After Being Scummed – Chapter 98

Extra 3: Brilliance of Youth 3

After that day, Zuo Jingyou occasionally contacted Yin Bai.

The drama club had a book reading activity every week. Zuo Jingyou divided the members into different groups and had them play different roles in the reading sessions, creating a passionate and expressive performance.

Perhaps out of favoritism or some other intention to take care of Yin Bai, Zuo Jingyou placed her in her own group.

During their first performance, they were reading Shakespeare. Zuo Jingyou intentionally assigned Yin Bai a character with many lines.

Yin Bai protested like a child in private, but Zuo Jingyou coaxed her, saying, “Just give it a try. There won’t be any problems. This is a collaboration between you, friends, and my team. It’s the first time our drama club is performing in front of the members…”

Yin Bai grumbled and protested, but seeing that it was futile, she reluctantly went back to studying her lines.

As a result, during the reading session that week, when they were performing 《Hamlet》, Yin Bai delivered her lines with a solemn expression, without looking at the script the entire time.

After the performance, everyone in the audience applauded Yin Bai enthusiastically, praising her for her full emotions and thorough preparation, but suggesting that she could improve on her stiff expressions.

Yin Bai sat among the crowd, awkwardly tugging at the corners of her mouth.

After the meeting adjourned, Zuo Jingyou took Yin Bai out to eat and applauded her, repeatedly saying, “Bravo!”

Yin Bai managed to force a smile and looked at Zuo Jingyou, asking, “So, for this performance, we don’t need to memorize our lines?”

Zuo Jingyou paused for a moment, then burst into laughter, leaning on Yin Bai’s shoulder. With one hand resting on Yin Bai’s shoulder, she laughed so hard that she couldn’t stand up straight. “You… You didn’t actually think we needed to memorize a script for this performance, did you?”

“Yin Bai… Haha… You’re so adorable… How can there be someone as honest as you…”

Being called honest, Yin Bai stiffened, not daring to move. Zuo Jingyou was very close, almost putting her weight on Yin Bai, heavy yet warm.

Her laughter echoed in Yin Bai’s ears, more melodious than the nightingale’s song. Her breath brushed against Yin Bai’s neck, carrying a hint of warm ambiguity.

For some reason, Yin Bai didn’t dare to turn around and look at her. She stood up straight, blushing, and replied to her words, “I thought it was necessary.”

Zuo Jingyou found her too cute to handle and couldn’t help pinching her rosy cheeks, smiling playfully. “With such a large number of lines and everyone being so busy with their studies, how could they possibly memorize them all? Besides, we stated from the beginning that it’s a recitation performance, not a theatrical one. Why would we need to memorize lines?”

Zuo Jingyou raised her eyebrows and looked at her tenderly. “Hey, why didn’t you simply ask me if you were confused?”

Yin Bai turned her head, trying to avoid Zuo Jingyou’s warm hand, and said with a pout, “What’s there to ask? If I have to memorize, then I’ll just memorize…”

Zuo Jingyou rubbed her face and chuckled, saying, “But that would waste so much time. Oh, my poor junior, thinking about her secretly memorizing so many lines, maybe even blaming me for assigning her such a heavy task. It hurts my heart just thinking about it.”

Yin Bai tilted her head and saw Zuo Jingyou’s feigned expression of heartache. She furrowed her eyebrows slightly and said, “I didn’t.”

“Hmm?”

Yin Bai pursed her lips and earnestly told her, “I haven’t blamed you.”

Zuo Jingyou was taken aback for a moment, then she saw Yin Bai open her lips and slowly say, word by word, “I wouldn’t secretly badmouth you over something like this. It’s just… I’m not used to talking so much and doing so many things in front of other people…”

Zuo Jingyou understood and pinched Yin Bai’s cheek, smiling. “Well, you’re amazing. You can overcome things you’re not good at.”

Yin Bai managed a smile and said somewhat sheepishly, “Because you’re my friend… So… I will do my best to fulfill the promises I make to you.”

Ah, Yin Bai was quite eloquent today!

From her words and her past awkward and distant behavior towards others, Zuo Jingyou could almost conclude that her beautiful friend probably didn’t have many companions.

Perhaps she herself could be her friend.

Zuo Jingyou was curious about this matter and was almost unable to resist asking Yin Bai about it.

Before she could even speak, Yin Bai spoke up on her own, saying, “Zuo Jingyou, do you behave like this with everyone?”

Zuo Jingyou blinked, puzzled, and asked, “What?”

Yin Bai gathered her courage and looked at her very seriously, saying, “I mean… leaning on shoulders, pinching cheeks, and stuff like that.”

Zuo Jingyou understood and shook her head, then pinched Yin Bai’s face and said, “It’s not like I do this to everyone. I just can’t help but tease cute girls when I see them.”

Yin Bai: “…”

She remained silent for a moment, looking at the silent Zuo Jingyou in front of her, and said, “Zuo Jingyou, your behavior is like that of a middle school boy.”

Zuo Jingyou didn’t understand and asked, “Hmm?”

Yin Bai gently parted her lips and said, “Immature!”

Zuo Jingyou burst into laughter again. She placed both her hands on Yin Bai’s face, palms against Yin Bai’s rosy and tender cheeks, and said in a teasing manner, “So immature! Yin Bai, you really have to pinch it properly, so rosy and tender…”

Yin Bai responded with an “oh,” then raised her own cold hand and placed it on Zuo Jingyou’s face, saying in a detached tone, “Then I’ll pinch you back.”

The two of them held each other’s faces and rubbed them back and forth. They looked at each other and couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Zuo Jingyou patted Yin Bai’s face, her eyes curved with a smile. “You’re just as immature!”

Because the drama club only had activities on weekends and their majors were different, most of the time they only had the opportunity to meet during meetings or weekend events.

Soon, November arrived, bringing a cool autumn breeze. Zuo Jingyou rarely caught the flu.

During their phone call in the evening, Yin Bai heard her voice sounding stuffy and hoarse, so she asked what was wrong.

Zuo Jingyou replied that she had an upper respiratory tract infection and some inflammation.

The next day, Yin Bai had someone deliver a bunch of suitable medications and a large pot of rock sugar and snow pear soup to her.

When Zuo Jingyou returned to the dormitory in the evening and received the items, she was astonished. She quickly called Yin Bai and asked, “Did you make this huge thermos of rock sugar and snow pear soup?”

Yin Bai didn’t have classes in the afternoon, so she was resting at home. Flipping through Shakespeare plays that Zuo Jingyou liked, she shook her head and said, “It wasn’t me, it was made by the auntie at home. Do you find it tasty?”

Zuo Jingyou nodded and said, “Yes, it’s delicious. Thank you!”

“But that’s such a large pot, I won’t be able to finish it. Can I share it with my roommates?”

Yin Bai paused, her fingers flipping through the pages of the book, and softly replied, “Hmm.”

She hesitated for a moment and said to Zuo Jingyou, “Of course you can.”

“Thank you so much.”

Yin Bai continued chatting with her for a while, then hesitantly asked, “Are you available on Singles’ Day?”

“Hmm? That day is Tuesday, and I have a full day of classes, so I probably won’t be available. What’s up?”

Full day of classes… That’s a bit tricky.

Yin Bai paused and said, “Nothing, I just wanted to invite you to have a meal together.”

Zuo Jingyou quickly agreed, “Sure, sure, having a meal sounds great. When and where? What time?”

Yin Bai couldn’t help but smile and said, “Just after you finish school on Tuesday afternoon, come to the north gate, and I’ll take you to eat.”

“Great!”

After setting the time, Yin Bai remained in a cheerful mood.

Because of her good mood, she kept having things delivered to Zuo Jingyou’s dormitory until the 11th.

In addition to the consistent rock sugar and snow pear soup, there were also countless fruits, yogurt, snacks, and other items… Most of these things were offered as sacrifices to Zuo Jingyou’s roommates’ taste buds.

With such frequent gift-giving, Zuo Jingyou’s roommates thought it was another guy or girl vigorously pursuing her.

Although such things had happened before, Zuo Jingyou would usually find the person involved afterward, calculate the value of the gifts, and transfer the equivalent amount of money directly back to them.

However, this time, Zuo Jingyou didn’t do that.

When faced with her roommates’ questioning, she simply smiled and said, “No, it’s not like that. It’s just a cute friend.”

The more she denied it, the more suspicious they became, and they couldn’t help but make teasing remarks.

Zuo Jingyou could only shake her head helplessly and laugh it off.

In the blink of an eye, it was already the 11th. After school that day, Yin Bai had the driver park the car at the north gate and sat inside, waiting for Zuo Jingyou.

As the end of classes approached, Yin Bai became more and more restless, anxiously tapping on the window. She continued to wait until the bell rang, and Zuo Jingyou’s call finally came through, relieving her.

Yin Bai answered the call and heard Zuo Jingyou’s voice amidst the noise, “I’m done with classes and walking towards the north gate. Tell me your license plate number.”

A smile appeared on Yin Bai’s lips as she softly replied, “Okay, I’m waiting in the car. Take your time, no rush.”

Although she said “take your time,” her heart couldn’t help but be filled with anticipation, hoping she would arrive faster…

After hanging up the phone, Yin Bai waited in the car for about fifteen minutes before finally seeing Zuo Jingyou’s figure emerging from the school gate.

She couldn’t help but smile, leaned out of the car window, and waved at Zuo Jingyou, saying, “Over here!”

Zuo Jingyou raised an eyebrow, quickened her pace, and walked towards her. Yin Bai opened the car door for her and asked her to fasten her seatbelt before instructing the driver to slowly drive away.

Zuo Jingyou’s face still had a rosy flush from running. She raised her hand to fan herself and regulated her rapid breathing. She looked at Yin Bai and said, “Good friend, what are you treating me to today? Why all this fuss?”

Yin Bai smiled and looked at her seriously, saying, “We’re going to my place.”

Zuo Jingyou was momentarily taken aback and then laughed shyly after a while, saying, “We’ve only known each other for a little over a month. Am I meeting your parents already?”

Yin Bai shook her head and said to Zuo Jingyou, “It’s not about meeting my parents. Today is my birthday, so we’re going to my place for a meal.”

Zuo Jingyou froze for a moment and exclaimed, “Today is your birthday?”

Yin Bai nodded, saying, “Yes.”

Zuo Jingyou sighed, raised her hand to cover her forehead, and bit her lip with a hint of regret, saying, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Now I won’t have time to buy you a gift!”

“Oh, you should have told me earlier!”