Eating Melons in the Police Station-Chapter 39

Of course, the computer wasn't recovered in the end. Little Tong leisurely leaned against the pillow, playing with the flashlight's light, swaying it to and fro on the ceiling.

Zhong Jin had arranged chairs next to the sofa, resting his head on his arm, one leg curled up on the chair, the other leg on the floor, and closed his eyes for a bit. This position wasn't particularly comfortable, but after so many years as a police officer, he had long since gotten used to sleeping in all sorts of strange places. Once, during a mission, he had even slept on a rooftop water tank.

Little Tong aimed the flashlight's light at Zhong Jin's face and whispered, "Uncle Hu took away my computer."

"Mmm."

"I can't watch cartoons anymore."

"Mmm."

"You’ll buy me a new computer, right?"

Zhong Jin opened his eyes. "I'm not going to buy you a new one. If you want to watch cartoons, go get your computer back yourself."

"Ah, being a kid is really tough. No computer, no one understands me."

The child sang in a quirky tone, making up her own lyrics on the spot. She wriggled around on the sofa like a big caterpillar, and before long, she dozed off.

Zhong Jin reached out and took the flashlight from her hands, turned it off, and closed his eyes to sleep as well.

When Little Tong woke up in the morning, Zhong Jin wasn't in the office. She changed into the clothes Zhong Jin had left ready on the chair next to the sofa. Looking down, she saw a pair of new rain boots beside the sofa—yellow with a plump duck design, much cuter than the old ones from yesterday.

She slipped her plump feet into the new rain boots, bent down to pull up the heels, and walked out of the office in her little boots.

"Hey, little one, you're awake? Your dad's in the kitchen," Rao Shishi said, carrying a roll of documents and yawning as she passed by.

Little Tong went to her designated parking spot, where her previously left yellow-blue scooter was, and rode it into the kitchen.

Zhong Jin, dressed in a shirt and slacks, was wearing an oddly out-of-place floral apron, skillfully wrapping wontons.

The aunties didn't say anything explicitly, but their eyes kept sneaking glances at him. After all, it was the first time they had seen the director cooking himself. And, unsurprisingly, he seemed to be quite adept at it. The usually cool and reserved director turned out to be quite domestic.

Zhong Jin's peripheral vision caught the scooter rolling in, but his hands didn't stop moving. "Hungry? It'll be ready soon."

Little Tong jumped off the scooter, grabbed the edge of the table with both hands, and stood on her tiptoes. "Don't put onions, okay?"

"Didn't. Go wait outside."

Little Tong hated onions and ginger in her meat stuffing. Every time she found any, she would spit them out for a long time. Seeing that the aunties had put onions and ginger in the meat stuffing for this morning, Zhong Jin cut a small piece of meat and wrapped a separate batch for her.

After breakfast, Zhong Jin heated some water and gave the child a quick wash. "I have an interrogation to attend to. You play outside by yourself, but..."

"I can't go out. You always say that. I remember," the child waved her hand impatiently and drove off on her scooter.

Hu De and Zhong Jin were interrogating yesterday's case of illegal laughing gas smuggling. Little Tong drove around, looking around. Passing by Hu De's desk, she saw her computer sitting there. She climbed onto the chair, picked up the computer, and prepared to throw it down.

Suddenly, she remembered Aunt Liang saying that throwing a computer could break it. So, she lifted her shirt, stuffed the computer into her belly, secured it with her waistband, and climbed down clumsily.

With the computer in hand, the child returned to her office and climbed onto her little sofa to watch cartoons.

The station still had no electricity. Rao Shishi's phone battery had died, and even the power bank she brought was out of juice. Suddenly, she felt a bit anxious.

For young people, their own lives might not be essential, but their phones absolutely had to have power.

So, like a mother frantic over a lost child, Rao Shishi started searching everywhere for a power bank.

Coming across Little Tong's office, she didn't hold much hope but suddenly saw a power bank sitting by the sofa. She hurried over, squatting beside the sofa. "Hey, Little Tong, can I borrow your power bank?"

Little Tong nodded generously. "I have more."

"Really?" Rao Shishi's eyes lit up. "How many more?"

Little Tong tossed her tablet aside, rolled off the sofa, and dragged out the luggage bag beside her. She opened it and said, "Look."

Rao Shishi: "...Wow, that's amazing." She pointed at them one by one, counting along with the one she already had. "Ten in total?"

Her gaze toward the child was now full of admiration. "Little sis, can I take one more?"

Little Tong generously took one out of the bag. "For you."

Then the child discovered something even more fun than watching cartoons. She took out the remaining power banks, stuffed them into her little backpack, and, with a heavy load, rode her scooter around the lobby.

Seeing Gu Le leaning against the wall, half asleep, she rolled over and tapped his shoulder. "I have something good."

"What is it?"

The child jumped off the scooter, placed her little backpack on the ground, unzipped it, and showed him her power banks.

Gu Le, whose drowsy eyes lit up just like Rao Shishi's, pleaded, "Little Tong the Great, please bless me with one. I really need it."

And so, Little Tong happily handed out another power bank.

The poor child had no idea what power banks were for, but everyone seemed to love them. Those who got one were particularly happy, even more so than when she shared snacks with them.

Even several citizens visiting the station ended up with a power bank. Some even went around saying the police station was giving out free power banks.

Many elderly men and women flocked to the police station, clamoring to know where they could get free power banks. Little Tong, clutching her now-empty little backpack, saw more and more people approaching and fled.

She ran back to the office and continued watching cartoons.

The morning interrogation was over, and Zhong Jin stepped out of the interrogation room, his first priority to find the child. Seeing Little Tong still lying on the sofa playing, he felt relieved.

"Why aren't you watching cartoons?" Zhong Jin walked over and pinched her cheek. "Oh, right, Uncle Hu took your computer away."

The child turned over and grabbed the computer. "I found the computer, but I can't use it."

Zhong Jin checked it for her. "It's out of battery. If we charge it with a power bank, you can use it again." Zhong Jin knelt down to get the travel bag, planning to take out a power bank.

After flipping through for a long time, not a single one of the many power banks was left.

"Where are the power banks?"

Little Tong lay on the sofa, her round head hanging over the travel bag. "I gave them away."

Zhong Jin froze. "Why?"

"Everyone was very happy when they got them." The plump child grinned blissfully, not realizing the seriousness of the situation.

It wasn't until Zhong Jin said, "Without a power bank, your computer can't work," that the smile gradually faded from the child's face. She covered her head and screamed, "Ah, what do I do?"

Seeing the poor child gradually losing her composure, Zhong Jin couldn't help but chuckle. That's how people are—seeing others get into trouble can make you laugh without realizing it. But then, thinking about how those power banks were bought with his money, even he couldn't bring himself to laugh anymore.

The child climbed down from the sofa, tugging at his arm. "You come with me to get them back."

"No." Zhong Jin refused.

"Why?" The child didn't understand. "Uncle Hu took away the computer, and we went to get it back."

Zhong Jin couldn't be bothered to explain how she had yesterday waved goodbye to them with the fiercest tone but the weakest words. He was indeed starting to worry that this child was too soft-hearted, too easy to talk to.

But today, the power banks were a different matter.

Zhong Jin patiently explained to her, "The computer from yesterday was something you lent out. When you need to use something you've lent, you can ask the person to return it. But today's portable charger, didn't you give it away?"

Little Tong scratched her head, trying to recall. Indeed, every time she gave away a portable charger, she would generously add, "It's a gift."

"Once you give something away, there's no reason to ask for it back. Even if you regret it, you can't get it back. This is called voluntary gift-giving, which is legally protected."

Little Tong fell to the ground in despair, lying flat. Without her computer, her heart was broken, she had no strength left, and no matter how Zhong Jin called her, she wouldn't get up.

Until Zhong Jin said, "Let's drive out and see if we can still buy a portable charger."

Little Tong instantly sprang back to life, "We definitely can!"

Now, the streets outside were mostly cleared, and driving was no problem. Only the bare tree branches and the overturned awnings in front of stores reminded them of the fierce storm from yesterday.

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Little Tong, wearing her yellow raincoat, pressed her face against the car window, curiously observing the streets that were completely different from before, and finally concluded that the typhoon was a mischievous rascal, it liked to break things.

Many shops outside were still closed, and the few that were open selling electronics had already run out of portable chargers.

Zhong ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‍Jin had only intended to check out if they could buy one, buy if possible, and return if not, but seeing the child's eager eyes, he couldn't bear to disappoint her, so he drove directly to the largest computer mall in Haishan, 30 kilometers away.

Unlike planned power outages, typhoon-induced blackouts could last for an uncertain amount of time. Zhong Jin thought it would be prudent to buy a few extra portable chargers, so he bought ten in total. With the city running low on portable charger inventory, he had to go to two different stores to get them all.

As they returned to the police station with the handheld bag from the computer mall, they noticed that the lights in the hall were on, indicating the power was back.

Rao Shishi ran over, handing two portable chargers to Little Tong and patting her head, "Thanks, little rascal. Now I don't need them anymore; I'll return them to you."

The clueless little girl held the recovered portable chargers with joy, shouting, "Now I have so many portable chargers!"

Zhong Jin, holding the bag of portable chargers he had previously treated like treasures, felt the heavy weight but now only a scorching heat. The power was back? What did his 70-kilometer round trip, his hard-earned portable chargers, mean now?

Hu De, carrying a thermos cup, walked past him, peeking into the handheld bag, "Wow, you went out to buy more portable chargers? You must be rich."

"Dad, give the computer some portable chargers," Little Tong shook Zhong Jin's hand, eager to watch cartoons.

Zhong Jin lovingly patted the happy little dog's head, suddenly feeling that being able to stay blissfully ignorant like her was also a kind of blessing.