Chapter 115：Tradition (3)

Standing to the other side of the young Mrs. Lin was a woman whom Xiu Ling assumed was Lin Kang's grandmother. She could spot the resemblance between Elder Lin and the woman. While the physical features appeared unassuming on Elder Lin, they were emphasized by the lines on the elder woman's face. They seemed to be the result of a constant scowl on the woman's face.

Even though everyone in the photo had dressed up for the occasion, Mrs. Lin's mother-in-law had taken it one step too far. She was wearing a cheongsam but the linings were shining with gold threads and the embroidery on it was shimmering. It was truly a statement piece, it was as if she was afraid that people did not know she came from money.

Mrs. Lin's mother-in-law wore her perpetual scowl like a badge of honour. Even in the family photo, while everyone was smiling, the little Lin Kang excluded, the woman could be seen maintaining her signature scowl while leveling a side-eye at Mrs. Lin.

Perhaps she was unsatisfied that Mrs. Lin couldn't make Lin Kang behave during the photo, perhaps she was unsatisfied that Mrs. Lin came to the photo dressed so commonly, perhaps she was simply unsatisfied with her daughter-in-law, in any case, the photo definitely did not capture Mrs. Lin's mother-in-law in a good mood.

Seeing the picture, Xiu Ling had a chill run up her spine because the disapproval on the face of Mrs. Lin's mother-in-law was one that she saw often on her own mother-in-law. It was as if history was repeating itself.

Xiu Ling put the picture frame down and commented, "She sure is pretty, and mother, you have not changed at all from the picture." Even though she did not really feel that way, it was the socially appropriate thing to say.

Xiu Ling turned to glance at her mother-in-law and she realized Mrs. Lin was not even listening to her. She sat in bed with a faraway look in her eyes. Xiu Ling wondered what was on her mother-in-law's mind but she did not probe. She just picked up her slack and continued cleaning.

The mention of the picture and everything brought Mrs. Lin back in time. Gosh, she hated that woman.

When she married her husband, Elder Lin's career had just taken off. He was needed elsewhere practically all the time and he was never home. In his place though was the stacks of money that kept getting higher and higher.

They were nouveau riche and there were generally two ways where one would handle this situation. Mrs. Lin came from a modest family before she married Elder Lin and to be honest, she did not need that much money in her life. She was satisfied with what she had.

Of course, no one would say no to more money but she resented those piles of cash because they brought her husband away from her. Mrs. Lin never found the satisfaction of counting money in a home that kept getting larger and emptier.

However, there was nothing she could do about it. To complain about her husband's career because it carried him away from home too much? That was practically unheard of in her time. The only thing she could do was to be a good wife and lent her husband the support that he would need and make no fuss while she was at it.

This was the reason why Mrs. Lin and Elder Lin shared more of a mutually-respectful relationship like one a pair of colleagues would have instead of a pair of husband and wife that grew old together. It was how things were at the time.

Contrary to Mrs. Lin, her mother-in-law adopted to their new found wealth like fish to the water. Her husband had already passed away and she found a renewed purpose with all that money that suddenly appeared in her life.

She bought expensive jewels, threw lavish parties, ordered designer clothes, she was over the moon. Elder Lin was all too glad to provide his mother with more money to throw around because he too was feeling guilty that he couldn't produce more time to accompany his family. If his mother thought money was compensation enough, then he was more than glad to oblige.

However, money could not buy happiness and after the initial high, Mrs. Lin's mother-in-law found herself with too much money but nothing to do with them. Her shopping spree no longer brought her as much joy as it used to do.

Nevertheless, she failed to see where the problem was. She assumed it was because she had not spent enough so her appetite grew bigger with more expensive jewels, more lavish parties and more designer clothes.

By then, Elder Lin had already established his business empire. His mother could spend as much as she wanted and it would not hurt his wallet one bit. However, it did not mean that he could just sit there and watch his mother drain his wealth. In Chinese culture, it was impolite for children to criticize their elders or parents so instead of discussing this issue with his mother, Elder Lin threw himself deeper into his work, not knowing everything his mother had done, it was to draw him home.

Since money was no longer enough to vent her frustration, Elder Lin's mother directed her aggression to other places. The only person of convenience was her daughter-in-law, or Mrs. Lin.

With the desire to find someone to pin the blame on, she saw Mrs. Lin as the reason why she was feeling so frustrated all the time. Everything she did, it annoyed her. She blamed Mrs. Lin for not having the same philosophy as she did, for spending too little, for putting too much salt in the food, for creating too much noise when she walked, basically she managed to find fault with everything Mrs. Lin did.

With a channel to vent her discontentment, for better or for worse, Mrs. Lin's mother-in-law found something else to anchor her life, to fill the void her son had left behind.