"Yes! Alright... I'll call her right away."
"What happened?"
"Chen Shu said he saw a child on the street, it's Jiaojiao," Nian Suian said quickly, immediately dialing Sheng Xia's number.
Although she didn't understand how Chen Shu could have seen Jiaojiao on the street so late at night, now wasn't the time to dwell on such details.
"Hello, Xia Xia, is Jiaojiao missing?"
"Don't panic, listen to me. Jiaojiao is safe now. She was found on the street by a friend of mine. He's with her at the Pizza Hut on Prosperous Flower Road. Go there to pick her up first, we can talk about the rest later."
"Okay, be careful. I'll send you his phone number right away."
After hanging up, Nian Suian finally let out a long breath. She then sent Chen Shu's number from Gu Junxing's phone to her own, and forwarded it to Sheng Xia.
Gu Junxing, seeing she had finished talking, asked, "What did Chen Shu say? How does he know Jiaojiao?"
"He said he saw a little girl alone on the road. He was planning to take her to the police station when he realized the girl looked familiar. Remember I posted on social media before? He said that's how he recognized her."
"What a coincidence. But why would a child be out alone so late at night?" It was far too dangerous for a child to be alone on the streets at this hour. If she hadn't met Chen Shu, who knows what might have happened.
"I don't know either. Xia Xia sounded like she was about to break down. The important thing is the child has been found. We can discuss the rest later."
"Hasn't mommy told you not to run off?!"
"You almost scared mommy to death."
"I'm sorry, mommy..." Seeing Sheng Xia cry, Jiaojiao was frightened too, her eyes welling up with tears.
"Ma'am, she's still young. Don't scold her," Chen Shu said, feeling sorry for Jiaojiao as she started to cry.
Sheng Xia hugged Jiaojiao tightly, feeling as if she had been given a new lease on life.
"Thank you, Mr. Chen. Thank you, thank you so much." She couldn't say anything else besides expressing her gratitude. If it weren't for him tonight, she didn't know what might have happened.
She had been called back to the office tonight to revise some design drafts. But Jiang Yun wasn't at home today, so she had no choice but to bring Jiaojiao to the office with her.
While she was working on the revisions, Jiaojiao was playing nearby. But when she looked up again, the child was gone.
She had searched the entire office inside and out, and was about to call the police when she received the call from Nian Suian.
This Pizza Hut was near her office. When she ran over and saw the child sitting safely inside, she could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Ma'am..."
"My name is Sheng Xia."
Chen Shu couldn't help but say, "Ms. Sheng, regardless of the reason, letting a child run out so late at night is definitely a failure of parental responsibility."
Sheng Xia's face flushed. He was right, she had indeed failed in her duty. Tonight was just luck that nothing bad happened. She had already decided to hire a nanny to help her take care of Jiaojiao. With her current salary, which was better than when she first came here, plus her previous savings, she should be able to afford a nanny's fees.
"You're right, it was my negligence. It definitely won't happen again." After a pause, she added, "Thank you so much for tonight. I'd like to treat you to a meal sometime to show my gratitude."
"Thank you, uncle!" Jiaojiao, still holding a chicken wing, smiled at Chen Shu with her eyes crinkling.
"You're welcome, Jiaojiao. Finish your chicken wing and go home with your mom. Don't run off by yourself again, okay?" Chen Shu couldn't resist reaching out to gently pinch one of Jiaojiao's little hair buns.
"Um... how much did you spend on food for Jiaojiao? Let me transfer the money to you."
Chen Shu shook his head and stood up. "No need, it wasn't much. It's my treat for Jiaojiao."
"Jiaojiao, uncle has to go now."
"Goodbye, uncle!"
Chen Shu waved to Jiaojiao and nodded to Sheng Xia before leaving.
After Chen Shu left, Sheng Xia finally relaxed a bit. For some reason, she had felt very nervous in his presence.
Sheng Xia sent a message to Nian Suian, telling her that she had picked up Jiaojiao.
"Jiaojiao, why did you run out today? Didn't mommy tell you to stay put and not wander off?"
Sheng Xia looked at her daughter, who was still nibbling on a chicken wing, her heart still pounding from the scare.
"Mommy working, buy coffee for mommy."
Hearing her daughter's words, Sheng Xia was taken aback.
Her job wasn't easy, and even when working from home, she often needed coffee to stay alert. Jiaojiao had curiously tasted her coffee before, and Sheng Xia thought that she must have remembered that mommy needs coffee when working.
"Mommy thanks Jiaojiao, but Jiaojiao is too little to go out alone, okay? What if you met bad people outside?"
"Chicken wing uncle is a good person," Jiaojiao thought of Chen Shu who bought her chicken wings.
Sheng Xia didn't know how to explain to her daughter, and even if she did, the child probably wouldn't understand. She could only say:
"Today you met chicken wing uncle first, so you didn't meet any bad people. Next time, if you don't meet chicken wing uncle, you might meet bad people."
"Chicken wing uncle protects Jiaojiao!"
Sheng Xia knew her daughter had misunderstood her words, but she didn't correct her. As long as she knew not to go out alone, that was enough.
After today's incident, Sheng Xia decided to find a nanny as soon as they got home.
Meanwhile, Gu Junxing and Nian Suian had also received messages from Chen Shu and Sheng Xia respectively, and both breathed sighs of relief.
"What a coincidence today. Xia Xia said she wants to treat Chen Shu to a meal someday to thank him."
Chen Shu had also briefly told Gu Junxing about the incident - how he was driving by and saw a little girl walking on the street, so he pulled over to ask her some questions. He was surprised to recognize the child's face as familiar, which is why he called to ask about it.
"Chen Shu actually surprised me."
"How so?"
Nian Suian was confused. Wasn't it normal to stop and offer to take a lone child to the police station? It just happened that Chen Shu recognized Jiaojiao, but he would surely have done the same for any other child.
"I don't mean about him planning to take Jiaojiao to the police station. It's just that from his words, he seemed to quite like children. I always thought he hated kids."
Among their group, Chen Shu was the most aloof. Apart from necessary academic and work interactions, he hardly ever associated with women, or men for that matter. He had also declared early on that he planned to never marry or have children.
Nian Suian didn't know Chen Shu well, so she didn't pay much attention to this observation. She just casually remarked, "It must be because Jiaojiao is so adorable, everyone loves her."
-- Little scene between Jiaojiao and "Chicken Wing Uncle"
"Little one, where are your parents? Why are you here alone?"
"My mommy is working, and my daddy went to heaven. I want to buy coffee."
"Little kids shouldn't drink coffee. How about uncle takes you to buy some juice instead?"
"No, no, mommy said not to go with strangers."
"What's your name?"
"Jiaojiao"
...
"Uncle isn't a stranger. Uncle knows your mommy. Uncle will buy you some food, and then call your mommy to come pick you up, okay?"
(Chen Shu's inner monologue: Knowing your mommy's friend is basically the same as knowing your mommy, right? That's not really lying!)
