After Transmigrating As The Mother Of The Pitiful Female Supporting Character in a Campus Novel - Chapter 31

Xia Yaozhou’s scalp hurt from being braided, and the little expressions on her face were rich and spectacular.

One person, using one face, was performing an entire grand opera.

Seeing that it really did hurt her quite a bit, Big Yaozhou softened the strength in her hands, gave a light “tsk,” and said in a muffled voice, “You are really annoying.”

“I’m not annoying; it’s clearly you who is clumsy.”

“Tsk.” Big Yaozhou glanced at the exercises spread out on the table. Finally, after managing to tie a hairstyle for Xia Yaozhou that was passably presentable, she packed up her homework, slung on her backpack, took the little girl by the hand, and walked out.

Holding the little girl’s hand, Big Yaozhou felt the sensation in her palm was soft and spongy, like squeezing cotton.

She started out walking fast, not considering that two steps from those short legs couldn’t even match one of hers; she had no choice but to slow down her pace to accommodate Xia Yaozhou.

Following her usual habit, Big Yaozhou put her things away. She had originally planned to take Xia Yaozhou to the police station near her home, but the journey was so full of obstacles that she began to wonder if the little girl who had suddenly appeared beside her was an incarnation of a spirit or monster.

Even though things weren’t allowed to become spirits after the founding of the PRC.

First, in a place where it was usually easy to hail a cab, they couldn’t find a single car—whether it was a taxi, a ride-share, or even the small three-wheeled motorbikes, they were all full of people.

Big Yaozhou thought she could at least scan and take a shared bike with a back seat.

Who knew that the place usually packed with shared bikes was completely empty.

Since other forms of transportation didn’t work, there were still buses; but the buses had stopped running, and after waiting in place for twenty minutes, no bus came.

Big Yaozhou had to suppress the doubts in her heart and lead Xia Yaozhou home on foot. Halfway there, she finally saw a child-friendly shared bike with a back seat; she scanned the code and pedaled hard, taking the little girl toward the Nanshan District Police Station.

When they were just halfway through the journey, it suddenly started pouring rain—the rain was so heavy that she couldn’t even see the sights in front of her.

Big Yaozhou wiped her face. “Isn’t this a bit too unlucky? You aren’t really some kind of monster, are you?”

There was no other way. With rain this heavy, Big Yaozhou was worried something might happen, so she rode home, carried Xia Yaozhou through the rain and into the room, pressed the passcode, and set Xia Yaozhou down on the rug by the door.

“You stand here, don’t wander around. You’re covered in water. I’m going to get a towel.”

“Oh.”

Soaked through, Xia Yaozhou suddenly shivered, feeling as if something had passed through her body. She pursed her lips and surveyed the surroundings, finding everything very familiar.

So familiar that this was her family’s sofa, her family’s TV, her family’s vase, and her family’s high staircase.

This “her home” didn’t refer to the room she and Mommy lived in now, but the house she lived in before Auntie Lin had her accident.

The Xia Residence.

Xia Yaozhou couldn’t understand why the Big Sister in front of her appeared in her home. Was it possible they never moved back in later?

Xia Yaozhou shook her wet head but didn’t dare move, standing on the rug obediently waiting for Big Yaozhou to return.

And the coldness Xia Yaozhou felt was precisely from Xia Shibai, who had followed her.

She couldn’t see the little girl standing in front of her, and since Xia Shibai couldn’t stray too far from Big Yaozhou, even if she didn’t move, she would appear by Big Yaozhou’s side the next second.

Big Yaozhou took a bath towel to wrap the little girl up, then carried Xia Yaozhou toward the bathroom. “Can you do it alone? Showering here?”

“Mhm, I have no problem.”

Big Yaozhou hesitated for a moment but still taught her the basic usage of the showerhead once, instructing her not to get in the bathtub and just wash on the outside.

“Don’t worry, I really know how.”

“That’s good then. I don’t have other clothes for you to wear; this is a T-shirt I kept from elementary school, just wear it for now. And some elementary school uniform shorts.”

As for the rest, there was nothing else in her house; if she wanted more, she could only order delivery.

Once the bathroom door closed, Big Yaozhou walked to the sofa as if relieved of a heavy burden and sat cross-legged on the floor.

Xia Shibai, having observed her entire session of talking to herself, had already begun to worry if Big Yaozhou was under too much academic pressure, to the point that her brain had developed problems.

She had seen cases before where children were under too much pressure and studied until they developed schizophrenia.

In the minds of these children, there are many personalities, and different personalities play a certain role in their own character and thoughts.

Xia Shibai watched Big Yaozhou’s actions in silence. Although she couldn’t be certain, she believed anyone who witnessed this on the spot would find it terrifying.

After all, how could someone make those gestures toward thin air, as if someone truly existed and could be seen by Big Yaozhou?

In the original book, there were descriptions of Xia Yaozhou’s mental state. There was a huge gap between her and a normal person; after all, she had experienced those events as a child, so it was unlikely for her to develop as a normal person.

The Big Yaozhou of this world had a bad relationship with “Xia Shibai.”

Therefore, Xia Shibai speculated that the Big Yaozhou before her eyes was the developmental path of the novel’s world.

But the weird thing was…

The Big Yaozhou in front of her was not quite the same as the image described in bits and pieces in the original work.

Xia Shibai was standing there thinking when she heard a knock at the door. Big Yaozhou looked toward the door warily and asked loudly through the door, “Who is it?”

“It’s me, Qin Zhijin.”

Xia Shibai: “???”

Hearing the name, Big Yaozhou didn’t care that she was soaked through; she scrambled up from the ground and rushed to the door to open it for Qin Zhijin.

When Xia Shibai heard the name Qin Zhijin, she was slightly stunned, clearly not understanding why Big Yaozhou would have a connection with Qin Zhijin.

Because the Xia Yaozhou she saw in the novel was not close to anyone, and the figures of Qin Zhijin and Gu Mingyi had never appeared in the text.

She had always thought it was her arrival that changed the direction of the world line.

But Qin Zhijin’s sudden visit made Xia Shibai’s heart tremble.

Could it be that the places she speculated about were all wrong?

Big Yaozhou and Qin Zhijin hadn’t known each other for long; strictly speaking, they only began to intersect on the day Xia Shibai transmigrated.

At the moment Xia Shibai left and woke up from the “dream,” Big Yaozhou always felt as if something behind her had disappeared.

Big Yaozhou vaguely heard a sound and looked down from the top of the stairs, but there was nothing. She was flustered, feeling that the house was haunted.

Additionally, Big Yaozhou had been restless all day, the house was huge, and countless home-invasion murder cases came to mind. Almost without thinking, she dashed toward the security room, wanting to check the surveillance to see if anyone had approached her house during the day. It would be best if she could get the security guards to accompany her to search the rooms once.

Just as Big Yaozhou arrived, she happened to run into Qin Zhijin, who was in the surveillance room checking the footage to find a thief.

“Someone definitely entered my house. The tea cup on the coffee table shows signs of being moved. You must help me investigate the surveillance; otherwise, how could I possibly sleep?” Qin Zhijin, nearly forty, was wearing loose sportswear and was arguing with the property management.

When Big Yaozhou arrived, she stated her problem.

Qin Zhijin frowned slightly and said, “If even a child says the same, then there’s definitely a problem. Hurry up and look; it’s too dangerous. If some deranged person really entered the community, there are so many people—can you take responsibility if something happens?”

Qin Zhijin was more experienced and knowledgeable; she was very seasoned at arguing with property management. Big Yaozhou didn’t say a word from beginning to end, but they managed to solve the issue.

The property management used surveillance and found that someone was indeed hiding in the community and had entered both Qin Zhijin’s home and the Xia Residence. Together, they quickly called the police to search the houses.

Finally, they caught a sneaky person in the community garden.

Because he was too poor, he wanted to take a risk and scavenge some money from their homes. As for why he chose their community, the thin, underage boy said, “My grandmother used to be a nanny here and was familiar with the roads, so I came over.”

As for why he targeted Qin Zhijin’s home and the Xia Residence, he kept his mouth shut and wouldn’t say.

The boy was naturally taken away by the police, and Qin Zhijin and Big Yaozhou, in a way, had shared a hardship, and they unexpectedly found things to talk about.

For a “rebellious teenage girl,” Qin Zhijin’s stable emotions were the prerequisite for them to become good friends.

Moreover, Qin Zhijin wasn’t working and had plenty of free time; as long as Xia Yaozhou wanted, she could cross a main road in the community and run into her in the garden.

“Why are you here?” Big Yaozhou pulled the door open and poked her head out. It was still raining outside, just not as heavily as before.

Qin Zhijin was wearing a proper qipao with a jade bracelet on her wrist. She had rushed over from her home holding an umbrella against the rain, carrying a faint scent of incense, while her other hand held a takeout box from a hotel.

“When you were riding your bike back, I happened to be driving behind you entering the community.” Qin Zhijin handed the item over. “Take this and eat; it’s all untouched, my friends didn’t finish it.”

“Be careful on rainy days, make sure to close the doors and windows.” Qin Zhijin chuckled, “If it’s still raining this hard tomorrow, I’ll drive you to school.”

“Thank you, Auntie Qin.” Big Yaozhou took the food and watched Qin Zhijin walk back into the curtain of rain under her umbrella.

Perhaps the sudden drop in temperature outside really drove away the lingering heat; Big Yaozhou actually felt cold and reached out to close the door.

The cold didn’t come from the rain outside, but more because Xia Shibai was standing beside her, staring unblinkingly at Qin Zhijin’s retreating back as she walked away with her umbrella. Xia Shibai even tried in vain to push the door, wanting Big Yaozhou not to close it.

Looking at the familiar yet strange Qin Zhijin, Xia Shibai felt sad for some reason.

Maybe she was overthinking it…

Qin Zhijin’s retreating figure looked lonely and solitary.

Xia Shibai, unrestricted by physical objects, instinctively stepped forward from inside the door to the outside. The sky felt as if an invisible hole had appeared; the originally light rain instantly became heavy, hammering loudly against the roof.

Xia Shibai followed behind Qin Zhijin, watching her return to her residence under the umbrella. Through the curtain of rain, she seemed to see the Qin Zhijin of this world fold her umbrella, lower her eyes, and look toward her.

In just an instant, the feeling of being pulled away from her body appeared again.

Xia Shibai watched Qin Zhijin retract her gaze, place the umbrella on the rack by the door, close the door, and then she disappeared.

She couldn’t see her.

She was Qin Zhijin, but she wasn’t the Qin Zhijin.

When Xia Shibai figured this out, she suddenly woke up from her dream. What appeared before her eyes was Qin Zhijin’s youthful face, etched with worry.

“You’re awake? I thought you were going to sleep for a long time.” Qin Zhijin reached out to feel Xia Shibai’s forehead. It was no longer warm, indicating the fever had completely broken.

The current mental state looked poor simply because she hadn’t recovered yet and needed a moment.

Seeing Xia Shibai staring blankly at her after waking up, Qin Zhijin couldn’t help but lean her face forward, her beautiful dark eyes meeting hers. “Why are you staring at me? You didn’t burn your brain into an idiot and can’t recognize me, right?”

“No…”

Xia Shibai could vaguely recall the Qin Zhijin she met in that dream—her hair pinned up, the qipao accentuating her full figure; even the heavy rain didn’t make her look particularly disheveled.

Instead, she looked like someone walking out of a rainy night scene in a drama.

Xia Shibai converted the age in her heart for a moment, looked seriously at the Qin Zhijin sitting beside her tilting her head, and said sincerely, “When you reach thirty-five, you will still be beautiful.”

Qin Zhijin: “…?”

“Seriously, there’s a kind of… haughty and cold beauty.” Xia Shibai originally wanted to say “solitary beauty,” but reflecting that she was at least a college graduate and couldn’t just say “aba aba,” she picked a word she thought fit from her meager vocabulary storage.

She thought Qin Zhijin would be happier hearing it, but to her surprise, the other party pressed the emergency bell at the head of the bed, and a doctor rushed in a moment later.

Qin Zhijin pointed at the Xia Shibai lying on the bed and said, “Take her to have her brain checked. I suspect the low fever fried it.”

“She doesn’t look very normal anyway.”

Xia Shibai: “No, I really haven’t [lost my mind], I’m speaking very seriously!”

Although she couldn’t be certain of the reality in the dream, the fact that Qin Zhijin was beautiful was beyond doubt.

Unfortunately, the person herself didn’t believe it and even thought she was crazy.

Xia Shibai had left the dream.

Xia Yaozhou, however, had not. She finished her bath, put on her clothes, and came out of the bathroom soaking wet. She stood on her tiptoes and stretched her hand out, barely managing to press the door handle down and open it.

As soon as Xia Yaozhou came out of the bathroom, she saw the Big Sister sitting cross-legged on the sofa eating. She couldn’t help but feel a bit angry, “How can you eat all by yourself and not bring Zhouzhou along!”

“These are all spicy; you can’t eat them.” Big Yaozhou’s eyelids lifted slightly as she wiped her hair with a towel.

There was also a bathroom upstairs. She couldn’t wait, so she ran upstairs to wash. Who knew the little kid would still be in the bathroom when she came out?

Big Yaozhou couldn’t just rush in, so she let Xia Yaozhou play with the water inside.

“It’s okay, Zhouzhou can eat! Zhouzhou likes it!”

As long as it was delicious food, Xia Yaozhou had never not liked it. Especially seeing Big Yaozhou eating happily, the child couldn’t help licking her lips, looking expectantly at Big Yaozhou, hoping the other party would use chopsticks to feed her a couple of bites.

Big Yaozhou had never seen a child in Xia Yaozhou’s age group and didn’t know if they could actually eat spicy food. She tentatively fed her one bite of a flavorful spicy crawfish. She watched Xia Yaozhou’s expression change from enjoyment and liking to distortion and sticking out her tongue, finally rolling on the rug from the heat.

It gave Big Yaozhou a real fright. She hurriedly poured a large glass of cold water for her to rescue her spicy-aching tongue.

Xia Yaozhou stuck out her tongue, her face flushed red. “Hurts, hurts.”

“…” You deserve the “hurts.”

Big Yaozhou could only separate the non-spicy dishes for the child to eat. While watching a TV drama, she asked, “Where on earth did you come from? What’s your name? Do you know what your family members are called? So I can send you back.”

Xia Yaozhou’s use of chopsticks was quite poor. The disposable wooden chopsticks spun a circle in her hand, and finally, she grabbed one chopstick in each hand to pick up green vegetables in the bowl, the area around her eyes all red.

“Why aren’t you watching Ultraman? This drama is so boring; they’re just arguing all the time.”

Xia Yaozhou gave a couple of snorts, “This is my home. My name is Xia Yaozhou, Mommy is Xia Shibai, my good friends are Gu Mingyi, Zheng Xuan, and Yin Weining. The Auntie who makes delicious things is called Qin Zhijin.”

“And you, why are you living in my house?”

Clatter—

“AAAAAAAH—”

A burst of sky-shattering shouting rang out in the living room. Big Yaozhou, who was eating spicy crawfish until sweat broke out on her brow, jumped up from the spot like she’d seen a ghost. Her knee slammed into the coffee table, and she fell onto the sofa clutching her leg in pain.

She finally understood—today was truly an unfavorable year; it clearly wasn’t suitable for any major movements.

Startled by her series of actions, Xia Yaozhou blinked and obediently stuffed boiled cabbage into her mouth, intoxicated by the texture of the cabbage that was soft and melting upon entry.

Truly delicious!

Big Yaozhou’s face was pale. She looked at Xia Yaozhou, who was kneeling not far from the coffee table, as if she were a ghost. She scrambled upstairs with a limp and came back down a moment later.

She was holding a mirror and a kindergarten graduation photo in her hands.

She looked at the photo, then the mirror, then the photo, then the mirror…

After repeating this for a long time, Big Yaozhou reached out with a trembling hand to feel Xia Yaozhou’s forehead.

“I’m not sick!” Xia Yaozhou sighed softly, shaking her head with feigned maturity. “You aren’t a thief who lived in my house without paying, are you? Don’t worry, I won’t tell Mommy. You don’t need to worry!”

Xia Yaozhou patted her chest. “I keep my word. With me here, Mommy won’t blame you.”

Big Yaozhou didn’t care at all about being blamed or not. After all, this world was still the world she lived in, and as for what kind of person her “Mom” was, Big Yaozhou knew better than the little one.

She didn’t have time to use her brain for these trivial matters.

“Do you know who I am?”

“Ah, why should I know whose mommy you are?” Xia Yaozhou looked at Big Yaozhou in confusion. “I don’t play with your daughter anyway.”

Big Yaozhou: “…”

Take a deep breath and relax.

Regardless, the other party was a child; it was normal for her line of thought to be different from hers.

“I’m saying, I am you. I am also Xia Yaozhou. My mommy is Xia Shibai, my grandpa is Xia Weiguo. I’m in the third year of middle school, fifteen years old… can you understand what I mean?”

Big Yaozhou pointed at where they were. “This is my home. Not the home you are talking about.”

Xia Yaozhou was stunned for a moment, then slowly began to chew the soft cabbage in her mouth again. “This isn’t my home?”

“No.”

“But you are also called Xia Yaozhou, and Mommy is called Xia Shibai. Then the place you live is my home, because I am also called Xia Yaozhou.”

“That’s not what I mean… this world is not the world you were originally in. Do you understand? I am you grown up!”

Xia Yaozhou blinked, gave a light “oh,” and then focused all her attention on the cabbage in front of her, holding her lunch box. She didn’t care at all about Big Yaozhou’s feelings.

“Why make such a small thing so scary?” Three-year-old Xia Yaozhou said calmly, “It’s been shown in Ultraman before. When Golden Horned Dragon-Dragon appears, this kind of situation happens. Don’t be afraid. After Ultraman Tiga defeats Golden Horned Dragon-Dragon, everything can return to normal.”

“However, can I eat one more shrimp-shrimp?” After a while, Xia Yaozhou forgot the pain again. Regarding Big Yaozhou’s shock, disbelief, and fear, her eyes only held the shrimp-shrimp that would make her hurt-hurt but were very delicious.

Thinking of this, Xia Yaozhou looked at Big Yaozhou aggrievedly, “I was even cheated out of ten yuan by Mommy yesterday and came here without eating shrimp-shrimp. So pitiful, so pitiful.”

Big Yaozhou: “…”

She hadn’t done anything wrong; why send a kindergarten child over to torture her?

Where is Tiga? Come save the child quickly and send this major grievance back!

After Xia Shibai woke up, she was forced by Qin Zhijin to undergo a physical examination. Only after confirming there were no major issues was she allowed to get off the hospital bed.

Knowing that Xia Yaozhou had slept for a full day and still hadn’t woken up, Xia Shibai sat by the bedside, staring at the sleeping Xia Yaozhou.

The more she looked, the more Xia Shibai’s eyes lowered, and she soon noticed something was wrong.

She roughly gestured in the air with her hand and understood.

How was the teenage Xia Yaozhou in the “dream” suffering from mental split due to academic pressure?

It was clearly a major unlucky person being pestered by a minor unlucky person.

Xia Shibai, who was worried before, breathed a sigh of relief instantly once she understood this.

If Xia Yaozhou was beside Big Yaozhou, there really wasn’t much to worry about.

It’s not like “I” could kill “Me.”

Instead of worrying about Xia Yaozhou, it was better to fill her stomach. Anyway, no matter where the little one went, she wouldn’t starve to death.

Qin Zhijin brought porridge for Xia Shibai. Gu Mingyi came along too, sitting obediently on the side doing her own thing without being noisy or troublesome.

While drinking her porridge, Xia Shibai didn’t forget the main task. “Regarding the class reunion, did they give you a reply yet?”

“No. Someone as stingy as Chen Cun probably won’t tell me the location until the very last day.”

Since Chen Cun wouldn’t give it, Qin Zhijin wasn’t in a hurry either.

She didn’t particularly want to go to those messy places anyway. If it wasn’t for Xia Shibai accepting on her behalf, she really wouldn’t want to bother dressing up and driving to attend a gathering for that bunch of people.

“If…” Xia Shibai lightly bit the plastic spoon, then stared fixedly at Qin Zhijin. “I mean if you want me to help you vent your anger at the class reunion, can I know what actually happened back then?”

“Why did Chen Cun slander you like that?” Xia Shibai said, “With Chen Cun’s IQ, after provoking you once or twice and being taught a lesson, he should have been too scared to come back. Someone like him who suffers losses over and over yet returns repeatedly—more masochistic than someone buying lottery tickets—is a first for me to see.”

“So, there must be someone behind Chen Cun.”

Xia Shibai said with certainty, “Someone is targeting you.”

With her thoughts seen through by those eyes, Qin Zhijin didn’t panic either. Instead, she asked with a smile, “Why do you want to help me? What kind of relationship do we have?”

“It shouldn’t be at the point where both parties can bare their hearts and souls or risk their lives for each other, right?”

Author’s Note:

Big Yaozhou: Fam, does anyone get it… I’m almost blinded by the absurdity.

Xia Yaozhou: Shrimp, shrimp, shrimp, shrimp, wahhhh, ten-yuan shrimp!

Xia Shibai: ? I want to help her, and she asks me what our relationship is 0.0?

Qin Zhijin: What is our relationship? (Repeats)