After Transmigrating as the Vicious Female Supporting Character, I Ran Away While Pregnant - Chapter 30.2

When Bai Qin finally caught up, she leaned against a tree, panting as she complained to Li Sheng. “Screenwriter Li, why does it feel like you’re even more anxious than I am? We’ve walked so far, but we still haven’t arrived. Just how remote is this village? Isn’t the area nearby about to be developed into a scenic tourist area? Why haven’t they repaired the road?”

“The development zone you’re talking about is to the west. We’re heading south. I estimate that in another half hour, after we cross this mountain, you’ll be able to see the remote village you want to see. Usually, when those children go to school, they have to get up early and walk for more than an hour to the town.” Li Sheng still held a map in her hand. It was a hand-drawn map she had gotten from the crew, meant to help the crew avoid getting lost in the mountains.

Bai Qin was drenched in sweat now. Although her body was exhausted, her heart became even firmer.

Leaning against the tree, she looked at Li Sheng with a determined gaze. When she spoke, her tone was full of emotion. “Screenwriter Li, I thought you and my sister were working together to fool me. I didn’t expect that you really did want to bring me here to see, and you even prepared so thoroughly.”

Li Sheng followed her gaze and looked at the map in her own hand. She said directly, “Your sister didn’t ask me to fool you. She only asked me to take good care of you.”

“I took the map because this place has a special geographical position, and the valley’s location is also very unusual. According to the crew’s earlier investigation, farther ahead is Fog Mountain. The fog on Fog Mountain is very dense. Once the fog rises, it will be very easy for us to get lost if we go in.”

“The weather is good today, and Fog Mountain isn’t foggy either. Later, we’ll hurry over, take a look, and come back. That way, we won’t be blocked by the fog on Fog Mountain.” Li Sheng was not afraid of the fog. She was afraid Bai Qin would get separated from her after entering the village.

“Although it’s said that there are still more good people than bad people in this world, I dare say that in this place, there is no absolute distinction between good and bad. The things you hate to the bone and feel deep pain over may be taken for granted here. If you judge all of those things as evil, then what you’ll face next is a group of bad people with blurred boundaries.”

Bai Qin felt Li Sheng was exaggerating, but since Li Sheng was currently leading the way, she did not dare refute her too much. In any case, many people had already opposed her on this matter.

Bai Qin rested properly for a while and finally recovered her strength. She straightened her back and prepared to continue forward with Li Sheng.

“Let’s go.” Li Sheng went over and kindly helped her. The two climbed over a mountain. After they had just walked out of the woods and continued for another ten minutes or so, Li Sheng suddenly looked back, and her heart sank.

Bai Qin was in high spirits, as if she were about to begin a great undertaking. But when Li Sheng beside her suddenly stopped, she also stopped and looked back.

“It’s foggy. Seriously? What a coincidence?”

Bai Qin looked at that hazy expanse, and fear crept into her heart, as if monsters might charge out of the fog.

Bai Qin suddenly became a little afraid. She and Screenwriter Li were two women in an unfamiliar mountain. The road behind them had been covered by fog, and far ahead was a disorderly-looking village. A few households were scattered here and there. Those houses were even more dilapidated than the little house they had rented. Most of them were made from yellow earth piled into bricks.

“Screenwriter Li, are we still going forward?” Bai Qin did not know why she suddenly felt afraid. But she suppressed that fear. The dream she had always held still drove her to want to go into the village and take a look.

Every year, she would donate most of her allowance and the money she earned to charity organizations. Sometimes, she would also buy books and daily necessities and send them over.

But every time people from her father’s company mentioned those places, they were always dirty, chaotic, and poor, with backward thinking and living standards far below the poverty she could imagine.

Bai Qin only wanted to personally do something. Her thoughts were very simple. She did not have much money, and she could not do many things, but if she had one portion of strength, she would give one portion of strength. If she did one good deed, she would form one good karma.

“Of course we’re going. Since we’re already here, how can I not let you take a proper look?”

Li Sheng was not afraid of this. It was only fog. In the apocalypse, after all the roads she had traveled, let alone a fog formation rising in the mountains, she was not afraid even of attack battlefields deliberately created by ability users.

However, Li Sheng was not the kind of person who was so confident that she thought herself invincible. She took out a small item that looked like a button from her pocket and handed it to Bai Qin.

“A tracker. My friend specially developed it. Even if we get separated here, I can quickly find you.”

Bai Qin felt much more at ease after taking it. She carefully put it into her pocket, but then felt it still was not secure enough. She thought bitterly, not knowing where to place it, and at this moment regretted that her pocket did not have a zipper sewn onto it.

Li Sheng pointed at her head. “Stick it to the back of your head. Your hair will cover it. It won’t fall off, and it won’t be discovered.”

Bai Qin tried it, then immediately let out a wail. “Screenwriter Li, when I take it off, it won’t tear off a piece of my scalp, will it?”

“Waterproof and heatproof, resistant to falls and shocks. It automatically detaches after seven o’clock. Don’t worry. It won’t hurt your hair or your scalp.” Bai Qin felt a little awkward, but the design had probably considered user comfort. After being awkward for a short while, she no longer felt it. As long as she did not reach out to touch it, she could not feel at all that a tracker was stuck there.

“All right, Screenwriter Li. Let’s keep moving forward.”

Li Sheng led her into the village. After they entered, Li Sheng’s expression remained unchanged, while Bai Qin suppressed the little excitement of her dream about to come true. As they passed by the doors of each household, Bai Qin truly felt the backwardness and poverty here.

Many women sat by the doors doing housework or farm tasks. Without exception, there were children beside them, and some even had babies in swaddling cloths strapped to their backs.

Aside from a few households where silver-haired old people lay at the doorway, the rest of the doorways had older women in their fifties or sixties, along with women around their twenties or thirties.

“Where are the men here?” Bai Qin asked curiously.

“At this time, they should be at work.”

“At work?”

Li Sheng rephrased it. “Busy with farm work.”

“Oh.” Bai Qin nodded. She followed beside Li Sheng. Although they were breathing fresh air under the sun, her heart always felt panicked. Bai Qin carefully moved closer to Li Sheng and asked her, “Why are they all looking at us with such strange eyes? Have outsiders never come here before? Didn’t they say the little houses at the crew’s place were built by hiring labor from them?”

“Of course they’ve seen outsiders. They just haven’t seen outsiders like us coming in on our own.”

“Screenwriter Li, what do you mean?” Bai Qin felt that ever since Li Sheng came here, something about her was off. Even the things she said were strange and had hidden meanings. Did Screenwriter Li have prejudice against these places?

Thinking carefully, that was probably it. Looking at the custom-made handkerchiefs Ranran took out from time to time, Li Sheng’s family background must be extraordinary. Coming to these places, she definitely felt somewhat uncomfortable inside.

Bai Qin was still thinking about Li Sheng, but the deeper they walked into the village, the more she felt something was wrong. Those people’s gazes were truly too naked, as if they wanted to see through her and Screenwriter Li’s bodies.

Moreover, in some places around the village, tables had been set up. Fruit and pastries were placed on the tables. Why did they look so much like offerings?

Bai Qin trotted to Li Sheng’s side. But before she could ask, she first heard Li Sheng speak.

“It’s almost time.”

Li Sheng suddenly stopped under a large tree wide enough for two people to wrap their arms around.

Bai Qin followed her and asked curiously, “Almost time for what?”

“Mealtime. At this time, the men in the village should be coming back soon. Ask about the matter you want to handle later. We’ll go directly to the village chief, explain our purpose, then go to the nearby elementary school to take a look.”

“Didn’t you say the elementary school was in town?”

“These scattered villages also have some, but they only have one or two literate teachers leading a group of children.” Li Sheng told her what she knew and dealt Bai Qin a blow. “When you see it, you may be disappointed.”

Bai Qin did not think too much about it. After waiting for a while, they did indeed see people carrying farm tools and returning in twos and threes.

Quite a few people walked past them, staring closely and sizing them up. This made Bai Qin feel very uncomfortable. In the past, although her looks could not be said to stun everyone, she could still be considered the number one beauty among her circle of female friends. Countless gazes had lingered on her, but although those people had wandered in wine and lust, they still had some rules. They would not stare so rudely and intensely at a person.

Bai Qin hid a little closer to Li Sheng. In truth, even more people were staring at Li Sheng, this cold beauty, but Li Sheng was used to it.

Compared to those people from the apocalypse, the people she encountered now could be considered nothing.

“I’ll go ask?” Bai Qin tugged at Li Sheng’s sleeve and asked softly.

Li Sheng nodded. Bai Qin jogged to the doorway of a household. She did not look for a man to ask. Instead, she found a woman doing farm work by the door.

“Hello, big sister. May I ask where your village chief’s house is?”

Bai Qin squatted on the ground to ask. The woman drew on the ground with a branch. A pattern that looked familiar to Bai Qin appeared. But before Bai Qin could look carefully, the woman hurriedly swept her hand across the drawing and erased it. Everything disappeared.

Bai Qin felt that pattern was very familiar. But because the angle was wrong, and because it had been drawn on the ground in broken, discontinuous lines, she could not remember what it meant.

She felt this woman did not really want to pay attention to her. But since she had already asked, she should still get a result.

So Bai Qin asked again in a pleasant tone. But this time, before she received any response from the woman, a man suddenly charged out of the house. The man carried a string of heavy local-accented words along with rough movements, cursing Bai Qin as he shoved her two meters away.

After Bai Qin was pushed away, she stood there in a daze, both arms wrapped around her chest protectively. Seeing that the man was no longer pushing her, she slowly lowered her arms and stared at the man with wide eyes.

“Why did you push me? I was just asking for directions. I wasn’t going to rob your house.”

Bai Qin could not understand the dialect of these remote mountain areas. Even if the man cursed her, she only understood a few coarse words about greeting one’s parents that were universally used across the country.

“Screenwriter Li, what’s going on?” Bai Qin regretted it a little. If she had known earlier, she would have brought a guide.

At this moment, Li Sheng had already put on an earpiece. She walked to Bai Qin’s side and handed one to her. A queenly female voice came through Bai Qin’s ear.

“Hello, little sister. Do you still remember me? Miranda.”

Bai Qin remembered. Miranda was one of her sister’s friends, a foreign woman with blond hair, blue eyes, a big chest, and a thin waist. Her personality was fiery, passionate, and unrestrained. Bai Qin had bumped into Miranda drinking together with her sister several times. Every time, the two of them drank each other into unconsciousness.

“Little Shengsheng asked me to translate for you.”

Bai Qin remembered now. Miranda was a lover of human languages. Some people liked collecting antiques, some liked collecting jade, and Miranda liked collecting languages. Any language she found interesting, she would research thoroughly. No one could say exactly how many languages she knew, but wherever she had gone, she could definitely understand all kinds of local dialects there.

This was a unique talent, Miranda’s source of pride.

Bai Qin mustered her courage and went forward to negotiate again. Only this time, she copied what Miranda said through the earpiece.

Bai Qin asked where the village chief’s house was.

The man still guarded against her, but while guarding against her, his eyes still darted around and stared.

Miranda translated, “What are you asking this for? Why are you looking for the village chief? My dad is. Wait for my dad to come back.”

Bai Qin looked back at Li Sheng. Neither of them had expected that asking blindly would hit the target on the first try.

Bai Qin had been pushed for no reason, so she was no longer in much of a mood. She perfunctorily thanked him, then returned to Li Sheng’s side to continue waiting for news.

The farce seemed to disperse, yet also seemed not to.

Some children were still watching her and Screenwriter Li from outside the houses, while the men brought the women back inside. Before long, they actually closed the doors.

“Screenwriter Li, why do I feel like this place is weird? It doesn’t seem like they dislike us. They’re guarding against us like thieves.”

“Didn’t you want to see? Do you want me to take you around more?” Li Sheng asked her. Bai Qin shook her head repeatedly. “Don’t make trouble. His father might come back soon. Let’s wait a little longer so we don’t miss him.”

Li Sheng did not speak anymore and waited with her. But in the earpiece, Miranda was still chattering excitedly nonstop.

“Little Shengsheng, the mysterious language you mentioned, I will crack it very soon.”

“Last week, I met a woman at Lake Brun. She was very drunk, and I heard her speak the same words as you. Little Shengsheng, that really is a language. You can’t fool me.”

“Oh God, Little Shengsheng, someone stole my bag.”

There came the sound of an engine starting. Very quickly, there was the roaring sound of wind. “Little Shengsheng, I’m going to chase my bag now. For now, don’t talk to me.”

Li Sheng took off the earpiece. Bai Qin followed and took hers off as well, returning it to Li Sheng.

Fortunately, they did not wait long before the village chief returned.

Unlike the other men, the village chief was dressed neatly and cleanly. He did not look like he had just returned from working in the fields.

He first went home. His son came out and said something to him. Very soon, the village chief came over to see Li Sheng and Bai Qin.

“You two, what business do you have with me?”

He tried his best to speak Mandarin, but his local accent was still very strong. Fortunately, Bai Qin and Li Sheng could at least understand him.

Bai Qin explained her purpose clearly.

The village chief did not quite believe it. He even gave Bai Qin the feeling that he looked down on her and was secretly laughing at her.

“You want to do charity for our village and build a school?”

“No, no.” Bai Qin quickly waved her hand and explained. “Even if a school is built here, the problem of teachers can’t be solved immediately. I want to sign contracts with you and let your children go outside to study.”

“What use is studying? When the children grow up, they have to work. They’re busy right now. The little babies can’t even talk yet, so how can they study?”

Bai Qin blinked her big eyes and looked at Li Sheng in disbelief. “Screenwriter Li, this…”

Li Sheng ignored her. Bai Qin failed to get help and continued gesturing wildly as she communicated with the village chief. “Studying! Knowledge, escaping the current predicament. Going outside to see a wider world. Letting your children fly better, see farther, and walk more roads! The value of life!”

“Oh.” The other party seemed to understand and nodded, but those murky eyes still carried the same disdain as before. “Useless, useless. These things are all useless. How much money can they make?”

“This isn’t a question of money. It’s the future! It’s hope!”

Bai Qin argued more and more off track with him. Li Sheng stood behind her, looking at trees, looking at clouds, and occasionally counting passing birds.

In the end, the village chief used the excuse that he had to go home to eat and paused this conversation. He also told the two little girls, Bai Qin and Li Sheng, to hurry and leave, to return to their people before dark and stop running around in the mountains.

He still stiffly drove Li Sheng and Bai Qin away.

On the way back, before they even left the village, several people with malicious gazes stared at them and seemed to want to approach.

“Wait! You two girls, wait!”

Bai Qin turned back and saw the village chief carrying his pipe, running toward them in uneven steps.

Bai Qin stopped and waited. She thought the other party had changed his mind and might want to discuss the charity education assistance matter with her further. But after the village chief ran over, he panted heavily and said unclearly, “I… I’ll send you out.”

Li Sheng looked at him, strange light flashing in her starry eyes.

Bai Qin sighed. “All right. Thank you.”

Seeing Bai Qin so dispirited, Li Sheng smiled. “Hurry and go. When you get back, think it over properly. If your idea still hasn’t changed, I’ll help you.”

Bai Qin’s eyes instantly lit up. She looked at Li Sheng in disbelief. “Screenwriter Li, are you serious?”

“Mm.”

The road back was not very difficult to walk. With the village chief accompanying them, before they left the village, a few men tried to gather over, but the village chief used his pipe to beat them back, shouting one after another, “Get lost for me!”

“I knew there would be fog in the mountains, so I’ll send you across. Don’t come over casually again in the future. Two young girls, your courage is really fat and slippery.”

Bai Qin felt that aside from being a little stubborn, this village chief’s heart was actually quite good.

After they left Fog Mountain, the village chief took two puffs from his pipe and leaned against a tree to rest comfortably for a while.

“Go on. Hurry back and stay with your people. Don’t run around. There are wild beasts in the mountains. They bite.”

Li Sheng rarely nodded. “Mm, thank you.”

Bai Qin shrugged and sighed, but still asked unwillingly, “Village Chief, you really can consider what I said properly. I think studying is very important, really important. Although it can’t immediately make you rich, if it accumulates little by little over generations and changes bit by bit, in the not-too-distant future, this place will look completely different.”

Li Sheng stood behind Bai Qin with both arms crossed over her chest. Bai Qin was still too idealistic.

“Girls should honestly stay at home. Find a good job in the city. Why come meddle in our place? I’m not talking to you anymore. I have to go back and eat.”

The village chief left. Bai Qin looked at his back and stomped her foot in anger.

“Unreasonable!”

“Mm.” Li Sheng responded indifferently.

Bai Qin had nothing more to say either and followed Li Sheng toward the crew. Seeing that it was already mid-afternoon, if they did not walk faster, it would be dark soon. Yet Bai Qin happened to be in low spirits, so the road back was extremely long and difficult.

Li Sheng urged her. Bai Qin was not in a hurry, but Li Sheng was in a hurry to see her daughter.

“Screenwriter Li, why do you think this is? Children can’t do that much work anyway. Isn’t it good to send them to study? Even if the parents have to work a little harder, it shouldn’t be to the point where the children must work with them.”

“Why don’t they listen to advice? And I’m not asking them to pay. Before I came, I already contacted my girlfriends. As long as I settle things at home and get the contract from the village, our foundation can be established immediately. Those children—I’ll send all of them to study for free. It doesn’t cost them money, so why won’t they do it?”

Bai Qin could not understand. Extremely frustrated, she followed beside Li Sheng. Although Li Sheng did not like chatting with her about these things, Bai Qin still spoke to Li Sheng sentence by sentence.

“Need.”

“Mm? What?” After Bai Qin had babbled for more than ten minutes, Li Sheng suddenly threw two words at her.

Bai Qin thought carefully. Combining the information she had gotten earlier and her understanding of the village, she seriously thought it over and said to Li Sheng, “You mean studying and knowledge aren’t included in their needs?”

“Correct. If someone gives them something they don’t need for free, why must they accept it?” Li Sheng’s expression was serious. She asked Bai Qin, “In their eyes, is what you’re doing really the most worthwhile?”

Bai Qin wanted to ask back, Wasn’t it?

But she did not ask it with full confidence. She quietly waited for Li Sheng’s next words.

“Those children help with work at home once they know how to do things. You think they can’t do much, but in reality, they count as half a laborer. As for studying, for now, it is not necessary to them. At least in their current understanding, this matter is unnecessary. Who would be willing to give up half a laborer to do something unnecessary, or even make an investment where they can’t see any return?”

What Li Sheng said was right, but Bai Qin still did not want to give up just like this.

“When we entered just now, you saw those children too. They’re like little saplings. They still have infinite possibilities in the future. How can they be trapped there just because of where they were born, and even be trapped for a lifetime?”

Bai Qin felt very uncomfortable inside, even somewhat hateful. But she did not know who she should hate, so for now, she attributed it to guilt over her own powerlessness.

“All right, let’s go back first.” Li Sheng was not Bai Qin’s parent, so she had no right to discipline Bai Qin. As a friend, she had already said what she could say, and even said a little of what she should not say. For the rest, she only needed to be responsible for bringing Bai Qin back properly.

Bai Qin followed beside Li Sheng, her whole person listless. After they crossed another small hillside and saw the crew in the distance, her thoughts were still heavy.

Li Sheng was not as unhappy as her. After going out for a walk, her mood was much better. Thinking that she would soon see her precious little angel, Li Sheng’s steps toward the crew became much lighter.

However, neither of them had expected that when a crew member saw them, that person suddenly shouted loudly, “They’re back! They’re back! Screenwriter Li and Bai Qin are back!”

“Holy shit, they didn’t get lost. They’re back. Hurry and call the director!”

“They really came back. They almost scared the director into crying. Hurry and call the director, hurry, hurry.”

Along the way, the two were welcomed by the crew all the way to the director.

Before they left, Director Wen had only been somewhat tired, but he had still been high-spirited as he directed the crew’s filming. Now that they had returned, Director Wen’s whole person seemed to have aged a full circle.

Only Li Sheng, Mo Yueshuang, and Le Yuantian knew that Bai Qin had come for those remote villages. So when Li Sheng and Bai Qin said they were going to look around a nearby village, everyone thought the two were going to walk around near the development zone.

Because that place could be considered already largely in contact with the outside world, it was relatively friendlier to them. If people from the production team went there, it would not be too unfamiliar, and the safety level would also be higher.

In places like this, the more remote the villages deep in the mountains were, the more one could not know what bad things might be hidden there. In previous years, there had been reports of entire villages being human traffickers.

Although they were not sure whether there were any nearby, the crew’s habit was that once they arrived, they absolutely would not run around randomly.

This time, it was also because there was a development zone nearby. Li Sheng and Bai Qin said they wanted to go take a look, so no one stopped them much. In the past, absolutely no one would have been allowed to leave casually.

As for Mo Yueshuang, although she knew Bai Qin and Li Sheng’s purpose, she had also only thought they would walk to the town, look at the elementary school, and then visit the village near the town.

Unexpectedly, when everyone gathered for lunch, one staff member suddenly said that in the morning, Li Sheng had asked him for the hand-drawn map that crossed Fog Mountain.

When Fog Mountain became foggy, even locals did not dare walk randomly there, let alone outsiders like them.

Since Li Sheng had specifically asked for a map through Fog Mountain, she was likely going to cross Fog Mountain. As for the villages behind Fog Mountain, they had never sent anyone to communicate with them. Because they were only filming here for a short time and would leave quickly, they had only spoken with two nearby villages, giving them some benefits and asking them not to deliberately come over and disturb the crew.

As for other places, no one had ever come here for location shooting before. If not for the fact that there had recently been scenic area development here and a few shots had captured the mountains and water here, sharp-eyed Director Wen would not have taken a liking to this place and chosen it.

To the crew, aside from the two nearby villages and the developing scenic area, all other places were unfamiliar.

Director Wen stood in front of Li Sheng and Bai Qin. This grown man was almost tearful. Heaven knew how many times his heart had almost exploded in fright after he found out Li Sheng and Bai Qin had entered Fog Mountain.

“It’s good that you’re back. It’s good that you’re back.” Wen Tingzong patted his own chest to soothe himself. After a while, he said to Li Sheng, “Right, Little Mo heard you ran far away and was extremely worried. Now that you’re back, that’s good. Go report to her that you’re safe.”

Hearing Mo Yueshuang’s name, Li Sheng’s heart became somewhat chaotic. She said goodbye to the director and quickly rushed toward the little house.

Bai Qin also felt embarrassed. This was her matter alone, yet she had caused Screenwriter Li to accompany her running around and made the whole crew worry with them.

When Li Sheng returned to the little house, Mo Yueshuang was holding Ranran’s hand and building blocks with her. Mo Yueshuang’s phone was still lit up on the wooden table, showing that it was calling Li Sheng.

Li Sheng took out her phone and checked it. There were nearly a hundred missed calls. It seemed that after she received a few advertising texts last night, she had groggily put her phone on silent.

“I’m back.”

Li Sheng stood at the doorway. Hearing the sound, Mo Yueshuang was still a little dazed. Ranran returned to herself one step earlier than her. Seeing Li Sheng standing there, Ranran immediately stood up and wanted to run to Li Sheng’s side.

Usually, when Mommy came back, Ranran was always the first one to rush over, open her arms, and be held up high by Li Sheng.

Today, Ranran also moved her little legs and ran toward Li Sheng. But before Ranran could sprint to the finish line, Auntie Mo, who had been accompanying her all this time, Auntie Mo who had occasionally dropped tears, actually stood up with a swish. Relying on her long legs, she covered the distance in three steps and reached Mommy before Ranran did.

Ranran watched helplessly as Mommy’s embrace was snatched away by someone else. Auntie Mo hugged Mommy tightly, and Mommy also hugged Auntie Mo. Mommy even raised her hand and stroked Auntie Mo’s hair, while her other hand gently patted Auntie Mo’s back.

Mommy had left in the morning and returned close to evening. Her poor daughter, who had waited bitterly all day, now did not even get a hug and a lift-up-high.

“Wu~ Wuwa! Wuwuwu… Mommy.”

Ranran pouted, and in the end, she still burst into tears.

Author’s Note:

Ranran: This plot isn’t right. I feel like I’m not Mommy’s little treasure anymore!