After Being Scummed – Chapter 90
by Little PandaMain Text Finished
Loving you as I did at first, until death do us part.
While Zuo Jingyou was still entirely in a dazed state, Yin Bai at her side was already clapping energetically with a pa pa sound. Her small face was flushed pink and white with excitement, and she said happily, “Zuo Jingyou, you won an award! You won an award!!”
Yin Bai reached out, pressed her palm against Zuo Jingyou’s lower back, and urged, “Quick, quick, quick, Zuo Jingyou, hurry up on stage to receive the award!”
Zuo Jingyou subconsciously lowered her gaze and glanced at the equally surprised Yin Bai, then turned her eyes, her line of sight falling upon Lin Zixi.
Lin Zixi raised her eyes and said with a smile, “Congratulations, Jingyou. Hurry up and go on stage to receive the award.”
Lin Chuchen at the side also clapped her little hands and said happily, “Congratulations, congratulations, Zuo-jiejie is so amazing!”
Ye Can let out a humph, but also said with sincerity, “That’s right, it’s your award. Hurry up and go.”
After receiving a round of encouragement, Zuo Jingyou stood up. After hugging Xu Ruofeng and the others in the back seat one by one, she walked onto the stage as if in a daze and accepted the award from the presenter’s hands.
When she took the trophy, Zuo Jingyou, who was usually calm and composed in front of the media, could not help her eyes from turning red. She said with genuine and sincere emotion, “Although I have been hoping all night that 《Dawa》 would win an award, I prepared in a hurry and didn’t prepare any acceptance speech.”
“I will organize my thoughts now. First, I want to thank the jury and the organizing committee for giving this screenplay story to Dawa. Next is my Shijie, the film crew’s assistant director, Xu Ruofeng. Thank you for telling me such a good story.”
“Thank you to Yin Bai, Producer Yin, for allowing this film to be brought into the world.”
“Thank you to everyone in the film crew for your hard work, and thank you to all the movie fans for your support. Thank you, everyone, for being able to listen together to Dawa’s life in film!”
As her voice fell, applause rose up. On the stage, Zuo Jingyou, holding back tears, held the trophy and took a deep bow.
She quickly walked down from the stage, headed towards her film team, and handed the trophy to Xu Ruofeng.
Xu Ruofeng held the trophy, deeply moved. “To have an award like this tonight, I feel it was all worth it.”
Yin Bai, who was sitting below, heard this, and looked up at her with a grin. “You already feel it was worth it? Why can’t a person have bigger dreams? Aren’t there still several heavyweight awards that haven’t been presented yet?”
Because of Yin Bai’s words, everyone began to have new ambitions, and started to look forward to the subsequent awards for “Best Picture,” “Best Actress,” “Best Director,” and so on.
In the past, ‘Best Actor and Actress’ were always presented last, but this year it became the grand finale.
After 《Dawa》 successively missed out on major awards like “Best Picture” and Best Actor and Actress, the “Best Director” award was soon approaching.
At this moment, Yin Bai suddenly gripped the cane in her hand, stood up, and straightened her lapels. Zuo Jingyou watched her get up, blinked, and seemed to have an epiphany. “Yin Bai, what are you getting up for?”
Yin Bai smiled and replied, “Didn’t I promise you last time that if you won an award, I would go and present it to you?”
Zuo Jingyou’s heart skipped a beat, and she stared fixedly at her. “How do you know I’m going to win?”
Yin Bai pressed her lips into a smile and said, “I don’t know, but since your name is nominated for director, I will definitely go.”
“I will not miss a single moment of you receiving glory.”
Yin Bai spoke with a straight face, and at the end, she even winked at Zuo Jingyou. “And who knows, maybe if I present the award to you, you’ll be able to win it? Maybe I’m your lucky star?”
Zuo Jingyou smiled faintly, looking at her. “What if I don’t win this time? Then wouldn’t your first time presenting an award be for someone else?”
Yin Bai thought for a moment and said to Zuo Jingyou, “That’s not what’s important. What’s important is that I can’t miss you.”
“I would feel upset about any missed opportunity. So this time, of course I have to go.”
“Moreover…” Yin Bai paused, leaning over to look at Zuo Jingyou with eyes full of gentleness. “I believe in you. Teacher Zuo, you will definitely win the award, right?”
Zuo Jingyou nodded. “If that’s the case, then I believe in your belief.”
Under the gazes of the group, Zuo Jingyou supported Yin Bai down the steps and to the front of the awards stage.
This time, under the brilliant lights, in front of all the cameras, in the gazes of the crowd, Yin Bai paid no mind to her uneven shoulders, nor to her limping, staggering back view. She took the award presentation cue card from the host’s hand and, under the watchful eyes of thousands, walked magnanimously to that place where the starlight gathered.
She seemed unaccustomed to this kind of occasion. When she reached the microphone, she squinted, leaned over to look at the slightly short microphone, coughed lightly, and said, “Excuse me, I walked a bit slowly.”
The crowd below did not respond, so Yin Bai pointed to her own leg and said, “It’s the last major award. I think everyone is very anxious and wants the answer to be revealed sooner.”
“I’m also quite anxious, so I came to be the award presenter.”
Yin Bai glanced in Zuo Jingyou’s direction, and using her excellent eyesight, she saw Zuo Jingyou looking at her with a serious expression. Her own emotions calmed down quite a bit.
She continued, “Perhaps many people here know me, but I still have to introduce myself. I am Yin Bai, the chairman of Galaxy Group. That Galaxy Films is a subsidiary of my group.”
“I have been in the film circle for about ten years. I have met many filmmakers, collaborated on quite a few films, and have been the planner for many films.”
“I have experienced ten Thorn Flower Award ceremonies and have anticipated the presentation of awards with various film crews and movie teams, but this is the first time I have wanted to personally witness the rise of a young director.”
“So I came. Although I walked very slowly, I still came.”
Yin Bai pointed to her leg and said self-deprecatingly, “You’ve all seen it, my leg isn’t good, so I wasn’t intentionally being that slow, delaying the award presentation time to make everyone as anxious as I am.”
Yin Bai’s self-deprecation drew a small burst of good-natured laughter from below the stage.
In the distance, Zuo Jingyou looked at her, and for some reason, her nose suddenly tingled. She raised a hand to cover her mouth and nose, but she couldn’t stop her eyes from turning red.
Yin Bai seemed to gain strength from this goodwill and continued, “I know everyone is very impatient, but before presenting the award, I still want to say a few long-winded words. In my investment career, 《Dawa》 is not the movie with the most artistic or commercial value. After all, many of the movies I’ve invested in have won awards; you can look it up on an encyclopedia.”1
“But when I first heard the story of 《Dawa》, I was shocked by the vitality of a woman’s savage growth contained within.”
“She survives like a blade of grass, yet she pursues the meaning of life. Even when mired in a swamp, she always moves forward towards the light. It is covered in mud, but it is indeed the most beautiful flower on the snow mountain…”
“I admire her vitality, this belongs in a woman’s life force, so I am very grateful for this story that Zuo Jingyou brought.”
As Yin Bai spoke, she tremblingly tore open the award speech. “Having said so much, let’s finally reveal the answer. Who is tonight’s Best Director…”
“I announce, tonight’s Best Director is…”
Yin Bai pulled out the card. Upon seeing the familiar name written brightly on it, her eyes widened in surprise. “Oh heavens! It really is Zuo Jingyou!”
She seemed to be shocked by this surprise as well. The crowd below the stage was also stunned for a moment before they understood that Yin Bai truly had not received any inside information beforehand, and they immediately burst into roaring laughter.
Yin Bai suppressed her surprise and quickly read the rest of the award speech: “Congratulations to Director Zuo Jingyou, for winning the Best Director award at the 57th Thorn Flower Awards with the film 《Dawa》!”
Amidst a wave of applause, Yin Bai carefully put the award card into her pocket. Raising her hands towards the microphone, her face flushed red as she clapped, pa pa pa.
She clapped forcefully, so excited that even her ears turned red.
Just then, Zuo Jingyou, who was below the stage, lifted the hem of her skirt and, under everyone’s gaze, ran towards Yin Bai on the stage like a pigeon.
The corners of her eyes were crimson and still held tears. She ran all the way to Yin Bai and threw herself into her embrace.
Zuo Jingyou wrapped her arms around her waist, looked at her once with tear-filled eyes, her lips moved, and before she could say a single word, she kissed her directly.
This was a fatal kiss. At that moment, Yin Bai felt the applause in the venue suddenly grow louder, and there were even cheers.
She stood in the center of thousands of people, embraced by her beloved, kissed until she was floating, not knowing what night it was2.
It was a deep kiss that lasted for more than a minute. When it ended, Yin Bai was like she had been boiled, her entire face thoroughly red.
Zuo Jingyou supported her, her eyes still holding tears, wanting to laugh yet almost crying. “You, really. Do you need oxygen?”
Yin Bai licked her lips, enduring her burning earlobes, and shook her head. “No, no, no, not this time.”
“Zuo Jingyou, you should hurry and accept your award.”
Only then did Zuo Jingyou support her as they went to the center of the stage together. The host walked over, placed the trophy in Yin Bai’s hand, and teased the two of them a bit.
Yin Bai, her face red, urged, “Business is important, business is important. Present the award, present the award.”
As Yin Bai spoke, she stuffed the trophy into Zuo Jingyou’s hand and urged her, “Congratulations, Teacher Zuo, quickly give your acceptance speech!”
Zuo Jingyou took the trophy and bit her lip as she glanced at her, seeming both coquettish and peeved.
She took the trophy, walked to the front of the stage, and gave another acceptance speech.
After the entire process was over, the host did not come on stage to announce the end of the segment. Zuo Jingyou felt it was strange. Holding the trophy, she turned her head to look at the center of the stage.
Just then, a group of ballet dancers dressed as swans surged onto the stage, completely surrounding her and Yin Bai.
A burst of music sounded, and on the stage, the classic confession song “Le balcon”3 from the musical version of 《Romeo and Juliet》 began to play leisurely.
The ballet dancers, with their light and graceful postures, danced gracefully in the music, surrounding Zuo Jingyou as she came step by step before Yin Bai.
During the classic line, “Which star is it, which deity, that let me become the lover in her eyes,” Yin Bai, leaning on her cane, slowly knelt on one knee.
Zuo Jingyou, who was escorted over surrounded by the “swans,” found her vision immediately blurring.
She took a deep breath and, holding the trophy, quickly walked to Yin Bai.
Yin Bai took a ring out of her pocket and looked up at her piously and seriously. “Miss Zuo Jingyou, are you willing to spend the rest of your life with me? Are you willing to love me as you did at first, until death do us part?”
In that instant, Zuo Jingyou’s tears immediately slid down. She nodded and said with red eyes, “Yes, I am willing.”
Yin Bai immediately smiled. Her pair of beautiful grey-blue eyes, at this very moment, were like the most beautiful cold stars in the sky.
She opened her mouth and said, as if bewitching, “Then, please accept my ring, and take wedding photos with me.”
Zuo Jingyou held back her tears, nodded fiercely, and gently extended her hand towards Yin Bai.
Yin Bai pushed the ring adorned with a sapphire onto Zuo Jingyou’s finger and asked with a smile, “Then now, can I ask you for a kiss?”
Without her needing to ask, Zuo Jingyou already understood what she needed to do. She leaned down and pulled Yin Bai up from the ground, tilted her head up with tears in her eyes, and once again kissed her.
The ballet dancers on stage still surrounded them. In the beautiful music, they continued this kiss until the dancers left the stage, until the thunderous applause from below the stage ended.
Finally, the two of them, hand in hand, gracefully departed from the stage.
That night, the video of Yin Bai and Zuo Jingyou’s proposal slaughtered the entire Weibo. The most talked-about sentence was what Yin Bai said during the proposal: “Will you love me as you did at first, until death do us part?”
Usually in a proposal, it is the proposer who gives their own promise. But Yin Bai was different; she □□-ly demanded the other party’s partiality. Even so, Zuo Jingyou still agreed to her.
That night, Zuo Jingyou gave her lifelong promise: Loving you as I did at first, until death do us part.
Just like Romeo and Juliet, even death would absolutely not separate them.
LP: Last chapter of the main text! Ahhh, author is so good! 14 extra chapters left! I still don’t want this to end ( • ᴖ • ｡)
Re-translated on September 02, 2025
Footnotes
- 百科 (bǎikē): Encyclopedia. This likely refers to an online encyclopedia like Baidu Baike (百度百科) or Wikipedia.
- 不知道今夕何夕 (bù zhīdào jīn xī hé xī): A classical Chinese expression literally meaning “to not know what night tonight is”. It describes a state of being so lost in happiness, intoxication, or a profound moment that one loses all track of time.
- Le balcon: French for “The Balcony”, a famous song from the French musical “Roméo et Juliette, de la Haine à l’Amour”.
Uughh!!! Thank you Little Panda for picking this up. Its soooo good! Now onto the extra chapters!
NOO I'LL MISS THIS STORY SM
THANK YOU TRANSLATOR
Thank you for translating this! It was far more fluffy and enjoyable than expected. I think it would have been nice to see more on Tongtong growing up, Gu Liu’s recovery/development, and perhaps the characters introduced in the last few chapters but the novel ended in a pretty nice place without overstaying its welcome.
Thank you for translating this! It was far more fluffy and enjoyable than expected. I think it would have been nice to see more on Tongtong growing up, Gu Liu’s recovery/development, and perhaps the characters introduced in the last few chapters but the novel ended in a pretty nice place without overstaying its welcome.
i can finally comment again without that pesky anti-adblock popup, and what an emotional chapter for it too, what a picture perfect proposal
You not the only one translator. I’m feeling the feels too (｡•́︿•̀｡)
This is a good story that you had translate as well. Good job and now.. we only had the extras to tide us up for the closure.
i can finally comment again without that pesky anti-adblock popup, and what an emotional chapter for it too, what a picture perfect proposal