Eating Melons in the Police Station

Chapter 11

Zhong Jin's trip to Jing City didn't go as planned. Not a single thing on his agenda was accomplished, and he ended up bringing Zhong Yuntong back to He'an—well, not exactly the same Zhong Yuntong. Now, she had a bowl-cut hairstyle.

By the time they got home, it was already past 9 PM. The father and daughter had dinner at a small restaurant downstairs in their neighborhood. Zhong Yuntong, as usual, was picky with her food, pushing the vegetables aside and only eating the meat.

"Zhong Yuntong, don't be picky. You need to eat your greens too," Zhong Jin scolded her lightly.

The child, however, seemed to have selective hearing. She closed her eyes and stuffed her mouth with braised beef, completely ignoring the vegetables.

Zhong Jin moved all the food to his side of the table and grabbed a plate to portion out some greens and a small scoop of rice for her. He placed the plate in front of the little troublemaker.

"Finish all of this, and I'll reward you with a piece of beef," he said.

"No, no!" Yuntong slid off her chair and tried to sneak around to Zhong Jin's side to grab some meat.

Zhong Jin picked her up and plopped her back onto the chair. "If you don't eat your veggies, you won't get any meat either."

Yuntong stared at the greens in front of her, patted her head, and sighed. "Fine, I'll eat it."

She thought to herself, *Is Dad really that poor? Back then, I had unlimited access to all kinds of delicacies—big fish, big meat, exotic dishes. Now, I can't even get enough of this low-quality meat and have to fill up on greens and rice.*

She lazily chewed on the greens, counting each grain of rice as she put it into her mouth. When Zhong Jin wasn't looking, she quickly stuffed a handful of greens into the pocket of her overalls, followed by a clump of rice.

"I'm done. Give me the meat," Yuntong declared, showing off her empty plate.

Zhong Jin, unaware of her earlier antics, kept his promise and gave her a piece of beef.

Yuntong stared at his chopsticks. "Give me the biggest piece."

Zhong Jin was about to refuse, but Yuntong clasped her hands together, her big innocent eyes pleading. "Please, Daddy, thank you. I want the biggest piece."

Zhong Jin lowered his head and carefully searched the plate for the largest piece of beef.

Once they got home, Zhong Jin filled the bathtub halfway with water and asked Yuntong, "Can you bathe yourself?"

"I can!" the child declared confidently.

Zhong Jin let her into the bathroom but still felt uneasy, worried she might drown. So he asked, "Can you sing?"

"Yes, I can!" Yuntong replied loudly.

"Then sing loudly in the bathroom. Don't stop. I need to hear your voice."

"Okay, okay!" Eager to play in the water, the child quickly pushed her dad out of the bathroom.

Inside, Yuntong sang a bizarre, off-key song at the top of her lungs. She scooped water from the tub and poured it over her head, wetting her hair. Then she grabbed a bar of soap, rubbed it on her head, and created a mountain of bubbles.

Zhong Jin listened carefully and managed to decipher the lyrics from her distorted voice:

"Bubbles, bubbles, so many bubbles. Daddy, Daddy, my dad's so poor. Meat, meat, no more meat. Baby, baby, poor little Yuntong. Ahhh~ my dad's so poor."

Zhong Jin closed his eyes and silently reminded himself, *She's my own flesh and blood.*

He picked up the laundry basket to collect the clothes the little troublemaker had thrown on the floor. He also grabbed the clothes they had brought back from the hotel and took them to the washing machine on the balcony.

Zhong Jin had a habit of checking pockets before doing laundry. Back when Qiu Sheng was around, she always stuffed random things into her pockets—powder compacts, lipsticks, small packs of tissues. After they separated, the habit stuck, but he never found anything strange in the pockets again.

"..." He stared at the handful of greens and rice he had just pulled out of Yuntong's pocket, deep in thought.

"Zhong Yuntong, I found the greens you stuffed in your pocket," Zhong Jin called out, knocking on the bathroom door.

The child's singing stopped abruptly, then resumed cheerfully, "Oh no, I'm doomed!"

*

Rao Shishi handed her a tablet and slipped some snacks into her backpack. Zhong Jin said no snacks, but surely yogurt was fine, right? Yogurt was a drink, not a snack. And what about milk curd and milk skin? Those weren't snacks either—they were staples where she came from.

So Yuntong's backpack was stuffed full of "staples."

Yuntong sat on a bench in the lobby, watching cartoons and chewing on the pungent yet addictive milk curd. Less than half an hour later, Zhong Jin confiscated the tablet.

"What are you eating?"

Zhong Yuntong rummaged through her bag and handed him one, "Milk candy, want some?"

Zhong Jin, "...You should eat less. You still have lunch later."

Zhong Yuntong ran to her workstation to find Rao Shishi. Her chubby little hands gripped the edge of Rao Shishi's desk as her round head popped up, asking, "What does eating milk candy have to do with my lunch?"

"Exactly, Zhong Jin is such a hassle," Rao Shishi said, but when she caught a glimpse of Zhong Jin walking out, she quickly changed her tone, "Your dad is just worried about you."

Zhong Yuntong had her tablet taken away and, bored out of her mind, she wandered around the police station with her little backpack.

She pushed open the door to an interrogation room and saw a young woman sitting there crying, her clothes soaked and a towel draped over her shoulders.

Zhong Yuntong walked in and asked, "What's wrong?"

The young woman glanced up at her with tear-reddened eyes. Not in the mood to deal with some random kid, she waved her hand dismissively, signaling her to leave.

Zhong Yuntong leaned closer, tilting her head and staring with her big, dark eyes, "Did you get scolded for not wanting to take a bath?"

The young woman looked down at the towel on her shoulders. Her mood had been terrible, but this absurd little kid managed to lighten it a bit, almost making her laugh.

Zhong Yuntong took off her little backpack, rummaged through it, and pulled out a piece of milk candy, handing it to the young woman.

"I don't want it," the heartbroken woman pushed the snack away, indicating she had no appetite.

Zhong Yuntong pushed it closer, "Help me open it."

The young woman, "..." She took it, tore open the wrapper, and handed it back to her.

Zhong Yuntong chewed with her mouth full, climbed onto the chair next to the young woman, and mumbled through her chewing, "I also hate taking baths. The auntie always scrubs me so hard."

"Auntie?" The young woman turned to look at her.

Zhong Yuntong nodded solemnly, "The bathhouse auntie."

"Why do you take baths at a bathhouse? Don't your parents help you?"

Zhong Yuntong, "Exactly, it's so weird."

The bath topic broke the ice, and the young woman's mood lightened a bit. She volunteered, "Actually, I was about to jump into the sea, but some kind person called the police, and the officers brought me back."

"Mmm," Zhong Yuntong nodded knowingly, "Why?"

The young woman brought up her sorrow, tears welling up in her eyes again, "I really hate school. I can't learn anything, especially math. It's like a foreign language to me. My parents scolded me for being useless, said I’m a disgrace, called me a freeloading pig, and told me to just die. I’m really depressed."

Zhong Yuntong listened, utterly confused. She didn’t understand what school was, had no idea what math was, and couldn’t fathom why anyone would want to eat plain rice when meat was so much tastier.

But even though she didn’t understand, her inner comfort-dog instincts kicked in. She reached up with her little hand and patted the young woman’s hair, soothing her in a sweet, childish voice,

"Don’t be yuyu anymore. I’ll take you to see something fun."

The young woman, tears still in her eyes, corrected her, "It’s depressed, not yuyu. And I’m not in the mood for fun right now."

Zhong Yuntong, "The neighbors are fighting next door. The woman called the man a big liar."

The young woman, "...Is it intense?"