Eating Melons in the Police Station

The next morning, Zhong Jin woke up in complete darkness. At first, he felt disoriented by the unfamiliar surroundings. He closed his eyes briefly to adjust to the dim light, only to startle at the sight of a row of doll heads lined up on a shelf.

But he quickly remembered—he had spent the night in Qiu Sheng’s studio.

The underfloor heating kept the place warm, and though the futon on the floor wasn’t cold, the hard surface left his back slightly sore after a night’s sleep. He gathered the bedding and carried it back to the bedroom, rubbing his lower back as he headed to the bathroom to wash up.

During breakfast, Little Tong suddenly spoke up between bites of her sandwich, “Daddy, did Santa’s company pay your salary?”

Zhong Jin didn’t miss a beat. “Mm, they did.”

Little Tong seemed reassured.

A moment later, she asked again, “So, Daddy, if you work for Santa’s company, do you only have to work one day a year?”

“That’s right.”

Little Tong nodded, then picked up her sippy cup and downed half a bottle of warm milk in one go. Qiu Sheng handed her a peeled egg, which she clutched with both hands as she nibbled on it. After that, she didn’t ask any more questions about Santa’s company.

Zhong Jin was relieved. If she had pressed further, he wouldn’t have known how to keep the story going.

Recently, a homicide case had surfaced in Haishan City, and with the year-end crime surge, the municipal police department was short-staffed. They had borrowed Zhong Jin to assist.

Even on weekends, he had to brave the cold wind to work.

Little Tong stood by the entryway on her tricycle, watching Zhong Jin leave before pedaling back to the living room.

Ever since Qiu Sheng ended her collaboration with Wen Hechang’s company, she had been toying with the idea of starting her own video channel. She wanted to document her crafting process and share it on social media.

But running a video channel required a professional team—someone to handle filming and promotion.

These past few days, Qiu Sheng had been reaching out to content creation teams and was now reviewing the materials they’d sent over.

Little Tong pedaled back and, seeing Qiu Sheng working on her laptop, scooted closer, pressing her forehead against the back of Qiu Sheng’s hand.

Without looking away from the screen, Qiu Sheng asked, “What’s up, sweetheart? Do you want to watch cartoons?”

Little Tong rested her chin on Qiu Sheng’s hand. “Mommy, I want to learn math.”

“Huh?”

Qiu Sheng set the laptop aside, flipping her hand to press her palm against Little Tong’s forehead in mock concern. “Are you feeling okay? Since when do you *volunteer* to learn math?”

Little Tong shook her head. “I’m very okay! Mommy, can you teach me?”

“Of course.”

Qiu Sheng closed her laptop and moved it aside, then asked Little Tong to fetch her counting sticks.

The sticks were colorful, cotton-swab-sized rods that helped with basic addition and subtraction. Instead of counting on her fingers (or toes), Little Tong could use them to visualize the numbers.

Normally, during online classes, Little Tong was easily distracted—asking for water, needing the bathroom, fiddling with her toes, or checking if Sang Biao (the cat?) was hungry.

Neither Qiu Sheng nor Zhong Jin ever scolded her for these antics. Even her teachers thought she was too young, treating lessons more like playtime, gently introducing concepts along the way.

As ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‍a result, her progress was slow. She still hadn’t fully grasped single-digit arithmetic.

But today, she was unusually focused. With some prior exposure, it took her just an hour to master additions and subtractions within ten.

Qiu Sheng was amazed. “Sweetie, did you inherit your dad’s and aunt’s genius genes?”

Little Tong grinned. “I’m silly Little Tong.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, baby.” Qiu Sheng ruffled her round little head affectionately. “How about Mommy treats you to McDonald’s for lunch?”

“Mommy, can we take it to the police station and eat with Daddy?”

Qiu Sheng picked up her phone. “I think Daddy’s at the municipal bureau today. Let me call and check.”

Little Tong carefully sorted her counting sticks back into their box, arranging them by color with meticulous precision—a habit unmistakably inherited from Zhong Jin.

After the call, Zhong Jin confirmed he was free for lunch and invited them over.

When Qiu Chen had visited Haishan earlier, she’d found the single car at home inconvenient, so she bought a BMW under Qiu Sheng’s name for their use.

Qiu Sheng disliked the new car smell, so Zhong Jin took the BMW while she drove his old SUV.

They left home, picked up McDonald’s, then headed to the municipal bureau.

Since Zhong Jin’s SUV was registered with the police department, they could park in the station’s lot.

After parking, Qiu Sheng called Zhong Jin. Moments later, he appeared at the entrance in casual clothes, waving them over.

Zhong Jin carried Little Tong in his arms while Qiu Sheng carried takeout as they walked into the municipal police station’s cafeteria.

It was past lunch hour, so the cafeteria was sparsely populated. They found an empty corner and settled down.

Zhong Jin lifted Little Tong onto his lap and handed her a small juice box of apple juice.

Clutching the juice, Little Tong frowned slightly and asked in her childish voice, “Why are you working here *again*?”

Zhong Jin replied, “This isn’t a part-time job—it’s a temporary transfer. I’ll be back at the local police station in a couple of days.”

Little Tong took a sip of her juice, then spoke with grave seriousness, like a tiny adult: “I learned math today. Tonight, I’ll ask Uncle for money. From now on, *I’ll* earn money to take care of you. You don’t have to work everywhere.”

Zhong Jin: “...?”

Qiu Sheng suddenly understood. “So *that’s* why you studied so hard today—you want to earn money to support Dad?”

Zhong Jin was still bewildered. “What’s going on?”

Qiu Sheng recounted how Little Tong had voluntarily studied earlier that day. At the time, they hadn’t known why, but now it made sense.

Apparently, after seeing Dad working at “Santa’s company” the night before, she had felt bad for him. So today, she had taken the initiative to study, planning to exchange knowledge with her uncle for money to help support the family.

Zhong Jin was both touched and amused. *What kind of adorable logic is this?*

He spent a long time explaining to Little Tong that Dad wasn’t working at Santa’s company for money—it was just that the company happened to need a Santa.

Little Tong nibbled on a piece of fried chicken and then asked, “Then why are you working *here* on Satu’day too?”

Zhong Jin tried to explain the concept of a temporary transfer, but she still didn’t quite grasp it.

Finally, Zhong Jin gave up and said, “Fine. You can earn money to support me in the future.”

Little Tong’s face lit up with an *I knew it* expression. “Don’t worry, I learned math today, and I’ll learn English tomorrow.”

Zhong Jin: “...” And just like that, he had unexpectedly become a kept man.

*

This Christmas, Little Tong received three gifts—each secretly given by her parents and uncle, though she firmly believed they were free handouts from Santa’s company.

It wasn’t until evening, when Zhong Jin returned home from the municipal bureau, that the family of three finally gathered around the Christmas tree in the living room to unwrap the presents.

The first gift was from Qiu Sheng.

The little outfit Little Tong had worn when she first crossed over from the other world had grown too small for her. So Qiu Sheng had carefully taken apart the delicate xiāngyúnshā tunic, stuffed it with cotton, and sewn it into a doll.

The doll was shaped like the big dog from Qiu Sheng’s dreams.

At first, Zhong Jin had suspected Little Tong might *be* that dog, though Qiu Sheng hadn’t believed it. But after living together for half a year, she’d noticed that many of Little Tong’s mannerisms were uncannily dog-like.

Still, Qiu Sheng didn’t dwell on the deeper reasons. Whether Little Tong was a dog or a child, she was still her daughter.

The moment Little Tong saw the doll, she recognized its shape immediately. She threw her arms open and shouted excitedly, “Tianyun!”

Zhong Jin teased her, “Isn’t this supposed to be *you*?”

Little Tong hugged the stuffed dog and flopped onto the floor, rolling around in protest. “Nooo, don’t say that!”

Laughing, Zhong Jin helped her sit up again to open the second gift.

The second gift was a small jade pendant. On one side, it was carved into the shape of an intricate token. On the other, four tiny characters were inscribed: **[Pardon from Spanking]**.

Little Tong tilted her head, puzzled by its meaning.

Zhong Jin explained, “This is from Dad—well, Dad picked it out from Santa’s company. Santa’s company knows Dad has a bit of a temper and might scold you sometimes. So if Dad ever gets mad, you can show him this pendant to remind him not to be angry.”

Little Tong lay on the floor, still hugging the stuffed dog, her expression blank.

Zhong Jin thought she hadn’t understood and was about to explain again when suddenly, Little Tong sat up with a mischievous grin. “*This* is good.”

Zhong Jin took one look at her smug little face and immediately regretted giving it to her.

The last gift was a heavy package sent from Jing City by Qiu Chen. It had arrived pre-wrapped, so no one knew what was inside.

Zhong Jin helped Little Tong tear open the wrapping paper, revealing a beautiful cardboard box printed with pink heart patterns.

When he lifted the lid just enough to peek inside, his heart sank.

*Surely Qiu Chen wouldn’t be this cruel?*

He yanked the lid open completely—and the truth was revealed. The pretty box was *filled* to the brim with textbooks.

Zhong Jin pulled out a few and flipped through them. There were books for language, math, and English, along with skill manuals like *Piano Fundamentals* and *Violin for Beginners*.

He tossed them back into the box and kicked it aside. “Must’ve been a mistake. I’ll return it to Santa’s company tomorrow.”

Little Tong knelt on the floor, clutching the xiāngyúnshā dog in her arms, the [Pardon from Spanking] pendant around her neck. Her big dark eyes blinked earnestly as she declared—

"This must have been a gift arranged by an uncle who called the Santa Claus company to deliver it."