After Being Scummed – Chapter 11

by Little Panda

Thank You

After murmuring those words to herself, Yin Bai realized she had said a bit too much. She immediately fell silent, leaning against the wall with her cane, and said no more.

Zuo Jingyou stood beside her, holding back for a long while before she managed to force down the surging tears.

Crying in front of someone she barely knew always brought a certain inexplicable awkwardness. Zuo Jingyou tilted her head back, using the handkerchief Yin Bai had given her to blot away the excess tears, then looked at Yin Bai with reddened eyes, somewhat embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Chairman Yin. That was embarrassing.”

Thinking of her own experience from just over three months ago, Yin Bai could well understand Zuo Jingyou’s situation. She pressed her lips together and tried to respond as naturally as she could. “It’s fine. I’ve been there too.”

Zuo Jingyou quickly understood what Yin Bai meant. She dried her tears and offered a smile. “All the same, thank you, Chairman Yin.”

Yin Bai waved her hand dismissively. “You’re welcome.”

Zuo Jingyou lifted the bag of storybooks in her hand, a faint smile on her lips. “And thank you for these, too, Chairman Yin.”

Yin Bai glanced at her, hesitating. “Um… you don’t have to thank me for that, either. The little one climbing over my wall… that was actually my fault.”

Zuo Jingyou looked at her in some surprise. Yin Bai took a deep breath and summoned her courage. “It’s just… they were playing ball and being really noisy, always coming over and bothering me. After I scolded them a few times, they didn’t dare ring the doorbell to come retrieve their things anymore.”

Zuo Jingyou understood. “Oh, well, that was their fault, then. Even so, they shouldn’t have been climbing walls.”

Yin Bai nodded in agreement. “True. Safety comes first.”

Zuo Jingyou smiled, her eyes very gentle. “So I still have to thank you, Chairman Yin.”

Being thanked several times in a row made Yin Bai a little awkward. She raised her cane and tapped it absently against the floor—tap tap. “I told you, no need to thank me. This is my apology.”

Zuo Jingyou nodded. She raised her gaze, studying Yin Bai’s striking, exotic gray-blue eyes, and after a moment went on, “Then I still have to thank you, Chairman Yin, for the film project.”

“Thank you for investing in my film, Chairman Yin.”

Yin Bai looked at Zuo Jingyou, startled. Zuo Jingyou blinked at her with a gentle smile. “Thank you for your faith in me, Chairman Yin.”

Yin Bai lowered her eyes, feeling a bit abashed. She wasn’t very good at polite pleasantries. She just tapped her cane nervously—tap tap tap—and said somewhat shyly, “Um… so… I wish you, Miss Zuo, success as Director Zuo. Hope the film’s a hit and makes me some money.”

Zuo Jingyou gave a soft smile. “That’s very down-to-earth of you, Chairman Yin.”

Yin Bai nodded earnestly. “Of course. I actually quite enjoy the feeling of making money.”

Seeing that Zuo Jingyou’s mood had stabilized enough for her to joke around, Yin Bai felt a bit relieved. She straightened up with her cane and began to say goodbye. “I’m heading back now. Go in and check on the little one. Goodbye.”

Yin Bai walked toward the elevator with her cane. Zuo Jingyou watched her retreating figure, took an instinctive step forward, and called after her. “Chairman Yin…”

Yin Bai turned her head, looking at her with some puzzlement.

Zuo Jingyou smiled and said very gently, “Thank you for today, Chairman Yin. Thank you for everything. Make sure you take good care of yourself when you get home—remember to take your medicine, drink plenty of water, get lots of rest, and recover soon.”

“Mm, I will.” Yin Bai nodded and limped into the elevator with her cane. Once inside, she carefully mulled over Zuo Jingyou’s words, feeling like something was off.

A moment later, when Yin Bai stepped out of the elevator and happened to see a young mother leading her sick son along, nagging him to drink water and take his medicine, it suddenly dawned on her what demeanor Zuo Jingyou had just adopted.

Damn it!

Zuo Jingyou had actually used a doting mother’s manner—the kind used on children—on her!

Had her happy childlike essence been seen through? She was clearly still wearing a thick adult’s skin, the same age as Zuo Jingyou!

Thinking this, Yin Bai decided that Zuo Jingyou was truly a woman who could see right through people. Tapping her cane—tap tap tap—she marched out of the hospital building in one breath and fled home in a flustered panic.

Perhaps because of the heavy cold, after taking her medicine at home, Yin Bai fell into a drowsy sleep.

The medicine and her immune system worked simultaneously to drive out the virus, leaving her in a groggy haze.

Wrapped in her soft blanket, Yin Bai was drenched in sweat. Between waking and dreaming, she saw many strange and vivid visions. One moment it was the way Xiao Nian looked when they first met; the next, it was the sight of Xiao Nian letting go of her hand and running toward Lu Qing.

Half-asleep, she seemed to return to the past. A time when she was sick, and Xiao Nian stayed by her side, constantly wiping the cold sweat from her forehead.

In that genuine, tender care, Yin Bai thought she could feel a trace of love. She reached out uncontrollably, gripping Xiao Nian’s wrist tightly, and murmured, “Xiao Nian… I love… I love you…”

The words she had never said, the words that came too late—those words were “I love you.”

Yin Bai’s hand clenched tight, and the Xiao Nian in her grasp dissolved into illusion, leaving her lying alone on the empty bed. In that instant, Yin Bai felt as if she were plunging into an abyss, and she jolted awake.

In the darkness, Yin Bai opened her eyes, enveloped by boundless loneliness and cold. She turned her head to look at the empty space beside her and let out a sigh of resignation.

Xiao Nian was gone. She would never come back.

With that thought, Yin Bai reached up and clicked on the room light. She pushed herself out of bed, grabbed the cane by her bedside, and stumbled toward the bathroom.

After washing off the sticky sweat, Yin Bai settled comfortably into the large bathtub, picked up the phone she had left in the bathroom, and sent a message to Jin Xiangyu.

Ever since Xiao Nian left, Yin Bai was once again without anyone to look after her. With Zhang Yu on vacation, she finally realized how inconvenient her daily life was.

So Yin Bai instructed Jin Xiangyu to have HR help her find a live-in caregiver and a life assistant. Normally, she hadn’t thought there was anything wrong with having only Zhang Yu by her side. Now that Zhang Yu wasn’t there, Yin Bai felt that having two assistants was quite necessary.

Otherwise, as Jin Xiangyu had put it, without anyone watching over her, she could die one day and no one would even know.

Jin Xiangyu received the notice and quickly arranged for someone to find candidates for Yin Bai.

After taking care of that, Yin Bai opened a social media app and happily scrolled through Weibo.

But when she checked the trending topics, she found that #ZuoJingyouDivorce sat at the very top, tagged with a “viral” marker.

Yin Bai let out an “Oh-ho!” and raised an eyebrow as she tapped the topic. She immediately saw the divorce statement posted by Zuo Jingyou Studio. When she read the line “Miss Zuo Jingyou and Mr. He Zhiwen finalized their divorce on April 17, 20xx,” Yin Bai couldn’t help but smile and briskly tapped the like button.

Yes, this was exactly right! The date of the divorce, written out in black and white. Whoever’s responsibility it was should bear it—not a single one should be spared!

That night, the news of Zuo Jingyou’s divorce and that Lin Xiao was the other man¹ spread across the entire internet. In an instant, both He Zhiwen and Lin Xiao’s reputations were in ruins.

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Starting today, the chapters will be a bit shorter. Up until the 25th when we go VIP, I’ll aim for six thousand words a day (maybe).