After Being Scummed – Chapter 37
by Little PandaBecause of you, grayish-blue now holds a special meaning for me.
Yin Bai stayed with Zuo Jingyou at the hospital for the whole afternoon. By evening, Zuo Jingyou finally woke up.
The fever, coupled with the whole ordeal, left Zuo Jingyou’s head muddled and heavy. She weakly propped herself up and sat up in bed, subconsciously looking towards the sofa not far away.
Yin Bai, such a tall person, was currently curled up on the sofa, covered with a hospital blanket, resting with her eyes closed. Zuo Jingyou gazed at the back of her head, hesitated for a good while, then finally threw off her own blanket, got out of bed, slipped into the slippers placed beside it, and walked towards Yin Bai on the sofa.
She walked around the sofa, came to stand in front of Yin Bai, and leaned down to look at her.
Yin Bai was curled up, looking like she was sleeping very soundly. Her beautiful grayish-blue eyes were closed at this moment, only revealing her pretty and long eyelashes.
Zuo Jingyou leaned down, carefully observing Yin Bai’s overly fair face, and thought, She’s so cute. Even cuter when she’s asleep.
Perhaps it was an aftereffect of the fever, but Zuo Jingyou felt she wasn’t quite herself right now. After watching for a moment, she took a few steps and sat down on the sofa opposite Yin Bai’s.
Zuo Jingyou turned sideways, curled her knees up, rested her weight on the armrest of the sofa, and cupped her chin in her hand, quietly watching Yin Bai.
Her gaze lingered on Yin Bai’s face for a long time. Zuo Jingyou looked at the other’s pretty face and idly thought that if she got a little closer, she might be able to count Yin Bai’s eyelashes one by one.
Of course, she might not be able to count them all. After all, Yin Bai had so many eyelashes, thick and dense.
Cupping her chin, she thought about Yin Bai’s eyelashes for a moment, then about why she herself was here. As she thought, the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but lift slightly in a smile.
Perhaps her gaze had lingered too long, or maybe Yin Bai had slept enough. After a short while, Zuo Jingyou saw Yin Bai’s long eyelashes tremble slightly. The next moment, her eyelids lifted, revealing those grayish-blue eyes that seemed as if veiled in mist.
She didn’t know if it was an illusion, but the moment Yin Bai opened her eyes, Zuo Jingyou felt that everything before her seemed to become clearer. It was as if… something had lit up.
Zuo Jingyou looked at her pure eyes, innocent and dazed like a fawn’s, and unconsciously raised her hand, clenching it into a fist and pressing it lightly against her heart.
After a few seconds, Zuo Jingyou smiled and called out to the slowly awakening Yin Bai, “You’re awake?”
Still dazed, Yin Bai subconsciously looked up at the sound. When she saw Zuo Jingyou sitting opposite her, her bewildered gaze instantly found a focus.
Like the most accurate archer finding the bullseye, Yin Bai’s mind cleared in an instant. She fixed her gaze precisely on Zuo Jingyou, blinked, and asked, “Teacher Zuo?”
As soon as she spoke, Yin Bai quickly got up from the sofa, not even reaching for her cane, and hurriedly hopped on one foot to Zuo Jingyou’s side, cheerfully asking, “Are you still dizzy? Are you hungry? Are you cold? Still have a fever?”
She asked several questions in a row. Before Zuo Jingyou could answer, she saw Yin Bai hop in front of her, place one hand on the sofa’s armrest for support, and lean over to check her forehead temperature with the other.
“I’m fine…”
Zuo Jingyou hadn’t finished speaking when Yin Bai’s tall, slender figure leaned down towards her. Soon, Yin Bai’s warm palm landed on her forehead. “Let me check your temperature.”
As Yin Bai said this, she carefully felt Zuo Jingyou’s forehead a couple of times.
Zuo Jingyou tilted her head up, looking at Yin Bai leaning over her. For some reason, her heart suddenly skipped a beat. She unconsciously clenched her hands, gazing at Yin Bai’s beautiful jawline, feeling as if all her words were stuck in her throat, unable to utter a single one.
This position… was really too intimate…
As Zuo Jingyou thought this, she couldn’t help but look up at Yin Bai’s face again, thinking that Yin Bai was really tall, and such a large person, she could almost completely encircle her.
Zuo Jingyou’s mind was filled with messy thoughts, but after a moment, Yin Bai withdrew her hand, leaned back against the sofa as if a weight had been lifted, and said, “Alright, your forehead isn’t as hot anymore. The fever should be gone.”
Perhaps because she had just woken up, Yin Bai’s voice was much softer than usual. She propped one hand on the armrest of Zuo Jingyou’s sofa, leaning close to her, yawned sleepily, and mumbled softly, “You’re almost pushing forty1, you know. Even if work is busy, you still need to take good care of yourself.”
Zuo Jingyou looked up, seeing the tears welling in the corners of Yin Bai’s eyes from sleepiness, and her youthful face that seemed even more tender due to her overly fair skin. She paused, then emphasized, “Early thirties, not pushing forty.”
Yin Bai listened, gave a perfunctory yawn, and said very sleepily, “Yes, yes, early thirties, but that’s still the age when you’re heading towards forty.”
Zuo Jingyou hmphed, looking at Yin Bai with some dissatisfaction. “Don’t say I’m pushing forty, you’re so annoying!” Age and such things were a taboo for a beauty like her who hadn’t yet reached enlightenment about it at her current age!
Yin Bai quickly lowered her gaze to look at her. Seeing Zuo Jingyou pouting, her face puffed up like a little pufferfish, Yin Bai couldn’t help but smile. She couldn’t resist reaching out to poke Zuo Jingyou’s cheek, saying with a grin, “Alright, alright, you don’t look like you’re in your early thirties right now. You look even younger than your daughter.”
Zuo Jingyou held back for a moment but couldn’t resist. She finally let out a “pfft” of laughter, looked up at her with a smile, and asked, “How much younger?”
Yin Bai tilted her head, thought for a moment, “Hmm… like four years old.”
Zuo Jingyou covered her mouth and chuckled, “That’s a bit of an exaggeration!”
Yin Bai extended a forefinger, wagged it in front of her, and said to Zuo Jingyou in all seriousness, “Not at all, not at all. Given how you don’t stay in the hospital properly when you’re sick, don’t take care of yourself usually, and act up so much when you have a fever—aside from not crying and screaming, there’s really no difference between you and a four-year-old child.”
Zuo Jingyou felt a little embarrassed by her words, but she also remembered her own hard-to-describe state when she was sick. She hugged her knees, curled up on the sofa, and said with evasive eyes, “It wasn’t that exaggerated.”
Yin Bai let out a light “heh” and poked her on the head. “Yes, it was.”
Zuo Jingyou yelped softly in pain, looked up at Yin Bai with some dissatisfaction, and said, “Didn’t I say you didn’t have to mind me? If you hadn’t minded me today, we’d be in York2 by now.”
Yin Bai glanced at Zuo Jingyou, an expression on her face that clearly said, “What nonsense are you talking?” “You were burning up like that, how could I possibly not care about you? Also, can you be a bit more reliable? Friend, you had a fever! And you still wanted to fly with me? You’re also the type to get bad jet lag3. I’m afraid you would have burned out completely before we even reached York.”
Zuo Jingyou felt a pang of guilt and said in a small voice, “It’s not that exaggerated. When I was rushing to appearances4 before, it’s not like I haven’t worked while sick5. Didn’t I always pull through?”
Yin Bai felt Zuo Jingyou’s attitude was very problematic, and she got a little angry. She huffily blew her bangs away from her forehead and said to Zuo Jingyou very seriously, “The past is the past. We’re going to see a play, not rushing to an appearance. Do you really need to push yourself this hard?”
Zuo Jingyou sighed, her gaze resting on Yin Bai with a hint of melancholy. “I do. Who was it that said you’d only forgive me if I accompanied you to the play? That was a chance for forgiveness I only got after sending flowers for so long.”
For a moment, Yin Bai felt as if her heart had been fiercely poked. She looked at Zuo Jingyou curled up on the sofa, her long hair loose, her face clear and beautiful, her figure thin. For a moment, she was speechless.
So, she could only reach out and flick Zuo Jingyou hard on the forehead with her knuckle.
Zuo Jingyou cried out in pain, raised her hand to cover her forehead, and looked at her, biting her lip in dissatisfaction. “Why did you flick my forehead again!”
Yin Bai said through gritted teeth, “If I don’t flick it, how would I know if your head is full of water6!”
Yin Bai knocked on the armrest beside Zuo Jingyou, looking down at her resentfully. “You’re usually such a sharp person, how can you not tell when I’m being serious or joking! Oh, so whatever I say, that’s what it is?”
Zuo Jingyou hugged her knees, tilted her head up, and looked at her quietly. “With other people, I know. But when it’s you speaking, I can’t tell. Because every word you say feels very serious.”
Moreover, Yin Bai had even said the word “preference.” When someone shows you preference, everything they say feels so serious to Zuo Jingyou that she can’t possibly brush it off.
Zuo Jingyou tilted her head, propped her chin on one hand, and looked at Yin Bai with a gentle gaze. “You’re too special. I’ve never made friends with someone like you before. You don’t seek anything worldly from me; instead, you exchange true sincerity for this friendship. That’s incredibly rare among peers.”
“You have no idea how worried I was. What if I couldn’t coax you properly and lost your friendship?”
Zuo Jingyou sighed, sat up straight, and looked at Yin Bai very seriously. “Just as you said, you said you have a preference for me. So, in my heart, you are also a special friend. Therefore… anything related to you is important.”
Growing up, apart from her parents and family, Yin Bai had never received such clear and obvious preference. This was the first time someone had told her she was special, treating her as a unique individual in their world.
Yin Bai took a step back, raised a hand to her chest, and looked at Zuo Jingyou with an expression of being utterly overwhelmed. “If you put it that way, I’m truly flattered and overwhelmed.”
Seeing her reaction, Zuo Jingyou couldn’t help but lower her eyes and smile. She tilted her head to look at Yin Bai, her eyes seeming to hold countless tiny, scattered stars, incredibly gentle. “You, really… Do you only allow yourself to be so good to me, and not allow me to respond so seriously?”
Yin Bai waved her hands, hopped on one leg back to her own sofa, and sat down, holding onto the armrest, facing Zuo Jingyou across the coffee table. “It’s not quite like that. It’s just that, growing up, this is the first time I’ve heard someone give me such a serious ‘confession’.”
To avoid ambiguity, Yin Bai added, “When I say ‘confession,’ I mean in the context of a relationship, someone analyzing their feelings for me in front of me, clearly telling me that I am important.”
“This is a very… very rare experience.”
Yin Bai looked steadily at Zuo Jingyou before her and said with utmost sincerity, “Thank you, Zuo Jingyou. Thank you very much.”
At this moment, Yin Bai truly felt Zuo Jingyou’s “care and affection.” For someone like her, this was incredibly precious.
Yin Bai looked at Zuo Jingyou and said very seriously, “You have tamed me7, so from now on, September sixth will have meaning for me every year. Whenever that day comes, I will remember it’s my best friend’s birthday, and I will be sincerely grateful that you were born into this world and that I met you.”
Zuo Jingyou was stunned for a moment, then smiled. “Then what should I say? What words should I use to respond to you? Should I say that whether it’s the sky or the sea, all things azure and deep have been imbued with special meaning in my heart?”
“Because seeing these things reminds me of your eyes. Your beautiful, grayish-blue eyes are a special color in my life.”
Yin Bai raised her hands to cover her face and stammered, “What you’re saying… it’s really embarrassing!”
Zuo Jingyou looked at her with a helpless expression. “You started it. I’m just responding to you.”
Yin Bai lowered her hands and hmphed, feigning nonchalance. “Alright, this once only. Don’t say things like that anymore. I’m getting goosebumps.”
Zuo Jingyou raised a hand to rub her own arm and said in full agreement, “You too. Don’t say such things anymore either.”
The two of them smiled faintly, then couldn’t help but look at each other and laugh.
After chatting with Yin Bai, Zuo Jingyou finally remembered her two assistants and asked Yin Bai where they had gone.
Yin Bai explained to her, “Because you were sick and needed something nutritious to eat, I had Zhang Yu take Yang Yi home to bring you dinner. If nothing unexpected happens, they should arrive around six.”
Yin Bai paused, suddenly feeling this was a good opportunity. She mustered her courage and said to Zuo Jingyou, “By the way, I asked Yang Yi for your upcoming schedule, and your appearances are packed. After all, this is your debut film premiere, so it’s normal for you to be worried. But you’ve lost too much weight recently, and you don’t have a personal assistant. So I was thinking, how about I lend Zhang Yu to you for a while?”
“Zhang Yu is very considerate in her work. While ensuring she doesn’t interfere with your job, she’ll make sure you never go hungry, no matter when or where, and that you don’t fall ill from overwork. You can use her first, and then have someone look for a suitable personal assistant. How about that?”
Zuo Jingyou was taken aback for a moment, blinked her eyes, and asked, “If you lend Zhang Yu to me, what about you?”
Yin Bai shrugged, unconcerned. “I still have Xiang Qiu. It’s not like I only have one personal assistant. Besides, I asked Zhang Yu for her opinion before, and she’s willing to go on business trips with you.”
“Anyway, I’m tired of her sticking to me every day, and she’s quite familiar with Yang Yi. So let her go with you, what do you think?”
Zuo Jingyou thought about it seriously and said thoughtfully, “Then let me consider it?”
Yin Bai smiled and said to Zuo Jingyou, “Then you must consider it carefully.”
LP: Re-translated on June 05, 2025
Footnotes
- 奔四 | bēn sì | Literally “running towards four (decades),” meaning approaching the age of 40. It’s a colloquial way to describe someone in their late thirties.
- 约克 | Yuēkè | York, a city in England.
- 倒时差的体质 | dǎo shíchā de tǐzhì | Lit. “a constitution for reversing time difference.” It refers to someone whose body is particularly susceptible to or struggles significantly with jet lag.
- 赶通告 | gǎn tōnggào | To rush to scheduled public appearances, events, or filming, common for celebrities. It implies a hectic schedule.
- 带病上阵 | dài bìng shàngzhèn | Lit. “to go into battle/front lines while ill.” It means to persevere with work or a task despite being unwell.
- 脑袋里是不是都是水 | nǎodai lǐ shì bu shì dōu shì shuǐ | Lit. “Is your head full of water?” This is a colloquial and often teasing way to ask if someone is being foolish, not thinking clearly, or being silly. It implies their brain isn’t working properly.
- 驯化 | xùnhuà | To tame or domesticate. This is a direct reference to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s “The Little Prince,” where the fox explains to the little prince what it means “to tame” – to establish ties. It implies creating a unique and special bond.
I don’t think there is a “friendship” like this BUT OKAY! SLOW BURN IS THE FINEST
I don’t think there is a “friendship” like this BUT OKAY! SLOW BURN IS THE FINEST
True friendship real blessing, lucky for those who have it. ZY is funny with her unfiltered mouth
True friendship real blessing, lucky for those who have it. ZY is funny with her unfiltered mouth
How can they be so cute?!!!
How can they be so cute?!!!