After Being Scummed – Chapter 15

by Little Panda

Oh ho, Zuo Jingyou.

On Saturday, the two little kids from next door finally had some free time and came over to play with Yin Bai.

When Yin Bai opened the main door to welcome the two little kids in, she feigned displeasure, saying, “Are you two so idle? Don’t you have to go to school?”

Wenwen, hugging a box of Flying Chess¹, trotted her little legs beside Yin Bai and said, “I’m in second grade now, and school lets out on weekends. Tongtong is still in kindergarten, but she can choose not to go on weekends, so we came over to play with you la.”

Wenwen said a very long stretch of words all in one breath, then she looked up carefully at Yin Bai, “Fairy Sister, are you perhaps not free today?”

Before Yin Bai could answer, Tongtong, like a crosstalk comedy act², quickly replied, “Of course Fairy Sister is free, otherwise how could she open the door to welcome us?”

Tongtong tilted her head up and gave Yin Bai a sweet smile, “Isn’t that right, Fairy Sister.”

Yin Bai thought to herself, *this little girl is quite clever.* She reached out a finger, tapped Tongtong’s cheek, and replied with a smile, “Mhm, Little Smarty-pants is right.”

Wenwen, still hugging the Flying Chess, breathed a sigh of relief, “That’s good, that’s good.” She even held up the Flying Chess and said to Yin Bai, “I brought a toy over today, specially to play with you, let’s play together ah!”

In the past, when she and Tongtong were at home, it was always just the two of them playing games. Now it was different; a big friend lived next door, so they had one more playmate, and there were many more things they could play.

Yin Bai raised an eyebrow, not pointing out the fact that “it’s clearly because you don’t have other little kids to play with that you came to find me.” She nodded and readily accepted Wenwen’s proposal, “Okay, then what would you like to eat? I have lots of tasty things at home: little cakes, pudding, ice cream… I have everything oh!”

Tongtong’s eyes lit up, and she exchanged a glance with Wenwen, then they both looked up at Yin Bai, “Can we have all of them?”

Yin Bai flicked a finger on each of the two children’s foreheads, “Little greedy-guts, each person can only choose one!”

“Okay then.” Wenwen drooped her head, finally choosing ice cream.

Yin Bai turned to look at Tongtong and asked her, “What about you, Little Cutie, what do you want?”

Her Little Cutie hesitated for a moment, then quickly gave an answer, “Pudding then!”

After her little companions placed their orders, Yin Bai sent a message to Song Qing, who lived in and managed the household, asking her to prepare the refreshments and send them up to the second-floor reception hall. She then called Zhang Yu over, and the four of them happily started playing Flying Chess together.

As it turned out, after Zhang Yu arrived, she remembered Xiang Qiu, who had been at loose ends recently, and so called her over too. A group of three adults and two children ended up gathered on the second floor, playing Flying Chess for the whole afternoon.

This was a rather friendly beginning. From then on, the children from next door would come over to find her every few days³ to play.

Yin Bai had trouble with her legs and couldn’t play sports-type games with them, so she usually played puzzle-type games with them. When she was bored, she even taught the children Go⁴, Chinese Chess⁵, and so on and so forth.

Playing with friends was a way to quickly dispel negative emotions. Plus, Yin Bai’s energy levels were actually similar to the children’s, so everyone had a great time playing together.

It was just tough on Zhang Yu and Xiang Qiu, who had to accompany this group in their antics. After more than a month, they actually felt more tired than if they had been on a business trip.

Of course, Yin Bai didn’t always just play games with the little kids; sometimes she would also watch cartoons with her little companions.

To be able to watch cartoons with her little companions, Yin Bai even had someone install a television with a super big screen in the second-floor reception hall.

Wenwen and Tongtong introduced her to *My Little Pony*⁶ and *Peppa Pig*, while Yin Bai shared her favorite animated movies with them, like *My Neighbor Totoro*⁷, and some musical version of *The Little Prince* or the like.

Through their interactions, Yin Bai discovered that her two little companions’ spoken English was quite good—after all, they attended very expensive bilingual schools and also had private tutors at home.

Adhering to the principle of not being a bad influence on her little companions, Yin Bai started communicating with them in English when they played together. Besides English, because the two children had heard Yin Bai occasionally recite lines from the French version of *The Little Prince*, they also became interested in that language.

Since she was idle anyway, Yin Bai also took the time to teach them French.

It’s said that interest is the best teacher⁸, and five or six years old is the prime time for children to learn languages. The two children progressed rapidly, and were soon able to carry out some daily conversations with Yin Bai.

Leading her little companions to become even more outstanding gave Yin Bai a full sense of accomplishment, and she gradually emerged from the shadow of her heartbreak.

In the blink of an eye, the hot summer passed. Soon, the autumn tiger⁹ swept across the sky, chasing the cold autumn air, and quietly descended upon the city.

In mid-December, Yin Bai, who had been hiding alone in her den licking her wounds, finally stepped out of her villa once her wounds had slowly healed.

The winters in Haicheng were actually very warm, and today was no exception, being a brilliantly sunny day. Thanks to this good weather, Yin Bai, who hadn’t really wanted to go out, eventually took a step out of her nest.

Today, she was going to attend the wedding of a wealthy man’s daughter in Haicheng. This wealthy man’s family was in the shipping business; generally speaking, he was a relatively conscientious capitalist, so Yin Bai usually quite liked cooperating with him.

The wedding was held at Songshan Gongguan¹⁰ in the East District. When Yin Bai’s car arrived at Songshan Gongguan, she saw from afar that a red carpet had been laid out in front of the mansion, and there was a large crowd of media reporters, holding an array of cameras¹¹, wildly snapping pictures of everyone who got out of a car.

Sitting in the car, Yin Bai looked at the scene outside, tightened her grip on the cane in her hand, and frowned unhappily, “What’s going on? Why are there so many reporters?”

Xiang Qiu, sitting opposite her, pushed up her glasses and immediately explained, “It’s like this, Miss Li¹² is a very famous celebrity chaser¹³. Today’s wedding is hers with Chen Ran¹⁴, a second-tier actor in the entertainment circle who has won a Best Actor award¹⁵.”

“To make his daughter happy, Mr. Li¹⁶ invited half the entertainment industry over.”

Yin Bai frowned and thought for a moment; it seemed she had heard something about this. Rich Man Li’s¹⁷ daughter was an out-and-out¹⁸ rabid fan¹⁹, and had previously even asked someone to arrange a private meeting with Xiao Nian.

Yin Bai nodded with understanding, “Mm, I remember. Later, contact these media outlets. If they’ve taken any photos of me, they must be deleted.”

Xiang Qiu, adjusting her glasses, said, “Understood.”

The car soon drove up to the red carpet. Xiang Qiu quickly got out of the car and opened the car door for Yin Bai. Yin Bai placed her cane down from inside the car and, leaning on it for support, got out.

The moment the cane appeared, the cameras on site paused for an instant. By the time Yin Bai had fully emerged from the car, the paused clicking sounds of photography surged towards Yin Bai like a crazed counter-attacking tidal wave.

Yin Bai stood up straight, and seeing these camera flashes rushing towards her, she was completely stunned.

What the hell²⁰, she wasn’t a celebrity, what were they photographing her for?

Yin Bai’s face fell. Leaning on her cane, she lowered her head and walked forward with determined taps—*tok, tok, tok*.

But she had barely taken two steps when she heard a commotion behind her.

“Zuo Jingyou! Zuo Jingyou!”

“It’s Jingyou-jie! Jingyou-jie is here too!”

“Mr. Li has such great face²¹ ah!”

“Quick, shoot, quick, shoot!”

A wave of hushed whispers rose from behind. Yin Bai stopped her cane and turned her head to look back.

It was seen that less than ten meters behind her, Zuo Jingyou, dressed in a white blouse and a dark green skirt, stepped out of a car in high heels.

She held a small, matching handbag, her long hair was pinned up, revealing a necklace on her beautiful neck, as well as earrings hanging from her earlobes.

Yin Bai watched her calmly walk before the countless camera lenses, wearing a perfectly appropriate smile, and cordially responding to every excited media person.

Oh ho, Rich Man Li really does have a lot of face oh!

As Yin Bai thought this, looking at Zuo Jingyou’s superstar²², elegant and poised appearance, she raised a long eyebrow, leaned on her cane, turned around, and walked away.

Just as Yin Bai turned, Zuo Jingyou looked up and saw her retreating figure with the cane, and her eyes instantly lit up. She quickened her pace, passed through the surrounding layers of media people, and walked straight towards her.

The author has something to say:

She’s here, she’s here, she’s here!

Okay, I forgot today that I hadn’t uploaded! Tomorrow will be the same as usual.

Ahhhhhh, red envelopes for the first fifty friends who leave a comment oh!

LP: Re-translated on May 09, 2025

Footnotes

飛行棋 | fēixíng qí | A popular Chinese board game, similar to Ludo or Parcheesi.
講相聲一樣 | jiǎng xiàngsheng yīyàng | Xiangsheng is a traditional Chinese comedic performing art, typically involving a duo engaging in witty banter.
隔三差五 | gé sān chā wǔ | Lit. “separate three, differ five”; Meaning: at intervals, every few days, frequently.
圍棋 | wéiqí | A strategic board game originating in China.
象棋 | xiàngqí | A strategic board game, also known as Chinese chess.
彩虹小馬 | Cǎihóng Xiǎomǎ | Lit. “Rainbow Little Horse,” the common Chinese title for *My Little Pony*.
龍貓 | Lóngmāo | Lit. “Dragon Cat,” the common Chinese title for Studio Ghibli’s *My Neighbor Totoro*.
興趣是最好的老師 | xìngqù shì zuì hǎo de lǎoshī | A common saying emphasizing that genuine interest facilitates learning.
秋老虎 | qiū lǎohǔ | A period of hot weather in autumn after the summer heat has subsided.
松山公館 | Sōngshān Gōngguǎn | A proper name, likely a manor or high-end venue. “Gongguan” means mansion or official residence.
□□短炮 | Chángqiāng duǎnpào (censored) | The source uses “□□短炮,” a common self-censorship for 長槍短炮 (chángqiāng duǎnpào), lit. “long guns and short cannons,” referring to the variety of telephoto and standard camera lenses used by paparazzi or press photographers.
李小姐 | Lǐ xiǎojie | Miss Li. “Xiaojie” is a common title for young, unmarried women.
追星人 | zhuīxīng rén | Lit. “star-chasing person”; someone who is an avid fan of celebrities.
陳燃 | Chén Rán
影帝 | yǐngdì | Lit. “film emperor”; a title for a Best Actor award winner.
李先生 | Lǐ xiānsheng | Mr. Li. “Xiansheng” is a common title for men.
李富豪 | Lǐ Fùháo | “Fuhua” means wealthy person or tycoon.
不折不扣 | bùzhé-bùkòu | Lit. “not discounted, not compromised”; Meaning: through and through, one hundred percent, out-and-out.
追星狗 | zhuīxīng gǒu | Lit. “star-chasing dog”; a derogatory or self-deprecating term for an obsessive fan, similar to “stan” but often with a more negative connotation depending on context. Here, it emphasizes her fanaticism.
搞什麽鬼 | gǎo shénme guǐ | Lit. “doing what ghost?”; An exclamation of annoyance, confusion, or frustration, similar to “What the hell?” or “What on earth?”.
好大的面子 | hǎo dà de miànzi | “Mianzi” refers to social standing, prestige, or “face.” This phrase means someone has a lot of influence or commands great respect, enough to attract important people.
萬衆巨星 | wànzhòng jùxīng | Lit. “ten-thousand-crowd-giant-star”; A superstar adored by the masses.

Footnotes

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