Chapter 49：The Secret

With just a single glance, the pediatrician diagnosed Lin Xi as being down with a light fever. His condition was not as serious as Xiu Ling made it out to be but since the doctor had come across many an over-worried parent in his line of work, he understood where she came from.

There was no prescription of drug like Mrs. Lin worried about and no administration of shot which would probably cause Lin Xi to cry the whole building down. The doctor pasted a fever relief pad on Lin Xi's forehead and sent the family of three on their merry way.

The visit to the traditional Chinese Medicine Sensei yielded almost the same result. The old Chinese practitioner also said Lin Xi's fever was not that serious. In fact, by the time, they reached his clinic, Lin Xi had recovered by quite a bit that he was giggling happily when the practitioner tried to read his pulse.

While Xiu Ling was glad that Lin Xi's condition was not severe, she could not help but feel embarrassed at how much she had over-reacted. Her face burned as much as Lin Xi's did. Lin Kang saw this and smiled good-naturedly at her silliness but at the same time, he was thankful and charmed that she showed such depth of concern for their son.

After the huge argument and trips to the doctors, Lin Xi made a full recovery and was soon his usual, bubbly self.

...

That night, Xiu Ling sat on the floor in Lin Xi's bedroom, folding the toddler's clothes. Xiu Ling placed the onesie on top of the stack of Lin Xi's neatly folded laundry and she stretched lazily as she took a short break.

She turned to look at her son who was soundly sleeping in his crib. It was already way past his bedtime. The child was by then around 6 months old. Xiu Ling smiled as she saw Lin Xi turn around in his dream to hug the booster pillow next to him.

Xiu Ling turned back to her household chore. She picked up the next set of onesie and she sighed with a mixture of lamentation and pride as she held up the article of clothing before her.

'Soon, Lin Xi will not be able to fit into these clothes anymore. I will need to go and purchase a new set of outfit for him. It is true what they say.... They grow up so fast...' Xiu Ling thought to herself as she proceeded to fold the onesie.

When Xiu Ling finished her chore, the phone that she kept in her phone started to vibrate. She did not put it on ringtone because she was afraid a sudden phone call might wake up Lin Xi. Her precaution had proven productive because a call did come in when she was in Lin Xi's bedroom.

She stood up from the floor, placed Lin Xi's clothes in the cupboard and exited the room to answer the call.

"Good evening, Joann. How are you tonight? How can I help you?" Xiu Ling said as she answered the call.

"Good evening, Xiu Ling. No, it's nothing, I simply want to confirm our meeting tomorrow afternoon at 3 pm. We are still meeting at Spring Leaf Cafe yes?" Joann asked over the phone.

"Of course, I will not miss our Three Months Club's meeting no matter what. Sometimes, I find it is the only thing to keep me moving forward," Xiu Ling joked.

Both women laughed on the phone. Joann then added, "Xiu Ling, it is wonderful to see you in such good mood. Then, I suppose I will see you tomorrow."

The thing that she was supposed to tell Joann, the incident that she had accidentally seen that day.

Due to the many things that had happened, from Xiu Ling's childbirth to Joann's movie scandal, and not to mention Mrs. Xiu's eviction from the Lin household, there were simply too many more urgent things that had happened in Xiu Ling and Joann's lives that the expose had slipped out of Xiu Ling's mind. In other words, she had unwillingly helped Joann's husband keep this secret of his for a period of time that was longer than Xiu Ling intended but enough was enough.

Xiu Ling could not allow the man to cheat on her friend any longer and she decided it was time for him to face the music. She was going to tell Joann everything tomorrow during their meeting... provided she could summon the courage that she was unable to the last time.

...

Just as Joann hung up her phone, Xu Jing opened the bedroom door and walked in.

"Good evening, honey. What are you up to?" The man began.

"Nothing, just got off the phone with Xiu Ling."

"By the way, have you seen Sylvia? She has been missing again and it is not for the first time this week. I wonder what is she up to," Xu Jing asked in an attempt to make small talk.

"She is probably out with her colleague, the one your mother suspects is your boyfriend," Joann answered.

"Wait a minute," Xu Jing froze and he turned to Joann with a serious expression, "What did you say? Her boyfriend?"

"Yes, that is what mother insists, she says that is the only reason why Sylvia has been staying out so late," Joann explained.

"Wait, wait, wait. Go back a little," Xu Jing said with equal measure horror and surprise, "Sylvia has a boyfriend?! Why haven't I heard about this? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Didn't you hear me? This is only her colleague, I do not think you would be interested in such minor details. Furthermore, Sylvia has so many colleagues, you expect me to update you on every single one of them? Hell, she does not tell me that much about her working life."