The Scumbag Omega Chases After Platonic Love - Chapter 5

The consultation room welcomed a new client. To give her intern practice, the teacher assigned her to handle the case.

The man, dressed in a blue shirt and gray hat, looked to be in his forties, just like her. He was a migrant worker, like herself.

“Mr. Zhou, you’ve been working at the electronics factory for two years now, right? Room and board included, plus five thousand a month. That’s better than my office job!” She smiled warmly.

“Ha ha ha, just selling my labor,” he chuckled, pulling out a cigarette. “Mind if I smoke?”

Nai Bing handed him an ashtray. “Go ahead.”

After a couple of puffs, he relaxed completely and began pouring out his story. “I’ve been married back home for years. My son’s in middle school. But working away from home all the time… I ended up having affairs with some colleagues at the factory. Now I regret it. I feel like I’ve let my wife down…”

He started sobbing. Nai Bing maintained her professional smile, but inwardly she was scornful. Just another run-of-the-mill affair. He’s just trying to ease his guilt by confessing. He has no intention of changing.

“If you truly want to be free, you should find a way to be honest with your wife. Get a divorce if that’s what it takes. Don’t keep hurting others.”

“You’re telling me to divorce? What about the child?”

“You and your wife should discuss who the child will stay with. He’s not yet preparing for the college entrance exam, so delaying this could affect his studies.”

The man sighed deeply, clutching his pant leg in frustration. “I understand. We’ll talk about this again later.”

After the session, Nai Bing carried her notes back to her desk. She glanced over and saw the man arguing heatedly with the teacher, his words tumbling over each other in apparent dissatisfaction.

“What’s with her? She’s acting like she’s teaching me how to live my life!”

“I understand. Why don’t you go home for now? I’ll talk to her.”

“Please be more professional.”

After seeing the patient off, the teacher approached Nai Bing’s desk, a troubled expression on her face. “Little Bing, you need to be more tactful. Remember, our bonuses depend on patient feedback. If you rely solely on your base salary, you won’t be able to make ends meet.”

She patted the intern’s shoulder, urging her to remain calm.

“Thank you, Teacher,” Nai Bing replied with a bright smile, promising to do better. But as she returned to her spreadsheet, her inner conflict remained. She chewed on her milk straw, lost in thought.

Halfway through her drink, she noticed that Yi Zhanying had started sending fresh milk deliveries every day. From then on, she lived a life of uninterrupted milk supply.

When Nai Bing was a child, her family was so poor they couldn’t afford nutritious food. Two tiny pieces of meat in stir-fried greens was considered a treat. It wasn’t until her younger brother was born that their living conditions improved.

“Bing, a client specifically requested you for a consultation,” the HR lady called out, interrupting her reverie.

“Coming!”

Returning to the consultation room, she was surprised to see that familiar face again. Yi Zhanying turned with a smile that warmed Nai Bing’s heart. Every time she appeared, she was as beautiful as a flower, her eyes always carrying a hint of innocence beneath their alluring gaze, as if yearning for something.

For a moment, Nai Bing thought she saw a poetic radiance emanating from the woman, but she quickly realized it was just her imagination.

Why am I adding filters to other people’s lives?!

“Bing Dog?” Yi Zhanying greeted her.

“Ahem, what brings you here? Is there something you want to discuss?” Nai Bing asked, gesturing for the client to sit down.

“Not really for a consultation. I just wanted to see you,” Yi Zhanying replied honestly, resting her chin in her hand as she admired the younger woman who had captivated her.

“But I need to keep records. How am I supposed to explain this?” Nai Bing said, feeling awkward.

“Hmm, let me think… What should I consult you about?” Yi Zhanying pondered briefly, then smiled. “What do you do when you’re afraid of the dark? Every time I hear a scary story, I can’t sleep all night. Even with the lights on, I’m too scared to close my eyes. Sometimes it lasts for half a month.”

“Afraid of the dark?” Nai Bing thought many girls were like that, but maybe Yingying had some kind of trauma. “Did something scary happen to you when you were little?”

“Nope,” she said, shaking her head with that harmless smile.

“Any subconscious issues you can’t get over?”

“Nope,” she repeated, still shaking her head.

“Then maybe you should watch less scary stuff. If you can’t handle it, protect yourself, right? Getting so scared you can’t sleep worries people.” Nai Bing realized this woman didn’t need therapy at all. She was just paying to flirt with her.

Her smile is so pretty, Nai Bing thought. The corners of her eyes curve just right, her lashes are long and delicate, and even the fingers propping up her chin are beautiful.

“Does Ice Dog worry about me too?” Yi Zhanying asked.

“Long-term insomnia affects your work and life. Of course I…” Nai Bing turned away, picking up her teacup to hide her fluster. “As friends, of course I’d worry.”

“Hehe, that makes me happy,” she said with a warm smile.

They lingered until closing time, then strolled slowly toward the subway station.

“Are you off work today?” Nai Bing asked, not familiar with the usual schedule of the real estate planning department.

After sitting all day, Nai Bing’s neck and shoulders were stiff as a board. She instinctively reached up to massage them, but a pair of slender, unfamiliar hands gently stroked the back of her neck, brushing over her glands. Nai Bing froze instantly. That was a place no one should touch casually.

Yi Zhanying simply wanted to give her a massage. “I can adjust my schedule however I like. It’s no problem at all.”

As they approached a crosswalk, Nai Bing stepped forward to cross when Yi Zhanying suddenly grabbed her hand. Nai Bing instinctively recoiled, shaking off the touch and glancing back to see Yi Zhanying’s stunned expression.

“I’m sorry,” Yi Zhanying said softly. “I just wanted to help you cross the street.”

Nai Bing felt a surge of panic. In just a few days, she felt like Yi Zhanying was manipulating her with ease, making it impossible to lower her guard.

“I don’t like this,” Nai Bing said. “You keep getting closer, but I don’t know what you want. It’s confusing, like I’m being toyed with.”

“I’m not…” Yi Zhanying began to explain.

“But you used to be like that,” Nai Bing insisted. “Xiao Qi told me herself. She said you were probably still a terrible person.” Nai Bing wrapped her arms around herself defensively.

Terrible? Yi Zhanying stared in shock as Nai Bing bolted across the street just as the light turned green.

Back home, Nai Bing focused on reviewing her work for the day and applying for part-time jobs.

The memory of Yi Zhanying’s touch still made her bristle. Did Yi Zhanying really think she was so easily manipulated, that she constantly probing her boundaries and pushing closer?

******

Yi Zhanying hailed a cab to a cozy bar to meet a friend. Qin Shen, an associate professor at PU University, had recently joined the faculty at the same university Xiao Qi had chosen.

“You mentioned having a crush last time. How’s it going? Are you two together now?” Yi Zhanying ordered two low-alcohol cocktails.

“Not good. I was just told to my face that I’m terrible,” Yi Zhanying said, looking dejected.

Her friend gasped. “You mean… you were rejected?”

“Yep, a clear rejection.”

Qin Shen couldn’t help but burst into laughter, even wanting to post about it online to share her schadenfreude. She was so delighted she could eat two extra bowls of rice that night.

“See? Even you get rejected sometimes. Turns out some people just aren’t into your act, you trash.”

“Sigh, so this is what unrequited love feels like.”

The next day at work, besides her usual warm milk, she found a neatly folded note. The receptionist, her eyes twinkling with gossip, asked, “Little Bing, your admirer is so persistent! Who is it? Shouldn’t you give them some kind of response?”

She sighed helplessly, took the note back to her desk, and quietly read it: [Sorry, I didn’t mean to be mean. ＞﹏＜]

Just a short line with an emoticon.

After a moment’s thought, she tucked the note into her drawer and forgot about it.

Lost in her work, the morning flew by. She joined some colleagues for lunch at a casual restaurant downstairs. As they took turns ordering, she noticed everyone was ordering freely, without a second thought. When the bill came, each person would have to pay over thirty yuan.

She’d packed a chicken breast bento last night, but she was afraid of being seen as antisocial if she didn’t join in. Still, that was quite expensive…

“Any ideas for our May Day gathering?” the teacher asked again.

“Thai hot pot?”

“Japanese food?”

******

Hearing those words, Nai Bing’s heart ached. She endured until her shift ended and went to a local tea restaurant for a part-time job interview. By late night, she finally returned home to rest.

Before bed, she idly scrolled through her social media feed and saw Xiao Qi had posted an update. It was a photo of Xiao Qi with another woman, captioned: “Thank you, dear sister, for the graduate school entrance exam materials! She’s a professor at PU University.”

It was the same woman who had hugged Yi Zhanying last time.

Nai Bing felt conflicted. Though she didn’t like the woman, she still felt guilty for confronting her so harshly earlier that day.

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