Eating Melons in the Police Station

Before kindergarten ended, Zhong Jin sent a message in the "Co-Parenting" group chat: "I'll pick up Zhong Yuntong later."

Qiu Sheng replied, "Got it."

Aunt Liang also responded, "I got it too."

With three people now taking care of the child at home, there were occasional mix-ups. For example, a few days ago, Yuntong ended up taking two baths in one night—Aunt Liang bathed her once, and two hours later, Qiu Sheng bathed her again.

The poor kid, eager to play with her bubble gun, kept quiet and didn’t say a word.

It wasn’t until the next day when Aunt Liang mentioned giving Yuntong a bath that everyone realized the mix-up.

After that, Qiu Sheng created the "Co-Parenting" group chat, adding Zhong Jin and Aunt Liang to it. From then on, everyone would update the group about their activities to avoid wasting effort.

When it was time for kindergarten to let out, Zhong Jin strolled over to pick up Zhong Yuntong and brought her back to the police station.

"Play here by yourself, and we’ll go home together after I finish work," Zhong Jin said.

Yuntong squatted in front of the snack drawer, stuffed some snacks into her pocket, and without even saying goodbye to Zhong Jin, she hurried off to watch the commotion.

She had overheard a loud argument in the mediation room when they arrived.

After finishing up some work, Zhong Jin fetched the curious child and carried her out of the police station.

Since Qiu Sheng had taken the car home earlier that morning, Zhong Jin hailed a taxi on the street and climbed into the backseat with Yuntong in tow.

Having only one car in the household was admittedly inconvenient, but neither Zhong Jin nor Qiu Sheng had brought up buying another one. It wasn’t about money—they just preferred sharing the same car.

Yuntong leaned against Zhong Jin’s arm and pulled out a drawing she had made at school to show him.

Zhong Jin asked, "What’s this? Is it fried chicken with ketchup? Chicken nuggets?"

Yuntong crossed her little arms, turned her head toward the window, and gave Zhong Jin the silent treatment with the back of her head.

Realizing he had guessed wrong, Zhong Jin spent a good while coaxing her, promising to take her out for pizza and ice cream over the weekend before she finally forgave him.

Yuntong held up the drawing and explained seriously, "This is a red heart. It’s my heart."

Zhong Jin stared at the irregular quadrilateral-shaped heart and didn’t dare say a word, afraid of upsetting her again and getting another cold shoulder.

Yuntong touched her chest, then pointed a tiny finger at the red heart on the paper. "I’m giving my heart to Mommy."

A few days ago, Qiu Sheng had been feeling down. Though the child seemed oblivious, she had sensed it deep down. She probably wanted to give her heart to Mommy so that Mommy could have a new heart and be happy again.

Touched by her thoughtfulness, Zhong Jin felt a warmth in his chest, but also a pang of sadness. "Only for Mommy? I want one too."

The child quickly folded the red heart and tucked it back into her bag, shaking her little hands vigorously. "No, no, I only have one heart."

Zhong Jin sniffled, teasing her, "But if I don’t have one, I’ll be sad too."

Yuntong hugged his head and planted a kiss on his cheek, giving him a look that said, "Oh, you’re impossible."

Zhong Jin rested his hand on her head, his gaze distant, fearing that these joyful days would pass by too quickly as she grew up.

When they got home, Yuntong presented the red heart drawing to Qiu Sheng. "Mommy, here’s a gift for you."

"Wow," Qiu Sheng exclaimed as she unfolded the paper, her face slowly morphing into confusion. "What is this?"

Yuntong held up a finger. "Guess."

"Uh..." Qiu Sheng dragged out the syllable, glancing at Zhong Jin for help as he headed toward the bathroom.

Zhong Jin paused, pointed to his chest, and mouthed, "Heart."

Qiu Sheng’s confusion deepened. She glanced at Zhong Jin and hesitantly asked, "Is this Daddy’s heart? Did you draw Daddy’s heart, sweetie?"

Zhong Jin, looking utterly innocent, quickly slipped into the bathroom.

When he came out, Qiu Sheng was crouched outside the doghouse, coaxing, "Sweetie, don’t be mad. Can you tell Mommy what this is?"

Zhong Jin grabbed an apple, sat on the couch, and started peeling it, placing the peel in the trash can. He leaned back, took a bite of the apple, and watched the scene unfold with amusement.

After much coaxing, a round little head finally popped out of the doghouse, resting her chin on the entrance. Her big, bright eyes glared at Qiu Sheng.

"This is my heart. I’m giving my heart to Mommy."

"Oh, that’s amazing! Mommy didn’t see it at first, but now I do. It looks just like your heart. Thank you, sweetie."

Yuntong retreated back into the doghouse, curling up and burying her head in a soft blanket, looking utterly heartbroken.

Qiu Sheng, unable to console her, turned to Zhong Jin with a silent plea for help: "Save me!"

Zhong Jin tossed the apple core into the trash, wiped his hands elegantly with a wet wipe, and said with a knowing look, "She’s faking it. She’s laughing."

As soon as he said that, giggles erupted from the doghouse. The little rascal rolled around on the blanket, laughing. "You got tricked! Heehee."

Later, Zhong Jin explained the meaning behind the drawing to Qiu Sheng. Since Qiu Sheng had been feeling sad, Yuntong had drawn her heart to give to her—perhaps hoping to mend Qiu Sheng’s broken heart with her own.

That night, Qiu Sheng made a fabric frame and hung the quadrilateral red heart on the wall above her work desk.

*

Over the weekend, Qiu Sheng received an invitation from a few moms in Yuntong’s class to visit a non-powered amusement park in the suburbs with their kids.

Having avoided social gatherings for the past few years and considering she would be leaving Haishan in a year, Qiu Sheng had initially planned to keep a low profile. She had avoided participating in parents’ private activities.

But now, Qiu Sheng changed her mind. If she didn’t go, Yuntong couldn’t go either. She didn’t want her reluctance to deprive her child of the chance to play with her friends.

So this time, Qiu Sheng agreed without hesitation.

The mom organizing the event created a small group chat. Qiu Sheng checked the members—there were five moms in total, which wasn’t too bad.

The organizer, Lu Xingxing’s mom, mentioned that the park offered a barbecue buffet, and everyone could split the cost for dinner.

The other moms seemed easygoing and agreed to the plan. The atmosphere in the group chat was quite pleasant.

The next day, as Qiu Sheng and Yuntong, dressed in matching sportswear, were about to leave, Zhong Jin emerged from the bedroom in a simple T-shirt and casual pants, pulling out his sneakers from the shoe cabinet.

Qiu Sheng asked, "Why are you wearing sneakers?"

Zhong Jin replied, "I’m coming with you."

"This is a moms’ gathering."

"I won’t join your gathering. I’ll just hang around nearby. If they feel uncomfortable, I can stay even farther away."

Qiu Sheng sighed, "You’re unbelievable."

When they arrived at the park, Zhong Jin calmly explained to the other moms’ puzzled looks, "I just happened to be passing by."

The park was located in the northern suburbs of the city, with nothing but the vast sea beyond it. It was hard to imagine what kind of "passing by" could bring him there.

While the kids played in the park, the moms sat under a sunshade. With Zhong Jin around, everyone seemed a bit reserved, making small talk about their children.

Just as Qiu Sheng was thinking of a way to send Zhong Jin off, Yuntong came running over, her forehead glistening with sweat.

"Daddy, I need you," she said, tugging at Zhong Jin’s knee.

Zhong Jin was promptly dragged away by Yuntong, and the moms finally relaxed. One of them teased Qiu Sheng, "You two seem so inseparable. Are you planning to get back together?"

Qiu Sheng took a sip of water, tactfully dodging the question. "We haven’t really thought about it yet."

In this amusement park, there was a tunnel slide connected by a long, swaying suspension bridge. To get to the slide, the children had to cross the wobbly bridge first.

Zhong Yuntong didn’t want to walk across the bridge but still wanted to play on the slide, so she asked Zhong Jin to lift her up directly.

After carrying Yuntong back and forth a few times, Zhong Jin’s arms started to ache. He looked down and saw a few pairs of clear, innocent eyes staring straight at him.

“Uncle, we want that too,” a group of little kids chimed in unison.

Zhong Jin glanced up at the mothers sitting under the sunshade, who were watching him intently. He gritted his teeth and said, “Alright.”

By the time the kids had finally had their fill of fun, Zhong Jin’s arms were sore and exhausted. Even when he tried to unscrew a bottle cap to drink water, his hands felt weak.

He didn’t feel like eating much either, so after sipping some water, they headed home.

Yuntong was truly worn out from the day’s activities. She fell asleep in the car and, after arriving home, dozed off again halfway through her bath.

Qiu Sheng held her head with one hand to keep her from slipping, while using the other to rinse off the soap with the showerhead. Once done, she wrapped Yuntong in a towel and carried her out.

The chubby little girl slept soundly, undisturbed even as her parents changed her into pajamas and dried her hair.

Once placed on the bed, Yuntong rolled over, hugged her pig plushie, and buried her face in its belly without moving a muscle.

Rubbing her sore arms, Qiu Sheng walked over to the sofa and sat down on a single-seater across from Zhong Jin.

“Has Yuntong gained weight? I can barely carry her anymore.”

Zhong Jin was about to say, “You think that’s bad? I carried five solid little kids today,” but Qiu Sheng continued, “You’re amazing. I can’t even handle one, and you carried so many kids today.”

Zhong Jin flexed his hand, his expression calm. “No big deal.”

“Let’s order takeout for dinner. We barely ate anything this afternoon,” Qiu Sheng suggested, grabbing a pillow and hugging it as she opened the food delivery app. “How about some mildly spicy braised food?”

“Sure… get me two cans of beer too.”

“I’ll have beer as well.”

When ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌‍the food arrived, Qiu Sheng turned on the TV and started browsing for a movie. Spicy braised food and beer just had to be paired with a movie—it wasn’t about what they watched, but the cozy atmosphere.

Zhong Jin turned off the living room lights, leaving only the glow of the TV screen to illuminate the large space.

To avoid waking Yuntong, the TV volume was turned down low, sometimes so quiet that they couldn’t even hear the dialogue clearly and had to rely on subtitles.

Qiu Sheng was a bit nearsighted, which usually didn’t bother her, but from this distance, she couldn’t read the subtitles clearly. She was too lazy to get up and fetch her glasses from the guest room, worried she might wake Yuntong, so she just squinted and made do.

After a while, she lost interest and stopped watching. She took a sip of beer and started chatting with Zhong Jin.

“Hey, let me tell you something funny. You know Lu Xingxing’s mom? She calls her son ‘young master.’ I heard her say, ‘My young master doesn’t eat chives,’ and ‘Bring some water for my young master.’ I was so confused—I thought she was Lu Xingxing’s nanny! Turns out, it’s just her term of endearment for her son. Good thing I didn’t ask her if she was the nanny—that would’ve been so awkward.”

Zhong Jin frowned slightly. “That’s ridiculous. It blurs the lines of respect and hierarchy for the child.”

Qiu Sheng nibbled on a goose wing. “I think it’s a bit odd too, but it’s none of my business. I’m just here for the gossip.”

Her tone was all too familiar to Zhong Jin.

Back when Qiu Sheng first entered the entertainment industry, she would come home and bombard him with gossip. Zhong Jin was tight-lipped and would never spill anything, so Qiu Sheng felt safe sharing all the juiciest stories with him.

When Qiu Sheng got into gossip mode, her eyes sparkled, and she never seemed to tire.

Zhong Jin once teased her, saying she didn’t join the entertainment industry to act—she joined to collect gossip.

After sharing some of the day’s amusing tidbits about the moms, Qiu Sheng continued, “Do you remember Tu Xiaoxiao from our class? Her story is even crazier.”

“What happened to her?” Zhong Jin’s curiosity was piqued.

Qiu Sheng said, “Once, at a girls’ gathering, Tu Xiaoxiao was bragging about her husband, saying how perfect he was—even his scent was amazing, like milk. Then Zhang Tong shot back, ‘If your husband smells like milk, you’d better check if he has a secret child out there.’”

At this point, Qiu Sheng paused and took a sip of beer.

Suddenly, a soft, childish voice piped up from the dark living room, “Go on.”

Qiu Sheng, “...”

Zhong Jin, “...When did you come out?”

Yuntong, calmly munching on a chicken claw, said, “Don’t mind me. Keep going.”