After Being Scummed – Chapter 34

Angry huffing!

In the blink of an eye, it was late February, and the spring days were gradually warming up. The children had also started school.

Yin Bai had regained her vitality and begun to handle her regular work. Such as attending necessary social events, participating in charity activities, and screening projects, and so on…

Of course, among these tasks, there was no participation in Xiao Nian’s wedding. On the last day of February, Xiao Nian and Lu Qing held a grand wedding on a warm and blossoming island in the south.

The two of them invited many friends from their circle and had a well-respected host as the emcee, making the whole wedding scene very lively.

A wedding of this magnitude naturally couldn’t escape the attention of the media. Although Lu Qing and Xiao Nian didn’t deliberately market it, the animated images of Xiao Nian and Lu Qing in wedding attire still caused quite a stir online. With her own fan base, Xiao Nian effortlessly dominated the hot search rankings that day.

Although Yin Bai, who had received an invitation, didn’t attend the wedding herself, she had her company representatives deliver wedding gifts and wishes on her behalf. However, on that day, she couldn’t help but sneak a peek at the entire wedding process through photos shared by various guests online.

She sat in her study, holding her phone, watching the screen where Xiao Nian lifted Lu Qing’s veil and kissed her. The sight made her feel a pang of jealousy, to the point where her lips curled up, enough to fill a bottle of soy sauce.

Is getting married so great? Is it really that remarkable?

Yin Bai was furious!

But after getting angry, Yin Bai also felt a bit melancholic. She sighed, for reasons she couldn’t quite explain, and opened Xiao Nian’s Weibo account. She retweeted Xiao Nian’s previous official announcement of getting the marriage certificate and left the final comment: “May you and your beloved become a family, and may you find happiness in this mortal world.”

She decided to offer her blessings, putting a period at the end of this relationship that had come to an end without issues. After doing this, Yin Bai unfollowed Xiao Nian on Weibo, officially bidding farewell to this person. From that point on, they would go their separate ways.

Xiao Nian had a bright future ahead of her, and she had her own warm house facing the sea.

Yin Bai sighed, mustered her spirits, and prepared to browse some interesting things to divert her deeply distressed emotions. However, after only a few scrolls, a new Weibo post from Zuo Jingyou appeared on her homepage.

It had been posted just a minute ago and read: “Wishing you eternal happiness! @Xiao Nian Nian @Lu Qing.” The attached image showed Xiao Nian and Lu Qing tossing the bridal bouquet, even though Zuo Jingyou wasn’t in the picture, it was evident to anyone with keen eyes that she was at the wedding.

So, when Yin Bai saw this Weibo post, her eyes widened in astonishment.

Wait a minute, when did Zuo Jingyou become so close to these two? She even attended the wedding? Why didn’t Zuo Jingyou tell her about attending the wedding?

Why, why, why?

Numerous question marks swirled in Yin Bai’s mind, and the anger that had just subsided not long ago began to resurface, bit by bit.

Yin Bai raised her hand, clutching her clothes in front of her chest, gnashing her teeth in frustration!

Why, oh why!

Aren’t they good friends? They shared secret signals, traveled together, touched each other, confided in each other! Why didn’t Zuo Jingyou tell her about attending the wedding?

Doesn’t Zuo Jingyou know at all that she would mind?

She clearly… clearly knows herself so well!

Yin Bai was indignant, the more she thought about it, the angrier she became, even considering calling Zuo Jingyou immediately to question her reasons for doing so! Even if there were business collaborations, even if she had a good relationship with Lu Qing’s side, couldn’t she refuse for her sake?

Is she or is she not Zuo Jingyou’s most important friend!

Yin Bai felt her heart ache, bitter, swollen, and painful. After enduring for a while, she couldn’t hold back anymore and sent a message on WeChat to Zuo Jingyou: “Comrade! You’ve betrayed the alliance!”

After a while, Zuo Jingyou sent back three question marks in confusion: “???”

Seeing this message, Yin Bai’s anger flared even more. She no longer wanted to deal with Zuo Jingyou, so she angrily typed another line on her phone: “I don’t want to talk to you anymore!”

She sent this message impulsively, leaving Zuo Jingyou thoroughly puzzled.

Zuo Jingyou held her phone, sitting in the lively banquet scene, contemplating for a while, still not understanding why her friend was in such a bad mood today. Could it be that she wasn’t feeling well?

As she thought about it, she suddenly heard a commotion not far away. Zuo Jingyou looked up and saw Lu Qing leading Xiao Nian over, walking along and toasting the guests with their glasses.

Zuo Jingyou suddenly realized that it was probably because of this that Yin Bai was angry.

She bit her lip and thought for a moment, deciding it would be better to confirm Yin Bai’s feelings first: “Are you angry or something?”

What do you mean ‘are you angry or something’? It’s pretty obvious that she’s angry! Where did your usual sensitivity and thoughtfulness go? Straight woman! Steel-hearted straight woman!

Yin Bai blew at the bangs on her forehead and angrily tapped her phone screen: “What do you think?”

Zuo Jingyou raised her hand, biting the joint of her left index finger, and typed back with one hand: “I thought you had let it go, and this was just an ordinary attendance at a wedding, a kind of business socializing. There’s no need for you to be angry.”

“Besides, didn’t you also send them a congratulatory gift today?”

So infuriating, so infuriating, she’s going to be infuriated by this woman!

Yin Bai gritted her teeth: “Whether I let it go or not, what does that have to do with you not giving me a heads-up before attending my ex’s wedding? More importantly, as a friend, didn’t you owe it to me to say something? If, because of a business engagement, I went to your ex’s wedding with someone else without a word, would you be angry?”

Zuo Jingyou thought about it seriously and felt that if Yin Bai were to attend He Zhiwen and Lin Xiao’s wedding, she wouldn’t feel bothered.

She paused for a moment and replied, “No, it’s not a big deal.”

Yin Bai almost lost her temper in one breath, tapping her phone in frustration: “I will! Because you’re my friend, and I favor you. So, I firmly stand on your side no matter what the reason, and I absolutely won’t maintain any friendly relationship with people who hurt you! Not at all!”

“Because I favor you!”

Yin Bai typed these words forcefully, saying, “I won’t talk to you for a while!”

And she meant it. After sending the message, she blocked Zuo Jingyou’s messages and went downstairs, fuming, to watch a movie.

Zuo Jingyou sat in the lively event but had all her emotions submerged in her conversation with Yin Bai.

Favor? In the adult world, things are mostly gray, and there aren’t such intense emotions or favoritism. People generally try to maintain a superficial relationship, even if they are close, they wouldn’t exhibit such clear love or hatred.

Zuo Jingyou had always thought that although Yin Bai was pure, she understood how to navigate in the world. So at this moment, Yin Bai’s reaction to this matter was truly unexpected for Zuo Jingyou.

It seemed like she was genuinely angry…

It appeared that Yin Bai was acting like a child, being stubborn and temperamental, but Zuo Jingyou didn’t find it bothersome. Instead, she felt a strong sense of guilt welling up from within, making her feel extremely uneasy.

Because Yin Bai had earnestly said, “I favor you.”

What should she do about this? Should she try to appease her?

Zuo Jingyou thought for a moment, biting her index finger, and sent a message to Yin Bai: “Yin Bai… can you please not be angry? Not telling you was wrong on my part as a friend, and I apologize to you.”

Yin Bai didn’t respond.

Next, Zuo Jingyou sent several more messages, but Yin Bai still didn’t respond.

Zuo Jingyou began to feel somewhat worried for no apparent reason. But since she was at someone else’s wedding, it wasn’t appropriate to be on her phone. She could only carry her phone with a sense of unease, and tuck it away.

When the wedding reception came to an end, Zuo Jingyou hastily left the venue. She got into her assistant’s car and immediately called Yin Bai.

The phone rang for a while and was abruptly hung up. Zuo Jingyou listened to the prolonged ringing on the other end, stunned for a while, before muttering softly, “Stubborn little thing…”

That being said, she had provoked this, so aside from soothing, what else could she do? After all, she genuinely cherished this friend.

Yin Bai had been upset for the whole evening, and the next morning, she received a bouquet of flowers at home.

The flowers were delivered by a food delivery guy and were a beautifully arranged bouquet of tulips. When Xiang Qiu brought them to Yin Bai, she also handed over the card that came with the flowers.

Yin Bai let out a soft hum when she saw the bouquet, already guessing that this was probably another one of Zuo Jingyou’s moves. Sure enough, as she opened the card, there was a line written by the florist: “Friendship lasts forever – Zuo.”

Yin Bai held the bouquet in her arms, her long fingers holding the card, muttering to herself, “Even the apology is ghostwritten, trying to calm me down, how presumptuous!”

Despite her words, Yin Bai then placed the flowers on the coffee table, had Xiang Qiu bring her a vase, and meticulously arranged the flowers in it.

After arranging the flowers, she unblocked Zuo Jingyou’s messages, then took a photo and posted it on her Moments with the caption: “Beware of the enemy’s sugar-coated shells!”

Zuo Jingyou saw this post while having lunch and found it rather amusing. She left a comment below: “Are you planning to stay angry forever?”

Yin Bai replied quickly: “Don’t talk to me, you traitor!”

Zuo Jingyou was momentarily speechless, and she smiled softly with gentle eyes, saying, “You’re so petty.”

A grumbling Yin Bai retorted, “Petty, I am! I’ve said enough to you today, and that’s it!”

“……”

And then Zuo Jingyou noticed that Yin Bai truly wasn’t continuing to talk to her. Well, a bouquet of flowers could only say so much; it seemed she would have to send a few more.

Over the next few days, Zuo Jingyou had flowers sent to Yin Bai every day. Sometimes it was jasmine, other times white carnations, forget-me-nots, or bellflowers…

After sending flowers for a week straight and running out of floral options, following the florist’s advice, Zuo Jingyou had a bouquet of lilies sent to Yin Bai.

When Yin Bai received this bouquet, she was filled with questions. A week later, she finally initiated contact with Zuo Jingyou, asking her, “Why did you send me lilies?”

Zuo Jingyou replied quickly, “The florist said they represent pure friendship between friends!”

She spoke a bit too seriously, and Yin Bai stayed silent for a while before sincerely explaining, “Friend, I have to tell you, I’m a lesbian. You should look up what lilies symbolize for gay people.”

Zuo Jingyou listened to her and opened up a search. When she saw the search results, she too fell silent for a moment. She quietly typed a message, earnestly explaining to Yin Bai, “I thought lilies were just a type of flower.”

God, lilies are a type of flower!

Yin Bai poked her screen firmly: “Don’t ever send me lilies again!”

Zuo Jingyou sent her an “OK” gesture in response.

Yin Bai didn’t respond further, and Zuo Jingyou figured her anger had probably subsided. After a while, she poked Yin Bai again and asked, “Little Prince, are you feeling a bit happier today?”

Yin Bai quickly replied, “The Little Prince is not happy.”

Zuo Jingyou felt quite helpless, saying, “I’ve sincerely apologized, can’t you forgive me? At the very least, you should tell me a way that can make you happy.” It’s worth noting that Zuo Jingyou had little experience in consoling people because, among the people she knew, Yin Bai was the only adult “stubborn little thing.”

Yin Bai thought for a moment and told Zuo Jingyou, “If you sincerely apologize, it’s not impossible.”

“I’m going to see 《The Marriage of Figaro》¹ next month, will you accompany me?”

Watching a play together? While her later tasks were quite busy, it wasn’t impossible…

Zuo Jingyou only took three seconds to think and immediately replied with one word: “Okay!”

1. “The Marriage of Figaro,” a comic opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is a timeless classic that blends humor, romance, and social commentary. Set in the 18th century, the story revolves around the complex web of relationships among the staff of a nobleman’s estate, featuring the wily Figaro, his bride-to-be Susanna, and their conniving employer Count Almaviva. The opera explores themes of love, jealousy, and class struggle with wit and charm, making it a beloved masterpiece in the world of opera.