Mrs. Xiu's arrival at the Lin family was received with a mixture of resentment, sadness, resignation and gladness.
Each member of the Lin family welcomed her with a different emotion, we already knew what Mrs. Lin and Xiu Ling thought of her decision to take up Auntie Sun's former position so we shall now focus on the remaining members of the family.
One of the crucial members that deserved a closer look was the future head of the Lin family, Lin Kang.
Many things could be and had been said against the man but he had at least one redeeming quality that was featured prominently during the period Mrs. Xiu stayed under the Lin family's employment.
While being raised in a large and traditional family did not instil in Lin Kang the need to respect women, it did teach him the virtue of filial piety. After all, in Chinese culture, of all virtues filial piety is the most important. While it was not uncommon, or even considered a rite of passage in western countries for the child to move out of the family home after they were of working age, it was normal or even sometimes encouraged that the younger generation of eastern heritage, even after they were married and had their own family, stay with their parents. It is the children's responsibility to look after their elders. This is a major way in which the two cultures differ.
This meant that unlike his mother, Lin Kang showed more than a great deal of deference towards his mother-in-law. Regardless of the nature of his marriage to Xiu Ling, it was already written in his bones to be respectful towards his elder.
Even though his marriage to Xiu Ling was not heavily broadcasted, since it was only natural that Lin family would want to keep this affair as silent as possible, and Lin Kang only had a passing glance with Mrs. Xiu once or twice, it was undeniable that she was his elder and thus deserved the appropriate respect.
Instead of calling Mrs. Xiu, "Auntie Xiu" like his mother did, Lin Kang referred to Mrs. Xiu with a more respectful, "Madame Xiu."
Initially, Mrs. Xiu was greatly unsettled by this show of deference, thinking it was a trick played by the young man. Even if he was completely innocent, Mrs. Xiu knew how much this would anger the man's mother should she find out.
"Young Master, you should not call me Madame Xiu but use Auntie Xiu like everyone else does. I am your employee so you should not have used term of reference towards me, it is quite uncomfortable," advised Mrs. Xiu.
Lin Kang flashed a bright smile and brushed her off, "Madame Xiu, if we are really splitting hairs, I should be calling you mother so Madame Xiu is already a huge compromise. If anything, you calling me young master is the real source of discomfort. Madame Xiu, you should just call me by my name."
"But young master…"
"Madame Xiu, there you go again," Lin Kang tutted to interrupt her, "But I understand your concern. How about this? A compromise.
"Madame Xiu will stop referring to me as the young master, but since you're hesitant to call me by my name, use Mr. Lin Kang instead and I will refrain from referring to Madame Xiu when my mother is around, deal?"
"But…"
"Madame Xiu, I insist!"
In the end, Mrs. Xiu relented. This incident and many other small things Lin Kang did in deference to her when she was working at the Lin family endeared Mrs. Lin to the young man.
Mrs. Lin did not know about the nitty-gritty details of the relationship between Xiu Ling and Lin Kang, her daughter had spared her the fine points so in that moment, it did cross her mind that perhaps it was not so bad her daughter had found Lin Kang as a husband.
Seeing Lin Kang act in such a manner around her mother also improved Xiu Ling's impression of the man. 'Perhaps he is not as bad as I thought. Of course, everyone has their redeeming quality. If I just focus on those, maybe I can lull myself into a sense of contentment and thus continue to survive through this marriage.'
Things at Lin family continued in a relatively peaceful manner with Mrs. Lin complaining to her son about his overly deferential attitude towards the help; and Lin Kang brushing his mother off; Mrs. Xiu fussing over her daughter and grandson; Xiu Ling making a stable recovery from the birth… everything was carrying on smoothly until the return of Elder Lin, Lin Kang's father and Mrs. Lin's husband, the real shot caller at the Lin household.
…
Joann and Xu Jing had just returned from a visit to Xiu Ling's place.
Thankfully, neither Lin Kang nor Mrs. Lin was home that night or else with the business situation between Lin Corps and Xu Corps, things would have turned incredibly ugly.
Xu Jing thought it was a mere coincidence but Joann knew her best friend probably had a hand in it. Many people thought Xiu Ling was just a mere ditz, and while Joann admit that analysis had a grain of truth to it, her best friend could be quite observant and tactful at certain times.
Joann sighed to herself, if only her friend had retained that cautiousness and attention to details at all time, she would not have landed herself in such hot waters then.
In any case, the visitation was merry and Joann was glad to see both Xiu Ling and her baby to be in such a healthy state.
The baby boy greeted them with a smile and plenty of giggles and had remained quite docile throughout the night.
Xu Jing complimented the baby boy, saying he has the hallmark of a great man, a comment the boy accepted with a babyish grin.
Joann was more than a bit surprised to see Mrs. Xiu there, working at the Lin household. She was curious and had more than a fair bit of questions on her mind but she held her tongue. She knew better than to ask such invasive questions in a public setting. She would grill her friend when they were in private.