Hours later, Moon Book Cafe.
The conversation she had with Su Hualing replayed continuously in Song Ruoxin's mind as she worked the counter at her book cafe.
The sudden change in the attitude of the Manager of the last cafe she had visited before coming here was solid proof that she had indeed been blacklisted.
It was in a cafe a few streets away from the bookshop, she had come across a post on their webpage after having lunch with Hualing.
The Manager was initially friendly when she went in for the interview. The response after the interview was quite positive until the manager read her resumé.
The manager did a complete 180 on her. Suddenly she was informed that all the spots were already filled and was hurriedly escorted out of the cafe.
Song Ruoxin did not bother going to other cafes, her shift in the bookshop was only minutes away. She did not dwell on the disappointment and instead went to the bookshop.
Business was a bit slow today, with only a few customers browsing through the bookshelves or reading books.
Song Ruoxin was two hours into her shift when there was a disturbance outside the shop. She paused and turned to the door with a frown. It sounded like someone was being chased.
The loud shutter sounds, hurried footsteps, and loud cries put her on edge. Her eyes narrowed as she heard a soft childlike voice cry out,
"Let me go! I don't want to talk to you!"
She did not bother removing her black apron as she stepped out of the counter. She asked her coworker to man the cash register before leaving the bookshop.
The security guard at the door stood as she walked out. "Uncle do you..," She frowned as she heard a cry and turned to the direction the disturbance came from.
Her breath hitched as she saw four casually dressed men chasing a little boy of about six or seven years.
The commotion was attracting a lot of attention from the people on the street. She pressed her lips into a thin line and ran forward.
Soon she got to the boy's side, "Give me your hand little boy," she called out hands stretched out. The bow glanced at her hand suspiciously and stepped away.
Song glanced at the four men who continued to take photos of the boy and grabbed the boy's hand, "Let's go".
Song Ruoxin's eyes soften as she met the boy's fear-filled eyes. "You are safe, I won't hurt you. Trust me".
She gave the little boy's hands a gentle squeeze and smiled down at him. "let me get you to somewhere safe. Okay",
Her brows twitched as glanced over her shoulder and saw the four men were getting closer. She bent over, scooped the boy into her hands, and increased her pace.
The increase in pace hindered the men from snapping. Three stooped snapping and clutching their cameras as they ran.
Only one, a skinny average heighted man with a buzz cut persisted. He reduced his pace slightly, held his camera up, and kept taking photos.
As she ran Song Ruoxin kept looking back to monitor their movement. Her eyes quickly went to the staff ID that hung on one of their necks.
She frowned as her eyes fell on the company names on each of their ID cards hanging on their necks. They were all reporters. She gritted her teeth and glanced down at the boy.
"Why are you being chased by reporters?" She felt a slight tug in her heart as she met his tears-filled eyes.
She felt a quick bust of anger at these four shameless men that stooped low enough to chase a child.
The security guard standing at the door came forward as they got closer to the door. He held the reporters back while Song Ruoxin led the boy into the bookshop.
She led him to a seat by the counter, help him up to the seat then knelt beside him. "Hey there, little guy. Wait here while I go send the bad guys away".
She rubbed his hair affectionately before turning around. Song Ruoxin met her co-worker's gaze as she left, the other woman glanced from her to the child's brow raised.
"He is being chased by some paparazzi, I will go send them away".
"Paparazzi?"
"Mmm, please keep an eye on him".
".... Okay".
"Thanks".
The security guard was in a heated argument with the reporters. Their raised voices attracted a lot of attention from the people walking around.
The reporters got louder as they saw her, one of them stared at her and said, "Hey! Who are you? Why would you get involved? Do you know Qin Shoiming? Why would you prevent us from doing our jobs".
Song Ruoxin narrows her eyes at the Shorter man, "Your job? Is it your job to chase a little boy?"
There were a lot of whispers from the onlookers, many of whom agreed with her. some of them had witnessed the entire event and did not condone their actions.
The reporter gritted his teeth as he noticed the onlookers' reactions. He shook his head, "You have it all wrong, I am not chasing the boy. I just want to have a conversation with him. There is nothing wrong with that".q
He tried to step forward but was once again pushed back by the guard. The reporter glanced from the guard to Song Ruoxin.
"Hey! Be reasonable, I just want to go in. You can't stop me from going in".
Song Ruoxin stepped forward and held her hand in over the doors of the book cafe, "Actually I can, this is a private book shop. There is a private reading currently ongoing, we do not allow entrance without an invitation. Please leave before we call the police".
The reporter scoffed and placed his hands on his waist. He glanced at her stubborn expression, he paced the lane silently.
He glanced at the security guard and the small crowd and let out a dry laugh. "What private reading? Who invites a seven years old to a private reading... how pathetic!"
Song Ruoxin took her phone out of her pocket and dialed the 110, "pathetic or not except you want to be arrested please leave," she said holding her phone up to the reporter.
The reporters let out a long string of curses, the spokesman glanced at the shop and then at her, "There is no need to get so serious. We will leave... His not even the person we want".
Song Ruoxin waited until they all left before returning to the bookshop. She met her coworker's questioning gaze as she stepped in.
She gave the co-worker a smile and an ok hand gesture. Her eyes quickly fell on the little boy seated on the two-seated circle table opposite the counter.
His cheeks reddened as their eyes met and he quickly looked away. Her smile widened at his Cute actions, she went behind the counter and prepared a cup of chocolate milkshake for the boy.
The Little boy looked up as she placed the milkshake on the table, he blinked and looked up at her with wide brown eyes.
He was so adorable with his fringes, chubby cheeks, and big eyes. She knelt beside him a rubbed his hair gently, "You can relax little one, the bad men are gone. You are safe now".
He blinked and glanced down at his hands. He did not say much and just silently observed the room. She did not push him to talk and instead left him to his own devices a returned behind the counter.
The little boy gradually relaxed when none of the reporters came in. Song Ruoxin smiled as he began to take the milkshakes a short while later.
She had just finished checking a customer out when the boy appeared at the counter. He placed the empty cup on the counter and said,
"Thank you," the boy said biting down on his lips gently. "Big sister, can I make use of your phone. I got separated from my class. My father will be worried, please let me a phone to make a call".
"Okay, hold on," Ruoxin quickly packed up the next guest's order and dismissed the client before taking out her cell phone and handing it to the boy.