CHAPTER 292: CHAPTER 282: DOES IT HURT?

Su Rongxing and Su Ronggui’s engagement party, everyone seemed to know, but no one received an invitation.

Someone said, "Would they really have the nerve to send us invitations? After all, everyone knows about the grudges between them, even the Su family would want to save face, right? They have to keep it low-key."

Was this taking Tu Hengsha’s side?

Someone else said, "They probably wanted to keep it from us! As for keeping it low-key, Su Rongxing’s personality! She can’t wait to announce it to the world! She keeps it from the newsroom, but posts on social media for everyone to see nationwide, is that low-key?"

So, Tu Hengsha just couldn’t help herself again...

That’s right, she went to click on Su Rongxing’s social media.

The latest post was about her engagement party with Su Ronggui, accompanied by three pictures. The first was the invitation, clearly stating the time and place for their engagement party. Her name was prominently on the card; Su Ronggui’s name was pixelated, leaving only the character "Gui." The second picture was of a pair of hands clasped together; the third was a selfie of Su Rongxing resting her chin on someone’s shoulder, showing her full face and the back of someone else.

These days, the social media style was all like this, pure selfies of her with Su Ronggui, but in each one, it was her full face while Su Ronggui was only partially visible. There were full-body photos, but Su Ronggui’s face would always be obscured. The accompanying text was all affectionate and sentimental.

She found it a bit cheesy, and a bit disgusting.

"Stop looking, the sooner you finish the sooner you can go home, I’m exhausted," Hao Ren urged her.

"Okay." She closed the social media app and focused entirely on her work.

She finished before Hao Ren and yawned while helping a colleague proofread the newspaper for the next morning.

Hao Ren suggested she leave first, "Aren’t you tired from being away for a week? You should go back first!"

Everyone else also encouraged her to leave first.

Business trips are exhausting by nature; she was indeed tired and didn’t decline everyone’s kindness.

Today, the lobby seemed to always have unexpected people appearing. As she yawned her way downstairs, a certain someone was pacing back and forth in the newsroom lobby, quite conspicuous and looking very anxious.

As soon as the elevator door chimed open, he looked up and saw her, immediately coming forward to meet her.

She moved left, he moved left. She moved right, he blocked right.

"What do you want?" She stopped, standing face to face with him. Once a person as calm as a quiet bamboo grove now had bruises on their face, fallen into the dust, familiar yet unfamiliar.

"I have something to say to you."

"Are you here to break up with me?" She stood tall, "Go ahead, I’ve been waiting for this."

"No..."

"Then there’s no need to speak!" Su Rongxing’s social media already told her everything. She moved left again, and as he blocked her again, she kicked him in the knee, pushed him hard, and forced her way past.

Fewer cars on the road at night, his was parked not in the parking lot but at a spot outside the newsroom.

To get to the subway station or catch a ride, she would have to walk past his car.

Without looking back, she walked on. However, just as she was about to pass his car, she heard him shout loudly from behind, "Little Sha! Move away!"

She had no idea what was happening when suddenly she was pulled back and pushed to the ground. At the same time, there was a thunderous explosion followed by the sound of glass shattering everywhere.

The air filled with the thick smell of gunpowder, followed by an even bigger explosion, heat waves swept around, and thick smoke billowed.

Su Ronggui was on top of her, pressing her firmly from head to toe. The explosion left her ears ringing, his voice seemed to come from the sky, "Are you okay?"

She shook her head, trying to shake off the ringing in her ears, but he frantically flipped her over, "Little Sha! Are you okay? Are you hurt? Talk to me!"

She was stunned, staring at his smoke-blackened face almost distorted, instinctively shaking her head.

He touched her all over, finding nothing wrong, breathed a sigh of relief, and asked her, "Are you in pain? Anywhere hurts?"

She shook her head again.

He pressed a forceful kiss on her forehead, helping her up, dragging her inside, far from the entrance. Security guards and newsroom colleagues, including Hao Ren, rushed over after hearing the explosion.

Su Ronggui pushed her towards Hao Ren, "Take care of her! Also, don’t go home tonight, rest at the newsroom!"

After saying this, he dashed out into the night.

She didn’t even have time to ask: Where are you going?

"What happened?" everyone asked her.

She didn’t know what had happened, all she remembered was that loud explosion. Was it a bomb? She looked at the car outside the newsroom, now a burning fireball with thick smoke blooming, just thankful that no other cars were parked nearby at night,

But no one knew if there were more dangers in the car bomb, everyone retreated further away, and the security reported it to the police.

The police arrived quickly, along with the bomb squad and firefighters.

They extinguished the fire and investigated, confirming that the explosion was indeed a bomb, and it was a homemade one. Its power wasn’t great, but it caused the car’s gas tank to explode, and if someone had been inside, the results would be unimaginable.

By the time the fire department and police were done, it was already midnight. Tu Hengsha didn’t go home; she returned to the editing platform to rest.

Sitting in a chair, there was always a booming sound in her ears, the air seemed perpetually filled with the smell of gunpowder, not dispersing for a long time. The burning, smoking car constantly flashed before her eyes.

If Su Ronggui hadn’t pulled her back...

She shivered.

But who wanted to kill her? Oh, no, they wanted to kill Su Ronggui, didn’t they? Why would they want to kill him?

She thought hard all night, unable to sleep.

In the end, exhausted to the extreme, she inexplicably blurted out a sigh: His car, none of them had a good ending. His previous one, sent for repair after being wrecked, hadn’t been picked up yet, and this one, inherited from the Su family days, was now ruined too.

The explosion that happened just outside had not been reported by Chenjiang Newspaper, and the work order the next day operated as usual, only with an undercurrent of tension, everyone moving carefully between workstations, every pair of eyes scanning like radars over every corner they passed.

And so it was, that until evening, all was peaceful and safe.

Su Rongxing’s engagement party was set to start at 6:48 PM.

Tu Hengsha opened social media again, and as expected, Su Rongxing had already posted photos of the engagement venue, a selfie in her engagement dress, and a large engagement ring.

The caption was literary too: From today on, and for the rest of my life, I’ll be with you.

It seemed the previous night’s explosion hadn’t affected the couple’s engagement, meaning that the person who ran out the night before hadn’t been blown up.

Hao Ren, who also hadn’t left, asked her, "What’s going on with you two anyway?"

She shook her head; she wished someone would tell her what was going on.

"Seems like he’s aware of the danger himself. During the week we were away, every night, he’d call me, asking what you were doing," Hao Ren sighed.

Tu Hengsha focused her gaze on Hao Ren’s face, "Are you saying, our business trip was deliberate?"