After Being Scummed – Chapter 21
by Little PandaIt’s you I’m drawing.
That night, after attending the wedding banquet, Yin Bai went straight home. Accompanying her home was the bridal bouquet that Zuo Jingyou had snatched.
Yin Bai was quite pleased with this trophy. After arriving home, she unwrapped it and placed it in a vase. She rarely spent so much time, but she arranged the bouquet to look very beautiful.
After arranging the flowers, Yin Bai even smugly took out her phone and took a photo of the bouquet. If Zuo Jingyou adds me as a friend later, she thought, I’ll send her this flower arrangement masterpiece to see.
Having done all this, Yin Bai contentedly went to take a shower.
Before falling asleep, Yin Bai picked up the book by her bedside and flipped through it for a while. Just then, she received Zuo Jingyou’s WeChat1 friend request.
As soon as Yin Bai saw it was Zuo Jingyou, she immediately accepted the friend request and quickly sent her flower arrangement picture.
Zuo Jingyou on the other end quickly guessed the meaning of the photo: “Today’s bouquet? A good piece of work.”
Yin Bai was instantly happy and asked delightedly, “Is it pretty?”
Zuo Jingyou replied quickly: “It’s pretty. Several times prettier than its original state.”
Yin Bai, having received praise, curled her lips in satisfaction. She checked the time; it was almost eleven, so she said goodbye to Zuo Jingyou: “That’s good. I’m going to sleep, good night.”
Zuo Jingyou replied quickly: “Good night, Little Prince.”
Seeing the name Little Prince again, Yin Bai looked up at Zuo Jingyou’s contact name and silently changed it to “Aviator.”
After changing it, Yin Bai said to Zuo Jingyou: “Good night, Aviator.”
Aviator?
On the other end of the screen, Zuo Jingyou, sitting at her desk in a bathrobe and glasses, looked at the chat conversation on her screen. She tapped the carbon pen in her hand, her gaze falling on the sketch paper in front of her, which had half a small sheep drawn on it. A hint of a smile flashed in her eyes.
The one who draws a sheep for the Little Prince, isn’t that the Aviator?
She smiled, put away her phone, and continued working on the drawing in her hands.
For the next few days, Zuo Jingyou was busy filming on set, only finding time in the evenings to intermittently finish drawing the little sheep for Yin Bai.
Because it was a sketch, Zuo Jingyou worried the graphite powder would smudge, so she had someone laminate it for protection and sent it by express mail back to Haicheng for Yin Bai.
When Yin Bai received this gift, it was already noon the next day.
It happened to be the weekend, and Yin Bai was watching My Little Pony with the children. After Zhang Yu received the delivery call, she personally brought the package over.
Yin Bai initially thought it was some kind of document and opened it in front of the children. Upon opening it, she found a little sheep drawn on 8-kai2 sketch paper, and immediately raised an eyebrow:
Ohou, it seems Zuo Jingyou’s sketching skills are quite good ma!
So Zuo Jingyou’s sketching skills are quite good! Yin Bai thought. Beside her, Tongtong and Wenwen craned their necks to look at the sketch and exclaimed, “Wa, it’s a little sheep, it’s drawn so well o!”
Yin Bai nodded in agreement: “Indeed, not bad!”
Tongtong hurriedly asked, “Fairy Sister, is this a gift someone gave you? Is today a special day? Why would someone give you a gift ne?”
Tongtong’s tone was urgent, afraid she might miss Fairy Sister’s special day.
Yin Bai carefully put away the little sheep drawing and handed it to Zhang Yu beside her: “Help me find someone to frame it. Just hang it…”
Yin Bai paused, pointing to the art studio on the third floor: “Hang it on the empty wall to the left in the third-floor art studio.”
Zhang Yu received the drawing with both hands and replied with a smile, “Okay.”
After arranging where the drawing would go, Yin Bai turned her head and said to her little companions, “No, today isn’t any special day. It’s because I’m cute that someone gave me a gift!”
Yin Bai was very smug. Wenwen, beside her, moved past Tongtong and tugged at her clothes: “Wa, then I want one too, I want one too! I’m cute too, I want a little sheep too!”
Yin Bai looked down at Wenwen, who was staring at her eagerly, and found herself not knowing whether to laugh or cry: “You’re a bit too confident ba!”
Wenwen put her hands on her hips and looked at Tongtong beside her: “Then Tongtong, you tell me, am I, your elder sister, cute or not!”
Tongtong, sitting in the middle, nodded very seriously and made an objective assessment: “Elder sister is cute.” After saying that, Tongtong added very seriously, “But I’m also very cute ah.”
After Tongtong finished praising herself, she and Wenwen looked up at Yin Bai, staring at her eagerly: “Fairy Sister, since we’re so cute, do we get gifts too ne?”
Yin Bai was choked speechless. This is terrible, she thought, after playing with me for over half a year, these two kids are becoming more and more shameless3!
Yin Bai reached out with both hands, pinched the two children’s cheeks, and said with a smile that doesn’t reach the eyes, “Alright, alright, alright, you want gifts, is that right ba? Then after we finish watching the cartoon, let’s go draw ba!”
As a result, that afternoon, Yin Bai took the children to the upstairs art studio and they spent the whole afternoon there. It ended with the two children drawing two exaggeratedly shaped little sheep and exchanging them with Yin Bai for two lifelike little sheep drawings, concluding the day.
After sending the children to the neighbor’s house, Yin Bai once again dove into the art studio. She also spent several days painting a picture with watercolors, had it framed, and mailed it back to Zuo Jingyou.
After Zuo Jingyou finished a long night shoot, she returned to her hotel to rest and only then had time to open the painting.
At that time, she had just finished washing up and was sitting on the sofa in her bathrobe, wearing glasses, gazing at the brightly colored watercolor painting. Within the narrow frame was a boundless desert. In the desert, a small aviator stood beside a crashed plane, holding paper and pen, drawing a pink little sheep. Greenery spread from around the aviator, even climbing onto the plane’s porthole, dyeing this seemingly lonely world with countless warm colors.
Zuo Jingyou reached out, stroking the little aviator’s face through the frame, her gaze gentle.
The little aviator in Yin Bai’s painting was none other than Tongtong.
Zuo Jingyou looked at her daughter’s tender face, her heart softening completely. She carefully put down the painting, picked up her phone, and sent Yin Bai a message: “Is it Tongtong you drew?”
Yin Bai hadn’t slept yet and quickly replied to her message: “No ah, didn’t you realize ma?”
Zuo Jingyou had a feeling and paused before asking her, “Realize what?”
Yin Bai’s reply came quickly: “This is you ah.”
“Because Tongtong really resembles you, so I think you were probably like her when you were little. Do you remember ma? ‘Every adult was once a child.'”
“So I drew this painting for you le!”
Zuo Jingyou read Yin Bai’s words again from beginning to end, momentarily unsure how to respond.
“All adults were once children.” Zuo Jingyou repeated this sentence, but in her mind, the image surfaced of Yin Bai in the pavilion that day, joyfully exchanging secret codes with her like a child.
She remembered Yin Bai’s skin, a color whiter than snow. She remembered her grey-blue eyes, deeper than the azure sky, brighter than the dark night sky, and yet brighter than any sapphire.
At this very moment, a question arose in her mind: Such a person, why didn’t Xiao Nian like her ne?
She wasn’t actually childish, nor did she have a playful heart; she was someone able to see into people’s hearts.
Such a charming person, why didn’t Xiao Nian like her?
Zuo Jingyou pursed her lips, thought for a good while, then replied, “Thank you, I like it very much.”
Yin Bai seemed very happy: “Really ma? It’s good that you like it!”
Zuo Jingyou got up from the sofa, took her phone back to the bedroom, and chatted aimlessly with Yin Bai: “Are you going to sleep ma? How have Tongtong and Wenwen been lately le? Have they bothered you?”
Yin Bai seemed very energetic: “No ah, same as usual, we’ve been watching Adventure Time4 lately le!”
Zuo Jingyou was puzzled: “What’s that?”
Yin Bai explained to her: “It’s a cartoon. You can watch it when you have time, it’s really good le!”
Zuo Jingyou gave a gentle smile: “Okay, I’ll remember.”
Yin Bai, chattering on, told her about Tongtong and Wenwen. For example, how they wanted to eat ice cream recently, and also ate quite a few small cakes and such.
As she was talking, Yin Bai suddenly said, “Oh right, I’m going to an ice sculpture exhibition in a few days. Is your filming almost done ma? How about I drop by to see you ba?”
“Didn’t you say it’s snowing where you are too ma? Can I go take a look ma?”
This was clearly a suggestion Yin Bai made on a whim5. After chatting for the past half-month, Zuo Jingyou had keenly noticed that Yin Bai could be quite childish at times, always prone to acting on a whim.
For example, many of the things she knew now were actually learned on a whim. It’s just that she was smart; although she couldn’t become a great master, she picked up the basics quite quickly.
Zuo Jingyou thought for a moment and didn’t refuse her: “Okay ah, but I don’t have much time, I’m afraid I won’t be able to host you.”
Yin Bai, however, was quite unconcerned: “It’s fine, it’s fine, you focus on your filming ba, I get it, I get it!”
“I’ll just go play by myself. Anyway, I invested in your movie ma! As the boss, isn’t it perfectly reasonable for me to go take a look ma?”
Zuo Jingyou’s lips curved into a smile: “En, you’re the big shot investor, then I’ll wait for your inspection le!”
Yin Bai sent her an “OK” hand gesture emoji, then said she was sleepy, wished her good night, and didn’t reply further.
When the conversation ended, Zuo Jingyou glanced at the time and found it was almost twelve o’clock le. This was later than Yin Bai’s usual bedtime. Or rather, for the past few days, Yin Bai’s bedtime had been a bit later than the previous week…
It was as if… as if she waited until Zuo Jingyou finished filming and returned to the hotel before going to sleep.
As this thought arose, Zuo Jingyou raised her hand and patted her forehead, and muttered to herself, “What am I thinking ne…”
It’s just a coincidence, that’s all.
LP: Re-translated on May 18, 2025
Footnotes
- 微信 | Wēixìn | A popular Chinese multi-purpose messaging, social media, and mobile payment app.
- 8开 | 8 kāi | A paper size, approximately 260mm x 370mm or similar, part of the “kai” (开) system. Roughly equivalent to B4 or a bit larger than A4.
- 不要脸 | bú yào liǎn | Lit. “not want face” | Implies being brazen, without a sense of shame.
- 探险时光 | Tànxiǎn Shíguāng | “Adventure Time,” an American animated television series.
- 心血来潮 | xīnxuèláicháo | Lit. “blood rushes to the heart” | Fig. on a sudden impulse, on a whim.
Yin Bai is like a stay-at-home parent and is taking care of the kids while Jingyou is working 🥰 they’re adorable
Yin Bai is like a stay-at-home parent and is taking care of the kids while Jingyou is working 🥰 they’re adorable
this is so heartwarming
this is so heartwarming
Mhmm just your ‘imagination’ 😏
Mhmm just your ‘imagination’ 😏