Little lonely Sunshine

On the supermarket parking lot, Pingguo remained crouched, holding the crying baby in her arms. Strangely, she was crying too because of his tears. The young woman couldn't find any other solution to her distress, no potential contact that could save her. She was trapped with this crying baby, under the scorching summer sun, alone in this almost deserted vast area. At this hour, mothers were picking up their children from school, and lunch break was over. Pingguo then did the only thing that seemed logical to her at that moment, the only idea that came to her in this moment of great distress.

Yuanwei hung up after an inconclusive call with his clients, but a second meeting was promised. Exhausted, he slumped into his seat. Seeing that his assistant had been absent for over an hour, he tried to contact her, but as soon as he took his phone, it rang in his hand.

"Hello? Where are you, for heaven's sake! It's been at least an hour since you left, just to do some shopping. You're not going to tell me that's too much for you now?"

Yuanwei's words were interspersed with sharp cries, a child's cries. The woman on the other end of the line said nothing until the final release. Pingguo burst into tears without any restraint and began to unload her distress.

"Sir, I beg you! I don't know what to do; he won't stop crying, and it's preventing me from thinking. I don't know what else to do, please help me!"

Pingguo felt completely overwhelmed, and she had literally asked her boss for help. Despite the treatment Yuanwei Hua inflicted on his assistant, she had never begged him, but today she did it not once, but several times. Pingguo continued to repeat the same words, but it didn't really help Yuanwei understand her real problem, which put her even more on edge.

"Okay, I get it! Tell me who you're talking about, where are you? I'll come find you, alright? Don't move, okay?"

"Hurry, I don't know what to do anymore!"

Yuanwei hurried, he grabbed his jacket and left as fast as he could. For some reason, he was extremely anxious. He had never really worried, or rather, she didn't give him the latitude to do so, about Pingguo. She always managed everything, all alone in her strange world; he didn't need to worry about her in any way. But now, in addition to asking for help, she was asking him. For the first time, Pingguo needed him, and Yuanwei was probably the first person she had thought of at that moment. It's saying something when she was really in trouble.

"What have you done this time! I hope at best you haven't put yourself in danger."

A thousand scenarios came to the young man's mind. He imagined his secretary involved in an accident, or in a fight, or worse. Yuanwei tried to prepare for everything to intervene and save this clumsy girl from the mess she might have gotten into. However, as he entered the supermarket parking lot, Yuanwei was surprised to find everything unusually calm. The young man parked his blue sedan, then got out to look for his incapable secretary. When Yuanwei finally spotted the familiar silhouette, his astonishment grew even more. Pingguo did not seem distressed at all; on the contrary. She was simply crouched, holding a blanket in her hands. The secretary had a bottle in hand and was looking at the blanket with tenderness. At first, Yuanwei hesitated to approach because the situation was confusing in his mind. Pinnguo seemed to be particularly moved by the thing in the blanket; maybe it was a cat or a dog she had taken in.

"Yah, Pinnguo!"

She turned her head, and when she saw Yuanwei, her face lit up like a noon ray. She removed the bottle and started talking to the covered thing, tenderly.

"Ah! There you go, Taiyang," she said, "we can go now."

"What, Taiyang... what are you doing again," her superior asked, confused. "What's in there?"

"In there? Well, there's a little sun that brightens the world with its smile, isn't it?"

Pingguo paid more attention to the blanket than to her boss who was talking to her, with a rather impatient tone. Pingguo, very focused on her little angel, didn't pay much attention to her boss's rudeness. Yuanwei finally exhaled, putting his hands on his hips.

"Listen, you already have trouble feeding yourself," he said, approaching, "so taking care of an animal would be a huge and cumbersome expense for you. Let this animal go..."

Finally, Yuanwei reached her and immediately had his breath taken away when he saw what was in the blanket. Pingguo grimaced; he really thought it was an animal.

"I'm not like you; I'm not a rich crazy person, a collector of care for animals. What I'm holding here is a beautiful baby! Look at those chubby cheeks; they're irresistible. Isn't he cute?"

"Pingguo-ah, yah... What is this?" he asked, bewildered. "What's in there?"

"Sheesh! 'This'? Really. You prefer to treat your stupid dog, and she caught herself in fear of upsetting him, your 'Treasure' like a child, but you call a real child 'this.' What a shame, it's deplorable, sir."

"Yah! Explain to me what's going on right now," he shouted, making her flinch, "or I'm leaving!"

The young woman stiffened; when her boss wanted to be strict, he didn't hold back. But when his tone rose, Pingguo saw Taiyang's pout change. It looked like he was about to cry at any moment, so she tugged at Yuanwei's pants with a plaintive look.

"Stop talking so loud; you're scaring him."

It was ridiculous, simply absurd. Yet Yuanwei obeyed the order; he was actually obeying his subordinate's order. The thought made him dizzy, as much as this comical situation in which he had involuntarily embroiled himself. Pingguo held a real human life, a real baby, in her hands.

"Get up quickly."

The young woman saw the annoyance on her boss's face, but besides him, she hadn't seen anyone else come to her aid. She reached out her hand for Yuanwei to help her stand, but he didn't take her hand. Yuanwei turned his back, expressing his refusal to touch her. Pingguo stared at him, grimacing, and chose another solution to rise, using his pants. The young man tried to get away, but it was already too late. Pingguo stood up, with a big smile. Yuanwei only responded with his disdainful look and walked back to his car; the secretary followed him obediently.

She then stopped in front of the car door, as if signaling to her boss to open it because she was holding the baby in her hands. Yuanwei gritted his teeth; his brain still couldn't assimilate what was happening. He saw and understood well, but his eyes refused to believe it. Reluctantly, he came to open the door for Pingguo. She took her place in the cab, next to her boss.

"Thank you," Pingguo said, with a smirk.

"Shut up or get out," the CEO ordered in a harsh tone.

As he drove, Yuanwei couldn't help but glance at the blanket that Pingguo was shaking gently with joy. This girl was really crazy; she had a baby in her arms whose origin she didn't know, and it pleased her.

"Aren't you going to explain?"

"Huh?"

"'Huh?' You have a baby in your arms that you don't know, and you've dragged me into your madness, and all you can say is 'huh?' There's really something wrong with you."

"You're talking too loud... It's okay, Taiyang. Sir, make an effort. He cries when we shout; it's his way of telling us to stop. I know because that's what he did to me in the parking lot; he kept crying for me to stop shouting. And then he got hungry, so I bought him some bottles at the pharmacy. By the way, you can deduct that from my salary, but you can also choose not to."

Yuanwei glared at her with a malicious look, prompting her to finally be silent. He didn't even know where to start, nor where this story would end, but in any case, it would not have a good ending.

"And Taiyang, where did you come up with that name?"

"He reminds me of the cute sun in the Teletubbies, you know, they have the same smile. Look at him!"

Pingguo took out the baby and presented him to the driver, while the latter was already making a tremendous effort to focus on the road.

"You're crazy," sighed Yuanwei. "He's not a toy, be careful and hold him better."

"It's okay, I know," pouted Pingguo as she cradled the child in the crook of her arm. "I just wanted to show you how cute he is. I can take care of a baby, you know."

"Oh really? Well, bravo. At least that's one useful skill. When I fire you, find a job that matches your only skill then."

Pingguo made a face and muttered a curse. Her interlocutor had heard her, but he didn't pay any attention. Then there was another deep silence. Yuanwei needed to catch his breath in the face of all this madness. Yuanwei took a turn, surprising Pingguo because it wasn't the way to the office or her home.

– "Sir, where are we going?"

– "You didn't steal this baby, did you?"

She shook her head and told him how she had crossed paths with Taiyang, a brief story as crazy as a western film.

"So, what do we do?"

"We're going to the police station," Yuanwei replied. "We'll report it in case a parent has lost him."

"But I told you...," she lowered her tone, then her eyes widened, "I was entrusted with him. The woman left him there on purpose."

"Yes," Yuanwei agreed, "but she could also have done it out of remorse. After taking him away, she may have thought it wasn't the right thing to do. She probably trusted you to return him to his real parents, you understand?"

Pingguo remained silent, then she looked at the small being in the blanket. Taiyang was so small; this hypothesis was also to be considered. But at that moment, the young woman thought of that moment when, in the parking lot, the baby had put his hand on her face with a smile. It was as if he had breathed a second air into Pingguo; she had never felt such an emotion of affection. She had been carried away, moved like never before. It was as if at that moment, he had linked their lives; Taiyang had told her in his way how much he needed her.

"Yes... or he was abandoned because his parents don't want him."

This scenario saddened the young woman, but one had to be realistic. Generally, men only liked material goods and selfish happiness; they wished to God for money, fame, happiness, and good fortune, but rarely for a child. A little angel fallen from the sky, with all his goodness and sweetness. How could one reject such a gift from heaven? Pingguo rested her head against the window and looked at the city slowly waking up to the night passing before her eyes; she wanted to think of something else so as not to cry. Yuanwei couldn't understand; he didn't know what it felt like to be abandoned by those who had ceased to love you unconditionally.

"A parent doesn't abandon their baby; it's impossible. I'm sure someone is waiting for you, Taiyang, I'm sure. Yet... I can't get used to the idea."

Yuanwei sighed; she attached herself too quickly to people. If she continued like this, she would end up broken very quickly because man's specialty was to abandon his fellow man without notice.

"Are you not going to cry, are you?", He asked.

"Yes, and so what?"

Yuanwei preferred to remain silent; throughout the journey, the two stayed in their corners, and the silence put little Taiyang to sleep.