After Transmigrating As The Mother Of The Pitiful Female Supporting Character in a Campus Novel - Chapter 48

Xia Shibai left the old lady’s house with her arms full. After filling the water vat, she had intended to be polite and just snip a dozen or so branches to get by. However, the old lady kept a stern face and asked coldly, “What, do you think I’m the kind of person who doesn’t keep their word?”

With that, the old lady stood up, grabbed several bamboo baskets from her room, ducked into the kitchen, and packed them with a clatter. She walked back toward the dining table with heavy, labored steps.

Fearing the old lady might faint from exertion, Qin Zhijin hurried forward to help carry the baskets, which were not light.

Looking down, she saw one bowl filled with potato and eggplant sauce—it could be heated up tonight and used as a topping for noodles. Beside it was a thermos; Qin Zhijin didn’t even need to open it to know it was filled with pumpkin dough-balls.

The old lady set an empty basket on the table, picked up her shears, and cut all of her well-tended flowers. They were all stunning; to ensure the health of the plants, she cut them long with stems and leaves, placing them neatly in the basket.

After handing the basket to Xia Shibai, the old lady waved them away irritably. “Enough, enough. Firewood, rice, oil, salt, ginger, vinegar, and tea—I’ve prepared them all for you. Now hurry up and leave.”

Xia Shibai smiled sheepishly, though her hands moved quickly to take the goods. “How can we accept all this? If you have more chores, just call me. We’ll be here for the next ten days or so.”

“I should call you again?” The old lady scoffed, pointing at her courtyard which now looked like it had been hit by a swarm of locusts. She said crossly, “Do you think I find my life too peaceful? Why would I go looking for more trouble for myself?”

Despite her words, the old lady didn’t look truly angry. The baskets were packed to the brim, each one heavy—proof of her “hard mouth, soft heart.”

It was almost noon, and the two children would be coming home for lunch. It wouldn’t be good for the kids to be home alone if they returned late.

Given the old lady had provided so much, Xia Shibai felt she couldn’t just leave it at that chores she’d already done. After a moment’s thought, she decided she would find time to come back tomorrow.

In that light, returning with a full harvest felt justified.

Of the three baskets, Xia Shibai didn’t hesitate to hand the one full of fresh flowers to Qin Zhijin. Their fingers touched as they exchanged the handle. For just a moment, Qin Zhijin pulled back as if she’d received an electric shock.

That familiar warm, soft sensation instantly pulled her back to that morning when she had pretended to be asleep in bed. She fell into an awkward, flustered state.

Seeing this, Xia Shibai didn’t overthink it. She picked out her favorite flower from the basket, snipped the stem, and tucked it into Qin Zhijin’s hair at her temple.

In the midst of their connection, that beautiful flower was the only bright spot of color, pulling the two dusty, gray-smudged women out of their surroundings—a moment captured perfectly by the cameras.

The livestream was instantly flooded with comments, obscuring the picture as popularity hit an all-time high.

Xia Shibai handed the basket back to Qin Zhijin and said seriously, “I said before, if I do something wrong, I’ll give you flowers to apologize. This time is no different.”

“Previously, I said you should tell me what you want and I’d give it to you directly. But I never got an answer, so I’m sticking to flowers for the apology,” Xia Shibai explained.

“What? What apology?”

Holding the basket of flowers, Qin Zhijin’s brain couldn’t keep up with Xia Shibai’s logic. She had no idea what issue Xia was referring to. Had she been angry lately?

Xia Shibai scratched her head. “Yesterday, I wasn’t careful about my safety and made you worry. I thought about it, and I really don’t take my own safety seriously enough… I promise it won’t happen again.”

“And then there’s making you suffer on this show—that’s also on me. My pre-screening work wasn’t thorough, which led to this situation where we aren’t eating or dressing well.”

Xia Shibai bit her lower lip, looking at the farm clothes Qin Zhijin was wearing, covered in mud, and the red mosquito bites on her fair skin.

Qin Zhijin had been trying to control herself, not scratching them. When the itching became unbearable, she would rub them with the back of her hand or slap them until the skin was red and stinging just to relieve the discomfort.

If Xia Shibai had done her job better, Qin Zhijin wouldn’t be here suffering in the countryside. She would still be in the city, making desserts on a whim, hair pinned up, sitting under a garden umbrella reading or watching professional videos. She wouldn’t be covered in dust, with the only refined touch being the red flower at her ear.

Hearing this, Qin Zhijin smiled and reached up to touch the red flower. “Since you’ve placed this flower in my hair, do I even have the room not to forgive you?”

“Huh?” Xia Shibai froze. She hurriedly reached out with both hands to take the flower back, then felt that wasn’t right either. Her fingertips brushed the edges of the petals. Unsure of what to do, she just held her hands up and looked innocently at Qin Zhijin.

The old lady, who had watched most of this drama unfold, frowned. She stopped her embroidery and couldn’t help but interject, “Aren’t you leaving yet? Planning to have dinner at my house? Or do I need to stand up and personally escort you out?”

The two women, who had been standing in the courtyard like statues, finally moved. They each hurriedly protected their baskets and started walking out, not daring to delay another second.

As they walked out, they bid the old lady farewell.

Qin Zhijin, holding the flowers, walked the fastest. Recalling Xia Shibai’s attempt to take the flower back, she was startled. If there hadn’t been a camera pointed at her, she would have laughed out loud.

However, when facing the camera alone, Qin Zhijin instinctively wore a cold expression. After a while, the microphone captured a soft, murmured scold.

“Idiot…”

She wondered who’s “idiot genes” the girl had inherited.

The rules of this show were full of traps, and the living conditions didn’t reflect the massive investment at all, but the primary rule—protecting the children—was strictly followed.

Once it was mealtime, regardless of whether the kids had solved the puzzles, all activities were paused. Like a long line of waddling ducklings, the kids were led back home from their various task locations.

Only after ensuring the children were reunited with the adults did the staff feel comfortable dispersing, leaving only the primary filming crew.

Xia Yaozhou had spent the whole morning playing with fluffy chicks and bunnies in the inflatable pool. It wasn’t until she lay at the bottom of the pool holding a rabbit to rest that she remembered what she was there for.

She hurriedly scrambled up, clinging to the edge of the pool and trying to stand on her tiptoes to see what was written on the blackboard.

She thought she was standing very high, far above the pool’s edge.

In the livestream, the view was of a dark-haired child suddenly popping out of the blue inflatable pool. Her bright eyes were like black grapes, darting around. Her raised arms were like lotus roots—pale and plump.

Many viewers in front of their screens wanted to kidnap her and take her home as their own daughter.

Xia Yaozhou tried her best to decipher the questions on the blackboard.

“One little ‘bird-thing’ has how many… legs? Hmm? Don’t know that word… One little white rabbit has how many… hmm, don’t know that one either?”

The illiterate Xia Yaozhou fell into deep thought. She didn’t recognize many of the characters in the first line, let alone the blanks in the second line.

After a moment of contemplation, she changed positions in the pool to see how Jin Minna was doing. She wanted to see if she could copy her homework.

As it turned out, Jin Minna’s blackboard was also blank.

Xia Yaozhou couldn’t even see what Jin Minna was doing inside her pool, which made her jump up and down in frustration. But she only cleared the edge slightly; the view remained the same.

The camera crew knew exactly what the viewers wanted. They zoomed in on Jin Minna’s pool.

The audience saw that Jin Minna… was playing “house” with the chicks and rabbits.

While Jin Minna couldn’t distinguish how many feet a chicken or a rabbit had, she had very clearly assigned the roles of “Mother Rabbit” and “Father Chick,” with a long string of chirping chicks and bunnies acting as their children.

She even gave them all names. While managing the chaotic yet orderly group, she muttered, “How can Mother Rabbit bully the baby? That’s not right!”

She grabbed a chick she had designated as the “Father” and said sternly, “Baibai, you should go out to work and make money so you can support all these children!”

Pointing to an identical chick, she said, “These are all yours; you have to be responsible for them. Huanghuang doesn’t have to work as hard because she only had two little bunnies; she only has to work for half a day.”

In the child’s world, Father Chick (named Baibai despite being yellow) had baby chicks, and Mother Rabbit (named Huanghuang despite being white) had baby bunnies.

Jin Minna was immersed in her own world, completely ignoring the show’s rules and the staff’s hints.

The task? What task? How could that compare to playing house with fluffy animals?

Xia Yaozhou couldn’t copy the homework, but she didn’t give up. Instead, she raised her hand high and sweetly called over a staff member. “I can’t read the words!” she said seriously.

The staff member picked up Xia Yaozhou and brought her to the blackboard, pointing to the words one by one. Once Xia Yaozhou understood, they put her back in the pool.

Xia Yaozhou nodded solemnly, chanting to herself, “How many legs does a chick have, how many legs does a white rabbit have?”

“How many chicks are there total, how many rabbits total?”

“How many legs do the chicks and rabbits have combined?”

She repeated the questions constantly, but once she started grabbing the animals, the questions changed.

“How many total chicken legs are there, how many rabbit legs…”

After a round of catching them, she finally managed to count how many rabbits and chickens there were. Suddenly, her brain stalled. She leaned dejectedly against the edge of the pool and called over the staff member again.

“Why does the question ask me how many chicken legs (drumsticks) there are? There aren’t any chicken legs in this pool! There’s only me, the chicks, and the rabbits!”

Staff: “…”

They had overestimated her; Xia Yaozhou is only three and a half.

The comments section exploded with laughter.

“Open the book: Ma Dongmei. Close the book: Ma what Mei? Open the book: Ma Dongmei. Close the book: What Dongmei? Hahahaha!” (A reference to a famous movie scene about memory failure)

“We still overestimated a child’s memory hahahaha. Out of three questions, she remembered one, and she got it wrong hahahaha. My cute daughter, mama doesn’t think you’re dumb, come home with mama.”

“The internet is not a lawless place for kidnapping children!”

“Aaaaaah, how did Nana manage to name the yellow chick ‘Baibai’ (Whitey) and the white rabbit ‘Huanghuang’ (Goldie)? Seriously, I’m going to die laughing! She completely forgot the task, but she remembers the names she gave them perfectly. I really want to know where a toddler’s skill points are allocated!”

“Skill points are random haha. But I support Nana’s family logic—it’s five hundred years ahead of its time.”

“So cute, so cute, let me hug both of them! I’m taking them both home to be my daughters!”

When Xia Yaozhou was sent home, the other three were already cleaned up and sitting in the courtyard waiting for her.

Holding a giant lotus leaf she had found somewhere high above her head, Xia Yaozhou ran in excitedly. “Mommy! I made new friends today!”

Xia Shibai felt her scalp tingle as her daughter rushed toward her. she hurriedly put a finger against the child’s forehead and said with slight disgust, “Don’t come over. You stink. Are you trying to knock your mom out with the smell?”

Xia Yaozhou bit her lip and giggled, her eyes curving into crescents. The lotus leaf she held drooped over her head, making her look peaceful and adorable.

Her personality was no longer as sensitive as it used to be. Previously, at the slightest hint of distance or coldness, tears would have fallen. Xia Shibai had given her a total sense of security, making her believe that her current mother wasn’t the kind of adult who would leave her neglected at home.

No matter where she went or when she looked back, someone would always be there. The traumatic memories of separation anxiety had long been replaced by new memories of a better life.

Xia Yaozhou handed her lotus leaf to Gu Mingyi, sharing her “treasure” with her best friend.

Then, the three adults watched as Xia Yaozhou pulled a fluffy chick out of the front of her bulging overalls…

Then a second, a third, a fourth… fluffy chicks. She placed them gently on the ground, and they used their tiny legs to dash through the “world” of overgrown weeds.

In an instant, the courtyard was filled with chicks. A whole house of free-range, wandering chicks.

Xia Shibai’s blood pressure soared, and her pale face was instantly flushed red. From pure anger.

Xia Yaozhou was about to introduce her new friends to her mom, Aunt Qin, and Xiaoyi when she heard her mom shout her full name.

The child froze. She looked up and felt like there was an infinite fire burning behind Xia Shibai, ready to swallow her little wooden boat. With a small “ah!”, she bolted toward Qin Zhijin and scrambled into her arms for protection.

“Save me!”

Qin Zhijin, caught in the middle of the three, put her arms around the child, shielding her from Xia Shibai. “Okay, okay, I’ll save you.”

“Mommy can’t just hit people,” Xia Yaozhou said, grabbing Qin Zhijin’s hand and burying her face in Aunt Qin’s fragrant neck. She peeked out with one large, beautiful eye and said coaxingly, “If Mommy hits me, Aunt Qin will be heartbroken.”

“If Aunt Qin is sad, she’ll get sick! ‘Do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you!'”

Xia Shibai’s anger was replaced by a headache at Xia Yaozhou’s nonsense. She tugged on one of the child’s pigtails. “Where did you learn all this garbage? What does me hitting you have to do with your Aunt Qin?”

“If you get hit, it’s because you’re asking for it.”

Gu Mingyi, who was also providing cover nearby, said, “Our country has a saying: ‘When the child is hit, the mother’s heart hurts.'”

“There’s also an old saying: ‘A near neighbor is better than a far relative,'” Gu Mingyi said, linking the two. “My godmother is Aunt Xia’s ‘near neighbor,’ and the relationship is better than a far relative. She watched Xiaxia grow up. On TV, they say this kind of relationship can be called being ‘half a son’ (or child), so Xiaxia can be considered my godmother’s goddaughter.”

“The word for ‘Mother’ is another way to say ‘Mom,’ so if you hit Xiaxia, my godmother’s heart will hurt!”

Suddenly, the atmosphere fell into a strange silence. Even Qin Zhijin, who was protecting the child, had to untangle this chaotic web of relationships in her head for a moment.

The clever Xia Yaozhou decisively hugged Qin Zhijin’s neck and gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek.

“Godmommy.”

Qin Zhijin: “…” Huh?

Xia Shibai looked at Gu Mingyi—whose Chinese expression skills had been completely led astray—and felt a wave of remorse. She wanted to take Xia Yaozhou to the Gu family and beg for forgiveness. How did they take a “good sprout” and turn her into this?

Xia Shibai turned a blind eye for a second, and Xia Yaozhou peeked out and winked at Gu Mingyi. Gu Mingyi waved her hand. Xia Yaozhou decisively kept calling Qin Zhijin “Godmommy,” acting as if she wouldn’t let go until Qin acknowledged it.

Finally, Xia Shibai’s temples throbbed so hard she reached out, grabbed the mischievous Xia Yaozhou, and gave her a disciplinary swat on the butt. She bared her teeth and threatened, “Any more nonsense and you go hungry!”

“Waaaah…” Xia Yaozhou faked a sob, and finally turned obedient.

But the title “Godmommy” couldn’t be changed. No matter how Xia Shibai threatened or warned her, Xia Yaozhou would just turn and dive into Qin Zhijin’s arms, whining.

Qin Zhijin hesitated, then looked up. “Maybe… let it be. Having one more goddaughter doesn’t seem like a big problem.”

Xia Shibai: “…”

Xia Yaozhou giggled and looked back at her mother. Sure enough, Xia’s face was dark, scaring her back into hiding in Qin Zhijin’s embrace.

Xia Shibai had brought back so many flowers that there were extras even after the vases were filled. Qin Zhijin asked the staff for a thick notebook to press the flowers. Just like she did at home, she pulled out two stems for the children.

“Thank you, Godmommy,” Xia Yaozhou said. She instinctively looked for a soda can to put it in, then remembered her “scavenging career” had collapsed before it even started, and she felt a pang of sadness. Flowers were nice, but soda cans were worth more.

Watching the happy children, Qin Zhijin corrected them: “I didn’t get these flowers.”

“These are like the flowers at home—Aunt Xia earned them and gave them to us. So you should thank Aunt Xia.”

Hearing this, the two children took their heavy flowers to the courtyard to find Xia Shibai, who was catching chicks.

“Mommy, Mommy…”

“Your mom’s not dead yet.” Xia Shibai tucked a stray hair behind her ear and put the last free-range chick into the cage provided by the crew. She stood up and was tackled by the two girls.

Xia Yaozhou nuzzled her like a puppy. “Thank you for the flowers, Mommy! Red and pretty!”

“Thank you, Aunt Xia.”

“You’re welcome.” Looking at the flowers in their arms, Xia Shibai couldn’t help but think that nearly every time she’d bought flowers, it was for Qin Zhijin. The reasons weren’t always the same; even if she wasn’t apologizing, she’d occasionally stop by the flower market and pick some up. The flowers the kids had were always just gifts from the shop owner—just like these two branches.

The children came and went like the wind, searching for a bottle to hold their flowers. Once found, they skillfully mixed their “formula”—using sugar since there was no Coke—and placed the flowers in a cool spot.

Once the water Xia Shibai boiled was ready, the four of them washed up and lay in bed to rest before the afternoon session.

At their age, the children had a strong desire to talk. One could talk to a chick for half a day, let alone when Qin Zhijin and Xia Shibai were there to listen.

Gu Mingyi had finished her morning task early. The tests were no challenge for her; even without hints, she could have handled them. Regarding the “prerequisite” levels, she said, “It was a question about buying tickets. It was simple; Grandma taught me.”

“Sheng Huaixing is also very smart,” Gu Mingyi added. “She didn’t know how at first, but she watched the video once and solved it herself. She also learned the sundial on the fly.”

Xia Shibai wasn’t surprised. Sheng Huaixing was the original female lead; this was just standard protagonist performance.

Qin Zhijin sat nearby, finding the name “Sheng Liu” familiar but unable to place it. She marveled at Sheng Huaixing’s intelligence.

The next second, the only silent one—Xia Yaozhou—protested: “I’m very smart too!”

Xia Shibai was startled by her daughter’s “confidence.” She reached out and affectionately rubbed the girl’s head. “It’s okay to dream during a nap, but don’t say your dreams out loud.”

It’s easy for people to laugh.

Xia Yaozhou puffed out her cheeks in anger and turned to Gu Mingyi. “I am very smart!”

Gu Mingyi affirmed, “Xiaxia is very smart too.”

“Me, Xiaxia, and Xiao Qiu are the smartest. Xiao Pang is ‘fairly smart.’ All four of us are smart,” Gu Mingyi added, not wanting to leave out any friends.

Qin Zhijin winced slightly. That’s a bit unfair to Xiao Pang.

Xia Shibai glanced at the two children still arguing over the definition of smart and gently pushed them both down to lie down. She and Qin Zhijin split the work, each watching one child.

Before long, the bedroom fell silent.

Author’s Note:

Xia Yaozhou: I’m smart.

Xiaoyi: True. Xiao Pang is second.

Xiao Pang: ???? Say that one more time??? Who are you slandering???