Chapter 59: A Packet of Chili Powder
The broadcasting station gave Su He a special correspondent press card.
Now, Su He had four IDs in her small crossbody pouch: a liaison officer ID from Huaihua Commune, visitor passes for the machinery factory and the textile factory, and now this freshly issued special correspondent ID.
After arranging the movie time with Tian Xiaotao, Su He headed to Old Madam He’s home.
She helped Old Man and Old Madam He downstairs to enjoy some sunlight, tidied up their place a bit, then headed to Teacher Yuan’s house.
As soon as she entered, she was shocked—books were scattered messily all over the room.
“Teacher Yuan, wh-what happened here?”
Teacher Yuan looked disappointed. “I figured that patriot might’ve swapped out pages from other books too, so I pulled everything out to check. Unfortunately, no new discoveries.”
Su He: “……”
All she could do was help put the books back on the shelves.
By the time they finished tidying, it was already close to the movie’s starting time, and she rushed to the cinema.
Tian Xiaotao waved as soon as she saw her. “Xiao He, what took you so long? It’s about to start!”
Once the film began, Tian Xiaotao was moved to tears while Su He… promptly fell asleep.
She had been running around all day and was exhausted—and to her, these old films really weren’t all that appealing.
When the film ended, Tian Xiaotao complained, “Xiao He, did you come to watch a movie or take a nap?”
Su He laughed. “I came to keep you company!”
Tian Xiaotao was amused. “Good thing you’re a girl. If you were a guy, I bet tons of girls would fall for you.”
The two chatted and laughed. After walking Tian Xiaotao home, Su He headed back herself.
By now, it was completely dark.
As she passed an intersection, someone suddenly jumped out.
“Su He, stop right there!”
It was Lin Bo.
Su He wasn’t the least bit surprised. Knowing what kind of person he was, it was already impressive he’d held back this long.
“What do you want?”
Lin Bo glared at her viciously. The past few days had been miserable for him.
The county broadcasting station aired Su He’s report and reflections three times a day. Repeated often enough, even the girls who used to admire him now looked at him differently.
Many people at the county theater were jealous of his position and took this chance to kick him while he was down. The leadership even canceled all his performances. Officially, they said it was to let his facial injury heal, but in reality, he was being sidelined.
He hated Su He to the bone.
He’d been stalking her movements for days but hadn’t found the right chance—until today when he saw her and Tian Xiaotao enter the cinema. He knew this was his moment.
He had chosen this spot carefully. To the left was a factory warehouse, and to the right, an open lot. Even if Su He screamed her lungs out, no one would hear her right away.
He stared at her coldly. “I wanted to date you properly, but you didn’t know what’s good for you. Fine. Then I’ll just have to make you mine by force!”
In his mind, once he slept with her, she’d be bound to him. Then he’d make her help clear his name. Once he got transferred to the provincial troupe, he’d dump her like trash.
As he lunged at her, confident he’d succeed—thinking Su He looked small and frail and surely couldn’t fight back—
WHAM!
A paper packet smacked him straight in the face.
Poof!
Chili powder exploded all over him.
“Achoo! Argh—my eyes! My eyes!!”
Su He calmly stepped forward and gave him a few jolts with a stun baton. After he collapsed unconscious, she kicked him hard a few more times.
Then she shouted at the top of her lungs, “Help! Pervert! Molester!”
Even though the area was pretty empty, nighttime sounds carried far. Some factory security personnel nearby heard the commotion and ran over.
They saw Su He standing there unharmed and asked, “Miss, where’s the pervert? Did he run?”
Su He pointed to the ground. “Right there!”
Everyone: “……”
It was their first time seeing such a pitiful molester.
His face was caked in chili powder, and he was lying there like a dead pig.
The group dragged Lin Bo to the station like a dead dog. Su He, as the victim, naturally went with them.
Even the officers at the station were stunned—it was the first time they’d seen a criminal in worse shape than the victim.
Out of humanitarian concern, they splashed Lin Bo with cold water to wake him up.
Achoo! Achoo!
Snot and tears streamed down Lin Bo’s face. When he saw the officers, he collapsed again.
It was over. Completely over.
If he had known this would happen, he never would have listened to that person’s scheme and ruined his bright future.
He didn’t even mention the stun baton. At the time, he’d been so blinded by chili powder, he just assumed Su He hit him with a stick or something.
He immediately knelt before Su He. “Su He, I—I lost my mind and did something wrong. Please forgive me! I’ll do anything to make it up to you…”
Even though he’d tried to assault her, he hadn’t succeeded. If Su He pleaded on his behalf, maybe things could be smoothed over.
Su He’s eyes were cold. “Lost your mind? If you’d succeeded, my life would be over! You did something wrong, so now you must face the consequences!”
Lin Bo immediately lost it. “Don’t get cocky, Su He. Someone already has their eye on you. You’re in for trouble! I won’t be in here long—when I get out, I’ll make you pay…”
Su He just smiled.
Only if you get out.
She hadn’t planned on going all out at first, but if he insisted on digging his own grave—fine. She’d help.
No rush though. She needed to wait for the right opportunity.
After giving her statement, Su He finally left the station in the middle of the night.
An officer escorted her to Su Yongshi’s home.
At that moment, Su Yongshi and his wife were frantic with worry.
Old Man Ge and Qian Huifang’s family had also gone out to help look for her.
After the chaos settled, Su He explained what had happened.
Cao Hongmei cursed loudly, “That bastard deserves a thousand cuts! Good thing he didn’t get the chance to hurt you!”
Qian Huifang also cursed, her heart filled with lingering fear.
Old Man Ge, face stern, said, “A wise person doesn’t walk under a crumbling wall. You shouldn’t have come home so late—it gave him the perfect opportunity!”
Su He lowered her head and stayed quiet. If she hadn’t given him the chance, how could he have shown his hand?
If she didn’t get rid of him now, Old Man Ge would have to keep secretly escorting her forever.
In the end, it was Qian Huifang’s husband, Qi Weimin, who said, “Xiao He’s had a real scare tonight. Let her rest. We’ll deal with everything tomorrow.”
Su He was indeed exhausted, and she didn’t even notice how troubled Su Yongshi and Cao Hongmei looked, both of them weighed down by heavy thoughts.
