After Being Scummed – Chapter 91
by Little PandaExtra Chapter One: Tongtong’s Troubles 1
Tongtong felt that her happiest time was still the summer vacation when she was preparing to enter first grade.
Although at that time Dad and Mom divorced, she moved into her maternal grandmother’s house, and Mom also had to work hard…… But with her cute biaojie2, and the beautiful Fairy Sister accompanying her, she did not feel so lonely.
The Fairy Sister who lived in the house next door to her was just like “The Selfish Giant”3 from the fairy tales; she was a very special person.
In Tongtong’s heart, she was especially tall and also especially good-looking. Especially her pair of grey-blue eyes, which were like the glass marbles that boys like to play with; even when not in the sunlight, they would be sparkling when they looked at you.
Most importantly, her garden and her home were exactly as described in a fairy tale—a very beautiful and sparkling place.
At that time, the thing Tongtong looked forward to most every day was visiting this slightly older “Fairy Friend” next door with her own biaojie.
Moreover, the Fairy Sister was not at all like that strange-tempered giant. Not only was she good-looking, but she was also especially generous, and had no relation whatsoever to the word “selfish”.
Her “Fairy Friend” was especially generous. Every time they visited, they would receive a pile of delicious snacks, read a pile of beautiful picture books, and play lots of fun games.
Among all the friends Tongtong had ever made, this friend was the most amazing. She was just like Da Xiong’s4 Doraemon5; no matter what Tongtong wanted, she had it all.
Oh, right. This big friend also paid exceptional attention to her studies, guiding them in learning a lot of new knowledge. Because of her help, Tongtong became a “little friend” at her new school who received a lot of attention and was often praised by the teacher.
But as she progressed in her studies, her homework increased, and her interactions with her Fairy Friend also decreased. Although the Fairy Sister would still tutor them with their homework during first grade, she suddenly became busy after they started second grade.
Especially after autumn arrived, her Fairy Sister was not home every other day. Especially after she, Wenwen, and Mom celebrated her birthday together, she went to a very, very far away place to work with Mom.
Although they still had video calls every day, and Mom would even greet them and practice spoken language with them during the calls, Tongtong felt it was not the same as studying together.
After all, studying together felt a bit warmer.
But fortunately, when it was time for the New Year, Mom and the Fairy Sister had both finished their work and finally came back to play with them again.
Because during the Spring Festival, her maternal grandmother received an invitation to go to Russia for some kind of forum or activity. So Mom decided to take them and the Fairy Sister to the seaside to spend a warm Spring Festival.
The seaside is truly a magical place.
At home, it was clearly chilly everywhere; even the flowers had jumped down from the branches and fled to a warm place to settle down. But the flowers here bloomed in dense clusters, covering the branches, you next to me and I next to you, all bathing in the sun together.
Not only that, but the leaves and the grass here were all a tender, tender green, looking so lively and cheerful.
The moment Tongtong arrived on this island, she immediately liked the place. So on the very first day they arrived, she and Wenwen pulled the Fairy Sister along to play on the sandy beach by the sea for a very long time.
After happily playing with their friend whom they were reunited with after a long time, and then having a wonderful dinner, Tongtong and Wenwen held hands and quickly drifted off to dreamland.
She had a very sweet, very sweet dream…… In her dream, the Fairy Sister was holding Mom’s hand with one hand, and her and Wenwen’s hands with the other, walking around happily on this island that was full of blooming flowers.
It was so amazing; the Fairy Sister in the dream didn’t even need a cane. Just like them, she could run around freely and happily, which was truly delightful.
She slept all the way until broad daylight. As the warm morning sunlight shone on the bed through the gauze curtain, Tongtong, who was wearing a little bear nightdress, began to wake from her sleep. She squinted at the Grandma Sun outside the window and gave a sweet greeting: “Good morning, Grandma Sun!”
Just then, a breeze rustled the gauze curtain, making the light and shadows in the room sway as if Grandma Sun were responding to her greeting.
Tongtong immediately became happy. She threw off the blanket, slipped on her slippers, and walked out cheerfully: “Good morning, little pink slipper-meimei……”
“Good morning, little white door-ayi……”
“Good morning, little table lamp-jiejie”
She greeted things all along the way, skipping and hopping toward her mom’s room.
When she reached the door to her mom’s room, Tongtong raised her hand with a solemn expression, knocked, and said in a clear voice: “Mommy, Mommy, are you awake?”
“Grandma Sun is already up. Are you ready to get up?”
She remembered that Mom had promised yesterday that she would go swimming with them today. The mere thought of it made Tongtong feel so happy!
Tongtong knocked for quite a while but heard no answer from inside. She couldn’t help but grow anxious. She stood on her tiptoes, pressed her ear to the door, and faintly heard some fragmented sounds coming from inside.
It was a sound that Tongtong was temporarily unable to describe, something like crying, but also like some other sound.
Tongtong furrowed her brow, raised her hand to knock again, and said with some urgency: “Mommy, Mommy…… are you awake?”
“Can I come into your room?”
After a moment, Mom still hadn’t answered. Tongtong raised her hand, gripped the doorknob, and tried to open the door to go straight in.
But it was clearly locked from the inside. She tried to turn it with force for a moment but couldn’t open it, and she couldn’t help but sigh in frustration……
Ai, Mom always likes to lock the door. She couldn’t get in. How sad.
Tongtong was conflicted about whether she should keep knocking or magnanimously let her mom rest a bit longer—after all, her mom did not adapt well to long-distance travel and tired easily.
Just then, her mom’s hoarse voice came from inside the door: “Tongtong…… wait a moment, I’ll open the door for you.”
Tongtong’s heart leaped with joy, and she replied cheerfully: “Okay, Mommy!”
She stood at the door with her little hands behind her back, waiting and waiting, until she finally heard the sound of footsteps from inside.
Creak, the door opened! Tongtong’s eyes lit up. She immediately pounced forward, hugged her mom’s leg, and looked up to shout: “Mommy! Good morning!”
Her gentle, beautiful mom bent down, scooped her up in one motion, and said with a smile, “Good morning, Tongtong. Why are you up so early?”
Tongtong loved nestling in her mom’s embrace the most. She wrapped one hand around her mom’s soft, long hair and said with a grin, “It’s not early, Mommy. Grandma Sun is already shining on my bottom!6”
“Is that so?” Mom said, carrying her into the room while yawning. “It’s only a little after seven. That’s still a bit early.”
“Since it’s a holiday, Tongtong can sleep in a little. You don’t need to get up so early.”
Tongtong hugged her mom’s shoulders, whining softly in a cute way, “But I don’t want to…… I can sleep anytime, but getting to see Mommy when I wake up in the morning is a very rare thing, you know.”
Mom’s footsteps paused, and she said apologetically, “I’m sorry, Tongtong. It’s just that Mom is too busy and doesn’t have much time to spend with you.”
Tongtong shook her head. “It’s okay, Mommy. You chat with me every day and do homework with me over video call. It’s super great. All my classmates are envious of me.”
“But it’s still not as good as being right there by your side,” Mom’s voice grew sad for a moment, but she quickly cheered up. “Is your Wenwen-jiejie up? Why did only you come over?”
Tongtong giggled and replied, “No, Wenwen-jiejie is sleeping like a little piglet and even snoring, huru huru……”
As she was speaking, Mom carried Tongtong to the side of the bed and placed her down gently. “You sit here for a moment. Mom will change her clothes, and then we’ll make breakfast together.”
“Okay,” Tongtong said. As she did, she turned her head and noticed that the blanket on her mom’s bed was lumped up. She tentatively moved forward, extended a foot to poke at the lumpy spot, and suddenly felt the blanket underneath move a little.
Tongtong’s eyes widened in surprise. “Mommy, there’s someone in your bed!”
Mom, who had gone to the walk-in closet to change, heard her words and said with a smile curling on her lips, “Is that so? How come I didn’t know? Maybe it’s some small animal.”
Tongtong’s curiosity was piqued. She began to crawl toward the head of the bed, saying, “No, it’s a very big person…… not a small animal……”
“Mommy, is it possible you didn’t notice?”
From the walk-in closet, Mom pulled her long hair out from her collar and said, holding back a laugh, “No, the bed is empty, isn’t it?”
Ah, could this be The Emperor’s New Clothes7? Only she could see it, but Mom couldn’t. This was truly terrifying!
Thinking this, Tongtong crawled to the head of the bed and carefully reached out to lift the blanket.
Just then, the person lying under the blanket suddenly threw it open and, with an aowu, shouted, “Tongtong!”
Tongtong froze for a moment. She saw a head poke out from the blanket, looking at her with a wide grin. “Morning, little princess.”
Tongtong blinked, looking at the person who had appeared before her, and was momentarily stunned. She was a little scared, but seeing the familiar face, she calmed down slightly.
Tongtong’s lip trembled, and she was about to cry, but seeing the familiar person, she held it back. She was stunned for a good while before saying, “It’s actually the Fairy Sister……”
“I thought it was some big monster that Mom couldn’t see, hiding in her bed.”
“That really scared me badly.”
The little princess lowered her eyes as tears quickly welled up, hanging precariously on her eyelashes.
Her Fairy Sister immediately grew flustered. She hurriedly extended a slender, snow-white arm from under the blanket to gently wipe away the tears, coaxing her in a rush, “Aiyo, little princess, don’t cry. I didn’t mean to scare you, I just wanted to give you a surprise!”
It would have been better if she hadn’t said that; the moment she spoke, Tongtong’s tears began to fall, susu. The Fairy Sister saw this and could only wipe her tears away frantically, endlessly coaxing her not to cry.
It took a good while for Tongtong to calm her frightened emotions. She tilted her head, looked at the Fairy Sister’s fair, white arm, and asked with teary eyes, full of confusion, “Fairy Sister, why are you in Mom’s bed, and not wearing any clothes?”
The moment Tongtong’s voice fell, a puchi sound of laughter came from the walk-in closet.
LP: Re-translated on September 04, 2025
Footnotes
- 嘤 (yīng): An onomatopoeia, often used online to represent a soft, cute, or whimpering sound.
- 表姐 (biǎojiě): Older female cousin on the maternal side or from a female paternal relative. It specifies a cousin who is older than the speaker.
- 自私的巨人 (zìsī de jùrén): “The Selfish Giant”, the title of a well-known children’s story by the Irish author Oscar Wilde, published in 1888. The story is popular and widely read in China.
- 大熊 (Dàxióng): Literally “Big Bear”. This is the common Chinese name for the character Nobita Nobi (野比大雄, Nobi Nobita) from the famous Japanese manga and anime series Doraemon.
- 哆啦A夢 (Duō lā A mèng): Doraemon, a highly popular and influential Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. The story revolves around a robotic cat from the 22nd century who travels back in time to aid a boy named Nobita Nobi (大熊, Dàxióng).
- 曬屁股了 (shài pìgu le): Literally “shining on the bottom”. A colloquial and playful expression used by or to children, meaning the sun is already high in the sky and it is time to get out of bed.
- 皇帝的新裝 (huángdì de xīn zhuāng): “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, a literary folktale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, first published in 1837. It is a very famous story in China.
fairy sister has some explaining to do….
fairy sister has some explaining to do….
Oh dear 🤭
Oh dear 🤭