Lin Xiaokang looked puzzled. "Second brother, what happened? What's wrong with you?"
"It's nothing. I've gotten more talkative as I've gotten older, and I don't even know what I'm saying anymore. Maybe it's because I hit you and I feel bad about it." Lin Xiao qia walked over and patted Lin Xiaokang on the shoulder. "Let's go, you feel much better after the wind. Let's go back."
Lin Xiaokang and Lin Xiao qia walked back the way they came, arm in arm, with Lin Xiaokang laughing as he replied, "Second brother, does second sister-in-law find you too nagging? I remember when we were little, fifth brother snatched my popsicle, and you came over to help me scold him. Wow, I wanted to say then, second brother, you're so nagging, you should have taken the popsicle back and given it to me first, but you just kept talking and talking until the popsicle in fifth brother's hand melted into water, and neither fifth brother nor I had any to eat."
The two chatted and enjoyed the breeze at the dock for a while. Lin Xiao qia then drove Lin Xiaokang back to the parking lot of the Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital. After Lin Xiaokang waved goodbye to Lin Xiao qia and watched him leave, he returned to the driver's seat of his car in the parking lot. Once he was in the driver's seat and the car door was closed, his hands holding the steering wheel began to tremble involuntarily.
Lin Xiao qia might have been worried that he was an idiot, so he spoke very bluntly. But Lin Xiaokang was not an idiot. Lin Xiao qia suddenly found him tonight and said these things to him. Lin Xiaokang understood that his second brother was doing it for his own good and had no other intentions. He was just reminding him to be careful.
He guessed from Lin Xiao qia's words that the deaths of his fifth and sixth uncles must not have been due to a feud between gangsters, otherwise Lin Xiao qia would not have asked him such an unusual question.
Lin Xiaokang still knew about his fifth and sixth uncles in Macau, who were loyal to the Lin Family back then, even though they hadn't been in contact for many years.
Were Uncle Five and Uncle Six eliminated by the Lin Family?
These two elderly people are no longer a threat to the Lin Family. Why would the First Madam or the Third Brother want them to shut up completely?
His second Lin Xiao qia, was reminding him that it was best to harbor resentment towards the First Madam, his third brother, Lin Xiaohe, and others. If he did, he should never show it. If he was really upset, he could find a reason to argue with his second Lin Xiao qia, but he shouldn't end up like his fifth or sixth uncle.
Lin Xiaokang didn't know if he had any grievances against the First Madam. He only knew that Lin Yujing was already in a miserable situation, and he couldn't afford to suffer the same fate as his half-sister. If that were the case, he would rather die.
Lin Xiao qia left his most trusted confidant, Uncle Bing, outside the ward. Did he know something? After Uncles Five and Six shut up, did the First Madam or Third Brother not even intend to let Sister Jing daughter go?
Lin Xiaokang gripped the steering wheel tightly with his slightly trembling hands, started the car, and drove it out of the parking lot.
The road ahead was pitch black.
Chapter 348 The First Madam
Inside the Lin Family, Lin Xiaohe was personally seeing off Ronnie, the British healthcare doctor who regularly checked on his mother.
"Doctor, is my mother alright?" Lin Xiaohe smiled and accompanied Ronnie across the front lawn towards the parking lot.
Ronnie said in English, "The old lady's health is fairly normal, but you really should advise her to smoke less. Judging from this examination, I can confirm that the old lady has not reduced the number of cigarettes she smokes every day."
"Have you had all the medicines and health supplements she takes tested?" Lin Xiaohe asked calmly.
"No problem, I've taken the samples back and had them checked. They're all normal and safe to take; they won't harm the old lady's health," Ronnie assured Lin Xiaohe. "The problem isn't that she's taking too many health supplements and tonics; the biggest problem is that the old lady needs to quit smoking."
Lin Xiaohe smiled at Ronnie, "Thank you, doctor. This time it's my turn to supervise her personally. The old lady is getting old, and her temper is like a child's; she doesn't listen to advice very well."
"I'll take my leave now, Mr. Lin." Ronnie turned and got into his car and drove away.
When Lin Xiaohe returned to the back hall of the mansion after seeing the doctor off, the seventy-two-year-old Lin Family, Hong Lanfang, with her white hair but still youthful appearance and rosy complexion, was angrily scolding several servants with a stern face.
"At my age, I can't even smoke? Don't be scared by that Foreign Devil doctor and A He, I'm perfectly fine, cough cough... Go, get me a cigarette."
The servants dared not speak, except for Zheng Ruilian, Lin Xizhen's Lin Xiaoze, who was sitting next to Hong Lanfang and was now sixty-seven years old, who was gently coaxing Hong Lanfang:
"Sister, the doctor also said that smoking is bad for your health. I'll have them get you a water pipe..."
"What does it taste like to smoke a water pipe..." Hong Lanfang looked sullenly at the servants in front of her who were bowing their heads and remaining silent. "I'll replace you all sooner or later. My sons don't listen to me, and now even you all don't listen to me. Only A-Sen is the best. Has A-Sen come back yet?"
"Mother," Lin Xiaohe walked in from outside, a smile on his face, and sat down next to his mother. "A-Sen is still busy. What do you need him for? What he can do, I can do too."
Hong Lanfang turned her face away. "You can't do it, A-Sen is busy, A-Kang can too, but where's A-Kang? Where's A-Kang?"
Lin Xiaohe gently took his mother's hand and held it in front of him. "A-Kang is busy too. You have so many sons, why do you only look for A-Sen and A-Kang? The rest of us will be jealous."
Seeing that his mother was ignoring him, Lin Xiaohe looked at Zheng Ruilian beside him. Zheng Ruilian smiled and patted Hong Lanfang on the back, saying as if coaxing a child, "Big sister, A He said he's jealous."
"Ignore him. It's just him and Ah Ze nagging me all day about quitting smoking," Hong Lanfang said to Zheng Ruilian gently, ignoring Lin Xiaohe.
Hong Lanfang was a well-bred lady from a prominent Chaozhou merchant family. She was proud and arrogant and had a strong hand in dealing with people. Lin Xizhen was also a womanizer in his youth. He had one wife and three concubines at home, and several confidantes in the entertainment industry. All these women were subdued by Hong Lanfang.
Now, Zheng Ruilian, who is by her side, is one of the people she is most satisfied with. Since following Lin Xizhen, Zheng Ruilian has known how to be humble and submissive in front of her, and she does not take advantage of her favor. Lin Family's eldest son, Lin Xiaoze, was born to Zheng Ruilian. After becoming pregnant, Zheng Ruilian did not inform Lin Xizhen first, but went to Hong Lanfang to ask if she wanted to abort the child. After all, Hong Lanfang, the first wife of the Lin Family, did not have any children, and it was easy for the first wife to feel resentful that a concubine like her had a child first.