"No."
"No."
Two voices rang out in firm protest.
But Lan Jin didn't care what they thought. She said calmly, "Changing my own child's surname is none of your business."
"How is it none of our business? Qiao Qiao is a child of the Ren family!" Mother Ren slammed her hand on the table and shouted, but Lan Jin didn't even bother to argue anymore.
"Qiao Qiao doesn't even know you. Grandpa and Grandma? You're nothing to her. You can't even manage your own family. Your husband slept around, and you let him do it with your son's wife. You've got some nerve."
Meng Ying had been enjoying the show up until this moment, completely unprepared for the sudden shift in direction. Now the conversation had swung around and landed squarely on her. She snapped back immediately, "What are you talking about? We're innocent!"
"Innocent?" Lan Jin scoffed. "Then tell me, why did she hit you? Was she trying to stand up for me? I've been divorced from Ren Xing for how long now? Her delayed reaction is truly something else. At this rate, the entire family fortune could be wiped out before she even notices."
That one line shut Mother Ren right up. She looked like she wanted to argue but couldn't come up with a single word.
But in the end, this whole thing was nothing more than a messy domestic dispute. As the old saying goes, even the most upright officials can't resolve family matters. There's a reason that phrase has survived for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. Police officers really aren't equipped to handle things like this. First, they usually can't intervene meaningfully, and second, even if they did, it rarely solved anything.
So after a round of bickering and a round of lecturing, the officers simply dismissed everyone.
Father Ren, Mother Ren, and Meng Ying were forcibly escorted out. As for Lan Jin and the others, they stayed behind in the main hall while waiting for the water barrel delivery.
As she sat there, Lan Jin began seriously considering the surname change. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. She turned to Officer Shi and asked, "Officer Shi, I'd like to ask—what's the process for changing a child's surname?"
Officer Shi looked at her and, unsurprised, said, "You're really planning to change it?"
"Yes. At first, I was just saying it, but now I think there's no reason not to. Qiao Qiao clearly isn't loved by the Ren family, so why should she carry their name? Might as well change it."
Officer Shi frowned slightly. Lan Jin turned to Ling Jiang, silently asking for help. Ling Jiang understood her right away. Honestly, it wasn't that hard. As long as you followed the proper steps, it could be done. So she asked, "Is this service no longer available now?"
"It's still available," Officer Shi replied. "But changing a child's surname requires the father's signed consent. If the father is alive, he has to sign. If he's deceased, you need a death certificate. Your situation… is a bit tricky."
Ren Xing was currently missing. Not alive, not dead. That did make things complicated.
Still, that rule was from before the poisonous fog. These days, regulations were more relaxed. If they really wanted to push it through, Officer Shi could technically help them get it done. But the issue was Ren Xing's parents. If they found out, they'd definitely cause a scene, and that was something Officer Shi was hesitant to deal with.
"There's really no other way?" Lan Jin asked, rubbing Qiao Qiao's little head. She was clearly feeling anxious. "If we don't have the father's signature, there's no alternative?"
Another officer nearby replied, "The reason they require the father's consent is mainly to prevent disputes later. Some people change the kid's name, then cause trouble after the fact."
Lan Jin's eyes lit up. "That won't be a problem for me. I'm just changing her surname. I'm not planning to announce it publicly or seek attention from the Ren family. I get how these things work."
Ling Jiang gave Officer Shi a small wink. Officer Shi hesitated, then finally said, "Alright. We'll make an exception for you."
The moment she heard that, Lan Jin felt a wave of relief wash over her. Huang Jinghe did too. He had been preparing to ask his parents to pull some strings if Officer Shi refused to help. Now, thankfully, that wouldn't be necessary.
The actual paperwork wasn't difficult at all. Everything was online now. Since Qiao Qiao was still very young and didn't have an ID card yet, all they needed was her household registration booklet and her residence permit.
Lan Jin had her bag with her. She used it as cover to pull out the documents. Carrying them in a bag might seem odd, but no rule said she couldn't. Still, she offered a brief explanation.
"My place has been broken into several times. When Nana's home, I don't bring the documents with me. But when he's not, I keep them on me. It's not easy replacing these if they get lost."
Sure enough, mixed in with the documents was Nana's dog certificate. It made her story seem even more plausible.
Now came the question of what to rename Qiao Qiao.
Lan Qiao?
That sounded way too much like "Lan Xiang"—a vocational school in China.
Lan Siqiao?
Technically workable, but it was barely different from the original name. Not much of a change.
Lan Jin looked down at her daughter and asked, "Qiao Qiao, after you change your last name to Mama's, what would you like to be called?"
Qiao Qiao tilted her head and looked up at Lan Jin. Was Mama really asking her opinion?
But what could she say to that? After thinking for a moment, Qiao Qiao replied in a soft voice, "Qiao Qiao."
"Qiao Qiao?" Lan Jin repeated thoughtfully. "Alright then. Let's make it Lan Qiaoqiao."
The people standing around them couldn't help twitching their lips. That name really was... casual. Still, it wasn't bad. It had a nice ring to it.
Qiao Qiao seemed thrilled the moment she heard it. She nodded eagerly. "Okay! Okay! Pretty! Qiao Qiao still Qiao Qiao, but same name like Mama."
"That's right," Lan Jin said with a warm smile. "From now on, your name is Lan Qiaoqiao."
Once the name was finalized, Officer Shi got to work with them. First, he updated the name on the household registration. Then he printed the new version. After that, they moved on to refreshing the residence permit.
The front and back of the residence permit only had Qiao Qiao's photo and a QR code, so no need to issue a new one. All it took was syncing the code with the system and refreshing the data.
Once everything was done, Officer Shi returned the documents to Lan Jin. He added, "The system updates are finished. But if you want to use access control or contribution point functions, you'll need to activate them at the community office. There's still time today, so I suggest heading there now. Take this certificate with you—they'll handle it once they see it."
Lan Jin might not know every detail about the internal workings of the system, but she understood enough to recognize this wasn't technically within Officer Shi's scope. And yet, he had handled it so efficiently.
Lan Jin accepted the certificate and said sincerely, "Thank you, Officer Shi. I promise I won't bring you any trouble."
Officer Shi didn't believe that for a second. Not because Lan Jin actively caused problems, but because trouble seemed to find her all on its own.
"No problem," he said. "Processes are a lot more relaxed these days anyway. You should head over now before they close."
"Alright. Thank you, Officer Shi."
She didn't forget to thank the two people beside her either.
"I've troubled both of you today. Thank you for staying with me through all this."