After Being Scummed – Chapter 23

How about that, surprise!

Zuo Jingyou, accompanied by Yin Bai, went to a nearby hotpot restaurant. With Zuo Jingyou, Yin Bai, Zhang Yu, and the driver, there were four of them, and they ordered a mixed hotpot.

After the soup base boiled, Zhang Yu and Zuo Jingyou began to cook the beef. Zhang Yu dumped the beef into the spicy soup with gusto, occasionally putting a small portion in the clear broth.

Zuo Jingyou looked a bit surprised and said, “Isn’t it more flavorful to put the meat in the spicy soup? You can cook the vegetables in the clear broth.”

Zhang Yu explained, “Boss here has a Westerner’s palate, loves spicy food, but can’t handle too much heat.”

Zuo Jingyou understood, “No wonder you ordered a mixed hotpot. I thought it was because you couldn’t handle it.”

Zhang Yu chuckled heartily, revealing a set of white teeth. “How could that be? Speaking of which, we’re from the same hometown! Of course, I can handle spicy food!”

Seated next to Zhang Yu, Yin Bai, a female, gave Zhang Yu a sidelong glance and quipped, “Yun City is indeed impressive, being able to handle spicy food!”

This remark was dripping with sarcasm, and it made Zhang Yu laugh uncontrollably. “There’s nothing impressive about it; I can just enjoy a lot of delicious Sichuan cuisine!”

Seeing her so proud, Yin Bai coldly snorted and extended her cane to tap the top of Zhang Yu’s shoe under the table, threatening, “If you keep acting so proud, do you believe I’ll have Auntie make sweet and sour spare ribs for you at home for a whole month?”

Aside from cakes and desserts, Zhang Yu actually didn’t like sweet dishes, let alone something as sweet and greasy as sweet and sour spare ribs. She immediately surrendered, “I was wrong, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have gotten carried away. Boss, please spare me.”

Yin Bai snorted and then withdrew her cane.

Seated opposite them, Zuo Jingyou couldn’t help but smile as she watched the interaction between these two lively individuals. Zuo Jingyou picked up some cooked beef, held it to her lips, and blew gently before eating. She asked, “Which part of Yun City are you from?”

Zhang Yu continued the conversation, “I’m from the Jiangwan District. What about you, Teacher Zuo?”

Zuo Jingyou smiled with narrowed eyes, “What a coincidence, I’m from the Jiangwan District too.”

As the saying goes, when fellow townsfolk meet, tears fill their eyes. The two of them opened up and discussed famous local snacks from the Jiangwan District, reminiscing about the schools they attended in their childhood…

Yin Bai, not being a native of Yun City, couldn’t join in the conversation, so she simply watched the two fellow townsfolk catch up. After listening for a while, she found herself quite pleased. Since Zhang Yu was from Yun City and had common topics with Zuo Jingyou, she got to know her friend a bit better.

After discussing matters related to Yun City, Zuo Jingyou sighed and said, “But when I went to college, I moved away. Later, when my mother retired, we settled in Haicheng.”

Yin Bai, who had been listening quietly for a long time, chimed in, “Haicheng is quite nice, isn’t it? It has a mild climate, fresh air, and pleasant weather.”

Zuo Jingyou agreed, “Yes, it certainly does. However, there is one downside to Haicheng…”

Yin Bai was curious, “What’s not good about it?”

Zuo Jingyou smiled and said, “The hotpot base isn’t spicy enough!”

Yin Bai exclaimed in surprise, “It’s still not spicy enough?” She was already feeling overwhelmed by the spiciness!

Zhang Yu also agreed and chimed in, “Indeed, it’s not spicy enough. Every time I go there, it feels unsatisfying.”

Yin Bai picked up a piece of beef from the clear broth, glanced at Zhang Yu askance, and muttered to herself, “I don’t believe you. Clearly, you’re the one who eats the most every time!”

Zuo Jingyou smiled and then shifted her gaze to Yin Bai. “What about you, Teacher Yin Bai? Did you grow up in Haicheng all along?”

Suddenly called upon, Yin Bai looked up at Zuo Jingyou and remained silent for a while before responding, “Ah… that’s not quite the case.”

“I was born in Haicheng, but when I was a few years old, I traveled with my parents around Europe…”

Zuo Jingyou was somewhat surprised and asked, “What do you mean by ‘traveled around Europe’?”

Yin Bai explained to her, “It means we lived in France for a few months, then in Italy for a few months, and then went to places like Spain… In my memory, they kept moving me around.”

Yin Bai paused and continued to tell Zuo Jingyou, “My father is a painter, and my mother is a photographer. When they got together, they were not young anymore. My grandmother didn’t really oversee my father… The two of them raised me with the philosophy of ‘joyful education’…”

Sitting beside Yin Bai, Zhang Yu was also surprised as it was the first time Yin Bai had opened up about her family. She turned her head and looked at her with great astonishment, “What about your education then?”

Yin Bai shrugged and explained to them, “My grandmother couldn’t stand it, so she arranged for a personal tutor to be with me all the time. That went on until I was twelve, and then I returned to China to attend junior high school.”

“You know, when I came back to school, my happy times came to an end.”

In reality, it wasn’t entirely like that. She remembered that day, on the way back from the airport, they had a car accident in a tunnel.

Her father and the driver in the front seat died on the spot. Her mother shielded her, but due to the explosion, she suffered extensive burns all over her body. After unsuccessful treatments in the hospital, her mother passed away in a very painful way.

As for her… aside from the injury to her foot that couldn’t fully heal, leaving her as a disabled limp, she also bore many scars on her body.

This sudden and unexpected accident wiped away all the happiness of her childhood. She couldn’t recall when, but she could no longer find her own childhood.

However, she had never spoken to anyone about this incident. Furthermore, she had decided that she wouldn’t discuss such matters with anyone in the future. Because apart from receiving sympathy and pity, nothing could bring back the past, and it would only add to her sense of sorrow.

Upon hearing Yin Bai speak this way, Zhang Yu made a light scoffing sound, “Ah, the wicked rich! You actually attended private tutoring lessons!” Comparisons can be frustrating!

Yin Bai glanced at her casually and said, “I just happened to have a good grandmother. In fact…”

Yin Bai paused and sighed, saying, “If I could, I would also like to grow up like you all, ordinary, like a normal person.”

With both parents, a harmonious and joyful family.

Zhang Yu sighed deeply, “But you’ve already grown up. The joys of our comfortable family life, you won’t be able to experience them in this lifetime.”

Yin Bai gave her a sidelong glance and tapped her small leg with her cane, saying in frustration, “You be quiet! With all the food you eat, how come you can’t keep your mouth shut!”

Zhang Yu exclaimed, “Ouch!” with tearful eyes, looking at her, “Let’s talk it out, boss, no need to resort to violence!”

Yin Bai pretended to lift her cane threateningly and said, “Hurry up and eat yours!”

Zhang Yu snorted and buried herself in eating.

Across from them, Zuo Jingyou had figured it out. Yin Bai and her assistant were like Zhou Yu and Huang Gai¹—one willing to strike, and the other willing to endure!

Zuo Jingyou used a ladle to scoop up the brain flowers and dipped them into the spicy hotpot, asking Yin Bai while cooking, “So, did you learn your eight foreign languages during that time?”

What in the world were these eight foreign languages? It sounded quite strange!

Yin Bai nodded without any argument, “It’s true… but I’ve been practicing continuously afterward.”

Yin Bai paused and, with a mysterious tone, told Zuo Jingyou, “Let me tell you, when I was young, I even wanted to become a diplomat.”

Zuo Jingyou couldn’t help but chuckle and asked her, “Then why didn’t you become a diplomat? You’re so intelligent, and passing the civil service exam wouldn’t have been difficult, right?”

Yin Bai sighed, “During my rebellious teenage years, I was a bit introverted, antisocial, and didn’t want to deal with people. It seemed like too much trouble.” Yin Bai paused and added a statement that made Zhang Yu quite surprised, “And besides, I had to inherit several billion in family assets when I grew up, so I didn’t have the time.”

Zhang Yu clenched her fist, “BOSS, if you keep saying that, I’ll become ‘anti-rich’!”

Yin Bai glanced at her and made a soft, disapproving sound.

Zuo Jingyou smiled and chatted with Yin Bai about various other topics. When the brain flowers were cooked to perfection, she scooped up a quarter of them and offered them to Yin Bai, saying, “Can you handle this? After pushing aside the Sichuan peppercorns and chili peppers, it won’t be too spicy.”

Yin Bai pursed her lips, looking at the brain flowers that appeared enticingly flavorful and nodded, “I can handle it.”

Zuo Jingyou then placed the brain flowers into her bowl, and Yin Bai picked up a chopstick. She ate them while sipping warm water, enduring the spiciness with a “sizzling” expression but enjoying it thoroughly.

It was a quite enjoyable meal, and Yin Bai felt like she had gained a better understanding of her friend. On the way back, Yin Bai said to Zuo Jingyou, “I thought female celebrities like you paid a lot of attention to managing your figure, so you wouldn’t eat at this late hour, let alone something so spicy.”

For instance, Xiao Nian is like that, on a daily basis, she’s into weight-loss meals, vegetables, and boiled chicken breasts, and such.

Zuo Jingyou smiled, pondered for a moment, and replied to Yin Bai, “Actually… it’s like this during filming because there are weight requirements for being on camera, and you need to be a bit thinner. However… in normal times, I work out to burn off extra calories.”

Yin Bai carefully examined Zuo Jingyou for a moment and suddenly remembered that Zuo Jingyou was a woman who could jump high in high heels. How should she put it… she had clearly trained herself.

With this thought, Yin Bai said somewhat regretfully, “I used to work out before too. But these past two years… I’ve been slacking off…”

She got careless, Yin Bai reached into her pocket, pinched her own soft stomach through her clothes, and contemplated whether she should consider getting back into fitness.

After all, good health is really important!

In the following days, Yin Bai, accompanied by Zhang Yu, visited the cast and crew to offer gifts and even brought in several chefs and pastry chefs to improve the catering for the crew.

When Zuo Jingyou finished her last scene and officially wrapped up shooting on January 7th, it had started snowing heavily in Jincheng once again.

In the dark night, numerous snowflakes gracefully fell from the sky, landing on the waterproof covers of the cameras, on Zuo Jingyou’s clothes, and on her black down jacket…

In no time, everyone in the crew was covered in a fine layer of snow white, blending into the snowy night scene.

As Zuo Jingyou called out “cut,” completing the remaining scenes of the entire movie, the crew erupted into cheers. Everyone gathered around Zuo Jingyou, excitedly expressing their congratulations for finishing the film.

Zuo Jingyou stood beneath the light, surrounded by the team, her eyes glistening with tears of excitement. Just then, Yin Bai approached Zuo Jingyou holding a bouquet of flowers and handed it to her, saying, “Congratulations on wrapping up.”

“Thank you!” Zuo Jingyou accepted the flowers personally arranged by Yin Bai and sincerely expressed her gratitude.

Following that, many others from the crew also presented flowers to Zuo Jingyou. Amidst the cold winter day with snowflakes falling all around, the atmosphere was filled with warmth and celebration.

Yin Bai noticed that Zuo Jingyou had received enough flowers, so she turned to her and smiled, saying, “By the way, as an encouragement for completing your first directorial film in life, I have a gift for you.”

Zuo Jingyou, puzzled, turned to look at Yin Bai.

Yin Bai snapped her fingers and called out to Zhang Yu beside her, “Zhang Yu, get ready.”

“Alright, BOSS,” Zhang Yu replied, giving an OK hand gesture and taking out her phone to make a call. Shortly after the call ended, a burst of fireworks suddenly lit up the dark night in the distance.

With a loud bang, numerous fireworks exploded in the pitch-black night sky. Under the dazzling display of fireworks, snowflakes fluttered and the scene was incredibly beautiful.

Zuo Jingyou raised her head, gazing at the brilliantly sparkling sky in the distance. It was as if her eyes were also filled with fireworks, gradually becoming brighter.

Yin Bai turned to look at her with a triumphant expression and said, “How about that? Surprise! I had Zhang Yu buy all the fireworks in the city. Tonight, you can enjoy the fireworks for a long time!”

Zuo Jingyou heard this and turned her head to look at Yin Bai’s profile.

She saw that Yin Bai’s already fair skin appeared even paler in this cold weather. Falling snowflakes landed on her hair, her temple, and even the tip of her nose.

Zuo Jingyou gazed at the smile on the corner of Yin Bai’s mouth, holding the flowers in her hands. She looked at the snowflakes in the sky, then at the distant fireworks bursting in the air. For a moment, she felt that amid this brilliant scenery, no one by her side looked as good.

Zuo Jingyou turned her head once again, carefully etching Yin Bai into her eyes, and finally came to a conclusion: yes, Yin Bai could be described as breathtakingly beautiful.

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LP: So cute! I was smiling and felt giddy while editing this 🙂

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1. Zhou Yu and Huang Gai are historical figures from ancient China, known for their roles in the Three Kingdoms period, which spanned from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the beginning of the Western Jin Dynasty (around the 2nd to 3rd century AD). They are prominent characters in the Chinese classical novel “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” which is based on the historical events of that era.

   Zhou Yu was a military strategist and general serving under the warlord Sun Quan, who founded the Eastern Wu state during the Three Kingdoms period. Huang Gai was one of Zhou Yu’s trusted subordinates and a military strategist as well.