After Being Scummed – Chapter 3

Aiya, the weird auntie next door is really fierce.

Seeing Zuo Jingyou, Yin Bai inevitably thought of Xiao Nian again.

Speaking of which, it was also at the Thorn Flower Award ceremony six years ago that Xiao Nian and Zuo Jingyou were simultaneously nominated for Best Actress. But in that battle, Xiao Nian narrowly lost.

            

Zuo Jingyou, only twenty-four at the time, accepted director He Zhiwen’s​¹ proposal right after winning the big award and entered the palace of marriage.

He Zhiwen was a few years older than Zuo Jingyou; it was said the two could barely be considered childhood sweethearts​². Six years ago, when He Zhiwen proudly declared Zuo Jingyou as “my muse” to countless media outlets, he looked as smug as Lu Qing had just a few days prior.

Announcing one’s life partner right after winning an award was a trend started by He Zhiwen.

            

Yin Bai had also been present the day Zuo Jingyou was proposed to. But back then, she had no time to watch the stage; she just held Xiao Nian’s hand, her face stern as she awkwardly comforted her, “It’s okay, we’ll have another chance.”

Xiao Nian looked at her, her expression surprisingly more relaxed than Yin Bai’s. “Yeah, there’s another chance. It’s just that not winning the award this time must be a disappointment to you.”

Yin Bai was still rather taciturn back then. Thoughts like “No, you didn’t disappoint me, you’re the best in my heart” swirled in her mind, but all that came out was a stiff, awkward “Mm.”

            

Thinking back to this, Yin Bai wished she could go back in time, grab herself by the collar, and shake herself violently, just to see how much water had been in her head when she was younger.

“Just praise her, praise her!”

She couldn’t even offer a single stingy word of praise or compliment. One wrong choice led to making mistakes again and again; no wonder she got dumped.

            

Looking back now, every single thing she did regarding Xiao Nian back then made her regret it enough to want to bash her head against the ground​³.

Yin Bai took a deep breath, trying to shake off these heartbreaking memories and refocus her attention on Zuo Jingyou.

Zuo Jingyou’s husband, He Zhiwen, was the second son of the Laidai Group​⁴. He had some artistic talent, having directed several arthouse films and won awards, making him a relatively famous young director in the industry​⁵.

            

More importantly, as the second son of the Laidai Group, he was rich. Very rich.

The Laidai Group was in real estate. In Yin Bai’s mind, those in the real estate business were basically “capitalists” who scraped the fat off the land​⁶. She looked down on them somewhat, so she had less contact with the He family.

The He family was so wealthy that they had even founded a film company because He Zhiwen entered the movie circle. Although its influence couldn’t compare to Yin Bai’s, it was more than enough to fund Zuo Jingyou’s films. With such a powerful backer, Zuo Jingyou shouldn’t need to come to her for investment.

            

Could it be that the real estate industry had become a bubble economy, the He family’s stock price evaporated, and they went bankrupt?

That shouldn’t be right. If that were the case, she would have heard whispers long ago and had Jin Xiangyu ruthlessly move to acquire the He family.

Yin Bai couldn’t resist her wicked impulse. She opened her browser and typed in a search query: “He Zhiwen’s family bankrupt!”

            

No news of bankruptcy popped up. Instead, a trending topic​⁷ that had just broken today appeared: Lin Xiao​⁸ rendezvous with rumored partner.

Yin Bai was utterly baffled​⁹.

She knew Lin Xiao; he was an actor who debuted a few years ago and had even acted alongside Xiao Nian before.

            

What did Lin Xiao’s rumored rendezvous partner have to do with Zuo Jingyou’s husband, He Zhiwen? What was wrong with this browser? How could it make such a connection? No wonder this internet company was doing worse day by day, its stock price falling constantly!

But soon, Yin Bai discovered the two were indeed connected. Because Lin Xiao’s rendezvous partner appeared to be none other than Zuo Jingyou’s husband, that award-winning young director, He Zhiwen.

Yin Bai suddenly felt a toothache coming on.

            

Yin Bai had seen both Zuo Jingyou and Lin Xiao in person. Even though Yin Bai and Zuo Jingyou had their disagreements, she had to admit that Zuo Jingyou outshone Lin Xiao by a mile, whether in looks or temperament.

So, was He Zhiwen blind? He married such a great beauty, yet still had to fool around​¹⁰. You know, she and Xiao Nian were together for seven years, and countless temptations​¹¹ threw themselves at her, but she remained unmoved!

Sure enough, men are all dogs! Blind dogs, pah!

            

Idle and bored, Yin Bai decided to spectate​¹² and clicked into the trending topic on Weibo​¹³. The feed was full of photos of Lin Xiao and a man—in front of a hotel, in a car, in public places—ambiguously holding hands, linking arms, hugging, embracing.

Presumably due to the He family’s influence, He Zhiwen’s face in the photos was always blurry, either a side profile or his back.

Yin Bai clicked on a picture and looked closely. She found one taken over three months ago, at the very private banquet she had dragged Xiao Nian to.

            

She remembered that Zuo Jingyou hadn’t appeared with He Zhiwen at that private banquet. But this photo showed He Zhiwen and Lin Xiao getting out of a nanny van one after the other, holding hands and discreetly entering the venue.

Judging by the sweet side profiles in the photo, these two dog men were clearly in the throes of a passionate affair.

Yin Bai clicked her tongue lightly. She couldn’t help but recall the scene that night when Xiao Nian dumped her, and she was sprawled on the ground, utterly devastated​¹⁴, only to receive help from Zuo Jingyou.

            

That was her first private interaction with Zuo Jingyou. Under such awkward circumstances, Zuo Jingyou had acted remarkably tolerant and calm.

Yin Bai remembered the handkerchief Zuo Jingyou handed her. For a fleeting moment, a trace of sympathy for Zuo Jingyou arose in her heart.

So, at that time, did Zuo Jingyou know that the person beside her pillow​¹⁵ was already cheating? Did she know, or didn’t she?

            

If Zuo Jingyou knew, did she offer help seeing Yin Bai dumped by Xiao Nian out of a sense of shared misfortune, like fellow sufferers​¹⁶?

The moment this thought occurred, the embarrassment Yin Bai felt from being caught in embarrassing situations by Zuo Jingyou twice seemed to ease slightly.

She scrolled down the page with her mouse and happened to see marketing accounts​¹⁷ comparing Lu Qing and Xiao Nian’s situation with He Zhiwen and Zuo Jingyou’s proposal.

            

Finally, they brought up He Zhiwen’s suspected marital infidelity, snidely​¹⁸ expressing hope that Lu Qing and Xiao Nian’s same-sex marriage would be true love and last forever.

When Yin Bai saw the words “same-sex marriage,” she nearly died of anger!

What the hell​¹⁹ “same-sex marriage”! Xiao Nian and Lu Qing weren’t even married yet, they might even break up, where did this “same-sex marriage” come from!

            

Yin Bai’s heart felt heavy, and her desire to spectate completely vanished. She decisively closed the Weibo interface and focused her attention on the script.

Perhaps people are like this: once someone you slightly dislike experiences a tragic situation similar to your own, empathy lessens your negative feelings towards them considerably.

At this moment, looking at Zuo Jingyou’s name, Yin Bai figured she probably already knew about her husband’s affair; otherwise, she wouldn’t have come to her for investment.

            

Thinking of this, Yin Bai couldn’t help but feel a bit wistful.

Because she constantly tracked various data related to Xiao Nian, Yin Bai knew a little about her old rival, Zuo Jingyou. If Xiao Nian was hailed as a “Flower of Worldly Splendor”​²⁰ because of her overly striking face, then Zuo Jingyou, in the hearts of many movie fans, was the “White Moonlight”​²¹, a narcissus, an elf, an otherworldly beauty, and a flawless angel.

Look, even someone like Zuo Jingyou, adorned with so many beautiful titles, had a husband who cheated. It just goes to show that being good enough doesn’t guarantee you true love.

            

As Yin Bai mused, she felt that Zuo Jingyou could probably be considered a member of her heartbroken alliance.

She thought of Zuo Jingyou’s handkerchief, and those two phrases that had bothered her—”I didn’t see anything”—which now seemed like an understanding, bringing a sense of relief.

Yin Bai thought for a moment and replied to the email. She decided to invest in the movie, but the specific amount would have to wait until Jin Xiangyu went through the process and provided an evaluation plan.

            

After handling all the emails, the private doctor Jin Xiangyu had scheduled for her arrived at the villa.

The female doctor examined Yin Bai’s eyes, prescribed her eye drops, advised her to rest more, and then left. After the doctor departed, Yin Bai burrowed into her quilt and slept like a log​²² through the night.

When she woke up again, the morning light was already filtering through the curtains.

            

Yin Bai nestled in her quilt, squinting at the penetrating sunlight, only feeling that her newly rested eyes hurt even more.

With worries weighing on her mind, she hadn’t actually slept soundly. Her body still felt tired. Yin Bai turned over, pulling the air-conditioner quilt over her head, wanting to catch a bit more sleep​²³.

But after lying in bed for a while, Yin Bai always felt the sunlight behind her, clinging like a shadow, its brightness unsettling. She endured it as long as she could, but finally couldn’t hold back any longer. She threw off the quilt, got up, jumped out of bed, and ended up going to the bathroom to wash up.

            

After calling for breakfast, Yin Bai idly brewed a pot of black tea and carried a small cake and a book to the wisteria trellis in the back garden to read.

It was already late April. The various roses in the well-manicured garden were blooming in a riot of color​²⁴. Yin Bai sat under the wisteria trellis, flipping through the poetry collection in her hand, trying her best not to think about Xiao Nian, and managed to find a rare moment of peace.

But this peace didn’t last long. Soon, it was shattered by the sounds of children playing next door.

            

It was the weekend, and the weather was perfect. The grandson and granddaughter of the old professor next door seemed to be visiting their grandparent. On a great weekend, the two kids were playing ball in the backyard, having the time of their lives.

Just a wall away, the children’s cheerful voices carried over: “Gimme, gimme, throw the ball higher.”

“Ah, I can catch it!”

            

Listening to the children’s tender voices, Yin Bai felt like a flock of ducks was quacking right next to her ear, giving her a terrible headache. In her mind, children were the most headache-inducing creatures, bar none.

She lowered her head and glanced at the line in the poetry collection: “Starting tomorrow, be a happy person. Feed horses, chop wood, travel the world. Starting tomorrow, care for grain and vegetables, I have a house, facing the sea, with spring warmth and flowers blooming”​²⁵

Right, she decided she would fly to her private island abroad tomorrow and spend a child-free weekend.

            

Yin Bai took a deep breath, closed her book, propped herself up with her cane, and limped towards the villa, book in hand.

However, she hadn’t walked far from the wisteria when suddenly a white shuttlecock flew over the two-meter-high wall, heading straight towards her.

With her sharp hearing, Yin Bai caught the sound of wind behind her and instinctively dodged sideways, only to end up catching the shuttlecock squarely with the back of her head.

            

Blocked, the shuttlecock instantly bounced back, landing not far behind Yin Bai.

Taking the hit, Yin Bai felt a dull ache in the back of her head. She turned around, leaning on her cane, and squinted at the shuttlecock lying on the ground.

What was this thing, a killer shuttlecock?

            

She walked over with her cane and bent down to pick up the shuttlecock. Just then, two young voices conversing drifted over the wall to Yin Bai’s ears: “Aiya Tongtong​²⁶, the ball flew over, what do we do?”

A little girl said anxiously, “The auntie next door is really weird. Last time my little airplane floated over, when I went to ask for it back, she just stared at me really fiercely.”

Yin Bai’s hand holding the shuttlecock froze. Auntie? Weird? What the hell weird auntie, she was clearly a little fairy!

            

Clutching the shuttlecock, Yin Bai made up her mind. If the little brats​²⁷ came looking for it later, she definitely wouldn’t return it unless they spoke properly!

Just then, another girl’s soft voice piped up: “Wenwen-jie​²⁸, is she really fierce? It’s okay, I have a plan.”

Listening to the girls’ soft conversation, Yin Bai gave a cold snort, still holding the shuttlecock. She wanted to hear just what plan the little brats next door had come up with.

            

So Yin Bai, leaning on her cane, walked back to the wisteria trellis and blatantly eavesdropped on the children’s conversation.

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The author has something to say:

Your daughter has arrived!

            

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LP: Re-translated on April, 18, 2024

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