NABC Chapter 34
Chapter 34
"Oh, didn't Mr. Zhong just go home? Why is he back again?" Rao Shishi had just returned from the community when she caught a glimpse of Zhong Jin's figure darting past the corridor. She hurried to the inquiry desk to ask Little Wang.
Little Wang straightened up, craning his neck to look toward the office. Seeing Zhong Jin enter and close the door, he replied to Rao Shishi, "He got called out on a police matter on his way home and brought back two people who were fighting."
“Oh, I see,” Rao Shishi nodded and picked up her handbag, preparing to head to the changing room to change and leave work.
Little Wang called her back, "It was Aunt Liang who got into a fight with someone else. The other party was bullying Little Tong and smashed all of Little Tong's toys."
"What?" Rao Shishi immediately stopped in her tracks. "Where are they? Is Little Tong here too?"
Little Wang pointed to a mediation room down the corridor. "Little Tong is inside. Mr. Zhong is avoiding, and Inspector Hu is handling the case."
Rao Shishi quickly put down her handbag and, taking a notebook, casually held it in her arms as she pushed the door open and entered the mediation room.
She calmly walked over and sat down next to Little Tong, winking at the child.
Little Tong pouted, feeling wronged as she complained, "Sister, all my toys are broken."
“Sister will buy you new ones,” Rao Shishi comforted her, patting her head.
The son and daughter-in-law of the old man (Yam Squash Old Man) had arrived by now, and Hu De was lecturing them, "This is the third time you've called the police over conflicts involving your child. Other kids are fine, but yours keeps getting into fights. Sometimes, as parents, you need to reflect on whether your parenting methods are flawed."
Hu De flipped through the previous records. "There was also that incident at the boutique store, where your child was reported for stealing a doll. How exactly do you raise your child?"
The child's mother was so ashamed she wanted to hide under the table. She whispered, "We’re busy at work and usually leave the child with his grandfather."
"Here’s my suggestion: if you don’t have time to raise a child, don’t have one. But if you do have a child, take responsibility. Now that issues have arisen, you’re shifting all the blame onto the elderly. Can you honestly call that mature behavior?"
There was one more thing Hu De didn’t say in front of the child: parents like them, who only know how to "enjoy" themselves, don’t deserve to be called parents.
Hu De’s temper was notoriously bad, and he was known for being blunt and outspoken in his cases. He started going bald in his 30s, and by the time he was in his early 40s, he was completely bald. Coupled with his rugged appearance and that gleaming bald head, if it weren’t for his police uniform, he’d look more like a member of a criminal gang than a law enforcement officer. Rarely did anyone dare to argue back when he scolded them.
After giving the boy’s parents a good dressing-down, Hu De started reviewing the surveillance footage from the property management.
When the footage showed the boy pushing Little Tong, Rao Shishi pointed out loudly, "They claimed the girl hit their grandson, but look who started it? Adults who lie like this, how can they expect their child to be well-behaved?"
When the surveillance showed Little Tong getting up from the ground and, with great gusto, making a big grimace at the boy, both Rao Shishi and Hu De fell silent.
Was this really their police station’s kid?
This level of aggression was embarrassingly weak.
While their station might not go looking for trouble, it didn’t mean they had to let others push them around either.
Finally, Hu De, with his intimidating bald head and fierce expression, awkwardly tried to save face, "Look, how well-behaved the child is. She doesn’t even resort to violence."
The old man’s family was left humiliated after the scolding. Only then did the old man bring up, "That woman kicked me several times. Look, my knee is bruised. She has to take me to the hospital for an examination."
Hu De’s stern gaze swept over his face, and the old man’s assertiveness immediately wilted. Earlier, in the community, the old man seemed rather fierce, but compared to the genuinely intimidating Hu De, he looked like an obedient elementary school student.
Hu De cleared his throat,
She asked Zhong Jin to carry the toys to the bathroom, where she sat on a small stool, rolled up her pants, and stuck her bare feet in the water. She carefully rinsed each pot, pan, and bowl under the faucet.
Zhong Jin leaned against the bathroom doorframe, watching her with a smile on his face. Her little steamed bun face scrunched up as she focused intently on her task, looking incredibly obedient.
Aunt Liang's voice called from the kitchen, "Mr. Zhong, should I make spiced salt duck bone or simmer it into a soup?"
"Let me do it. I'll make a sweet and sour duck bone." Zhong Jin rolled up his sleeves and headed to the kitchen, glancing at the pink duck bubble gun on the bathroom floor as he passed by. "Little Tong, don't use the bubble gun to wash the toys," he casually reminded her.
Without giving it much thought, he went straight into the kitchen.
As Zhong Jin prepared the sweet and sour duck bone, Aunt Liang washed some green vegetables, planning to make a stir-fried vegetable dish later.
The conversation turned to the events of the day. Aunt Liang said, "Mr. Zhong, I didn't want to cause any trouble, but I also couldn't let the child be wronged."
Zhong Jin nodded, "I saw it from the surveillance footage. You've been very protective of Little Tong."
Zhong Jin, himself raised by a nanny, had experienced cases of nannies mistreating children. To be honest, he always harbored some bias against nannies. That's why he had installed numerous high-definition surveillance cameras with recording functions in the house and frequently chatted with Little Tong, even using investigative questioning techniques to probe if any of the nannies had been unkind to her.
Today's incident was a clear example. Most nannies would simply try to mediate, or ask their own children to share the toys, without ever risking offending anyone. After all, it wasn't their own child, so as long as they fulfilled their superficial responsibilities, that was usually enough.
No wonder many children raised by nannies either turned out to be brats or were overly timid. They simply didn't receive the kind of guidance and care that comes from genuine concern.
But the surveillance footage showed that when the little boy tried to snatch the toys, Aunt Liang immediately intervened. When the other party scolded Little Tong, she pulled her behind her and loudly rebuked them. Even when the other party made the first move physically, she didn't hesitate to fight back.
To be honest, even a child's own relatives could hardly have been more thorough in their protection.
Zhong Jin chopped the duck bone and tossed it into the pot with caramelized sugar for browning, asking, "By the way, did you really come to no harm? If there's anything wrong, you can go back and confront Yin Daqiang. You don't have to hold back."
Aunt Liang chuckled, "Not even a scratch, just a few strands of hair were pulled out."
"You're quite agile. That old man has large bruises on his legs," Zhong Jin remarked. From the surveillance footage, Aunt Liang's moves, though not exactly professional, were quite nimble for her age.
Aunt Liang, flattered by the compliment, got a bit carried away and casually said, "Oh, that's nothing. I've been practicing on my husband."
Zhong Jin: "......"
Aunt Liang immediately felt a bit guilty. "Is it okay for me to say that? Does it count as domestic violence?"
Zhong Jin poured some vinegar into the pot, stirred the duck bones, and after a moment said, "It's better not to hit. If you're really angry, maybe use a small cane and just spank the butt."
Aunt Liang burst out laughing.
"Hitting that area causes little harm but lots of humiliation. You get your anger out, and he'd feel too embarrassed to talk about it outside."
Zhong Jin's voice suddenly stopped as he turned to Aunt Liang, "Do you smell something like watermelon?"
Yes, there's a very strong watermelon scent. That's strange, we didn't buy any watermelon.
Zhong Jin handed the spatula to Aunt Liang. "Serve the duck bones."
He rushed to the bathroom, and sure enough, the chubby little child with her sleeves rolled up high was wildly spraying bubbles at the toys with the bubble gun. The watermelon-scented body wash bottle lay in disarray on the floor, its contents emptied and spilling everywhere. Zhong Jin estimated that the bottle had just been opened the day before yesterday.