After Being Scummed – Chapter 9
by Little PandaLove Was Always a Selfish Thing
After receiving Zuo Jingyou’s call, He Zhiwen immediately packed his bags and flew back to Haicheng from the capital. Before leaving, he called Lin Xiao and told him he was going to see Zuo Jingyou because of Tongtong — and him.
Lin Xiao, mired in the homewrecking scandal, was currently filming on a closed set. When He Zhiwen called, he had just finished a scene and was sitting in a corner of the set, wrapped in a shawl, drinking water.
The late April sun was bright, but falling upon this northern desert landscape, it carried a chill. Lin Xiao huddled in a spot the cold wind couldn’t reach, cradling a thermos and sipping water. Listening to He Zhiwen’s voice through the phone warmed him from the inside out.
But before he could coo and play sweet with him for even a few more moments, he heard that He Zhiwen was going to see Zuo Jingyou. His grip on the thermos tightened involuntarily.
Lin Xiao suppressed the jealousy surging in his chest and said in a worried tone, “How badly is Tongtong hurt? Is she okay?”
He Zhiwen’s voice was urgent, clearly anxious. “She must have taken a bad fall, otherwise Jingyou wouldn’t have contacted me. Tongtong’s been terrified of pain since she was little. Who knows how badly she’s crying right now.”
Lin Xiao swallowed the bitterness in his throat and said, a little stiffly, “Mm… little kids do cry a lot. Remember to buy some of her favorite snacks, maybe a gift — anything to comfort her.”
“And don’t rush too much. Contact your assistant in Haicheng to have them pick you up from the airport and take you to the hospital. Don’t drive yourself, don’t overexert yourself. Haven’t you been busy filming lately? Spend these next few days with Tongtong, and get some rest yourself.”
Lin Xiao was a man, and he understood men. He couldn’t seem too jealous, but he couldn’t seem too magnanimous either. In this dangerous relationship, even though He Zhiwen loved him fiercely right now, he wasn’t confident he could measure up to Zuo Jingyou.
More importantly, Zuo Jingyou and He Zhiwen had a child together. That was a bond he could never hope to overcome.
At the same time, he knew how fickle men could be. In the face of true love and desire, even the ties of a child meant nothing.
So he could only try harder — make He Zhiwen love him just a little more, until gradually, he couldn’t live without him.
Sure enough, hearing Lin Xiao’s gentle, considerate words, He Zhiwen felt a surge of guilt. He paused, then said softly, “I’m sorry, Xiao Ye. Don’t overthink it. Jingyou and I divorced at the beginning of the year, so I really am just going to see our daughter. There’s nothing else to it. Don’t be jealous.”
On the other end of the line, Lin Xiao let out a soft laugh. He looked down, his fingers idly toying with the thermos lid, and said quietly, “Of course I’ll be jealous. You’re going to see your ex-wife — how could I not mind?”
“But I know you’re really doing it for Tongtong. She’s your daughter; you can’t not go see her. Life is long — I’ll have to get used to it eventually.”
Lin Xiao paused, then added pointedly, “Besides, Jingyou-jie isn’t the kind of vulgar woman who’d use a child to win back her husband. So — I trust you both.”
“Take care of yourself, alright?”
He Zhiwen instantly relaxed. He mumbled, “I’ve put you through a lot lately. Don’t worry — the post clearing your name will go out soon. Just give me a little more time, and I’ll proudly and openly make you my partner.”
Lin Xiao smiled. “Don’t say such mushy things. I love you — that’s all I need to know.”
The two exchanged a few more mushy, flirtatious words, and it was only when Lin Xiao’s next scene was ready that they finally hung up.
Lin Xiao set down his phone and looked up at the open ground nearby. Where the wind and sand swept through, everything was hazy and gray, as if nothing could be seen clearly. Only a thin strand of sunlight filtering down from above brought a meager glimmer of light.
Over there, the assistant director was filming a group of extras. Lin Xiao couldn’t help thinking that many years ago, he had been one of those extras. It was He Zhiwen who had plucked him from the crowd and given him his first real break.
In that cold winter, in those days when he’d been drifting alone with no one to rely on, it was He Zhiwen who had reached out a hand and helped him keep his life going.
He Zhiwen was like the sunlight breaking into this gray, hazy set — he had warmed the last remaining things in Lin Xiao’s life.
Even though He Zhiwen was already married at the time, Lin Xiao had still climbed, step by step, until he stood before He Zhiwen and became his leading man.
Lin Xiao mused for a moment, then picked up his phone again and opened Weibo. His feed was full of smear posts about his affair with He Zhiwen.
He scrolled through the screen, watching Zuo Jingyou’s fans and his own fans tear into each other in heated arguments, and smirked.
The other man1? He didn’t care about that label at all.
Love — it had always been a selfish thing. Everyone fights for the one they love by whatever means they have. Isn’t that how it should be? Life is so brief, and yet so cold and lonely. Only when two souls meet do they catch a fleeting burst of brilliant sparks and light — so why not seize the moment and enjoy it?
Lin Xiao switched to his messages and sent a text to an anonymous number: “Release the news of He Zhiwen and Zuo Jingyou’s divorce tonight.”
After all, they really had divorced, hadn’t they? He Zhiwen and Zuo Jingyou had nothing to do with each other anymore. From now on, He Zhiwen was his.
Once he received a confirmation reply, Lin Xiao blocked the number, stood up, and walked back to the director to continue filming his scenes.
He Zhiwen flew back to Haicheng and arrived at the hospital the next morning.
Six months ago, when He Zhiwen confessed to Zuo Jingyou that he had fallen in love with someone else, the two had begun divorce proceedings. Aside from the tedious division of assets, Tongtong’s custody was also a major issue.
He Zhiwen had cheated first and knew he was in the wrong, so he didn’t dare fight Zuo Jingyou for custody. Tongtong naturally went to live with her mother.
From that point on, Zuo Jingyou had subtly reduced the time father and daughter spent together. It wasn’t until two weeks ago, when Zuo Jingyou and He Zhiwen formally completed the divorce, that she took Tongtong and left the home they had always lived in, temporarily placing Tongtong in her grandmother’s care.
Tongtong was still young and probably didn’t fully understand what divorce meant. Neither Zuo Jingyou nor He Zhiwen planned to tell her just yet. They would wait a while — until Tongtong got used to He Zhiwen not coming home — and then explain the situation to her.
So during this period, Tongtong still thought her father had gone far away to shoot a film and couldn’t come visit often.
That was why she was so happy to see her daddy today.
Even though the anesthesia had worn off and her wound was starting to hurt, the moment she saw her father that morning, Tongtong still pestered him to play a game of Aeroplane Chess2.
A rare visit, and He Zhiwen spent the entire morning playing with Tongtong. Once he had finally coaxed the child into good spirits, he glanced at Zuo Jingyou, who had been sitting across from them, watching father and daughter with a quiet gaze. He cleared his throat and said to Tongtong, “Tongtong, Daddy still has work to do. I can’t stay and play with you any longer.”
He reached over and ruffled Tongtong’s hair, coaxing her with a smile. “Be brave, sweetheart. Next time Daddy comes to visit, I’ll take you out to play, okay?”
Tongtong’s little face crumpled, her eyes full of disappointment. “Daddy’s so busy. You have to go already? Can’t you stay with Tongtong a little longer? Tongtong misses you too!”
He Zhiwen nodded, lying without batting an eye. “Mm, lots of uncles and aunties are waiting for Daddy to get back to work. Daddy misses Tongtong too, but he’s just so busy.”
Tongtong was a sensible child. As reluctant as she was, she only looked up at He Zhiwen with tearful eyes and said, “Next time you come back, Daddy, you have to stay with Tongtong longer.”
He Zhiwen nodded, gently ruffling her messy hair again, and comforted her. “I will. Next time I come back, Daddy will take you to the amusement park, how about that?”
“Okay!” Tongtong nodded and held out her pinky to He Zhiwen, smiling sweetly. “Then it’s a deal, Daddy — pinky promise.”
He Zhiwen smiled and hooked his pinky around his daughter’s. “Okay.”
“A promise is sealed — pinky promise, a hundred years, no take-backs.”
Tongtong shook their linked fingers, sealing the contract with her father, and said with a grin, “Daddy promised Tongtong, so you definitely can’t break your word!”
He Zhiwen laughed warmly and reassured her. “Of course! Daddy would never lie to Tongtong. If I say it, I’ll do it.”
After finally comforting his daughter, He Zhiwen looked up at Zuo Jingyou, who had been sitting across the hospital bed, watching them with a faint smile the whole time. He licked his lips awkwardly and said, a little sheepishly, “Jingyou, I should get going. Could you… walk me out?”
He had been hesitating all morning, seeming to have something he wanted to say to Zuo Jingyou. She knew what was on his mind. She sighed and nodded. Zuo Jingyou stood, patted her daughter’s head on the bed, and said softly, “Mommy will walk Daddy downstairs and come right back to have lunch with Tongtong. Tongtong, be good and wait here for the nurses.”
Tongtong nodded and obediently said okay.
Zuo Jingyou sighed and stroked her daughter’s hair once more before turning to He Zhiwen. “Let’s go. I’ll walk you downstairs.”
He Zhiwen smiled, eyes crinkling. “Okay.”
The two walked out of the hospital room one after the other. The moment they stepped through the door, He Zhiwen couldn’t wait to stop Zuo Jingyou. “Jingyou… Jingyou… let’s find somewhere quiet to have lunch and talk things over, alright?”
His voice rang beside her ear. Zuo Jingyou stopped walking. Here it comes, she thought. She sighed and turned to face him, her tone calm. “No need to go anywhere else. The main reason I had you come back this time was to see Tongtong.”
“As for everything else, haven’t we already settled it? What else is there to talk about?”
Everything between them had been laid out in full when he confessed to cheating and asked for a divorce. Zuo Jingyou didn’t think there was anything left to discuss.
This hospital room was on the second-to-highest floor, reserved mostly for high-profile patients, and the surroundings were very quiet. It was noon, and the hospital staff were all grabbing lunch where they could. The corridor was empty — not a single person in sight.
Zuo Jingyou stood in the dim, deep corridor, arms folded, and regarded the man before her quietly, her eyes dark and still as deep water.
Seeing her expression, He Zhiwen scratched his head at a loss and licked his lips. “It’s just… after the news about Lin Xiao and me broke a couple of days ago, you got dragged into it… so I was thinking… maybe you should put out an appropriate public statement?”
“And last night, the news of our divorce spread everywhere. Your studio has to give some kind of response at this point, doesn’t it?”
Zuo Jingyou said nothing. She simply looked at him in silence.
Under her calm gaze, He Zhiwen felt an enormous pressure bearing down on him. After a moment’s thought, he gave up entirely and said, “I know it’s wrong of me to come to you about this. But Jingyou — for the sake of all our years of marriage — can you help me?”
“We’re already divorced anyway. Just do me this one favor. Explain that we had relationship problems last year and already divorced — how about that?”
In short: don’t let people think Lin Xiao was a third party who broke up their marriage.
Zuo Jingyou understood what he was really asking. She chuckled softly, arms folded, her heart gone cold, and said, “What do you want me to say? That we divorced last year? That Lin Xiao wasn’t a third party who intruded on our marriage? You want me, after our divorce, to protect the reputation of the man who destroyed my marriage?”
“He Zhiwen, you really are quite the romantic.”
“But why should I? Why on earth should I help him? Because you love him? Because he took my husband from me and took my child’s father from her?”
Zuo Jingyou’s voice was low, her face carrying a faint mockery she had never shown before. “Why should I be so magnanimous as to make your love story come true?”
The author has something to say:
He Zhiwen is the kind of person who thinks “whether it’s a man or a woman, as long as you’re drawn to them, that’s what matters.”
And in this story, I won’t pass judgment on anyone’s actions, so how you evaluate them is entirely up to you, dear readers.
Okay, I misjudged — the iconic scene is actually next chapter!
As usual, the first fifty readers to leave comments get red envelopes! So everyone, be active with your comments — hurry up and comment!
Ah yes the logics of cheater and third wheel. how dare ppl forbid our love 🙄
Ah yes the logics of cheater and third wheel. how dare ppl forbid our love 🙄
I am loving the premise, love our girl fail mc 🙏😩
I am loving the premise, love our girl fail mc 🙏😩
🙄🙄🙄the audacity to ask for help
🙄🙄🙄the audacity to ask for help