After Being Scummed – Chapter 32
by Little PandaIn the following days, the group visited all the scenic spots in Vienna. During that time, there was an orchestra performance, and Yin Bai even invited Professor Sun to go listen.
After they had their fill of fun in Vienna, Xiang Qiu, who planned the itinerary, took them to nearby attractions, finally heading straight for the trip’s final destination—Salzburg.
Salzburg is the gateway to the Alps. Driving through continuous snowy mountains, they finally arrived at the ski resort.
Even though Yin Bai couldn’t ski, so as not to spoil the fun, she still got fully geared up with the children that morning and took the cable car to the ski resort.
She had originally thought that Professor Sun, being older, wouldn’t be good at this kind of sport and would stay with her and the two children to have a snowball fight in the beginner’s area midway up the ski resort. As it turned out, Professor Sun was still as vigorous as ever2; after gearing up, she took Xiang Qiu and Zhang Yu to continue on the cable car to the ski slopes at the summit.
Yin Bai watched Professor Sun’s unhesitating departing figure, once again dumbstruck. She could only raise the camera she had inherited from Zhang Yu and, with a click, snap a photo of the three of them leaving.
Drat, so among these adults, I’m the only little cripple playing with the kids!
Yin Bai lowered her camera, looked at Zuo Jingyou who was leading the children out of the cable car station, and asked with a raised chin, “Want me to take a picture for you?”
Zuo Jingyou looked up, met Yin Bai’s gaze, and said, “Okay!”
So Yin Bai, leaning on her cane, followed them out to the snowfield.
Just as they exited the cable car station, a gust of frigid air rushed to meet them. Yin Bai stood on the viewing platform, gazing at the vast snow covering the entire mountain range, at the boundless, desolate snowy peaks, and took a deep breath.
“So beautiful!” the children exclaimed.
Yin Bai, holding her camera, nodded in agreement.
Even if she had seen it countless times in photos, even if she had already truly experienced the magnificent beauty of the snowy mountains on the way, when her own feet actually stepped onto the land of the snowy mountains, she was still struck by the scenery before her.
The children cheered in amazement, “So pretty, so pretty! I want to play!”
Tongtong, wearing a safety helmet and bundled in a brightly colored ski suit, reached out to pull Zuo Jingyou, whining coaxingly, “Mama, Mama, let’s go skiing quickly!”
The children were all very anxious, pulling at Zuo Jingyou and chattering incessantly.
Zuo Jingyou smiled gently and soothed them, “No rush, how about we take a group photo first?”
“Okay, okay.”
After coaxing the children, Zuo Jingyou looked up at Yin Bai and smiled gently, “Teacher Yin, we’ll have to trouble you then.”
“OK.”
Yin Bai made an OK gesture and had the three of them squat in the vast snow, with the towering ski slopes of the snowy mountain behind them, for a group photo.
After taking the group photo, Zuo Jingyou took the children to play in the snow. Because of her leg inconvenience, Yin Bai’s job for the rest of the time was basically to take pictures of the three of them.
She photographed Zuo Jingyou teaching the little kids, the little kids falling flat on their faces3, the little kids on sleds pretending to ski with their backs to the snowy mountain in valiant poses, and their triumphant laughter as they looked up at the sky, and so on…
As she kept taking pictures, Yin Bai put away her camera, propped herself up with her cane in the snow, and looked up at the distant ski slopes. Towering snowy mountains, frozen for a thousand li4, and amidst this vast expanse of snow, the skiers in their heavy gear looked like a line of ants, swooping down from the mountain.
Compared to these vast snowy mountains, humans seemed as insignificant and weak as mayflies. Yet, it was these very insignificant humans who had conquered this magnificent snowy mountain.
This is truly wonderful…
Yin Bai raised her camera, her heart full of envy, aimed at the distant crowd of skiers, and pressed the shutter button.
Zuo Jingyou, who had been playing with the children for a while, turned her head and saw Yin Bai, dressed in a dark blue ski suit, standing in the snow, looking up at the summit of the snowy mountain with an envious expression. Her heartstrings stirred slightly.
She instructed the children for a bit, telling them to play in a safe area, then walked over to stand beside Yin Bai. Yin Bai turned her head and asked Zuo Jingyou, who was standing next to her, “You’re not playing with them anymore?”
Zuo Jingyou smiled and said softly, “Constantly playing with them is quite draining, you know.”
Zuo Jingyou glanced sideways at her, her gaze extremely gentle. “Want to go check out the ski resort at the summit later?”
Yin Bai lowered her camera, tapped her cane on the snow, and said with some confusion, “You want to go up and ski down? Then you go ahead. I can watch the kids later.”
Zuo Jingyou shook her head, pursed her lips in thought, and explained to Yin Bai, “Not really. It’s mainly that since we’re already here, it feels like a waste not to go to the summit and take a look.”
Yin Bai chuckled. “It’s all just a vast expanse of snow; isn’t the scenery the same everywhere? Besides, I can’t ski down, so what’s the difference?”
Zuo Jingyou glanced at her and sighed softly, “You don’t have to ski down.”
Speaking of which, Zuo Jingyou paused, then said softly, “Coming here, do you find it quite boring?”
“Huh?” Yin Bai was taken aback for a moment, then shook her head. “Not at all.” Although I can’t ski, watching Zuo Jingyou play with the two children is still very interesting to me.
Zuo Jingyou lowered her eyes and chuckled softly. “Didn’t you say it’s just a vast expanse of snow with nothing much to see? If it’s not pretty and there’s nothing fun to do, why wouldn’t you feel bored?”
Yin Bai turned her head, smiled at Zuo Jingyou, and said, “Because I came out with friends! Being with friends, even if I can’t play, still makes me very happy.”
Zuo Jingyou looked at the smile on her face, blinked, and after a while, asked, “You’re happy just like this? Don’t you feel… regretful and lonely?”
Yin Bai tilted her head, thought for a moment, and replied, “Of course, I feel regretful that I can’t play together. But there’s nothing I can do about it. I can’t move around freely like you all.”
“Besides skiing, there are so many things I can’t do. Any kind of chasing sport—basketball, soccer, table tennis, volleyball, tennis, badminton—I can’t play any of them…”
Yin Bai tapped her cane heavily on the snow and sighed deeply. “But one must be content. At least, compared to some people, I’m already lucky enough.” At the very least, I can still stand, not spend my whole life in a wheelchair, right?
Seeing her relaxed and relieved demeanor, Zuo Jingyou felt a pang in her heart, as if pricked by a needle. She lowered her eyes, looked at Yin Bai’s inconvenient right leg, and after a moment of contemplation, said, “May I be so bold as to ask, when… did you get injured?”
Yin Bai turned her head and glanced at Zuo Jingyou with some surprise. She had thought Zuo Jingyou would never ask. After all, as a mature and considerate adult, she should understand that asking about someone’s scars isn’t appropriate.
But Zuo Jingyou actually asked!
Yin Bai looked at her in surprise for two seconds, hesitated for a moment, then said, “I was injured when I was twelve.”
Since she had already started, Zuo Jingyou pressed on, “Because of what?”
Yin Bai gripped her cane, unconsciously tapping it on the snow a few times, and said with feigned casualness, “A car accident.”
“On the way home with my parents, there was a car accident. As a result, both my parents died, and I was the only one who survived.”
Yin Bai shrugged and sighed, “I don’t know whether to call it unfortunate or fortunate! Anyway… that’s how it is.”
Zuo Jingyou looked up, carefully watching Yin Bai’s face, not missing the slightest change in her subtle expressions. Even if she tried her best to hide it, she couldn’t conceal the psychological trauma this incident had caused Yin Bai.
At this moment, Zuo Jingyou couldn’t describe what she was feeling.
She lowered her eyes and said softly, “It’s fortunate, at least…”
Zuo Jingyou took a deep breath and smiled at her. “Let’s go, let’s go to the summit together to see the snow. Even though you can’t ski down, the scenery at the summit is different from the mountainside. Since we’re here, let’s not miss any spot!”
After Zuo Jingyou finished speaking, she turned to the still-playing children and called out, “Tongtong, Wenwen, come quickly, we’re going up the mountain!”
Tongtong and Wenwen hurriedly abandoned their little sleds and ran towards Zuo Jingyou. Zuo Jingyou took Tongtong’s hand with one hand, and with the other, grabbed Yin Bai’s wrist through her thick ski suit, pulling her forward. “Let’s go, let’s go together!”
Yin Bai lowered her eyes, looking at her grabbed wrist, her eyes wide.
Just talk, don’t hold hands, friend! I’m not used to holding hands with adults!
Although Yin Bai wasn’t quite used to it, she was eventually pulled onto the cable car by Zuo Jingyou and followed her to the ski resort at the summit, where they found the highest viewing platform and saw the best scenery.
Zuo Jingyou, speaking fluent English, asked a foreign friend to help take a photo of the four of them. Yin Bai couldn’t refuse, so she had to lean on her cane, stand close to Zuo Jingyou, hold the children’s hands, and face the wind and snow on the vast white summit of the snowy mountain for a group photo.
After the photo was taken, Yin Bai took the camera and, seeing the four figures in the lens, suddenly felt a warm current flow through her heart.
Playing with friends really isn’t bad at all. It’s so much better than traveling all alone5.
Thinking this, Yin Bai felt she could go out with friends more often in the future and take more lively photos.
Zuo Jingyou played with Yin Bai at the summit for a while, but in the end, she had Yin Bai take the children down by cable car while she herself skied down the slopes.
Everyone played happily for a day. In the evening, when they returned to the reserved hot spring hotel, they went to the reserved pool for a bath. Yin Bai, with her inconvenient leg, had arrived early and was lying in the pool, enveloped by the hot water, feeling drowsy.
After a short while, those two mischievous little rascals finished their baths, put on small swimsuits, and jumped into the hot spring pool with giggles.
With a plop, the children jumped into the hot spring water, and the splashing water rained down all over Yin Bai’s head and face. Yin Bai, eyes closed, wiped the water droplets from her face, took a deep breath, and said through gritted teeth, “You two, shouldn’t you apologize to me!”
Heaven knows how much she hated the feeling of her face being wet!
As Yin Bai said this, she wiped the water from her face and glared fiercely at the two children bobbing around in front of her.
Just then, Zuo Jingyou, who was with them, was entering the water. “Tongtong, Wenwen, apologize quickly.”
While scolding the children, Zuo Jingyou extended her long, slender, fair legs into the water. When Yin Bai saw those legs, so white they seemed to glow, her mind went blank.
She leaned against the stone wall of the hot spring pool, her chin slightly raised, her gaze moving inch by inch upwards, from Zuo Jingyou’s snow-white, slender legs, to her firm, flat abdomen, then to her perfect and beautiful… under the wrap…
Yin Bai quickly lowered her head, fixing her gaze on Zuo Jingyou’s abdomen, and after staring blankly for a good while, said, “Teacher Zuo, you have defined abs!”
Zuo Jingyou had just submerged her body in the water. Hearing Yin Bai say this, she looked up at her, her eyes full of amusement. “Mm, didn’t I mention I was working out before? Do you think they look good?”
Yin Bai didn’t quite catch what she was saying at first and subconsciously asked back, “What?”
Zuo Jingyou laughed, her eyes crinkling. “I said, do the defined abs look good?”
They look good! Of course, they look good! Especially good!
Yin Bai nodded, looking at Zuo Jingyou with great envy. “They look good, super good!”
As Yin Bai said this, she lowered her head, reached out to pinch her own soft belly, and said with great resentment, “Teacher Zuo has such a good figure, long limbs, and defined abs. You look so healthy.”
“Unlike me, I just have a soft belly.”
Yin Bai pinched her belly again and suddenly started to miss the days when she used to work out. Wuwuwu, I’m so sad I could almost cry!
Seeing her resentful look, Zuo Jingyou couldn’t help but laugh. She moved closer to Yin Bai, looked at her body, which was whiter than ice and snow in the water, and chuckled, “Really? Is it very soft? Let me see…”
As Zuo Jingyou said this, she drew near Yin Bai and reached out to touch her stomach.
The moment her fingertips touched her abdomen, Yin Bai, like a cat whose tail had been touched, shuddered all over and her eyes widened in shock!
Is this the friendship between straight girls? Can they touch each other’s bodies when bathing together? Courtesy demands reciprocity, so shouldn’t I touch her back too?!
Thinking this, Yin Bai turned her head and stared intently at Zuo Jingyou, speechless.
Zuo Jingyou quickly withdrew her hand and gave her assessment, “It’s fine. You’re very thin; there’s actually not much flesh…”
As she said this, she looked up and met Yin Bai’s intent gaze. Their eyes met. Yin Bai blinked at her, pointed to her abdomen, and asked humbly, “Um, Teacher Zuo, can I touch your defined abs?”
Zuo Jingyou was instantly stunned.
LP: Re-translated on May 29, 2025
Footnotes
- 马甲线 | mǎjiǎxiàn | Literally ‘vest line.’ A popular term in Chinese referring to the visible vertical lines on a well-toned abdomen, similar to ‘defined abs,’ ‘toned abs,’ or ‘V-line abs’ in English. It signifies a high level of fitness.
- 宝刀未老 | bǎodāo wèi lǎo | Literally ‘a treasured sword is not yet old.’ It means someone is old but still skillful and energetic.
- 狗啃泥 | gǒu kěn ní | Literally ‘dog gnawing mud.’ It vividly describes someone falling face-first, a face-plant.
- 里 | lǐ | A traditional Chinese unit of distance. One lǐ is officially 500 meters (about 1/3 of a mile). So, a thousand lǐ would be approximately 500 kilometers or 300 miles, used here to describe a vast expanse.
- 形只影单 | xíng zhī yǐng dān | Literally ‘form only, shadow single.’ Describes being solitary, all alone, with only one’s shadow for company.
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