Eating Melons in the Police Station

To ensure that Zhong Jin could rest properly, Qiu Sheng had to put aside her work and devote herself entirely to playing with Little Tong.

They brought out all the dolls that Qiu Sheng had brought, neatly arranging them on the carpet. Little Tong played the role of a little teacher, teaching the dolls a song she had learned in kindergarten, the "Little Chick Song."

The teacher had previously shared the original version of the song in the parents' group chat.

After listening to her child sing for a while, Qiu Sheng opened her phone to listen to the original version herself. She quickly confirmed that not a single word Little Tong sang was on key.

Back in her school days, Qiu Sheng had always been the class's cultural committee member. Just as a sports committee member would struggle to accept their child being physically weak, Qiu Sheng couldn't accept her child being tone-deaf.

So, Qiu Sheng sat cross-legged on the floor, called Little Tong over to sit in her lap, and began teaching her the "Little Chick Song" again, line by line.

But even with this effort, not a single note Little Tong sang was correct.

Qiu Sheng realized that her child wasn’t being mischievous; she was genuinely trying her best, even her little toes curling into the carpet as she concentrated. Yet, the sounds she produced were still off-key.

"Sweetie, why don’t you show Mommy the dance you learned in kindergarten?" Qiu Sheng gave up on the singing and thought maybe her daughter was better at dancing.

Obediently, Little Tong stood up, her feet forming an inward "V," her tiny hands poised as she earnestly performed the "Little Chick Dance."

And ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‍then Qiu Sheng confirmed one thing: this child took after Zhong Jin.

Back in high school, Zhong Jin had been both a top student and the school heartthrob, the campus crush of countless girls.

Though Qiu Sheng and Zhong Jin hadn’t officially started dating back then, they were already inseparable best friends, spending every day together. Yet, Qiu Sheng had never heard Zhong Jin sing.

It wasn’t until their high school graduation party, when Zhong Jin had had a bit too much to drink, that he picked up the karaoke microphone and belted out a song.

Afterward, all the girls in the class felt betrayed—their campus heartthrob’s image had been shattered by his voice. Some even joked that Zhong Jin should bring his "broken voice" to court if he ever got sued.

And Zhong Jin, shameless as ever, later told Qiu Sheng privately that he had sung that song especially for her—it was called "Heartbeat."

Qiu Sheng had replied, "Thanks, you almost gave me a heart attack."

When Qiu Sheng married Zhong Jin, she never imagined that his "broken voice" would be hereditary.

After playing the role of a little teacher for a while, Little Tong grew bored and switched to playing doctor, giving her dolls injections.

Qiu Sheng, looking at her daughter’s round little head, felt a surge of frustration. She got up from the floor, stormed into the bedroom, and punched Zhong Jin.

Zhong Jin, startled awake from his near-death state, croaked, "...Huh?"

*

By noon, Zhong Jin stumbled out of the bedroom.

He poured himself a glass of water, washed his face, shaved, and tidied up a bit, looking much more refreshed.

Qiu Sheng was lounging on the sofa, scrolling through a food delivery app. She waved Zhong Jin over, "Come here, see what you want to eat."

Zhong Jin sat down next to her and flipped through a few pages, but nothing appealed to him. The greasy dishes in the pictures even made him feel queasy.

He waved his hand at Qiu Sheng, indicating he didn’t want anything.

"You can’t not eat. You need something in your stomach to take your medicine."

Zhong Jin rasped, "Millet porridge."

This time, Qiu Sheng seemed to understand, "Millet porridge?"

"Huh."

His voice, cracking and hoarse, was almost as painful as his singing. It seemed his terrible voice wasn’t limited to singing—it extended to speaking too.

Just as Qiu Sheng typed "millet porridge" into the search bar, a WeChat message popped up from Aunt Liang.

[Little Tong’s mom, I’m downstairs in the neighborhood. I’ve brought over some soup I made and a few light dishes. Could you come down and get them?]

Qiu Sheng replied with an "OK," slipped on her shoes, and headed downstairs.

Aunt Liang handed her the thermal container but refused to come upstairs. She felt that Zhong Jin was still upset with her, and with him being sick, she didn’t want to cause any more trouble.

Qiu Sheng asked for Aunt Liang’s address, saying she’d return the containers later.

Aunt Liang smiled and said it wasn’t necessary—she’d come by tomorrow to pick them up. Without waiting for Qiu Sheng to say more, she hopped on her electric scooter and rode off.

Since she was already downstairs, Qiu Sheng decided to swing by the community cafeteria and picked up a couple more dishes before heading back home.

Opening the thermal container Aunt Liang had brought, she found several containers inside: a box of pear soup, a serving of yam millet porridge, and some stir-fried greens.

Qiu Sheng cleared the laptop off the dining table, set out the dishes, and went to the bedroom to call Zhong Jin for lunch.

At the table, Zhong Jin glanced at the spread and gave Qiu Sheng a puzzled look.

"I bought these from the community cafeteria," Qiu Sheng explained.

Zhong Jin typed on his phone, [Did Aunt Liang come by?]

He could tell that some of the dishes were Aunt Liang’s work. Her soups always had three red dates and five goji berries, and her greens were hand-torn, not evenly cut like with a knife.

"Yeah, I ran into her this morning when I was buying breakfast. She heard you were sick and made these dishes for you. Come on, eat up."

Zhong Jin didn’t say much else but drank a large bowl of the pear soup and ate some of the yam porridge and greens.

Little Tong, resting her chin on her hands, looked unimpressed. "Aunt Liang didn’t make any meat for me."

Qiu Sheng served her some steamed fish from the cafeteria. "Eat this."

"I still don’t like this," the child pushed Qiu Sheng’s hand away and quietly sipped her yam porridge.

In the end, all the dishes Aunt Liang had brought were finished, while most of the cafeteria dishes were left untouched. The food from outside was heavily seasoned, and the difference was obvious when compared to homemade meals.

After lunch, Little Tong grew sleepy and clung to Zhong Jin’s leg, begging him to nap with her.

Zhong Jin carried her to bed, propped himself up with two pillows, and gently patted her back with his cool fingertips.

Soon, Little Tong was asleep. Zhong Jin closed his eyes, his hand resting on her back, holding her as he drifted off.

The bedroom door was open, and Qiu Sheng stood at the doorway, knocking lightly. "Zhong Jin, are you asleep?"

Zhong Jin opened his eyes.

Qiu Sheng walked in. "I need to talk to you about something."

"Huh."

There weren’t any extra chairs in the room, so Qiu Sheng sat at the foot of the bed. "What if we ask Aunt Liang to come back?"

Zhong Jin lowered his gaze and remained silent for a moment before typing on his phone, [Why?]

Qiu Sheng replied, "Because I think we need a helper, and Aunt Liang is really good. Honestly, not many people would do what she did—being let go and still bringing soup for her former employer when they’re sick."

Zhong Jin typed, [I don’t trust outsiders to take care of Little Tong.]

"Are you still hung up on what happened during the typhoon?"

Zhong Jin gave her a surprised look.

Qiu Sheng crossed her arms and nodded. "Aunt Liang told me about leaving Little Tong alone during the typhoon."

Zhong Jin typed, [So, no. I can’t let Little Tong be put in that kind of situation again.]

"Do you remember Bubble?" Qiu Sheng suddenly asked.

Zhong Jin, puzzled, nodded.

Bubble was a greyhound Qiu Sheng had raised since it was a puppy. It was a smart dog, even a bit of a neat freak, and Zhong Jin had liked it a lot. But Bubble had passed away from old age in their second year of marriage.

Qiu Sheng continued,

"I might not have told you this, but when Bubble was six, our family went on a trip. My mom wasn’t feeling well due to altitude sickness, so she stayed at the hotel with Bubble while my dad, brother, and I went to a temple. When we got back, we found out Bubble had opened the door and run off. My mom was so unwell she hadn’t noticed."

"We searched for three days in Tibet. I cried until I passed out, even considering whether we should...

"Like a devout believer, I went up the mountain to worship, praying to Buddha to help me find Bubble."

"Later, we finally found Bubble, who had been taken by someone else. They refused to return the dog, so we called the police and, after much effort, managed to get Bubble back."

"Tell me, should I blame my mom for this?"

Zhong Jin closed his eyes and typed on his phone, [These two things are different in nature.]

"The nature is the same."

Qiu Sheng looked into Zhong Jin's eyes and said,

"Including the car accident involving your parents and sister, it was just an accident. No one wanted such a tragedy to happen. Zhong Jin, you've trapped yourself in that car accident, and you've trapped Aunt Liang in that typhoon. Living like this is too exhausting for you."

On the day of the car accident involving Zhong Jin's parents and sister, the criminal investigation team was pursuing a drug trafficking gang. At the time, the gang was driving a modified pickup truck that sped down the overpass in the wrong direction.

At that moment, Zhong Yan was driving her parents, and they happened to pass by that exact spot.

The two vehicles collided, and the rear of Zhong Yan's car was struck violently, causing it to veer into the opposite lane, where it crashed into an oncoming tanker truck. The tanker exploded, and everyone involved died on the scene.

According to the subsequent investigation, there was no evidence suggesting that the gang had intentionally targeted Zhong Yan's car. Everyone comforted Zhong Jin, saying it was just an unfortunate coincidence, a tragic alignment of events.

But as Qiu Sheng said, Zhong Jin had trapped himself in that car accident.

He had never truly moved on.

Even after Little Tong came into his life, bringing some joy and laughter with the child's antics, he knew deep down that the tension in his mind never truly eased.

If even the slightest disturbance occurred in his current life, that tension would snap.

He would fall back into the same abyss.

Qiu Sheng stood up, walked to the door, and turned back to say,

"In a couple of days, you'll move back to your own house. It's not small, and the household chores will multiply. Once the child starts kindergarten, there will always be school matters requiring parental involvement, and your work at the police station doesn't seem easy either. Whether your body can handle it or not is something you need to consider."

After saying this, Qiu Sheng turned and left the bedroom.

She returned to the living room, sat cross-legged on the carpet, and placed her laptop on her knees.

The computer screen was still on the design page, but she had no interest in working.

Her mind was a jumble of thoughts.

She propped her chin on her hand and muttered to herself, "Why did I say all that? Aren't we rivals? If he can't handle raising the child, then I can step in, right?"

Then, Ms. Qiu Sheng suddenly bared her teeth and said in a sinister tone, "I'm going to turn dark."

Zhong Jin walked out of the bedroom, and Qiu Sheng quickly retracted her fangs, sitting upright and pretending to focus on her work.

Zhong Jin lowered his head and typed on his phone. He walked over to her and handed her the phone to read,

[I'll call Aunt Liang and let her know, but I can't guarantee she'll agree to come back.]

Qiu Sheng glanced at it and looked away. "Oh."

Zhong Jin typed again, [You're like a ridiculous comic villain.]