Eating Melons in the Police Station

When Qiu Sheng received the sizable pile of fabric, Aunt Liang happened to return home from her hometown.

Aunt Liang placed the items she had brought back near the entrance and helped Qiu Sheng carry the heavy fabric into the studio.

Qiu Sheng immediately gave Aunt Liang a big hug, exclaiming, "Goddess, you're finally back!"

Little Tong, wearing her pink heart-patterned toe socks, hurriedly drove her little car to the scene, shouting, "I want a hug too! I want a hug too!"

Aunt Liang bent down to hug her, smiling as she patted Little Tong's round head. "Little Tong, guess what Auntie brought for you?"

"I want to eat it!"

Qiu Sheng pinched her cheek. "Do you even know what it is before saying you want to eat it?"

Little Tong kicked her little feet. "No matter what it is, I want to eat it!"

Aunt Liang led Little Tong to the entrance, crouched down, and opened a basket. Inside, soft straw was spread out, and when she brushed it aside, a pile of round eggs was revealed.

"Wow, eggs!" Little Tong exclaimed excitedly.

Aunt Liang said, "These eggs are super fresh. I collected them myself from the chicken coop these past few days—real free-range eggs. They're so fresh they could hatch into chicks. The yolks are a rich yellow, and they smell amazing when fried in oil."

Little Tong didn't pay attention to the rest of the explanation. All she heard was that the eggs could hatch into chicks.

Her big eyes sparkled mischievously as she turned her tricycle around, positioning its rear toward the basket of eggs.

"Let's use my little car to take them to the kitchen!"

Aunt Liang placed the basket of eggs on the tricycle's storage box. The basket was too big to fit entirely, so it rested partially on top. Aunt Liang bent over, holding the basket's handle, and helped Little Tong transport the eggs to the kitchen.

While Aunt Liang was placing the eggs one by one into the fridge, Little Tong quickly grabbed an egg, tucked it into her waistband, and then rode her tricycle stealthily out of the kitchen.

Little Tong first rode her tricycle to the studio to peek inside. Qiu Sheng called out to her, "Sweetie, come here to get measured. Mommy's going to make you a dress."

"Wait a second, I'll be right there!"

Little Tong avoided eye contact with Qiu Sheng, feeling guilty, and quickly rode her tricycle away.

She arrived in the living room, where Zhong Jin was sitting on the couch watching a sports game. Sensing Little Tong's gaze, he looked down and met her eyes. "What's up?"

Little Tong quickly waved her hands. "Nothing, nothing!"

She rode her tricycle to the dog bed, pulled the egg out from her waistband, and quickly tossed it into the bed. The egg landed softly on the fluffy blanket without breaking. Little Tong sighed in relief and wiped the nervous sweat from her forehead.

Qiu Sheng called out again, "Little Tong, come get measured!"

Little Tong rode her tricycle back to the studio.

Qiu Sheng used a tape measure to check her height, shoulder width, chest, and waist measurements, then asked curiously, "Sweetie, where did you go? Why are you all sweaty?"

Little Tong quickly waved her hands. "I wasn't playing with the eggs!"

"Were you playing with the eggs Aunt Liang brought? Those are food. You shouldn't play with food."

Qiu Sheng scolded her a bit, then promptly forgot the measurements she had just taken. She stopped talking, re-measured, and recorded the numbers in her notebook.

After finishing the measurements, Qiu Sheng pulled out a corner of the fabric and held it up against Little Tong, imagining how it would look on her.

Once Qiu Sheng was finally done, Little Tong slipped out of the studio and returned to the living room, crawling into her dog bed.

Little Tong lay motionless in the dog bed.

She wasn't sleeping like she usually did. Instead, she rested her round head on the entrance, her dark eyes blinking.

Zhong Jin glanced back at her several times, but she remained in the same position, as if frozen.

"Are you feeling okay?" Zhong Jin asked.

Little Tong lazily drooped her eyelids. "I'm very okay. Don't worry about me."

Qiu Sheng called Zhong Jin over to take his measurements. He gave Little Tong another puzzled look, but since she didn't seem sick, he didn't press further and got up to head to the studio.

Once Zhong Jin left the living room, Little Tong shifted slightly to make space, peeking at the egg she had hidden under her belly. The egg had grown warm from her body heat.

Little Tong covered her mouth and whispered to the egg, "Hello, I'm your mommy. Please turn into a chick soon!"

Qiu Sheng was helping Zhong Jin measure his chest, wrapping her arms around him from behind to hold the tape measure before pulling it back.

From behind, it looked like they were hugging.

Aunt Liang passed by the studio door carrying a mop, paused to watch for a moment, and then asked, "Did you two get back together while I was away?"

Zhong Jin, "..."

Qiu Sheng, "...No."

Aunt Liang muttered, "What a letdown."

The National Day holiday came to an end, and life returned to its usual rhythm. Everyone had to get up early—some for work, others for school.

But Zhong Jin was the earliest riser, waking up before dawn.

He stood in front of the sink brushing his teeth, preparing for his routine morning run after a quick wash.

To his surprise, Qiu Sheng pushed open the bedroom door and walked out, yawning but dressed in a sleek, form-fitting workout outfit, complete with a sweatband on her head.

Zhong Jin looked at her in surprise. "Are you sleepwalking?"

"I’m going running with you."

"Huh?"

Qiu Sheng had always been the laziest. Her good figure was mostly due to dieting and "technology." She’d rather lie down than sit, and getting her to move even a step was a challenge.

Once, Qiu Sheng wanted to wear a crop top and thought having abs would look great.

Zhong Jin had painstakingly created a workout plan for her, but Qiu Sheng ended up practicing her drawing skills instead.

In the end, she used a shading pencil to draw a convincing set of abs on her flat stomach and even proudly posted it on social media.

So when she said she was going for a morning run, Zhong Jin didn’t believe her.

Qiu Sheng put her toothbrush under the automatic toothpaste dispenser, which hummed as it squeezed out a line of toothpaste onto her brush.

She brushed her teeth and mumbled, "I need to exercise. I can’t stand the thought of not being able to carry my own child."

Zhong Jin, "…While I’m touched by your determination, I have to remind you that your workout progress might not keep up with how fast she’s growing."

Qiu Sheng glared at him fiercely.

Zhong Jin wisely kept his mouth shut.

But then he raised another question, "Aunt Liang hasn’t arrived yet. If we both go running, what about Little Tong?"

Qiu Sheng, "...We’ll wake her up and take her with us."

Zhong Jin walked out of the elevator, carrying the chubby child dozing on his shoulder in one arm and holding a brand-new scooter in the other.

When they reached the open path in the neighborhood, he set Little Tong down and shook her awake. Qiu Sheng fitted a small helmet onto Little Tong’s head and tapped it twice, encouraging her,

"Come on, sweetheart, let’s get moving. Mommy’s going to start exercising seriously today so she can carry you in the future."

Little Tong looked up, still half-asleep, "Mommy, maybe we should just go back to bed. I can walk by myself. You don’t have to carry me."

"No, Mommy has to become a mommy who can protect you."

Qiu Sheng pushed Little Tong’s scooter and started running.

By the time they reached the seaside path, Little Tong was wide awake. She skillfully scooted along, keeping a steady distance behind her parents.

When she saw her mom struggling to run, she quickly pedaled her short legs, shaking her head as she sped up to Zhong Jin and shouted,

"Mommy can’t run anymore. Go push her!"

Zhong Jin turned around and ran back, pushing Qiu Sheng from behind to help her along.

After the run, they returned home to find Aunt Liang already preparing breakfast. She told them to wash up and eat.

While the adults were washing their hands, Little Tong sneaked into the living room, knelt in front of the dog bed, and pulled out an egg. She wrapped it in a tissue and stuffed it into her backpack.

*

During free playtime at kindergarten, Little Tong stealthily took out the egg and held it in her hands to show Miao Qingyue.

"Miao Qingyue, look, this is my baby chick."

Miao Qingyue leaned in and examined it closely. "But I think it’s just an egg."

"Oh, right, it’s still an egg now, but Aunt Liang said it will turn into a chick. When it does, I’ll be its mommy."

Miao Qingyue clasped her hands together. "Wow, can I be its daddy?"

"Sure!" Little Tong agreed generously.

Soon, their secret egg-watching session was discovered by other kids, and a crowd gathered to join the conversation.

Some wanted to be the chick’s grandpa, others its brother, and some even claimed to be its grandma, aunt, or son.

Little Tong agreed to everything,

"Okay, okay, when it grows up, you’ll all have to give it red envelopes."

In short, because of this egg, the entire class’s family hierarchy became a complete mess.

The chaos finally caught the attention of Teacher Luo, who took Little Tong to her office for a detailed discussion about the egg.

When Little Tong explained that she wanted to hatch a chick, Teacher Luo praised her initiative,

"Of course, you can give it a try. Kids should be encouraged to explore new things. Have you thought of a name for the chick yet?"

Little Tong tugged at the corner of her clothes, her fluffy bun bouncing as she shook her head. "I want to name it Big Head."

"Big Head, what a cute name," Teacher Luo said gently.

"But if you wrap it in tissue like this, it won't be able to turn into a chick. Eggs need a warm and humid environment to have a chance of hatching," Teacher Luo explained patiently.

Little Tong looked anxious. "Then what should I do? Teacher, I really want a chick."

When it was time for the kindergarten to let out in the afternoon, Zhong Jin came to pick up Little Tong. Teacher Luo handed the egg back to him and briefly described what had happened at school that day.

"Children are exploring the world," Teacher Luo said to Zhong Jin. "So they might do things that seem strange to adults, but we shouldn't stop them. Instead, we should encourage them to explore."

Zhong Jin took the egg and held it in his hand. "Alright, we'll help her hatch the chick."

Teacher Luo smiled and patted Little Tong on the shoulder.

"Our Zhong Yuntong is such a bright child. She even gave the chick a name. But remember, you can't bring eggs to school anymore. It's not allowed, okay?"

Little Tong obediently apologized to the teacher. "I won't bring eggs to school again."

"Good. Go home with your dad now. I look forward to seeing your little chick."

Little Tong held Zhong Jin's hand as they walked toward the police station. Once they were out of Teacher Luo's sight, she reached out her arms. "Carry me."

Zhong Jin picked her up.

Little Tong wrapped her arms around Zhong Jin's neck and asked, "Will we really be able to hatch a chick?"

"Maybe. We'll buy an incubator and try. But I can't promise it will work. If it doesn't hatch, you can't throw a tantrum, okay?"

"Okay, okay," Little Tong said, shaking her head. "Please try for me. Thank you."

As Zhong Jin carried her across the street, he remembered what the teacher had said and asked, "You even gave the chick a name? What is it?"

"Big Head," Little Tong announced proudly.

Zhong Jin's face darkened. "That name won't do. Pick another one."