After Transmigrating As The Mother Of The Pitiful Female Supporting Character in a Campus Novel - Chapter 22

At this moment, Xia Shibai also realized something was wrong; the Xia Yaozhou before her eyes clearly wasn’t the little girl she was raising.

This Xia Yaozhou’s mention of “Xia Shibai” was filled with obvious dislike and loathing—perhaps, just as the girl said, the two of them weren’t close at all.

Xia Shibai then recalled that before she arrived, this was a novel world. Perhaps what she was seeing wasn’t a dream, but a world that truly existed.

It was the world as it had been before she came.

Xia Yaozhou placed the lit cigarette on a trash can lid, rubbed her goosebump-covered arms, stuffed the remaining two cigarettes into her pocket, and sped off like the wind on her bicycle.

She left a trail of swirling fallen leaves behind.

Xia Shibai stared fixedly at Xia Yaozhou as she sped away, a sudden pang of bitterness rising in her heart. She didn’t know how the original “Xia Shibai” felt about Xia Yaozhou—whether she viewed her as the culprit who killed her sister or as an optional burden; no one knew.

Before Xia Shibai could think deeper, her dream-self followed Xia Yaozhou to the entrance of an internet cafe—it looked like an unlicensed “black” internet cafe.

Xia Yaozhou walked in boldly in her school uniform and handed the cigarettes from her pocket over the counter to the owner, together with her internet fees.

“Still an all-nighter? The usual spot?”

“Mhm.”

The owner gave a small click of his tongue, handed the card to Xia Yaozhou, and shook the cigarettes she had just given him. “How come there are so few today?”

“It’s better than nothing; take it or leave it.” Naturally, Xia Yaozhou couldn’t say she had used the cigarettes to appease ghosts and gods—the owner would be doing her a favor not to throw her out, let alone open a private booth for her against the rules.

“Where’s my bag?”

“In the locker. Here’s the ticket; swipe it yourself.” The owner was busy watching a melodramatic romance story and didn’t even look up as he handed over the ticket from under a basket.

“Got it.”

The moment Xia Yaozhou entered, she was caught off guard by the cold air conditioning. She jogged to the locker, pulled out her backpack, and put on a thick coat she had stashed there to cover her uniform. She found the private booth by a familiar path and opened the door.

The Xia Shibai following her was now numb. Watching her daughter turn out like this, she had thought of a thousand ways to handle it, only to realize she couldn’t find a single corresponding solution.

She couldn’t touch anything in this world, couldn’t communicate; she was just a bystander who had stumbled into this world. Looking at Xia Yaozhou as she was now, she couldn’t change a thing.

Xia Shibai stood by Xia Yaozhou’s side, heart aching over how the child had become like this, only to see Xia Yaozhou expertly log on, turn on the computer, open a pink website interface, and start… studying.

Xia Shibai: “?”

I must have woken up too fast; my eyes seem to be failing me. Let me look again.

Xia Shibai looked at the screen again—it really was a math tutorial video. Correspondingly, Xia Yaozhou’s backpack wasn’t empty; it was stuffed full of various tutoring materials.

Xia Yaozhou zipped her coat to the top, put on her hood, and casually pulled out paper and a pen to start her lesson. “It’s so strange—how can it be this cold with the AC at 23°C? My head hurts from the cold.”

Before long, the sound of a teacher explaining classic middle school entrance exam questions filled the booth. The dull, monotone voice was enough to make anyone sleepy, let alone listening through heavy headphones that made the ears feel hot.

Xia Shibai stared fixedly at the studying Xia Yaozhou, her mind filled with countless questions, none of which she could answer.

Xia Shibai stood behind Xia Yaozhou for a long time; there was no place to sit, so she could only watch as Xia Yaozhou rapidly switched from one workbook to another. The scratch paper was covered in neat calculations. Soon, she had finished a round of every workbook in her bag.

She even timed herself doing a middle school physics test, and her accuracy was beyond Xia Shibai’s imagination.

Xia Shibai remained silent for a long while, suddenly feeling that her worries might be redundant.

Fourteen-year-old Xia Yaozhou was ranked last in her school, but in private, she was a top student who skipped evening self-study to grind through problems at an internet cafe.

The polarization was such that Xia Shibai didn’t know whether to pity herself or Xia Yaozhou.

Why would a normal person try to give a top student pointers? Too much free time?

After checking her answers, Xia Yaozhou simply found a few similar problems for the ones she missed, cut the questions out, and pasted them into her notebook without even writing down the solutions.

She glanced at the time at the bottom of the screen. When it was about time, she packed all her workbooks and test papers into her bag and punctually opened the Minesweeper interface. Just as she started her first game, the door to the booth was pushed open.

The owner walked in carrying a lunch box and a drink. “Tsk, can’t you play something else? You spend several hundred a day here just to play Minesweeper—is your money burning a hole in your pocket?”

“It’s alright. What’s for dinner today?”

“The roast duck you wanted. Here, I even got you plum sauce and wheat lemon tea.”

“Thanks!” Xia Yaozhou took the takeout, opened it, and started eating.

The owner stood by and glanced at the scratch paper on the desk, unable to help asking, “Is Minesweeper that hard? You need to do that much rough work?”

Xia Yaozhou: “…”

Xia Shibai: “…”

Xia Yaozhou gave a soft grunt, not bothered to deny anything. She shoved a few mouthfuls of rice into her mouth and stared at the owner until he turned to leave. Then she continued playing Minesweeper. Once she had her fill, Xia Yaozhou pulled a folding bed and an alarm clock from a cabinet, set the time, and went to sleep.

Xia Shibai stood up to look around and tried to leave the room, only to find she couldn’t go far. Every time she exceeded a certain distance, she was teleported back to Xia Yaozhou. It seemed a certain distance had been set between them; they couldn’t be separated. Xia Shibai simply found a spot to sit cross-legged and stared at Xia Yaozhou’s sleeping face for a long time.

Xia Shibai mumbled gloomily, “Being sent to you—I’d rather be sent to Dr. Qin. At least Dr. Qin is better looking. This fourteen or fifteen-year-old brat is arrogant and doesn’t listen to reason; what’s so good about her?!”

The Xia Yaozhou on the cot frowned slightly and wrapped the small blanket tighter around herself, thinking the booth’s AC must be broken; otherwise, why would it be so cold today?

A little later, before the alarm went off, Xia Yaozhou woke up with bleary eyes. She restored everything in the room to its original state, stuffed her backpack into the locker, handed the storage ticket back to the owner, and left in her coat.

Xia Shibai was startled and hurried to follow. When they came out, the clock at the reception showed 9:00 PM. In two more hours, the city’s buses would stop running.

Xia Yaozhou felt in her pocket—she still had 200 yuan, enough to take a taxi back.

Once they reached the Xia residence and went inside, Xia Shibai was certain that the Xia Yaozhou before her wasn’t the same little girl sleeping sick in bed at home, because the Xia residence was empty and filled with a gloomy, sinister atmosphere.

If she had ever been here, she wouldn’t have lived elsewhere even if she had fought with a rebellious Xia Yaozhou.

As Xia Shibai realized this, she wanted to take a couple of quick steps to catch up with Xia Yaozhou, who was already heading upstairs, but the spatial sense of distance suddenly vanished. Xia Shibai tried to catch up, but she could only watch as the distance between her and Xia Yaozhou grew further and further.

The growing points of light began to occupy Xia Shibai’s vision; the Xia residence became a long, narrow line that couldn’t see its end, and finally returned to nothingness, disappearing.

When she woke up again, Xia Shibai held her aching head, feeling as if her entire body were in pain, as if she had been beaten up.

Qin Zhijin was standing by the bed with a bowl of water.

“I…?” Xia Shibai opened her mouth, only to find her throat was sore and her limbs were aching and numb; she couldn’t get up.

“Don’t talk; have some water to moisten your throat first.” Qin Zhijin held the warm water to Xia Shibai’s lips. “Zhouzhou’s fever has broken; she’s downstairs eating porridge. I came up to wake you, and when you didn’t respond, I came in to check.”

“I didn’t expect you to have a fever too, but your head isn’t very hot. I didn’t measure it yet; how do you feel now?”

Xia Shibai braced herself against the bed and sat up. “Alright, just my head hurts a bit; no other problems.”

“That’s good. I cooked porridge; do you want to go down and have some?” Qin Zhijin thought for a moment. “It’s better to eat something. Later, you can drink some medicine and then go back to sleep.”

“Sorry for the trouble.” Xia Shibai looked at Qin Zhijin apologetically; she truly hadn’t expected to have to trouble someone to take care of both of them.

“It’s no trouble, just a simple thing,” Qin Zhijin said with a smile. “I have a very high tolerance for good-looking people.”

Xia Shibai was startled, and thinking of her thoughts in the dream, she couldn’t help but find it funny—instead of watching “Xia Yaozhou” sleep, she would rather be with Qin Zhijin; at least she was beautiful.

“What are you laughing at?” Qin Zhijin looked at Xia Shibai in confusion, then thought over what she had said and decided there was no issue. She said seriously, “If someone isn’t good-looking, my patience will run out. Song Ling—Xiao Yi’s mother—the reason I could tolerate her for so many years was also because she’s beautiful.”

Qin Zhijin spoke earnestly, her cool, elegant face showing a contrasting seriousness, as if she didn’t understand what was so funny about her words.

Hearing this, Xia Shibai laughed until her head throbbed. She reached up and gently rubbed the painful spot. “Nothing, nothing. Mhm, that’s good; at least I still have this face, so I can gain a bit of an advantage and enjoy some benefits of beauty.”

Qin Zhijin belatedly realized Xia Shibai was teasing her and didn’t continue the topic. “Getting up?”

“Yes.” Xia Shibai nodded.

Qin Zhijin helped Xia Shibai up from the bed and led her to the bathroom. She watched until Xia Shibai had finished everything and was sure she was okay before returning to Xia Yaozhou’s room to take down the medicine chest from the night before.

“You go ahead; I can go down by myself.”

The staircase wasn’t narrow, but compared to the two of them walking down side-by-side, it was somewhat awkward for adults.

Xia Shibai let Qin Zhijin go down first, while she slowly made her way down holding the handrail.

During this, Xia Shibai also noticed that as she walked behind, if her footsteps paused even slightly without a sound, Qin Zhijin at the front would instinctively turn her head to look at her.

In a short ten-meter walk, Qin Zhijin’s sensitivity to others’ conditions was beyond Xia Shibai’s imagination.

Along with her kindness toward Xia Shibai, it felt a bit beyond just being a newly met friend.

After thinking it over, the “Little President Xia” realized one thing—it turns out that being beautiful really can be a source of living.

Xia Shibai touched her face; the original owner looked at least 70% like her. The remaining 30% difference lay in their expressions—the two had experienced different things, so they naturally presented differently.

Xia Shibai had seen photos of the original owner from the Lansui Group; she looked like someone with very calm, almost indifferent emotions.

But it made sense—if she hadn’t been indifferent, Xia Yaozhou’s later story wouldn’t have happened.

The two children sat on either side, each with their head down, obediently eating their porridge.

Xia Yaozhou still had a fever patch on her forehead and was lethargic. Hearing the sound, she hurried to look behind her. The moment she saw Xia Shibai, she murmured, “Mommy.”

Xia Shibai touched her face. “Eat quickly. After you’re done, rest a bit and take your medicine.”

Qin Zhijin put the medicine chest aside and went to the kitchen to bring over the porridge she had made.

The pot, ingredients, and seasonings had all been brought over from Qin Zhijin’s own home. Xia Shibai’s kitchen was cleaner than the field in the garden; aside from a few pairs of chopsticks and a few bowls, there was nothing.

Qin Zhijin really wanted to ask: if she hired a maid to cook, was the maid expected to provide her own pots?

Otherwise, how could a home not even have a single frying pan?

After eating and clearing away the things, sleepiness began to rise.

But they had to wait a while after eating before taking the medicine.

The four could only sit in the living room; the two little ones each occupied a spot, playing by themselves without interfering with each other.

It seemed they hadn’t reconciled yet.

As for the adults, they didn’t mind. Sick people don’t like noise, so Qin Zhijin didn’t turn on the TV. Just sitting there in silence wasn’t a solution either.

Qin Zhijin was good at chatting, but her skill was built on familiarity. The playfulness she used with Song Ling felt somewhat strange when used with Xia Shibai, and Qin Zhijin felt she couldn’t quite let go of her dignity.

Little did she know, in the days she had encountered Xia Shibai, her moments of embarrassment and making a fool of herself hadn’t been few.

Most understanding of a person begins with their profession.

Qin Zhijin wanted to find a topic, but after thinking of an opening, she fell silent.

She was someone on “unpaid leave,” asking someone else—”Master, what kind of work do you do?”

It felt wrong no matter how she looked at it.

“That…”

“Tonight…”

Perhaps because the silence had lasted too long, Xia Shibai and Qin Zhijin spoke at the same time to break the deadlock.

Xia Shibai didn’t dare to shake her head too much and gently rubbed her temples. “You first?”

“I need to go out tonight. After dinner is ready, can I leave Xiao Yi at your place for a while? I’ll be back later.”

“Sure, there’s only the two of us at home anyway.”

Qin Zhijin said, “Regarding the matter you mentioned, I spoke to Song Ling. She wants to see the proposal first and take it to Gu Chen; she’ll finalize the matter when they settle the divorce.”

Xia Shibai nodded. “That works. When it’s time to sign the contract, I’ll have my assistant send her a copy as well. She can sign after confirming everything.”

“Alright. So, what did you want to say?”

Xia Shibai paused for a good while before saying seriously, “What kind of flowers does Dr. Qin like?”

“Flowers?” Qin Zhijin looked at her in confusion and hurriedly said, “I don’t care much for gardens and such, and I have no intention of touching the garden for now. There’s no need to ruin the garden.”

“Let’s wait… until your flowerbed grows a single blade of grass before we talk about that.” Thinking of that “flowerbed,” Qin Zhijin very sincerely advised Xia Shibai to give up the idea.

Xia Shibai: “?”

Why do I feel like I’m being looked down upon?

It’s not that bad, is it?!

Xia Shibai smartly bypassed the topic. Until a single blade of grass came out of her flowerbed, she had no reason to discuss agriculture-related topics with Qin Zhijin—she would avoid it at all costs.

“When you go out later, do you want me to drop you off?”

“No need, I’ll drive myself,” Qin Zhijin waved her hand. “Xiao Yi is very well-behaved; give her a place to sit, and she can play by herself all day.”

Qin Zhijin checked her phone, pursed her lips, and knit her brows. She didn’t seem satisfied with what she saw, but she stopped her conversation with Xia Shibai to reply to Mother Qin.

After replying, Qin Zhijin stood up to leave. “I’m off. Remember to take your medicine.”

“Alright.”

The door was pulled shut, and Xia Shibai sat on the sofa without moving.

After a while, Xia Shibai slowly stood up and walked to the window. The weakness after her fever made her feel uncomfortable all over. She leaned limp against the French window, watching the scene outside dizzily.

Qin Zhijin had changed her clothes at home; she had specifically put on a beautiful, plain dress with a collar that opened slightly at the chest, providing some coverage. Every move she made was beautiful.

Yet her expression was as cold as a feelingless robot. She pulled open the car door, threw her bag inside, and drove away without staying long.

Xia Shibai, however, stood at the window, lost in thought.

If she had transmigrated into this book and met Qin Zhijin, then what about the Qin Zhijin in the original story before she arrived?

It seemed even the surname Qin was never mentioned.

Xia Shibai’s head hurt terribly. She sat for a while longer and watched Xia Yaozhou take her medicine before taking her daughter and Xiao Yi upstairs. Once they were settled, she curled up for another sleep.

The headache was partly due to the fever, but more importantly, the Xia Yaozhou in her dream was too infuriating.

Xia Shibai felt her head hurt from anger.

She woke up again to a room as dark as pitch.

Aside from her breathing still being a bit labored, Xia Shibai felt she was fine.

She rolled over and checked her phone—it was already 4:00 PM.

Qin Zhijin had been out all day; she should be back by now.

Xia Shibai got up and tied her hair back, thinking about what to order for dinner. When she walked into the room, she found the children’s bed piled with toys, and the two were sleeping sprawled in different corners of the bed.

After searching the house, Xia Shibai didn’t see any sign of Qin Zhijin, and it didn’t look like anyone had returned next door.

Surely nothing has happened?

Worried, Xia Shibai took out her phone and called Qin Zhijin. The call was disconnected as soon as it went through.

Xia Shibai’s heart tightened, and she hurriedly called again.

After several attempts, Qin Zhijin finally picked up.

But before Xia Shibai could ask anything, she heard a deep, coarse voice endlessly spewing malice and belittlement.

“Your profession as a doctor is too busy; it’s not conducive to raising the next generation. Hospitals also have so many germs. When we all live together, you’ll just bring something back from the hospital and infect our whole family—how bad would that be?”

“You’ll definitely have to resign after the engagement. After you resign, stay home with my mom, do chores, and go shopping—it’s so relaxing! Why would you tire yourself out?”

“What kind of benefits can a strong-headed woman like you get in the end? The man manages the outside, the woman manages the inside—it’s been like this for thousands of years. Don’t copy those poor women online with their feminism and ‘liberty and independence’—it’s all nonsense.”

The man sneered, “After marriage, isn’t it still the man who pays the bills?”

Hearing this, Xia Shibai grit her teeth. If she didn’t know what Qin Zhijin was doing after this, she would be quite stupid.

But before she could speak up and curse, the call was hung up. Then, a location popped up on WeChat.

Xia Shibai didn’t think twice. She changed her clothes and prepared to drive to the location where Qin Zhijin was.

The two children were both sleeping and wouldn’t wake up for a while.

Handling this matter wouldn’t take much time, because Xia Shibai’s methods were always simple and direct.

If a problem could be solved with a golf club, she would never say a word of nonsense.

Thinking this, Xia Shibai took a withered tree stump from the house—it was a decoration left by the house owner. She couldn’t even grip it with one hand; she could only hold the branches of the stump. It had plenty of weight for hitting someone.

The only leaf on the entire withered wood trembled, fearing the “lone sprout” would be tragically destroyed.

Qin Zhijin felt her patience was nearly exhausted. In such a high-end restaurant, normally she might have been in the mood to sit and savor the dishes, but now…

The person sitting opposite her truly spoiled her appetite: fat hanging off him, oily and shiny hair, and the jarring words coming out from behind his “benevolence and morality.”

He was so feudal that Qin Zhijin thought she had sat here too long and had returned to ancient times through a dizzy spell.

Why hasn’t the chandelier above fallen and hit their table? Qin Zhijin thought.

If it hit a person, she might have to save the man out of doctor’s instinct; if it hit the table, she wouldn’t have that feeling at all.

“So, Miss Qin, what do you think about what I just said?”

Qin Zhijin returned to her senses in confusion. After thinking for a long time, she couldn’t figure out what the man had said. Dr. Qin, who prided herself on having no intellectual problems, felt for the thousandth time that the speed of evolution differed between humans.

Even if the man before her was crowned with money, high education, and a good family background, in Qin Zhijin’s eyes, he was just foul-smelling trash.

“I’m sorry. While you were talking incessantly, I was… repenting.”

The man opposite was startled, then smiled broadly. “The things I said are all very simple. Miss Qin is so smart and a graduate of a top school; staying home and educating the children after marriage—”

“I was repenting for why I chose this restaurant; the fire safety measures are so perfect that even a small fire would be put out instantly. I was also repenting for why the food here is so delicious—not only can I not eat in peace, but my impression of this restaurant has to be negatively rated because of you.”

“If repentance is useful, then I hope you remember: I, too, can hit people.”

The next second, the chrysanthemum Pu-erh tea Qin Zhijin had been holding splashed onto the man’s front, and the knife in her right hand was pressed against his eye.

His eyelashes trembled; the man could feel the small Western knife less than a centimeter from his eye.

“What are you afraid of? Isn’t the man supposed to manage the outside? Hmm?”