She still didn’t believe it was him who made this matter known to everyone. Since Su Rongxing knew about it, it could only be Su Rongxing spreading it around. But Su Rongxing could only have learned from him, right?
Faintly, she heard his voice: "Now everyone at the newspaper knows. Was it you who told them?"
Then Su Rongxing replied: "Yes! Why not say it? I didn’t say anything wrong, did I? I heard it directly from you this ti; I wasn’t exaggerating or spreading rumors, was I?"
She held onto a last hope to hear what he would say, but he remained silent.
She smiled bitterly, as expected, just as she thought...
She didn’t move forward, didn’t appear before them, turned on her heel towards the stairs, and rushed downstairs. If asked where she was going, she truly didn’t know, but at that mont, every person in this building was soone she didn’t want to et.
Her heart, strangely enough, no longer hurt; it felt numb, or perhaps liberated.
Reaching the extremity of pain is liberation, right?
The little girl who once fiercely threw a bottle of ink at her "good friend" would never appear again. Whatever happened among them, whether intentional or deliberate, was not so important.
Betrayal was inevitable. Or perhaps it wasn’t even betrayal; what right did she have to demand loyalty?
She didn’t deserve it.
By the ti she reached the first floor, her phone vibrated.
She glanced down, recognizing the number. During the three days she disappeared, there were missed calls from this number, but it wasn’t in her contacts.
Who was it?
She answered, and a woman’s voice ca through from the other side, "Is this Tu Hengsha?"
"Yes."
"Finally answered your phone."
"May I ask who is speaking?" She found the voice sowhat familiar but couldn’t quite recall where she’d heard it before.
"This is... Shang Qingi." The voice on the other end was cold and hard.
Shang Qingi? At first, the na confused her, but then she imdiately rembered - Shang Qingi, Su Zhen’s wife, and thus Su Ronggui’s mother.
"Also known as Su Ronggui’s mother," Shang Qingi stated over the phone.
"I know." This phone call from Shang Qingi was sowhat unexpected, yet it should have been anticipated.
"I called you for one reason only. Our family’s Ronggui will never possibly marry you; don’t indulge in wild fantasies. I won’t allow you to enter our house - it will never happen! I hope you rember who you are, the daughter of a murderer. How do you have the face to seduce our family’s Ronggui? I also hope you know your place, from now on, keep to yourself, and stop playing tricks! If you continue shalessly indulging in fantasies, go ask your mother how she taught you! Is there any person who would allow the daughter of her husband’s killer to enter the house as a daughter-in-law? Use your stupid head and think it over, in any family, no matter how advanced civilization becos, it’s impossible! Even if I die, it’s impossible!"
With that, Shang Qingi hung up, making that call purely to inform her of this fact without waiting for her response.
She stood in the hall, the echo still rumbling in her ears: Is there any person who would allow the daughter of her husband’s killer to enter as a daughter-in-law... Even if I die, it’s impossible! Impossible... Impossible...
She exhaled, staring at the phone screen, silently replying to Shang Qingi’s number: Rest assured! I won’t either! Then, she directly blocked Shang Qingi’s number and furthermore, blocked all numbers and contacts from those people.
She touched her cheek; even the tears had dried.
"Tu Hengsha!" soone called her na, quite sternly.
Chen Qi...
She stood upright, "Director Chen."
"I’ve never seen such a request for leave like yours. You left your work just like that, and even requested leave without a reason! Didn’t I tell you on your first day here? Chenjiang is no easy place to stay! Do you not want to work here anymore? If you can’t endure hardships, then go back!"
At that mont, a voice inside Tu Hengsha’s heart was distinctly answering: Then I should just quit...
But she couldn’t bring herself to say those words out loud; she only said, "Director Chen, I don’t want to work on the prison criminal psychology investigation anymore..."
"Do you think you have the privilege to pick and choose?" Chen Qi was even angrier.
She said nothing further, but planned that if Chen Qi didn’t agree, she’d seriously consider resigning.
"If you really don’t want to do it, there are plenty of people who do!" Chen Qi scowled as he walked past her, "Then go with Hao Ren to follow that murder case!"
"Okay." she said with her head down.
After Chen Qi left, she hesitated on the spot, realizing that until she left Chenjiang, she still had to go upstairs, but the editing and reporting platform upstairs seed like a giant beast, opening its blood-red mouth, challenging her courage.
She recalled various monts from the past. How did that little girl she used to be traverse through crowds step by step with such courage?
If it was before, she might not have figured it out, but now the answer was clear - she just didn’t care.
Because she didn’t care, she was fearless.
She sighed, but then saw Hao Ren coming downstairs, exhaling when he saw her, his tense face visibly relaxing.
"Co on, grab the equipnt! Let’s get started!" He waved.
She nodded, lowered her head, and her steps were hesitant.
"Hey! You there!" Hao Ren suddenly grabbed her sleeve, yanking her into the elevator with big strides, "Why the dispirited look? Did you kill soone? Did you commit a cri? In this era, do we still practice collective punishnt? Keep your head up, chest out! Curl up your lips! Shout out loud with !"
"..." Tu Hengsha’s head ached, forcibly straightened by Hao Ren.
"Look at ! Say it! None of my business! None of your business!"
"..."
"Say it!"
She was forced by Hao Ren’s aggressive gaze and wanted to lower her head again
Hao Ren unexpectedly grabbed her hair and pulled it back, "Don’t lower your head! Look and speak! Say it!"
"Ah! It hurts!" She reached out to protect her hair.
"If it hurts, say it louder!"
She got angry too, blurting out, "None of your business!"
He let go of her, "Well said!"
"..." What she said was "None of your business," wasn’t it? Hao Ren! None of your business!
"Co on! Say it again, but face outside!" He held her shoulders and turned her body around.
The elevator doors were still tightly shut. She closed her eyes and shouted at the doors, "None of my business—none of your business—none of my business—none of your business—none of your business—"
The elevator doors opened, and outside stood Su Ronggui and Su Rongxing.
She even saw his eyes flash as though his pupils contracted.
At that mont, she felt as if a miracle had happened. She astonishingly found it easier than she imagined to walk past those two, just as Hao Ren had urged, keeping her head high and chest out, all the way to the newsroom platform.
After collecting the equipnt and coming out, the Su siblings then entered from outside. The four of them brushed shoulders once again, she caught a faint scent of green grass with her nose, slightly pungent, still making her nose feel a stinging sensation...
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