After Failing To Tame The Scumbag - Chapter 8

“Just like a puppy.”

An hour later, in a relatively quiet private room backstage, Yun Chuxiu closed the door behind her.

“…I didn’t think you would actually come.”

Jiang Fanyin was surprised at first, but she quickly dropped the act and regained her usual composed, effortless demeanor.

The hook was straight, the bait was salty, yet the fish had bitten.

Yun Chuxiu showed no intense emotion, only casting a cold gaze at her. “Let’s skip the unnecessary pleasantries. The excuse I used to get over here doesn’t support a long conversation.”

“You’re actually angry,” Jiang Fanyin said, genuinely surprised this time. She glanced down at the message page on her phone, which she hadn’t closed yet, and raised an eyebrow. “Do you really think I sent that video to provoke you?”

“That’s quite an injustice,” Jiang Fanyin complained, though she clicked her tongue upon reflection. “I did it entirely for your own good. Things like that are very hard to find… if it weren’t for my decent relationship with the photographer, it never would have landed in my hands. I even paid a price for it.”

“How much? I’ll pay you back,” Yun Chuxiu said. She knew immediately that this person’s motives weren’t pure, she detested being trapped by such blatant schemes, yet she couldn’t deny that the high-definition video had indeed piqued her interest.

“It’s not a matter of money.” Jiang Fanyin hit another cold wall and felt inexplicably frustrated. “Since you came to find me, you must have finished the video. Are you still going to be so stubborn?”

“Senior Yun,” she emphasized each word, standing up from the sofa. “The you I used to know wasn’t someone who couldn’t see reason.”

“Those words came straight out of Ji Jin’s own mouth. The time and location stamps can’t be faked. Even if you don’t trust me, you can go verify it yourself.”

“Or… have you also fallen victim to that weakness called indecisiveness?” Provoked by the cold face before her, Jiang Fanyin flashed a rare, mocking expression. “You didn’t care about being rejected three times; you didn’t care when Ji Jin told others you were controlling and now, you don’t even care that she hid her relationship with you to go on a blind date arranged by her parents with some girl? Yun Chuxiu, oh Yun Chuxiu, should I say you have a will of iron, or should I agree with everyone else and assume you actually have an ulterior motive?”

“I know,” Yun Chuxiu lowered her eyes, standing stiffly under the cold light, her back rod-straight. “She didn’t hide the fact that she was meeting that girl from me.”

It was just that… she hadn’t mentioned it wasn’t merely a favor to host the daughter of her parents’ old friend who had just returned from abroad. It was a blind date that everyone present understood perfectly.

Furthermore, she never knew that such a conversation had taken place that day.

“If I met someone I wanted to marry, of course, I wouldn’t have the heart to refuse her. It’s just that right now, I have absolutely no such thoughts… You don’t think I’d be scared off by the idea of marriage, do you? I just want freedom more. I can’t imagine a life completely invaded by another person.”

The footage was so clear that Yun Chuxiu could see every tiny micro-expression on Ji Jin’s face. At that time, they had been dating for an entire year.

Ji Jin always displayed excessive emotions in front of her parents. Sometimes, these sharp, suppressed feelings which weren’t even recognized as pain, were more likely to tear the flesh of both parties.

Yun Chuxiu knew this, and she was willing to believe in Ji Jin’s sincerity… but looking at it now, while the heart was real, its weight might not have been as heavy as she once imagined.

“Senior Yun,” Jiang Fanyin sighed, sounding both powerless and helpless, as if she truly had no more moves left. “You used to be my role model. Seeing you like this… how about I recommend a few doctors for you?”

“Drink some Chinese medicine; maybe there’s still a chance for recovery.”

“Do you always enjoy sticking your nose into other people’s family affairs?” Yun Chuxiu felt a wave of dizziness. Her face remained cold, but her voice softened. “Let’s end it here. Tell me how much you spent and I’ll transfer it to you. Also, please ask that photographer how much it would cost to delete that video permanently.”

“I didn’t spend any money,” Jiang Fanyin said. “She likes me quite a bit. As soon as I confided my troubles to her, she was eager to help me solve them.”

Yun Chuxiu frowned. “…I am talking business with you.”

“I’m not messing around,” Jiang Fanyin smiled. Her gaze lingered for a moment on Yun Chuxiu’s increasingly pale lips, and she suddenly winked suggestively. “I can give you her contact info right now. She’s quite easy to talk to, if you give her a decent reason, she’ll likely agree.”

“However…”

Yun Chuxiu interrupted her. “What do you want me to do?”

The relationship between her and Ji Jin had never been well-hidden from the start. Leaving that video out there was a liability.

“Senior Yun, why can’t you look at me?” Jiang Fanyin didn’t rush to demand anything. She naturally took a step forward and continued softly, “I’m not inferior to Ji Jin in any way. In fact, there are many areas where I’m better.”

“For instance… that single sheet of red contract.”

Yun Chuxiu: “..”

This was truly a vivid invitation to betrayal.

Yun Chuxiu: “Ji Jin and I haven’t broken up yet.”

Jiang Fanyin: “That’s only a matter of time. I don’t mind staying in line.”

Yun Chuxiu: “…”

Yun Chuxiu was stunned by her overly calm tone, failing for a moment to find a simple, sharp way to resist.

Those words were like air weightless, until you breathed them in and realized the heavy toll they took on the body.

Yun Chuxiu felt the dizziness in her head intensify.

Jiang Fanyin was never an easy opponent to handle, and yet, swept up in her emotions, Yun Chuxiu had only just remembered that.

“Forget it then,” Yun Chuxiu turned to leave. Just as she reached the door, her phone vibrated.

“Sent it to you,” Jiang Fanyin said with a smile in her voice, though she sounded slightly unhappy underneath. “…Stubborn Senior Yun.”

Yun Chuxiu ignored her, turned the handle, walked out, and closed the door behind her.

Fifteen minutes had passed.

Yun Chuxiu walked toward the brighter light, her hands busy tapping on the message page Jiang Fanyin had sent. The photographer’s profile was brief and direct, just like her face, which bore a seventy percent resemblance to Jiang Fanyin’s.

…Heh.

Yun Chuxiu turned a corner, stood still for two seconds, and finally, unable to bear it anymore, she looked back.

“Come out.”

One second, two seconds, three seconds…

She leaned against the wall and said helplessly, “Do you really think you’re hidden well?”

“A-Xiu,” Ji Jin emerged from a blind spot behind some decorations, scratching her face, hesitating to speak.

Since she wouldn’t speak, Yun Chuxiu didn’t move either, just staring at her quietly.

Ji Jin finally couldn’t handle the “cold violence.” She walked over slowly and leaned against the wall to Yun Chuxiu’s left, standing like she was being punished, head slightly raised, back straight, eyes fixed ahead. “If I said I was just passing by…”

Yun Chuxiu: “Then we have nothing left to talk about.”

Ji Jin was silent for a while, then she took tiny, quiet steps, nudging her arm to the right. “When you came over just now… you also said you were just going to the restroom.”

Yun Chuxiu: “.”

There was nothing she couldn’t say. She began to organize her thoughts, but just as she was about to speak, she met Ji Jin’s aggrieved and mournful gaze.

…She really looked like an abandoned puppy.

…The kind of dog that was an expert at making people angry.

“There’s nothing to say about it,” Yun Chuxiu suddenly felt a mess of emotions. She turned her face away, and her intended explanation collided with the sharp thorn in her heart, completely crashing.

It was hard to say that the situation’s current state wasn’t related to her indulging in her negative emotions.

Yun Chuxiu didn’t want it to be like this. Misunderstandings should be voiced, and once you open your mouth, you should explain things clearly… she had always told herself that.

But…

She thought again of Ji Jin’s nonchalant yet serious face in that video.

One year wasn’t enough, three years wasn’t enough, five years, seven years none of it was enough.

Yun Chuxiu thought self-deprecatingly that Ji Jin’s promises were far too expensive, and she was malicious enough never to set a clear notification.

If she allowed herself to sink again and again, wouldn’t she truly become a pathetic creature that only knew how to wag its tail for pity?

“A-Xiu…?” Ji Jin hadn’t yet recovered from this abrupt coldness.

Setting aside her own slight dissatisfaction, she reached out and pulled Yun Chuxiu into a firm hug, then lowered her head, burying it deeply in the crook of Yun Chuxiu’s neck.

Her hot breath hit Yun Chuxiu’s pale skin directly.

Ji Jin’s voice was muffled, making it sound even more raspy and pitiable. “I won’t ask anymore. I believe in A-Xiu.”

Is that so?

The corners of Yun Chuxiu’s mouth quirked; she wanted to laugh.

What sincere words… so sincere that she almost forgot that before this, she had believed in Ji Jin the same way.

“I’m a little thirsty,” Yun Chuxiu said expressionlessly, avoiding the topic. “Either go get me a glass of water, or let go of me right now.”

It was a total ultimatum.

Ji Jin lifted her face, lacking the sense to stop, and rubbed against the cold face. She took a middle ground of her own making: “Then can I carry A-Xiu over there?”

Yun Chuxiu pursed her lips. Her head began to throb again, whether from anger or exhaustion, and her body began to lose strength.

Slap. A dull sound rang out.

Yun Chuxiu raised her hand and patted Ji Jin’s face. She didn’t use much force, but the warning was clear.

A gaze as icy as snowflakes fell into Ji Jin’s eyes. The latter froze for a long moment before finally sensing that unnatural coldness.

“A-Xiu,” her expression turned serious. No longer asking for permission, she hooked her knees and picked her up properly.

“Ji Jin!”

Ji Jin used one hand to cover Yun Chuxiu’s mouth.

“You’re not in a good state right now,” Ji Jin said. “Be good… just take pity on me. Afterward, you can do whatever you want to me, hit me or scold me, it’s fine.”

Yun Chuxiu didn’t have the strength to break free. She buried her head and bit Ji Jin’s palm. Looking up, she saw that Ji Jin didn’t even flinch, she even proactively moved her finger to the side of her mouth, replying nonsensically: “Bite me if you feel bad.”

Yun Chuxiu: “…”

Ji Jin had made her mind even more muddled. She wanted to just give up and actually bite down a few times, but she fell into the trap of the warmth in her embrace.

It was miserable, yet there was a strange sense of “peace,” as if lying in her most familiar bed.

People who are sick are always particularly easy to melt.

Yun Chuxiu couldn’t bite hard enough to hurt, and she was angry at herself for being so weak. She could only fruitlessly close her eyes in an attempt to numb herself.

And then…

She actually fell asleep, losing consciousness entirely.