After Transmigrating As The Mother Of The Pitiful Female Supporting Character in a Campus Novel - Chapter 51

The four adults pooled their money together and gave some to Old Man Qiao as a fare.

Old Man Qiao happily accepted the money and rode his electric three-wheeler home, carrying the litter of incessantly yelping puppies. It wasn’t completely dark yet, but since there were few streetlights in the village, they had to rely on the lights from nearby houses to illuminate the small paths.

Xia Shibai and the others had their phones, but according to their contracts, they couldn’t use them during filming. However, it didn’t hinder their walk back; the production crew walked ahead of them, lighting the way with flashlights.

As it grew late, the crew didn’t dare let the children stay on the mountain any longer. One by one, they coaxed the kids down, bringing the chicks and rabbits along.

The crew re-fenced the area, keeping the chicks and rabbits separate. After giving them some food, they left the small animals alone.

The four children were exhausted and sat slumped on their stools.

At first, Xia Yaozhou didn’t think much of it. She had known before coming that she would be filming this variety show away from her mother. When she returned this morning and saw her mother waiting at home, she felt much more secure.

But now, as the sky grew darker, there was no sign of her mother—or any of the adults.

Xia Yaozhou couldn’t help but worry. She looked toward the yard frequently; the sound of the wind rustling the grass made her tense, wanting to stand up and see if it was her mother returning.

Gu Mingyi sensed Xia Yaozhou’s unease and tension. She reached out gently to comfort her. “Don’t worry. They’re adults; they’ll definitely make it back safely.”

“But it’s already so late.”

Xia Yaozhou felt aggrieved. She hadn’t been away from Xia Shibai for this long in a very long time. She was practically turning into a “mother-gazing stone,” stretching her neck out like a giraffe.

Sheng Huaixing offered a slow, deliberate comfort: “Zhouzhou, don’t worry. Adults have to go out to make money. My mama and mommy come home late every day because they’re out earning money to raise me. Grandma says I have to be good at home, otherwise, if they come back from earning money and see me being a brat, they won’t want me anymore.”

The “Grandma” Sheng Huaixing referred to was Sheng Liu’s mother.

A strong woman who had lost her husband years ago and placed all her hopes on her two daughters, her investment vision and tactics were formidable. She was a master of the balancing act, applying it not only to factional struggles among company executives but also to her two daughters.

“That’s not true!” Jin Minna, who had been sitting nearby, interrupted Sheng Huaixing. She pursed her lips, arguing her point: “People who make money won’t abandon us. My mom said the best money-maker in the family is my sister. As long as we share the same blood, it’s impossible for my sister to ignore us.”

“The money my sister earns must be spent on the family,” Jin Minna stated with certainty. “So, what your grandma said is wrong.”

Sheng Huaixing felt uncomfortable hearing this, especially the last part. Her family deeply respected her grandmother; her words were like imperial decrees to Sheng Huaixing. She shot back, “What your mom said is wrong! Everyone has hands and feet. If you want something, you should get it yourself instead of waiting for someone to feed it to you.”

“Depending only on your sister like your family does—that’s what’s wrong!”

Jin Minna couldn’t stand feeling slighted. Even though her relationship with Sheng Huaixing had mellowed in the afternoon, there are no friends in the heat of an argument. She was determined to win. “How is it wrong? She’s my sister; she can make money, so she should raise me. My mom and dad spent money to raise her before, how is it wrong?”

“It’s just wrong, anyway.” Sheng Huaixing couldn’t quite articulate the logic of right and wrong, so she grabbed Gu Mingyi, who was sitting beside her, wanting “Xiaoyi” to help her rebut.

Seeing that Sheng Huaixing was sweating from anxiety and Jin Minna was sitting on her stool with her hands on her hips, scolding fiercely, Gu Mingyi felt irritated. Her voice was delicate, but her anger was clear: “Your family’s way of doing things isn’t treating Sister Minxi as one of your own; you’re just treating her as a money-making machine. What right do you have to shout here? Able-bodied middle-aged people expecting a daughter who just reached adulthood to support a whole family—they are vampires clinging to someone else.”

“And to wear that intention so plainly on your face is both stupid and wicked. You think it’s ‘only right’ for Sister Minxi to support your family, but if the birth order were reversed and you were the one working day and night while being bled dry by your family, would you still think it was right?”

Seeing Jin Minna speechless, Gu Mingyi pressed on: “Supporting parents is something Sister Minxi should do, but supporting you is not. No one should have to be the sole pillar of a home forever, and no home should exist by stripping one person of everything. A home and a family are ties made of mutual benefits, fastened by blood and marriage. If the members cannot become a reliable community of common interests, the end result will be everyone drifting apart.”

Jin Minna, unable to find words, began to sob with frustration. Gu Mingyi thought about consoling her but felt it unnecessary; to her, Jin Minna simply wasn’t that important.

“You—you’re a liar!” Jin Minna didn’t understand any of this. No one had ever taught her these things. Her parents only told her to call her sister, to ask her sister for money, and to check if the payment for her sister’s last drama had arrived.

She was merely her parents’ excuse and tool for getting money, but Jin Minna didn’t see it that way. Whenever the money arrived, her parents would praise her. With that praise, she felt she was doing the right thing.

“She’s not lying. If you don’t believe her, ask Sister Minxi when she gets back.”

Seeing that Gu Mingyi had reduced Jin Minna to tears in just a few sentences, Sheng Huaixing felt a surge of admiration. Her eyes sparkled; she wanted to learn Gu Mingyi’s speaking skills on the spot.

“I’ll ask! You’re just teaming up to bully me. I don’t want to play with you anymore!”

Jin Minna angrily slid off her stool and prepared to run outside. However, after just a few steps, she felt a force grab her, and her feet left the ground.

Xia Yaozhou struggled to pick her up. Ignoring Jin Minna’s flailing—which accidentally hit her in the face—she forced the girl back onto the stool. Gu Mingyi and Sheng Huaixing, who had been sitting nearby, swarmed in to surround Jin Minna.

“What… what are you doing! Are you going to hit me after scolding me?” Jin Minna’s tears wouldn’t stop. She yelled at Xia Yaozhou, “When my sister gets back, I’ll have her hit you! You’re a bad person!”

“What does that have to do with me? I didn’t offend you,” Xia Yaozhou said. “It’s dark now and this is a strange place. If you run off alone, you won’t have anything to eat or a place to sleep. If a bad person finds you and kidnaps you, you’ll never see your family again.”

Xia Yaozhou added earnestly, “I’m doing this for your own good.”

It was Jin Minna against the three of them. The four children argued for a long time. Their logic was bizarre, shifting from “family should sacrifice unconditionally” to “I don’t like apples, so you can’t eat them either,” and then to “Ultraman is boring, you have to watch the Powerpuff Girls with me.”

The main strategy was: argue if you can, and if you can’t win, change the subject. It sounded like a rowdy parrot market.

They argued until the tears on Jin Minna’s face dried into a tight crust. She sniffled and said, “Anyway, my sister is amazing. She can make so, so much money. No one in the world is more amazing than my sister.”

Sheng Huaixing countered, “No way. My mama, mommy, auntie, and grandma are the most amazing.”

“None of you are right. My mom is the best,” Xia Yaozhou cited an example. “My mom sends the bad people who bully me to prison, so she’s the most amazing.”

Gu Mingyi didn’t like to bicker, but she was competitive. Since everyone was comparing, she couldn’t just admit defeat. She thought for a bit and said, “My mom is very beautiful. She’s a top ten model and could walk the runway with me when she was five months pregnant. My dad is also amazing because he knows everything and teaches me a lot of principles. But my godmother is the most amazing, because my mom listens to her.”

“No, my mom is the most amazing.”

“It’s my sister.”

The four adults were walking at a brisk pace. As they reached the entrance, they heard a chorus of bickering voices. Someone with sharp eyes shouted “Mama!” and then—boom—it was like a landslide. A stampede of children rushed toward them, startling the fenced-in chicks and rabbits into a fluttering frenzy.

Xia Shibai was hit by a “little bomb” and, before she could even pick her daughter up off the ground, she felt Xia Yaozhou’s urgency as the girl tried to climb her.

She initially thought Xia Yaozhou was anxious from not seeing her for so long. She lifted the little girl up, and as soon as she did, her face was cupped by Xia Yaozhou’s small hands.

The little girl said urgently, “Mama, they don’t believe you were the one who drove the bad auntie away. They said I was lying. I wasn’t lying! You drove away a super big villain, you’re the most amazing mama in the world, right?”

“I…”

Xia Shibai managed an “Ah,” but before she could start, she was interrupted by a succession of other children’s voices.

Sheng Huaixing refused to be outdone. Even though she was usually a bit afraid of Sheng Liu, at a time like this, since she’d already talked a big game, she absolutely couldn’t lose.

Once Sheng Liu picked her up, Sheng Huaixing said quickly, “Mama is also amazing, right? She can catch bad guys too! Not only that, we can fire X-rays to drive them all away, pew pew pew! Right?”

Sheng Liu: “…”

Probably not, baby.

Sheng Liu shot a look at the stifling-a-laugh Xia Shibai, her eyelid twitching, barely refraining from a blatant roll of the eyes.

Compared to Sheng Huaixing, Gu Mingyi was clearly much more mature. She stood before Qin Zhijin, counting her parents’ achievements on her fingers. Every single one was impressive. Not only that, after counting her parents’, she counted her godmother’s. After her godmother, there were grandmas, grandpas, uncles, aunts, and a whole slew of cousins.

Her family, the Gus, certainly didn’t lack people. Even her free-spirited aunt had won provincial awards in high school.

Seeing that Gu Mingyi was about to recite the entire Gu family tree, Qin Zhijin hurriedly reached out to cover her mouth. “Alright, alright. Everyone is very outstanding. There’s no need to rank them. To be able to live on in this world makes one an outstanding person.”

Life is already so hard; just staying alive makes one a hero.

Jin Minna hadn’t won the argument earlier. Now that her sister was here, she felt aggrieved but also prideful—after all, she and Jin Minxi were still in a state of “conflict,” even if it was one-sided.

Children’s emotions come and go quickly. She remembered it again out of nowhere and held it in.

Jin Minxi didn’t mind. She just looked down at Jin Minna, who was standing before her with her hands behind her back, kicking the dirt. After confirming the girl wasn’t hurt while she was away, she led her into the yard and sat down to rest.

As for who was “amazing,” Jin Minxi couldn’t care less.

What a joke. What was the benefit of winning? Both of the others were her bosses. If she won and made a boss’s daughter cry, she wasn’t “moving behind the scenes,” she was “moving out of the industry.” Jin Minxi knew exactly where her priorities lay.

Xia Shibai bounced Xia Yaozhou gently. “Hungry? Mama will cook noodles for you. There’s potato and eggplant topping in the kitchen; we’ll heat it up. After we eat, Mama will tell you a story.”

Wiping the sweat from Xia Yaozhou’s face, she added, “Everyone thinks their own mama is amazing, and those things don’t conflict. Your world isn’t everyone else’s world. What is there to fight over? If you win the fight, will the kitchen automatically make dinner for you?”

“Mama thinks Zhouzhou is the best-behaved child in the world. Auntie Qin thinks Xiaoyi is the best-behaved child in the world. Does that mean because Auntie Qin doesn’t think Zhouzhou is, Zhouzhou won’t talk to Auntie Qin anymore?”

“Of course not.” Xia Yaozhou thought for a moment and looked up seriously. “I think everyone is very amazing.”

“Yes. Everyone performs their own duties in this world to keep society running; that in itself makes them amazing. What people call ‘amazing’ is a floating metric. Everyone’s evaluation is different. Instead of convincing others to agree with you, it’s better for everyone to take a step back and acknowledge each other.”

Xia Shibai pinched Xia Yaozhou’s cheek. Feeling the dried tears on her face, she chuckled, “You didn’t cry because you lost the argument, did you?”

“I did not…” Xia Yaozhou dodged her hand and hummed twice, burying her head in Xia Shibai’s neck, acting shy and embarrassed.

She wouldn’t say she cried because she was afraid her mother wouldn’t come back. That was even more embarrassing than losing an argument.

Sheng Liu didn’t need to persuade Sheng Huaixing much. She was quite “Zen” herself—winning or losing didn’t matter. If she could get out of working, she wouldn’t even have a job.

After listening to Sheng Huaixing, she wasn’t in a hurry. Instead, she picked the girl up and began instilling traditional philosophy—the Doctrine of the Mean. She taught her that in all things, one should not strive to be first, nor should one fall behind; being perfectly stuck in the middle was just right.

Sheng Huaixing still had tearstains on her lashes. Curled in Sheng Liu’s arms, it was unclear how much she actually absorbed. Her thin eyebrows were knit; she seemed quite dissatisfied with the fact that they hadn’t determined who was “first.”

After finally calming the brood of cubs, Qin Zhijin, knowing she smelled like fish, wanted to shower. But she was likely the only one who could cook. Rubbing her brow, she assigned tasks to the others: some to boil water, some to get clothes, and some to watch the kids.

She turned to the kitchen to heat the toppings. She’d make the noodles and then rest.

Soon, food was placed before everyone. Qin Zhijin sat a bit further away, worried her scent would bother the children.

However, as soon as she picked up her chopsticks, Xia Shibai coughed into her hand and winked at Xia Yaozhou and Gu Mingyi.

The two little ones immediately dropped their chopsticks and hugged Qin Zhijin from both sides. Startled, Qin Zhijin quickly balanced her bowl on her lap to keep the noodles from being knocked over by their swaying.

“Why won’t Godmother sit with us? Do you find us gross?” Xia Yaozhou pouted so much she could have hung an oil bottle on her lip, looking pitifully at Qin Zhijin as if she were the offender.

“Gross… what would I find gross about you?”

Qin Zhijin realized late that “Godmother” was directed at her. “Ah, no. Why would I find you gross?”

“But Godmother is sitting so far away. Is it because we played with chicks and rabbits all afternoon and smell bad, so you won’t eat with us?” Gu Mingyi leaned her face close, staring straight into Qin Zhijin’s eyes as if checking for lies.

“No, it’s not your problem. It’s Godmother’s own problem.”

Qin Zhijin tried to explain: “Godmother walked outside all afternoon and has a strange smell on her. I want to finish eating quickly and shower. It has nothing to do with you.”

“But Mama and the others went out with Godmother, and they aren’t sitting far away like you.”

Xia Yaozhou pointed at Sheng Liu and Jin Minxi, who were already buried in their food. She leaned into Qin Zhijin’s shoulder, acting coy. “When it comes down to it, Godmother still finds us gross.”

“Exactly. If Godmother finds us gross, Xiaxia and I will eat over there, and Godmother can sit at the table.”

Qin Zhijin got a headache from the two little ones. No matter how she answered, they blocked her path with every sentence. She couldn’t tell if they genuinely didn’t understand or were playing dumb; they ignored everything she said and insisted she wasn’t at the table because of them.

They were incredibly persistent.

Seeing the noodles were about to get soggy, Qin Zhijin wanted to beg the two little ancestors to go eat. Just then, the bowl she was protecting on her lap was taken away. It passed right before her eyes.

The one adult and two children looked up to see Xia Shibai standing before them.

“Let’s go. Eat at the table. If you keep fussing, is no one going to eat?”

With Xia Shibai’s word, the two little ones became much bolder, directly pulling Qin Zhijin to the table. Gu Mingyi let go first and ran back to grab the stool, placing it behind Qin Zhijin so she could sit.

Now the “camp” was all lined up properly.

Xia Shibai clapped. “Alright, let’s eat. We need to shower afterward. The water is boiling on the stove; it’ll be ready soon.”

Qin Zhijin sat down. Her chopsticks hovered over the noodles, but she didn’t feel like eating. However, the two girls who had just come back were starving, twirling noodles with their chopsticks and stuffing them into their mouths.

Qin Zhijin glanced over. Both of their bowls were already stirred with toppings and had a bit of hot water added so they hadn’t completely turned into a clump.

The children were starving and ate with more gusto than anyone, focusing entirely on their bowls, so they didn’t notice the looks the sitting adults were giving them.

Qin Zhijin realized something was off and turned to Xia Shibai sitting beside her. Xia hadn’t touched a single bite either.

As soon as she turned, Xia Shibai smiled. She pushed her bowl across the table and asked, “Why are you looking at the children’s food? Why not look at mine? If you want to eat, I’ll swap mine for yours.”

If Qin Zhijin didn’t understand who had orchestrated that scene by now, she’d be a fool.

The humid night wind blew the chill from the mountains into their yard. The chicks in the fence had been fed and were now taking a few steps and then dozing off, no longer chirping incessantly like they did in the afternoon.

Everything was quiet—so quiet that Qin Zhijin could only hear Xia Shibai’s voice.

After a long while, Xia Shibai received a rejection.

“Forget it. You’re doing the dishes.”

They made my noodles go soggy, and now she wants to trade her soggy noodles for mine? Who is she kidding?

Xia Shibai didn’t argue. She leisurely began eating her noodles, ignoring the speechless expression Sheng Liu shot her from across the table.

Sheng Liu had unintentionally “eaten her fill” of this gossip. She couldn’t help but click her tongue and pulled a tissue to wipe the sauce off Sheng Huaixing’s face.

They finished first. Jin Minxi washed her bowl and planned to borrow the bathroom and water at Xia Shibai’s place to shower. Her place didn’t even have a well, and if they bothered the neighbors at this hour, she felt the villagers would kick them out tomorrow.

Those left at the table weren’t in a hurry, eating slowly as if they were at home.

Xia Shibai finished and set her bowl aside. Seeing that Xia Yaozhou’s noodle-lifting technique was terrible—struggling to get a few bites while Gu Mingyi ate far more—she reached over to feed her. “Let me do it. If you eat on your own, heaven knows when you’ll finish.”

“Oh.” Xia Yaozhou sat obediently.

“Mama, where did you go this afternoon? I played with the chicks and bunnies, I’m exhausted… and then I waited a long time… mm… until you came back.” Xia Yaozhou chewed the excess noodles in her mouth, her little hand climbing Xia Shibai’s arm to block the next chopstick-full from entering.

Her little mouth, stuffed full, moved constantly, eating with difficulty. Moreover, the toppings were potato and eggplant—all big chunks—making her jaw ache.

“Me? I went to earn money with your Godmother,” Xia Shibai told her simply. “Only by working like that can we earn money, so we can give the field to people who know what they’re doing. Let professional people do professional things.”

Xia Yaozhou’s eyes darted around. She said quickly, “Then can I give money to professional people to go to school for me?”

“Hmm?”

“I’ll go pick up trash, and then give the person going to school for me a little bit of money! Isn’t that great?”

Xia Shibai’s lips twitched into a smirk. She let out a “He-he” and said, “Of course it’s great! Then your mama will hire professional boxers to ‘educate’ you, so you can lie in a hospital bed for ten days or a month. Then you’ll know how much fun school is.”

Xia Yaozhou pursed her lips, not daring to argue. She piteously pushed away from Xia Shibai and dove into Qin Zhijin’s arms.

“Godmother, I don’t want to go to school.”

Qin Zhijin silently pulled Xia Yaozhou out. Sure enough, a streak of sauce was now on her clothes. Helplessly, she used a tissue to wipe the “crying” girl’s mouth and comforted her: “It’s okay. When you grow up, you’ll realize that working is much more painful than school.”

“Hmph, when you’re in university, I’ll throw you into the company for an internship—school and work at the same time,” Xia Shibai plotted. “By then, you’ll realize how easy, simple, and lucky you were when you were in kindergarten.”

Xia Yaozhou: “…?”

They’re teaming up to bully me, aren’t they?

Author’s Note:

University Xia Yaozhou: Beep—8 AM to 5 PM, I really want to die.

Little Yaozhou: Beep—Kindergarten card, I really want to die.

University Xia Yaozhou: ? Listen to yourself. Are those even human words?