Eating Melons in the Police Station

Qiu Sheng waited outside the He'an Police Station for a long time, but the child still hadn't come out. She called Zhong Jin again, urging him to hurry Little Tong along.

Zhong Jin walked out of his office and, familiar with the routine, entered the mediation room. He spotted the child peeking around and promptly scooped her up under his arm, carrying her out.

Little Tong's head was tucked under her father's arm, her short legs kicking wildly. "Ah, I don't want to go to school today!"

Zhong Jin wasn't one to indulge her whims. He carried her out decisively, holding her under her armpits, and handed her over to Qiu Sheng.

"After you drop her off, you can head back. There's a bicycle in the corner of the parking spot. You can ride it around the area. The coastal walkway is beautiful—don't just sit and wait by the school gate."

"Alright, finish up your work and get some rest soon. You look really tired."

Zhong Jin waved his hand dismissively. "Hurry up, or she'll be late for school."

The school was just across the street, so driving would have been more trouble than it was worth. Qiu Sheng took Little Tong's hand and started walking toward the crosswalk.

Little Tong, reluctantly holding her mother's hand, dragged her feet, her little face clearly showing her displeasure. Every little movement on the side of the road caught her attention, and she would stop to stare for a long time.

Qiu Sheng finally picked her up and quickly crossed the zebra crossing. The school bell had already rung, but thankfully Teacher Luo was still waiting at the gate for them.

After handing the child over to the teacher, Qiu Sheng shook her slightly sore arm. No wonder Zhong Jin always said Little Tong was like a solid sandbag—she really was quite heavy.

Ever since the wheelchair incident, Teacher Luo had kept a close eye on Zhong Yuntong, always checking to see what mischief the little troublemaker was up to.

That morning, there was an art class. The children were all holding crayons, drawing their own pictures. Zhong Yuntong, too, held a small brush, wildly scribbling on her sketchpad without any particular pattern.

Lu Xingxing, sitting next to her, seemed shocked by Zhong Yuntong's bold artistic style. He covered his mouth and exclaimed, "Ah, your drawing is so ugly!"

Zhong Yuntong turned her head, her dark eyes glaring at Lu Xingxing.

Teacher Luo, worried the children might start fighting, quickly took a few steps forward. But before she could intervene, Zhong Yuntong sternly scolded, "Lu Xingxing, no talking during class!"

Then she lowered her head and continued her bold strokes.

When the art class ended, Teacher Luo asked Zhong Yuntong, "You were talking yesterday. Why not today?"

The child held up her little hand, now covered in crayon marks, and raised a finger to her nose, speaking seriously to the teacher,

"No talking during class, or no fried chicken. Teacher, can we go eat fried chicken?"

Children's conversations were always full of whimsy, and Teacher Luo was used to it. Even if she didn't fully understand, she could still communicate with them effortlessly.

She smiled at the child and said, "There's no fried chicken now, but since you didn't talk during class today, how about a little star as a reward?"

The child's attention was successfully diverted. "I want a little star!"

The little stars were stickers used in the kindergarten to reward well-behaved children. It was part of a points system—once the kids collected ten stars, they could exchange them for a gift from the teacher.

The gifts included small items like rubber balls, hair clips, or mini toy cars.

Teacher Luo stuck the reward star on the child's point card and told her to keep it safe in her backpack.

Zhong Yuntong walked back to her seat with her star-adorned point card, immediately earning the envy of Miao Qingyue.

"Wow, Zhong Yuntong, you already have a star! I don't have one yet."

Little Tong peeled off her star and stuck it on Miao Qingyue's forehead, giggling. "Now you have one too."

Miao Qingyue touched the sticker on her forehead. "But this is your reward. I should give it back to you."

But Little Tong didn't care. She pulled out a crayon from somewhere, stood in front of her desk, and drew a crooked circle on her wrist. She filled it in with color and held it up to Miao Qingyue.

"Look, I have a 'Goose Watch' now."

However, her ugly little "Goose Watch" was soon discovered by Teacher Luo, who told her to wash it off. Little Tong refused, insisting on keeping her watch. As a result, the star she had just earned was taken away.

Miao Qingyue touched her now-empty forehead. "What a shame, Zhong Yuntong. Your star's gone."

Little Tong grinned and nodded. "Yeah, it's really gone."

"Don't you want the stars?"

Little Tong pinched her "Goose Watch." "I do, but I want the watch more. Miao Yueyue, stand up and walk a few steps."

Ever since Miao Qingyue started wearing her steel leg braces, Little Tong had discovered something more fun than the wheelchair—asking Miao Qingyue to stand up and walk. After Miao Qingyue wobbled through a few steps, Little Tong would run over, pat her head, and say, "Good job!"

Sometimes, instead of "good job," she'd say, "Nice work, pretty."

Miao Qingyue's ears would turn red with a mix of embarrassment and shyness, but she actually quite liked the feeling. Sometimes, if Little Tong forgot to ask her to walk, Miao Qingyue would deliberately wander around her until Little Tong noticed and gave her the usual pat and compliment.

That would make Miao Qingyue's whole day.

While the kindergarten children were taking their afternoon nap, Qiu Sheng received several large packages. She had sent some of her daily necessities from Jing City, and they had finally arrived.

Qiu Sheng opened one of the boxes, and a realistic-looking human head rolled out. She picked it up expressionlessly and stuffed it back into the box. Then she opened another box and pulled out an electronic sewing machine.

Ignoring the mess of boxes on the floor, Qiu Sheng set up the sewing machine on the dining table. She took one of Little Tong's school uniform skirts, cut along the seams, and added a pair of shorts underneath the skirt.

The modified skirt looked the same from the outside, but with the added shorts, it became a skort. This way, even if the child moved around a lot, the skirt wouldn't flip up.

Qiu Sheng had always thought the original skirt design was problematic. It looked nice but didn't account for the active nature of children that age.

Now that the sewing machine had arrived, she could finally make the necessary adjustments.

Zhong Jin finished up his casework and walked into the house, only to trip over the boxes at the entrance. The head that had just been stuffed back into the box rolled out again.

Several bald heads tumbled to the floor. Zhong Jin glanced at them, calmly picked them up, and placed them back in the box.

"Why did you bring these along?" Zhong Jin asked as he changed his shoes at the entrance.

His voice was a bit hoarse, likely from staying up late.

Qiu Sheng had always loved tinkering with dolls. Back in their home in Jing City, they had an entire wall of cabinets filled with various dolls.

Zhong Jin hadn't expected her to ship them all here.

Qiu Sheng was using a steam iron to press the school uniform skirt. Without stopping, she replied,

"Do you remember Wen Hechang? His company produces BJD dolls. They're celebrating their anniversary with a blind box event, and they asked me to design the outfits and accessories. So I had him send the dolls over."

"Are you doing it for free?"

Qiu Sheng hung up the ironed skirt. "Of course not. The fees are quite high, you know."

As long as it wasn't free, Zhong Jin was fine with it. Wen Hechang had once pursued Qiu Sheng, and Zhong Jin hoped their relationship was purely professional now.

After changing his shoes, Zhong Jin grabbed some loungewear from the spare bedroom and headed to the bathroom.

After a while, Zhong Jin opened the bathroom door and peeked out half of her head, kindly reminding, “Before Little Tong comes back, you’d better put away those dolls and hide them somewhere she can’t find them.”

Qiu Sheng thought Zhong Jin was being a bit too dramatic. Little Tong was a very obedient child. As long as she was told not to touch them, she wouldn’t.

After Zhong Jin finished her shower and went to take a nap, Qiu Sheng gathered the dolls and put them in the wardrobe on the wall side of the master bedroom.

Then she sat cross-legged on the sofa, placed her laptop on her knees, and began brainstorming designs for doll clothes.

Time flies when you’re busy, and before she knew it, it was almost time to pick up Little Tong.

Qiu Sheng closed her laptop, her joints stiff from sitting in one position for too long.

She stood up, stretched her arms, and kicked her legs a few times. Walking over to the second bedroom, she pushed the door open slightly and took a peek. Zhong Jin was still asleep.

“Let him sleep,” she thought.

Qiu Sheng gently closed the door and decided to go pick up Little Tong herself.

Just as the door clicked shut, Qiu Sheng heard a sound resembling a duck’s quack coming from the bedroom.

She pushed the door open again. “Zhong Jin, was that you?”

This time, the duck-like sound was clearer. “Is it time to pick up Little Tong?”

The voice sounded like a mix between a duck’s quack and someone being forcefully choked.

Qiu Sheng walked right in. “Why do you sound like that? Are you sick?”

The bedroom was dimly lit with blackout curtains drawn, making it hard to see his face clearly. Qiu Sheng walked over to the bed and reached out to feel his forehead. Before her palm even touched his skin, she felt a wave of heat radiating from him.

Her hand pressed against Zhong Jin’s forehead, and she muttered under her breath, “You’ve finally managed to make yourself sick.”

The apartment they were staying in was temporary, and many things were missing. Qiu Sheng couldn’t recall seeing a first aid kit or a thermometer around.

She ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‍tried to wake Zhong Jin up so she could drive him to the hospital, but no matter how many times she tried, he only mumbled incoherently, never fully waking up.

If they didn’t leave soon, they’d miss picking up Little Tong. But with Zhong Jin in this state, Qiu Sheng couldn’t bring herself to leave him alone.

After some thought, she unlocked Zhong Jin’s phone and looked through his contacts.

Zhong Jin had a habit of saving people’s names with their workplace and position, making his contact list clear and organized at a glance.

She remembered the deputy director from He'an Police Station, Mao Feixue, who had seemed kind and helpful when they visited the station that day.

She found the contact labeled “Mao Feixue, Deputy Director of He'an Police Station” and dialed the number.

The call was answered quickly. “Director Zhong, what’s up?”

“Feixue, it’s me, Qiu Sheng, Little Tong’s mom.”

Over the phone, Qiu Sheng briefly explained that Zhong Jin was sick and asked if Mao Feixue could arrange for someone to pick up Little Tong and bring her to the police station. She promised to come get her as soon as she settled Zhong Jin.

Mao Feixue agreed without hesitation. “Don’t worry about Little Tong. She’s always well-behaved at the station. Focus on taking care of Director Zhong. I’ll send you my husband’s number in case you need any more help.”

Qiu Sheng thanked her profusely.

Living in a foreign city with no family or close friends nearby, they were fortunate to have the support of their colleagues at the police station.

*

Mao Feixue wasn’t at the station at the moment; she was attending a meeting at the city bureau. She called the station and asked if someone could pick up Little Tong and let her know once the child was there.

Everyone was busy with their tasks, but when Rao Shishi spotted Hu De walking through the lobby with a thermos in hand, she called out to him.

“Officer Hu, do you have a moment?”

Hu De, suspecting Rao Shishi might ask him to run an errand for snacks, immediately declined. “No, I’m busy.”

Rao Shishi said, “Director Zhong is sick, and they need someone to pick up Little Tong and bring her to the station. If you’re too busy, I’ll go.”

Hu De stopped in his tracks. “Never mind, I’ll go.”

Rao Shishi replied, “...Then hurry up. The kindergarten’s already let out.”

Hu De, with his long strides, reached the kindergarten in just a few minutes.

The children from Little Tong’s class, the Ginkgo Class, hadn’t come out yet. Hu De spotted a sausage stand near the school gate and bought one, holding it in his hand.

He figured the child might feel a bit down not seeing her parents, but the sight of a sausage would surely cheer her up.

When the Ginkgo Class children finally emerged, Hu De waved at Little Tong.

The usually cheerful child looked unusually serious today, walking in line with a sense of purpose, her small steps precise and her expression determined.

Hu De found it amusing; it was the first time he’d seen Little Tong so focused.

Just as he was waiting for the teacher to call her name, the kindergarten’s head teacher noticed Hu De and walked over.

“Officer Hu, what brings you here?”

Hu De subtly hid the sausage behind his back. “I’m here to pick up our station’s child.”

“Which child belongs to your station?”

At that moment, Zhong Yuntong’s name was called, and the little girl, carrying her backpack, rushed toward Hu De. He pointed at her.

“That one, Zhong Yuntong, is our station’s child. Please keep an eye on her, Head Teacher. She’s a good kid; make sure no one bullies her.”

The head teacher nodded repeatedly. “Of course, of course. Our school takes such matters very seriously. If there’s any bullying, we’ll deal with it strictly.”

“By the way, Officer Hu, will you be giving the anti-kidnapping lecture again this year? We should probably set a date soon.”

Hu De, holding Little Tong’s hand, moved to the side to discuss the lecture schedule with the head teacher.

Meanwhile, Little Tong sniffed the air like a little puppy and immediately caught the scent of the sausage.

She followed the smell, circling around to Hu De’s back, and sure enough, spotted the sausage clutched in his thick fingers.

The little girl stood on her tiptoes, stretched her neck, and took a bite of the sausage, chewing with her mouth smeared in oil.

While the adults were busy talking, she quietly enjoyed the sausage bite by bite.

By the time Hu De finished his conversation with the head teacher, the sausage in his hand was almost gone.

After the head teacher left, Hu De scooped up the little girl and perched her on his arm.

“Whose sneaky little puppy ate my sausage?”

The child giggled, holding onto Hu De’s bald head as she swayed back and forth. “It was me, heehee.”