Eating Melons in the Police Station

Little Tong was curled up on the sofa with a tablet, watching "My Neighbor Totoro." Zhong Jin was at his desk, reviewing some documents from the city bureau. Gu Le knocked and walked in.

Seeing Little Tong in the office, Gu Le first went over to her, pinched her cheek, and then returned to the desk to report to Zhong Jin.

"Director Zhong, we've looked into Guo Qi's background, and it mostly matches what he said yesterday. There's one more thing: Guo Qi is a local resident, and his family lives in an old, dilapidated apartment inherited from the previous generation. His son is currently dating a girlfriend who is pregnant, and the girl's family is demanding a new house before they get married. This has been causing a ruckus for some time, and the neighbors all know about it."

"What's Guo Qi's situation?"

Gu Le replied, "He's sticking to his story, very tight-lipped."

Zhong Jin nodded. "Have we summoned the owner of Golden Sun International Kindergarten?"

"Yes, he's already here. Little Wang and Captain Hu are interrogating him."

"Let's go and take a look," Zhong Jin said, standing up from behind his desk.

The two of them left the office one after the other. As they passed the sofa, Gu Le reached out again towards Little Tong's chubby face. Zhong Jin glanced back at him coldly, and sensing the murderous intent in Director Zhong's eyes, Gu Le retracted his hand, not daring to push his luck.

"Officer, I really don't know anything about this. This is entirely Guo Qi's personal action, and he's just a temporary worker as a security guard at our kindergarten. Of course, the fact that the children were harmed is undeniable. As the owner of Golden Sun International Kindergarten, I can offer appropriate compensation out of humanitarian considerations."

Liao Hongji leaned slouched against the armrest of his chair, looking carefree and indifferent.

Liao Hongji, 46, was the owner of Golden Sun International Kindergarten. He made a fortune early on in the lead-zinc mining industry, and after the zinc mining industry became less profitable, he ventured into many other fields, including healthcare, education, construction, and even nightclubs. However, most of these ventures didn't yield much profit, but thanks to the wealth he accumulated from zinc mining, Liao Hongji lived a very comfortable life.

He had two criminal records. The first was for domestic abuse, which his ex-wife accused him of, but the matter was settled with a payment. Now, Liao Hongji was married to a new wife, a dance teacher 24 years younger than him.

The second incident involved a physical altercation. Liao Hongji harassed a male student who was working a summer job at a bar. The student kicked him in the groin, and in response, Liao Hongji smashed a beer bottle over the student's head, resulting in a brawl. Although Liao Hongji initiated the incident, both parties were deemed responsible, and the matter was resolved privately with Liao Hongji paying compensation.

Such an unscrupulous, morally bankrupt nouveau riche was the owner of a kindergarten, which was indeed a frightening thought.

And in the face of the police's interrogation, Liao Hongji displayed all the characteristics of a seasoned socialite, refusing to take anything seriously. He maintained a principle: respond to every question but never reveal any key information. It seemed like he was answering seriously, but in reality, he gave away nothing.

Zhong Jin listened for a while and then interrupted Liao Hongji's tactics directly.

"You instructed Guo Qi to throw tainted drinks into the courtyard of Little Sun Daycare. When the investigation pointed toward you, you knew this was a felony, so you pushed Guo Qi out as a scapegoat. After the incident, you were going to compensate Guo Qi's son with a new house as a reward, is that correct?"

Hearing that Guo Qi had confessed, Liao Hongji's usual relaxed expression showed a slight pause, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Officer, what are you talking about? I've never heard of any of this."

Zhong Jin, arms crossed, stood in front of him, his voice calm but authoritative. "Guo Qi has confessed. What are you struggling for?"

Liao Hongji hesitated for a moment, then suddenly became furious. He banged his fingers hard on the table. "I want to call my lawyer. This is slander. I won't answer any more of your questions until my lawyer arrives."

Seeing Liao Hongji's reaction, Zhong Jin felt confident that he had guessed correctly.

Guo Qi's psychological endurance was far inferior to Liao Hongji's. With the housing bribe as leverage, Guo Qi quickly confessed after a few attempts.

The next step was to focus on Liao Hongji and ensure his guilt was firmly established. Cases involving child safety were usually harshly punished. Otherwise, with Liao Hongji's money, social connections, and slippery nature, he would slither away if given the slightest opportunity.

*

Normally, Little Tong ate with everyone else at the station's cafeteria. The kid wasn't picky as long as there was meat, and she would eat anything as long as it wasn't spicy.

But today, Little Tong was sick, so Zhong Jin was afraid the cafeteria food would be too oily, and he planned to go out and buy her some porridge.

As he was heading out, Auntie Lu from the cafeteria stopped him. "Director Zhong, I've made some yam porridge with chicken soup for Little Tong, and a lightly stir-fried green vegetable with just a touch of oil. Would that be okay?"

Zhong Jin was surprised that the news of Little Tong's illness had already spread to the cafeteria, and that Auntie Lu had been so thoughtful to prepare a special sick meal. "That's fine, but next time, don't go to so much trouble. I'll just go out and buy her something to eat."

Auntie Lu waved her hands repeatedly. "Little Tong is like our own child here at the police station. It's no trouble at all; it's just a minor convenience/a small favor/something easy to do."

At lunchtime, Little Tong looked at the plain broth and limp vegetables in front of her and pouted. "Not even a single piece of meat for me."

But this time was different from the last cola incident. No one indulged her; everyone urged her to eat her sick meal properly and wait until she was better to have meat again.

Little Tong propped her head up with one hand and scooped up a spoonful of porridge with the other, trying to console herself. "This is meat, eat it quickly." She took a big bite.

Self-hypnosis: "The meat is so fragrant."

Rao Shishi and the others felt heartbroken watching her. Little Wang, bold enough, suggested, "Director, why don't we give her just one piece of meat? She doesn't have to eat it, just let her lick it and taste the flavor."

Zhong Jin gave him a cold look.

Little Wang didn't dare to suggest any more bad ideas and just sympathetically smiled at Little Tong. Uncle can only help you this much.

Little Tong sighed, holding her head with one hand. She scooped up a piece of green vegetable. "This is hot pot beef, eat it, eat it." Another big bite.

Zhong Jin couldn't help but shake his head. "Just eat properly. Your head and stomach are making a whole mess of things."@@novelbin@@

In the afternoon, Zhong Jin and several others took turns interrogating Liao Hongji. The man was truly slippery. Even with handcuffs on, he showed no fear, engaging in a verbal sparring match with the police, skillfully dodging their questions.

Everyone understood that the longer this dragged on, the more opportunities Liao Hongji's family and lawyers would have to find loopholes. For the police, every minute was precious. One side refused to speak, the other desperately sought answers, and the two sides were locked in a state of extreme tension and protracted stalemate.

While the adults were busy with their work, Little Tong wandered around on her scooter, watching the action.

She rolled her scooter into Gu Le's office, where he wasn't present at the moment, so Little Tong started exploring inside.

Suddenly, she saw something familiar on the desk.

"Huh, that's me."

Little Tong jumped off her scooter and climbed onto the chair, then onto the desk, grabbing a crystal picture frame. She confirmed it was definitely her gift.

The reason the gift was here dates back to the day Little Tong received it and started showing it off everywhere. After a while, Zhong Jin planned to take her shoe shopping, so the scatterbrained little girl left her painting in the police station.

Coincidentally, Gu Le had picked it up.

This police captain, with eight years of experience, showed no sense of honesty and shamelessly displayed the painting on his desk. What's more disgraceful was that he publicly claimed Little Tong had gifted it to him, which made Rao Shishi and the others incredibly jealous without knowing the truth.

Little Tong reclaimed her painting, drove her scooter back to Director Zhong's office, and slammed the picture frame onto his desk.

Liao Hongji was interrogated for the entire afternoon. He remained jovial and glib, acting cooperative but never revealing any crucial information, always feigning innocence about everything.

Several police officers came out of the interrogation room.

"Interrogate him again tonight," Zhong Jin said with a stern expression, then turned and walked into his office.

After a while, Zhong Jin emerged from the office again, holding a small drawing. "Has anyone seen Zhong Yuntong? Is this hers?"

The cleaning auntie, who was mopping the floor, replied, "Little Tong went to the community with Vice Director Mao. Yes, it's hers. She was so proud of it, she’d show it to every dog that walked by."

Captain Hu came over to take a look. "Isn’t this drawing something Little Tong gave to Gu Le? How did it end up in your hands?"

"Gu Le? He’s dreaming." Zhong Jin turned around and walked back into the office, placing the small drawing neatly beside his computer.

Zhong Jin sat in front of the computer, reviewing interrogation materials, and occasionally glanced at the adorable child in the drawing. Eventually, unable to resist, he took out his phone and snapped several photos, proudly saving them to his WeChat Moments (social media feed).

The interrogation of Liao Hongji continued into the evening.

Late at night is when people are at their most vulnerable. After a full day of interrogation, Liao Hongji's nerves were already on edge, and the casual bravado he had shown earlier in the day was gone.

Liao Hongji leaned back in his chair with his legs spread, staring with lifeless eyes. "Officer, this is fatigue interrogation. I want to see my lawyer."

"You even know what fatigue interrogation is? Not bad, anti-detection skills." Zhong Jin placed his thermos on the table and sat down opposite Liao Hongji. "Didn’t we let you rest?"

"I demand to rest for eight hours."

"You know a lot. Resting for eight hours in one day doesn’t necessarily mean doing it all at once. Let’s get started."

Understanding dawned on Liao Hongji. This was a game of endurance.

This was Little Tong's first time staying so late at the police station, and she was thrilled, her eyes sparkling with excitement. The night scene at the station was far more entertaining than the daytime.

She glided on her little scooter in front of a drunk young man who was boasting, "Let me tell you, my dad is the Richest Man of Haishan."

Little Tong smiled but said nothing as she glided past him.

The man, drunk and belligerent, pointed at the back of her head. "Hey, kid, who are you laughing at? Let me tell you, my dad is the Richest Man of Haishan."

A police officer standing nearby immediately shouted, "Who are you calling a kid? Calm down."

The man's arrogant demeanor was instantly deflated.

Little Tong chuckled. "What a show-off."

She continued on her way, heading to the next comedic scene.

Another drunken man was hugging a trash can in the station, wailing, "Yanyan, don’t leave me, I can’t live without you."

Little Tong drove her scooter up to him and kindly suggested, "Don’t throw up on your girlfriend, or the cleaning auntie will wash you."