After Being Scummed – Chapter 37

Because of you, gray-blue has a special meaning to me

Yin Bai spent the whole afternoon with Zuo Jingyou in the hospital, and in the evening, Zuo Jingyou finally woke up.

Fever, combined with the exhaustion of the situation, left Zuo Jingyou’s head feeling heavy. She weakly propped herself up and sat up from the bed, subconsciously looking toward the nearby sofa.

Yin Bai, usually a tall person, was now curled up on the sofa, covered with a hospital blanket, resting with her eyes closed. Zuo Jingyou gazed at the back of her head, hesitated for a while, and then decided to lift the blanket, get off the bed, put on the slippers placed nearby, and walk towards Yin Bai on the sofa.

She bypassed the sofa and came to Yin Bai’s side, leaning down to observe her.

Yin Bai was curled up, appearing to be in a deep and peaceful sleep. Her beautiful gray-blue eyes were now closed, only revealing her pretty, long eyelashes.

Zuo Jingyou leaned down and carefully examined Yin Bai’s overly fair face, thinking, “So adorable. She looks even cuter when she’s asleep.”

Perhaps it was a result of her fever, but Zuo Jingyou felt like she was not quite herself at the moment. She watched for a while and then took a few steps to sit across from Yin Bai on the sofa.

Zuo Jingyou curled her knees to the side, placing the weight of her body on the sofa armrest and gently rested her chin on her hand while quietly observing Yin Bai.

Her gaze lingered on Yin Bai’s face for a long time, and Zuo Jingyou looked at the attractive features, idly thinking, “If I get a little closer, maybe I can count Yin Bai’s eyelashes one by one.”

Of course, it might also be an impossible task. After all, Yin Bai had so many eyelashes, and they were thick and dense.

She rested her chin in her hand, at times thinking about Yin Bai’s eyelashes, and at other times wondering why she was here. Lost in her thoughts, she couldn’t help but let a faint smile curve at the corners of her mouth.

Perhaps her gaze lingered for too long, or maybe Yin Bai had had enough sleep. In no time, Zuo Jingyou saw Yin Bai’s long eyelashes gently tremble, and the next moment, her eyelids lifted to reveal those gray-blue eyes that seemed shrouded in mist.

It might have been an illusion, but when Yin Bai opened her eyes, Zuo Jingyou felt like everything in front of her became clearer. As if… something had suddenly become brighter.

Zuo Jingyou gazed at her, the pure and innocent look in her eyes akin to that of a young deer, and involuntarily raised her hand, forming a fist that lightly pressed against her own chest.

After a few seconds, Zuo Jingyou finally smiled and called out to the groggy Yin Bai, “Are you awake?”

Still in a daze, Yin Bai instinctively looked up upon hearing the voice. When she saw Zuo Jingyou sitting across from her, her unfocused gaze suddenly sharpened.

Like the most precise archer finding the bullseye, Yin Bai instantly focused and directed her gaze squarely at Zuo Jingyou, blinking as she asked, “Teacher Zuo?”

As she spoke, Yin Bai quickly got up from the couch, not even reaching for her cane, and hopped on one foot to stand in front of Zuo Jingyou, full of enthusiasm. She asked, “Is your head still spinning? Are you hungry? Are you cold? Do you still have a fever?”

She fired off several questions in a row, and before Zuo Jingyou could answer, she watched Yin Bai bounce over to her, using one hand to support herself on the couch’s armrest and the other to lean down and check Zuo Jingyou’s temperature.

“I’m fine…”

Zuo Jingyou hadn’t finished speaking when Yin Bai’s tall figure pressed down on her. Soon, Yin Bai’s warm palm landed on her forehead, and she said, “Let me check your temperature.”

As Yin Bai spoke, she earnestly checked Zuo Jingyou’s forehead a couple of times.

Zuo Jingyou tilted her head, looking at Yin Bai above her, and for some reason, her heart skipped a beat. Unconsciously, she tightened her grip on her own hand, gazing at Yin Bai’s beautiful jawline, feeling like all her words were stuck in her throat, unable to be spoken.

This posture was just too ambiguous…

As Zuo Jingyou thought this, she couldn’t help but lift her head to look at Yin Bai’s face again. She couldn’t help but think that Yin Bai was really tall and large, almost capable of encircling her.

Zuo Jingyou’s mind was filled with chaotic thoughts, but in no time, Yin Bai withdrew her hand, leaned back on the couch, and sighed with relief, “Alright, your forehead isn’t as hot now, so the fever should have subsided.”

Perhaps because she had just woken up, Yin Bai’s voice was much softer than usual. She propped herself on the armrest of Zuo Jingyou’s couch, leaned against her, and let out a tired yawn. She mumbled sleepily, “You’re nearly in your forties, after all. Even though you’re busy with work, you still need to take good care of yourself.”

Zuo Jingyou looked up, observing the teardrops glistening at the corners of Yin Bai’s eyes due to sleepiness, as well as her face that looked tender due to her excessively fair skin. She paused briefly and emphasized, “I’m in my early thirties, not almost forty.”

Yin Bai yawned in a half-hearted manner, sounding very tired as she said, “Alright, alright, you’re in your early thirties, but it’s still close to forty.”

Zuo Jingyou let out a hum and looked at Yin Bai with some annoyance, saying, “Don’t call me almost forty; you’re so annoying!” Age-related topics were a major taboo for a woman of her age who hadn’t yet fully come to terms with it!

Yin Bai quickly lowered her gaze to look at Zuo Jingyou, who had a puffed-up, pouty expression that resembled a pufferfish. Yin Bai couldn’t help but smile. She reached out and lightly poked Zuo Jingyou’s face, saying with a mischievous grin, “Alright, alright. With that look, you don’t seem like someone in their early thirties anymore. You look younger than your daughter.”

Zuo Jingyou resisted for a moment but eventually couldn’t help but chuckle. She tilted her head, looking up at Yin Bai with an amused expression, and asked, “How young do I look?”

Yin Bai tilted her head for a moment, thinking, “Hmm… like a four-year-old.”

Zuo Jingyou covered her lips and laughed softly, saying, “That’s a bit of an exaggeration!”

Yin Bai extended her index finger and playfully waved it in front of Zuo Jingyou. She said in a serious tone, “No, it’s not. With the way you’re handling your illness, not properly staying in the hospital, and acting like this when you have a fever, except for not throwing tantrums, you’re really not much different from a four-year-old.”

Zuo Jingyou felt a bit embarrassed by her words but also remembered her own difficult-to-express state when she was sick. She curled up on the couch, hugging her knees, and with a somewhat evasive look in her eyes, she said, “It’s not that exaggerated.”

Yin Bai lightly chuckled, poking her on the head, “It is.”

Zuo Jingyou winced, softly hissing in pain, and then looked at Yin Bai with a hint of annoyance, “I told you, you don’t have to take care of me. If you hadn’t taken care of me today, we would already be in York.”

Yin Bai glanced at Zuo Jingyou with an expression that said, “What nonsense are you talking about?” She said, “You’re in this condition, how could I not take care of you? And, can you please be more responsible for yourself? You’re sick, and you insist on flying with me. You also have jetlag tendencies. I’m afraid you’d collapse before we even reach York.”

Feeling guilty, Zuo Jingyou said softly, “It’s not that exaggerated. I’ve worked while sick before, and I managed to pull through, didn’t I?”

Yin Bai found Zuo Jingyou’s attitude problematic and was getting frustrated. She huffily blew her bangs away from her forehead and said seriously to Zuo Jingyou, “What happened in the past is in the past. We were going to the theater, not rushing to a shoot. Do you really need to push yourself this hard?”

Zuo Jingyou sighed and gazed at Yin Bai with a soft look in her eyes, saying, “Yes, I do. It’s because you said that accompanying you to the theater is the only way you’d forgive me. It took me so long to earn a chance to be forgiven, with all those flowers I gave you.”

For a moment, Yin Bai felt a sharp pang in her heart. She looked at Zuo Jingyou on the couch, her long hair flowing, her face radiant, and her figure delicate, and for a moment, she was at a loss for words.

She could only reach out and flick Zuo Jingyou’s forehead forcefully with her finger.

Zuo Jingyou winced and covered her forehead with her hand, looking at Yin Bai in annoyance, “Why did you flick my forehead again?”

Yin Bai gritted her teeth and said, “If I don’t flick, how would I know if your head is full of water or not?”

Yin Bai tapped the armrest beside Zuo Jingyou and looked down at her, saying angrily, “You’re usually a pretty sharp person. How come you can’t tell if I’m serious or joking? Oh, what I say is what I mean, isn’t it?”

Zuo Jingyou, hugging her knees and looking up, gazed at Yin Bai quietly, “I can tell with other people, but when you say something, I can’t quite figure it out. Because every word you say makes it seem so serious.”

Moreover, Yin Bai had used the words “partial to,” and when someone is the object of someone’s partiality, Zuo Jingyou found it impossible to dismiss what was being said.

Zuo Jingyou tilted her head, propped her chin up with one hand, and gazed at Yin Bai with gentle eyes, “You’re very special. I’ve never been friends with someone like you before. You don’t seek any material things that are commonly desired, but instead exchange this friendship with sincerity. It’s rare among people of our age.”

“You have no idea how worried I was. What if I couldn’t coax you properly, and I lost your friendship?”

Zuo Jingyou sighed, sat up straight, and looked at Yin Bai very seriously. “Just as you said, you told me you ‘partially favored’ me, so in my heart, you’re also a special friend. Therefore… anything related to you is important to me.”

Yin Bai had grown up not receiving such a clear and obvious preference from anyone other than her family. It was the first time someone had treated her as special, as someone unique in their world.

Stepping back, Yin Bai placed her hand over her heart, looking at Zuo Jingyou with a surprised expression. “If you put it that way, I’m truly flattered.”

Zuo Jingyou saw her reaction and couldn’t help but lower her gaze and smile. She turned her head to look at Yin Bai, and her eyes seemed to sparkle with countless tiny starlights, exuding immense tenderness. “You, you’re really… Can I only allow you to be so good to me, but not allow myself to respond this seriously?”

Yin Bai waved her hand, hopped back onto her own couch with one leg, and sat on her couch, separated by a coffee table, as she locked eyes with Zuo Jingyou. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that, after growing up, it’s the first time I’ve heard someone ‘confess’ to me so seriously within a relationship.”

To avoid any misunderstandings, Yin Bai added, “By ‘confess,’ I mean in a relationship where someone analyzes their feelings for me and explicitly tells me that I am important.”

“This is a very… very rare experience.”

Yin Bai looked earnestly at Zuo Jingyou, then said, “Thank you, Zuo Jingyou. Thank you very much.”

In that moment, Yin Bai truly felt Zuo Jingyou’s “care.” For someone like her, it was indeed a rare and precious experience.

Yin Bai looked at Zuo Jingyou and said very seriously, “You’ve tamed me, so from now on, every September 6th holds significance for me. Whenever that day comes, I will remember it as the birthday of my best friend. I will sincerely appreciate that you were born in this world and that I had the chance to meet you.”

Zuo Jingyou paused for a moment and then smiled, “So, what should I say? What words should I use to respond to you? Should I say that everything deep and blue, be it the sky or the ocean, holds a special meaning in my heart? Because when I see these things, they remind me of your eyes.”

“Those beautiful, gray-blue eyes are a unique color in my life.”

Yin Bai covered her face with her hand and mumbled, “You’re making me feel so embarrassed with your words!”

Zuo Jingyou looked at her with an exasperated expression, “You started it. I’m just responding to you.”

Yin Bai dropped her hand, pouting slightly, “Alright, just this once. Don’t say things like that in the future. I’m getting goosebumps.”

Zuo Jingyou nodded in agreement, “You too, don’t say it again.”

Both of them smiled and exchanged a knowing look.

After their conversation, Zuo Jingyou remembered their two assistants and asked Yin Bai where they were.

Yin Bai explained, “Because you’re not feeling well and need some nutritious food, I sent Zhang Yu and Yang Yi home to bring you dinner. If everything goes as planned, they should arrive around 6 o’clock.”

Yin Bai paused for a moment and suddenly felt it was a good opportunity, so she gathered her courage and spoke to Zuo Jingyou, “By the way, I asked Yang Yi about your schedule, and the shooting is quite packed. After all, it’s your film debut, and it’s natural for you to be concerned. But you’ve lost a lot of weight recently, and without a personal assistant for your daily life, I was thinking, how about borrowing Zhang Yu for a while?”

“Zhang Yu is very considerate and won’t disrupt your work. I guarantee that you won’t go hungry no matter where you are, and you won’t get sick from overworking. You can use her for now, and then we can look for a suitable personal assistant later, how does that sound?”

Zuo Jingyou was momentarily surprised and blinked, asking, “If you lend Zhang Yu to me, what will you do?”

Yin Bai shrugged nonchalantly and said, “I still have Xiang Qiu, I’m not limited to just one personal assistant. Besides, I asked Zhang Yu for her opinion before, and she’s willing to accompany you on business trips.”

“Since she sticks to me every day and it’s getting annoying, and she’s closer to Yang Yi, why not let her accompany you? What do you think?”

Zuo Jingyou thought seriously for a moment and said, “I’ll consider it.”

Yin Bai smiled and said to Zuo Jingyou, “Make sure you consider it carefully.”