After Being Scummed – Chapter 34
by Little PandaFuming!
In the blink of an eye, it was late February. The spring days grew warmer, and the children started school.
Yin Bai also regained her vitality and began to handle her primary work responsibilities, such as attending necessary social engagements, appearing at charity events, screening projects, and so on…
Of course, attending Xiao Nian’s wedding was not among these tasks. On the last day of February, Xiao Nian and Lu Qing held a very grand wedding on a southern island where spring was warm and flowers bloomed.
The two invited many friends from their circle and had a well-connected host act as the emcee, making the entire wedding scene incredibly lively.
Such a major event as a wedding naturally couldn’t escape the media. Although Lu Qing and Xiao Nian didn’t intentionally market it, on the wedding day, an animated GIF of Xiao Nian and Lu Qing in their wedding attire still stirred up a wave online. Xiao Nian, with her inherent popularity, unsurprisingly dominated the hot search list that day.
Although Yin Bai, who had received an invitation, did not attend the wedding and merely had her company representative deliver a wedding gift and blessings on her behalf, she still managed to glimpse the entire wedding process online that day through snippets of photos shared by various guests.
She curled up on the boss chair in her study, phone in hand, watching the screen where Xiao Nian lifted Lu Qing’s veil and kissed her. A sour feeling made her lips pout so much they could have hung a soy sauce bottle.
Is getting married that great? Is it really that amazing?
Yin Bai was furious!
But after her anger subsided, Yin Bai felt a little melancholic. She sighed and, for reasons unknown even to herself, opened Xiao Nian’s Weibo, reposted Xiao Nian’s earlier official announcement of her marriage registration, and added a final comment: “May you and your lover live happily ever after, may you find happiness in this mortal world.”
She resolved to offer her blessings, to put a period on this relationship that had come to nothing1. After doing this, Yin Bai unfollowed Xiao Nian on Weibo, formally bidding farewell to this person. From then on, they would be worlds apart, each to their own well-being2.
Xiao Nian had her bright future ahead of her, and she, Yin Bai, had her own warm house, where spring was warm and flowers bloomed, facing the sea.
Yin Bai sighed again, then tried to cheer herself up, preparing to browse for something fun to distract herself from the heart-wrenching feeling of being torn apart. However, after scrolling just a couple of times, the latest Weibo post from Zuo Jingyou appeared on her feed.
It was a post made just a minute ago, saying: “Eternal happiness! @XiaoNianNian @LuQing” Attached was a photo of Xiao Nian and Lu Qing tossing the bouquet. Even though Zuo Jingyou wasn’t in the picture, anyone could tell she was at the wedding.
Thus, when Yin Bai saw this Weibo post, her eyes widened in surprise.
Wait, when did Zuo Jingyou become so close to these two? She even attended the wedding? Why didn’t Zuo Jingyou tell her she was going?
Why, why, why?
Countless question marks spun in Yin Bai’s mind. The anger that had just subsided moments ago now, for some reason, began to creep back up.
Yin Bai raised her hand, clutching the fabric of her clothes over her chest, gritting her teeth in anger!
Why!
Aren’t they good friends? They had shared secret codes, traveled together, touched each other’s bodies, confided in each other! Why didn’t Zuo Jingyou tell her about attending the wedding?
Doesn’t Zuo Jingyou know she would mind?
She clearly… clearly understands me so well!
Yin Bai felt indignant, growing angrier the more she thought about it. She even wanted to call Zuo Jingyou immediately and demand her reasons for doing so! Ha, even if it was for business cooperation, or maintaining good relations with Lu Qing’s side, couldn’t she have refused for her sake?
Is she Zuo Jingyou’s most important friend or not!
Yin Bai only felt her chest tighten with a sour, bitter, heavy, and painful sensation. She endured it for a while but couldn’t hold back any longer. She poked Zuo Jingyou on WeChat and sent her a message: “Comrade! You’ve betrayed the alliance!”
After a long wait, Zuo Jingyou finally replied, bewildered, with three question marks: “???”
Seeing this message, Yin Bai’s anger flared even more. She didn’t want to deal with Zuo Jingyou anymore. She angrily mashed the phone keyboard and typed a line: “I don’t want to talk to you anymore!”
This sudden, inexplicable outburst left Zuo Jingyou utterly clueless.
Zuo Jingyou sat holding her phone amidst the lively banquet scene. She lowered her head and thought for a good while, still unable to understand why her friend was in such a temper today. Could it be that she’s not feeling well?
As she was thinking this, she suddenly heard a commotion from not too far away. Zuo Jingyou looked up and saw Lu Qing, arm in arm with Xiao Nian, walking over, holding wine glasses and toasting their close guests.
Zuo Jingyou had a sudden realization; most likely, Yin Bai was angry because of this.
She bit her lip, thought for a moment, and decided it was better to confirm Yin Bai’s mood first: “Are you angry?”
What do you mean, “are you angry”? It’s obvious she IS angry, okay! Where did your usual perceptiveness and thoughtfulness go? Straight woman! Steel straight woman!
Yin Bai blew at the bangs on her forehead, furiously poking her phone screen: “What do you think?”
Zuo Jingyou raised her hand and bit the knuckle of her left index finger, typing a reply with one hand: “I thought you had already moved on. Besides, this is just attending a wedding, a kind of social obligation for business. You don’t need to be angry.”
“Moreover, didn’t you also send them a wedding gift today?”
So angry, so angry, I’m going to be angered to death by this woman!
Yin Bai gritted her teeth: “Whether I’ve moved on or not, what does that have to do with you attending my ex’s wedding without breathing a word to me? What’s important is, as a friend, you didn’t say anything to me, okay? If I, for business reasons, went to your ex’s wedding with someone else without a word, would you be angry?”
Zuo Jingyou seriously considered it. If Yin Bai were to attend He Zhiwen and Lin Xiao’s wedding, she wouldn’t feel anything.
She paused, then replied: “No, it’s not such a big deal.”
Yin Bai almost choked. She furiously typed out a response: “I would! Because you’re my friend, I favor you, so I firmly stand on your side. No matter what the reason, I would absolutely not maintain even a bit of friendly relations with anyone who hurt you! Not even a little bit!”
“Because I favor you!”
Yin Bai fiercely typed out this line, then said very angrily: “I’m not talking to you for the time being!”
She meant what she said. After sending the message, she directly blocked Zuo Jingyou’s messages and stomped downstairs to watch a movie, fuming.
Zuo Jingyou sat in the lively venue, but at this moment, all her emotions were immersed in her conversation with Yin Bai.
Favoritism? In the adult world, things were mostly gray; there weren’t such intense emotions and favoritism. Everyone tried their best to maintain a superficial relationship. Even if the friendship was very good, people wouldn’t be so clear-cut in their likes and dislikes.
Zuo Jingyou had always felt that Yin Bai, though pure, also understood the ways of the world. So, Yin Bai’s reaction to this matter was truly beyond Zuo Jingyou’s expectations.
It seems she’s really angry…
It was clearly Yin Bai having a childish tantrum, being incredibly willful. Yet, Zuo Jingyou didn’t feel that she was being troublesome. Instead, a sense of guilt welled up from within her heart, making her feel extremely sheepish.
Because Yin Bai had very seriously said, “I favor you.”
What should I do now? Do I need to coax her a bit?
Zuo Jingyou bit her index finger, thought for a moment, and sent Yin Bai a message: “Yin Bai… don’t be angry anymore, okay? It was my fault as a friend for not telling you. I apologize to you.”
Yin Bai did not respond.
Next, Zuo Jingyou sent a few more messages. Yin Bai still did not respond.
Zuo Jingyou inexplicably started to feel a little worried. But this was someone else’s wedding reception, and it wasn’t appropriate for her to be playing with her phone. She could only put her phone away, her heart filled with unease.
When the wedding banquet ended, Zuo Jingyou hurriedly left the venue. As soon as she got into her assistant’s car, she immediately took out her phone and called Yin Bai.
The phone rang “du-du-du” for a while, then was promptly disconnected. Listening to the long, drawn-out dial tone coming from the phone, Zuo Jingyou was stunned for a good while before she softly muttered, “Little drama queen…”
Though she said that, she was the one who had provoked her. What else could she do but coax her? After all, she really liked this friend.
Yin Bai remained angry for an entire night. The next morning, she received a bouquet of flowers at home.
The flowers were delivered by a delivery guy3. It was a particularly beautifully arranged bouquet of tulips. When Xiang Qiu brought them to Yin Bai, she also handed over the card that came with the flowers.
Yin Bai snorted lightly when she saw the flowers, thinking to herself that she didn’t even need to look to know this was Zuo Jingyou’s doing. Sure enough, when she opened the card, it was a line written by the shop on Zuo Jingyou’s behalf: “Friendship lasts forever—Zuo”
Yin Bai held the flowers in her arms, the card clasped between her long fingers, and muttered, “Even the apology is ghostwritten. Wants me to stop being angry? Dream on!”
Although she said that, Yin Bai then placed the flowers on the coffee table, asked Xiang Qiu to bring her a vase, and still carefully arranged all the flowers in it.
After arranging the flowers, she unblocked Zuo Jingyou’s messages, then took a photo of the arrangement and posted it to her Moments: “Beware of the enemy’s sugar-coated bullets4!”
Zuo Jingyou saw this Moments post while she was having lunch. She found it utterly exasperating and amusing at the same time. She left a comment below: “Are you still planning to be angry?”
Yin Bai replied quickly: “Traitors to the alliance, don’t talk to me!”
Zuo Jingyou was speechless for a moment. She lowered her eyes and smiled softly, her gaze extremely gentle: “You’re so petty.”
Petty Yin Bai replied huffily: “So I’m petty! That’s all I’m saying to you today, this is it!”
“…”
Then Zuo Jingyou discovered that Yin Bai really wasn’t talking to her anymore. Alright, one bouquet only earned her two sentences. It seemed she would have to send a few more.
For the next few days, Zuo Jingyou had flowers sent to Yin Bai every day. Sometimes it was jasmine, sometimes white carnations, sometimes forget-me-nots, sometimes platycodon…
After a continuous week of sending flowers, she had truly run out of options. On the florist’s suggestion, Zuo Jingyou sent Yin Bai a bouquet of lilies.
When Yin Bai received this bouquet, her mind was full of question marks. After a week, she finally took the initiative to poke Zuo Jingyou and ask her, “Why did you send me lilies?”
Zuo Jingyou replied quickly: “The shop said it represents pure friendship between friends!”
She said it so seriously that Yin Bai was silent for a moment, then told her sincerely, “Friend, I have to tell you, I’m a homosexual. You should quickly search what lilies mean to homosexuals.”
Zuo Jingyou listened to her words and opened a search engine. When she saw the search results, Zuo Jingyou was also rendered speechless for a moment. She silently typed a line, very seriously explaining to Yin Bai: “I thought lilies were just a type of flower.”
God d#mn lilies are just a type of flower!
Yin Bai fiercely poked the screen: “Don’t send me lilies again!”
Zuo Jingyou sent her an OK gesture.
Yin Bai didn’t reply again. Zuo Jingyou estimated that her anger should have subsided. After a little while, she poked her again and asked, “Little Prince, are you a bit happier today?”
Yin Bai replied quickly: “The Little Prince is not happy.”
Zuo Jingyou felt helpless: “I’ve apologized so sincerely, just stop being angry. At least, you have to tell me a way that can make you happy.” Truth be told, Zuo Jingyou had very little experience coaxing people; after all, among everyone she knew, Yin Bai was the only adult “little drama queen.”
Yin Bai thought about it seriously and said to Zuo Jingyou, “If you’re sincerely apologizing, it’s not entirely impossible.”
“Next month, I’m going to see 《The Marriage of Figaro》5. You accompany me.”
Watch a play together? Although the upcoming tasks are very demanding, it’s not impossible…
Zuo Jingyou thought for only three seconds before immediately replying with one word: “Okay!”
LP: Re-translated on June 01, 2025
Footnotes
- 无疾而终 | wú jí ér zhōng | An idiom meaning to end without any result, to fizzle out, or to die a natural death (literally “to end without illness”).
- 天涯，各自安好 | tiānyá, gèzì ān hǎo | Literally “ends of the earth, each well.” A phrase expressing that even if people are far apart or go their separate ways, they wish each other well.
- 外卖小哥 | wàimài xiǎo gē | Literally “takeout little brother.” A common and informal term for a food delivery person, often a young man.
- 糖衣炮弹 | tángyī pàodàn | An idiom literally meaning “sugar-coated bullets/cannonballs.” It refers to enticements or flattery used as a means to an ulterior motive; a deceptive friendly gesture intended to disarm or trick someone.
- 费加罗的婚礼 | Fèijiāluó de Hūnlǐ | “The Marriage of Figaro” (original Italian: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492) is a famous comic opera (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It is based on the 1784 stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, “La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro” (“The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro”). It’s renowned for its intricate plot, character development, and Mozart’s brilliant music, making it a staple of the operatic repertoire.
Lilies represent the undying friendship of roommates
Lilies represent the undying friendship of roommates
YB is relatable fr
YB is relatable fr
Yin Bai stronger than me, if someone like Zuo Jingyou sent me even one bouquet I’d immediately fold