After Being Scummed – Chapter 25

by Little Panda

Let’s spend Chinese New Year together!

The evening of the day after she received the invitation, Zuo Jingyou made a video call to her daughter. After their usual chat about little everyday things and telling her when she’d be back, Zuo Jingyou gave her daughter a choice: “go play at the beach with Dad,” or “go skiing with Yin Bai.”

Young children have a special kind of sharp intuition. Hearing her mom ask if she wanted to go play with her dad or go with “Fairy Sister,” Tongtong tilted her head and thought for a good while before asking, “If I go play with Dad, will Mom go too?”

Zuo Jingyou smiled, her eyes crinkling. “It’s okay if just Tongtong goes. Mom still has to stay home and keep Grandma company, you see.”

Tongtong pressed her lips together and thought for a moment. “But Grandma said she doesn’t need us to keep her company.” After all, Grandma was usually very busy and stayed in her study; she didn’t play with them.

Zuo Jingyou sighed. “Aiyo, because Grandma is Mommy’s mommy, she doesn’t need Tongtong to keep her company, but she does need Mommy to keep her company.”

Tongtong thought that made a lot of sense. After thinking a bit more, she asked, “Then if I go skiing with Fairy Sister, will Mom go?”

Zuo Jingyou put a hand to her forehead, pretending to think very hard. “I suppose I will. Because Dad is Tongtong’s dad, Mom can feel at ease letting you go play with him. But Mom doesn’t know Fairy Sister very well yet and wants to become friends with her too, so Mom will go with Tongtong.”

Tongtong thought that made a lot of sense, but she was still a bit torn. She furrowed her little brow, bit her lip, and thought for a good while before finally making her decision. “Since Mom is going too, then I’ll go too. I can see Dad anytime, but Tongtong wants to always be with Mom.”

Zuo Jingyou wasn’t surprised at all that Tongtong would make such a choice. She smiled. “Tongtong really is Mommy’s good girl.”

The mother and daughter chatted happily for a while, and then Zuo Jingyou coaxed her daughter to sleep.

After hanging up, Zuo Jingyou thought for a moment and then called her elder sister.

Zuo Jingyou was born in Yuncheng. Ever since her father, a soldier, sacrificed his life when she was seven, she, her elder sister, and her mother had relied on each other to get by.

Unlike Zuo Jingyou, who had entered the entertainment industry, her elder sister, Sun Mingrui¹, was a biology genius and now worked at the Biotechnology Institute in Haicheng. However, because she was too busy with work and couldn’t balance it with family, she had divorced her husband two years ago and left her daughter, Wenwen, with their retired mother.

With the New Year² approaching, judging by how Sun Mingrui was always holed up in the lab, she would probably only be able to come home for the reunion dinner³ during the holiday. As for trying to get her to go on a trip or anything, that was completely out of the question.

Even so, Zuo Jingyou still called to ask how her sister was doing.

Sun Mingrui hadn’t left work yet. When she received her sister’s call and heard her briefly explain the situation, she said without hesitation, “Since it’s your friend’s invitation, you should go. If it’s not too much trouble, you can take Wenwen along too.”

Zuo Jingyou knew she’d say that. She sighed softly and asked, “What about you? Are you still coming home for the reunion dinner this year?”

Sun Mingrui thought for a moment. “Yes, of course I’m coming back.”

After the two sisters chatted a bit more, Sun Mingrui remembered something and asked, “Xiao You⁴, how’s that movie of yours going? Did you find investors?”

Zuo Jingyou knew that her sister only really paid attention to her work and tended to forget other things soon after hearing them. However, she also knew that the fact her sister remembered this meant she was actually concerned about her.

Zuo Jingyou sighed. “I found them. Didn’t I tell you before? I’m very capable; getting investment is easy for me.”

Sun Mingrui sighed in relief to hear that. “That’s good… I won an award recently, and the prize money was quite a bit. If you don’t have enough, I…”

Zuo Jingyou laughed. “Jie⁵, you should use your money to buy lab materials. Besides… my movie is already finished! When it’s released, I’ll treat you to it.”

Sun Mingrui smiled too and nodded emphatically. “Okay! When your movie is out, I’ll take time off and bring a bunch of the little ones⁶ to support you.”

Zuo Jingyou’s eyes crinkled with a smile as she replied softly and gently, “Okay.”

After checking in with her sister, Zuo Jingyou called her mother. Her mother, Sun Yulan⁷, was a very proper and serious old professor. Hearing what Zuo Jingyou said, she frowned, thought for a moment, and replied, “If you’re going with a friend, I won’t go and intrude.”

As soon as Zuo Jingyou heard that, she knew the old lady’s⁸ reluctance to go out was showing again. She started to wheedle and cajole⁹, “Didn’t you say before that you wanted to take me to see the snow and soak in hot springs? This is a perfect chance! Let’s go together, come on!”

Sun Yulan frowned. “I never said that.”

“Come on, come on, Mom! Let’s go together, okay?”

As a mother, no matter how old, she couldn’t resist her daughter’s pleading. Sun Yulan relented and then asked, “This friend of yours, what kind of friend are they?”

Zuo Jingyou laughed. “It’s the one from next door!”

Sun Yulan was surprised. “The one from next door? Isn’t that Tongtong and Wenwen’s friend? How did she become your friend? Are her parents going too?”

Zuo Jingyou knew that, given her mother’s oblivious nature of being unaware of things beyond her immediate concerns¹⁰, she definitely wouldn’t know much about Yin Bai over the past six months or so. She chuckled softly and explained to Sun Yulan, “The one from next door is my friend too. We just met.”

Sun Yulan remarked, “Girl¹¹, you’re really something! You can even make friends with fifteen or sixteen-year-olds. Truly, you have friends all over the world.”

Zuo Jingyou was used to her mother’s teasing remarks since she was little, and she couldn’t stop laughing. “Mom… she’s not fifteen or sixteen, she’s already twenty-five or twenty-six. Ah… maybe almost thirty. She’s a very nice person; you’ll know when you meet her.”

“Alright, alright. Since you put it that way, I’ll go and see who this remarkable person¹² is.”

Zuo Jingyou replied softly with an “Mm,” then paused and added, “Oh, right, Mom, it seems like she doesn’t have many people in her family. For New Year’s Eve, I was thinking of inviting her over to our place for dinner. What do you think?”

Sun Yulan agreed without hesitation. “Then just bring her over for dinner. Those friends you used to bring home, like Xiao Tian¹³, Xiao Yi¹⁴, Xiao Jiang¹⁵, and so on… didn’t you bring them home in droves too?”

“The way I see it, ah, our home is practically your personal hotel for entertaining guests. Either you’re too busy to come back, or when you do, you bring a whole crowd of people with you.”

Zuo Jingyou smiled sheepishly. “Don’t worry, there won’t be a whole crowd this time. I’ll just bring her, just one person. Okay?”

Sun Yulan said very casually, “Well, it’s up to you anyway.”

The mother and daughter chatted about some more everyday things. Seeing it was getting late, Zuo Jingyou told her mother to go rest. After hanging up, it was already half-past ten. Once Zuo Jingyou finished up everything, she sent Yin Bai a message: “All set! Remember to invite your little friend skiing tomorrow.”

Yin Bai had been waiting all day and finally got the answer she wanted. She immediately cheered, “Teacher Zuo is amazing!”

Zuo Jingyou smiled and replied with a line of text: “I have an elder sister… Wenwen’s mom, that is. She’s very busy with work and can only come home for the reunion dinner. So, if we’re going on a trip, let’s go during the Spring Festival instead.”

“How about after the third day of the New Year¹⁶?”

Yin Bai replied happily, “Great! I have a plane; we can go whenever you want.”

Zuo Jingyou smiled. “Then I’ll have to trouble you.”

Yin Bai replied with a beaming smile, “No trouble, no trouble at all! Oh, right, about the itinerary, do you want to travel domestically or abroad? My plane’s interior is very comfortable, so long-haul flights are no problem. See if there’s anywhere you’d like to go, tell me, and I’ll have my assistant arrange it.”

“Changbai Mountains¹⁷? The Greater Khingan Range¹⁸? Hokkaido? Sweden, Finland? The smaller countries in Eastern Europe are quite nice; want to consider them?”

Zuo Jingyou thought for a moment and replied, “You can decide. But it’s best not to go to Hokkaido; my mother isn’t very fond of that country.”

Yin Bai understood. “I get it. Then let’s go to a nice country in Eastern Europe. A seven-day, five-night trip. We can also let the children broaden their horizons.”

Zuo Jingyou nodded. “Okay.”

Yin Bai considered a few more countries and then asked Xiang Qiu to come up with the best plan, ready to tell the children tomorrow.

Seeing her so enthusiastic, Zuo Jingyou decided to strike while the iron was hot¹⁹ and asked in one go, “Since we’ve set the time for the trip, I have a question for you.”

Yin Bai replied very readily, “Go ahead and ask. I’ll answer anything you ask.”

Zuo Jingyou quickly typed a line: “How are you planning to spend New Year’s Eve and the first day of the New Year?”

Yin Bai quickly understood what she meant. “Oh… about that, Jin Xiangyu will bring some people to see me and have New Year’s Eve dinner with me.”

Zuo Jingyou understood. “Oh… Assistant Jin… Are there many of you?”

Yin Bai thought for a moment and replied, “Not too many, actually. Probably just a few people. For various reasons, they don’t go home for the New Year.”

Zuo Jingyou hesitated for a moment but still extended an invitation to Yin Bai. “If you don’t mind, would you like to come to my place for New Year’s Eve dinner? My family is quite small, just me, my elder sister, Tongtong, and Wenwen… If you come, I think Tongtong would be very happy.”

On the other side of the phone screen, Yin Bai, lying on her stomach on the bed in her pajamas, her eyes widened. In disbelief, she read Zuo Jingyou’s message again, hugged her blanket, rolled around on the bed once, and replied joyfully, “Are you inviting me to spend the New Year with you?”

Zuo Jingyou’s lips curved slightly. “Didn’t you also invite me on a trip? As friends, it’s only right to treat you to a meal.”

Yin Bai was overjoyed. Although this wasn’t the first time someone had invited her to spend the New Year with them—for example, Zhang Yu had wanted to take her home for the New Year before—Yin Bai hadn’t dared to go because she didn’t know them well.

Now things were different. She knew Zuo Jingyou, whose home was right next door to hers—a safe place. She could finally satisfy her wish to scrounge a meal²⁰.

Yin Bai hugged her blanket and rolled around again, asking with a beaming smile, “Then, will I be disturbing your family reunion?”

Zuo Jingyou knew she had halfway agreed and replied with a smile, “Not at all. We’d be thrilled to have you.”

“Then I’ll go!” Yin Bai said excitedly. “I’m going to your place to scrounge a meal this year! It’s a first in my life; if I don’t go, I’d be letting this friendship down!”

Zuo Jingyou’s lips curved into a smile. “Okay,” she said. “Then remember to tell me what dishes you’d like to eat, so I can prepare. Oh, right, those employees of yours who aren’t going home—invite them to my place too, to eat together.”

Yin Bai pressed her lips together and said, a bit sheepishly, “It’s fine if I just go by myself. I won’t bring anyone else; that would be too imposing.”

Zuo Jingyou asked with concern, “Then what about them?”

Yin Bai quickly offered a solution: “I’ll sign them up for a group tour and let them go traveling! And then I’ll give them big red envelopes²¹ too!”

Just for one meal, Yin Bai unhesitatingly abandoned her subordinates of many years. At that very moment, far away at the group’s headquarters working overtime, Jin Xiangyu, who was wholeheartedly dedicated to her boss, unexpectedly sneezed.

LP: I want to work for Yin Bai.

Re-translated on May 23, 2025

Footnotes

孫明睿 | Sūn Míngruì
新年 | xīnnián | Refers to the Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year or Spring Festival (春节 – Chūnjié). The term ‘过年 (guònián)’ literally means ‘to pass the year’ or ‘to celebrate the (New) Year’ and is the common way to refer to this festive period. It’s the most important traditional Chinese holiday.
團圓飯 | tuányuán fàn | A reunion dinner, particularly significant on Chinese New Year’s Eve, where family members gather.
小游 | Xiǎo Yóu | A diminutive nickname for Zuo Jingyou. ‘小 (xiǎo)’ means ‘little’ or ‘young’ and is often prefixed to a given name or part of a given name to create a familiar or affectionate nickname.
姐 | jiě | A common way to address one’s own elder sister directly.
小崽子 | xiǎo zǎizi | Literally “little cubs” or “little whelps.” An informal and often affectionate term for children or young people, sometimes implying they are a bit mischievous or a handful. Here, likely referring to younger colleagues, students, or children of colleagues she might bring.
孫玉蘭 | Sūn Yùlán
老太太 | lǎotàitai | Literally “old lady” or “grandame.” An affectionate and respectful way to refer to an elderly woman, often one’s own mother or grandmother.
軟磨硬泡 | ruǎnmóyìngpào | An idiom meaning to pester, to use both soft and hard tactics, to coax and pester, to wheedle and persuade persistently.
兩耳不聞窗外事 | liǎng ěr bù wén chuāngwài shì | An idiom literally meaning “both ears do not hear things outside the window.” It describes someone who is out of touch with current affairs or events happening around them, often because they are engrossed in their own world or studies.
丫頭 | yātou | Literally “slave girl” in ancient times, but commonly used as an affectionate, and sometimes slightly chiding, term for a young girl or one’s own daughter, similar to “lass” or “kiddo.”
何方神聖 | héfāng shénshèng | Literally “what direction sacred/holy person?” An idiom used to ask who someone is, often implying they are mysterious, important, or out of the ordinary.
小田 | Xiǎo Tián
小藝 | Xiǎo Yì
小姜 | Xiǎo Jiāng
年初三 | nián chū sān | The third day of the Lunar New Year. ‘初 (chū)’ means ‘beginning’ or ‘initial’.
長白山 | Chángbáishān | A major mountain range in Northeast Asia, on the border between China and North Korea.
大興安嶺 | Dàxīng’ānlǐng | A volcanic mountain range in Inner Mongolia, northeastern China.
趁熱打鐵 | chèn rè dǎ tiě | An idiom meaning to strike while the iron is hot; to take advantage of a favorable situation without delay.
蹭飯 | cèng fàn | A colloquial term meaning to get a free meal from someone, to freeload a meal, often in a light-hearted or opportunistic way.
紅包 | hóngbāo | Literally “red envelope.” A monetary gift given in a red paper envelope, especially during holidays like Chinese New Year, or for special occasions like weddings or births. It symbolizes good luck and prosperity.

Footnotes

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