To Love You Again

Xiong Wuyue staggered to the visiting area and weakly asked for her father.

After checking the appointment log, the officer told her that she needed to book a visiting time and get approved first.

"How much time will it take?"

Xiong Wuyue almost fainted after hearing this.

She had already braved herself to come here.

She sacrificed too much, barely eating and drinking, and drove for many hours. Her whole body hurt all over.

Now, the officer was telling her to wait?

No way. She had already traveled between two provinces!

These people were just bullying her!

When had she suffered like this? When was she ever asked to first make an appointment for this tiny thing?

She thought, after this visit and when she got back what she wanted, she would never step on this place again.

This was just too much for her! It sullied her pride and status, her whole person.

"It will take at least a week."

"So long? I am his daughter. I need to speak to him now."

The officer was about to explain about the protocols when his senior called him.

The officer excused himself and left his position without hesitation.

"Hey!"

Xiong Wuyue angrily called.

"I am not done yet, come back here! Is this the level of your service here? I need to meet my father now!"

She never had to book an appointment for herself! Or waited like this!

She came here after sacrificing so much, so she must get the fruits of her labor.

Unexpectedly, it did not even take ten minutes and the officer came back.

"Your name is approved. You are his first visitor, so this is an exception."

Although puzzled, the officer picked up the phone on the desk, dialed an internal number, and spoke a series of jargons before hanging up.

Xiong Wuyue stood up and harrumphed.

"Where shall I go now?"

This place was so disgusting. The metal seats here were all rusting. The surroundings were unkempt. And the ventilator was not even working properly.

She wanted to get out of this place as soon as she could, so she was very impatient to meet her father now.

"You go to the next hallway. The number is 18. Visiting time is fifteen minutes at maximum, once a month." He signaled to the others on stand-by. "They will lead you there."

Xiong Wuyue left immediately, escorted by the guards.

She arrived at the visiting area. The guards left, but was replaced by the officers in charge of the visiting area.

Inside were the visiting booths lined up in a row.

In each booth, the visitor and the inmate were separated by thick, reinforced glass.

Unlike other prisons whose booths were closed completely and the two people could only speak through a phone connected to both sides, this glass wall was dotted with a small circle of holes to let the sound pass by.

The chair was dusty and rusted, and the glass wall looked smudgy.

Xiong Wuyue's eyes were filled with disgust.

She had to meet her father in this way.

However, she comforted herself that this would be the last time she would let herself suffer like this. It was until the intercom called her number and she was escorted to sit in one of the rusted chairs.

Xiong Wuyue frowned as she sat.

There was a stinky smell. It was probably from the inmates' side beyond the glass walls.

Soon, a thin and unkempt man came with handcuffs, escorted by two guards.

He was wearing a blue prison uniform. His head was shaved, his face was bony, and his skin was yellowish. 

There seemed to be some blue and green bruises all over his body.

When the man was escorted to sit on the other side of the wall, the stinky smell got stronger.

Xiong Wuyue immediately covered her nose and stood up in disgust.

"What the hell?!"

She looked at the dirty man in contempt and then at the prison guards angrily.

"Why put that disgusting man in front of me?! Are you playing a prank on me?! I'm looking for my dad, not some beggar on the streets!"

When the unkempt and dazed man heard Xiong Wuyue, his sunken and lifeless eyes finally refocused.

He recognized Xiong Wuyue.

His eyes lit up, as if finally seeing a ray of hope.

"…Yue'er?" A hoarse voice came out from the man.

His voice was even trembling.

However, it was very weak so Xiong Wuyue did not hear it.

She kicked the fixed metal chair and demanded to change booths.

"I don't like this stinky place. Transfer me to somewhere else! And where's my father? I have been waiting for a long time!"

Xiong De staggeringly stood up.

"Wu… Wuyue'er, it's me, your dad…"

Xiong Wuyue suddenly stopped when she heard the familiar voice.

She looked at the disgusting man in front of her with wide eyes.

Silence. 

The unkempt man, Xiong De, reached out and touched the glass wall with a trembling hand.

It created smudges on the glass and the foul smell intensified.

"Wuyu'er, it's me, your dad… My daughter, I missed you... I am glad you're fine. You came to save me, right?"

If there was no glass between them, Xiong De would have hugged his daughter despite his foul and battered body.

He missed his daughter so much.

He missed his life outside.

His only hope was that his daughter was living well and that she would come here to get him out of here.

He waited for her daughter to visit her, and finally, she did.

Xiong Wuyue finally recognized her father.

A bone-chilling coldness rose on her back.

Her wide eyes dilated and her opened mouth quivered.

Even his voice was hoarse and weak unlike the strong and majestic voice that she remembered, Xiong Wuyue could still recognize that tone and his way of speaking.

In a trembling voice, she asked, "D-daddy?"

When the unrecognizable man nodded with red eyes, Xiong Wuyue's eyes were filled with incredulity, disbelief, and fear.