Mr. Su's Love Investigation Report
Chapter 42 Once Upon a Time

Chapter 42: Chapter 42 Once Upon a Time

She wanted to speak, but she remembered. However, there was no longer any need to open her mouth; the sound of his departing footsteps was steady and firm, just like his indifferent and emotionless gaze that would not linger on her—this strange woman who was nothing but a stranger outside of work.

She stood there, dazed, but suddenly smiled, though her eyes felt a bit sore.

The whole afternoon, her mood was somewhat low. When it was time to leave, she quietly packed her things alone and left the newspaper office. As she reached downstairs, the elevator doors opened, and Su Ronggui and Su Rongxing came out. She quickly dodged to the side, hiding. At the time, she really did not want to see him. Yet she heard Su Rongxing ask, "Su Ronggui, do you seem a bit familiar with the new photography journalist in the newspaper?"

"Not familiar." A brief and cold answer.

"Then how come she gave you zongzi?" Su Rongxing was still brooding over the zongzi incident from the morning.

"I don’t know."

"Could it be that she...fell for you after one mission together?"

Hearing this, Tu Hengsha instinctively gripped the stairway door frame.

"I don’t know. It has nothing to do with me." His response was hard, like a stone.

"...Does she like him?" She never really thought about this question herself, but his answer made her feel as if something was sinking inside her, continuously sinking. Even if he had hesitated, thought about it a bit, it would be better than saying so directly, "It has nothing to do with me." How much did he have to dislike her to distance himself with every sentence?

Her heart ached with discomfort, but she found it funny. Her little savior, whom she had cherished for twenty years, actually disliked her so much.

Well, then let it be...

There was a very special drawer in her room’s desk. It was special because it contained things she considered precious.

That night, she locked herself in the room, opened the drawer, and organized the items one by one.

This piece of transparent plastic wrapping was from the Bangbangtang he left by her sickbed when she was five years old. She ate the candy in four portions, but never discarded this paper.

This button was picked up in first grade, when she discovered for the first time that he was her schoolmate. Excitedly chasing after him, she didn’t catch up but found this button, fallen from his school uniform.

These comic books, thrown by him into the school trash can, were retrieved by her and taken home; they still had his name written on them.

This small box of crayons was left from a school activity where representatives from each class painted a long scroll. She and he were both selected, but being from different grades, they were far apart. After finishing her painting and running to find him, he had already walked far away. She only saw him from a distance, throwing something into the dustbin. She rummaged through it again and found a box of crayons with his name, which she took home.

For several years in the same school, she never got a chance to know him, only followed behind him picking up trash for years, filling this drawer with various things.

The last time she picked up trash was in the grove behind the school, watching him write "Xiao Xu" all over the ground, then picking up his abandoned school bag and taking it home. The books, notebooks, pencil case, and various other items inside became her "property."

Her life over the past twenty years had not been easy. After turning five years old, her father was absent, leaving her with a chronic illness. Her mother fell into depression for a long time after her father was imprisoned. Between her and Mom, it was the sick taking care of the sick. At a young age, she quickly learned independence, cooking, boiling water, and washing clothes, growing clumsily and rapidly.