After Failing To Tame The Scumbag - Chapter 28

“For scams, turn right at the exit, thanks.”

“That depends on how you define ‘unforgettable.'”

Yun Chuxiu detested all forms of meaningless entanglement, but there was one thing she would never deny.

“You did indeed leave something behind with me, but people always have to move forward.”

Meng Lin fell silent for a moment. An unsharpened porcelain shard was unconsciously pressed into her palm, sticky blood seeped out, dampening a small patch of skin.

It was uncomfortable, yet exceptionally real.

She asked, “Can’t we go back to the past?”

“I’m not begging you to love me right now. Even if it’s just as friends…” Meng Lin crouched on the floor, looking up at her without blinking, appearing somewhat pitiable. “To be able to stand in a place where I can always see you, even as a friend, I would be satisfied.”

“You and Ji Jin should have plenty to talk about.”

One wanted to stay in the present, the other wanted to return to the past, not a single person was brave enough to just take out a loan on the future.

Yun Chuxiu didn’t know what to say for a moment. She only felt that such dialogues, appearing repeatedly in daily life, were becoming a bit excessive.

Meng Lin showed a complex expression, one that looked disgusted but forced to endure it.

Yun Chuxiu acted as if she didn’t see it. “Is being friends really enough?”

Sensing a softening in her attitude, Meng Lin quickly followed up, asking cautiously: “Yes… you’re willing to forgive me, right?”

“There’s no such thing as forgiveness or non-forgiveness between friends,” Yun Chuxiu looked down and toyed with her nails, not looking at her, her tone still cold.

Meng Lin’s smile was bitter, she knew this “friend” label was no different from a freely distributed “good person card,” but she still responded proactively, promising: “I know. Friends don’t play tricks on each other.”

“I will have a proper talk with Wen Shuyu,” she said. “I won’t let her come out to bother you again.”

Yun Chuxiu didn’t say whether she believed her or not, but she managed a faint, genuine smile, saying calmly: “It would be best if that were the case.”

“…Your temper has improved a lot,” Meng Lin slowly stood up, throwing the blood stained porcelain shard into the trash. After a thought, instead of choosing between bandaging it or ignoring it, she chose to feign a soft gasp of pain.

Yun Chuxiu: “?”

Meng Lin: “It hurts a bit. Can you help me bandage it?”

Yun Chuxiu: “.”

Considering she had technically caused the issue, Yun Chuxiu reluctantly agreed. “…Fine.”

Meng Lin quickly found the first-aid kit in the room and laid it out neatly in front of Yun Chuxiu. Seeing her reach out, Meng Lin’s lips curled up shamelessly.

It didn’t look like she was in pain; it looked like she had just secretly eaten a spoonful of honey.

…That same old annoying vibe.

Yun Chuxiu didn’t even bother to look up. Glancing at the wound that was about to scab over if left any longer, she performed a simple disinfection and slapped a band-aid on it.

Admittedly, the wound was quite “sensible” the band-aid covered it perfectly, not a millimeter more or less.

Meng Lin pursed her lips and smiled, sighing softly: “You haven’t seemed to change much over the years.”

“Is that so?” Yun Chuxiu lifted her eyelids emotionlessly and smiled again. “If I really hadn’t changed, you wouldn’t be seeing me here.”

Meng Lin’s voice dropped. “…Sorry, I didn’t expect her to look for you.”

“No need for repetitive words,” Yun Chuxiu still had no warmth in her tone as she stood up and walked toward the door without a hint of lingering sentiment.

Meng Lin watched her go. Only after the door had completely closed did she rub her eyes in a daze and smile helplessly.

“There are still parts of you that haven’t changed. As I thought, if I let go now…”

“Absolutely impossible.”

Ji Jin flatly rejected the documents placed before her, looking at the uninvited Gu Yili with a headache. She asked irritably, “Whose side are you on? This data shouldn’t have come from my mother, right?”

“It’s not…” Gu Yili rubbed her nose. Today she was only wearing an impractical decorative hat, and her eyes darted around with nowhere to hide. “My uncle insisted on this requirement.”

“I rejected him instantly at the time!”

Gu Yili emphasized loudly, then lowered her voice further. “But he didn’t play fair… he caught me by the weakness immediately.”

Ji Jin: “…”

Ji Jin, helpless: “The weakness you’re talking about wouldn’t happen to be that you’re keeping a young boyfriend outside, would it?”

“…How did you know?!” Gu Yili was shocked. Realizing her reaction was too extreme, she covered her mouth and whispered, “Don’t say it out loud even if you know. This is so embarrassing.”

Keep it down, is this something honorable?!

“I also know that your spending on your little boyfriend doesn’t even match your wall of hats, and he is the son of your parents’ business rival.”

After saying all this in one breath, Ji Jin rubbed her head and sighed. “I thought this was something everyone knew. If I’d known you were this easy to handle, I would have tried it too.”

Gu Yili: “…”

Gu Yili: “…………”

“Cousin, please be magnanimous, don’t ruin a good romance…”

“Now you’re the one trying to mess with my marriage prospects,” Ji Jin tapped the stacks of documents on the desk and sneered. “Giving me matchmaking profiles, you really have some nerve to accept them.”

“Well, the other person hasn’t agreed to you yet either…”

“GU! YI! LI!”

“Cough,” Gu Yili smirked, proactively gathering the documents back into her arms. She cried out in grievance, “I’m being wronged! I’m just here to deliver these. You can choose not to accept them, Cousin.”

“Auntie said any answer is fine, she’ll handle the rest.”

Ji Jin: “Then there was no need to send them over.”

Could she possibly have any other answer? She wished she could stay as far away from these documents as possible. If Yun Chuxiu were to accidentally stumble upon them…

The thought alone was terrifying to Ji Jin. She quickly grabbed a wet wipe and scrubbed her hands repeatedly, maintaining a total sense of “purity.”

“I already have a girlfriend.”

Gu Yili: You are clearly single right now.

“It’s almost our seventh anniversary.”

Gu Yili: …Does Yun Chuxiu know?

“I won’t be changing her for anyone else in the future.”

Gu Yili: “…”

Gu Yili felt like she had lived through a fake version of yesterday.

“Yes, yes, yes, right, right, right,” she clicked her tongue secretly while maintaining an agreeable face. After tucking the documents back into her bag, she explained: “I believe in your sincerity, Cousin, but Uncle is just like that. Whatever Auntie does, he must follow suit. I think it’s called… ‘order sensitivity period.'”

A stubborn old man is still just a child…?

Gu Yili was already used to the way these two chased after each other, but it felt particularly profound when applied to Ji Jin.

“You have to let him complete this phase.”

Ji Jin leaned her head on her hand. What should have been something heavy sounded almost funny when explained this way. “Is this what you learned at school?”

“Not entirely,” Gu Yili blinked, pressing down the edge of a paper sticking out of her bag. “But the rest requires a fee.”

“For example… hush money.”

“Axu won’t care about this,” Ji Jin smiled, her eyes tender. “She knows how much I care about her.”

Gu Yili glanced at the transfer notification and felt obliged to remind her, “Cousin, you pay very quickly too.”

“…I don’t want you coming to me a third time,” Ji Jin twitched her lips, emphasizing every word. “At least don’t be so easily bribed.”

“Okay,” Gu Yili was satisfied with her harvest and didn’t hold back a few pleasantries. “Then I wish you and my sister-in-law a century of harmony.”

She turned to leave but was called back from behind.

Gu Yili: “?”

Ji Jin kept her head down on her documents, her voice low but exceptionally clear: “Don’t let her know about this, and don’t bother her.”

Gu Yili: “…”

Gu Yili pressed her tongue against her cheek, drawling meaningfully: “That… is a given.”

“Mission guaranteed.”

Half an hour later.

Yun Chuxiu was cornered at the dinner table.

“Ji Jin is going on blind dates,” Jiang Fanyin went straight to the point, sitting down opposite her uninvited. She looked radiant and full of energy. “Someone has evidence.”

Yun Chuxiu slowly swallowed her food and took a sip of water before replying unhurriedly, “Mhm, I know.”

Jiang Fanyin was intrigued: “You don’t care at all?”

Yun Chuxiu felt the need to remind her: “We’ve already broken up. Even if she really goes on blind dates, I can’t say anything.”

“And…”

“And?”

Yun Chuxiu smiled. “And given how fast your information travels, you clearly care more, don’t you?”

Jiang Fanyin: “That’s not it.”

She smiled too, specifically pulling up a message page to prove her innocence. “It’s just that Uncle Ji’s request for an outsourced photographer went to a friend of mine who likes me quite a bit.”

“No doubt, they’ll be taken specifically for you to see.”

Yun Chuxiu: …It just never ends.

“A May-December friendship?” she asked without much emotion, lowering her head to take another bite of rice.

“Mhm… it’s just that she has a good relationship with the daughter of Uncle Ji’s assistant,” Jiang Fanyin said matter of factly, intentionally blurring her tone. “Connections make things easy. Keep the benefits within the circle.”

“I’m keeping Miss Yun in mind, after all.”

Yun Chuxiu: “…Then thank you very much.”

“There is no need for thanks between us,” Jiang Fanyin pushed her luck, glanced at the time, and raised an eyebrow. “I used my lunch break to find you. Won’t you treat me to a meal?”

Yun Chuxiu: “Has the Jiang family finally gone bankrupt because of your idleness?”

“Are you testing my financial status?” Jiang Fanyin wasn’t annoyed. She chatted while familiarly pouring herself a glass of water. “I’m not doing any worse than Ji Jin. If Miss Yun needs a girlfriend to save face, I think I’m qualified for the role.”

Yun Chuxiu gave her a surprised look. She wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but since they met today, the aggressive aura of a superior that Jiang Fanyin carried seemed even stronger.

Her schadenfreude was almost too obvious.

“I have no such plans for now,” Yun Chuxiu said. “I can’t afford the price of hiring President Jiang as an actress.”

“It’s okay, I can do it for free,” Jiang Fanyin said. Having achieved a long-held wish, her attitude was terrifyingly frank. “If Miss Yun wants a long-term subscription, I’ll even pay you.”

Yun Chuxiu: “…”

Yun Chuxiu politely declined: “For scams, turn right for the police station, thanks.”