"Uhhh..." Jiu Xinyi groaned. It has been almost half an hour since she was stuck with the kid clinging to the hem of her skirt and she still hasn't found the little boy's parents yet. It didn't even help that she doesn't know any of the individuals around her. Not that she dislikes the idea of babysitting the little boy, but she was just a tad awkward and inexperienced when it comes to taking care of children. Back in her former life, Jiu Xinyi hasn't had any intimate relationship nor any immediate family members that had small children, so having experience in handling a child was out of the question.
The boy quietly tugged her skirt once again and gave her a pitiful look this time. He looked at her straight into her eyes and said, "M-mommy..."
Jiu Xinyi felt a heavy tug on her heartstrings when she saw and heard him call her mother the second time around.
She might be dubbed as the she devil during her past life but one thing people didn't know is that their hot-headed and devil incarnate boss was a sucker for cute things, meaning she would do anything for it even if it meant doing it behind the back of others.
The little boy stretched out his hands towards her direction as if asking her to pick him up and carry him. "Mommy, Noah is tired. Noah w-wants mommy... Carry Noah!" As if on cue, Jiu Xinyi's heart melted upon hearing his request.
Before picking him up, she made sure to check her surroundings first. She didn't want anyone to misunderstand the situation she was in, not that she can help it from happening. Thankfully, people don't seem to mind the kid following her around. She picked him up carefully and was quite taken aback that the child weighed lightly, thinking that his parents might not be taking care of him that well.
Now that she looked at him closely, the child seemed awfully familiar in a way but at the same time, she wasn't also able to pinpoint where she had seen the child's qualities before. He had short jet black hair and crimson red orbs that went well together with his hair and complexion. She didn't dwell any further with it and just shrugged it off.
The little boy seemed to like it in her arms when she saw him smile happily at her. Jiu Xinyi unconsciously returned back the kid's smile. The next moment, her eyes were drawn to the little boy's small hands when he opened up his palms. "Mommy, I give you..." A candy wrapped in a yellow candy wrapper laid on top of his small palms as a bright smile crept on the little boy's face.
Her tensed atmosphere earlier finally crumbled into pieces when little Noah successfully melted Jiu Xinyi's heart. She accepted the treat from him and thanked the little guy for it. While gently ruffling his hair, a loud cry resounded a few feet from where the two stood. "Young master!" Upon hearing an awfully familiar call, little Noah reflexively hid his face on Jiu Xinyi's neck.
Confusion flooded Jiu Xinyi's thoughts, but upon seeing the hurried steps from men dressed in all black, somehow, everything just fell into place. Jet black hair and crimson red eyes, it was just like that stranger's features.
'Young master? Considering I heard that man from earlier was called master by his subordinates, then this little kid must be his? I mean, everything just makes sense if I put it that way!' She thought to herself.
Without even asking her to hand over the kid, one of the men abruptly snatched away the little boy from her arms, making Jiu Xinyi scowl in response. "Hey! What are you doing?!"
Little Noah bursted into tears when he was grabbed by the servant he fled from earlier at the mansion. His vision was quickly flooded with tears, still, his eyes were solely trained on Jiu Xinyi's figure. The little boy's loud cry attracted the attention of everyone in the area, yet they just watched at the sideline and didn't even dare to interrupt what was going on. Perhaps they already knew that these men weren't to be trifled with.
Li Jun, the man who was assigned to take care of the young master called for his master through telepathy to relay the information
"Yes master, I found him... The young master was with a woman... No, I haven't seen her before master... Yes, a blue-eyed woman... Understood master!"
Jiu Xinyi has yet to recover from her puzzled thoughts when another confusing thing came up. It wasn't even enough that she somehow figured that Li Jun was contacting the man from earlier and telling her about her whereabouts, now it seems she'll be getting dragged back along with them.
Li Jun looked at the guard he brought along with him and pointed at Jiu Xinyi with his chin, "Li Feng, bring the woman with you." he ordered. He was carrying little Noah with him so he entrusted another guy to deal with Jiu Xinyi for him.
Jiu Xinyi tried struggling to get away from the man's arms but it seemed she was far too weak compared to him. With her hands being tied up, restricting her movements, she was taken away yet again for the second time.
This time she was brought to somewhere else other than the mansion she was brought to earlier. The place was a lot glamorous than the previous one and bigger. No, it could not even compare to the mansion earlier. Even though she was restricted from moving, her vision was obstructed so she was able to observe her surroundings well.
Castle walls greeted her line of sight and despite being enormous and screaming of luxury, the place looked sort of gloomy.
Jiu Xinyi was brought into an audience hall, while she didn't even know where they brought little Noah.
"I heard you had fun with my son." Her eyes darted towards the direction of the voice, and the man who donned a sophisticated daopao with his jet black silky hair flowing through his back that looked like something that came out from a shampoo commercial video. His crimson red eyes were trained at Jiu Xinyi's countenance, somewhat looking livid.
Before she could even gather herself to respond to him, the door flung open, revealing a furious-looking mini version of the man in front of her. "Why'd you take her away?!" In spite of fuming mad towards his father, the little boy still looked adorable that you won't even think of anything other than his fluffy cheeks and cute little fists curled together.
When the little guy noticed Jiu Xinyi standing at a corner, looking at him, his face immediately softened. Soon enough he started bawling his eyes yet again, and came running towards her, "Mommyyy!" he cried, his arms instantly wrapping around her legs.
Jiu Xinyi suddenly felt a big lump on her throat when she felt a menacing gaze directed in her direction. She slowly turned her head towards the man and gave off an awkward smile.