On the eve of National Day, the Haishan City Public Security Bureau organized a three-day safety eting.
Zhong Jin stood in front of the mirror in the morning, putting on his uniform. Over his blue shirt, he tied a navy-blue tie.
When Qiu Sheng heard that she would have to take care of their child alone again today, she felt like the sky was falling.
Zhong Jin took his uniform jacket out of the closet, put it on, and walked over to Qiu Sheng. His tone suddenly softened, like a caring older brother,
"I know taking care of a child is hard. How about...?"
Qiu Sheng leaned against the doorfra with her arms crossed, rolling her eyes at him. "I'm not giving up custody. Don't even dream about it."
Zhong Jin's voice turned cold in an instant. "I'm leaving."
Little Tong's favorite morning activity was using up her daily cartoon quota.
She sat obediently in her little chair, with yogurt and rainbow candy beside her, her big eyes glued to the TV screen, not wanting to miss a single mont.
The chubby cheeks on her face would scrunch up or relax along with the plot, so engrossed that it seed like her eyes might sink into the screen.
If she were allowed to watch TV all day, she would undoubtedly remain a well-behaved child, never transforming into a little troublemaker out of boredom.
A mischievous thought flashed through Qiu Sheng's mind.
But it was quickly suppressed by a more rational one. "Absolutely not. Zhong Jin worked so hard to set these rules for her. I can't ruin that."
While Little Tong was watching cartoons, Qiu Sheng lay down on the sofa, closed her eyes, and began to ditate.
She needed to recharge during this brief half-hour, as she was about to embark on a special ops-style childcare mission.
When the half-hour tir on the coffee table rang, Little Tong imdiately stood up and turned off the TV.
Qiu Sheng peeked over and noticed that the child was also looking at her. She quickly closed her eyes again.
But it was too late. The child had already realized she was awake.
The little one ran over, stood by the sofa, and checked Qiu Sheng's breathing by pinching her nose. Then she lifted Qiu Sheng's eyelids and peered inside.
"Hehe, you're pretending to sleep."
Qiu Sheng had no choice but to open her eyes. "Sweetie, let's play doctor, okay? Mommy will lie here as the patient, and you can be the doctor."
"Okay, okay!"
The child happily ran to her toy corner, rummaged through her toy box, and pulled out a full set of doctor's toys. She put on a pair of glasses without lenses, hung a stethoscope around her neck, and slipped on a tiny white coat.
With one hand in her coat pocket and the other carrying a dical kit, Little Tong strutted over to the sofa with an air of authority.
"What seems to be the problem?" She set the dical kit aside and gently patted Qiu Sheng's shoulder.
Qiu Sheng kept her eyes closed. "Doctor, I can't open my eyes."
Little Tong didn't say anything or make any noise.
Qiu Sheng found it strange and secretly opened her eyes to see what the child was doing. As soon as she did, she was t with a pair of big, innocent eyes staring straight at her.
Little Tong grinned. "Can you open your eyes now?"
Qiu Sheng replied, "...Yes, I can open them now." Kids these days, once they start kindergarten, they're not so easy to fool anymore.
Little Tong puffed out her chubby cheeks and took a syringe from the dical kit. She pressed the soft silicone needle against Qiu Sheng's arm.
"One more shot, and you'll be all better."
After giving the shot, the child knelt by the coffee table, rummaged through the snack drawer, and pulled out a jar of rainbow candy. She asked Qiu Sheng to open it for her.
She carefully picked out two pieces of candy, put them in a silicone dicine bag, and handed it to Qiu Sheng. "Rember to take your dicine, okay? It's not bitter; it's very sweet."
After giving her instructions, she grabbed a handful of candy from the jar and stuffed it into her own mouth.
Qiu Sheng leaned back on the pillow, trying not to laugh. "Doctor, do you need to take dicine too?"
The child replied matter-of-factly, "Doctors can get sick too, you know."
Then, carrying her little dical kit, she walked away with a serious expression.
After playing the patient ga for a while, Little Tong realized that her mom was just trying to slack off. She ca over and tugged at Qiu Sheng's arm, trying to pull her off the sofa.
Qiu Sheng pretended to be dead, so Little Tong used the sa trick she used on Zhong Jin—she pinched Qiu Sheng's nose to stop her from breathing.
Finally, Qiu Sheng had to sit up.
They played a few more gas, but soon the child got bored. She leaned against Qiu Sheng's shoulder, burying her face in her mom's fragrant hair. She grabbed Qiu Sheng's ears with her hands and wiggled her chubby toes, curling and uncurling them.
Qiu Sheng glanced at the ti. There was still about an hour until lunch.
With her lips squished by the child's hands, she said, "How about Mommy takes you out? We can go to the mall and get sothing to eat."
"Yay!" The child imdiately raised her hands in excitent.
Qiu Sheng went to the closet to change her clothes. After so thought, she grabbed a pair of sunglasses and stuffed them into her bag.
*
Tomorrow was the Mid-Autumn Festival. The Haishan City Cultural and Tourism Bureau had set up a festival market in the old town area. During the day, the market was filled with various foods, trinkets, and street performances. In the evening, there would be lantern displays and riddle gas.
Qiu Sheng used to love joining in on the festivities, but in recent years, she had stopped going out and lost interest in such events.
She only learned about the market in the old town from the taxi driver.
When Little Tong heard there was a food street, her eyes lit up, and she turned to Qiu Sheng. "Mommy, I want to go!"
Qiu Sheng could already imagine how crowded it would be, but since they were already out, she decided to let the child have her way.
The taxi stopped at the entrance of the food street, and the driver pointed the way. "Just walk straight down this street, and you'll reach the market."
Qiu Sheng put on her sunglasses and carried Little Tong for a while, but her strength soon gave out. She set the child down and held her hand as they walked further in.
By the ti they reached the entrance with its antique-style archway and hanging lanterns, they could already see the dense crowd ahead, moving like a swarm of tadpoles.
Qiu Sheng began to have second thoughts.
First, the sight of so many people triggered a physical fear in her. Second, she was holding onto a chubby child—she couldn't carry her for long, but she was also afraid the child would get stepped on if she walked on her own.
"Mommy, I want that!" Little Tong pointed to a shop selling candied hawthorns.
The shop owner had made a huge target out of straw and stuck various plastic candied hawthorns on it, placing it at the entrance to attract custors.
The tactic seed to work, as a long line had ford in front of the shop.
Qiu Sheng held Little Tong's hand and joined the end of the line.
With so many people around, Qiu Sheng felt like eyes were on her from all directions. She regretted only wearing sunglasses and not bringing a mask.
Under imnse pressure, she slowly moved forward with the line. A man holding a child nearby was pushed back, almost stepping on Little Tong.
Qiu Sheng quickly picked up the child and held her until they finally bought the candied hawthorns. She found a less crowded spot and set Little Tong down.
She took out her phone and called Zhong Jin, hoping he had finished his eting. But Zhong Jin was likely still in the eting, as no one answered.
Qiu Sheng put her phone back in her bag and tried to reason with Little Tong. "Sweetie, let's not go in today. When Daddy has a day off, we'll all co together, okay?"
Little Tong held the candied hawthorn stick with both hands. Unable to reach the top one, she started nibbling from the middle, her lips turning shiny and red from the syrup.
She licked her sweet lips and asked, "Mommy, can't you carry ? I can walk by myself."
It was clear she still wanted to go in.
Qiu Sheng looked at the endless sea of people ahead and knew she didn't have the confidence to take the child in alone.
She thought to herself, even if Zhong Jin wasn't here, it would be great if Aunt Liang were around.
"Sweetie, there are too many people. Mommy's worried sothing might happen to you. Let's not go in today. When Daddy's free, we'll definitely co, okay?" She tried to negotiate with Little Tong again.
Little Tong blinked her big eyes, gazing longingly down the street where she spotted shops selling ice cream and twisted sugar candies.
Swallowing her saliva, she still took Qiu Sheng's hand and said, "Okay, let's go back. Mommy, you don’t need to carry , I can walk by myself."
"Good girl, Mommy will take you to McDonald's."
Just as they were about to head back, Qiu Sheng's phone vibrated again. Thinking it might be Zhong Jin calling back, she took out her phone, only to see that it was Wen Hechang calling once more.
Answering the call, Wen Hechang's voice ca through, loud and chaotic, "Qiu Sheng, are you at the food street? I see you. Don’t move, wait for there."
Qiu Sheng was a bit confused. She turned around and scanned the crowd but didn’t spot Wen Hechang anywhere.
She put her phone back in her bag and held Little Tong’s hand, waiting in place for about ten minutes. Soon, Wen Hechang pushed through the crowd, jogging over, slightly out of breath.
Before Qiu Sheng could say anything, he rolled up his sleeves and, without a word, picked up Little Tong.
"It’s too crowded here, let carry the child."
Little Tong looked at Qiu Sheng with pleading eyes, "Mommy, soone’s carrying now. Can we keep playing?"
Under her child’s hopeful gaze, Qiu Sheng had no choice but to nod.
Little Tong imdiately lit up with joy, pointing at a stall ahead, "Let’s go get so ice cream! I want strawberry flavor, please."
"Why haven’t you gone back to Jing City yet?" Qiu Sheng asked.
Wen Hechang held Little Tong carefully, shielding her from the bustling crowd.
"My flight is tonight. I saw there was a market here and thought I’d take a look. I was actually planning to visit you after, but I didn’t expect to run into you here."
"Why were you looking for ?" Qiu Sheng’s tone was a bit sharp.
Wen Hechang replied, "I bought a gift for Little Tong and wanted to give it to you. It’s my first ti eting her, so as her uncle, I should definitely give her a present. Don’t refuse it."
Qiu Sheng seed used to his habit of giving gifts without hesitation. Knowing it was pointless to refuse, she turned to Little Tong and said,
"Little Tong, say thank you to... brother." She always made Little Tong call Wen Hechang "brother," a subtle but clear sign of rejection.
But whether Wen Hechang didn’t catch on or was pretending not to notice, he just laughed cheerfully, bouncing Little Tong in his arms.
"No need to thank , it’s what an uncle should do."
While Qiu Sheng was in line to buy red bean cakes, Wen Hechang’s arms started to ache, so he hoisted Little Tong onto his shoulders.
Little Tong tugged at his ear and asked, "Are you tired? I can walk by myself."
Wen Hechang chuckled warmly. Though physically tired, his spirits were high. "I’m not tired. You’re too small to walk on your own in such a crowded place. You might get stepped on."
Little Tong patted his head, "Thank you, brother."
Wen Hechang held Little Tong’s chubby ankle and glanced over at Qiu Sheng, who was still in line. He then said to Little Tong,
"How about you call Daddy from now on? I’ll always be good to you."
"I don’t want you to be my daddy," Little Tong replied, fiddling with his earlobe.
"Why don’t you want as your daddy? I’m handso, I have money, and I’ll buy you pretty dresses and lots of delicious food. I’ll take you anywhere you want to go."
Little Tong fell silent for a mont, as if she had realized sothing. Suddenly, she started squirming violently, slapping Wen Hechang’s head and shouting,
"Put down! I don’t want you to carry ! I don’t want you! I want my own daddy! I want Zhong Jin!"
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