Table For Two - Chapter 213：The Apology (11)

“Of course, these are signs of history so I have nothing against them but what I’m saying is time moves on and thing changes.” Auntie Xiao paused and like what Joann did earlier, she looked around the shop, “The same can be said for this place. The paint on the walls is peeling and even after a good scrub, these wooden tables and chairs just couldn’t regain their original shine.”

Auntie Xiao was so focused on explaining the situation that she did not notice Joann had gone unusually quiet. She assumed Joann was just listening to her quietly and did not want to interrupt her so she did not say anything.

In reality, Joann was stunned by the parallels between what Auntie Xiao was saying and her own broken marriage.

Auntie Xiao continued, “Again, I’m not saying these are bad, if anything, I like the sense of history but what does it matter if I like them but the customers don’t. As you know, the majority of my potential customers are students since we’re so close to the school and the kids these days definitely no longer have the same taste as the students of our days.

“They prefer places with tasteful paintings or cartoon murals on the walls, fake potted plants, glass tables and colorful plastic chairs with ambient music. The hip and trendy cafes, I think they’re called. A few of them opened up in the neighborhood selling those bubble tea drinks that are made with machine, can you imagine such a thing?”

Joann did not answer but Auntie Xiao’s question was rhetorical. “Little by little, the loyal customers started to leave. They have abandoned the traditional taste for a hipper and fresher trend on the market. You’d think with the loyalty that they have once shown, they would stick around forever but there is ultimately no guarantee in this world. To be honest, I can’t really resent or blame them because I too understand the allure of chasing after the fads. They have made their choices and that’s that.”

Joann shuddered involuntarily when she heard that. The similarities were so striking that Joann wondered if Auntie Xiao knew about the truth and was saying these things on purpose.

“As you’ve said, the taste of the food hasn’t changed and I have full confidence in my recipe but there is nothing I can do when the taste bud of the customers changes. Is it their fault? Not really, these kinds of things seem inevitable. After all, we’ll all get bored of something after having it over and over, day after day for so long.

“At the very beginning, I told myself this was just a trend, a fad that would eventually blow away. They’ll eventually return after they have had the new stuff, this is just a minor misstep. Joann, you’ve seen how much the customers loved my cooking, so how can I be faulted to think that way?

“Alas, as you can see around you now, reality is a rude wake-up call. Perhaps it is not a misstep, perhaps the customers have found something better. Maybe one day they will return but can I really hold out for that long?”

Auntie Xiao’s words fell on Joann’s heart like punches. Auntie Xiao had unconsciously and consciously made her face some things in her marriage that she had not considered earlier.

Auntie Xiao sighed, “Like what I said earlier, time moves on and thing changes. Sometimes it is for the better, sometimes it is for the worse. Nothing is ever constant and the only constant thing is change.”

Joann’s shoulders shook. She did not cry when Xiu Ling and Sylvia broke the news to her; she did not cry when her mother-in-law was understanding enough to support her decision to go for a divorce should she want it; she did not cry when Qing Qing showed her true face to her; she did not cry when she was in the company of her daughter; she did not cry when Xu Jing was crying like a baby on the other side of their bedroom door. She had faced everything stoically.

In fact, Joann did not think she would have noticed tears were falling down her face until Auntie Xiao looked at her and asked with concern, “Oh, honey, why are you crying?”

Joann moved her fingers to her cheeks and even after Auntie Xiao had told her so, she was still shocked to find them wet. She couldn’t answer Auntie Xiao because she too did not really understand why she was crying.

Perhaps it was the accumulative pressure that finally toppled that day; perhaps she found herself in a safe environment; perhaps she found herself in a situation where she did not need to carry herself in collected and strong manner anymore; perhaps she was in the company of the woman who had seen her at the lowest point in her life; perhaps the familiarity of the past gave her great comfort to be herself; perhaps being at Auntie Xiao’s reminded her of the innocence she had before she took on so many roles and responsibilities; perhaps being there reminded Joann of the simple love she once shared with Xu Jing…

“Honey, come here.” Auntie Xiao scooted over to pull Joann into a deep hug and this only made the waterworks come even faster. Auntie Xiao patted Joann on her back and tried her best to comfort her.

However, Auntie Xiao did not do that by asking Joann what was wrong. Based on their conversation, Auntie Xiao had a general idea what the issue was but she did not bring it up. She was old and wise enough to understand that it was probably the unspoken reason why Joann was there that day.

Auntie Xiao knew Joann to be a woman who was not duplicitous with her words. If she wanted to talk about her problems, she would have started the conversation with it. If Joann was not yet ready to talk about it, Auntie Xiao was going to give her the space she needed.