When Sylvia left Spring Leaf Cafe, she honestly did not know what to think. She knew her Auntie Xiu Ling would not lie to her but would her father? Then again, was the sin of omission considered a lie? If she approach her father and ask him the question straight out, would he tell her the truth?
Did she dare to ask, did she dare to find out?
If this was fake, why would her Auntie Xiu Ling formulate such a complicated lie to trip her or was it just a simple and innocent case of mistaken identity? But it was true, was she going to side with her father or her mother? Would she even be given the right to make that choice?
There were plenty of questions but Sylvia had zero answer.
She came to meet Xiu Ling thinking they were going to talk about the issue regarding her mother and her disapproval of her job but now, that issue was pushed to the very back of her mind. She had more pressing matters to deal with.
According to Auntie Xiu Ling, she ran into her father, Xu Jing one night on the street. She was about to walk forward to greet him when she noticed he had his arm around the shoulder of a young woman who was definitely not her mother, Joann. The woman in return had her arm underneath his.
Before Xiu Ling could decide what to do, she saw Xu Jing and the woman stagger into a motel that was famous for being a place of convenience for couples who were feeling frisky.
'Could it be completely innocent?' was the first question that was on Sylvia's mind. Perhaps they went in to borrow the toilet or dine at the attached restaurant or something. Xiu Ling did not think it was that innocent and although it pained her to admit it, Sylvia did not think that as well. Even though it was hard for her to believe it, Sylvia was not a little girl anymore, she knew about the unstoppable pull of the biological urge.
Then, the second most pressing question became, 'Who was that woman?' Xiu Ling said, even though she had a good look of the woman's face, she could not recognize her. This was because Xiu Ling had not met Qing Qing and Qing Qing was not famous enough at the time for Xiu Ling to be able to know her with just one glance. Sylvia thought perhaps they could get more information or at least a confirmation through that woman but that was unfortunately a no go. Therefore, that trail came to be another dead-end.
Xiu Ling added that from the way they both staggered unevenly all over the place, it did seem like both of them were drunk. So if anything did happen, could that be considered a forgivable mistake? Sylvia really could not tell and this was not her question to answer. Her father was not responsible to Sylvia to keep his wedding vows, that was a promise that he had made to her mother.
This then led to the most troublesome question and the one that would keep Sylvia up at night thinking about it, 'Should I tell mother or confront father or both? How would they react? Will this lead to a divorce?'
She had no answer.
...
Sitting in Spring Leaf Cafe, Xiu Ling watched how slumped Sylvia's back was as she left the cafe. It was like a weight of a thousand mountains were on her shoulders and a twinge of regret started to curl around Xiu Ling's heart.
'Perhaps this was the wrong decision to make,' thought Xiu Ling. Maybe she should not have involved Sylvia in this adult business especially considering the amount of pressure it had put on her. Furthermore, Sylvia was stuck in the same position as she was. Even though she knew about it, she did not know what was the most correct way of approaching it, and now she was sharing that conundrum with Sylvia. Sweet, innocent Sylvia who had no business being embroiled in her parents' dirty business.
Xiu Ling started to second doubt herself. However, like water that had left the bowl, the words could not be taken back anymore.
In her distress and desire to share this secret with others, she had placed that burden of knowledge onto Sylvia. Now, Xiu Ling realized that might not have been the cleverest thing to do. However, she had made her bed and now she was going to lie in it.
Xiu Ling finished her tea and she departed, her heart praying for the best because what else was there for her to do?
...
After the talk with Xiu Ling, Joann realized how rashly and selfish she had acted. She wished to mend the bridge with her daughter but her pride as a mother deterred her from doing so. To make her admit to her own flesh and blood that she had committed a mistake was a tough pill to swallow.
Therefore, she waited for Sylvia to make the first move. However, she underestimated how stubborn her daughter could be and she did not expect Sylvia would have something else on her mind.
Sylvia did not have time to deal with this occupation issue so she placed it on the back burner. In other words, she did not want to deal with it, and the best way to do that was to ignore both the issue and the people who caused the issue. She gave her mother the cold shoulder.
Thus began the cold war at Xu family. Both parties had the intention of seeking peace but both had their own reason not to reach out first, some reasons more stupid than the rest.
In any case, Xu Jing found it difficult being stuck in the middle as he tried to mediate for a period of peace but little did he know, he was one of the main causes of the problem that hung over the Xu household like a stubborn mist.