Eating Melons in the Police Station

As the eye of the typhoon passed over He'an, a brief calm descended upon the land. However, those who had weathered typhoons before knew that this peace was but a temporary respite; once the eye moved on, fiercer winds and rain would follow.

Having gained some experience driving through torrential rain and gale-force winds during her previous journey, Rao Shishi felt much more composed this time. She was also more familiar with the road conditions, and managed to return to the police station just before the storm intensified.

By now, everyone in the station knew that the three-year-old child stranded at home was Little Tong. The aunties at the station were heartbroken, some bustling around to find dry clothes for the child, others rushing to the canteen to boil hot water, intending to first wipe the soaked child down with warm water. Someone held Little Tong in their arms, comforting her while cursing the nanny, wondering how she could have left the child behind when everyone had thought so highly of her after the previous brawl incident.

Contrary to Little Tong's worries, no one seemed to care about whether she had wet her pants.

She was brought to Zhong Jin's office, where Mao Feixue stripped her of her soaked clothes, carefully wiped her down with hot water, and then wrapped her in a small blanket on the sofa.

Since there were no children's clothes at the station, Rao Shishi found one of her own shirts to dress Little Tong in. The shirt was quite long, its hem dragging on the floor.

There were also no small shorts for her to wear, but Mao Feixue remembered that the community service center had some diapers. She went to fetch a XXXL-sized one, intending to use it as a temporary solution.

When Little Tong saw Mao Feixue approaching with the diaper, she gripped the oversized shirt tightly, her entire body resisting. "I don't want to wear this," she said firmly.

She had seen babies in the neighborhood wearing these, their bottoms looking like Donald Duck's, and it was simply too embarrassing.

Mao Feixue tried to coax her, "Little girls can't run around without underwear. Right now, we don't have any underwear, so let's just wear this for now. Once the storm outside stops, Auntie will take you to buy new ones, okay?"

Little Tong was a compliant child and, hearing this, she loosened her grip. "You can't let anyone else know, okay?"

"Of course, we'll cover it up with your shirt so no one can see," Mao Feixue promised.

Little Tong had been carried back by Rao Shishi and the others, so she hadn't had time to put on shoes. Mao Feixue remembered that Xiang Zimo had a pair of rain boots left in her office, from when he was four years old. She wasn't sure if they would fit Little Tong.

Mao Feixue brought the boots over, and Little Tong slipped her feet into them. They fit perfectly.

"You're only three, but your feet are as big as Zimo's were when he was four," Mao Feixue said in surprise, gently pinching the fat toes peeking out from the boots.

Little Tong raised a finger and, with serious black eyes, explained, "My dad says that kids with big feet walk more steadily."

Mao Feixue tousled the child's still-damp black hair. "He's right. It's not like the old days when they bound feet. Our Little Tong walking steadily without falling is the best."

Rao Shishi brought in a bowl of hot, steaming dumplings. "Come on, little one, eat something warm. I found these black sesame dumplings in the kitchen fridge."

Little Tong, wearing the rain boots and dragging the long shirt, climbed onto her father's office chair. She was too short to reach the table, so Rao Shishi fed her the dumplings one by one.

The ferocious winds that seemed poised to devour the city gradually weakened, replaced by even heavier rains. Little Wang escorted several cuffed individuals through the storm and into the police station.

After locking the suspects in the holding cell, Little Wang wiped his wet hair with a towel, intending to change into dry clothes in the locker room.

Passing by Zhong Jin's office, he noticed the door was open and glanced inside.

"Little Tong? Why are you here?" Little Wang hung the towel around his neck and entered the office.

Rao Shishi was sitting on the sofa with Little Tong, watching cartoons, and recounted how the nanny had left the child alone at home during the typhoon, and how she had bravely driven through the storm to rescue Little Tong. Of course, she emphasized her own fearless heroism and how she had acted like a valiant female warrior.

Little Wang, however, tuned out her self-aggrandizing tales, focusing directly on the key point. "Little Tong was left alone at home during the typhoon?"

"Yes, the windows at home were all broken. Our child was very brave," Rao Shishi replied.

Little Wang shook his head, "Good heavens. Little Tong, were you so scared that you wet your pants?"

The mention of the trigger word caused the engrossed child to suddenly tense up. Instead of answering, she cleverly diverted the conversation. "Did you catch a bad guy?"

Little Wang, easily sidetracked, proudly held up three fingers. "Not just one, I caught three."

Mao Feixue came in from outside. "Did you get back, Little Wang? How did it go?"

Little Wang dropped his playful demeanor and became serious. "It was three students from Haishan University. The campus was closed due to the typhoon, so the three of them got together in an old dormitory in the power company's housing complex to inhale laughing gas. We caught them just as the dealer was making a delivery. We immediately cuffed them. As soon as the wind calmed down a bit, Zhong Jin and Officer Hu took the dealer to catch his supplier. They didn't waste any time, afraid that if they delayed, the supplier might get wind of the situation and flee."

"Good," Mao Feixue nodded. "Does Zhong Jin know Little Tong is here?"

Little Wang replied, "I don't think so. He didn't show any signs of it when we were together. If he knew Little Tong was home alone, he'd be freaking out."

"Let's not tell him for now. Little Tong is safe, and we'll update him when he returns," Mao Feixue suggested. She then noticed Little Wang was drenched. "Go change your clothes quickly. Auntie made some sweet soup; go to the canteen and have a warm bowl."

Six hours into the typhoon's landfall, many areas of Haishan, including He'an, had lost power. Little Tong's tablet had run out of battery, so she turned on a flashlight, dragging her long white shirt and rain boots through the dark police station.

Whenever she encountered someone, Little Tong would shine the flashlight on her face and make a big scary face.

Everyone playfully pretended to be frightened, and she would let out a mischievous giggle, then stomp away in her rain boots to find her next victim, endlessly enjoying her game.

Little Tong noticed a group of people entering the police station through the main door. She sneaked over with her flashlight, crouching low. As soon as they got close, she suddenly shone the light on her face, stuck out her tongue, and let out terrifying "woof woofs."

Then she was picked up by a tall figure and held tightly in his arms.

Little Tong, feeling squished, banged the flashlight against his head. "Ah, Dad, let me down."

Zhong Jin hugged the child tightly, inhaling her warm, sweet scent, feeling the weight of the little pig in his arms, and his heart finally settled back in place.

He had learned about Little Tong being left behind during the typhoon's eye pass. At that time, he and Hu De were escorting the dealer to catch his supplier. His phone, which had fallen under the seat, started vibrating. When he picked it up, he saw multiple missed calls from Aunt Liang.

Aunt Liang didn't hide the truth.

So he knew that Aunt Liang's mother had suddenly fainted, and in her rush to leave, she had left Little Tong alone at home. However, Aunt Liang had also contacted the police station, and Little Tong had been safely brought back by the officers.

Knowing Little Tong was safe, Zhong Jin didn't say much, only told Aunt Liang to take care of her mother and then hung up.

His calm tone even made Hu De, who was in the car with him, think it was just a friend's mother falling ill or something. Hu De had even commented, "Getting sick in such foul weather is really suffering."

Hu De and Zhong Jin returned to the station and only then learned about the situation. Hu De, with his thick hands, patted Little Tong on the back gently and sighed, "Our poor child has been through so much, thankfully nothing serious happened."

Hu De asked her, "Little one, are you scared?"

Little Tong leaned against Zhong Jin's chest and extended a chubby little finger towards Hu De, "The typhoon isn't as scary as you."

Hu De: "... "@@novelbin@@

Hu De rubbed his bald head, which was due to hair loss, falling into self-doubt. "I always thought I was quite friendly, but why do kids all seem to fear me?"

Zhong Jin gave him a sidelong glance. "You've got a bit of misunderstanding about the word 'friendly.'"

Zhong Jin carried Little Tong into the office, turning on an emergency light. It was then he noticed the child was wearing an adult's shirt. It was obvious that her clothes must have gotten wet on the way here, and someone had found a replacement for her in a hurry.

Little Tong, wearing the loose shirt and little rain boots, came over holding a tablet to find her dad. "I can't watch cartoons."

Zhong Jin took it to have a look. "Yeah, it's out of battery."

"I want to watch cartoons," the child whined, swinging Zhong Jin's arm back and forth, humming and pouting.

Normally, if Little Tong threw a tantrum like this, Zhong Jin would have scolded her a bit, but today, he really couldn't bear to make the child feel any more wronged.

"You stay at the police station, and I'll go home to get the power bank. I'll also bring you another set of clothes," Zhong Jin said.

Little Tong quickly hugged his leg. "I want to go too."

"Alright," Zhong Jin agreed to everything today. "The elevator will definitely be out of power, so we'll have to climb 20 flights of stairs. Can you do it?"

Little Tong thought of how, earlier in the day, Rao Shishi and the property management uncles had taken turns carrying her down the long stairs.

She ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‍immediately let go of Zhong Jin's pant leg and loudly said, "Goodbye."

Zhong Jin chuckled in exasperation. "You just know how to eat, never exercise. You're going to grow into a little piggy one day."

Little Tong climbed onto the sofa and lay down in her little nest, her legs bent and crossed like a brat who had given up on life.

Zhong Jin sat in a chair beside the sofa, looking down at the defiant little child. "Why are you still wearing diapers? Did you wet your pants?"

The carefree child immediately turned red with embarrassment and screamed, scrambling up from the sofa and throwing a fist towards Zhong Jin.

Zhong Jin wrapped her flustered little fist in his hand. "No way, did you really wet your pants?"

Little Tong stood barefoot on the sofa, tugging at Zhong Jin's ear and whispering in his ear, "It was a typhoon kid who peed my pants."

Zhong Jin didn't believe her. "Nonsense. Even a typhoon wouldn't lack basic manners enough to pee in your pants."

Little Tong, the little imp, covered her head and screamed, "Ahhhhh, you're killing me!"

Claiming she was about to be "killed," in the next second, she giggled and burrowed into Zhong Jin's arms, reminding him to bring back yogurt and beef jerky later.