After Being Scummed – Chapter 55
by Little PandaI Love You
In her youth, Yin Bai read a poem. It said: “I have a house, facing the sea, with spring blossoms warm.” She loved the line so much that for her sixteenth birthday, her grandmother bought her an island in the Southern Hemisphere and built her a house that was “facing the sea, with spring blossoms warm.”
At this very moment, the Northern Hemisphere was in the grip of a bitter winter, but this small island in the Southern Hemisphere was abloom with a riot of flowers, buzzing with the clamor of spring.
In the vast courtyard behind the villa, clusters of roses in every color imaginable had been planted, creating a vibrant scene of reds and purples.
Yin Bai, dressed in a thin silk shirt and a pair of comfortable, light-colored, wide-leg trousers, sat in her wheelchair beneath a verdant grape trellis. With a pair of scissors in hand, she trimmed a pile of assorted roses and fresh flowers spread before her, arranging them into a beautiful bouquet and placing them into a vase.
After fleeing Tibet in a panic, she hadn’t brought a single assistant with her, escaping in a hurry to this secret base.
After informing Zhang Yu, Xiang Qiu, and the others that she was safe, she spent nearly every day sitting under this grape trellis, forcing herself not to think about Zuo Jingyou, focusing all her attention on fussing with these flowers.
But the memory of that night’s kiss was simply too profound for Yin Bai to forget. The moment her mind went blank, it would be flooded with thoughts of Zuo Jingyou.
Her gaze had been so gentle, as if she were carefully pulling Yin Bai into her embrace. Her lips had been so soft; when they kissed, it felt as though she were tenderly kissing her wounds.
Her every move had been telling Yin Bai: “Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you.”
But nothing has even started, so how can you know you won’t hurt me?
Promises made before anything has begun don’t count!
But when Yin Bai recalled the way Zuo Jingyou had looked at her that night, so focused and so earnest, her heart began to ache again.
Yin Bai sighed and pulled a red rose from a cluster. As she trimmed its leaves and thorns with the scissors, she muttered to herself, “Little rose, she must be very angry.”
“I left without a word. She must think I rejected her.”
Yin Bai sighed again, then switched to a cheerful voice, feigning happiness. “Ah, my friend, you worry too much.”
“The woman you admire is such a clever and considerate person. She will surely understand your complicated state of mind. Besides, you left a reliable companion by her side, did you not?”
Yin Bai pressed her lips together, placed the trimmed red rose into the vase, and sighed softly. “But Zhang Yu doesn’t know anything. Leaving Zhang Yu with her will only remind her of me, which might make her even angrier.”
Yin Bai then picked up a thorny rose and mimicked its appearance, speaking in a theatrical, menacing voice, “Oh, no it won’t! Didn’t you tell your reliable companion to take good care of her? Your reliable companion will certainly pass the message along, and she will definitely understand what’s in your heart.”
Yin Bai frowned, her voice full of sorrow. “But what if she doesn’t? What if she sends Zhang Yu back?”
“Ah… and most importantly, what if she becomes sad because of this? Before I left, I promised her I’d give her an answer soon, but I just ran away. She must be heartbroken.”
The menacing “rose” quickly interjected, adding fuel to the fire. “Of course she’ll be sad! You know her confession was so sincere. She cares about you so much.”
“She might even be crying. After discovering you left, she’s probably shedding tears in secret late at night. Her tears fall like pearls, covering the entire floor, glittering under the moonlight…”
“She is your little mermaid. If she can’t have your love, she’ll cry and cry until she dissolves into sea foam and disappears.”
Yin Bai leaned forward, placed the rose in the vase, and said with a sigh, “Little rose, don’t be so dramatic. She’s a mature adult, different from us…”
“She’s mature, rational, and filled with every feminine charm. The line of people pursuing her stretches from Tibet all the way to this island…”
“Maybe after I’ve rejected her, she’ll meet someone even better? Someone more mature, someone who won’t flee in a panic, who will respond to her feelings head-on?”
The “little rose” retorted, “No, no, no, even so, the pain you caused by rejecting her can’t be healed by a new romance. She’s someone who values feelings deeply. She spent so much time on you, she treasures you so much. She will definitely be sad enough to cry if she loses you.”
Yin Bai sighed, bowing her head and speaking softly. “Sadness is only temporary. A lifetime is so long, she’ll eventually forget me.”
The “little rose” sighed softly, coaxing her. “But have you forgotten? She said that if you reject her, her heart will ache every time she sees you. Can you bear to make her heart ache?”
“Of course I can’t, but…”
The “little rose” wiggled its newly trimmed “skirt” and chirped, “But what? Nothing lasts forever anyway! Love is just like us roses. After we bloom, we soon wither.”
“But when we are in full bloom, we are the most beautiful flowers in the world. Everyone, including you, wants to possess us, don’t they?”
Yin Bai lowered her gaze and said with a sigh, “Yes, I want to possess you. But every time I see you wither, I feel so sad…”
The “little rose” smiled sweetly and said cheerfully, “What’s there to be sad about? When our blossoms fade, you just have to collect our seeds, sow us once more in fertile soil, and again carefully nurture, water, and let us grow into the same beautiful flowers from the very same earth.”
Yin Bai’s hand, holding the scissors, paused. She lowered her gaze, her eyes filled with sorrow. “But I’m afraid I can’t do it… Love isn’t such a simple thing. I…”
Before she could finish, the “little rose” angrily cut her off. “Is nurturing a rose a simple thing? We need fertilizer and water every day. We can’t have too much sun, but we can’t have no sun at all. We need fences to keep us away from alpacas, we need to make friends with butterflies, and we’re afraid of the night wind…”
“You have to do all of that just to cultivate us into beautiful roses. That’s an incredible achievement in itself!”
“How can you say that cultivating a rose isn’t as important as your love!”
Yin Bai was rendered speechless. She pressed her lips together and stared at the vase full of roses for a long while before saying with a defeated sigh, “Alright, alright, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s my fault, I’m sorry… I’m too pessimistic… I’m too cowardly…”
The “little roses” seemed to accept her apology. Huddled closely together, they “nodded in satisfaction” and said to Yin Bai, “Alright, it’s not your fault. We understand that humans are always vulnerable in one way or another. Many, many people are just like you, not perfect, with their own flaws. It’s just that your flaws are a bit bigger.”
“But as your loyal friends, we need to offer a little reminder…”
One “rose” swayed in the breeze and looked directly at Yin Bai, asking, “Do you like her? Are you willing to choose her as your partner for the rest of your life?”
“Most importantly, are you sure that after giving up on her, anyone else will ever love you this much?”
Yin Bai pursed her lips and mumbled to herself, “I… I don’t know…”
The “little rose” sighed, exasperated with her. “Of course you don’t know, because you’re always hoping to receive love from others! But love originates from within yourself, it’s not something others give you!”
“That’s right, that’s right!” In an instant, all the “roses” seemed to grow agitated. A clamor of voices rushed in from all directions, carried by the wind into Yin Bai’s ears, exploding in her mind. “Love originates from within yourself! You need to give yourself more and more love!”
“Don’t think about whether she will love you, but think about whether you love her!”
“Do you love her?”
The “little roses” rustled their leaves in unison, asking Yin Bai loudly, “Look at me, my lovely friend. Tell me the answer from your heart. Do you love her?”
“I…”
Clutching the scissors, Yin Bai unconsciously squeezed a rose. As a sharp thorn pricked her fingertip, she seemed to awaken from a trance, saying with a dawning realization, “Yes, I love her.”
The roses were finally happy. They swayed their branches and leaves, saying in a relaxed tone, “Then go and tell her~ If you like someone, you must tell them!”
“Go on. The wind will be the sails that swell with your courage, carrying your heart to the shores of the sea of love.”
That’s right. This, if nothing else, is something she must tell Zuo Jingyou. She couldn’t be like last time, saying nothing, doing nothing!
A tremendous surge of courage suddenly rose within Yin Bai. She put down the scissors, pushed the wheels of her chair, and headed toward the house.
She moved in such a hurry that she nearly rolled herself into the rose bushes several times. A servant trimming the garden saw her, quickly put down their tools, and ran over to push her into the house.
Yin Bai thanked the servant and had them push her to the telephone. She lifted the receiver, hurriedly pressed the number she knew by heart, and made the call.
The phone rang for a long time. With each ring, Yin Bai’s wavering heart felt as if it were about to plummet. She gripped the receiver, bit her lip, and prayed desperately that Zuo Jingyou would pick up.
Just as the last ring was about to fade, the call finally connected. A cool, clear voice came through the faint crackle of static. “Hello?”
It was Zuo Jingyou. The moment she heard her voice, Yin Bai’s entire body relaxed.
Sitting in her wheelchair, clutching the phone, Yin Bai lowered her eyes and said softly into the mouthpiece, “Hello, it’s me…”
On the other end of the line, Zuo Jingyou tightened her grip on her phone, her lips pressed together as she asked with a tremor of apprehension, “Yin Bai?”
Yin Bai nodded and said carefully to Zuo Jingyou, “If… if I told you right now that I’m on a small island in the Southern Hemisphere, would you be willing to come and find me?”
Hearing those words, Zuo Jingyou felt the heart that had been dangling over a wire finally drop to safety. She lowered her gaze and said gently, “I will.”
No matter where Yin Bai was hiding, she was willing to go and dig her out.
Yin Bai’s eyes instantly grew moist. She looked down, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall, and said in a choked voice, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have run so far away.”
“But…”
“Zuo Jingyou, I love you.”
If one had to express their love, there were no words more concise, clear, and powerful than these three.
Zuo Jingyou’s eyes immediately turned red. With the howling northern wind at her back, she gripped her phone and said to Yin Bai in a hoarse voice, “Me too. I love you.”
“Where are you? Tell me the address. I’ll come find you right now.”
After so many days of solitary torment, she couldn’t bear it any longer. At this very moment, all she wanted was to see the one she loved.
To tell her just how much she had missed her.
LP: Re-translated on June 28, 2025
ASDGFHSK I AM SCREAMINGGG
Yin bai and i, have a similarity of making decisions LMAO
THANK YOU AUTHOR
Yin bai and i, have a similarity of making decisions LMAO
THANK YOU AUTHOR
Woohoo😭😭😭,
I am literally crying,
So emotional.
Woohoo😭😭😭,
I am literally crying,
So emotional.
Incredible, it’s like a stage play!
this chapter is may be my favorite so far
Incredible, it’s like a stage play!
this chapter is may be my favorite so far
I think, Yin Bai’s nickname Little prince suits her xD
I think, Yin Bai’s nickname Little prince suits her xD