Mr. Su's Love Investigation Report
Chapter 36 Distance

Chapter 36: Chapter 36 Distance

Su Zhen’s study door was closed. Su Ronggui was about to knock when Su Rongxing pushed the door open and bounced in, "Dad, Su Ronggui is back!"

Su Zhen, who was in his fifties, maintained himself well. His hair was jet black, and his figure had not plumped up, making him appear no older than his forties. He was focused on the computer screen but smiled indulgently upon seeing his daughter enter, "No manners! Not knocking! And forgetting to address your brother!" While it sounded like a reprimand, it was more of an indulgence.

"Dad—" Su Rongxing circled behind Su Zhen’s chair, wrapping her arms around his neck, "Calling him brother feels too distant!"

Su Zhen chuckled, "Nonsense! Is calling him brother more distant than calling him by his full name? People will laugh at you!"

"Dad—" the word dragged on with eighteen turns, "I don’t care! I love calling him this way!"

Su Ronggui stepped inside, smiling, "Dad, it’s fine, calling me by my name is good."

Su Zhen’s gaze rested on his face as he nodded, "You’ve worked hard. Get some rest early."

"Okay, thanks, Dad. I’ll head to my room then." There was about a two-meter gap between him and Su Zhen’s desk, and this was the distance between him and Su Zhen since he entered the Su family, never closing in.

"Go on. Let your mom prepare something to eat for you."

"Okay, thank you, Dad." He turned around, hearing Su Zhen’s amused voice chiding from behind, "You little girl! It’s only because Ronggui spoils you that he doesn’t argue with you!"

He silently returned to his room, closed the door, and threw himself onto the bed. Feeling somewhat exhausted, the soft mattress couldn’t ease his tiredness. He closed his eyes, and the conversation he had with his mother when he first started working echoed in his ears, "Mom, I’ve started working, the company is far, and I want to move out to be closer to work."

"No way! It’s already unreasonable that you refuse to work at the family company! And moving out, what will people think? Your identity in this family is sensitive as it is. Any improper behavior invites speculation from everyone, even the media. If they say your stepfather mistreats you, how will you make your dad feel embarrassed? How will your mom stand firm in this house?"

He felt short of breath, habitually went to tug at a tie but realized he was wearing a T-shirt, with no tie in sight.

He took a deep breath as a knocking sound came from the door.

He got up and opened the door. The steaming aroma of noodles first hit him, followed by Su Rongxing’s smiling face.

"Take it quickly, it’s burning my hands!" Su Rongxing said.

He quickly took it and turned to place it on the table, "Why did you bring it up for me? I could have gone downstairs to eat!"

Su Rongxing blew on her fingers and laughed, "I wanted to! Is that not okay? Just eat already!"

"Okay! Of course, it’s okay!" He sat down on the chair.

"Su Ronggui..." Su Rongxing sat on his bed, kicked off her slippers, and swung her bare feet, "I really like the gift you gave me!"

Su Ronggui. Su Rongxing never called him brother—since the first day he came to the Su family, she refused and didn’t even acknowledge his surname as Su for a long time.

His surname wasn’t Su but Xu. Only, that was a long, long time ago, so long that many had forgotten, so long that even he had grown numb, but unexpectedly, there was someone in the world who remembered.

Xiao Xu. Those four words were like the wind, peeling back the thick, damp leaves of the rainy season layer by layer, revealing the nearly decayed smell of the soil underneath. The door he thought had closed along with the buried childhood puppy opened once more. That day, in the small forest behind the school, he wrote "Xiao Xu" all over the ground because from that day on, he would no longer bear the Xu surname...

"Su Ronggui!" An affectionate shout interrupted his thoughts again.

His train of thought was broken, "Hmm?"

"I was talking to you!"

"I’m listening!" He smiled slightly, his gaze gentle.

"Look, my fingers are all red from bringing you the noodles!"

A pair of tender hands stretched under his nose, and indeed, a few fingertips were red.

Smiling again, he gently blew on them. When had the little girl who once stood on the Su family stairs, arrogantly asking him to get out, changed so much?