After Transmigrating As The Mother Of The Pitiful Female Supporting Character in a Campus Novel - Chapter 6

After brushing her teeth, Xia Yaozhou wanted to get down and walk on her own, as she was used to doing things herself. But before she could voice her intent, Xia Shibai stuffed her mouth with a piece of a custard bun she had torn in half.

Reading the thoughts in the little girl’s wandering eyes, Xia Shibai said helplessly, “When we came out yesterday, you weren’t even wearing shoes; you were just wrapped in a little quilt. This is a hospital—there are germs everywhere. It’s filthy.”

As expected, Xia Yaozhou was intimidated by the idea of “germs” and frowned. She took the custard bun and nibbled on it in small bites, abandoning her plan to walk. She sat obediently on the round stool, swinging her legs.

Xia Shibai stood slightly on her tiptoes, using her knee to support Xia Yaozhou’s back. While drinking her porridge, she kept a protective hand near the girl, worried that the child’s poor balance might cause her to wobble and fall off the stool.

While Xia Shibai was busy, Xia Yaozhou wasn’t idle either.

Her “busyness,” however, was all in her eyes. She would glance at Qin Zhijin sitting across from her, then cautiously shift her gaze to watch Xia Shibai eating breakfast beside her. She felt an indescribable sense of contentment. It was as if the small room was filled with flowers—a swelling sense of joy.

But she only dared to look at Xia Shibai secretly. At the slightest movement, she would straighten her back and focus her gaze intensely on her custard bun, as if she weren’t eating a common snack but a rare delicacy that required serious, slow appreciation.

Qin Zhijin was used to eating on the go, so she had finished her sweet bun on the way. After a few sips of porridge, she lost her appetite and sat staring blankly with her chin in her hand. Listening to the fading noise outside, she began to form a plan for the next steps.

Coming back to her senses, Qin Zhijin caught the little girl across from her watching her.

The girl would take two bites of the bun, chew slowly, and scan the room like a sentry, alternating between her and Xia Shibai. The moment Qin Zhijin made eye contact, the girl would freeze like a statue, her cheeks slightly puffed, completely motionless. Like a monk in meditation.

As soon as Qin Zhijin looked away, Xia Yaozhou would resume her rhythmic chewing. She managed to make that small portion of the bun last quite a long time.

Qin Zhijin couldn’t help but chuckle.

Xia Shibai finished her breakfast in short order. She wiped her mouth and turned around. Good heavens, her “cheap” daughter still had nearly half of her half-bun left. Was she a little donkey turning a millstone? Round and round she goes.

“Swallow after twenty chews. Don’t keep it in your mouth forever, or your jaw will get out of shape,” Xia Shibai said. She scooped some millet porridge with a spoon, let it cool on the edge of the bowl for a moment, and seeing that Yaozhou had chewed a dozen more times without swallowing, she reached out and pinched the girl’s cheek. “Swallow it. Are you trying to brew more porridge in there?”

“Mmph…!”

Xia Yaozhou knit her brows and glared at Xia Shibai. Her thin cheeks didn’t have much meat to begin with; when Xia Shibai pinched her, the flesh pressed against her teeth, slowing her chewing even more. Her hand holding the bun hung in mid-air—she looked anxious but unable to win against Xia Shibai, clearly looking much more lively and expressive than before.

“Swallow,” Xia Shibai commanded, ignoring the glare. She pinched both cheeks again, and seeing the girl reluctantly swallow, she seized the opportunity to stuff a spoonful of porridge into her mouth.

Xia Yaozhou: “…”

Once, twice… even a clay figure has a bit of temper.

By the fifth spoonful of porridge, Xia Yaozhou scrambled off the stool, bypassed Xia Shibai, and dove into Qin Zhijin’s lap. Once she was picked up, she turned her back to Xia Shibai, leaving her with nothing but a cold shoulder. Her rejection was absolute.

Watching Xia Yaozhou’s little display, Xia Shibai found it hilarious. Holding the plastic spoon, she asked, “Do you want more?”

Hearing this, Xia Yaozhou gave a soft huff and twisted her body further away from Xia Shibai’s reaching head. Her thin, small frame was carefully shielded by Qin Zhijin.

Qin Zhijin felt slightly tense as she held her. The body against her hand was warm, but there was so little fat that she could feel the girl’s bones with every breath. After a moment of silence, Qin Zhijin cautiously felt Yaozhou’s abdomen and pressed lightly. “Does it hurt here?”

“It hurts,” Xia Yaozhou nodded, her face scrunched up. But then she quickly shook her head. “Not… not very much. Just a little bit.”

Traces of porridge still clung to the corner of her mouth. She looked up at Qin Zhijin with pitiful eyes, as if she had committed a grave sin. Qin Zhijin pulled out some tissues to wipe her mouth and said to Xia Shibai, “She probably hasn’t had regular meals for a long time. Her demand for food is lower than a normal child’s. Based on her behavior, she has a degree of physiological anorexia.”

“How exactly have you been raising this child? If you didn’t want to raise her, you shouldn’t have given birth. It would have been easy to make her disappear before she was born; there was no need to torment her like this after the fact.”

Qin Zhijin was genuinely angry. Last night, seeing how scrawny Yaozhou was, she had assumed it was just typical picky eating. Combined with the quilt covering her, she hadn’t realized the girl’s development was below the average for her age.

Xia Shibai felt the sting of the rebuke, but she knew Qin Zhijin was speaking the truth. The Xia family didn’t care about Xia Yaozhou. Because of her birth, they had lost family members of twenty years. To them, she was a newborn carrying the blood of a scumbag. They felt they were doing enough just by not transferring their hatred onto her and giving her a place to eat.

However, the original owner hadn’t realized her definition of “enough” contradicted basic child-rearing, leading to Yaozhou’s miserable childhood.

Before Xia Shibai could even react, Xia Yaozhou—still in Qin Zhijin’s arms—puffed out her cheeks and angrily gave Qin Zhijin a light pat. The movement was so gentle, as if she were afraid her kitten-like strength might actually hurt the doctor.

“She’s not Mommy!”

“It’s the Bad Auntie! The Bad Auntie wouldn’t give me food, and… and…” Xia Yaozhou was so angry she was gesturing with her hands and feet. If Qin Zhijin hadn’t held her tight, she might have tumbled to the floor. “Bad Auntie didn’t give me food and gave my snacks to other people. I hate her!”

“It has nothing to do with Mommy.” Xia Yaozhou looked at Qin Zhijin sadly. Even though she thought the doctor was pretty, she still felt upset. She wriggled her body and reached out for Xia Shibai to hold her.

Once Xia Shibai took her back, the little girl forgot that she had just run around barefoot. She pouted and clung to Xia Shibai’s neck, refusing to say another word.

Xia Shibai patted her back and whispered, “Dr. Qin is just worried about you, Zhouzhou. If you don’t like something, you should explain it nicely. You shouldn’t get angry so easily—that’s not good.”

“…” Resting her chin on Xia Shibai’s shoulder, Xia Yaozhou rubbed her face against the soft fabric of the borrowed clothes and said nothing. Her breathing was heavy, showing she was truly upset.

Xia Shibai helplessly stroked the girl’s somewhat dry hair and apologized to Qin Zhijin. “I’m sorry. Our family situation is complicated. Zhouzhou was previously raised by a nanny; her personality and temper still need a lot of guidance. She didn’t mean it.”

“It’s alright…” Qin Zhijin felt a bit awkward herself. She sighed, cleared the remains of breakfast from the desk, hung her white coat aside, and grabbed her keys, gesturing for them to follow.

The argument outside had been settled. Qin Zhijin locked her office and led the two of them to the parking lot behind the hospital.

Inside the car, Xia Shibai sat with Xia Yaozhou in the back, buckled in. Qin Zhijin set the navigation and started driving. Once they cleared the hospital grounds, Qin Zhijin spoke up: “I was too impulsive earlier. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s true that I didn’t do a good job, so it’s natural for people to misunderstand.”

“For the next few days, let her have small, frequent meals. Try to let her eat what she likes. When I’m back on shift in a few days, bring her in for a full physical.”

Xia Shibai had already planned on this—not just for Yaozhou’s health, but for evidence. The damage Auntie Lin had done wasn’t something that would vanish just by kicking her out. Physical, mental, visible, and invisible—Xia Shibai intended to make Auntie Lin pay back every bit of it.

“Alright. Could you leave me your contact info, Dr. Qin? It’ll be easier to book an appointment when you’re on duty.”

“Sure. I’ll reserve a slot for you internally. Just let me know in advance when you’re free and come straight over.”

“That sounds good.”

The drive was quiet. Once they entered the residential area, Xia Shibai added Qin Zhijin as a friend. She picked up the sleeping, slumped Xia Yaozhou, supporting the girl’s bottom, and nodded to Qin Zhijin before heading toward the house.

“Drive safely, Dr. Qin.”

“Mm.”

As Qin Zhijin prepared to roll up the window, she saw the dazed Xia Yaozhou wake up. The girl rubbed her eyes and stared at her for a long moment before giving a slow, deliberate “Hmph.” She nuzzled into Xia Shibai’s neck, clearly having no intention of saying goodbye. It was obvious the little girl still remembered Qin Zhijin scolding her mother.

Qin Zhijin couldn’t help but laugh softly. She wondered where the child had learned that from—so small, yet so stubborn.

As Qin Zhijin drove off to get some sleep, she missed the tiny “bye-bye” wave Xia Yaozhou gave her from over Xia Shibai’s shoulder. Seeing no response, Xia Yaozhou pouted and muttered, “Mean.”

“What was that?” Xia Shibai was currently wrestling with her high-tech front door. She didn’t remember the passcode, and she wasn’t in the fingerprint database. It wouldn’t open. “Can you open the door, Zhouzhou?”

The girl in her arms shook her head. “No.” She thought for a second. “Only the Bad Auntie knows the code, and the Mean Auntie! Sometimes when Bad Auntie isn’t here, the Mean Auntie comes to watch me, but she doesn’t cook for me either.”

While Yaozhou couldn’t yet articulate her experiences perfectly, Xia Shibai didn’t find it hard to guess who the “Mean Auntie” was. Aside from Auntie Lin, the only other candidate was her daughter-in-law. That greedy woman had surely hauled many valuables out of this house.

The thought of people having touched everything in this house made Xia Shibai uncomfortable. She wanted to hire someone to renovate the whole place, but she remembered the pending criminal case; the house likely needed to be kept as it was for evidence.

Thinking this way, Xia Shibai wanted to move. But she worried that a new environment would make Yaozhou even more insecure. Her initial plan was to stay within the same community. She tested the waters: “The Bad Auntie changed the code and the fingerprints, so we can’t get in. Can Mommy take Zhouzhou to live somewhere else?”

“Somewhere else?” Xia Yaozhou panicked. Looking at the closed door, she shook her head frantically. “No! We wait for Bad Auntie to come back and open the door, then we can go home!”

“I don’t want to go somewhere else!”

Seeing the intense resistance, Xia Shibai quickly comforted her. “There is a lot of evidence in this house that will help the police uncles catch the Bad Auntie. If we live here now, we might destroy the evidence and make it harder for them.”

Xia Yaozhou held her breath, her eyes instantly welling up. Even though the house was full of unhappy memories, the thought of leaving the only home she had known for so long made her miserable. She looked at Xia Shibai, and after a long moment, she obediently wiped her tears and nodded. “Then… then let’s move to the new house. Not here. New home.”

Xia Shibai wiped the dirty little face clean again. Since last night, her “cheap” daughter had cried so many times she might as well be a water reservoir spirit. She bounced the girl gently. “Don’t worry, we’re still staying in this area. We’re just letting the police uncles have this house for their work. When they’re done, we’ll move back, okay?”

“Mm.” Xia Yaozhou nodded emphatically, one hand on Xia Shibai’s shoulder and the other clutching her arm. “I go where Mommy goes. I follow Mommy.”

As long as Mommy doesn’t leave me, it’s okay.

The adult holding her didn’t notice the depth of the girl’s thoughts, only seeing her agreement. She pulled out her nearly-dead phone to call Old Wu to pick them up, while simultaneously calling her personal assistant to rent another villa in the same community and have it cleaned immediately.

With everything arranged, Xia Shibai sat at the doorstep with Yaozhou to wait for Old Wu. She straightened the girl’s hair. “Mommy is going to take you to the mall later. We’ll get a haircut first, then buy things for our new home.”

“If we finish shopping and the cleaning ladies haven’t finished, I’ll take you to see where I usually work, okay?”

“Okay.” Xia Yaozhou’s eyes brightened slightly, though it wasn’t clear which part of the plan appealed to her most.

She timidly tried to raise her pinky to make a “pinky swear” with Xia Shibai, but with her lips pressed tight, she ultimately didn’t do it. Instead, she hid her hand behind her back, maintaining the pinky-swear shape and shaking it up and down slightly, her little head nodding along.

She whispered to herself, “…for a hundred years, no lying.”

Her eyes were bright as she looked at Xia Shibai. Seeing that the woman hadn’t heard her quiet chanting, her heart finally settled, though a strange sourness lingered. She blinked and comforted herself. Mommy is here, and she’s taking me shopping. This is already so good! Better than before!

She had made the pinky swear (even if in secret); Mommy definitely couldn’t lie to her. Breaking a promise meant turning into a puppy. But Xia Yaozhou had forgotten that she wouldn’t have the heart to let her “Mommy,” who had finally come home, turn into a puppy—so she hadn’t even mentioned the punishment during her silent swear.

Even if Xia Shibai failed, nothing would change.

But even when they hadn’t met, Xia Shibai had spent real money on her. Now that they had met and she’d seen how pitiful her childhood was, Xia Shibai would only double her kindness. Xia Yaozhou’s fears were, for once, entirely unnecessary.