NOVPUB
Chapter 329: Chapter 329: So you are Lin Man!
After all those happening, everyone’s mood was rather low. Thinking that she had to return home tomorrow, Lin Fengying didn’t sleep well all night and woke up early the next day.
Si Weimin originally planned to accompany Lin Fengying to the railway station directly, but Lin Fengying wanted to see her son before leaving. Given that Doctor Si Chen was at work and it would be inappropriate to visit him with too many people, not to mention the recent conflict between Si Weimin and Si Chen, Lin Fengying went alone to the hospital while Si Weimin waited outside.
Lin Fengying only knew that Si Chen was a surgeon here and had limited knowledge of the specifics. She didn’t even know which consultation room he worked in.
Upon arriving at the hospital, she didn’t know where to find him. Fortunately, she saw a young nurse passing by and quickly stopped her to ask, "Excuse me, could you tell me which consultation room Doctor Si Chen is?"
"He’s in the third consultation room on the second floor of the surgery office," the nurse replied.
"Oh, thank you." Lin Fengying expressed her thanks repeatedly. Just as she was about to go upstairs to find him, she was stopped by another nurse.
"Hello, are you looking for Doctor Si?" Lin Man approached Lin Fengying and cordially offered, "I’m also heading to the second floor. I can guide you there."
Upon hearing that someone could show the way, Lin Fengying immediately nodded, "That would be very kind of you, thank you so much."
"No problem. Please come with me!" As Lin Man led Lin Fengying up the stairs, she subtly studied Lin Fengying. Seeing her rural outfit and recognizing her speech as the accent of Li City, Lin Man couldn’t help but kept an eye out and asked more questions, "Are you looking for Doctor Si for a consultation?"
"No," Lin Fengying shook her head, giving a slightly uneasy smile, "He is my son."
Lin Man was momentarily taken aback, surprise flashed in her eyes as she couldn’t believe that such an outstanding man like Si Chen had such a simple-looking mother.
But seconds later, she regained her composure and enthusiastically exclaimed, "Aunty, it’s you! I apologize for not recognizing you earlier, as I haven’t met you before."
Lin Fengying was disconcerted by Lin Man’s use of the term ’aunty’. "Er...I think you might have mistaken me for someone else? I don’t know you!"
"There’s no mistake, my name is Lin Man." Lin Man took Lin Fengying’s hand and explained, "I’m friends with Xiaohui. Doctor Si Chen even saved my life before when he went to Qing City for aid work. So, it wouldn’t be wrong for me to call you aunty, right?"
"So, you are Lin Man!"
Earlier, she was worried that people might look down on her son after knowing that his mother is a poor woman from the countryside. But she was relieved to find out that the girl in front of her was Lin Man.
With no more worries, Lin Fengying grinned and said, "Xiaohui mentioned you to me before. She said she was grateful for your support when she was hospitalized last time. She didn’t know many people when she just moved to Kyoto and you were her only friend."
Lin Man chuckled, "I am usually busy at work and don’t have many friends. I happened to be assigned as Xiaohui’s nurse when she was hospitalized. We hit it off well when we chatted together. Later, I found out she is Doctor Si’s sister. It truly turned out to be a wonderful twist of fate."
Lin Fengying also felt it was a sort of fate. She found Lin Man’s easygoing and cheerful personality quite endearing and felt exceptionally close to her considering that she did not despise her for being a woman from the countryside.
"Yes, it’s truly fate. Thanks to your care, Xiaohui had a good time in the hospital."
"Aunty, it makes me feel awkward when you put it like that. Let me guide you to Doctor Si now! He just started work and should not be too busy."
Lin Man took Lin Fengying’s arm affectionately, just as sisters would. They arrived at Si Chen’s office. Upon reaching the office door, Lin Man set her joviality aside for professionalism. She knocked on the door and whispered, "Doctor Si, someone is here for you."
After saying so, she excused herself to go back to her work.
Upon catching her elder son’s eye, Lin Fengying mustered a slight smile and whispered, "Xiaochen."
Si Chen furrowed his brows and got up from his chair, "What is it?"
Seeing his indifferent expression, Lin Fengying felt a pang in her heart, "I have bought the train ticket for today, I just came here to tell you that I am going back to Li City."
Si Chen walked over and pulled out twenty yuan from his pocket. Without any emotion on his face, he said, "Be careful on the road. This is all the money I have on me, take it with you to use."
Under normal circumstances, a son offering money to his mother should be a respectful act and should make a mother happy. However, her son’s cold demeanor distressed Lin Fengying. She wanted to complain about his lack of compassion, but the mistakes she had committed in the past prevented her from raising her head in front of her elder son.
After hesitating for a while, Lin Fengying took the money. Noticing no one was around, she couldn’t help but say, "Xiaochen, I know you love your wife. But Xiaohui is your sister. She is oblivious to everything. I hope you won’t transfer your resentment towards me and your younger uncle to her. If you have to resent someone, resent only me!"
Her eldest son and Yuan Caizhen already knew about her affair with Si Weimin, a secret they no longer could hide. Therefore, Lin FengYing decided to lay all her cards on the table.
Si Chen seemed to ignore what she had said and diverted the topic, "I am at work. If there’s nothing else, you should head to the station to catch your train. Give me a call when you reach home."
"..." Lin Fengying opened her mouth to say something but didn’t manage to speak. After a long while, she said with teary eyes, "If you don’t want to see me, then I’ll leave now."
After a pause, she added, "You and Yaoyao have been married for over a year now. You should start thinking about having a child! Lijuan, who married several months after you, is already expecting. While I am still young and healthy, you can have children early and I can help take care of them."
"You don’t need to worry about us having kids. Yaoyao and I have our plans. Even after we have a child, we don’t need your help. You just need to take good care of yourself at home." Si Chen directly refuted Lin Fengying’s proposition of having a baby, making clear that he didn’t want her to take care of the child.
In this era, it was rare for a mother-in-law to take care of grandchildren. Any family where a mother-in-law agreed to do such a thing was highly regarded. Lin Fengying offered to ease her strained relationship with her eldest son, but he rejected her proposal outright making her feel that he treated her good intention with utter indifference.
Just like Si Weimin said, although she had done something disgraceful in the past, she had paid for it over these many years, hadn’t she?
Lin FengYing said in an aggrieved voice, "Fine! I shouldn’t have meddled. You all do as you please! If you wish to come to see me, come. If not, let’s just pretend that I never existed. I won’t bother you anymore."
Just at that moment, a patient arrived. Lin Fengying turned around with tears brimming in her eyes and left the consultation room. She thought her son might come after her, but he didn’t even come out until she reached the staircase.
Lin Fengying finally realized the sad truth; she would perhaps never be able to resolve the rift between her and her son in this lifetime.
If she had known this would happen, she would have been resolute in leaving with Si Weimin and Xiaohui back in the day. At least then, she wouldn’t be in a situation where she was alone, despised by her son and daughter-in-law.
