The He'an District Police Station received the ergency call at the first opportunity. A mass poisoning incident had occurred at the Little Sun Daycare Center within their jurisdiction. Twelve children had already shown symptoms of poisoning and were currently being treated at the Maternal and Child Health Hospital.
The police station divided its forces into two teams. Rao Shishi led a team to the daycare center to secure any potential evidence that could have caused the poisoning, while Zhong Jin personally went to the hospital to gather information.
The daycare center had already notified the parents of the affected children, and the hospital was in complete chaos. So parents were crying by their children's bedsides, while others were confronting the principal demanding compensation.
Zhong Jin and Little Wang, both clad in their police uniforms, appeared at the end of the corridor. Soone shouted, "The police are here!" and the chaotic parents imdiately surrounded them.
"Officer, our child was poisoned at the kindergarten."
"You need to investigate this urgently."
"Is the security situation so bad that soone would dare to poison a daycare facility?"
"..."
Zhong Jin and his team were instantly engulfed by the crowd.
In the past, he would have simply dismissed these concerns with official responses, avoiding any ti-consuming details. But perhaps due to having a child of his own, Zhong Jin found himself empathizing more with the parents' anxieties. He patiently explained the procedural steps of the investigation and even comforted a few distraught parents.
"I need to talk to the doctors now," Zhong Jin said.
The parents stepped back, making way for him to pass.
As he walked forward, Zhong Jin noticed Teacher Zhuang at the rear of the crowd. Her face was pale, but she maintained her composure.
She greeted Zhong Jin, "Yuntong is fine. She's still at the daycare center, and other teachers are taking care of her. Don't worry."
Zhong Jin nodded and proceeded to the doctors' office at the end of the corridor.
Teacher Zhuang had previously reassured him over the phone that Yuntong was unhard, which had enabled Zhong Jin to remain calm. Otherwise, if he had known his own child was poisoned, he might have been just as frantic as these parents.
The remaining children at the school were visibly anxious. They cried for their parents, so the teachers gathered them in the nap room, closed the curtains, and turned on the moon-shaped nightlight. The children sat on their soft beds, finding so comfort in the familiar surroundings.
During normal nap tis, Teacher Zhuang would pay extra attention to Miao Qingyue's legs. She would wrap her lower body in a blanket before placing her on the bed, making her appear like a little rmaid, hidden from view.
However, today was too chaotic, and the substitute teacher wasn't as ticulous as Teacher Zhuang. She directly lifted Miao Qingyue from under the blanket, exposing her empty trouser legs as she placed her on the bed.
Yuntong, lying on her stomach on her own little bed, wiggled her way to face Miao Qingyue. Her gaze lingered on Miao Qingyue's empty trouser legs for a mont. Then, with agile movents, she climbed onto Miao Qingyue's bed. She grabbed both legs of the trousers and awkwardly tied a ssy, yet recognizable, bow. Without a word, she climbed back to her own bed and, tilting her head, closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Miao Qingyue stared at the tangled ss of a bow in front of her, completely baffled.
Xiang Zimo, witnessing the entire scene, was unsure what to make of it. Worried about upsetting Miao Qingyue, he remained silent, his mouth hanging open in a stunned expression.
Yuntong, having successfully bewildered her two companions, slept soundly with her butt sticking up.
Yuntong was woken up not long after by a teacher, who inford her that a police officer and policewoman had arrived and needed to ask them so questions.
Yuntong sat up in her bed, her eyes unfocused due to sleepiness. She saw two people in police uniforms standing behind the teacher. Too sleepy to recognize their faces, she felt a sense of familiarity from their attire. Still drowsy, she half-closed her eyes, her body swaying as if in a dream.
Rao Shishi, seeing the disheveled child, couldn't help but smile. She called out, "Yuntong."
The child barely opened her eyes, lazily glanced at her, and then closed them again, clearly exhausted.
Rao Shishi deliberately said loudly, "Kids, who wants a candy?"
Yuntong imdiately opened her eyes and raised both hands. "I want one!"
Rao Shishi smirked, thinking, "You can't escape ," and after obtaining the teacher's permission, she took out so milk tablets from her bag and distributed them to the children. Only then did she sit cross-legged on the wooden floor, speaking gently,
"Children, I have so questions for you. Please answer truthfully, okay?"
A child imdiately raised his hand and asked, "Excuse , Police Auntie, what does 'truthfully' an?"
Rao Shishi corrected, "I'm Police Sister." She then asked, "What did you all eat today at school?"
The children responded in a chaotic chatter, with obvious nonsense like "I ate a spaceship," "I ate poop," and "I ate a chili bigger than my head," being filtered out.
The remaining credible answers were consistent with what the teachers had reported.
The incident happened before lunchti. The children had only eaten the school's homade stead cakes in the morning. Two children had brought their own snacks: Zhong Yuntong with Rainbow Candy and Hu Luoluo with haw jelly.
Samples of the stead cakes, Rainbow Candy, and haw jelly had already been taken and sealed in evidence bags. Additionally, samples of the water the children drank were also taken for testing.
Since both the stead cakes and water were consud by all the children but only so were poisoned, the issue likely wasn't with these items. Rao Shishi considered whether the snacks might be to bla.
She first asked Zhong Yuntong, "Little Zhong Yuntong, who did you share your Rainbow Candy with?"
Yuntong sat cross-legged on her bed, staring intently and seriously answering, "Xiang Zimo and Miao Qingyue."
"So only you, Xiang Zimo, and Miao Qingyue ate the Rainbow Candy, right?"
Miao Qingyue, hiding under her blanket, quietly raised her hand. "Police Auntie, my na is actually Miao Qingyue."
Rao Shishi replied, "Okay, I got it, Little Miao Qingyue. So only the three of you ate the Rainbow Candy, right?"
"Yes," the three children nodded in turn. Yuntong then complained, "The teacher took my candy."
Oh, my little sweetheart's candy was confiscated by the teacher. How wronged my poor baby must feel. If it weren't for the investigation and needing to maintain her image as a police officer in front of the teachers and classmates, Rao Shishi really wanted to hug her and comfort her with a whole bag of snacks.
However, maintaining her composure in public, Rao Shishi simply nodded in sympathy and turned to ask Hu Luoluo.
Hu Luoluo was even stingier than Zhong Yuntong. She didn't share her haw jelly with anyone and ate it all herself.
It seed the snacks weren't the problem. Rao Shishi and her colleague Gu Le exchanged glances and decided to first send the samples for testing and analyze all the surveillance footage.
Just as they were about to leave, Xiang Zimo suddenly raised his hand. "Sister Shishi, there's one more thing. A kid nad Mo brought two bottles of drinks to school and shared them with many children."
Rao Shishi asked, "...Mo?"
"Uh," Xiang Zimo scratched his head embarrassedly. "I think it was actually 'Mantou'?" He chuckled. "I don't rember his full na."
One of the accompanying teachers explained, "His na is Luo Jiahao, but his nickna is Mantou. He's four years old and a part of the sumr daycare program." The teacher added, "We didn't notice him bringing any drinks to school."
Xiang Zimo confidently replied, "He did bring drinks—two bottles, one milk and one Coke. He even shared them with other kids. Based on my observation, most of the kids who drank the drinks ended up being among the ones who got sick. You can ask Zhong Yuntong and Miao Qingyue; they can confirm this."
Xiang Zimo had always admired his mother the most and often imitated her way of speaking and deanor. Now, when he spoke, his words were clear and logical, showing a touch of Deputy Director Mao's charm.
This reminder made Yuntong rember sothing even more upsetting and imdiately complained, "He wouldn't even let have a sip of Coke!"
Rao Shishi quickly contacted Little Wang, who was still at the hospital, "What's the situation over there? We've heard that a child nad Luo Jiahao brought two bottles of drinks to school, and most of the kids who got sick had drunk from them."
Little Wang replied, "The hospital's initial diagnosis is nitrite poisoning, but we're still waiting for the lab results to confirm. So of the conscious kids with clear speech did ntion drinking the drinks. You should search around the area and try to find the empty bottles for testing."
Under the joint testimony of eyewitnesses Xiang Zimo, Yuntong, and Miao Qingyue, two empty drink bottles were indeed found behind a wall in the kitchen—a 2-liter Coke and a 1.5-liter Nutri-Express.
Rao Shishi donned gloves, carefully picked up the two empty bottles, and sealed them in evidence bags.
The police suspected intentional poisoning, and the daycare center was imdiately shut down, with all teachers and staff required to undergo investigations. The unhard children were gradually picked up by their parents.
When Xiang Zimo's grandmother ca to pick him up, she asked Yuntong if she wanted to go ho with her. Mao Feixue had inford her about Zhong Jin's situation—a police officer so busy he barely had ti to sleep, let alone take care of a child. The kind grandmother thought she could lend a hand if needed.
Yuntong tugged at Rao Shishi's sleeve and said, "I want to go to the police station."
"Alright," Rao Shishi picked up the child and hugged her, "Let's go ho together, everyone's been waiting for you."
Rao Shishi held Yuntong tightly, reluctant to let her sit down and ride on her own. It was as if her own child had been wronged, and now that the family was here to back her up, she deserved extra indulgence.
The child had almost forgotten about the Coke incident, but seeing the adults' tender concern made her even more unabashed. She whispered against Rao Shishi's face, "He wouldn't even let have a sip of Coke."
Rao Shishi continued to comfort her, "When we get back to the station, I'll give you snacks and let you watch cartoons on the tablet. And since your dad's not around today, you can watch as long as you want."
Passing by a supermarket, Gu Le, who was usually quiet, unexpectedly stopped the car, got out, and silently returned with a large bag of snacks, which included a big bottle of Coke.
After attending daycare for a while, Yuntong returned to the bustling atmosphere of He'an District Police Station, which hadn't changed a bit. The police officers were bustling about, their footsteps quick.
Yuntong sat on a long bench in the lobby, clutching a tablet to watch cartoons. Upon hearing about the incident at the daycare, several officers ca over to comfort her.
Whenever soone approached, Yuntong would widen her eyes, pout her lips, and complain pitifully, "He wouldn't even let have a sip of Coke."
As expected, this would earn her even more snacks.
When Zhong Jin and Little Wang returned to the station after finishing their tasks at the hospital, the corner of the office lobby had already beco a miniature mountain of snacks.
In the midst of this snack-heap, his child sat like a little emperor, one hand holding a large bottle of Coke, the other scooping chips into her mouth.
Even her entertainnt setup had been upgraded—soone had brought a lazy stand for her tablet, so she could free up her hands to eat.
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