CHAPTER 288: CHAPTER 278 WANT TO ESCAPE

Su Rongxing only wrote three words in his post, "Him and me."

Tu Hengsha was completely shocked while holding her phone.

Shu Hui returned and sat down.

Tu Hengsha quickly closed the Weibo app.

Gradually, applause sounded in the concert hall, and on the stage, the musicians slowly took their seats.

The Vienna Mozart Orchestra musicians, dressed in Baroque period costumes, played original pieces from the Mozart Era. Yet, Tu Hengsha didn’t appreciate their performance at all. The music became a chaotic, monotonous background noise to her, with each combination of notes sounding identical. She didn’t even want to look at the stage, because whenever she did, her gaze inevitably fell on those two people in the front row, making her heart feel tightly constricted and uncomfortable.

She didn’t know how she spent the evening, feeling muddled and unaware of the intermission or the end. Shu Hui tugged her arm, "Aren’t you leaving?"

Only then did she realize that everyone was leaving the hall.

She stood up, and the two people in the front row did too. Su Rongxing put on his coat, linked arms with Su Ronggui, and walked towards the exit.

"Mom, let’s go." She also linked arms with Shu Hui and left through the second-floor exit. By the time they reached the outside, there was no sign of those two.

She called a car, and the mother and daughter went home together. In the car, she still wore a cheerful expression and asked Shu Hui, "Mom, did you have a good time tonight?"

Except for feeling a bit guilty about the money spent, Shu Hui was genuinely happy. Her daughter was so filial, and she couldn’t dampen her spirits, so she smiled and patted her hand, "Yes, I enjoyed it."

Tu Hengsha smiled, leaning on her mom’s shoulder, just as long as you’re happy...

Upon returning home, she chatted with her mom for a while before going to bed.

Lying in bed, the images from the concert hall kept replaying in her mind. She felt a bit silly, yet she picked up her phone to check Su Rongxing’s Weibo again, only to find that his previous post had been deleted. Instead, there was another post, with the same photo and text, but now Su Ronggui’s face in the photo was covered with a cat sticker, making it unrecognizable.

What game were they playing?

Just then, her phone vibrated twice, and a message from Su Ronggui came in.

Her heart was actually tightly wound, and this sudden message made it tremble slightly.

He asked her, "Asleep yet, babe?"

He had never been so mushy before...

Tu Hengsha looked at the word "babe" and imagined it coming out of his mouth. It felt very uncharacteristic. Was this a sign of guilt?

She wasn’t exactly a highly emotional person, yet this was a time when she should have been more emotional.

She pretended not to know anything and replied, "No."

How did you spend today? He sent another message.

Then, she lied, "Stayed home and watched TV with Mom."

Oh? Didn’t go to the concert? He questioned further.

She responded in a deliberately relaxed tone, "If you weren’t going, why would I bother?"

He then replied with a smile, "You could’ve gone with Aunt Shu!"

What she really thought was, do you really wish I had gone?

But she didn’t respond that way. Instead, she replied, "What about you? What kept you busy today?"

After she sent it, she felt a bit nervous. She didn’t know what kind of answer she expected from him. However, he didn’t keep her waiting long. His reply came quickly, "I was at home helping Su Rongcheng."

Her heart suddenly sank, her fingertips went numb, and the phone slipped from her hand onto the bed.

At that moment, she understood what she wished to see. She would rather have him clearly and directly tell her that he was with Su Rongxing, attending the concert, just like before when he recorded her fingerprint on his phone, showing her all his conversations with Su Rongxing, open and truthful...

Why did he have to deceive her?

The phone still vibrated, but she didn’t want to continue the conversation. She sent a message saying, "I’m tired and want to sleep," then tossed the phone aside.

There was no holiday for New Year’s Day, as she was going out on news assignments with Hao Ren, being on the run all day. Not seeing Su Ronggui at the newspaper office was just as well, because temporarily she didn’t want to see him, nor question him about anything.

After New Year’s Day, it was a new year.

There was news circulating at the office: Su Rongxing had resigned and would no longer be working at the paper from this month.

This stirred all sorts of discussions. Some said that a young lady didn’t need to suffer like this. Others commented that the Su family had already collapsed, and everyone knew Su Zhen’s murder suspicion arrest. Some, with a gossipful gleam in their eyes, glanced repeatedly at Tu Hengsha without saying a word.

What rumors could they speak about right in front of her? She did hear some whispers eventually—it was about how Su Ronggui had dumped her to return to the Su family, back to Su Rongxing’s side. The reason being, of course, known by everyone, that the downfall of the Su family was thanks to her.

Yet, the main character in these rumors—Mr. Su Ronggui—gave her no explanations and didn’t even appear in front of her.

On the first formal workday after New Year’s Day, she was dispatched on an assignment, scheduled for a week.

After Chen Qi left, the new director of the photography department was a man named Director Deng. Tu Hengsha went to ask him, "Didn’t I have a local meeting to attend tomorrow? With this week-long trip, what’ll happen to my work tomorrow?"

Director Deng just waved it off, "Relax, someone else has been rescheduled for that meeting."

She had nothing to say, but she didn’t expect that she would be traveling with Hao Ren again.

"Pack up, we’ll leave at noon!" Hao Ren said.

"Alright!" She found it strange, "Seriously, why wasn’t I informed earlier? Just started work, and I’m already being sent out again!"

"A last-minute decision!"

The two of them headed downstairs. At the entrance, she saw Su Ronggui’s car.

Her head lowered instantly, but she couldn’t just run away.

Walking with her head down, she saw a pair of men’s dress shoes come to a stop before Hao Ren and her.

"Heading out?" A familiar voice asked.

"Yeah." She wasn’t sure why she felt like hiding; she hadn’t been meeting any men behind his back!

She then lifted her head, acting as if everything was normal, meeting his gaze, and beside her, Hao Ren had suddenly vanished! How like him!

"Take care out there."

He still smiled at her warmly, as if nothing had happened, as if everything from last night was just a dream.

"Okay." She smiled too.

"Go on, then." He said.

Just like that?

She smiled again, "Alright, goodbye."

Passing by him.

"Little Sha!" He called after her.

She turned back, seeing him frowning slightly, "Anything else?"

He sighed, "Why say goodbye so formally? It sounds odd!"

Really?

"Then... bye-bye?" She still smiled.

He came up, giving her a gentle hug, "Go on, now."

His freshly shaved face carried that familiar scent of green grass, yet for the first time, she wanted to escape from that scent.