Mr. Su's Love Investigation Report
Chapter 165: Will You Still Like Me?

Chapter 165: Chapter 165: Will You Still Like Me?

"What are you doing? Acting silly again! You’re really worrying!" He pinched her face with a look of disdain.

"You... would you really spank me?" Her eyes shone brightly.

He thought she was scared and his expression grew even more serious, "If you don’t behave, of course you will be spanked!"

Her eyes reddened and she tugged at his coat, looking at him pleadingly, "Then... then after you spank me, will you still like me?"

He couldn’t hold it any longer and laughed, flicking her nose, "You’re really shameless!"

"Tell me! Tell me!" She persisted, not feeling it was shameless at all, as children often asked adults, "Do you still like me?"

He sighed, amused, "Of course, now go change your clothes!"

"Okay! I’m going!" She came like the wind and went like the wind, but with different emotions.

After this delay, getting up early still resulted in a late departure. As she rushed upstairs, she secretly wondered, logically, Mom should have been ready by now; why was she still in the room?

She walked to Mom’s room and was about to knock when she vaguely heard crying inside. She panicked and banged on the door, "Mom! Mom! Mom, what’s wrong?"

No one opened the door for her, making her even more anxious, "Mom! Don’t scare me! Mom, open the door!"

Finally, the door opened from the inside. Shu Hui’s face was obviously marked with tears.

"Mom, what happened?" She slipped inside, but apart from some messy books on the desk, there was nothing unusual.

"It’s nothing, just remembered some old things. It’s okay, have you eaten breakfast? If you have, let’s go." Shu Hui said as she wiped her tears.

"Oh, are you sure it’s nothing?" Tu Hengsha walked to the desk and noticed the corner of a photo sticking out from under a book.

She pulled out the photo, and after just a glance before she could see clearly who was in it, Shu Hui rushed over and snatched it away...

The photo was of a little boy.

"Mom, who is this?" She had never seen a photo of a boy at home.

"No one." Shu Hui put the photo away neatly, "Get ready to go to prison."

She had no choice, as there were more important things to report to Shu Hui.

"Mom, um... am I supposed to go to the prison for an interview today?" She was pondering how to say it.

"Yes, I know."

"Someone’s going with me. The newspaper’s text reporter."

"Hmm." Naturally, Shu Hui packed up quickly and turned around to see her still dawdling, "Why aren’t you changing clothes yet? If you keep dawdling, it’ll be late!"

"..." Didn’t she have something to say?

"Hurry up!"

"..." Okay, okay, so be it. She added one last thing, "It’s the Mr. Su I mentioned before."

"Got it." Shu Hui indicated.

Tu Hengsha went to change clothes, thinking she might see her father and put on a little light makeup.

As she helped her mom downstairs, Ronggui arrived first and politely greeted, "Good morning, Auntie."

"Xiao Xu!" Tu Hengsha happily waved and said, "Mom, this is my colleague from the newspaper."

Shu Hui smiled and nodded, "Good young man."

"Auntie, please get in the car." Ronggui invited Shu Hui and her daughter into the car.

At Shu Hui’s age, she had a common ailment of being delighted when she met a handsome young man. Once in the car, she started asking questions like, how old is the young man? How many people in the family? How old are your siblings? Are the elderly at home healthy?

Tu Hengsha felt embarrassed listening and quietly tugged at Shu Hui’s clothes, "Mom, are you checking his household register?"

Shu Hui smiled, "Young man, come over to our house more often."

"Okay!" Ronggui readily agreed, earning a glare from Tu Hengsha.

The three arrived at the prison, with Ronggui and Tu Hengsha presenting their press credentials, while Shu Hui entered as the prisoner’s family member.

While waiting for Tu Chenggong to come out, Tu Hengsha held Shu Hui’s hand, feeling that both their palms were nervous and sweaty.

Suddenly, her other hand felt warm, enveloped by a large hand.

Realizing her mom was nearby, she hurriedly pulled her hand back, giving him another glare.

Just then, a prison guard came out to inform them that Tu Chenggong was unwilling to see them.

Tu Hengsha felt that the fingers tightly clasped around her hand went slack.

"Then... is he okay?" Shu Hui seemed to collapse and leaned helplessly against Tu Hengsha.

"He’s doing well, in good health, and follows the rules, actively reforming," said the prison officer.

"That’s good... as long as he’s well..." The tension in Shu Hui’s eyes vanished, and she nodded slowly, telling Tu Hengsha, "Then I’ll head back first."

"Mom, are you going back alone?" Tu Hengsha felt quite uneasy.

"It’s fine, I’m not a child, nor too old to walk. I’ll go back slowly on my own; you focus on your work." Shu Hui smiled slightly, tears at the corner of her eyes.

"Mom, be careful."

"Don’t worry about it."

Shu Hui didn’t get to see Tu Chenggong, but Tu Hengsha eventually did.

That was after interviewing during the family-visiting scene, after witnessing prisoners and families either crying or holding hands and sobbing, when Tu Hengsha and Ronggui came to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with the prisoners in the large activity room.

The prison officer pointed someone out to her, "That’s Tu Chenggong."

Tu Hengsha watched from a distance, unable to connect the thin, bent, gray-haired man in prison uniform with any father she had imagined.

At fifty-five, he looked so old.

Out of the corner of her eye, she scanned Ronggui beside her and instinctively felt inferior, shuffling a step to the side, as Su Zhen’s image flashed before her.

Su Zhen, at fifty-nine, still had black hair and beard, a straight waist, a hearty laugh, noble and graceful in every gesture.

She stood at one end of the activity room, and Tu Chenggong at the other, separated by about ten meters.

She couldn’t step closer to him.

She thought, perhaps this was a lifetime’s distance.

But she couldn’t calm her mind any longer. That thin, bent figure constantly pulled her gaze and distressed her heart.

She was lost in contemplation, capturing photos and videos, almost tripping over a wire once, saved from disaster by a prison guard holding her up.

"Can you handle it? If not, I’ll take over." Ronggui, who had been interviewing and writing, came over to ask.

She shook her head, collected herself, and started pushing the camera again.

Half avoiding, half drawn, she ended up bumping into him near the interview’s end.

She stood right behind him.

She could clearly see the roots of his white hair and smell the ointment on him. Her heart tightened. Why the ointment? Was he hurt?

She opened her mouth but couldn’t utter a word.

She stood there, watching him walk away, soon to be out of her sight. Her mouth agape, her throat hurt, but she still couldn’t call out.