Mr. Su's Love Investigation Report
Chapter 119: Walk a While

Chapter 119: Chapter 119: Walk a While

Tu Hengsha laughed, "Grandma, then I’ll often accompany you to the movies! I often go with my mom! Grandma, next time I’ll introduce my mom to you, okay? Then the three of us can hang out together! When I’m not busy, I even go hiking and foraging for wild vegetables with my mom!"

"Oh, that sounds great!" Grandma was overjoyed. "I used to love foraging for wild vegetables too! I make delicious wild vegetable rice! I’m from the south, and when I was young, every spring around Qingming, the wild mugwort by the little rivers would be so lush. We’d pick it, wash it, press out the juice, mix it with glutinous rice, and then add cured meat, dried tofu, peanuts. It must be steamed. Oh my, when I steam that rice, the whole alley smells fragrant. Your grandpa loved it! Next spring, I’ll find some wild mugwort and make it for you! It has to be wild to taste good!"

"Sure, Grandma, when the time comes, I’ll go with you..."

Ronggui stayed silent but listened carefully to every word. At first, feeling a bit sour when she chatted happily with Grandma, he felt he hadn’t done enough for his lonely grandma after grandpa passed. But when he heard her wanting to introduce her mom to Grandma, he chuckled at first, but then frowned, as if struck by some thought.

Tu Hengsha didn’t expect Gugu to be so inept! He didn’t know how to buy movie tickets, nor how to collect online tickets! She ran all the errands to watch a movie! When she returned with two tubs of popcorn to Grandma, Grandma lovingly touched her face, "My Gugu is so clumsy, poor girl has worked hard all day; in the future, teach him a bit."

"No worries, Grandma!" Embarrassed by Grandma’s comment, she couldn’t bring herself to make fun of Mr. Su anymore.

In the cinema, Grandma Xu sat in the middle, flanked by Tu Hengsha on one side and Su Ronggui on the other, watching a comedy. Grandma Xu laughed nonstop throughout, and even the usually reserved Su Ronggui cracked a few smiles. However, recalling Grandma’s words earlier, a thought nagged at him: Grandma hadn’t laughed like this in years...

Tu Hengsha was the silliest of them all, collapsing onto Grandma’s shoulder several times with laughter, and each time, Grandma would fondly pat her face, clearly doting on her.

When they left the cinema, Tu Hengsha and Grandma’s faces were both flushed red.

Grandma checked the time, "Oh dear, we must hurry home to cook. You all eat quickly and head back early because you work tomorrow!"

"No need to cook; let’s eat out," Su Ronggui suggested. "There’s a nice restaurant not far from here."

The restaurant Su Ronggui mentioned was an old establishment, remodeled to resemble Grandma’s alley courtyard with an antique charm.

Grandma was quite surprised, "This place is still open!"

"Grandma, have you been here before?" Tu Hengsha looked eager to hear stories. She loved listening to the older generation, always finding their tales intriguing, much like when she was at Grandpa Pang’s dumpling stall, where she believed every three sentences from the elders carried a story, making it all so interesting.

"Been!" Grandma took in the surroundings, "Back then when Grandpa Gugu would ask me out to dinner, we often came here. Gugu’s parents got engaged here too..."

At this point, perhaps recalling her son had passed, and the daughter-in-law had remarried, now was not a moment she preferred to remember, so she stopped. While losing loved ones and changing circumstances was sad, the old woman didn’t want her feelings to negatively affect the two young people; she smiled and began to introduce the restaurant’s history to Tu Hengsha, "I heard the ancestors were from the Imperial Household Department..."

"Grandma, I didn’t know any of this! You never told me!" Ronggui found it strange. The girl, on the other hand, seemed to get along really well with the elderly, coaxing Grandma into sharing everything.

Grandma shot him a glance, "You? Even if hit three times with a stick, there’s no sound. How could I tell you? Chats flow naturally when people connect. With you, I can’t even have a conversation beyond one sentence!"

Tu Hengsha couldn’t hold back her laughter, "Exactly, Grandma, he’s a conversation killer!"

The conversation killer decided not to interrupt the congenial chat between the old and the young, remaining a listener, and serving them with one hand as needed.

When the food arrived, Ronggui put on a stern face, tapping away the chopsticks Tu Hengsha was about to use to pick her food.

"What are you doing?" Tu Hengsha glared, wondering if he was going to make her run errands again. This was a restaurant!

"Medicine, did you bring it?"

"..." Tu Hengsha immediately deflated. "I... thought we’d get home early and planned to take it there."

"How can you always be so scatterbrained?"

"..." There it was, Mr. Su scolding her again. This time, she had indeed been careless, leaving no room to argue back...

Grandma quickly intervened, "It’s okay; she can take it at home too. Grandma will call her to remind her."

"Grandma, don’t indulge her! How old is she to need you reminding her to take medicine? She’s over twenty! I really don’t know how she grew this old!"

"I take it, okay? Over twenty, I’ve grown up myself! Nothing’s happened in over twenty years..." she whispered.

"Nothing’s happened? This isn’t a big deal? How many lives do you have to waste? Don’t forget, you’ve already used up two of your chances, which I retrieved for you! Your life is practically mine now! You have no right to squander it! Please cherish it!"

Mr. Su had already put down his chopsticks; clearly, he was gearing up for a lengthy lecture.

"..." Hitting the sore spot, as he indeed saved her life twice. When it came to life and death, he truly had the right to speak! She couldn’t understand why it was so hard to have a casual chat with him, while when it came to reprimanding, he could be so eloquent?

"Remember to take it when you get home! I’ll call to check tonight!"

Finally, he let her off the hook.

She breathed a sigh of relief, stuck her tongue out playfully at Grandma.

Grandma chuckled at her antics, allowing the meal to continue.

By the time they returned to the alley after dinner, the moon had risen. Grandma didn’t keep them long, simply holding Tu Hengsha’s hand and smiling, "What a delightful girl, Grandma really wishes she could keep you as her granddaughter."

"Grandma, I already am your granddaughter! My life... well, he already said it’s his..." She gestured to her mouth and winked.

Grandma laughed aloud, "Silly child! Yes, you’re Grandma’s granddaughter now!"

"Grandma, you’re tired today, we’ll head off. We’ll come by again next week." Su Ronggui said.

"You are busy. Don’t fret about visiting me; knowing you’re well makes me happy." Grandma released Tu Hengsha’s hand.

"See you next week. She said she’d cook noodles; next week she’ll cook for us." Su Ronggui spoke, simply referring to her as "she" without naming names, in a manner that carried a peculiar awkwardness.

Tu Hengsha didn’t mind, nodding enthusiastically.

Grandma laughed, "Alright, next week Grandma will wait for you both."

Su Ronggui hadn’t driven over due to an injury to his hand, but the weather was pleasant, the moon bright, and the heat of the day had faded. With a gentle night breeze, there was a faint scent of Cobaea in the air.

"Let’s walk a bit," he suggested.