Last time when flying to Jing City, Little Tong had an earache on the plane.
This time, Zhong Jin, having gained some experience traveling with a child, brought along milk and, after researching online, prepared some silicone earplugs just in case.
Before the plane took off, Zhong Jin molded the silicone putty into the right size and gently placed it in the child's ears. "If your ears start hurting, let me know," he said.
Little Tong remembered what her dad had told her during their last flight: not to speak loudly and not to disturb others.
So, covering her mouth with her hand, she nodded sneakily and whispered, "Okay, okay."
"Why are you talking like that?" Zhong Jin frowned, having completely forgotten his own previous advice.
Little Tong reached out, grabbed Zhong Jin's ear, and pulled his head close to hers. In a hushed tone, she said, "No loud talking, remember?"
Zhong Jin rubbed his ear, which tingled from the sound, and recalled that he had indeed said something like that before. "Not bad, your memory's sharp this time," he remarked.
The temperature on the plane was a bit chilly. Qiu Sheng asked the flight attendant for a blanket and draped it over the child's shoulders.
"Why the earplugs?" Qiu Sheng pointed at the silicone putty in the child's ears.
Zhong Jin explained, "Last time I took her to Jing City, she complained about ear pain, probably due to the air pressure changes during the flight. So I came prepared this time."
"Last time? Was that when you came to Jing City to see me? Was she in Jing City then too?"
"Yes, that time. Yu Feiyang was waiting outside with her. She used to have long hair, but Yu Feiyang took her to get it cut short that day."
As the plane left the runway, Qiu Sheng gazed out at the azure sky, lost in thought. "If only I had met her back then."
Hearing her words, Zhong Jin felt a pang of fear.
If Qiu Sheng had met Little Tong back then, given his eagerness to distance himself from the child at the time, he would have handed her over to Qiu Sheng without a second thought.
Thankfully, they had missed each other back then.
When the plane arrived in Jing City in the evening, Qiu Sheng took them to a private restaurant she frequented.
The restaurant was located in an old colonial-style building and operated on a membership basis. The manager knew all the regular patrons by name.
Seeing Qiu Sheng, the manager greeted her warmly, "Ms. Qiu, how many today?"
"Three. This is my daughter," Qiu Sheng said, taking Little Tong's hand. "Could you get her a gift? The same kind of round Mickey Mouse tumblers you gave You Xin's daughter last time."
"Of course," the manager said with a slight bow before walking away.
Qiu Sheng led Little Tong to their seats and told Zhong Jin, "Last time I came here with You Xin, they gave her daughter an adorable Mickey Mouse tumbler. I thought it was so cute, so I wanted one for Little Tong too."
Zhong Jin was baffled by Qiu Sheng's tendency to prioritize freebies over practicality.
She often bought expensive items just for the complimentary gifts, like small jewelry boxes that came with cosmetics or glass bowls included with oatmeal. Once, she even bought a whole box of instant noodles just to get a free noodle bowl, even though she never ate instant noodles.
Zhong Jin ended up eating all those noodles, but the greasy food gave him a breakout, and Qiu Sheng spent a fortune on high-end acne cream to treat it.
In the end, that "free" noodle bowl cost them hundreds of dollars. It truly proved the saying: nothing is more expensive than something free.
The manager soon returned with two tumblers—one Mickey Mouse and one Minnie Mouse, identical in shape but different in color—and let Little Tong choose one.
After much deliberation, Little Tong picked the pink Minnie Mouse one. She seemed to love it instantly, slinging it over her shoulder with the strap.
Seeing his daughter's delighted expression, Zhong Jin felt that coming here for dinner had been the right decision.
After dinner, Qiu Sheng parted ways with them temporarily, saying she had some errands to run and would likely meet them again the next afternoon. She didn't mention taking Little Tong with her.
So Zhong Jin checked into a hotel with the child.
The last time he was in Jing City, Zhong Jin had been in a terrible mood, eager to get things over with and leave, so he had stayed at a budget hotel.
This time, however, he felt much more relaxed. All he needed to do was meet with Lawyer Cao the next day to sign some inheritance-related documents.
So Zhong Jin opted for a resort hotel with hot springs.
After checking in, he realized he had forgotten to pack Little Tong's swimsuit. But she had grown a bit taller and chubbier recently, so the swimsuit she had brought back from Miao Qingyue's place might not fit anymore.
Zhong Jin took Little Tong to the hotel's water park shop to pick out a new swimsuit. The clerk recommended a bikini-style swimsuit for kids, similar to adult ones but in child sizes, saying it would look great in photos.
"No, thanks," Zhong Jin flatly refused.
Instead, he picked out a navy-and-white striped sailor-style top paired with a matching skirt and asked the clerk to help Little Tong try it on in the changing room.
The child emerged wearing the adorable outfit, her round tumbler slung over her shoulder and her hair tied up in two little sprout-like buns. She grabbed Zhong Jin's hand and ran eagerly into the water park.
After playing in the warm pool for a while, Little Tong waded over to the edge, holding onto the side, and called out to Zhong Jin, "I need a drink!"
Zhong Jin sat by the pool, took her tumbler, and bent down to hand her the straw.
The pool floor was slippery, and as Little Tong leaned forward to sip from the straw, her feet slipped, causing her to lurch forward. The cup hit her upper lip.
Zhong Jin immediately reached out to steady her, lifting her chin to check for injuries.
Her upper lip was slightly red. Zhong Jin gently rubbed it with his thumb. "Does it hurt?"
The child nodded, looking dazed. "I bumped my... my upper chin. Upper chin."
"Where?"
Little Tong raised a chubby little hand, first touching her chin. "This is the lower chin." Then she pointed to her upper lip. "Here, upper chin."
She nodded firmly again. "I bumped my upper chin."
Zhong Jin bent over, holding his forehead, his body shaking with laughter.
He grabbed his waterproof phone case and snapped a photo of the chubby little girl leaning against the pool edge, head down as she took a big sip of water.
Out of habit, he posted the photo to his private social media account with the caption: *Today, Zhong Yuntong accidentally bumped her upper lip on her cup. The silly kid said she hurt her "upper chin." Haha.*
After saving the post, he put his phone down.
Then, after a moment's thought, he picked up his phone again and sent the photo and caption to Qiu Sheng.
A while later, Qiu Sheng replied: *This is hilarious! Are you at the water park at Cloud Peak Resort?*
Zhong Jin: *Yep.*
Qiu Sheng: *Wish I could be there. Send me a video!*
So Zhong Jin recorded a short clip of the chubby little girl in her sailor-style swimsuit, a rubber duck float around her waist, holding a plastic basket and a small net. She was frowning in concentration as she scooped floating balls into her basket.
When she noticed Zhong Jin filming her, she flashed a practiced, camera-ready smile before immediately dropping it and going back to scooping balls.
Qiu Sheng, after watching the video, was thoroughly charmed: *She's so adorable! And the swimsuit is perfect—kids look so cute in sailor stripes.*
Zhong Jin chatted with Qiu Sheng for a bit longer before putting his phone down, feeling rather content.
Suddenly, he realized that Qiu Sheng's presence in his life wasn't entirely a bad thing. At least now, when he wanted to share snippets of his child's daily life, he had someone to share them with. Moreover, Qiu Sheng wasn't like the haughty socialites in their circle. She was actually a very warm-hearted person.
Whenever Zhong Jin shared something with her, she always responded with genuine enthusiasm and support.
The next day, Qiu Sheng sent a message saying her errands were taking longer than expected and she wouldn't be able to meet them until later.
Early that morning, Lawyer Cao brought over some documents. Zhong Jin reviewed them, found everything in order, and signed them one by one.
Lawyer Cao had been working for Zhong Jin's father for nearly 20 years. Even though Zhong Jin had never been involved in the family business, he had met Lawyer Cao many times.
After signing the agreement, Lawyer Cao patted Zhong Jin on the shoulder like an elder,
"After the incident with Mr. Zhong, I only found out later that you had been transferred from the criminal investigation team. I'm glad to see you're doing well now."
"Don't worry, I'm fine now."
Zhong Jin called Little Tong over and introduced her to Lawyer Cao, "This is my daughter, Little Tong. Say hello to Uncle Cao."
"Hello, Uncle Cao."
Lawyer Cao smiled kindly and greeted the child, but he was still a bit dazed as he walked out of the hotel. Did Zhong Jin have a daughter? He didn’t recall that.
How did such a big daughter suddenly appear?
Judging by her height, she must be around five years old, right?
After finishing the paperwork, Zhong Jin took Little Tong back to the criminal investigation team.
Holding the child in his arms, he introduced her to his former colleagues, "This is my daughter, Little Tong. Say hello to Uncle."
Everyone gathered around warmly to greet him, but no one believed that Little Tong was his child. He had only left Jing City a little over a year ago—how could he suddenly have such a big child?
Some even joked, "Captain Zhong, you’ve become so lively after just a year away!" He was never one to joke around before.
Now, out of nowhere, he’s carrying a child around, claiming she’s his daughter.
Others quietly worried. After everything that had happened to Zhong Jin’s family, could he have had a mental breakdown?
Could this child be stolen?
Unfazed by the suspicions of being a child thief, the former captain of the criminal investigation team simply carried the child over to the K-9 unit and asked someone, "Are Lightning and the others here?"
Lightning, Chase, and Storm were the three working dogs in the unit. Lightning and Chase were German Shepherds, while Storm was a Belgian Malinois.
Since these three police dogs were primarily responsible for urban patrols, they weren’t sent to the distant training base and were usually kept at the station.
Zhong Jin had previously speculated that Little Tong might be a dog.
He was curious—if his guess was correct, what kind of reaction would Little Tong have when interacting with dogs?
Of course, the intelligence of ordinary dogs outside might not be on par with Little Tong’s, so he decided to bring her directly to the police dogs.
At the moment, there were no active missions, so the three dogs were lying on their mats in the break room, enjoying the air conditioning.
Zhong Jin stood at the doorway of the break room, holding the child in his arms. He gave her a little bounce and gestured toward the big dogs inside with his chin, "Are you scared?"
The child’s big, dark eyes showed no trace of fear. "No."
Zhong Jin set her down on the ground. "Go play."
Little Tong walked into the break room and crouched down in front of Lightning, the dog closest to the door. She patted the dog’s fluffy head and then extended her hand,
"Shake." She had seen people play with dogs like this downstairs in the neighborhood.
Lightning had once been a search-and-rescue dog. During an earthquake, he had worked continuously for 32 hours and saved 18 people. Now, at eight years old, his stamina was declining, so he had been reassigned to the less demanding role of a patrol dog.
Among the active police dogs, Lightning was one of the older ones, and with his impressive track record, he was undoubtedly the alpha in the unit. He usually disdained performing tricks like shaking hands, which he considered beneath his dignity.
But when Little Tong extended her hand, Lightning didn’t hesitate. He obediently placed his large paw on her small, chubby hand.
Little Tong patted the dog’s head again and praised, "Good dog."
Then she stood up, walked over to Chase, shook his paw, and patted his head, calling him a good dog. She repeated the process with Storm, shaking his paw and patting his head.
It was like some kind of inspection ceremony.
After completing her little ritual, she returned to Zhong Jin, took his hand, and said, "I’m done playing."
Zhong Jin watched the whole scene but didn’t find it particularly remarkable. These working dogs were naturally friendly, and although Lightning was a bit proud, he probably just humored the child for a while.
He picked up Little Tong and walked away.
Just as they reached the corridor, Officer Niu, who took care of the dogs, returned.
The three usually dignified and composed dogs suddenly let out a series of frightened whimpers and even jumped into Officer Niu’s arms to hide.
Officer Niu was baffled. "What happened? What scared them like this?"
Zhong Jin began to understand—it was probably a matter of instinctual dominance.
When she said "shake," the dogs didn’t dare to refuse. When she patted their heads, they obediently accepted it. But as soon as she left, even the seasoned police dogs turned into whimpering messes.
Officer Niu couldn’t calm the dogs down and called out to Zhong Jin, "Captain Zhong, what did you do to the dogs? Why are they so scared?"
Zhong Jin replied without changing his expression, "I don’t know. They were fine just now."
