After Transmigrating As The Mother Of The Pitiful Female Supporting Character in a Campus Novel - Chapter 16

Xiao Pang clutched the candy, his mind filled with visions of his older brother coming to “settle the score.” He was so terrified that his chubby, fair little body physically trembled twice.

He had followed Xia Yaozhou all the way here. Just as he reached the gate and saw an unfamiliar adult in the yard, his wails died in his throat. He stood there, pouting and looking so aggrieved he could have died.

Xia Yaozhou sat on her stool and glanced at Xiao Pang. She scooted her bottom to the side and coolly turned her head away, continuing to pick and choose attractive-looking dishes from the manual. Although Xia Shibai had rejected most of them, Yaozhou remained tireless in her task.

Xiao Pang stood outside. He clearly hadn’t forgotten why he had come, but hindered by the presence of the beautiful, strange auntie in the yard, the self-proclaimed “reserved” boy simply stood there holding the candy, hoping for just one glance from Xia Yaozhou.

Xia Shibai stole a glance at him, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly. If Xiao Pang were a bit thinner, one could call this sight pleasing to the eye; as he was now, she felt like she was being harsh to a child. Unfortunately, matters between children had to be resolved by children.

Xia Shibai lightly touched Xia Yaozhou and whispered, “Mommy’s going inside to get some water for you. Stay here and sit nicely.”

“Okay,” Yaozhou nodded sensibly, her gaze never wavering as she stubbornly refused to look at Xiao Pang standing outside. Out of sight, out of mind.

“Zhouzhou!” Xiao Qiu ran to the gate, breathless. He braced his hands on his knees, panting. “You know he’s a dummy, why bother with him? He could be tricked by anyone with two pieces of candy. Don’t let it get to you.”

Xiao Pang bit his lip. He felt Xiao Qiu was insulting him, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on why. He said dejectedly, “Chuan-chuan, I didn’t mean it. If you want to eat candy, I’ll go home later and give you all of mine.”

Xia Yaozhou flipped a page, even though she could only understand the colorful pictures of food.

Xia Shibai, who had filled a bottle with room-temperature water and grabbed two bottles of mineral water, watched the drama from behind the window. Xiao Qiu and Xiao Pang coaxed her for a long while without receiving so much as a look from Xia Yaozhou.

Just as Xiao Pang looked like he was about to cry again, Yaozhou slowly climbed down from her stool and stood a short distance away from him. “I shared candy with you because I treat you as a friend.”

“Even if Xiao Qiu didn’t want any, you should have asked me before taking them all. You can’t think my things are yours! It’s wrong, and I don’t like it!” Yaozhou’s stubborn temper only lasted a few minutes. Firstly, she was soft-hearted by nature; secondly, she only disliked Xiao Pang’s behavior, not the boy himself. After all, there were only three kids in the whole neighborhood willing to play with her—Xiao Pang, Xiao Qiu, and Xiao Yi—and they used to help her come up with plans to fight Auntie Lin. (Though they were four “bumbling geniuses” whose “brilliant plans” were usually a disaster.)

Xiao Pang’s ears turned red. With tears welling in his eyes, he grinned and said they were friends, and she should have said so earlier. “Just don’t tell my brother on me, okay?”

Xia Shibai, eavesdropping: “…” Nice one, kid. After all that, you still don’t get it.

Xiao Qiu, who had followed along, had a face full of expression; he looked ready to roll his eyes into the back of his head. Before he, the “big brother,” could speak, Xiao Pang and Xia Yaozhou were already unwrapping candies and eating together.

Xia Shibai emerged from the house. Once they finished, she opened the water for them and was promptly showered with a series of “rainbow farts” (flattery). The praise was so thick that Xia Yaozhou felt a sense of crisis; she quickly grabbed Xia Shibai’s leg, hanging onto her mother while shielding her with her body from Xiao Pang and Xiao Qiu. “This is my Mommy!”

“My Mommy!”

Knowing he wasn’t going to be told on, Xiao Pang returned to his peaceful, broad-minded state. He gulped down the water, humming. After a while, he waved her off as if he’d just heard her. “I know, I know! This is your house, your Mommy, you’ve said it so many times! I’m getting callouses on my ears!”

Xia Shibai closed the garden gate and led the grumbling Yaozhou toward the sandpit. Since the boys had run over without telling their nannies, she figured she should return them to the group to avoid Xiao Pang actually getting a thrashing.

The nannies at the sandpit were indeed frantic, nearly in tears. Seeing that Xiao Pang and Xiao Qiu were safe, their hearts finally settled. Xia Yaozhou stayed glued to Xia Shibai, having no intention of playing. She held her water bottle and spent a long time staring at the leaves in the flower bed.

Xia Shibai chatted with the nannies and gathered quite a bit of neighborhood gossip. For instance, Xiao Pang’s real name was Yin Weining; his mother was a scientist and his father was a big boss. Xiao Qiu’s name was Zheng Xuan; his mother was a model who was rarely home, and his father was a professional soccer player who was also often away.

In Yin Weining’s house, his grandmother kept an eye on the nannies. Zheng Xuan’s house had surveillance cameras, and he called his mother every night. To some extent, this prevented things like what happened to Xia Yaozhou.

It was also from Zheng Xuan that Xia Shibai heard news about Yaozhou’s other best friend.

“Xiao Yi isn’t home. The nanny hasn’t been seen for a long time,” Zheng Xuan said, clutching his soccer ball before heading home. He turned to Yaozhou and added, “My mom said she might be moving because her parents are getting divorced. She won’t live here anymore.”

Hearing this, Yaozhou, who was clutching her water bottle, looked visibly dejected. She didn’t say much on the way home, following closely behind Xia Shibai. When they got inside, Yaozhou slumped on the sofa in silence.

After a long time, just as Xia Shibai thought the girl was going to stay facedown all night, there was finally some movement. Yaozhou sat up, took two sips from her bottle, and looked at Xia Shibai—who was pretending to read a document while actually playing on her phone.

“Mommy…”

“Mhm?” Xia Shibai quickly tucked her phone away, ready to hear her high-IQ daughter’s deep thoughts on life so she could teach the “female support” to be independent and not lose heart over losing a friend…

The sleepy-eyed Yaozhou pushed her water bottle aside on the sofa. “I’m hungry.”

“…”

That night, Xia Shibai resumed her “Fairy Tale Mashup” method. To prevent Yaozhou from repeating her past mistakes, the story she told was about the Little Mermaid jumping over the Dragon Gate. Because she lacked an undergraduate degree, she was rejected by the Prince. In her rage, she studied hard, returned with perfect scores in every subject to embarrass the Prince, took over the kingdom, and became a legendary, world-renowned Empress.

Both those who had heard fairy tales before and those who hadn’t fell into a deep silence.

Xia Shibai spent a few days at home with Yaozhou. Just as they were getting used to the comfortable life, she received another call from Qin Wang. “Come to the station to sign some papers; the case is being transferred and closed.”

“Alright, I’ll be there later.”

Naturally, Xia Shibai couldn’t leave Yaozhou at home. She buckled her into the back seat and drove to the station.

Just as they left, a BMW pulled up in front of the neighboring villa, followed closely by a small truck. A group of people unloaded items and moved them inside. Once everything was organized, they nodded to Qin Zhijin, who was sitting in the car, and left.

Suddenly, only a little girl with a “wolf tail” haircut and a sporty outfit—who looked cold and taciturn—and the equally quiet Dr. Qin remained in the car.

“Xiao Yi, your mother… she can’t return to the country for a while. She’s asked me to look after you. If you feel uncomfortable anywhere, tell me. I… I’ll do my best to help.”

Qin Zhijin truly hadn’t wanted this job. If she had known Song Ling’s call was to say she was divorcing Gu Chen and that she couldn’t let Xiao Yi go to America for fear of losing custody, she might have hesitated. As one of Song Ling’s few best friends, she had been pulled into her impulsive friend’s mess. Dr. Qin, who was facing her own suspension, had been forced into the role of Xiao Yi’s “Godmother.”

Xiao Yi looked at Qin Zhijin and nodded sensibly. The tiny human moved to the door and walked toward the house. After getting out, she noticed that the house next door, which had always been empty, finally showed signs of life. There were toys and a scooter scattered in the garden. Xiao Yi paused. Someone moved in next door?

Previously, Xiao Yi lived here with a nanny and her young aunt. The aunt was a college student who drove back and forth to school; her “looking after” Xiao Yi was really just a way for Song Ling to pay her sister to watch the nanny and give the sister some pocket money. When the marriage was fine, this worked. But now, fearing Gu Chen would snatch the child, Song Ling couldn’t leave her sister alone with the burden. After a few hectic days of moving Xiao Yi to her grandparents’ house—which didn’t work because they disliked Gu Chen and were indifferent to Xiao Yi—Song Ling was at her wit’s end.

“Xiao Yi is closer to Gu Chen,” her manager had warned. “If you take her to the US during the divorce, the judge will consider her opinion. If she shows preference for him, you’ll lose everything.”

Losing money didn’t scare Song Ling, but losing Xiao Yi would break her. She wouldn’t allow it.

Luckily, she heard about Qin Zhijin’s “medical accident” situation, where the patient’s family was harassing the hospital with complaints. The hospital had asked Qin Zhijin to take a leave of absence. Song Ling hesitated, fearing she’d be adding fuel to the fire, but with no other choice, she contacted her.

Qin Zhijin had rubbed her aching temples. “If only you were this calm and logical when you had that whirlwind marriage and pregnancy overseas.”

“Help me, please, Zhijin.”

“…” Qin Zhijin’s finger traced the handle of her newly bought mug. She listened to Song Ling analyze her chances of returning to the hospital and her mother’s strategies to force her into blind dates.

Qin Zhijin didn’t interrupt until she heard a familiar name.

“High Mountain District?” Qin Zhijin asked. “Is the neighborhood you’re talking about in the jurisdiction of Qin Wang’s police station?”

Song Ling, her mouth nearly dry from talking, was surprised. “Yes, I remember Xiao Wang works over there.”

Qin Zhijin looked at the cup on the table. After a long silence, just as Song Ling was about to give up, she said: “Fine. I’ll help you look after Xiao Yi.”

“But only this once, Song Ling. If you’re a ‘love-brain’ next time, I won’t wait for Xiao Yi—I’ll throw you into the Pacific to feed the sharks myself.”

Song Ling: “…Deal.”