Episode.52 Small Wontons
Sister Chun inside the glass window was wearing a mask to protect against droplets and her hat was tied tightly, but her eyes were full of reluctance.
As early as half a year ago when Lin Ying took office as director, she took the initiative to cooperate with Chun Jie and her husband.
Since she joined Ivy Chun, she had received a lot of care from Sister Chun, which was also a kind of feedback. However, just last week, Sister Chun suddenly said -
"Ms. Lin, we're going back to Guangdong after this summer. We've already settled things back home, and my husband and his two brothers are opening a restaurant in Shunde. We have a lot of customers, no rent, and less pressure. Regarding the group catering, could you keep an eye out for the next customer?"
The proprietress, Sister Chun, is originally from northern Jiangsu, and her husband is from Shunde. They came to Shanghai with their son eight years ago to run a restaurant business. At that time, the economy was booming, and non-standard businesses in Shanghai were emerging. The couple came to Shanghai to work hard, which was in a sense leaving their hometown. They sold their apartment and lived here with their child. They used one room for multiple purposes: they opened a storefront downstairs for business, and upstairs was the bedroom and living room for a family of three. The total area of the upper and lower floors was only 60 square meters.
Just as the business was picking up with the move to the new house, it encountered a three-year cold winter in the catering industry. Business was bleak and was once on the verge of closure. I have managed to get to where I am today with some bumps and bruises. My husband had a lumbar spine operation at the beginning of the year, and he dare not work hard cooking for a long time in the future. My child is not in junior high school yet, so the pressure is not too great. I am thinking of returning to my hometown to run a restaurant with my family. I don’t have to do a lot of things myself like I do here, with few people.
The year Lin Ying first joined Tengchun, it was common for her to go out early and come back late. She followed her boss and colleagues back and forth every day. Usually, for convenience, she would eat directly at Sister Chun's store. Over time, she became a repeat customer. Sister Chun would give her discounts or send her some snacks and sweet soup from time to time. She was also very considerate. Whenever the company ordered a drink, she would also bring one for the neighbor next door, as a convenient gift.
The real opportunity that brought the two closer together came from the night when their daughter was almost abducted by human traffickers.
Ruxing was less than three years old at the time and it was too early for her to go to kindergarten, so Lin Ying would leave her in a daycare center during the day.
Lin Ying had been out on the road all day that day and returned to the city after eight o'clock. The daycare center surprisingly didn't rush her to pick Ruxing up. When she arrived, the front desk told her—
"Didn't you pick up the child at around five o'clock?"
Hearing this, Lin Ying felt his scalp tingle and he felt as if he was struck by lightning.
Ever since she moved from Songjiang Villa to the city, apart from the childcare teacher, she would only leave the child to Cheng Xinran. However, Cheng Xinran was usually busier and more tired than her. Moreover, she did not ask Xinran to help her pick up the child today.
She immediately lost her temper and called the police, asking them to check the surveillance footage.
Sure enough, around 5 p.m., a woman with a similar figure and dress came to pick Ruxing up. The front desk clerk had only been there a few days and didn't recognize the family's face. Plus, there were so many other parents picking up their children at the time, and they were momentarily careless. The two-year-old, who had just learned to walk, couldn't run fast, so the woman snatched her away as soon as she left the door.
After reading this, Lin Ying got goosebumps all over her body and felt completely hopeless. For the first time, she got angry at the people at the childcare center, saying that they were so negligent that they dared to let the child go without even confirming the identity of the guardian.
After the police arrived, they used their law enforcement authority to retrieve all surveillance cameras in the building that might have captured the child's whereabouts...
As soon as the trafficker led Ruxing out of the childcare center, he picked up the child and slipped into the corridor of an unmonitored area. However, another woman followed closely behind. The two seemed to be arguing in the corridor. In the end, the woman who appeared later was seen rushing out of the corridor with Ruxing in her arms. Just in time for the elevator to arrive, she quickly carried Ruxing into the elevator and went downstairs...
Half an hour later, the police and Lin Ying arrived at the Cantonese restaurant next to the gallery according to the surveillance instructions.
It was already ten o'clock, and the restaurant was about to close. The owner saw two big men in police uniforms and Lin Ying's face suddenly appear outside the glass window. He shuddered and quickly shouted in Cantonese -
"Hey, wife, return the girl to her husband!"
When she saw Ruxing being carried out by Sister Chun unharmed, Lin Ying finally felt relieved and burst into tears...
When Ruxing saw her mother, she immediately smiled and ran into Lin Ying's arms...
She could finally cry out loud.
She finally didn't have to continue to break down.
The five senses that had disappeared dozens of minutes ago now all returned to her body. She was still trembling, and her tears were like a dam bursting, with no source and no end.
Fortunately, her daughter was not lost, fortunately she did not collapse or become at a loss... She had brought Ruxing here to buy dinner more than once, otherwise Sister Chun would not have recognized that it was her daughter who was taken away.
"Oh, Mr. Police Officer! If I hadn't delivered the meal to that childcare center today, this girl would have been taken away by human traffickers! The person dressed up as Miss Lin and brought the child out. I was still worried after thinking about it, so I went up to the person and asked a few questions. She immediately panicked!
Luckily, I was alert and immediately grabbed Nannan's arm, saving her from the man. I told her, 'I'm Auntie Wonton,' and she came back with me... I don't have Miss Lin's WeChat, otherwise I would have sent her a message to let her know and let her rest assured. I'm so sorry... I'm really causing you so much trouble."
Lin Ying had previously taken her children past the restaurant next door. At that time, Ru Xing couldn't even speak a complete sentence, but her greedy nature had already been revealed. Every time she smelled this fragrance, she would shout out before her:
"Mom! I'm hungry...little wonton!"
Ruxing's near-abduction incident seemed like a misunderstanding, but the police remained vigilant. The next day, they filed a case of "attempted abduction and trafficking." Using surveillance footage from inside and outside the building, they tracked the case for two weeks and ultimately busted a human trafficking operation.
Ruxing was targeted precisely because the circulation of personal identity information has been unregulated in recent years, allowing various marketing gangs to privately buy and sell information. This has led to human traffickers targeting private childcare institutions. Some employees, motivated by petty profits, even secretly trade client information with criminal gangs. Traffickers, in turn, focus on children with single families, especially those whose parents can't pick them up on time.
In this way, Ruxing was naturally included in their hunting range.
After this incident, Lin Ying truly realized that as a working single mother, the responsibilities she had to bear and the accidents she might encounter were far more severe than those of a mother in a normal family.
Since then, she began to ask Wang Duo to adjust her work content and consciously avoid overtime. It was after that that Wang Duo and her relationship gradually became closer...
At the same time, her relationship with Sister Chun became closer, and she would occasionally leave Ruxing in Sister Chun's shop to play.
I still remember the first time I carried Ruxing to buy wontons, she leaned in front of the glass and said -
"Boss, give me a portion of barbecued pork and a small portion of wontons to take away."
Sister Chun winked at the child whenever she saw her, and sighed to Lin Ying from time to time:
"This is your daughter. How old is she?"
"Oh, you look so young, your daughter is actually three years old."
Even today, Sister Chun still sighs:
"Ruxing really looks more and more like you. She will definitely be a great beauty in the future!"
Five-year-old Ruxing’s eyes narrowed into a line after being praised so much, and she looked up at Sister Chun and shouted—
"Auntie Chun, when will you be back? Ruxing likes the wontons you make."
Hearing this, Chun Jie's eyes were filled with tears. She cleared her throat and explained, "If you want to eat it, I'll send it to you later. Express delivery is so convenient nowadays. I'll pack it and send it to you later, okay, little greedy cat?"
After saying that, she handed the barbecued pork and wontons at their original price to Lin Ying through the glass, but she couldn't help but say something more——
"Ms. Lin, you always say you've been indebted to us over the years, but I know you're just thinking about how your daughter felt when she was lost and found again. These past few years, whether it was my child going to school or your brother Li being sick and hospitalized, you've always been there to help. To help support our business, you even asked us to cover group meals...
Honestly, your brother Li and I have always been so grateful to you. Now that we are leaving, we really can’t bear to see you go.”
Witnessing Sister Chun's true feelings, Lin Ying couldn't help but be moved. She had changed a lot in the past six years, especially in her interpersonal relationships. She was no longer as rigid as before, but she was no longer pure either.
Since coming to Tengchun, she has been under pressure from both inside and outside. Her work is already difficult, and she has often been looked down upon by her colleagues. Only in the early days would Chen Can help her out of their old friendship, but since his project was assigned to Lin Ying, their communication has become less and less, and she and Chen Can both understand this tacitly.
Later, because of Wang Duo's divorce, she was slandered by other colleagues behind her back. Not only did she steal projects from her predecessors at work, but she also interfered in other people's marriages. The rumors even spread to her and her daughter... She showed more anger and rolled her eyes openly.
After that, she completely buried the sentimental and soft side of her nature deep in the sea of her heart. Her whole body was like a suspension. When it was calm, the black and white were distinct, as light as white water. But if it was slightly shaken by external force, the two liquids would blend together.
She is still emotional, but not everyone is worthy of her emotion, and the sincerity of Chun Jie and her husband is that slightly shaking external force.
Sister Chun knew that her ex-husband had passed away and she had also fallen out with her parents-in-law, so she was raising the child alone. At first, she thought she would be criticized again, accused of being so ungrateful and not considering the child, but Sister Chun did not. She just kept saying -
"Oh my, that's really tough for you. I understand. Raising a child alone isn't easy. When I was young, I had a son. For the first three years, my husband was out working, and I took care of him all day and all night. My back and waist ached at the end of the day. Plus, you have to work every day and the pressure is so great... It's really tough. You... you're pretty brave!"
That was the first time she was praised for her bravery.
She felt that the missing piece in her heart was suddenly filled - so this is courage, and it turns out that choosing a path you want to choose can also be brave.
Although there is no true empathy in this world, sometimes, what the other party wants may not be such a macro word as "empathy", but an attitude that cannot be easily defined or criticized.
Sister Chun, who was about to leave, stood in the sunset, smiling brightly, but still kept giving instructions:
"Ms. Lin, you are a very thoughtful and insightful person, but I still feel that you are working too hard. If you could have a few people to help you share the burden, then your work and life would be perfect.
Of course, I know you all don't like to hear this right now. Besides, you've been alone for so many years, so if you really don't have a partner, it's okay. But... as a person, you have to live your life to be true to yourself, right?"
Lin Ying smiled and nodded slightly.
He shook his daughter's hand, indicating that she should say goodbye to Sister Chun properly.
I didn't forget to tease myself - "Take care of yourselves when you go back. I'm like... now if I meet someone I like, I will take the initiative to pursue her."
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