Bab 250: The Walk (2 - 2in1)

Xiu Ling was understandably surprised to see her mother there since she had just sent her mother up the plane that morning. Well, technically, she did not see with her own eyes her mother get on the plane and she did send her to the departure hall.

"But, mom, how?" Xiu Ling gasped with surprise. She was happy that her mother was there but she still could not get over the shock.

Mrs. Xiu smiled and explained, "I was intercepted by someone your husband hired while I was waiting for the plane to arrive. He said he was going to give you a surprise and when I heard what it was, of course, I came back. How can I ever miss my daughter's wedding?!"

Mrs. Xiu smiled brighter and added, "Don't worry, Lin Kang promised he'll pay for the replacement plane ticket after the wedding is over."

To be honest, Xiu Ling had not even considered the issue of money until Mrs. Xiu brought it up. Perhaps she had been with the Lin family for far too long that money became less of an object of everyday concern for her. That was a habit that Xiu Ling reminded herself she had to be careful of. In any case, she was glad that her mother was going to a part of this momentous event of her life, it would feel wrong for her not to be there.

Xiu Ling even had a feeling this was Lin Kang's plan all along. To plan this on the day her mother was going to return so that he could make it a surprise for her. That did sound like something he would do.

After Xiu Ling got over the surprise of seeing her mother and her best friend there, she noticed a smartly dressed woman standing at the corner. Xiu Ling greeted her and the woman introduced herself as the wedding planner. She would handle everything related to the wedding, at least on Xiu Ling's side and the plan for the day was to find the bride a wedding dress.

Lin Kang had notified the wedding planner that everything in the store was free game so Xiu Ling had the whole store of dresses to choose from. However, before she arrived, based on what Lin Kang told the wedding planner, she had the store narrow down the two general choices.

She ushered Xiu Ling into the dressing room to try out the first dress.

It was a strange feeling trying out the wedding dress and to see herself in a wedding dress. Before this, Xiu Ling did not really think a wedding matter that much to her. It was already in the past and they should focus on the future. Therefore, when Lin Kang brought up the surprise, a part of her thought this was quite troublesome and a waste of money as well as time.

However, when Xiu Ling saw herself reflected in the mirror, the feelings that came to her heart were something that was hard to be described in words. There were regret, happiness, relief, sadness and many more all rolled into one. She felt her eyes prickling with tears but she could not tell whether they were tears of joy or sadness. Xiu Ling had been through a lot and standing there in a dress that was heavily symbolic, she was overwhelmed by emotions.

Memories of the past came to her and there were happy moments and sad moments. Moments that she did not realize she had locked up in the deepest recesses of her mind, moments that felt to her like it was a lifetime ago. Xiu Ling could not see herself experiencing some of these memories. If she went back in time, she definitely would have done certain things differently.

She was not proud of the things that she had failed to do, things that she was forced to go through, things that should not ever befall upon a woman but she had survived and she could not deny those times that mold her into the woman that she was that day.

At the end of the day, Xiu Ling told herself, those were all in the past, they should not matter anymore or at least that was what she was trying to convince herself of.

The dressmaker who was there to help Xiu Ling with the fitting had no idea what was running through Xiu Ling's mind. When she saw the tears that threatened to fall on Xiu Ling's face, she just assumed she was shedding tears of happiness. That was something common in her line of business.

When she was done with all the adjustments, she stood back and announced to Xiu Ling, "Miss, we're done. And you look gorgeous."

Xiu Ling looked at herself in the mirror and she smiled. 'Today is a happy occasion,' she reminded herself.

She picked up the front of the dress and walked through the curtain to the room where her mother and her best friend sat waiting. When she appeared, she heard her mother gasp and her best friend exclaim, "Xiu Ling, you look so beautiful."

Xiu Ling had to admit, that did feel nice to hear. She walked to the little podium that was set up in the middle of the room. Mirrors were placed at strategic angles so the bride could see herself from multiple angles.

The dress was the traditional dress that signified purity. It had a bustier that had a low cut. It showed off Xiu Ling's curves that honestly made her rather uncomfortable. It was not her nature to wear something so revealing. Then again, perhaps she should try something out of her comfort zone for her wedding day. The bustier also had crystals sewn into them and glistened luxuriously under the light.

It had a long sleeves that was puffy at the shoulders. It made Xiu Ling look rather regal but it was not the old-fashioned styling so she looked more like the princess than the queen. Adding to this theme of royalty was the empire style waist. The dress blossomed out like a giant umbrella. There were white and yellow tulle to add to the volume.

Xiu Ling twirled on the podium and she asked for her audience's opinion. "Well, what do you think?"

Joann thought she looked gorgeous even though it was not something Xiu Ling would normally wear. Nevertheless, as big as the dress was, she felt like there was something missing.

Mrs. Xiu agreed that Xiu Ling look gorgeous but she felt like the dress did not fit her daughter's personality. It was nothing to take away from the dress but it felt like it was just too much. The dress appeared like it had swallowed up Xiu Ling with the many layers. Furthermore, she had reservation for Xiu Ling to wear something white for the wedding. It was still considered a taboo in Chinese culture, white was reserved for funerals.

The wedding planner nodded her head along to the opinions given. She led Xiu Ling back to the dressing room for her to try on the second dress.

The second dress was a complete opposite of the first. When Xiu Ling saw it, she knew it was the correct dress. It just spoke to her in a way the first dress did not. With the help of the dressmaker, Xiu Ling put it on. As if the heaven had spoken, the dress also fitted her better than the first dress.

When Xiu Ling walked out with the dress, her best friend was speechless and Mrs. Xiu had tears in her eyes. "This... this is the dress."

Seeing her mother getting emotional, Xiu Ling felt like the tears were threatening to return again. She stood under the spotlight and looked at herself in the mirror. Yes, it felt right.

The dress was comparatively muted compared to the first one and that was representative of who Xiu Ling was a person. She was never the boisterous type to seek attention. The dress was more a gown than wedding dress.

Hearing the opinion from Mrs. Xiu from before, the dress was not white but cream-coloured with red accents around the sleeves and waists. The dress had a mandarin collar and it covered up Xiu Ling modestly.

It was clear that the dress had Chinese influence, but it had a western base because there was a train that pooled around Xiu Ling's feet instead of dragging behind her. There were Chinese motif around the end of the skirt as well.

It was a column dress with a good fit so it accentuated Xiu Ling's figure without being overly provocative.

The dressmaker came out with some hair accessories and she placed them in Xiu Ling's hair. It made her look graceful. It was not one would expect from a traditional western wedding dress but it fitted Xiu Ling's style.

Joann handed Mrs. Xiu some tissues and as she dabbed at the tears around her eyes, she said, "I'm so glad I'll be able to see this before I pass away. I initially thought this was just a ceremony that should not have meant something but..." Mrs. Xiu choked on her words and she blubbered out, "Xiu Ling, I'm so happy for you... That bastard better treat you right or I'll come back to the city to teach him a lesson..."

Xiu Ling walked down the podium to give her mother a hug. "Oh, mom..." She too felt like crying at that moment. It was exactly like what her mother had said, she did not expect this thing to have such a meaning as well.

However, right then, she realized how important it was. The wedding was not only for her but it was for her mother as well. Mrs. Xiu had raised her all on her own and it felt like she deserved to witness that she had married a good man. Xiu Ling owed her mother that much.

Xiu Ling wiped the tears from the corners of her mother's eyes and she said with levity, "Mom, you're going to make me cry." She still could not make the tear leave the sound of her voice, "This is a happy occasion but look at us being a crying mess."

Mrs. Xiu chuckled and said, "You're right, you're right."

The pair of mother and daughter laughed at themselves. Xiu Ling gave her mother a hug. She had no one but her mother growing up. This was to thank her for everything that she had done.

Wrapped in the emotions with her mother, Xiu Ling did not notice under the smile on her best friend's face, there was an undercurrent of concern and worry.

PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA
Lonelytree

Happy Lunar New Year

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KIRIM HADIAH

Bab 251: The Walk (3)

When Joann received the call from Lin Kang, she was just laying around the house. Things had been rather peaceful lately. When Lin Kang said he was going to organize a surprise for Xiu Ling, Joann agreed readily. She was always there for a good time with her best friend and she technically had nothing better to do. However, when she heard what Lin Kang was planning, her mind went into a pause.

Joann was reminded of the promise she made herself several months back, she was only to intervene in her friend's business when things got serious enough. Well things definitely got serious enough.

"Miss Joann, hello? Miss Joann, so will you be able to make it? I'll have my assistant send you the address of the shop," Lin Kang said on the phone and it cut through Joann's reverie.

Joann snapped back to reality and she replied absent-mindedly, "Of, of course. Thank you." Then, she hung up without saying goodbye. Back then, she believed things were not that serious between Xiu Ling and Lin Kang for her to say anything. She gave herself 3 months time to observe the two before coming to a decision but so many things had happened that it had completely slipped her mind.

Back then, Joann's concern was that she did not want her friend to get hurt. She still had doubts about Lin Kang's sincerity and honesty. However, after so long, Joann was sure that Lin Kang did care about her best friend. So now, her concern was whether Lin Kang would take advantage of her friend.

Of course, Lin Kang was not going to take advantage of Xiu Ling in terms of money or power, because he already had plenty of those and Xiu Ling would not be able to provide those things to him but Joann was afraid that Lin Kang would continue to shower so much love and attention on Xiu Ling that her friend would forget about what had happened in the past. Lin Kang would taking advantage of Xiu Ling's wilful forgetfulness. Then again, she could not really fault Lin Kang for that, it was for their benefit that they would move forward from that regrettable thing in the past.

Maybe she should just let bygones be bygones and zip her mouth and say nothing. Be happy for her friend because he had found a good man... Nevertheless, he might be a good man now but does that counterbalance the bad that he had done in the past?

Forgiveness, forgiveness... Ours was a society that cherished this quality but forgiveness meant admitting what had happened in the past and then moving forward from it, not burying it under several layers of good intentions.

Joann also wondered if this would turn Xiu Ling against her and ruin their friendship, after all, if she said anything, she was going to pull at old scab and tear up old wounds. One that Xiu Ling perhaps rather stay in the past.

Joann ruminated about the question in her mind and she could not help but laugh at the ludicrousness of it all. It was such a simple question with a simple answer but there were so many complications around it.

Could you ever forgive someone who committed the most atrocious crime on you?

At the end of the day, perhaps she was just being a busybody, who was she to ruin a good thing? He was a good man who did a bad thing, or a bad man who had seen the errors of his way so why not cut him a break?

'Lin Kang treats Xiu Ling like a princess now, that is the only important thing, right..?'

...

Xiu Ling was resting after the dress fitting. The wedding planner and dressmaker had left the room. She had the place to herself and she was still in the dress. She decided to chill for a few minutes before starting to get undressed.

Suddenly, Xiu Ling heard the knocks on the door. "Come in," she said.

It was Joann who poked her head in. "Mrs. Xiu is still outside, winding down after the emotional roller-coaster, do you if I come in?"

"Of course, not." Xiu Ling waved for Joann to come in with a smile.

Joann sat down beside Xiu Ling and she sighed, "I cannot get over the fact how gorgeous you look."

"Oh, stop!" Xiu Ling said jokingly. It felt nice having this joking banter with her best friend. Both of them had too many things on their table lately, so it was nice to be able to just lay back and be goofy for a moment. It felt like two girls playing dress-up. Normally, it was Joann who had the spotlight but today, it was finally Xiu Ling's turn.

Joann sighed and said, "Lin Kang sure knows how to treat his wife."

Xiu Ling laughed and said, "You have quite a good husband, yourself."

Joann rolled her eyes. "You sure like to kid, but I agree, he did look quite handsome and fetching on that television show." How could one call a cheating husband a good husband? It was preposterous but in Joann's case, it was the truth as well. Life was often filled with paradox like this.

When Xiu Ling heard that, she laughed because she knew that her friend had finally moved on from that betrayal. If she could deflect it with humor and make a joke out of it, then everything should be fine.

Xiu Ling then asked because she was honestly curious, "Joann, if you don't mind me asking, how did you ever get the courage to forgive what Xu Jing has done?"

Joann was silent for a very long time and eventually she said, "Because we both acknowledge what has happened in the past and we both tried to grant each other forgiveness that we deserve." Then, after a short silence, Joann added in a soft whisper, "How about you?"

Xiu Ling's heart skipped a beat when she heard that. She had been trying to avoid that question. When her mind was wandering down that route earlier, Xiu Ling stopped herself because all she could feel was dread.

Xiu Ling pretended not to have heard her friend and changed the subject. Seeing this, Joann frowned imperceptibly. She knew that this was a sign of her friend avoiding the truth. She thought about just moving along but then she was reminded of what her friend told her a few months ago when she broke to her the news about her husband's infidelity. A marriage was no place for dishonesty, she had learned that much from surviving Xu Jing's ordeal.

If she allowed Xiu Ling this dishonesty, then perhaps it might lead to a situation like the one that happened in her household. Of course, Joann did not think the chance of that was high, considering how much Lin Kang doted on Xiu Ling. However, she also saw how unfair this was to her friend. She would need to silence herself, granted it was a version of herself in the past, to allow herself to enjoy this union.

Of course, Joann was not going to tell Xiu Ling to end the relationship outright, that would have been unnecessarily cruel. Furthermore, it would be out of Joann's place to do so, she did not have the intention to make the decision on her best friend's behalf. She just wanted her to view this relationship with openness and honesty,

Therefore, Joann tried to turn the subject back by referencing the past. "So many things have changed since then. I never thought Xu Jing would ever cheat on me but here we are. However, the past also has taught me many things, like having a daughter in the dreaded news media has taught me that everything has both sides, a negative side and a positive side."

Xiu Ling ended the subject by saying rather brusquely, "I still think we should not stay in the past and focus on the future, it's the correct way to live."

This surprised Joann because her friend had never been so adamant in making any point in her life before. Then, a possibility hit Joann. 'Could it be that Xiu Ling has already been considering this but she doesn't know how to deal with it so she is averse to me leading the topic down this particular trial?'

If that was the case, Joann knew it would be pointless to side-step around the topic. Xiu Ling was much better at directing the direction of the conversation than she was. All she could do then was to do what she do best, which was to cut through the bullshit and ask the incisive question directly, "Xiu Ling, are you really going to marry your rapist?"

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KIRIM HADIAH