NABC Chapter 42
Chapter 42
In the lobby of the He'an District Police Station, the bench where Little Tong often sat was now occupied by a woman.
The woman had an excellent figure—tall and slender, with thick, straight black hair that cascaded down to her waist. By all appearances, she seemed to be a stunning beauty.
Her face, however, remained a mystery, as she had been wearing a mask and sunglasses since she arrived. She briefly explained that she had seen her child on TV and had come to claim them.
Little Wang asked her, "What is your child's name?" Little Tong's name had not been made public.
The woman didn't answer but instead asked, "Does Zhong Jin work here? I need to see him."
The fact that she knew Zhong Jin's name caught Little Wang off guard.
The woman's demeanor was so refined, almost like a celebrity, and she didn't seem like a fraud at all. Plus, she knew Zhong Jin, so Little Wang quickly forgot about the earlier mention of disturbing public order and immediately called Zhong Jin.
Some people, when brought to the station, would arrogantly demand, "I want to see the director," much like someone in a restaurant slamming the table and shouting, "I want to see your manager!"
Zhong Jin usually wouldn't entertain such people.
But this woman was connected to Little Tong, and Zhong Jin had a gut feeling she wasn't here to cause trouble. After stepping out of the elevator, he drove straight back to the station.
He walked into the police station with the child in his arms.
The station had just brought in a group of drunk troublemakers, and the lobby was chaotic and crowded. Through the throng of people, Zhong Jin immediately spotted the woman sitting in the corner, legs crossed, head bowed, scrolling through her phone.
Qiu Sheng.
Even though she was wearing sunglasses and a mask, Zhong Jin knew her so well that he recognized her just by her silhouette.
Why was Qiu Sheng here?
Was it Qiu Sheng who had come looking for him?
Was Little Tong Qiu Sheng's daughter?
When he had taken Little Tong back to Jing City, he had gone to see Qiu Sheng, and at the time, she hadn't seemed aware of Little Tong's existence.
He turned around, still holding the child, and walked out of the station. Standing by his car, he made a call. "I'm outside the station. Come out."
Inside, Qiu Sheng put away her phone, stood up, and waved at Little Wang. "Thanks, little brother. See you."
Little Wang called after her, "Hey, the director hasn't arrived yet. Where are you going?"
But Qiu Sheng didn't respond. She slung a black canvas tote bag over her shoulder and disappeared into the night.
She spotted the tall figure standing by the black SUV and walked over.
"Is this the child?" Qiu Sheng asked.
Zhong Jin looked at her, puzzled.
Qiu Sheng, right in front of them, removed her mask and the oversized black sunglasses, revealing a clean, makeup-free face. Despite the lack of cosmetics, she was strikingly beautiful, especially her bright, almond-shaped brown eyes, which were captivating.
Little Tong, nestled in Zhong Jin's arms, had been staring at Qiu Sheng with her big, dark eyes. When Qiu Sheng revealed her face, the child exclaimed loudly, "Mom!"
Qiu Sheng opened her arms toward the child. "You really are my child."
Little Tong threw herself into Qiu Sheng's embrace, sniffing around her ears with her tiny nose. She covered her head, looking anxious. "Why do you smell different now?"
*
Anticipating that their conversation would be abstract and might take a while, Zhong Jin took Qiu Sheng directly to the apartment where they were currently staying.
"Fine, let's ask the child herself."
So the poor child, who had been riding her scooter around, was called over to the sofa. The chubby little girl had one foot on the scooter, the other on the ground, and was munching on a piece of buttered toast.
When called over, she looked a bit annoyed. "What? I'm hungry."
Zhong Jin pointed at Qiu Sheng and asked, "Do you know her name?"
Little Tong, mouth full of toast, mumbled, "Madam."
Zhong Jin gave Qiu Sheng a look that said, *See? She doesn't even know your name.* If she didn't know her name, their relationship couldn't be that close.
“When she first came to the He'an District Police Station to look for me, she immediately said my name,” Zhong Jin emphasized deliberately.
Qiu Sheng looked skeptical. In her dreams, she and Little Tong had been very close. Although the scenes were fragmented, the child would sleep nestled in her arms, she would adorn the child’s hair with gemstones, and they would pick flowers and fly kites together. How could their relationship not be good?
She pulled Little Tong in front of her and wrapped her arms around the child, asking, “Sweetie, how did you know his name is Zhong Jin?”
Little Tong put her hands on her hips and shouted with full confidence, “Zhong Jin, come out and face your baptism!”
“What does ‘baptism’ mean?” Qiu Sheng turned to Zhong Jin.
“...She probably means ‘face your death.’”
Qiu Sheng covered her mouth and laughed for a moment. “So, people often came to your door, calling you by name and threatening to kill you, and that’s how you remembered his name, right?”
“It seems like someone can’t provide a stable life for the child in either world,” Qiu Sheng said loudly on purpose.
“I think it’s more suitable for the child to live with me. Of course, Zhong Jin, you can apply for visitation rights. If you behave well, I might consider allowing it.”
Zhong Jin couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation. “Then tell me, why did she come to me first when she arrived in this world, and not you? It proves she trusts me more.”
So Qiu Sheng asked the child again, “Why did you go to him first and not me?”
The child, impatient with their back-and-forth, interrupted them, “I’m hungry. I want hotpot.”
On the way to the hotpot restaurant, Zhong Jin and Qiu Sheng continued to argue in the car. Little Tong covered her ears and pressed her face against the window, watching the cars outside, completely baffled by what these adults were doing.
As for why she had gone to Zhong Jin first when she arrived in this world, Little Tong couldn’t explain it clearly. It was just an instinctive drive.
Back in the Demon Lord’s world, she had once been severely injured and nearly died. At that time, her father had used his own blood to nourish her, saving her life.
For demon hounds, drinking someone’s blood naturally creates a stronger bond with that person, and their mutual connection becomes more sensitive. Some owners even deliberately feed their blood to their spirit beasts to strengthen their connection.
This was why her bond with her father was deeper, and their connection was stronger.
Her mother, of course, had also been the one who spent the most time with her and loved her dearly. If her mother’s blood hadn’t lacked healing properties, she would have undoubtedly bled herself to save her when she was injured.
So Little Tong couldn’t understand why they were arguing now, why they had to separate. Wouldn’t it be better to live together peacefully as a family, just like before?
When they arrived at the hotpot restaurant, a split pot was brought to the table. Little Tong sat in her high chair, eating the beef Zhong Jin had picked for her. The vegetables and bean sprouts were pushed to the side—she didn’t like them.
Qiu Sheng, noticing that the child only ate meat, recalled, “In my dream, the big dog we raised was also very picky, only willing to eat meat.”
Zhong Jin, who was in the middle of picking food for the child, suddenly froze. A big dog, with a keen sense of smell, often lying on the ground, and fond of eating meat.
“Wait a minute,” he realized abruptly, “Zhong Yuntong, are you that dog?”
Little Tong, chewing on her meat, raised a finger and wagged it seriously in front of Zhong Jin, her dark eyes almost crossing with intensity. “No, I’m your baby.”
Qiu Sheng also spoke up for the child, “Zhong Jin, don’t talk nonsense. She is her, and the dog is the dog. How could she be the dog?”