After Transmigrating As The Mother Of The Pitiful Female Supporting Character in a Campus Novel - Chapter 26

Qin Zhijin received two large packages forwarded from Hong Kong. The contact information on them was her phone number, but the contents were not for her.

Song Ling and Gu Chen had prepared separate gifts and called one after the other. Qin Zhijin watched Gu Mingyi nod and say, “I know, Mommy, you can focus on work. Godmother and I are both doing great.” She couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for the child. After all, she was only three years old, yet she had experienced far more than her peers.

Qin Zhijin helped unbox the gifts. The couple’s presents were similar in nature—all things Gu Mingyi liked. In Song Ling’s box, there was a certificate; she had purchased a newly discovered star that hadn’t been named yet. It could be seen from the rooftop with an astronomical telescope. The rest of the gifts combined weren’t as valuable as this certificate.

Gu Chen’s gift was less romantic by comparison, but he had practically emptied out a publishing house’s collection of children’s books. At the end, there was a letter. Gu Mingyi opened it herself, and after reading the gist of it, she understood what her father wanted to tell her.

“This is a gift from Daddy to Godmother.” Gu Mingyi pulled a full-color medical anatomy book from the collection.

It was a bit heavy for the little girl to hold with both hands. She grit her teeth and barely managed to hold the book out to Qin Zhijin. Panting slightly, she said, “Daddy says there’s a ‘house of gold’ within books.”

Qin Zhijin was puzzled for a moment but decisively opened the anatomy book. It was the latest edition—a rare find that money couldn’t easily buy. Gu Chen had clearly put some effort into finding it.

At the same time, he was telling Qin Zhijin that he was well aware of everything happening with Gu Mingyi domestically; he had people specifically watching the perimeter.

As for the “house of gold” saying, when Qin Zhijin flipped to the title page, a check trembled slightly in the breeze created by the heavy cover.

She picked up the check; on the back was a sticky note: “Sorry to trouble you; this money is for your compensation. We haven’t been able to sit down and get to know each other properly; I only know you through Song Ling. If you’re ever free in the future and there’s anything I can help with, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Qin Zhijin arched an eyebrow and tucked the check back in. She looked at Xiao Yi, who had started tinkering with the color diagrams, and felt immensely moved. Song Ling really had hit the jackpot with the “genetic lottery.”

Looking at Gu Mingyi, who was nearly four, Qin Zhijin remembered the outdoor play area mentioned by the neighborhood property management recently. Feeling a bit tempted, she pulled the brochure out of the box.

“Xiao Yi, on your birthday, how about Godmother takes you here to play?”

“Where is this?” Gu Mingyi looked up from her book, staring at the cartoon map filled with various icons. Some icons had “trap,” “broken bridge,” or “supply point” written next to them. It looked strange, but similar to the zoo maps she had seen before.

“Didn’t Godmother tell you before that we’re going to participate in a variety show soon? This outdoor activity is a bit like the format of that show. We need to use our wits to pass the levels. Are you interested, Xiao Yi?”

Hearing this, Gu Mingyi tilted her head and stared at the map for a while. Her beautiful eyes looked up at the squatting Qin Zhijin, and she nodded. “If Godmother likes it, then let’s go.”

“You…” Qin Zhijin laughed and rubbed Gu Mingyi’s head. “Sometimes, you don’t have to be so considerate of others’ feelings. You’re just a child.”

“Grandmother doesn’t like it.”

Gu Mingyi said with partial understanding, “Even if Grandmother isn’t here, she will know.”

Qin Zhijin frowned at those words, but her expression soon softened. She reached out and picked Gu Mingyi up. “It’s okay. Now Godmother is also your legal guardian. Since your parents entrusted you to me, there’s no need to listen to Grandmother.”

“You only need to listen to me.” Qin Zhijin brought the child to the kitchen. The rich, sweet aroma of egg tarts wafted from the oven. With a ding, Qin Zhijin set Xiao Yi down, put on her gloves, and took the tarts out.

The egg tarts were served with a small spoon and a toddler bowl.

Gu Mingyi sat by the table alone, scooping out the egg tart to eat.

Qin Zhijin had made more than a dozen; the two of them certainly couldn’t finish them. She opened WeChat; her new “pinned” contact had changed from her father to Xia Shibai.

Sitting at the dining table, Qin Zhijin’s hand rubbed back and forth uncomfortably against her pant leg. Her frequent small movements revealed her inner nervousness. Her eyes instinctively flicked to the time in the top right corner of her phone; she kept thinking about waiting for a “round number” before messaging Xia Shibai.

By waiting for the right time, she kept missing it. Finally, hearing a roar outside, she knew a car had returned and was heading for the garage. She hurriedly sent the message she wanted to say.

—“Are you free? I made too many egg tarts and can’t finish them. If you’re free, bring Zhouzhou over to have some.”

After sending the message, Qin Zhijin didn’t know if the other party had seen it. The egg tarts sat on the plate, but she didn’t reach for one. Instead, she felt annoyed that WeChat didn’t have a “read receipt” feature.

But then she realized that if there were read receipts, she wouldn’t be able to pretend she hadn’t seen messages she didn’t want to read, so she gave up on the idea.

Just as she put her phone aside and prepared to enjoy her tea and tarts, she heard an unusual sound coming from the yard.

Gu Mingyi heard it too and looked toward the door.

The adult and child looked at each other, both seeing confusion in the other’s eyes.

Before they could stand up and head to the door to investigate, the “culprit” making the noise outside pushed the door open and walked in quite openly.

Xia Shibai grabbed Xia Yaozhou, who was about to rush in to eat the egg tarts. “Take off those shoes you just used on the grass first. The soles are filthy; don’t dirty the floor.”

“Oh.” Xia Yaozhou was in such a hurry to eat the fragrant, hot egg tarts that she didn’t even want to bend over. she just kicked her shoes off with both feet and rushed toward the bathroom. She washed her hands, wiped them haphazardly on herself, and ran to the table.

“Auntie, where are my egg tarts?”

“They’re in the pan; I’ll get them from the kitchen for you.” Qin Zhijin looked at the little head that had suddenly appeared by the table. Despite being in the sun for so long, she hadn’t tanned; if anything, she seemed to get fairer. She found it amusing.

“Okay! Lots of egg tarts, please. Thank you, Auntie Qin.”

Xia Yaozhou no longer had to put her stomach on the chair first and slowly crawl up like she was doing the breaststroke. She had grown a little taller. She gripped the back of the chair and the edge of the table, used a bit of strength, and with a grimace of effort, climbed onto the stool herself.

It was faster than before, but also more dangerous.

Xia Shibai took a few quick steps to help steady the chair back. Once Xia Yaozhou was seated firmly, she got a wet wipe to clean the child’s hands and forearms.

They each had a serving of egg tarts and tea. Qin Zhijin planned to let Gu Mingyi take the leftovers out later to share with other children in the neighborhood.

No matter how much they loved studying, children should still go out and interact more with nature.

The two little ones were absorbed in eating with their spoons, determined to fight the tart crust to the end today. The milky, soft custard smudged against their lips; it was slightly hot, and even after licking their lips several times, it was still sweet.

But when they focused on one thing, they forgot the other. While licking their lips, they forgot the hand controlling the spoon to scoop the tart.

It was truly a case of “filling the tub while the drain is open”—who knows when the tart would be finished.

Qin Zhijin and Xia Shibai sat to the side. They finished their small egg tarts in a few bites, using the clear tea to wash away the sweet taste of the custard.

“Xiao Yi and I are planning to go to this camp. Do you guys want to go?”

Qin Zhijin pushed the flyer across the table to Xia Shibai.

“Oh, the one posted at the neighborhood entrance?” Xia Shibai recalled the promotional ad playing at the entrance when she passed by. It was indeed interesting, but it looked more suitable for seven or eight-year-old children.

If they took a four-year-old and a three-year-old, wouldn’t they just be sitting on the sidelines after buying tickets?

“Yeah, it seems pretty good,” Qin Zhijin said. “It feels a bit like that variety show you showed us, so I wanted to take Xiao Yi to experience it in advance.”

“I have no problem. Wherever Dr. Qin says to go, we go. Anyway, I’m staying home with the kid now; if I don’t keep her busy, she’ll keep me busy.” Xia Shibai looked mischievously at Xia Yaozhou, who was still struggling with her egg tart, and smiled. “Better to strike first than be the victim later.”

Eating her food, Xia Yaozhou felt a deep sense of unease. With an egg tart in one hand and a spoon in the other, crispy crust and soft filling stuck to her face, making it a struggle to eat.

She suddenly looked up at Xia Shibai and caught that eerie smile. Her little face twitched slightly, her beautiful eyes narrowed, and her round, dark pupils squinted at Xia Shibai.

She stated firmly: “What bad idea is Mommy cooking up?”

“What bad idea could I have?”

“You’re smiling just like that dog-trafficker in 101 Dalmatians—all wicked.” Xia Yaozhou nodded to herself and went back to her battle with the egg tart. “Sigh, adults are so childish.”

“…” Speechless at being called childish, Xia Shibai held her hot tea and said nothing, taking a small sip that filled her mouth with a bitter yet clear fragrance.

Seeing the mother and daughter finish their bickering, Qin Zhijin pushed the poster in front of Xia Yaozhou’s bowl. “On Xiao Yi’s birthday, Auntie plans to take her out to play. Does Zhouzhou want to come with us?”

“Go out? For a birthday?” Holding her spoon, Xia Yaozhou was captivated by the poster. She was seeing those strange symbols for the first time, and it was very fresh.

“Yes.” Qin Zhijin thought about the camp’s services and added quickly, “We’ll probably camp on the mountain and not come back that night. There’s a BBQ buffet on the mountain, and we can see the stars.”

“Not coming back?”

Xia Yaozhou frowned and looked at Xia Shibai, pouting as she called for “Mommy.”

“Decide for yourself. If you want to go, we’ll go back and pack, and follow them the day after tomorrow. If you don’t want to go, we’ll stay home and it’ll be the same the next day.”

“Go! Of course I’m going!” Xia Yaozhou swung her legs, her eyes darting back and forth between Xia Shibai and Qin Zhijin in a bit of a panic, fearing they might go back on their word.

Xia Shibai and Qin Zhijin made the decision right then: they would pack on October 8th and set off early in the morning.

However, after Xia Shibai took Xia Yaozhou back home, the money-minded “Little President Xia” had a flash of inspiration. She decisively had Yao Yao bring the program crew into a meeting room for a brief meeting. This led to Dr. Qin, just a wall away, having the first commercial meeting of her life right before bed.

In the end, it was decided that their entire trip the day after tomorrow would be recorded by a professional crew as a “pre-shoot” to test the program segments and effects.

More importantly, the camp was quite large, covering nearly 400 mu—almost an entire hilltop.

Xia Shibai was worried about the children’s physical safety and whether they would get lost. The PD (Producer-Director) for the shoot was someone with experience in outdoor variety shows, and Yao Yao had quickly sent over two brand-new children’s tracking watches.

Once everything was finalized, Qin Zhijin reviewed it one last time; the arrangements were very reasonable.

Xia Shibai had considered almost every aspect—unlike herself, who had decided to go after just one glance.

After everyone left the meeting, Qin Zhijin instinctively leaned her stiff, aching back against the chair and rubbed her throbbing brow. “It’s a good thing I pulled you in this afternoon. Otherwise, if I really took Xiao Yi there, we probably would have come back without doing much.”

Xia Shibai comforted her: “This is my professional strength, after all. If Dr. Qin asked me to save someone, I’d probably only be able to snatch the Book of Life and Death from King Yama and cross out their name quickly so they could die sooner and be reincarnated.”

“It’s late. Get some sleep. I’ll see if there’s anything else to prepare, and we’ll go shopping together tomorrow.”

Xia Shibai checked the time and urged Qin Zhijin to end the meeting quickly. After the other left the room, she took off her headphones and started making a list. Even with a professionally operated campsite, tourists still need to be careful.

On October 8th, the two adults and two children set off.

Qin Zhijin was wearing hiking gear, her soft black hair tied in a ponytail that hung slightly down, and a baseball cap covering her forehead. She pulled her phone from her jacket pocket and handed it to Xia Shibai.

Her slender fingers pulled the car key ring from Xia Shibai’s pinky finger, her soft fingertips pressing lightly against Xia Shibai’s.

The touch lasted only a second.

Qin Zhijin frowned slightly and looked at her phone with a bit of a headache. “That watch—I can’t get it right. Help Xiao Yi check it; I’ll drive.”

Xia Shibai took the phone and retracted her hand, lightly pressing her tingling, itching fingertips, giving a soft “mm” of acknowledgement.

After getting in the car, the phone screen lit up. Qin Zhijin, wearing a light blue one-piece swimsuit with scorpion braids, was soaking in a pool. Sunlight fell on the rippling surface of the shallow water; her gaze was fixed on the flowers floating on the water, looking so beautiful that even the sun wouldn’t look away.

Looking at the aesthetically pleasing wallpaper, Xia Shibai thought: With such a beautiful face, why does she always like to look so stern in photos?

If she smiled, wouldn’t people be lining up to offer her mountains of gold and silver?

“Phone password?”

“999888.” Qin Zhijin took off the baseball cap that was blocking her view, scanned the car’s control panel, and after running through the operations in her head, started the car and followed the navigation out.

Xia Shibai unlocked the main screen; the inner wallpaper was another one from the same series, also taken in the pool. But compared to the main screen which only showed half her body, Qin Zhijin looked even better nestled in a swim ring.

“Dr. Qin, you look so good. Why don’t you smile more?” Xia Shibai followed the manual to help bind the watch and the software.

“Song Ling dragged me to take those; I couldn’t smile looking at her.” Qin Zhijin clicked her tongue. “She changed the wallpaper too. I’m not very interested in these things.”

Qin Zhijin wasn’t the type to care about such details. Her WeChat avatar was the same “little ghost” pair icon she had matched with Song Ling when they were young; even though Song Ling had changed hers countless times since, hers remained the original.

Dr. Qin liked beautiful faces but never proactively pursued them—she only liked the ones that came to her door.

Xia Shibai looked at the “binding successful” message box popping up on the screen. Her hand holding the phone paused for a moment before she snapped out of it, clicked confirm, and returned to the desktop. Her gaze fell again on the swimsuit-clad Qin Zhijin with her eyes closed.

She looked so good that even Xia Shibai wanted to use this wallpaper as her screen.

Xia Shibai put the phone into the car’s small storage compartment and chuckled. “But Dr. Qin, aren’t you quite cooperative? If you really didn’t want to, you’d have ten thousand ways not to go.”

Having seen how she dealt with the blind date guy, one knew she didn’t lack means of refusal; all invitation answers depended solely on whether Qin Zhijin liked it and whether her bottom line was touched.

“I prefer ‘idiots’.”

Xia Shibai gave a soft “oh.” “Then I guess I have no chance.”

“Hm?”

“I’m quite smart, so I’m probably not within Dr. Qin’s preferred range.”

Qin Zhijin’s hand on the steering wheel tightened. She suddenly felt as if her car seat had ten thousand needles and nails, making it impossible for her to sit still and drive. She kept glancing at Xia Shibai out of the corner of her eye; seeing the other’s expression was normal, she relaxed slightly.

But she didn’t understand—what did this person mean by that?

After a moment of thought, Qin Zhijin’s tone softened. “I said, I also prefer beautiful women.”

“There are ten thousand beauties in the world; that preference doesn’t seem very precious.” Xia Shibai’s eyes curved slightly, looking straight ahead.

She acted as if she hadn’t seen Qin Zhijin’s restlessness just now, simply expressing what she wanted to say.

Qin Zhijin bit her lower lip, not knowing how to answer and unable to fathom Xia Shibai’s intention.

Did she know something and was testing her? Or was it a casual remark?

Whichever it was, the best response Qin Zhijin could give was silence.

Once they reached the campsite, the pre-arranged program crew was waiting at the entrance. As soon as they got out of the car, the child director with the group pulled out two bags of gummy bears and handed them to Gu Mingyi and Xia Yaozhou.

“This is a greeting gift from Big Sister. Hello, everyone!”

Xia Yaozhou clutched the candy and looked at Xia Shibai uncertainly. Seeing the latter nod, she then nodded to the child director. “Hello, Big Sister. I’m Zhouzhou.”

“Hello, Zhouzhou. Big Sister needs to put something on you. Please open your arms.” The child director used tools to secure a body mic to Xia Yaozhou and placed a sports camera on her chest.

“Hold out the hand with the watch, palm up.”

Although Xia Yaozhou didn’t understand what the director sister was doing, she followed instructions obediently. A black circular sticker was placed on her watch strap.

The director pointed at the sticker and said, “This is the signal for us to track you. There are also trackers in the headset and the sports camera so that if you get lost, we can locate you quickly.”

“Next, two uncles and two aunties will follow you, and I will be by your side as well.” The director added quickly, “Don’t pay too much attention to our presence; just go about your own business.”

Xia Shibai was the fastest to have her gear installed, so she took on the task of buying tickets. While queuing for the combo tickets, she pulled a staff member over to explain the rules of the park to the group.

As for the camera not far from her, it was actually quite easy to ignore.

“Welcome everyone to our campsite! From now on, you will be automatically divided into two groups: the Adult Group and the Child Group.” The staff member handed out different diagrams to the adults and children.

“Your common task is to find the lost treasure and obtain the ‘Bright Pearl’ hidden within. The pearl can grant one wish.”

“We have set up different checkpoints on the various mission routes. The adults need to work together to survive against all odds. The children need to use their little hands and brains to solve puzzles and reach the finish line as fast as possible.”

Hearing this, Xia Shibai immediately raised her hand to confirm with the staff. “Did you say ‘survive’? I didn’t hear wrong, did I? Isn’t ours a puzzle-solving mission?”

“No,” the staff member said righteously. “The main concept of our campsite is ‘Escape and Deciphering.’ Only an all-adult group is assigned to Camp Area A for the full escape and deciphering mission. If there are children in the group, the mission is automatically assigned to Camp Area B, where the children complete scientific deciphering tasks, and the adults are automatically assigned to the ‘Great Escape’ game.”

Xia Shibai: “?”

Qin Zhijin: “?”

Xia Shibai laughed in frustration. “Why can’t the kids do the ‘Great Escape’? These little arms and legs couldn’t do any damage even if they fought.”

Based on the staff’s expression, Xia Shibai felt that adults being assigned to this project was not a good sign.

“As you said, if those little arms and legs get injured once, we’ll go out of business.” The staff member smiled at Xia Shibai, thinking she was worried that separating would put the kids in danger.

“Don’t worry, parent. Our Camp Area B has a dedicated indoor passage for children; they only need to complete the secrets within the passage.”

Xia Shibai: “…”

Now I’m even more jealous. Why don’t the ‘short-legs’ have to run? Is this camp discriminating against adults?

No matter what Xia Shibai wanted to say, the result was the same. She could only watch as Xia Yaozhou happily held Gu Mingyi’s hand and followed a panda mascot into the indoor deciphering passage.

“Good luck, Mommy! See you at the treasure spot~” Xia Yaozhou turned and waved at Xia Shibai.

Two blown kisses were “cut” out of the air by the “Old Mother.”

“Hehe…”

Mommy doesn’t want to work hard at all. On such a hot day, why do adults have to suffer in the wild?

Qin Zhijin hadn’t expected the outdoor game to be played like this either. While she stood there dazed, not knowing what to do, the staff member who had explained the rules earlier came forward holding a drawing box and asked them to draw randomly.

“Please draw your respective weapons and enter the Great Escape area.”

Qin Zhijin reached in confusedly and pulled out a yellow ball.

“I won’t reach in and pull out a useless tool, will I?”

“Hard to say~” The staff member smilingly refused to answer anything unrelated to the rules.

Qin Zhijin unscrewed the ball and frowned slightly at what was written on the slip of paper.

As for Xia Shibai, the moment she touched her ball, she already had a bad feeling. When she unscrewed it and saw the toy bow, her heart went cold.

Great Escape?

This is clearly a ‘Great Escape from Life’ because I can’t survive!

Xia Shibai turned to look at Qin Zhijin, who understandingly unfolded her slip to show her.

“Congratulations! You drew nothing! Please come again next time!”

Xia Shibai: “…”

She hadn’t expected someone to have even worse luck. She felt relieved.

Qin Zhijin looked innocent. “I really didn’t do it on purpose.”

“I just have bad luck,” Dr. Qin defended herself.

Author’s Note:

Qin Zhijin: I just have bad luck!

Xia Shibai (stiff face): Understood. In the future, I must never let you go to a drawing session!