After Being Scummed – Chapter 20
by Little PandaAmazing, Zuo Jingyou.
It had clearly been almost a year since Xiao Nian had left her. Yet, seeing Lu Qing standing before her now, Yin Bai couldn’t help but recall the sourness, unwillingness, and subtle anger of that time.
She didn’t know if Lu Qing knew about her true relationship with Xiao Nian, nor did she care how Xiao Nian would evaluate her, and she certainly didn’t want to bother with Lu Qing’s reasons for inviting her to the wedding.
Was it truly as Lu Qing said, a sincere invitation because she had helped Xiao Nian a great deal? Or was it the current partner, the ultimate winner, coming to show off to her, the fake ex-girlfriend?
None of these reasons mattered in Yin Bai’s heart.
What mattered was that Yin Bai had thought that after so long, she would have let it go, but in reality, she hadn’t.
Not only had she not let it go, but her sourness, unwillingness, and anger hadn’t diminished one bit.
She had never so profoundly realized what a petty1 person she was when it came to relationships. She wasn’t carefree; she hadn’t received preferential love, so whether facing Xiao Nian or Lu Qing, the only thing she could do was rage impotently.
She evenβ¦
She couldn’t even bring herself to hurt Xiao Nian or Lu Qing.
Yin Bai gripped the cane in her hand tightly, forcing back the surging sourness and anger in her chest. She squeezed out a smile and said nonchalantly, “Is that so? That’s really great. However, I might have to go out for a conference in February, but since it’s Xiao Nian’s and your wedding, I’d naturally be very happy to attend.”
Her tone was more like that of an adult than usual, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Remember to send me an invitation. Even if I can’t make it in person, I’ll send you a wedding gift.”
Lu Qing pursed her lips, her tone sincere, “Thank you for gracing us with your presence, Director Yin.” After speaking, Lu Qing turned to look at Zuo Jingyou, “I also hope Teacher Zuo can attend my wedding.”
Zuo Jingyou smiled faintly. “Then, congratulations in advance.” As a third party, Zuo Jingyou couldn’t really comment, so she just offered a polite remark.
Yin Bai’s dissatisfaction reached its peak. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she started to see her guests out. “Talk later then?”
“Okay, Director Yin.”
Once her objective was achieved, Lu Qing turned and left efficiently. Yin Bai stood in place, her cane subconsciously following Lu Qing’s departing figure, watching her merge into the crowd. The first thought in her mind was whether Lu Qing, after turning away, went to find Xiao Nian.
After all, Miss Li was a fan of Xiao Nian; it was perfectly normal for her wedding to invite Xiao Nian.
Realizing this possibility, Yin Bai immediately withdrew her gaze and turned to look in another direction. Even though she desperately wanted to see Xiao Nian, once she understood that the Xiao Nian with Lu Qing was not her Xiao Nian, she felt too sad to face it.
Standing beside her, Zuo Jingyou took all of this in. Looking at Yin Bai’s suddenly smile-less face, she asked with some concern, “Are you okay?”
Yin Bai sighed, turned to glance at her new friend, her eyes filled with helplessness. “What if I’m not? I can’t just rush up and beat her up, can I? This is the wedding of Mr. Li’s beloved daughter. If I make a big scene, will I still be able to do business!”
Yin Bai puffed up her cheeks, clenching her fists angrily. “Damn it! If I had known earlier, I should have found someone to put a sack over her head and drag her into an alley to beat her up! She’s too infuriating!”
Zuo Jingyou understood very well that Yin Bai was just venting. She couldn’t help but chuckle2, not knowing what to say. “Ahβ¦ wellβ¦ hitting people is generally not good.”
Yin Bai glanced at Zuo Jingyou and sighed deeply. “Of course, I know I can’t do such a thingβ¦ I’m justβ¦ I’m just very angry⦔
Zuo Jingyou could empathize with this point. She nodded and said, “En, I can understand. Back then, I also really wanted toβ¦ find that person, to vent my emotionsβ¦ but⦔
Zuo Jingyou paused, then said with some hesitation, “My situation is different from yours.” After all, it was He Zhiwen who had cheated first. No matter how angry she was, she knew the biggest fault lay with her own husband.
As for Yin Baiβ¦ she didn’t fully understand the whole story, so it wasn’t appropriate for her to comment.
Yin Bai leaned on her cane, looked up at the azure sky, and said gloomily, “Yes ah, we’re different.”
He Zhiwen once loved you so deeply, but Xiao Nian never loved me.
Xiao Nian had even gotten together with Lu Qing several months after their contract ended. Xiao Nian⦠she had actually given her enough dignity.
She couldn’t even say it was Xiao Nian’s fault, that Xiao Nian cheated, that Xiao Nian breached the contract! Because Xiao Nian simply didn’t love her.
Is not loving someone a mistake? Is not responding to someone’s love a mistake, ma3?
Yin Bai understood everything in her heart, she just couldn’t accept it, couldn’t accept why she wasn’t the one who was favored.
Thinking of this, Yin Bai took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She shrugged her shoulders and turned to Zuo Jingyou. “Ma4β¦ actually, I can understand her actions. If I could marry someone I really liked, I would definitely do something even more outrageous than her.”
“I would invite all my lover’s exes, have them sit side-by-side to fill a table, then customize special souvenirs for them, and then, under their envious, jealous, and hateful gazes, walk into the marriage hall with her.”
“It’s just human nature5, ma, I get it, I get it.”
Zuo Jingyou looked at her smile that found joy amidst suffering, and her heart also relaxed a bit. Her eyes curved as she looked at Yin Bai, smiling as she asked her, “So, you mean you’re going to attend their wedding?”
Yin Bai went pfft. “In your dreams! That’s the one thing that’s absolutely impossible!”
Her level of enlightenment wasn’t that high yet; she couldn’t yet sincerely wish happiness for the lover who had left her and her current partner. But if Xiao Nian left her and didn’t find happiness, she wouldn’t be happy either.
The best approach was to turn a blind eye.
Zuo Jingyou nodded, indicating she understood her approach, and then suggested, “Then, should we continue eating something sweet now to change into a better mood?”
Yin Bai tapped her cane a few times, tok-tok-tok, pondered for a moment, and then said decisively and efficiently, “Yes!”
Zuo Jingyou smiled and replied, “Okay, then let’s go find some tasty food.”
She started taking Yin Bai around to try snacks again. While tasting, she thought, Yin Bai is much like Tongtong, super easy to coax, no wonder Yin Bai can chat so well with little kids.
At four in the afternoon, the wedding ceremony began on time. The person next to Yin Bai and Zuo Jingyou swapped places, and Zuo Jingyou sat beside her.
It was at this moment that she saw Xiao Nian again.
Xiao Nian and Lu Qing’s seats were in the same row as Zuo Jingyou’s, only Zuo Jingyou was on the left, and they were on the right, with five or six people in between.
Upon spotting Xiao Nian, Yin Bai became absent-minded6 again, her gaze uncontrollably drifting towards Xiao Nian’s side. Xiao Nian and Lu Qing were close together, seemingly whispering something. Perhaps Lu Qing had said something happy to her, as Yin Bai clearly saw a bright smile appear on Xiao Nian’s beautiful face.
The moment she saw the smile on Xiao Nian’s face, Yin Bai started bubbling with jealousy. She thought, Xiao Nian would never smile at me so coquettishly.
Detestable Lu Qing, detestable!
Perhaps it was jealousy that made Yin Bai exude the aura of a bitter woman, making Zuo Jingyou somewhat unable to look directly at her. When Yin Bai’s gaze passed over her for the fifth time, looking pitifully like a small puppy towards Lu Qing and Xiao Nian, Zuo Jingyou finally couldn’t bear it any longer7 and reached out, blocking Yin Bai’s line of sight.
Yin Bai was stunned by the fair, slender, and long hand that suddenly appeared before her eyes. She glanced sideways at Zuo Jingyou beside her and mumbled softly, “What are you doing?”
Zuo Jingyou said with particular helplessness, “I suggest it’s better if you don’t look anymore. Looking too muchβ¦ can easily lead to heartache.”
Yin Bai was dissatisfied, but she also knew Zuo Jingyou was right. She awkwardly said, “Oh,” turned her gaze back, and straightened her posture.
Soon, the wedding ceremony was completed, and the bride kissed the groom. With that, it was time for the final step of the ceremony: the bride tossing the bouquet.
All the unmarried men and women present stood up and started to vie for the bouquet.
Yin Bai had difficulty with her leg and was too lazy to participate in such activities, so she sat motionless in her seat.
But while she had leg trouble, others were able-bodied. And so, over there, Lu Qing and Xiao Nian also rose with the crowd to try and catch the bouquet.
Yin Bai saw Lu Qing and Xiao Nian leave hand in hand, snorted coldly, and said sourly, “Haven’t they already proposed and gotten engaged, ma? Why are they still joining in the fun, ah!”
This sarcastic and biting8 tone made Zuo Jingyou, who was beside her, unable to look directly.
Zuo Jingyou raised her hand to cover her forehead, turned her head, and said to Yin Bai with a sigh, “Alright, alright la, don’t be angry, friend, it’s not worth it.”
Zuo Jingyou reached out, patted Yin Bai’s shoulder, and comforted her, “Wait for me here for a moment, I won’t let them get the bouquet.”
Yin Bai didn’t understand why. “What are you going to do? Go catch the bouquet?”
“What else?”
After Zuo Jingyou finished speaking, she followed the crowd to the front and stood with everyone else to catch the bouquet.
Yin Bai sat in her seat, watching Zuo Jingyou blend into the group of young men and women, standing beside Lu Qing and Xiao Nian.
She watched Zuo Jingyou’s back from afar, tightening her grip on her cane. Not far away, the bride, with her back to the group of unmarried young men and women, raised the bouquet. “One⦔
“Two⦔
Someone in the crowd shouted loudly, “Here, here, bride, throw it here!”
“To me!”
Amidst the crowd’s clamor, everyone shouted in unison, “Three!”
In an instant, the bouquet in the bride’s hand flew backward, tracing a beautiful arc in the sky, heading straight for Lu Qing’s direction.
Yin Bai sat alone on a white chair outside the crowd, watching Lu Qing suddenly burst forward, leaping up from where she stood, reaching for the flying bouquet.
Just then, someone else was faster than her.
In Yin Bai’s line of sight, she clearly saw Zuo Jingyou, wearing high heels, leap high into the air, extend her hand, and snatch the bouquet from Lu Qing’s fingertips.
At that moment, watching Zuo Jingyou land back on the ground, Yin Bai’s heart skipped a beat fiercely.
The instant Zuo Jingyou caught the bouquet, a burst of loud cheers erupted from the crowd.
At this very moment, amidst everyone’s admiring gazes, Zuo Jingyou turned around holding the flowers and looked at Yin Bai. Her gaze passed through the crowd and landed directly on Yin Bai. Zuo Jingyou raised the bouquet in her hand and, across the sea of people, gave Yin Bai a very beautiful smile.
Everyone’s gaze, guided by Zuo Jingyou, fell upon Yin Bai.
Yin Bai, dressed in a lime-white suit and wearing a sapphire brooch, sat among the sparsely arranged white chairs. She held her cane, looked at the smile on Zuo Jingyou’s face, and her eyes curved into a smile as well.
Yin Bai, her eyes crinkling, gave a very appreciative expression and shot a thumbs-up to Zuo Jingyou in the distance.
Badass9, to be able to jump that high in high heels!
Yin Bai had to admit, the moment Zuo Jingyou snatched the bouquet from Lu Qing, she truly felt an exhilarating satisfaction!
LP: Re-translated on May 17, 2025
Footnotes
- ε°θιΈ‘θ | xiΗodΓΉjΔ«chΓ‘ng | Lit. βsmall belly, chicken intestinesβ | Fig. petty, narrow-minded.
- εηΆε€±η¬ | yΗrΓ‘n shΔ«xiΓ o | Lit. βdumbstruck and lose laughterβ | Fig. to be so surprised or dumbfounded that one bursts out laughing.
- ε | ma | Sentence-final particle: indicates a yes/no question.
- ε | ma | Sentence-final particle: indicates something is obvious, or to soften a statement; can also be a pause filler like βwellβ¦β.
- δΊΊδΉεΈΈζ | rΓ©nzhΔ«chΓ‘ngqΓng | Lit. βthe common feelings of peopleβ | Fig. itβs only natural, human nature.
- εΏδΈε¨η | xΔ«nbΓΉzΓ iyΔn | Lit. βheart not present, mind elsewhereβ | Fig. absent-minded, preoccupied, inattentive.
- εΏζ ε―εΏ | rΔnwΓΊkΔrΔn | Lit. βpatience has reached its limitβ | Fig. to be at the end of oneβs patience.
- ι΄ι³ζͺζ° | yΔ«nyΓ‘ngguΓ iqΓ¬ | Lit. βyin-yang strange airβ | Fig. speaking in a deliberately ambiguous, sarcastic, or cynical tone.
- ηιΌ | niΓΊbΔ« | Lit. βcow pussyβ (vulgar) | Fig. Slang for awesome, badass, incredible.
I loved it!!! Aaaaaaah!!! So satisfying!!! ππ€£ππ€£ππ€£π
LMFAOOO π
Awwwww
Awwwww
Man I love how petty they are π
ππππoh my gosh goooooodneeeesss π€£π€£π€£π€£π€£π€£π€£ That was funny and satisfying as well
Man I love how petty they are 😭
😂😂😂😂oh my gosh goooooodneeeesss 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 That was funny and satisfying as well