Eating Melons in the Police Station

Little Tong had been sleeping in her own room since kindergarten, and from that time onward, she never shared a room with Zhong Jin again. Her mother taught her that as a girl grew older, she needed to be mindful of male elders when changing clothes, using the bathroom, or bathing. Little Tong had always remembered this well.

Today, Zhong Jin injured his foot, and with no one else around except Little Tong, she couldn’t bear the thought of him sleeping alone, worried his condition might worsen suddenly in the middle of the night.

Zhong Jin’s room had a double sofa, so Little Tong placed her blanket on it, hugged her old, worn-out plush dog made of fragrant gauze, and lay down in her pajamas.

Zhong Jin tried to persuade her to go back to her own room, but she refused to listen. And since his injured foot made it impossible for him to curl up on the small sofa, he had no choice but to let her stay.

In the middle of the night, Zhong Jin was woken by a faint rustling sound. At first, he thought Little Tong had gotten up to snack, but in the pitch-black room, worried she might trip over something, he turned on the bedside lamp.

As light flooded the room, Zhong Jin’s gaze landed on the sofa—and the hairs on his arms stood on end.

"Zhong Yuntong, what are you doing?"

Little Tong was holding a fruit knife, moving it back and forth over her bare foot. Startled by Zhong Jin’s voice, she dropped the knife in shock.

"What are you doing?" Zhong Jin roared, his head pounding with fury.

Once, he had worked on a case where children were lured by a self-harm group, secretly cutting themselves in hidden places and then posting the wounds online to incite others. Those kids had even taken pride in it.

The moment he saw Little Tong with the knife over her foot, those horrifying details flashed through his mind. Whether from shock or fear, his temples throbbed.

Little Tong sat bundled in her fluffy blanket, biting her lower lip and staring at him, too afraid to speak.

Then another possibility struck Zhong Jin—was she trying to draw blood, thinking it could heal his injury?

Even if that were the case, he was still furious. He would never allow Zhong Yuntong to harm herself in any way.

"What were you doing? Why were you holding a knife to your foot in the middle of the night?" Zhong Jin frowned, his stern gaze fixed on the silent child.

Little Tong flopped back onto the sofa, pulling the blanket over her head to shut him out.

Zhong Jin swung his legs off the bed, landing on his heels, and limped over to the sofa. He dragged a chair beside it and sat down.

When he yanked the blanket off her head, Little Tong immediately squeezed her eyes shut, her eyeballs twitching beneath thin eyelids.

"Open your eyes. Don’t pretend to sleep," Zhong Jin ordered.

Little Tong clutched the edge of the blanket, peeked at Zhong Jin’s visibly angry expression, then shut her eyes again, muttering guiltily,

"I’m going to sleep. We can talk tomorrow."

Suppressing his rage, Zhong Jin asked in a low voice, "What were you doing with that knife? Were you trying to cut yourself?"

Little Tong pulled the blanket back over her head, squirming underneath without a word.

After a long silence, she peeked out again and saw Zhong Jin still glaring at her coldly. She stuck out her tongue, rolled onto her side, and tugged at her father’s hand resting on his knee, whining,

"I ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‍just wanted to try something."

"Try what?" Zhong Jin already knew but wanted her to say it.

Her voice dropped to a guilty whisper. "I wanted to see if my blood could heal you."

"Don’t you dare think like that."

Zhong Jin glared at her, his voice icy. "Zhong Yuntong, listen to me. If you ever hurt yourself, I will never forgive you. If you dare cut yourself with a knife, don’t ever call me ‘Dad’ again."

This was the first time Zhong Jin had spoken to Little Tong so harshly.

He had been angry with her before, but never this cold and stern. Little Tong was terrified. She stared at him pleadingly and whispered,

"I won’t do it again."

Zhong Jin closed his eyes and sighed.

Little Tong wriggled over in her blanket, resting her head on his knee, and promised again, "Dad, I’m sorry. I’ll never hurt myself again. Please forgive me."

She even pulled out her "Pardon Jade Token" from around her neck and placed it solemnly on Zhong Jin’s knee.

He rested his hand on her head. "Go to sleep. Never do this again."

Tonight's incident left Zhong Jin feeling a lingering fear. If he hadn’t woken up in time, that silly kid Little Tong might have really stabbed herself with the knife.

He tucked the fruit knife under his own pillow and barely slept afterward, waking up several times throughout the night. Each time he opened his eyes, he would glance over at Little Tong’s side, relieved to see her still curled up asleep before drifting off again.

Zhong Jin had originally planned to stay in Haishan with Little Tong for a few more days, but because of his injured foot, they had to return early.

After booking their flight tickets, they still had half a day before heading to the airport.

He asked Little Tong, "We’ve got some time left. Do you want to meet up with your friends? Didn’t you say you wanted to go for barbecue with Xiang Zimo and the others?"

Little Tong was sprawled on the sofa, hugging a plush dog made of fragrant gauze while playing a mobile game. Without looking up from the screen, she thought for a moment, then shook her head.

"I don’t feel like it. We already saw them yesterday when we were playing soccer."

Zhong Jin asked, "Then where do you want to go? Or do you just want to stay in the hotel and keep gaming?"

Little Tong maneuvered her character on the screen to jump over a cliff, only for it to be smacked away by a sudden swinging hammer. The words "GAME OVER" flashed brightly, and she let out a dramatic groan, flopping backward onto the sofa.

Zhong Jin chuckled. "Give it here, I’ll pass this level for you."

She handed him the phone, and in just a few moves, he cleared the stage for her.

But afterward, Little Tong lost interest in the game. She absentmindedly ran her tongue over the gap where her missing front tooth had been, suddenly remembering last night’s lost tooth.

"Dad, where’s the tooth I lost yesterday?"

"I put it in my bag. Why?"

All of Little Tong’s fallen baby teeth had been collected by Qiu Sheng, sterilized with hydrogen peroxide, and stored in an elegant sandalwood keepsake box. So Zhong Jin had naturally kept this one too, planning to take it back for Qiu Sheng.

Little Tong sat up excitedly on the sofa. "This tooth fell out in Haishan! How about we throw it into the sea?"

"Sure, you can do whatever you want with it."

The hotel wasn’t far from the beach. Little Tong pushed Zhong Jin’s wheelchair toward the shore, but soon started playing around with it—first racing it wildly, then hopping onto the wheelchair herself, planting her feet on the lower bar and leaning back to let momentum carry them forward.

The coastal promenade was wide and nearly empty at this hour, so Zhong Jin let her have her fun.

After speeding along for a while, they reached a familiar spot under the cross-sea bridge. Little Tong pointed to a clearing near a bend ahead, shouting over the sea breeze:

"Dad, do you remember this place?"

"What about it?"

They used to jog past here often, but Zhong Jin couldn’t recall anything particularly special.

Standing on the wheelchair, Little Tong burst into laughter. "This is where your bike seat got stolen! Don’t you remember?"

It came back to him then—this was where Little Tong had first learned to ride a bicycle. Zhong Jin had been holding the frame steady for her while his own bike was parked nearby.

By the time she got the hang of it and they returned, his bike seat was gone.

In He’an territory, the police station chief’s bike seat getting stolen—how absurd was that?

At first, Zhong Jin was about to call the police, but he soon spotted a group of teenagers nearby, one of them holding the missing seat.

When he shouted at them, the boys not only ignored him but started sprinting away.

Little Tong, who had just mastered cycling, didn’t hesitate—she pedaled furiously after them, her little legs pumping like pistons, until she crashed into one of the boys and sent him tumbling.

Afraid the kids might retaliate, Zhong Jin sprinted after them.

When he caught up, he found the boys weren’t fighting back—instead, Little Tong had pinned the fallen one down, straddling his back while yanking his hair, her face flushed as she yelled:

"You little seat thief, I’ve got you now!"

Furious, she raised a fist to pummel him, but Zhong Jin quickly scooped her up. Even in his arms, her short legs kept kicking indignantly in the air.

Later, Hu De arrived and took the young thieves to the station for a stern lecture, while Little Tong’s heroic "arrest" became station legend.

The officers even had a chocolate medal custom-made for her online and held a little award ceremony. The proud little chubster bragged about it for ages afterward.

Every day, she would take out those medal-shaped chocolates, give them a little lick, then carefully wrap them back in foil and return them to the freezer.

Later, Zhong Jin thought licking them like that was too unhygienic, so he pretended to steal her chocolates. The little chubby kid immediately felt threatened and hurriedly ate them all.

In Zhong Jin’s memory, that was the first time Little Tong had ever lost her temper. Before, they all thought she was just a soft-spoken child who never got angry. In truth, her threshold for anger was just high—but when it came to matters of principle, she could be fierce.

Little Tong said she wanted to throw her tooth into the sea. But when they got there and she saw the vast, crystal-blue waters, she hesitated, afraid some sea creature might accidentally swallow it and get hurt. She didn’t want to harm a single fish.

In the end, she buried her tooth beneath a wall of roses—the same spot they passed every morning during their walks.

After returning from the beach, Zhong Jin and Little Tong packed their bags and headed to the airport.

At the airport, since Zhong Jin wasn’t moving too well, Little Tong handled everything herself—checking in, getting their boarding passes, and even arranging for the wheelchair to be checked.

She exchanged a few words with the ground staff, then ran back to ask Zhong Jin:

"Dad, the ground staff uncle said they can arrange a small wheelchair to take you onto the plane. Do you need it? If you do, I’ll go get the paperwork done."

"No, I can walk," Zhong Jin said.

Little Tong didn’t push further.

Still, during boarding, she stayed close to Zhong Jin, carefully shielding him. She even announced loudly to those around them:

"Excuse me, my dad has trouble walking. Please be careful not to step on him. Thank you."

The people nearby immediately cast sympathetic glances at Zhong Jin.

He could practically read their thoughts—So young, and already disabled. What a shame.

He had no choice but to explain, "Just a small fracture. It’ll heal soon."

Little Tong chimed in brightly, "Yeah, he broke his leg playing soccer with elementary schoolers."

The sympathetic looks instantly turned amused.

Zhong Jin sighed and whispered to her, "Just stop talking."

Once they were settled on the plane, Zhong Jin sent Qiu Sheng a WeChat message before turning off his phone, asking her to pick them up at the airport. He figured he should mention his injury—otherwise, seeing him in a wheelchair would give her a shock.

Sure enough, as soon as she heard he was hurt, Qiu Sheng called immediately and scolded him over the phone.

Little Tong watched as Zhong Jin shrank under the verbal onslaught, covering her mouth to stifle giggles.

Zhong Jin shot her a glare, and she quickly turned away, pretending to be engrossed in the view outside.

As the plane took off, Little Tong pressed her forehead against the window, watching as the eggshell-like design of Haishan Airport came into full view before slowly shrinking into the distance.

She had made this trip between Haishan and Jing City countless times over the years, and the sight was familiar. But this time was different. Every other time she left, she knew exactly when she’d return. This time, she had no idea when—or if—she’d ever come back.

She traced a heart on the glass with her finger, then pressed her palm against it.

Goodbye, Haishan, she whispered in her heart.

Goodbye, all my human and non-human friends.

The plane climbed higher, and in a daze, Little Tong thought she saw a child down below—a short, chubby little girl, dressed in an elegant xiangyunsha jacket, her dark hair tied into cute buns with ribbons. She toddled along on stubby legs, walking alone through the bustling streets.

As if sensing Little Tong’s gaze, the little girl lifted her head, her big, bright eyes locking onto the plane. She waved energetically and called out in a clear, ringing voice:

"Hello! I’m Zhong Yuntong. Bye-bye!"