After Transmigrating As The Mother Of The Pitiful Female Supporting Character in a Campus Novel - Chapter 59

President Xia couldn’t hold back. “Is it your biology that’s failing or your brain? If it’s really both, we can treat them both. You tell me which one you want to fix first.”

Hearing this, Shao Qing decisively shut her mouth, miming a zipper across her lips, and focused intently on driving through the curtain of rain following the navigation.

President Xia adjusted the angle of the quilt, wrapping Xia Yaozhou even more tightly and warmly. “Does this feel uncomfortable?”

“No, it’s just right.” Xia Yaozhou reached a hand out from the quilt, just enough to touch the warm milk on the small tray table. The walls of the cup carried a faint, gentle warmth.

Thinking of that note that had made everyone’s face change instantly, Xia Yaozhou couldn’t help but turn her head and ask, “What exactly was written on that paper? What happened to Auntie Qin? Why do you and the other me… Big, Big Sister look so worried?”

Recalling the brief description on the note, President Xia had no intention of telling the child.

A child only needed to eat, drink, and play. That was enough.

There was no need for her to worry about such things. Rather than exploring that matter, President Xia wanted to probe the secrets of “Little Yaozhou” from her own mouth.

For any question President Xia wanted to know, as long as Xia Yaozhou could provide even a few words in response, she wouldn’t let the conversation drop.

At first, Xia Yaozhou answered President Xia’s various questions with great patience. Gradually, however, as the questions began to shift toward “Big Yaozhou,” Xia Yaozhou’s brow began to furrow, deepening layer by layer until it seemed her patience was about to run out.

As President Xia’s questions grew sharper, Xia Yaozhou became inexplicably angry.

She raised her hand to interrupt President Xia’s speech. “I won’t turn into a bad child, because my Mama loves me very much. She tells me stories, she disciplines bad people for me, and she lets me try the things I love to do.”

“The old her was just like you are now—self-righteous, putting all her thoughts into work, and constantly blaming mistakes on me. Even when something went wrong, she wouldn’t come to comfort me right away; instead, she’d feel that we were the ones being too much!”

“My Mama used to be just like you are now.” Xia Yaozhou’s finger landed gently between President Xia’s eyebrows, smoothing out the pinched frown. “Even though I didn’t see her often, on TV and in the newspapers, she never had a smile, and she didn’t care about me. She even let bad people bully me.”

“Living in that kind of environment all the time, even a cactus would wither and rot.” Xia Yaozhou sternly rejected President Xia’s earlier “halfway theory,” counter-arguing: “So, family education is extremely important for a child. You shouldn’t feel that just because you don’t see the effect immediately, you shouldn’t do it.”

“You have to treat loving your child as your job! Learn bit by bit, accumulate bit by bit, and use love to influence the child. You shouldn’t learn to give up before you’ve even tried! What kind of adult are you!”

Shao Qing, sitting in the front driving, was nearly dying from holding back her laughter. After all, the sight of the Boss being lectured to her face by a kindergarten child was a rare spectacle.

If she weren’t driving and her hands were free, Shao Qing would have truly loved to photograph this wondrous sight and sell it to every member of the secretarial department for 500 a pop.

Being lectured by a little sprout who barely reached her knees, President Xia didn’t get angry; instead, she found it novel.

How could the same face manage to be a perfect blend of looking like her and not looking like her? That “explode-at-a-touch” little temper—if you said this wasn’t Xia Yaozhou, President Xia wouldn’t believe you even if you killed her. Yet at the same age, the three-year-old Big Yaozhou back then couldn’t squeeze out two words in half a day; she would panic just saying a sentence, and if questioned even slightly, tears would well up in her eyes, looking pitiful.

President Xia had thought children were such a hassle back then. It wasn’t until the incident with Nanny Lin occurred that she realized Big Yaozhou had sought help from her very early on—she just hadn’t seen it.

Following that, the company’s scale expanded, and various matters arrived one after another, leaving President Xia overwhelmed.

She knew what she was doing was wrong, but every time she calmed down to think about it, the image of three-year-old Big Yaozhou with tear-filled eyes would surface, with Nanny Lin standing nearby with a face full of smiles.

Back then, if President Xia had noticed even the slightest thing wrong, the suffering Big Yaozhou endured later could have been reduced by half.

In short, President Xia couldn’t get over that hurdle, nor could she bring herself to apologize, resulting in a stalemate with Big Yaozhou.

She thought that since they shared half their blood, children have short memories; one day they would reconcile. She didn’t feel she absolutely had to force her way into the “warmth” of a family. Delay after delay, the problem grew larger, until now, it had surpassed the range of what President Xia could solve—even leading Big Yaozhou to prefer trusting a stranger she’d just met over opening her heart to chat with President Xia.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Do you think I’m wrong?” Xia Yaozhou bunched a corner of the quilt in her hand, rubbing it back and forth, her small face held in a serious expression. “My words aren’t pleasant to hear, but every sentence is true. Parents who don’t love their children will turn into ‘stinky piggies,’ then be taken away by the Wolf Grandmother, and finally get ‘ended’ on the Silk Road while going to the Western Regions for cultural exchange!”

President Xia: “…”

President Xia mused: “Not bad, you even know about the Silk Road. It’s just that your cultural knowledge is a bit jumbled. Stinky piggies, the Wolf Grandmother, and the Silk Road belong to three different systems.”

President Xia changed her previous gloominess. Since her “child education” was already a total mess, it’s not like she could make a Christmas wish for Santa to resurrect her sister and stuff Big Yaozhou back into her belly to be born again.

Since that wish was obviously unrealistic, she might as well live in the moment.

President Xia had amassed an incredibly abundant pension fund over the years. If the “throne” were inherited by Big Yaozhou, it wouldn’t be a big deal to step back behind the scenes and enjoy her retirement.

“That’s not the point!” Xia Yaozhou retorted.

President Xia nodded. “Right, that’s not the point. The point is your milk is going to get cold. Once it’s cold, milk gets a fishy smell, and I am not going to be your trash bin. If you don’t finish it, I’ll drill a hole in your head and pour the milk in.”

“Since your Mama isn’t here, I am now the wicked Wolf Grandmother. I’ll do whatever I want.”

Xia Yaozhou, who had been incredibly bold just a moment ago, instantly became aggrieved. With a pout deep enough to hang a bottle on, she held the milk and took small sips through the straw.

At the same time, in the hotel where Qin Zhijin and the others were staying in the neighboring city, they had just finished the free buffet provided by the hotel. The group stood scattered, but still gathered in an oval shape in a small clearing in the hotel lobby.

Outside, thunder and rain clashed. The weather was not good, the rain falling fast and fierce.

Qin Zhijin had felt unwell since early this morning. Her roommate, even under the covers, said she was cold. The two called room service for a thermometer, only to find they both had fevers.

The two used their willpower to climb out of bed. After washing up and leaving the bathroom, they discovered the central air conditioning in the room was broken. No matter how they adjusted the temperature on the mechanical control panel, the room stayed as cold as an ice cellar. Even under the quilt on the bed, they couldn’t stop shivering.

“Our luck is really bad. Frozen all night last night, and today this heavy rain. Chances are they won’t let us stay here longer; they’ll force us to go to the countryside.” The colleague hugged her chest listlessly, the heavy down jacket unable to hide the chill as she shivered slightly.

“After all, their side uses greenhouse cultivation. The rain won’t affect us checking the status of the medicinal herbs in the fields.” Qin Zhijin’s eyes were half-lidded, closing them every now and then. The chill from the surroundings continued to gather around her, making her tremble with cold, leaving her with little strength.

“This kind of weather actually suits them. They can see if the herbs are being grown according to standard procedures—killing two birds with one stone.”

This job, most likely, was unavoidable.

Qin Zhijin and her colleague locked eyes and looked away in resignation.

Sure enough, the leader standing in the center of the oval clapped his hands, said a few nice things, and had everyone board the bus. The group prepared to head for the countryside. Because of the heavy rain, they had already pushed the time back quite a bit. After much vacillation, they finally decided to brave the rain to go down.

On the way, Qin Zhijin wore the mask provided by the hotel and pulled up her down jacket hood, leaning against the seat back and drifting into a daze.

Perhaps the fever had slowed Qin Zhijin’s reception of changes in her surroundings. She didn’t know how long their vehicle had been traveling through the town in the heavy rain. Occasional discussions from the others reached her ears, but silence quickly returned.

The one thing that existed and couldn’t be ignored was the patter-patter of raindrops hitting the glass.

Suddenly, Qin Zhijin felt the vehicle slam on the brakes. If the seatbelts hadn’t restrained those in the back, one or two of them probably would have flown forward.

“What happened? Why such a sudden, hard brake?”

“Gave me a heart attack. I’m in the middle; if I hadn’t buckled up, I would’ve flown straight into the driver’s seat.”

“Dammit, we hit a mudslide! The rain is too heavy, the mountain ahead collapsed, and the road is blocked. Back up, fast!”

“I said we shouldn’t come! Coming in such heavy rain—are these people crazy? Are we going to end up leaving our lives here!”

“Don’t argue! Quick, make a call, tell the cars behind to back up immediately!”

“…”

In her daze, Qin Zhijin felt the hot air she exhaled was thin. The colleague sitting next to her had never seen such a scene and was so scared she just kept pushing her.

Qin Zhijin felt limp and powerless, and to make matters worse, it felt like her whole body was being beaten. She forced herself awake, watching their group retreat from the one-way mountain road. The mudslide came too fast, giving them basically no time to think. The moment the car braked, everyone abandoned the vehicles and ran in the opposite direction of the mudslide.

The rainfall was too heavy. Although the rugged mountainsides were wrapped in protective netting, and one could climb up by bracing against the netting and rocks, it was so slippery that people couldn’t stand firm. With the slightest lapse in attention, the weight of the heavy winter clothes would pull a person down onto the boulders.

Lower legs were half-trapped in the mud. They could only rely on their companions to pull them upward to avoid being swept away by the fast-moving, high-impact mudslide.

Climbing onto the mountain slope wasn’t safe enough either. At this time, it was even less possible to head into the woods. They had to gather in an open, safe area that wasn’t a likely path for the mudslide. But they were unfamiliar with the terrain. Even those slightly more familiar were from the county town; they usually only took this one mountain road and were unfamiliar with the surrounding environment.

This led to their group rushing into the woods like headless flies.

The rainy woods were dismally dark and damp beyond belief.

Qin Zhijin took off the soaked mask that was blocking her breathing, struggled to wipe the cold rain from her face, and bent over gasping for air in distress. The colleagues ahead, fleeing for their lives, focused all their attention on themselves; who could spare a thought for someone falling behind?

Qin Zhijin took a deep breath, feeling pain in her chest and ribs. Even though she tried her best to step out and catch up with those in front, it wasn’t a realistic task.

Stopping and starting, she looked up again—where was there any sign of her colleagues in the woods?

Even the sound of footsteps was drowned out by the noise of the rain washing over the leaves.

Qin Zhijin wiped her face and looked back. The path back was even more impossible, and staying in the woods for a long time wasn’t safe either. She could only quicken her pace to leave the forest.