After Being Scummed – Chapter 4

No Way, This is Zuo Jingyou’s Kid.

Leaning on her cane as she walked towards the wisteria trellis​¹, Yin Bai overheard the little girl with the toy plane who had spoken earlier ask, “Tongtong, what’s your idea? Hurry up and tell me.”

The child named Tongtong giggled and said, “Wenwen-jie, we can just go over and ask her for it.”

            

The little girl with the plane was very resistant to this. “I don’t want to, she’s really mean! Besides, if the shuttlecock​² is gone, it’s gone. We have others we can use.”

Though they were both children, Tongtong patiently tried to persuade her older sister, “But that shuttlecock is still good. Come on, Mom said grown-ups don’t care about these things. We just need to thank her properly.”

The girl with the plane still wanted to resist. “But…”

            

The girl called Tongtong pulled her older sister along, their voices fading into the distance. “It’s okay, if we talk to her nicely, she’ll definitely give it back.”

The two children’s conversation gradually faded away. Yin Bai pricked up her ears and listened for a while, vaguely hearing that the girl named Tongtong seemed intent on bringing a gift to ask for the shuttlecock back.

Was she really that shallow and childish? These little brats​³, they could forget about trying to sway her with sugar-coated bullets​⁴!

            

Yin Bai put down her cane and reopened her poetry collection. As she read, she thought, When those little brats come over later, I have to be fiercer, make my voice colder. Don’t let them make noise and disturb my reading again, don’t let them hit the shuttlecock over here again, and no toy planes either!

This was a matter of principle; she had to make things crystal clear!

With a plan forming in her mind, Yin Bai barely turned a few pages of the poetry collection in her hand, constantly​⁵ checking her phone to see if any calls had come through.

            

She waited for quite a while, but didn’t see the little brats ring her doorbell. She started to feel a bit anxious, even secretly wondering why the little brats hadn’t come yet.

Yin Bai waited and waited, flipping idly back and forth through several pages of her poetry collection, until finally, her phone rang.

Hearing the sound, Yin Bai jolted. They’re here! she thought.

            

She sat up straight, put down her book, cleared her throat lightly, and answered the call coming from her front gate intercom.

The phone screen flickered, showing the figures of two children on the monitor​⁶.

On the monitor, a little girl who looked only four or five years old was reaching up to press the doorbell, peering into the yard. “Hello, hello, hello… Is anyone there? Is anyone home?”

            

Yin Bai cleared her throat again and hesitated for a moment without answering.

The little girl with the small topknot​⁷ looked puzzled and raised her voice, “Hello, is anyone home?”

The child standing behind her was slightly older. Seeing that no one responded after several calls, she started to get scared. The older child tugged at the little girl’s sleeve, trying to dissuade her. “Forget it, forget it, Tongtong. That Auntie probably isn’t home. Let’s just forget about the shuttlecock.”

            

Tongtong looked up, straining on her tiptoes to see towards the gate. “But the doorbell call connected, why isn’t there any sound?”

Tongtong seemed convinced someone was home and persistently​⁸ called out again, “Hello, are you home?”

After she asked three times in a row, even Yin Bai, however hard-hearted​⁹, couldn’t pretend she hadn’t heard. Yin Bai awkwardly rubbed the side of her pants, cleared her throat, and asked, “Yes, I am. Why are you ringing my doorbell?”

            

Yin Bai’s voice sounded very cold. The next moment, she saw Tongtong’s expression on the monitor light up with pleasant surprise. “Wow, it’s a Big Sister with a nice voice!”

Hearing this, Yin Bai’s mood instantly brightened.

She gave a light humph. Then she saw Tongtong on the screen, eyes curved into crescents, giving her an eager, pleasing smile. “Big Sister, our shuttlecock flew into your yard. Can you let us come in to get it?”

            

Now in a good mood, Yin Bai actually no longer minded being called a “weird Auntie” by the children. But having a bad personality, she still subconsciously decided to pick on the kids. “Didn’t your mother tell you not to just go into other people’s houses?”

“If you randomly enter a stranger’s house, you might run into the Big Bad Wolf!”

Yin Bai deliberately tried to scare them. Sure enough, Tongtong on the monitor showed a worried expression. The older child, who had already been hesitant about entering her house, now wanted to back out​¹⁰ once again. “Tongtong, maybe we should just go back.”

            

That weird Auntie inside was just too scary, scarier than the Big Bad Wolf in the fairy tales.

Tongtong hesitated for a moment. She bit her lower lip, thought for a second, then looked up at the monitor and smiled. “Then, Big Sister, could I trouble you to help me find the ball and bring it to the gate for us?”

Yin Bai clicked her tongue softly. Tsk, she thought, this little brat is really bold, actually trying to order me around!

            

Without thinking, Yin Bai refused. “I won’t!”

After being rejected, Tongtong looked annoyed. She glanced down at her children’s watch​¹¹, then mustered her courage and said to Yin Bai on the other end of the call, “Okay then, Big Sister, could you open the gate? We’ll just go find it ourselves.”

Yin Bai muttered, “Quite bold, aren’t you.” Then she said, “Alright, fine. Come on in. Once you’re inside the gate, follow the path on the left straight to the back garden.”

            

After speaking, Yin Bai decisively hung up the call and pressed the button to open the gate, letting the two little brats in.

Click. The iron gate opened. Hearing the sound, Tongtong exchanged a glance with her little older cousin, took her hand, and started walking inside. “Let’s go, Wenwen-jie, let’s go find the shuttlecock.”

The two children pushed open the iron gate and followed the path on the left inwards.

            

Yin Bai’s yard was planted with all sorts of roses. As they walked, the various colored roses were in full, gorgeous bloom, a breathtakingly beautiful sight. Hand in hand, the children’s attention was quickly captured by the flowers. They chattered about how pretty they were, how beautiful the yard was, occasionally mentioning finding the shuttlecock.

From afar, Yin Bai heard the children’s voices. She quickly reached out and tossed the shuttlecock she had picked up into the low bushes beside the wisteria trellis, letting the white ball rest on the green leaves so the children could spot it easily at a glance.

As the children’s footsteps grew closer, Yin Bai hastily opened her poetry collection, pretending to be reading. However, the corner of her eye unconsciously drifted towards the direction the children were coming from.

            

Soon, two small figures emerged hand-in-hand from behind the rockery.

Yin Bai held the book up to cover her face, but unconsciously lowered it bit by bit, her gaze falling on the two girls holding hands.

The girl walking in front looked about four or five years old, with her hair tied in a little bun​¹². She wore a white T-shirt and black overalls, her face still holding some baby fat, looking pink and tender like a little dumpling. The girl following her was slightly taller, around six or seven, wearing a little skirt with her hair down, looking somewhat uneasy.

            

Yin Bai had never seen the girl in front before, but looking at her features, she felt a strange sense of familiarity.

Yin Bai had some impression of the girl behind. Not long ago, this child’s toy plane had flown onto her balcony, nearly hitting her on the head. So when Yin Bai had returned the plane, her expression had been quite unpleasant.

Seeing the two getting closer, Yin Bai quickly raised the book again, covering her face, pretending to be an indifferent adult turning a blind eye.

            

Soon, the two little girls spotted the shuttlecock lying in the bushes and ran over with pattering steps. “Ah, it’s our ball! Wenwen-jie, it’s here!”

Wenwen said happily, “Yes, it is, Tongtong!”

Quickly, they reached the wisteria trellis and excitedly picked up the shuttlecock.

            

Hearing the commotion, Yin Bai couldn’t resist lowering her book. She cleared her throat lightly and let her gaze fall on the two little girls nearby.

Hearing the sound, Tongtong, holding the ball, looked up towards Yin Bai under the wisteria trellis and froze.

Under the beautiful wisteria trellis, Yin Bai, dressed in a cool grey cotton-linen T-shirt and trousers, wore a pair of silver-rimmed glasses, looking quite aloof.

            

Even colder than her appearance were her eyes, different from ordinary people’s. Those grey-blue eyes seemed so unique in the children’s view.

The child holding the shuttlecock stared intently at Yin Bai’s eyes and let out a sigh of admiration, “Such pretty eyes!”

Being praised by a child, Yin Bai subconsciously wanted to raise her hand to cover her eyes. But halfway up, she felt it wasn’t quite right, so she placed her hand near her lips and cleared her throat. “Alright, you’ve found your ball. Hurry back now!”

            

Perhaps feeling a bit embarrassed, her tone this time was much softer than it had been on the intercom.

Tongtong let go of Wenwen’s hand, clutched the shuttlecock, and trotted towards Yin Bai, her eyes sparkling brightly as she looked at her. “Big Sister, thank you for letting us come in to get the ball.”

Seeing her eyes full of curiosity and happy surprise, Yin Bai felt a bit unsure how to respond. She nodded, managing only an “Mm.”

            

Tongtong looked at her curiously, her eyes smiling. “Big Sister, you’re really pretty, like an angel. Your eyes are like grey-blue glass beads, so sparkly!”

Yin Bai admitted to herself that she was pleased. The corners of her lips lifted slightly. “Of course. I’m a fairy.”

Tongtong’s eyes lit up. Amidst Wenwen’s panicked expression, she hugged the ball and moved closer to Yin Bai. “Then, Fairy Sister, do you know magic? Do you have a magic wand?”

            

The smile on Yin Bai’s face froze awkwardly. She forced a smile that didn’t reach her eyes​¹³ and replied, “Sorry, I don’t know magic, and I don’t have a fairy wand. I’m a fairy who’s good for nothing except being pretty.”

But Tongtong didn’t mind this answer. She trotted towards Yin Bai and pulled a piece of candy from her pocket. “Fairy Sister is pretty and kind-hearted. She’s a good fairy.”

Tongtong offered the candy to Yin Bai, smiling softly as she said, “Kind Fairy Sister, thank you for letting us come in to find the ball. This is a thank-you gift for you. I hope you’ll accept it.”

            

Yin Bai lowered her gaze to the candy Tongtong was offering. After a moment’s hesitation, she reached out, took it, and murmured her thanks.

Seeing Yin Bai accept the candy, Tongtong said happily, “Then we’ll go back now. Goodbye, Fairy Sister.”

Yin Bai held the candy and nodded. “Goodbye.”

            

Shortly after, Tongtong led her dumbstruck, breathless​¹⁴ older sister away, skipping as they went.

Yin Bai sat under the wisteria trellis, watching the two children leave. She casually unwrapped the candy in her hand, popped it into her mouth, and thought, Did this kid’s parents feed her honey​¹⁵ every day? How come, raising kids the same way, this Tongtong is so sweet-tongued?

Besides, this Tongtong looks strangely familiar…

            

Yin Bai pondered for a while, running through the people she knew in her mind. It took quite some time before she realized who the child resembled.

She looked like Zuo Jingyou!

F%ck!

            

She remembered Zuo Jingyou’s child was about that age too! It couldn’t be such a coincidence, could it? Was this child really Zuo Jingyou’s kid? What bizarre fate was this!

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The author has something to say:

Oho!

            

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LP: Re-translated on April 19, 2025

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