she had already given him that. There was technically nothing else she could offer him so why did he insist on making her stay?

When he gave the eviction order on the phone, he did consider for a few seconds to have the guards throw Xiu Ling out as well but in the end, he decided against it. Now he was trying to figure out why that is.

A possibility did crop up in his mind but that was a truth that he refused to consider or even acknowledge on the account of how incredulous it sounded. He shook his head voraciously to toss that thought out of his mind.

'But if that is not the case, then what could it possibly be?' the thought stubbornly wheedled itself into Lin Kang's mind.

Frustrated, he stood up and walked into the bathroom to take a shower to cleanse both his body and mind. Lin Kang sighed, it had been an incredibly eventful day.

…

If possible, Xiu Ling did not want to return to the bedroom, at least not so soon for obvious reason, but her phone was left in the room. She needed her phone to seek help for her mother.

Therefore, one could imagine how relieved Xiu Ling felt when she pushed open the bedroom door a sliver and heard the sound of rushing water coming from the bathroom.

She quickly shuffled into the room to grab the phone that was left on the bedside table before shuffling out again. She was not going to stay inside the bedroom to wait for Lin Kang to come out from the bathroom. 'Is the torment from before not enough?' Xiu Ling shuddered involuntarily as the memories from earlier filtered into her mind.

Xiu Ling closed the door softly behind her in case it attracted Lin Kang's unwanted attention. She leaned against the wall of the corridor and searched for the important number on her phone. With shaking fingers she dialled the number and prayed that it would be picked up soon enough.

Her prayer was answered because her call was picked up in less than three rings. Xiu Ling moved the phone to her ear and she breathed out quickly, "Joann?"

…

Joann was preparing to rest for the day when her phone rang. She saw the familiar name on the caller Id and answered the call quickly.

She frowned when she heard the tears on her best friend's voice. Her heart gripped with fear and anxiety, she replied, "Yes, Xiu Ling? What is wrong? Why are you crying?"

Xiu Ling proceeded to summarize the events of the night for her. Joann's chest rose and fell from fear, indignation, pity and anger as Xiu Ling relayed the story. At the end of her story, when Joann felt like she too was about to break down alongside Xiu Ling, the woman on the other side of the phone said, "Joann, can I ask you for a favour?"

"Of course, Xiu Ling, anything for you," Joann promised easily before she continued, "No worries, I understand now why you are calling. Just leave it to me."

"Thank you, Joann. I owe you."

"Don't mention it."

It was a mutual understanding that Xiu Ling needed Joann to go and rescue her mother. After all, they could not allow the poor woman to spend the whole night in the cold on the steps of Lin family mansion, right?

…

After hanging up, Joann shook Xu Jing who was falling asleep beside her awake. Her husband mumbled blurrily in his sleep before sitting up to ask his wife what was wrong. Joann filed him in on the incident hurriedly and by the end of the story, Xu Jing was wide awake.

Both of them quickly changed out of their pyjamas and hurried to Xu Jing's car.

When they arrived at Lin family mansion, Mrs. Xiu was huddled on the steps completely immobile as if the elder woman had gone unconscious. Mrs. Xiu's luggage was lying in a mess all around her, the zipper of her bags had gotten loose and her belongings were flapping in the wind.

Joann quickly hurried to Mrs. Xiu's side to check up on her while Xu Jing got out of the car to retrieve the elder woman's luggage.

Mrs. Xiu turned to Joann with a pair of lifeless eyes, it felt like the soul and the spirit of the woman had been lost. As Joann tried to console Mrs. Xiu, she picked her up from the floor and led her to the car. Mrs. Xiu was as pliable as putty in Joann's hands, she had given up her resistance.

At the same time, Xu Jing had finished collecting Mrs. Xiu's luggage and he placed them neatly in the bumper.

Xu Jing took the driver's seat and Joann sat next to Mrs. Xiu in the backseat to accompany her. Even though Joann could not do anything to relieve the pain and stress in Mrs. Xiu's heart, the least she could do was to be there for her just in case she toppled over, something that was not impossible considering the state the elder woman was in.

Mrs. Xiu was like a kite who had lost the string that anchored her to reality. She did not seem to mind being hauled off the ground and shuttled off in the car. She did not even ask where they were going, in fact, she had not said a word since Xu Jing and Joann came to pick her up.