"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 ?" 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 , will you still like ?"
He couldn’t hold it any longer and laughed, flicking her nose, "You’re really shaless!"
"Tell ! Tell !" She persisted, not feeling it was shaless at all, as children often asked adults, "Do you still like ?"
He sighed, amused, "Of course, now go change your clothes!"
"Okay! I’m going!" She ca 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 ! 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 so ssy books on the desk, there was nothing unusual.
"It’s nothing, just rembered so 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 ho.
"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."
"Soone’s going with . 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 sothing to say?
"Hurry up!"
"..." Okay, okay, so be it. She added one last thing, "It’s the Mr. Su I ntioned 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 ailnt of being delighted when she t a handso 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 ho 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, co 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 mber.
While waiting for Tu Chenggong to co 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 ca 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 seed 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 ca to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with the prisoners in the large activity room.
The prison officer pointed soone 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 ters.
She couldn’t step closer to him.
She thought, perhaps this was a lifeti’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, ca over to ask.
She shook her head, collected herself, and started pushing the cara 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 sll the ointnt on him. Her heart tightened. Why the ointnt? 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.
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