After Transmigrating As The Mother Of The Pitiful Female Supporting Character in a Campus Novel - Chapter 60

The paths in the woods were twisting and turning. The ground had been soaked through by the heavy rain; with one step, a leg would sink straight in, making it impossible to stand back up.

Qin Zhijin had no way to accurately judge her orientation. She could only scramble about like a headless fly. Her legs were covered in mud, and the weight—far exceeding her body’s limits—left her gasping for breath. She wanted to stop and rest for a moment, but she couldn’t find her bearings and didn’t know which way to go.

After a great struggle, she finally found a path. When Qin Zhijin eventually emerged from the woods covered in muddy water, thinking she had reached an open area where she could see the light of day, her hand landed on damp, wrinkled, and sticky bark. Putting most of her weight against the tree, she slowly shuffled toward the edge.

It was only then she realized that it wasn’t an exit at all, but another dead end. She was standing on a cliff. Below was a small natural lake; due to the rain, the tide was constantly rising. The small lake was expanding in area, the water level climbing and submerging the rocks that had originally been there.

Cold rain fell upon her. Her brain, jumbled into a mess of tangled rope, simply couldn’t function. Gasping for a few moments, Qin Zhijin simply changed directions and continued walking, not daring to linger here. Her legs grew heavy from the unceasing rain, and her consciousness began to blur as she stopped and started.

Just as the scenery before her eyes was about to turn into a single blurred line, two shoes appeared in front of her. However, before she could struggle to open her eyes and see clearly who it was, a cold, wet palm covered her eyes. Then, a blinding white light split the sky; the rain fell harder than ever before, and her senses were eroded by the water.

Immediately following was a layer of darkness that could not be torn away.

The rescue workers arranged by President Xia arrived very quickly. Following the agreed-upon location, they met Big Yaozhou and the others at the entrance to the rural road. During the journey, the driver received a disaster pop-up on his phone; even for extra money, he didn’t dare drive further in. Big Yaozhou took the opportunity to board the rescue team’s vehicle.

As soon as she got in, the rescue team threw a life jacket to her and said calmly, “With the rain as it is now, we can’t just rush in to save anyone. The mudslides are still pouring down rapidly. This mountain has many boulders and the geology is soft. Once soaked in water, it won’t hold the weight of the boulders. Even with protective netting, it will cause landslides.”

“For safety’s sake, we have to wait until the disaster passes before going in.” Seeing Big Yaozhou’s hand pause while putting on the life jacket, the leader hurriedly added, “We have already communicated this with President Xia. Her meaning is that, as your only current guardian in the country, we must look after you. We can only make a decision once she arrives.”

Big Yaozhou found her down jacket to be an encumbrance and had long since taken it off. Underneath, she wore only a thin T-shirt. Despite this weather, the cold wind, and the freezing rain, she didn’t care. “Wait for her to arrive? She might as well say she’s coming to attend my funeral. When it comes to saving people, how can one wait? So many of them are inside; we should save whoever we can.”

“A group of our men can go up, but you must wait until President Xia gets here.” Seeing how thinly Big Yaozhou was dressed, the leader patted his teammate’s hand and managed to find a clean hardshell jacket in the car for her to put on.

“We must fulfill what we promised President Xia. We are professionals in rescue; you have to trust us,” the leader said. “If someone unprofessional like you comes with us, it will actually hinder us because we’ll have to distract ourselves to look after you.”

The heavy rain washed away the soil, revealing the rocks beneath the road. Just as the leader had said, boulders from the mountain cliffs smashed through the protective nets and landed on the ground. Before they even reached an open area, they already had no way to enter the mountain. Fortunately, nearby government personnel had arrived and were guiding the villagers’ evacuation.

As soon as the rescue workers got out of the car, Big Yaozhou—not caring what they had promised President Xia—pushed open the door and followed them into the rain.

Staff members ahead, dressed in fatigues and fluorescent yellow life jackets, hurriedly made them retreat. A megaphone in one worker’s hand kept shouting, “Move to higher ground! Don’t panic, run to higher ground! The mudslide has detoured toward Gouxiapo, but the heavy rain is still falling. Everyone, move slowly to higher ground. Once the rescue vehicles arrive, keep order—don’t push and shove when boarding to evacuate.”

The slopes of this village were winding and low. No one knew where the mudslide might turn in those narrow paths. Waiting for vehicles and relying on satellite-guided evacuation was the safest measure; otherwise, with a group of the elderly, young, sick, and disabled, relying on their feet, they might run into a mudslide somewhere and be completely wiped out.

The leader communicated their intent to the staff, saying they had a team of researchers who entered the mountain today and were likely caught in the disaster, so they wanted to go in for search and rescue. They were experienced and familiar with the conditions here; if there were people left behind in the village, they could help bring them back too.

The staff member’s gaze landed on Big Yaozhou. He pointed at her hesitantly and said, “This one clearly isn’t an adult. This one definitely can’t go in; we can’t take responsibility if something happens. I also know your rescue team is professional, but the conditions in these mountains are complex. Without approval from superiors, I can’t rashly let you rush in. I can’t take the responsibility.”

“What’s with all this ‘responsibility’ or ‘no responsibility’? If something happens, we’ll take it on ourselves; we don’t need you to care.” Big Yaozhou wiped the rain from her face. She had no time to listen to these people talk in official jargon. After listening to a few sentences, she cursed a string of profanities in her heart and stepped out, wanting to rush into the mountains.

The moment she moved, a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

“Are you crazy? I didn’t force you to go in! Wouldn’t it be fine if I go by myself? If I die, I die; my life isn’t worth much anyway. If you want to argue, go ahead and bicker about the distribution of responsibility here yourselves!” Big Yaozhou irritably tried to shake the hand off. She turned around and raised her hand, but couldn’t break free. She looked up at the newcomer.

Only then did she see clearly who was holding her.

President Xia was grabbing Big Yaozhou’s arm coldly. It was impossible to tell if she was angry, but the atmospheric pressure indeed dropped because of her appearance.

Before President Xia could speak, a noisy sound came from the distance.

Looking in the direction of the sound, two large groups of people were surging toward their position. Their faces were full of anxious expressions; someone who didn’t know better would think they were coming to start a fight.

Big Yaozhou was a bit scared at first and subconsciously hid behind President Xia. However, once she saw clearly in the approaching crowd, she grabbed President Xia’s hand in turn and pointed at a woman in a red hoodie. “It’s… it’s Auntie Qin’s colleague, the one in red!”

Though they had only met once, Big Yaozhou’s ability to recognize people was quite good.

President Xia led Big Yaozhou closer.

The government staff member was surrounded in the middle by the two groups. Everyone’s words were so noisy they couldn’t be heard clearly, mixing thoroughly with the rain.

He turned off the still-wailing megaphone and tried to press down the crowd’s noise with his hands, gesturing for everyone to quiet down. “Don’t be in a hurry! If there’s something to say, say it one by one! With a whole crowd of people talking at once, I can’t hear a single word!”

The woman in red couldn’t out-talk an old lady from the village. The gap of silence was snatched away by the old woman.

The old woman was covered in muddy water and looked completely disheveled. Supporting her were two slightly younger girls. One was dressed in typical rural attire; her clothes didn’t fit well—the top was small and the pants were large. Her face carried a hint of numbness. Although she appeared to be doing the same thing as the other girl, her expression revealed submissiveness and fear.

The old woman wailed, saying her little granddaughter was missing. “It was raining today, I told her not to go to the woods in the mountains, but she just wouldn’t listen. She didn’t come back when the heavy rain started. Now the weather is so bad and she’s dressed so thinly, who knows what danger she’s run into!”

“Do a good deed and help me, that’s my granddaughter! If she isn’t found, how can I explain it to her parents in the city? If something happens, I won’t want to live anymore; I’ll just follow her right then and there! If you have any conscience, come burn some paper at my grave and cry for my miserable life.”

The old woman cried out to heaven and earth, painfully slapping her knees, wishing the staff would immediately rush into the mountains to help her find the child.

The young girl supporting the old woman on the other side had a slight change in expression as she wailed. Her eyes lowered, and she let go of her hand, no longer supporting her. Her gaze even flickered about, occasionally landing on President Xia and Big Yaozhou; it was unclear what she was looking at.

The staff member couldn’t soothe the old woman. Seeing she was about to cry herself into a faint, he was anxious and angry, but he couldn’t curse openly. He could only wave his hand to let the two girls support her quickly so she wouldn’t fall over right here.

In contrast, the woman in red was much calmer. “We are researchers from a company—twelve people in total, three vehicles. We hit a road collapse on the way into the village, and then a mudslide. We abandoned the cars and headed for higher ground into the woods.”

“But five colleagues in total got separated from us in the woods. Among them is a female colleague who is currently running a fever. The situation is extremely critical; we need you to go into the woods to help us find them.”

“The woods, the woods! The woods again! You all seem to love ducking into the woods on a rainy day, don’t you!” The staff member said irritably, “Don’t you know mudslides run along the high edges? Why run into the woods? Doing a rural field study in heavy rain—is your leader out of his mind!”

The woman in red knew the anger wasn’t directed at her. Hearing the last sentence, she turned to look at the end of the line, where three pot-bellied male leaders were standing.

Their faces didn’t look good after being scolded; it was hard to tell if it was shame turned to anger or a sense of guilt.

The woman in red sneered in her heart, wishing she could take a pen and stab those three idiots to death mentally. Just as she was about to say something more to the staff member, she heard the woman standing nearby speak.

“Are you the researchers from Amos Biopharmaceuticals?” President Xia caught a glimpse of Big Yaozhou’s pale little face with the corner of her eye. She raised her hand and patted it gently, offering a bit of comfort. “I am Xia Shibai. Is Qin Zhijin in your group? If she is, where is she? I have some business with her.”

The red-clothed woman’s lips thinned as she gave a bitter smile. “She is one of the five colleagues who got separated. The colleague in her car said her room’s air conditioning was broken yesterday; she came to the countryside with a fever. Her current situation is much more complex than that of an ordinary trapped person.”

The woman in red glanced at the rescue workers standing beside President Xia. Her mind became active; just as she was about to continue speaking, she was pushed aside by a male leader who rushed up from the back of the group.

“President Xia, hahaha, I didn’t expect to see you here! Last time you invested in Amos, we even had a meal together. Today was originally intended for a rural field study with colleagues to check the growth of the medicinal herbs; who knew we’d run into such foul weather by ill luck.” The male leader reached out his hand wanting to shake President Xia’s, but only received a cold look.

“Ill luck indeed.” President Xia thought of the matter written on that note, and combined it with what the red-clothed woman had just said. She knew that in such heavy rain today, going to the countryside wasn’t a necessary itinerary; it was only determined after the leaders decided to come.

“If it weren’t for some ‘pig-brains’ making rotten decisions based on half-baked knowledge, I might not have to be standing here in the rain preparing to go up the mountain into the woods to find people.” President Xia couldn’t help but mock him. “As a leader, you can use your backside to make decisions for your head, but your company’s field team travels often yet has only a superficial understanding of the simplest safety knowledge—you haven’t done your part. I think whether the upcoming investment should continue, or what aspects should be adjusted and who should interface with me, is also a very important matter.”

“I don’t have time to waste words with you now.” President Xia looked at the woman in red standing to the side and tilted her head slightly. “Are you sure they are still in the woods?”

“They should be… the woods are very large, and it took us a long time to get out.” The woman in red said apologetically, “We have another colleague with a fever, but our cars are gone. President Xia, could you… could you help us? Send the feverish colleague out first.”

President Xia wouldn’t refuse such a small matter. She casually pointed for someone to go help. She put on a life jacket herself and split off from the leader. Since there were people in the rescue team very familiar with the terrain, they took the lead and moved out separately.

Big Yaozhou gripped President Xia’s arm tightly, fearing the woman would leave her behind.

To her surprise, once she entered the woods with her, the sense of unreality still existed.

President Xia glanced at the hand gripping her so tightly. “Are you scared?”

“No…”

“Then why are you holding on so tight? Do you think I’d just leave you here in these woods?” President Xia, for some reason, had a slight curve to her lips. “If you’re afraid of the thunder and rain, if it really comes down to it, you can hide in my embrace. After all, I am your mother, in a sense.”

Big Yaozhou’s face stiffened. Her tight grip suddenly released. She said coldly, “You’re my aunt. Stop taking advantage of me.”

Call you Mom? In the next life! Unless I lose my memory, otherwise even if my name were written backward, it would be absolutely impossible.

Does she take me for a three-year-old?