After Being Scummed – Chapter 63
by Little PandaLove You Forever
Zuo Jingyou’s sigh resounded faintly in Yin Bai’s ear. From her tone, Yin Bai finally caught the spider silks and horse tracks1 betraying her troubled mood.
Yin Bai closed the storage cabinet, raised her hand to take Zuo Jingyou’s, and looked up at her. “I have never denied, nor will I ever deny, that I used to like Xiao Nian. It’s because of my past experiences that I’ve grown into the person I am today.”
Yin Bai held Zuo Jingyou’s hand, brought it to her lips, and leaned down to brand it with a kiss. “I’m very grateful for that past with Xiao Nian. She made me understand what kind of lover I should be.”
Yin Bai raised her eyes, her grey-blue gaze full of deep affection for Zuo Jingyou. “I was too young back then; I didn’t yet understand what love was.”
“If the me from back then had met you, I definitely would have felt ashamed of my own humble form2 and wouldn’t have dared to love you.”
Yin Bai let out a soft sigh, interlocked her fingers with Zuo Jingyou’s, and looked at her, saying, “Zuo Jingyou, you should know just how much I love you.”
Zuo Jingyou pressed her lips together, her gaze lowered to Yin Bai. She raised a hand and stroked her soft, smooth black hair, giving a soft laugh. “I know, I don’t doubt that… I’m just…”
Zuo Jingyou thought for a moment, searching for the right words. “You know, this kind of feeling is hard to explain…”
In short, even though I’ve thought it all through and can talk myself out of it, I still can’t help but eat vinegar3.
Seeing her trying and failing to hide it, Yin Bai nodded in understanding. “Ah, I get it. I often feel that way…”
A kind smile curved her lips as she looked at Zuo Jingyou. “The fact that Teacher Zuo minds this sort of thing makes me so happy!”
The corners of Zuo Jingyou’s lips curved, a rare, bashful expression on her face. “I don’t mind, I’m just…”
“I get it, I get it… You’re just jealous, that’s all.”
Hearing that word, a faint blush quickly spread across Zuo Jingyou’s cheeks. She reached out and pinched Yin Bai’s ear, still protesting, “I’m not…”
Ugh, so annoying. Why isn’t she dense when she’s supposed to be? She just had to rip off my mask!
The moment her ear was touched, Yin Bai felt her whole body go itchy and weak. She shrank back, dodging Zuo Jingyou’s playful assault, and coaxed her in a placating tone, “Yes, yes, you’re not.”
She raised her hand, grabbing Zuo Jingyou’s wrist and looking up at her. “Alright, alright~ It’s just a habit of mine to keep the gifts people give me~”
“So all the gifts Teacher Zuo has given me are also carefully stored away right here in this house!”
Yin Bai gave her another quick kiss, then took her hand and pressed it against her own cheek, her eyes shining as she looked at her, full of love. “For the next five years, ten years… Teacher Zuo must give me lots and lots of gifts, enough to fill up this whole house, okay?~”
Zuo Jingyou caressed the delicate skin of her cheek with her thumb. Seeing this eager-to-please look, the faint traces of jealousy in her heart gradually subsided.
She cupped Yin Bai’s face with one hand, a smile in her eyes. “And not fill up your bank safe deposit box?”
Alright, so they still couldn’t avoid the topic of the ex after all.
Yin Bai blinked, looking at Zuo Jingyou and said, “Okay. Whatever belongs to Teacher Zuo, you can have me put it wherever you want.”
“I belong to Teacher Zuo, and my things are at Teacher Zuo’s disposal as well.”
As someone who was often dramatic and kicked up a fuss, Yin Bai knew exactly what to say and when to say it to make someone happy.
Successfully pleased, Zuo Jingyou reached out and pinched her cheek, looking at her with a doting expression. “You misspoke. You don’t belong to me, and of course, I don’t belong to you. You simply love me and want to do anything for me.”
Yin Bai was a super fast learner. After hearing Zuo Jingyou say that, she quickly amended her statement, “Yes, that’s right! Because I love Teacher Zuo deeply, I’m willing to do anything for Teacher Zuo!”
“As long as Teacher Zuo needs anything, my duty will not allow me to refuse!4“
It seems that all couples, when they first get together, say things like “I’m willing to do anything for you,” “I’ll love you forever,” and so on.
These promises are spoken so casually, as if “forever” were just an instant, something easily achieved.
From the very beginning, Zuo Jingyou had never been one to believe in the concept of “forever.” But she knew that at this very moment, Yin Bai’s love was not fake.
And so, these promises, these empty, hollow words, felt so incredibly sweet to her.
Zuo Jingyou cheered up. She leaned down and kissed Yin Bai’s forehead, saying with a smile, “Alright, my little knight who’s willing to go through boiling water and tread on fire for me, the little princesses are almost home. Let’s go get them and continue your birthday party!”
Knowing that Zuo Jingyou had been placated, Yin Bai nodded with a smile and said, “Okay~”
Not long after Zuo Jingyou pushed Yin Bai out of the collection room, the Auntie brought the two children home. Because Professor Sun was away on an academic exchange, dinner was just Yin Bai, Zuo Jingyou, and the children.
Zuo Jingyou personally cooked for Yin Bai. While waiting for dinner, Yin Bai and the two children unwrapped the gifts that others had sent that day.
The children had only found out a few days ago that it was Yin Bai’s birthday, but they had still hurriedly prepared gifts for her. As Yin Bai was busy unwrapping presents, Tongtong and Wenwen stood in a row before her, huddled close together. They gave each other a little nudge and called out in unison, “Fairy Sister…”
Yin Bai looked up at the two children in front of her and asked with a smile, “What is it?”
Tongtong took a deep breath, puffed out her little chest, and came up to Yin Bai. She brought out the gift hidden behind her back and presented it to her. “Fairy Sister, happy birthday!”
Yin Bai looked down and saw that it was a drawing. In the picture, a “witch” with a surprisingly slender and tall figure, huge blue eyes, white skin, and a head of black hair flying wildly toward the sky, stood in a patch of flowers, holding a “magic wand” pointed at the sky and smiling with her mouth split wide open.
Its mouth was so enormous it looked like it could swallow a child—a sight bizarre enough to send a chill down one’s spine.
After nearly two years together, Yin Bai knew that her little buddy had probably not inherited her mother’s artistic talent; her drawing style had always been fiercely wild.
But even after two years of exposure, Yin Bai still hadn’t gotten used to her little buddy’s coarse, abstract style. Seeing this drawing, she was still stunned.
She blinked at Tongtong and asked, “Is this me?”
Tongtong, completely oblivious to her own artistic abilities, nodded emphatically. “Yes!”
Her pretty eyes curved into crescents as she said sweetly to Yin Bai, “Happy birthday, Fairy Sister! I hope you’ll smile this happily every day from now on. You look so pretty when you smile!”
Yin Bai blinked innocently, thinking to herself, It would be pretty difficult to smile in such a terrifying way. And could you really call this smile “pretty”?
Yin Bai very carefully put the gift away and looked at Tongtong with immense gratitude. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome!”
After Tongtong finished, Wenwen, who was standing to the side, also took a step forward and said to Yin Bai with a smile, “Fairy Sister, I have a gift for you too~”
Yin Bai looked at her with a beaming smile. “Little cutie, what gift are you giving me? Is it a drawing, too?”
The artistic talent of the two sisters was half a jin to eight liang5—in short, they were about equally shocking.
Yin Bai was already bracing herself to see another portrait, but Wenwen shook her head and said with a giggle, “Nope~”
As she spoke, Wenwen took her gift out from behind her back and placed it in front of Yin Bai. “Ta-da! It’s a leaf! It’s a pretty leaf I picked during our autumn field trip a couple of days ago!”
Yin Bai took the leaf and glanced at it, discovering it was a thick tea plant leaf with a beautiful pattern of veins.
Yin Bai accepted the leaf and smiled at Wenwen.
Wenwen stood with her hands behind her back and said, full of confidence, “It’s the prettiest leaf I’ve ever seen. The teacher said you can make it into a bookmark and keep it for a lifetime. I hope our friendship can be treasured by you forever, just like this leaf.”
Having grown another year older, student Sun Jingwen, just like her little sister, comrade Zuo Ruotong, had become a child with a mouth full of sugar-coated cannonballs6.
Yin Bai smiled faintly and ruffled her hair. “Okay, okay, I’ll take good care of it.” I’ll have Zhang Yu turn it into a bookmark specimen later to preserve it forever.
Seeing that her sister had given her gift, Tongtong tugged on Yin Bai’s sleeve, looking up at her with sparkling eyes. “Fairy Sister, my mom says that on your birthday, you’re a lucky star.”
“You’re the lucky star today, so can you share a little of your luck with me?”
Yin Bai blinked, not understanding. “How do I share it?”
Tongtong’s eyes curved into crescents as she giggled. “If you let me give you a kiss, I can get some of your luck, right?”
What kind of logic is that?
Yin Bai tilted her head and thought for a moment, then pointed to her cheek. “Alright, go ahead and kiss me. Right here.”
Tongtong grabbed her hand, threw herself at her, and planted a loud smack on her cheek. After the kiss, Tongtong made a V-sign and said cheerfully, “Yay, now I’m lucky too! I’ll definitely get first place on my test tomorrow.”
Hey, am I some kind of lucky charm? Does it really work that way?
Seeing this, Wenwen, who was standing nearby, also grabbed Yin Bai’s hand and clamored, “I want to be lucky too! I want to get first place tomorrow too!”
After saying that, Wenwen planted two smacks on Yin Bai’s face. “I kissed you twice, so I’ll be extra lucky tomorrow!”
Seeing this, Tongtong decided two was better and planted another smack on Yin Bai’s face. The two children treated Yin Bai like a good luck charm, pulling at her and kissing her nonstop.
Yin Bai, who had always been a bit of a germaphobe, endured the face full of saliva and said helplessly, “Hey, friends, kissing me is useless. You guys should be studying hard!”
What kind of bad habit is this! They need to break it, now!
When Zuo Jingyou came out of the kitchen to call them to the dining room for dinner, the scene that greeted her was of Yin Bai being pulled at by the children, who were demanding more kisses.
As she watched Yin Bai hold up a hand to shield her face, trying her best to dodge the two boisterous children, she couldn’t help but let out a faint, amused smile.
How should I put it… the lively, bustling warmth of having three little kids in the house felt simply wonderful.
LP: This is a much needed fluff after working on Miss Forensics :))
Re-translated on July 10, 2025
Footnotes
- 蛛絲馬跡 | zhūsīmǎjì | A chengyu literally meaning “spider silk and horse tracks.” It refers to tiny, subtle clues or traces of something.
- 自慚形穢 | zì cán xíng huì | A chengyu literally meaning “to feel ashamed of one’s own form/shape being inferior.” It describes a deep feeling of unworthiness or inferiority when comparing oneself to another.
- 吃醋 | chīcù | Literally “to eat vinegar.” This is the common Chinese expression for feeling jealous, especially in a romantic context.
- 義不容辭 | yì bù róng cí | A chengyu literally meaning “righteousness does not allow one to refuse.” It describes being duty-bound to do something and feeling that it would be wrong to decline.
- 半斤八兩 | bàn jīn bā liǎng | A chengyu literally meaning “half a jin to eight liang.” In the old Chinese system of weights, one jin was equal to sixteen liang, making these two amounts identical. The idiom means that two things are of the same poor quality; six of one, half a dozen of the other.
- 糖衣炮彈 | tángyī pàodàn | A phrase literally meaning “sugar-coated cannonballs.” It describes sweet words or flattery that are used to win someone over, often with great effect.
i agree with you translator ! i always prefer to end my day with some fluff instead of angst ( ˘ω˘ )
i agree with you translator ! i always prefer to end my day with some fluff instead of angst ( ˘ω˘ )