Chapter 81 Expressing One's Feelings
"Don't move!" Gu Ming's voice trembled. "It's still collapsing inside. Going in now is suicide! I've already called for emergency medical services and the police. Wait a little longer!"
Su Xiao couldn't listen to anything. Tears mixed with snow water streamed down her face as she looked at the ruins, her mind filled with images of Xu Bozhou.
The tenderness with which he handed her hot ginger tea, the warmth with which he held her on her birthday night, the determination with which he said, "Wait for me to come out."
How could she let anything happen to him? How could she?
Just as she was about to break down, a faint sound suddenly came from the ruins.
Gu Ming's eyes lit up, and he immediately shouted, "Someone's here!"
He released Su Xiao, took out his phone to shine a light, and asked, "Xu Bozhou! Where are you?"
“Here…” a faint, slightly hoarse voice came from here.
Su Xiao immediately got up and stumbled over to see Xu Bozhou crawling out from under a pile of wood. His suit was ripped and blood was still flowing from his forehead, but he was tightly clutching a painting tube in his hand.
It was stolen from the warehouse.
"Xu Bozhou!" Su Xiao rushed over, hugged his arm, and couldn't stop the tears from flowing.
"How are you? Are you alright? Where does it hurt?"
She reached out to touch his forehead, but he dodged her hand.
"I'm fine."
Xu Bozhou smiled, his voice weak but reassuring.
"It's just a minor abrasion, nothing serious."
He handed her the painting tube.
“There should be something left by your father in here. I saw it says ‘To Xiaoxiao’ on it.”
Su Xiao took the painting tube, her fingers trembling from the force. She opened the tube, inside which lay a yellowed diary and an ancient painting scroll.
She opened the diary, and the first page had her father's familiar handwriting: "Today Xiaoxiao said she wants to be a restorer, like her mother. Okay, Dad supports you."
Tears dripped onto the diary, blurring the writing.
She turned the pages one by one; they recorded her father's life over the years, and his worries after discovering Zhou Manyun and the Xia family's forgery of ancient paintings:
“Zhou Manyun asked me to collaborate with her, asking me to imitate the ancient paintings in Tang Lao’s collection. I refused. These things were left by our ancestors and cannot be destroyed in our hands.”
“That kid from the Xu family did all this to help me. Don’t hate him. It’s safer for him to have taken the shares than for someone else to have taken them.”
The last few pages have messy handwriting, clearly written in a hurry:
"Zhou Manyun and the Xia family are going to make a move against me. They're afraid I'll reveal that I'm forging ancient paintings."
“I put the evidence in a hidden compartment in the warehouse, and the painting of magnolias that your mother left behind is also hidden there.”
"Xiaoxiao, if Daddy is gone, you must live well and not confront them head-on."
Su Xiao closed the book; her tears had already dried up.
She looked up at Xu Bozhou, her eyes filled with determination: "I will not let them go."
Clutching her diary, she wrote, "Uncle... these heartless people should pay the price."
Xu Bozhou gently patted her back, his voice steady: "I will help you."
Looking into the determination in her eyes, he knew in his heart that she was no longer the little girl who needed to be protected; she had grown up and had the courage to face all the truth.
Just then, the sounds of ambulances and police cars could be heard.
Gu Ming stood up and said to Su Xiao and Xu Bozhou, "Go to the hospital first, and leave the rest to the police."
Su Xiao nodded and helped Xu Bozhou walk towards the ambulance.
The snow was still falling, landing on her hair, but she no longer felt cold.
Because she knew that Xu Bozhou would always be with her, and the evidence left by her father would help them get all the justice they deserved.
In the hospital, Xu Bozhou sat on the hospital bed, his forehead bandaged, listening to Chen Huai report on the situation:
"The police have cordoned off the warehouse site and found a hidden compartment in the ruins containing evidence of Mr. Su's forgery of ancient paintings, as well as a contract in which the Xia family was involved."
"Zhou Manyun and the Xia family have been listed as suspects and are being investigated."
Su Xiao sat on the chair next to him, clutching her father's diary in her hand. Listening to Chen Huai's words, she felt a little more at ease.
She looked up at Xu Bozhou and met his gaze, which was full of worry: "What are you thinking about?"
Su Xiao gently traced the worn edges of the diary cover with her fingertips, her voice very soft:
"When my dad wrote these things, did he already foresee this day coming?"
She looked up and met the soft light in Xu Bozhou's eyes. Suddenly remembering something, she took out a crumpled envelope from her bag.
"Oh right, I found this when I was tidying up at the gallery earlier. You put it in my book, didn't you?"
The envelope was unsigned, and inside was a yellowed note with a crookedly drawn gardenia bud.
When Xu Bozhou saw the note, the tips of his ears turned slightly red, and his Adam's apple bobbed: "When did you find out?"
"The day before my birthday." Su Xiao handed him the note, her fingertips brushing against the back of his hand.
"It's really ugly."
She paused, her voice trembling slightly, a sob she herself didn't even realize.
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