Chapter 2

Zhong Yuntong had now sniffed her way into the city police headquarters, following her father's scent. To her shame, as a Celestial Cloud Demon Dog, she should have had a very keen sense of smell. However, due to her playful nature when she was a demon dog, her current sniffing skills were quite peculiar—sometimes effective, but mostly ineffective.

Even though her father was nearby, she only managed to catch a whiff of his scent after Officer Rao Shishi reminded her to concentrate.

Following the scent across the street, she easily entered the police headquarters building.

Once inside, her father's scent became even stronger.

Zhong Yuntong, holding two half-eaten sausages, climbed up to the second floor. The legs of a human child were too short, making it a bit challenging to climb the stairs. When she had four legs, such stairs were a piece of cake.

She saw a man wearing a hat similar to what Officer Rao and the others wore walking by, so she called out to him, "Excuse me, is Zhong Jin here?"

The man, not having noticed her before, finally saw the little child standing by the stairs upon hearing her voice.

"Oh, how did you get in here?"

Zhong Yuntong stared at him with her big, dark eyes. "I'm looking for Zhong Jin."

"Oh, Zhong Jin? He's in the conference room on the third floor. What do you need him for?"

Zhong Yuntong opened her arms. "Carry me there."

The man was taken aback, "......"

A few minutes later, the man was carrying Zhong Yuntong up the stairs to the third floor and knocked on the conference room door.

When the door to the small conference room opened, the man entered with the child, and the three people inside immediately stood up and greeted him respectfully,

"Director Lu."

The head of the publicity department, Zhu Qun, looked at the child in Director Lu's arms and asked in confusion, "Director Lu, whose child is this?"

Director Lu jiggled the child in his arms, smiling, "See if the person you're looking for is here."

"Put me down," Zhong Yuntong said.

Director Lu set her down, and the child turned around, handing him her sausage. "Hold this for me, and don't eat it."

Director Lu, "......"

Once the sausage was settled, Zhong Yuntong turned and walked directly to the station head, Zhong Jin, hugging his leg and bursting into tears,

"Father!"

Everyone present was stunned, and Zhong Jin looked particularly bewildered.

"Wait, who is this?"

Upon hearing this, Zhong Yuntong realized her worst fear had come true—her father didn't recognize her. She cried heart-wrenchingly.

Zhong Jin raised his hands in confusion, "I really don't know her."

The child's tears smeared all over Zhong Jin's uniform pants, and she was so heartbroken that if she hadn't been holding onto her father's leg, she would have almost fallen to the ground.

Zhong Jin was annoyed by her crying. "Stop crying and explain what's going on." Having no experience with children, he could only use the tone he would take with a suspect.

Director Lu, holding two sausages, advised, "Why are you yelling at her? At this age, even going to the bathroom is something to be praised. Why be so fierce?"

Zhong Jin's arms were stiffly raised. "What should I do?"

Director Lu, being a father himself, had much more parenting experience than Zhong Jin. "Just pick her up and comfort her. Once she's calmed down, you can ask her what's going on."

Zhong Jin was not fond of children. Seeing the child with tears and snot all over her face, he was disgusted and found it hard to bring himself to pick her up.

He could only support the child's shoulders, pushing her back a little, squatting down to meet her gaze. "Look closely, I'm not your father."

The child shouted back, "You are! You're Zhong Jin, and I'm Zhong Yuntong, your baby!"

Zhong Jin felt embarrassed.

The other leaders from the city bureau were watching the scene with amusement.

"I really am not her father," Zhong Jin emphasized again, his ears turning red from embarrassment.

Director Lu nodded with a smile, "Children are like that; they mistake people who look similar. This child's dad must be as handsome as our Director Zhong."

Zhong Yuntong insisted loudly, "I didn't make a mistake; he is my father."

At that moment, Zhong Jin remembered the message Officer Rao had sent earlier about a child coming to the station claiming to be his daughter, along with a photo.

He hadn't even opened the photo, and he couldn't immediately connect the crying child with the one from the police station. Zhong Jin took out his phone and called Officer Rao.

Officer Rao was currently searching the streets for the child with Officer Wang, who was even peering into a storm drain.

Officer Rao was speechless. "She can't fit down there; she's not a rat."

Just then, Officer Rao's phone rang. Seeing it was Director Zhong calling, she had a bad feeling. She mouthed to Officer Wang, "It's Director Zhong," then answered the call.

Before Zhong Jin could say anything, Officer Rao heard a powerful voice from the other end, "You are my father."

Officer Rao, "......"

After waiting for a while at the city bureau entrance, Officer Rao and Officer Wang saw a tall, slender figure walk out, striding confidently. It was indeed their Director Zhong, but today he was also carrying a little pendant [1].

As soon as the little pendant saw them, she grinned, "Look, my father!" Proud of having found her father on her own.

Director Zhong's face darkened a few shades.

Before Zhong Jin could speak, Officer Wang immediately explained, "Director Zhong, we brought this child for a DNA sample, but we lost sight of her for a moment, and she slipped away."

Officer Rao smiled, "Yeah, this child is like a dog; once you let go, she's gone."

Zhong Jin remained silent, his face still dark.

Officer Rao added, "Fortunately, she ended up here with Director Zhong. It would have been more troublesome if she had gotten lost, haha."

Just as they thought they could get away with it, Director Lu jogged out of the building, holding two sausages that had been chewed by a dog.

Zhong Yuntong's bright eyes widened as she reached out to grab them. "My meat!"

Officer Rao's eyes darted, and she quickly said, "Oh right, this unfortunate child was clamoring for sausages, and Officer Wang bought her two."

Officer Wang shot a glare at Officer Rao, feeling she was shifting the blame.

Their little antics did not escape Zhong Jin's notice, but he couldn't be bothered to argue over such trivial matters. He simply handed the child over to Officer Rao. "Take her back."

Zhong Yuntong, munching on her sausage, panicked when she heard her father was giving her away again. She immediately wrapped her arms around Zhong Jin's neck. Not only was she holding on tightly, but she also had the sausage in her hand, nearly smearing grease all over him.

Director Zhong, who had a cleanliness obsession, shouted, "Alright, alright, you can come with me."

Zhong Yuntong happily climbed into Zhong Jin's SUV, still munching on her sausage, and asked innocently, "Do you want some?"

Zhong Jin shot her a glare. "Hurry up and eat."

Once Zhong Yuntong finished her sausage, Zhong Jin tossed the stick into the trash can and took out some wet wipes from the car to clean her hands. Only then did he drive off.

Zhong Yuntong looked around the car with her big, shiny eyes and asked, "Is this a new ride?"

"Don't talk to the driver while in the car," Zhong Jin replied.

Zhong Yuntong closed her mouth, feeling a bit sleepy. However, she was afraid to fall asleep, worried that if she did, her father would disappear when she woke up. So, she propped her little hands against her eyelids to keep them open.

Zhong Jin drove to the Little Sun Nursery on Coastal West Road, following the address Officer Rao had sent him. Fortunately, this daycare was open 24 hours. When the teachers saw Zhong Jin in uniform, they were initially startled, but after confirming the situation, they welcomed them warmly.

Zhong Yuntong perked up her ears to listen to their conversation. When she realized her father was going to leave her again, she activated her crying skills once more. Her wails quickly set off a chain reaction, causing dozens of children in the daycare to start crying as well, making Zhong Jin feel like his eardrums were about to burst.

After about ten minutes of this chaos, Zhong Jin had no choice but to take the child back with him.

Zhong Jin lived in Fuding Community, a high-rise residential building located in the city center. His apartment was on the top floor, with a layout of three bedrooms and two living rooms. The developer had done a uniform renovation, and while it looked quite new, it was empty and sparsely furnished.

Zhong Yuntong walked around the house with her hands behind her back, thinking to herself, "This palace is really shabby. My dad is so pitiful."

Zhong Jin sat on the sofa for a moment, then called the barefoot child over.

"What's your name?"

"Zhong Yuntong."

"And your father's name?"

"Zhong Jin."

"...... What about your mom's name?"

"Madam."

Zhong Jin, "...... Do you know where you live?"

"In the Demon Palace."

Zhong Jin waved his hand dismissively. "Go play."

Zhong Yuntong continued to wander around the house with her hands behind her back. She peeked into the kitchen but found nothing, which she thought was boring. Then she walked into the bedroom and turned to ask,
"Can I go to sleep?"

Zhong Jin, feeling exhausted, glanced at her. "No, you need to take a bath first."

Zhong Yuntong tilted her head seriously. "I don't want to take a bath."

Zhong Jin stared at her blankly, sighed, realizing things had gotten a bit out of control. He had inexplicably brought this unfortunate child home, truly making more work for himself.

The unfortunate child didn't care about her father's feelings and said, "I'm hungry." She hadn't smelled any food in the house, which made Zhong Yuntong feel insecure, worrying that her dad might be too poor to afford a meal.

Zhong Jin stared at her for a few seconds, then stood up and walked into the bedroom, slamming the door shut.

Zhong Yuntong ran over, pushing against the door, but it was locked and wouldn't budge. She leaned against the door, catching a whiff of her father's scent through the crack, so she calmed down and quietly waited at the door.

Zhong Jin emerged from the bedroom in casual clothes, taking Zhong Yuntong out.

At a small restaurant near the community, he ordered a few home-style dishes. Zhong Yuntong buried her head in her food. Her eating habits were a bit strange; she would first sniff the food. If it was meat, she would use a spoon to scoop it into her mouth, but if it was vegetables, she would toss them aside.

Zhong Jin didn't have the energy to correct her picky eating habits. After all, he was only going to take care of her for a couple of days until the DNA results came back, or perhaps someone would report her missing by tomorrow.

However, it was indeed strange. The child looked like she came from a wealthy family, and one would expect her parents to take good care of her. How could it be that half a day had passed without a single report of her missing? It felt a bit unusual.

After finishing their meal, Zhong Jin took Zhong Yuntong to a nearby public bathhouse. He couldn't give the little girl a bath himself, so he had to take her to the bathhouse.

The public bathhouse offered scrubbing services, and Zhong Jin paid for a lady to wash Zhong Yuntong. "Don't scrub too hard; just use some soap to wash her clean," he specifically instructed.

He remembered a recent incident where a bathhouse lady had scrubbed a customer's skin raw, leading to a fight and a police report. Zhong Jin still recalled that incident.

Sitting on a wooden bench at the entrance of the bathhouse, Zhong Jin heard Zhong Yuntong's cries echoing from inside. He thought to himself, "That little girl with delicate skin is really going to suffer now."

Just as he was thinking this, the bathhouse lady rushed out from the women's section, calling for help. "I need another person to help me hold her down; that child is so strong and even tried to bite me!"

Notes:

[1] 小挂件 (xiǎo guà jiàn) means "small pendant" or "accessory." It's a playful and affectionate way to describe kids or pets, showing how adorable and clingy they are. It suggests that whatever's being held is small, charming, and adds a bit of joy, like a fun little accesory.