After Transmigrating As The Mother Of The Pitiful Female Supporting Character in a Campus Novel - Chapter 36.1

The work was claimed by the children. After parting ways with the police, Xia Yaozhou and Xiao Yi were still thinking about the police dogs.

After ordering the meal, while being pulled away to wash her hands, Xia Yaozhou stood on her tiptoes and frowned slightly. “Mommy washed away all the traces of my contact with the doggy.”

Xia Shibai sized up the two little “dumplings” from head to toe, silently chanting “Amitabha” in her heart, fearing she wouldn’t be able to control her hands and would drag the two kids—who were covered in dog hair—back home for another bath.

“Don’t start; you only know how to find work for your mother.” Xia Shibai, her hands still wet, lightly tapped Xia Yaozhou’s forehead. “You were the one who promised Uncle Qin Wang that you’d help him with the door-to-door promotion. I’m not joining you in that chaos the day after tomorrow; you’re going by yourself.”

“I’ll go by myself then!” Xia Yaozhou leaned back and rubbed her wet forehead, letting Xia Shibai wipe her arms dry. “Mommy, does ‘scanning the building’ mean going to every single floor?”

“Yes, scanning the building means you wander from the first floor to the second floor of the company. You have to make sure every uncle, aunt, brother, and sister knows you’ve been there, and you have to interact with them.”

“Then does Uncle Qin Wang mean the police dog will come with me too?”

Before they parted, Qin Wang and Xiao Nuo had almost finished the plan for the day after tomorrow, and they had gone over the process with Xia Yaozhou and Gu Mingyi.

However, a child’s brain couldn’t hold that many things. While biting a straw to drink yogurt, she had been “hands-on” with the police dog, nodding and humming perfunctorily to Qin Wang and Xiao Nuo, her face the picture of innocence.

Xia Shibai reckoned that as soon as Qin Wang and the trainer led the police dog away, Xia Yaozhou’s brain left with the dog.

“Think for yourself; didn’t Uncle Qin Wang tell you the whole process of the activity?”

“Did Uncle Qin Wang say anything?” Xia Yaozhou walked side-by-side with Gu Mingyi toward the exit. Hearing this, she turned to look at Gu Mingyi.

She only remembered Qin Wang’s mouth moving incessantly for a long time; as for what he said, Xia Yaozhou hadn’t listened to a word.

Gu Mingyi thought for a moment. Using her childhood level of understanding, she peeked at Xia Shibai and said, “Uncle Qin Wang didn’t seem to say the police dog would follow us for the building scan. He only said the dog would be with us during the promotion meeting in the large conference room.”

“Is that what he meant, Auntie Xia?”

“Correct. So, you have to act as the promoters for the software first and scan the building before you can play with the police dogs in the conference room.”

“Ah…”

Xia Yaozhou sighed and sat in her seat, aimlessly fiddling with her spoon. She looked so aggrieved that the two little buns on her head seemed to deflate.

“This is something you promised yourself. Since you promised, you have to do it. You can’t be a spoilsport.”

“I’m not.”

Xia Yaozhou gave a soft sigh. “Sigh, the troubles of a child… you adults wouldn’t understand.”

Xia Shibai looked at her easily-fooled daughter, completely baffled.

What’s so hard to understand about you? Aren’t you just still obsessed with those police dogs? You wish you could kidnap them back home; you’re truly not afraid of breaking the law.

Qin Zhijin helped cut Gu Mingyi’s steak into small pieces and mixed the noodles with black pepper sauce. She raised an eyebrow at Xia Yaozhou. “Zhouzhou has little troubles too?”

“Hmph, there’s nothing to say to you adults.”

Xia Yaozhou took a huge “awoo” bite of meat, still thinking about the big dogs.

If only I could have a dog at home. In the future, I could secretly feed it all the things I don’t like to eat. Today the police dog was so big, so big; it could definitely help me eat all the vegetables I hate.

Wuwu, I missed out on a big doggy!

Neither child had a real sense of what “scanning the building” meant. To them, every day was just about playing—either playing here or playing there. This task was also just play to them, only with a reward at the end: petting dogs.

Xia Shibai thought about the nearly thirty floors of the Lansui building. Except for the top fifteen floors, which were restricted, the bottom fifteen floors were packed with employees from various departments. If they really scanned the building, it would keep Xia Yaozhou and Gu Mingyi quiet for several days.

Thinking this way, Xia Shibai felt a bit of anticipation.

No matter how obedient a child is, taking care of them day in and day out can be exhausting.

Qin Zhijin, sharing the same thought, nodded silently.

The two of them hit it off immediately, even wanting Gu Chen to agree to join this activity. Doing this once every other week would ensure the kids stayed well-behaved for a month; in the future, they would be terrified just hearing the words “scan the building.”

“Xiao Yi will probably tell Gu Chen, but whether Gu Chen will nod and agree is a question.” Qin Zhijin said this, but in her heart, she felt the probability of Gu Chen agreeing was high.

After all, Gu Chen was also a daughter-doting maniac.

“We’ll see.”

“By the way, if we buy these outfits for the building scan, they should look great!”

Qin Zhijin handed her phone to Xia Shibai. Inside was a child’s outfit similar to a police uniform. Because it was “Police Blue,” it actually looked quite the part.

Xia Shibai’s eyes lit up. “On the day of the scan, if we throw the kids to Qin Wang and the others, can we have a good rest?”

“That’s the logic…”

Qin Zhijin and Xia Shibai looked at each other and instantly felt that Qin Wang was a great person.

A great person for helping them babysit.

“May good people live in peace forever,” Xia Shibai sighed.

The article Xia Shibai had people post on the forum gained a lot of traction and indeed attracted a lot of attention. Many years had passed, but school gossip is always passed down from class to class; there would always be people who knew the story leaving comments below.

The incident of Qin Zhijin being disqualified for graduate school recommendation was quite a big deal. Their year had a small-class system with few recommendation slots. Students from that year who stayed to work as counselors were also there, and it didn’t take long for the anonymous names in the post to be guessed.

“No way? So many years have passed; if that senior sister was really innocent, why wait this long to clarify? If she had clarified then, couldn’t she have gotten her slot back?”

“So naive. Can’t you see the counselor and the school wanted to sweep this under the rug? They didn’t want it to affect next year’s recruitment or the school’s reputation.”

“Our school still has a reputation? What about the incident a while ago where a ‘boy-treasure’ broke into the girls’ dorm? Is there a solution yet? Why hasn’t the official campus account released the expulsion notice for that creep?”

“Sister, what’s the rush? They haven’t even solved the food delivery theft yet. A guy caught the guy red-handed downstairs and posted it online, and the delivery boy-treasure still talked back. If men catching men can’t solve the problem, women catching men is even more annoying.”

“Though… if this little essay is true, I can only say this roommate wasn’t much better. Help! I’m thankful my roommates let me live for three years. In the final year, I hope everyone graduates safely QAQ!”

“No? Doesn’t the senior who was slandered have her own problems? Why slander only her out of so many candidates? Shouldn’t she reflect on herself?”

“…I’m truly speechless at the person above.”

“Me too. If someone is randomly stabbed on the street, does the victim have to reflect on themselves too? That’s the most ridiculous thing in the world.”

“Aaaaah, how did the person above get into our school? So stupid? Didn’t you see the article said because the conditions for recommendation were harsh back then, there could only be one per class? Plus, senior sister’s year had a small-class system; it was very strict. The number of people successfully recommended in the whole department was far less than the number specified in the document… use your brain.”

For several days, Qin Zhijin received words of concern from others, especially regarding the forum matter. It even reached Song Ling, who was still in the United States.

Qin Zhijin looked at the mint seedlings growing in the wind in the garden, finding it hard to explain anything to the person on the other end of the phone.

After all these years, was it not worth seeking justice? What she wanted was not superficial peace.

Wang Qingyuan, Li Yan, and those people received the punishment they deserved. Why make it sound like she was the one refusing to let them go?

Qin Zhijin said nothing. After hanging up, she squatted by the garden and looked at the flower bed, lost in thought.

Gu Mingyi had been reading in the house. After waiting a long while without Qin Zhijin coming back inside, she threw the book on the sofa and poked her head out of the house.

Shuffling along, Gu Mingyi came out and walked to Qin Zhijin’s side. She lightly tapped Qin Zhijin’s arm and squatted down to look with her.

“What is Godmother looking at?”

“Looking at the flowers, grass, and trees.”

Gu Mingyi turned her head, unsatisfied with the answer, because she could perceive from Qin Zhijin’s facial expression that the person beside her was not happy.

The little girl bit her lip slightly and said word by word: “Godmother, don’t be angry.”

“Godmother isn’t angry.” Qin Zhijin said, “I’m just thinking… I never did anything wrong, so why did I end up like this?”

Bullied until now, she was even about to lose her job.

Even if she didn’t like studying medicine at first, after a long time, she eventually developed feelings for it. Leaving her post like this definitely made Qin Zhijin unhappy. But no one was willing to help her or listen to what she had to say.

Everyone wanted to settle these troublesome matters as quickly as possible. Just like when Wang Qingyun slandered her—the evidence was unclear and there were many doubts, but because they didn’t want to delay time, they just glossed over it.

“I don’t understand.” Gu Mingyi looked at Qin Zhijin blankly. “But if Godmother is unhappy, you can go find Auntie Xia; she will help you.”

Qin Zhijin rubbed Gu Mingyi’s head. She felt that the other person was just a child after all; why was she filling a child’s world with these annoying matters?

Before she could say anything, Xia Shibai poked her head out from the side holding takeout. “What are you asking me for?”

“I was just about to come call you. Come over and eat together. Zhouzhou ordered a ton of food; it’s probably too much for just the two of us.” Xia Shibai lifted both hands full of takeout. “Come around now and come inside with me.”

What Xia Shibai didn’t say was that while the takeout was indeed ordered by Little Xia Yaozhou, the quantity was something she had instigated. The more they ordered, the better the excuse to call them over.

By the afternoon, Xia Shibai had caught wind of things. Everything was moving in the direction she wanted. As the matter escalated, the social pressure on Qin Zhijin would increase. Even if those people came over with good intentions to check in, they were invisibly adding pressure to Qin Zhijin.

They ordered a lot of takeout, and the two children ate until they were full. Their mouths were covered in soup and rice. After washing their faces, they held hands and ran to the TV to watch cartoons.

Because of her obsession with police dogs, Little Xia Yaozhou had shifted from liking Ultraman to Stitch, the intergalactic dog. Compared to a big police dog, a little blue dog that she could hold in her arms and squish became her new favorite.

Suddenly, only Xia Shibai and Qin Zhijin were left at the dining table.

“Do you remember what I said that day?” Xia Shibai pondered for a long time, not knowing how to start, so she could only lead with an abrupt question.

Qin Zhijin was eating absentmindedly. Hearing this, she looked up at Xia Shibai and inexplicably thought of the day she blacklisted her mother on WeChat.

It was just like this; the two of them hadn’t even changed seats.

“That if someone makes me unhappy, I should blacklist them?”

“Yes. Life is your own. If you’re unhappy, just blacklist them. Listening to others talk nonsense and speculate won’t make you happy either. In that case, there’s no need to keep them in your contact list; it’s just a waste of emotion.”

After Xia Shibai spoke, she reached out her hand, and Qin Zhijin pulled her phone out of her pocket.

They were inexplicably in sync.

Xia Shibai still remembered the password. When she unlocked it, she realized belatedly that Qin Zhijin’s wallpaper had been changed. It was no longer the poolside photo Song Ling had dragged her to take; it was the system’s default solid color wallpaper. For a second, Xia Shibai thought she had taken the wrong phone.

“Go ahead and blacklist them for me. Except for Song Ling, I’m not very close to anyone else…” Qin Zhijin rarely cleaned up her Moments, which led to many people messaging her today. They were friends added during university whom she no longer contacted, all wanting a piece of the gossip.

Xia Shibai gave a light hum and asked casually, “Why did you change your wallpaper?”

“I forgot.” Qin Zhijin said, “I forgot when I changed it; it’s been a while anyway.”

As Qin Zhijin ate, she felt inexplicably guilty.

The wallpaper was changed the day they returned from the flower and bird market. Because she didn’t know what to change it to, she eventually found a solid color wallpaper in the system that looked pleasing to the eye.

But as for the date, how could she let Xia Shibai know?

Wouldn’t that make the wallpaper change seem deliberate? As if she had changed it because of Xia Shibai’s words.

Xia Shibai gave a soft “Oh” and quickly blacklisted everyone except Song Ling. As she blacklisted them, she asked Qin Zhijin, “It’s fine to blacklist this one, right?”

“Yes, I’ve already forgotten who that is.”

“That’s good.”

Once everything was done, Xia Shibai handed the phone back. “I was the one who had someone write that article. I’ve already contacted your counselor, but because of insufficient evidence, it’s impossible to overturn and re-investigate. We can only start from Li Yan and Wang Qingyun’s side.”

“Those two are still in the detention center. Getting them to come forward and clarify will probably take some time. If you really feel uncomfortable, I’ll have someone delete that article tonight and block related information.”

Qin Zhijin lowered her eyes, her chopsticks resting lightly on the edge of her bowl. “I knew it was you. Who else but you would be so anxious to bring this matter up?”

In the news Qin Wang showed her, there was a long screenshot of the forum post. It hid a lot of information about Qin Zhijin and focused more on Wang Qingyun and Li Yan; the bias was already very obvious.

Furthermore, besides Xia Shibai, people like Wang Qingyun and Li Yan were the beneficiaries; how could they stand up and reveal what they had done? They weren’t fools.

“I’m sorry. If I knew it would turn out like this, I should have used a more gentle approach.”

Xia Shibai was used to being decisive in her decision-making. Originally, she just wanted to stir things up in the school; who knew it would turn into this.

“Does President Xia usually apologize to others when she makes a wrong decision at the company?”

Qin Zhijin looked with amusement at the guilt-stricken Xia Shibai. “I didn’t blame you.”

“I didn’t think this through; at the time, I just wanted to make sure Wang Qingyun and the others couldn’t get back up.”

If her former subordinates, or Yao Yao, or Shao Qing saw Xia Shibai apologizing like this, they would want to look at the sky—to see if the sun was setting in the east today.

Otherwise, how could there be a day when Little President Xia admitted she was wrong?

“In that case…” Qin Zhijin wiped her mouth with a tissue. “Then President Xia can do something as compensation.”

“What thing?”

“This.”

Qin Zhijin picked up her phone; after the screen lit up, it showed the solid color wallpaper.

“Find a new wallpaper for me, something more creative. It counts as passing if I nod and agree.” Qin Zhijin said, “If I don’t say it’s okay, you have to keep looking.”

Xia Shibai blinked, probably not quite understanding what kind of compensation this was.

But she still nodded and agreed.