After Being Scummed – Chapter 97
by Little PandaExtra Chapter Three: The Golden Time of Youth 2
Pretty Friend
Yin Bai, who was sitting in the corner, tilted her head to glance at her, let out a light humph, and said, “Could it be that your way of striking up a conversation isn’t also to ask for contact information and then never make contact?”
Zuo Jingyou smiled faintly, laughing shallowly for a moment, “Alright, this is my fault. It indeed should have been me who proactively contacted you.”
“So Yin Bai, what year are you in1, and what is your major?” These were all things that were on the forms, but Yin Bai hadn’t written a single one; when entering the information, they all had to be filled in.
Yin Bai pressed her lips together, hesitating for a while before saying, “First year, Business Administration.”
Zuo Jingyou understood, “Oh~ so you’re a female underclassman2~”
Yin Bai shot her a glance, her expression somewhat displeased, as if to say, “Don’t call me female underclassman.”
Zuo Jingyou’s lips curved up as she said to her in a sweet and soft tone, “Why are you looking at me like that, so fierce.”
Her tone was so soft it was as if she were acting spoiled. For a moment, Yin Bai felt as if her whole body had been struck by electricity, and she couldn’t help but tremble slightly.
Yin Bai glanced at her and said, a little uncomfortably, “I just naturally look fierce.”
Zuo Jingyou chuckled lightly and said in a helpless yet doting tone, “There’s no persuasiveness at all when you say that. You clearly have a face like a marshmallow, where’s the fierceness?”
“Ah, but your gaze is indeed very cold and stern.”
Yin Bai was praised by her once again and felt her brain stutter a little. She pointed a finger at herself and said with some uncertainty, “Me… sweet?”
Zuo Jingyou nodded and said very seriously, “Has no one ever told you this before?”
Yin Bai twitched the corner of her mouth and said with a strange yin-yang air3, “Only a shameless person like you would be able to say such shameless words.”
No matter how good Zuo Jingyou’s temper was, facing such a thorny Yin Bai, she still couldn’t quite hold back.
She raised her hand, tapped Yin Bai’s forehead, and said with a sigh, “Don’t wear such a cute face while saying things that make people uncomfortable.”
“Speak human language4 properly.”
Yin Bai raised a hand to cover her forehead, glaring at her fiercely, “Am I not speaking human language?”
Zuo Jingyou sighed and looked at her seriously, “Classmate, when getting along with people, it’s necessary to learn the art of language. If you’re all thorny like this, it’s very easy to make people not dare to get any closer to you.”
Yin Bai huffed and said irritably, “I don’t need to have contact with people.”
Zuo Jingyou asked her in return, “Then what did you come here for tonight?”
Yin Bai was caught off guard and said with a stiff neck, “I’m a new member of the club, can’t I come?”
“But your coming here means you hope to have contact with people.”
Yin Bai turned her head and gave her a very serious and solemn look, “Do you think the way I gave so many people the cold shoulder tonight looks like I hope to have contact with people?”
Zuo Jingyou blinked and said, “But you want to have contact with me, don’t you?”
Yin Bai was choked up at once.
Zuo Jingyou propped up her chin with her hand and said to her very seriously, “You want to be friends with me, right?”
Yin Bai huffed and did not deny this statement.
After all, Zuo Jingyou was very good-looking and spoke gently; she actually quite liked this type of person.
She had indeed come today wanting to make friends with Zuo Jingyou.
Zuo Jingyou pressed on, reaching out to take her hand and saying very seriously, “Since you want to be friends with me, then you should have a friendly attitude, don’t you think what I’m saying is right?”
Yin Bai understood her meaning but still had to be stubborn, “Barely, I guess.”
Seeing this, Zuo Jingyou patted Yin Bai’s shoulder and said earnestly, “So, little friend, when making friends, you need to have the attitude of making friends, understand? If you want to get along well with me, then speak human language properly.”
“Don’t be speaking with a strange yin-yang air all day long. You clearly don’t have any ill intentions, yet you insist on making people uncomfortable when they listen.”
Zuo Jingyou chatted with her for a little while longer before being lured away by other members.
As soon as she left, Yin Bai reverted to a solitary, lonely great ice sculpture, sitting all alone in the corner. For the entire night, she silently watched Zuo Jingyou’s back, knitting her brows and wondering why she had appeared here, and why she wanted to get close to this person, Zuo Jingyou.
Could it be because she was exceptionally beautiful and exceptionally gentle? Perhaps it was so…
When the gathering ended, the newly acquainted students left in groups. Only Yin Bai, who had ignored everyone all night except for Zuo Jingyou and hadn’t made any friends, remained. She also refused a group of people who offered to see her home, and walked towards the school gate alone, leaning on her cane.
After watching her leave alone, Zuo Jingyou said goodbye to the others and chased after Yin Bai.
In a short while, she ran up to Yin Bai’s side. Yin Bai heard the footsteps, turned her head to look, and saw Zuo Jingyou beside her, saying with a smile, “Yin Bai, which building do you live in? I’ll walk you back.”
Yin Bai raised her eyes to glance at her and said, a bit awkwardly, “I don’t live on campus.”
Zuo Jingyou blinked, looked at her, and asked, “Where do you live then? Is it close to the school?”
Yin Bai nodded and answered with a “mm,” “It’s quite close, just near the North Gate.”
Zuo Jingyou smiled, pressing her lips together, and said to her very gently, “Then let me walk you for a bit. I’ll see you home.”
Yin Bai looked at her in surprise and said softly with some shyness, “Thank you, but there’s no need. My family will pick me up at the North Gate.”
Zuo Jingyou smiled at her and said again, “Then I’ll just walk you to the North Gate.”
The two then entered the elevator together. After coming down from upstairs, they walked side-by-side towards the North Gate.
Yin Bai’s right foot was inconvenient, so her walking was unavoidably slow. Zuo Jingyou slowed her pace, accompanying her and walking slowly by her side.
The campus at night could be considered very quiet. The evening breeze was very cool, making one’s heart feel very refreshed. Yin Bai looked at the silently standing streetlights, then at the beautiful woman beside her, and her heart thumped nonstop.
She leaned on her cane, walking forward with a tok, tok, tok, while racking her brains trying to figure out how to start a conversation.
With Yin Bai’s limited social experience, she really didn’t know what to say at this moment.
Her hesitant gaze was quickly noticed by Zuo Jingyou. Zuo Jingyou watched Yin Bai’s actions from the corner of her eye and grew a little curious when she saw her looking at the streetlights one moment and at herself the next, with a hesitant and undecided appearance.
She couldn’t help but smile and ask Yin Bai, “What’s wrong?”
Hearing her say this, Yin Bai pressed her lips together and thought for a moment before saying, “I was wondering why you weren’t talking.”
“Ah ah… so that’s what you were thinking. I thought you didn’t want to talk to me.”
Yin Bai retorted, “I didn’t.”
“You didn’t? Then why haven’t you struck up a conversation with me this whole way?”
Hearing this sentence, Yin Bai couldn’t help but lower her eyes to see what kind of expression Zuo Jingyou had. But as she looked down, she saw Zuo Jingyou raise her eyes, looking at her and smiling softly.
Under the ambiguous and hazy glow of the streetlight, Zuo Jingyou’s exquisite and beautiful face inexplicably revealed a trace of green, unripe childishness, looking quite pretty and delicate.
Yin Bai’s heart skipped a beat. It took a good while before she blinked and said, “Why should I strike up a conversation with you?”
Ah, there it is again, using that retortive tone again.
Zuo Jingyou sighed and said to Yin Bai with great certainty, “Because you want to chat with me. If you want to chat with me, you have to take the initiative to start the conversation.”
“I don’t want to.”
“But I think you really want to.”
“That’s just what you think.”
After this rather pointless exchange, Yin Bai finally let out a humph and took the initiative to start a conversation with her, “Do you… like Shakespeare a lot?”
“Mm, I like him a lot.” Zuo Jingyou nodded and said to Yin Bai, “My favorite is 《Romeo and Juliet》. What about you? What’s your favorite work?”
Yin Bai answered, “《The Little Prince》.”
Zuo Jingyou nodded in understanding, “Ah, The Little Prince. That is indeed a work you would like.”
Yin Bai replied in the same manner, “《Romeo and Juliet》 is also a work you would like.”
After saying one, Yin Bai continued asking as if she were checking a household registration5, “Then what’s your favorite movie?”
“Um… 《Titanic》?”
Yin Bai complained, “Why is that a question?”
Zuo Jingyou’s eyes curved into a smile, “Because I’ve seen relatively few movies so far, I’m not sure if it’s my absolute favorite.”
“Oh, alright. Then what songs do you like?”
“What colors do you like?”
“Do you like cloudy days or sunny days?”
Once the topic was opened, Yin Bai naturally continued asking. She was like a “One Hundred Thousand Whys”6, drawing information out of Zuo Jingyou as they walked. By the time they reached the North Gate, Yin Bai already had a general understanding of the woman beside her.
When Yin Bai arrived at the North Gate, the female bodyguard who was there to pick her up was already waiting.
A Maserati with beautiful lines was parked at the dim school entrance. The female bodyguard, dressed in a black suit, was leaning against the car door. She opened the door for Yin Bai and invited her into the car.
Zuo Jingyou wasn’t the least bit surprised to see this display befitting a rich young miss; after all, a girl like this looked like a treasure that had been delicately raised by a wealthy family.
Naive and arrogant, and a bit ignorant of the ways of the world, but cute.
Thinking this, Zuo Jingyou urged Yin Bai to get into the car. After seeing her get in, Zuo Jingyou stood at the school gate and waved goodbye to her.
Yin Bai, who was sitting in the car, rolled down the window, tilted her head up to look at Zuo Jingyou’s tall and straight figure standing beside the car, and called out to her, “Hey, Zuo Jingyou, can I call you?”
Zuo Jingyou nodded and replied, “Of course you can. As long as it’s a convenient time for me, I’ll answer your calls.”
Yin Bai’s lips curved up slightly in a smile, and she waved goodbye to her.
In a short while, the car carried Yin Bai away, driving along the streetlights towards the bustling city. Zuo Jingyou stood on the spot and watched for a while before turning to leave.
Just as she turned around, the phone in her pocket rang.
Zuo Jingyou opened her phone and saw that it was Yin Bai’s phone number, and couldn’t help but smile. She answered the call, and while walking back inside, she said softly, “Hello? Yin Bai, is there something else?”
Yin Bai cleared her throat lightly and said, “Nothing, let’s continue our previous topic. What foods do you like to eat? Main dishes, side dishes, snacks, you can talk about them all.”
Zuo Jingyou smiled faintly, walking towards her dormitory in the night breeze.
The two of them remained on the call the entire time, and it wasn’t until Zuo Jingyou had returned to her own dorm that Yin Bai hung up on her end, using the excuse of needing to wash up.
After the call ended, Zuo Jingyou looked at her phone, her eyes and brows curved in a smile, and she said to herself, “She’s actually quite a considerate person.”
To ensure her safety, she had stayed on the phone with her the whole way.
Aside from being a bit stubborn and not speaking very pleasantly, she was actually a pretty good person. Not to mention, she was so good-looking; having one more pretty friend was really great.
Thinking this, Zuo Jingyou decided to properly cultivate her friendship with Yin Bai.
The author has something to say:
Ahhhhh, everyone, Happy New Year’s Day7!! This year is over, next year will be even better, you’ll see!
Wishing everyone good health, smooth work, rolling in wealth, and may all your wishes come true!
LP: Author is cooking this for 7 more chapters~
Re-translated on September 16, 2025
Footnotes
- 大几 (dà jǐ): Literally “big how many.” A colloquial way to ask a university student which year they are in (e.g., freshman, sophomore).
- 学妹 (xuémèi): Literally “study younger sister.” A term for a female underclassman or a younger female student in the same school or institution.
- 阴阳怪气 (yīnyáng guàiqì): Literally “yin-yang strange energy.” An idiom (chengyu) describing someone speaking in a sarcastic, cynical, or passive-aggressive manner.
- 人话 (rénhuà): Literally “human language” or “human words.” A colloquial expression telling someone to stop speaking nonsense, being rude, or being overly technical/obscure, and instead to speak clearly, properly, and civilly.
- 查户口 (chá hùkǒu): Literally “to check the household registration.” Hukou is China’s system of household registration. The phrase is used colloquially to describe someone asking a series of rapid, personal, and probing questions, similar to an interrogation or official background check.
- 十万个为什么 (shí wàn gè wèishéme): Literally “One Hundred Thousand Whys.” This refers to a very popular series of science books for children in China. The phrase is now used to describe a person who is very inquisitive and asks a lot of questions.
- 元旦 (Yuándàn): The first day of the Gregorian calendar year, January 1st. While China traditionally celebrated the Lunar New Year (Spring Festival), Yuan Dan was adopted as the official New Year’s Day in 1949.
This is a very cute dynamic too
This is a very cute dynamic too