Ch.14
The two of them walked into the milk tea shop and were immediately greeted with the rich fragrance of milk tea. Business was pretty good and many students would pop by after school; there was already a queue of over 10 people.
Yi Ran nodded to the queue and said: “You go queue up, I’ll grab a table.” There was a round table for two right at the door, and Yi Ran sat with her back facing the glass door.
Song Yu Meng questioned: “Why don’t you queue? You’re the one who wanted milk tea, you’re being so unreasonable.”
Laughing, Yi Ran looked at her: “Who’s being unreasonable? I’m the one who wanted milk tea but you’re the one paying, so you should queue up.”
With more and more people joining the queue, Yi Ran hurried her up: “Go quickly, or when would you have to queue until?”
Song Yu Meng let out an “oh” and joined the queue.
It was so boring and slow and squeezy, Song Yu Meng’s patience was pretty much at its limit.
Why could Crazy Yi be the one to sit down and rest while she had to be the one suffering in line? She started scolding Yi Ran again in her heart.
Annoying Crazy Yi! Irritating!
Song Yu Meng stuck her head out of the queue to glare at Yi Ran.
Yi Ran couldn’t help but laugh at the head that popped out of the queue, staring at her hatefully. She took out pen and paper from her bag and quickly wrote something down before flipping the paper over for Song Yu Meng to see.
【Taro milk tea, iced, with extra boba. Thanks for the treat!】
Song Yu Meng’s eyesight was good and she saw it immediately. She rolled her eyes at Yi Ran scornfully before memorising the order.
When it was her turn to place the order, she told the cashier: “One taro milk tea, iced with more boba. Emmm——” She lifted her head to see the menu, before continuing, “and one passionfruit fruit tea, iced as well. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome, meimei.”
After a minute, the cashier handed the drinks to Song Yu Meng, and after paying, she brought them to the table and sat down.
“I’m a woman of my words, here you go.”
Yi Ran took a sip, the rich and sweet taste of taro permeating her senses.
Yi Ran noticed Song Yu Meng taking a sip of her fruit tea and asked: “The taro milk tea here is their signature, why didn’t you try it?”
“Why would I try it? This lady hates sweet things the most, especially lollipops and sweet milk tea.”
“…… Are you talking about me?” The person who loved lollipops and sweet milk tea, well, wasn’t that her?
Song Yu Meng said imperiously: “Yeah, this lady is talking about you, who else?”
Yi Ran ignored her, sipping on her taro milk tea in silence.
She couldn’t understand: Clearly, orange-flavoured lollipops and taro milk tea were delicious, why wouldn’t Scaredy Cat like them?
Despite that though, the atmosphere was pretty good as the two of them sipped on their drinks and traded barbed comments from time to time.
Sitting opposite Yi Ran, Song Yu Meng had a good view of the outside through the glass door. She saw Liu Luo Yang gege walking towards the shop with that green tea next to him.
The two of them were walking incredibly closely, talking and laughing, looking just like a couple.
Yi Ran had her back to the door and couldn’t see what was going on outside, but Song Yu Meng’s face was getting darker and darker. One second ago, she was still looking incredibly self-satisfied over provoking Yi Ran, what happened to make her so upset?
Yi Ran turned and followed Song Yu Meng’s gaze. Seeing Liu Luo Yang and Xu Yuan walking together, she immediately understood.
The two of them also noticed Yi Ran and Song Yu Meng in the shop. Xu Yuan wrinkled her eyebrows gently and tiptoed to whisper in Liu Luo Yang’s ear. The two of them quickly turned around and walked away.
Yi Ran turned back and saw Song Yu Meng had already gotten to her feet and was about to walk out the door with a murderous look on her face. Without thinking, Yi Ran grabbed Song Yu Meng’s wrist.
Song Yu Meng thundered: “Hey, what are you holding on to me for? Can’t you see I’m going to rip that white lotus apart?”
Yi Ran pressed her lips into a tight line and said: “Oh come on, she’s already gone, what are you going to rip apart? The air? Besides, there are so many people outside, do you really want to argue there? If Liu Luo Yang scolds you again, nobody’s going to come to your rescue.”
Even though Yi Ran made a lot of sense, Song Yu Meng was still frustrated. She glared one last time at Xu Yuan’s retreating back, flung Yi Ran’s hand aside and returned to her seat.
The bystanders in the shop were a bit unsatisfied, they could have almost witnessed another entertaining fight between the three!
With nothing else to take her anger out on, Song Yu Meng finished her drink in three mouthfuls, with the plastic straw being chewed flat.
Yi Ran knew she was feeling upset as well, so she didn’t say anything to irritate her further.
But because Song Yu Meng had so much fruit tea in her mouth, her cheeks bulged out like a squirrel. Yi Ran found it rather adorable.
The two of them walked out of the shop and Yi Ran asked half-jokingly: “Want me to send you home?”
“Cheh, this lady still has her legs and can walk, why should I get a ride from you?” Song Yu Meng scoffed. “Besides, your scooter doesn’t even look safe. Ride it yourself.”
“Alright, I’ll ride it myself. Bye then.”
Song Yu Meng “oh”-ed blandly as Yi Ran went to the back of the school to get her scooter.
Typically, a car would fetch Song Yu Meng to and from school, but on Friday afternoons, Song Yu Meng would walk the 20-minute route home herself.
As she was walking, there was suddenly a horn from behind her. She turned to see Yi Ran riding on her scooter.
Yi Ran was in the same outfit, wearing a t-shirt and grey sweatpants. She just had a white scooter helmet[1] on and there was even a visor on the front, although Yi Ran typically never used it.
Song Yu Meng was on the pedestrian path, so Yi Ran stopped her scooter by the side of the road just half a metre away from Song Yu Meng, keeping her left foot on the ground and right foot on the footrest.
“You sure you don’t want me to give you a lift?” Yi Ran smiled.
Song Yu Meng looked at the scooter’s rear seat. Sure, there was enough space to sit, but the two supports on the left and right didn’t seem enough to hold on to[2] and when going up on an incline, the person behind would end up feeling like they were falling backwards. Going down an incline would result in the pillion passenger bending forward.
Feeling a little scared, she said: “I don’t want a lift, your scooter looks unsafe.”
Not comprehending, Yi Ran asked: “How is it unsafe? I’ve ridden for so long with no accidents, you’re just being spoilt.”
Harrumphing, Song Yu Meng walked away, throwing a sentence out over her shoulder: “This lady is too lazy to argue with you!”
Yi Ran smiled and rode her scooter next to Song Yu Meng before copying her: “I’m too lazy to argue with you too——”
She took a turn and disappeared down the road, so Song Yu Meng couldn’t scold her even if she wanted to. She muttered: “Crazy.”
At the cross junction ahead, Yi Ran could have gone straight to go home, but she took a right turn and rode around the block before she caught up to Song Yu Meng again.
Slowing to a crawl, Yi Ran asked while following along the road: “Last chance, you really don’t want me to send you home?”
Song Yu Meng exploded: “I don’t want! This lady has already said it three times! How irritating can you get?!”
Yi Ran didn’t get angry, opting instead to provoke her while smiling: “But you’re really walking very slowly. How many years do you need to walk before you can get home?” She laughed heartily.
“Crazy Yi, get lost!!!”
Covering her ears to block out Yi Ran’s laughter, she jogged forward trying to shake off this annoying bug.
Yi Ran continued following along on her scooter, maintaining a distance of half a metre on her left side, continuously asking: “You sure you don’t want to get on and give it a try?”
Song Yu Meng ignored her with a disgruntled look.
There was a traffic block ahead to stop vehicles from entering, Song Yu Meng’s eyes lit up and she ran in to stop Yi Ran from following.
……
A crime movie came out on Saturday that was all the rage, starring Han Fan.
The Han Fan in the novel was pretty much equivalent to Andy Lau[3] in real life, a household name who was not only a singer, but an outstanding actor with an insane amount of fans.
Song Yu Meng has liked Han Fan for several years now, always being a crazy supporter. She listened to all his songs, watched all his movies and even had posters of him pinned up in her room.
So she was definitely going to watch his new movie, and once the tickets went on sale, she snatched up a pair.
Originally, she wanted to invite Liu Luo Yang to watch the movie with her, but he rejected her invite over QQ[4].
【Song Yu Meng: Liu Luo Yang gege, let’s go watch Han Fan’s new movie tomorrow? I’ve already got the tickets! (starry-eyed.jpg[5])】
【Liu Luo Yang: I’ll pass, I’m busy tomorrow.】
【Song Yu Meng: That’s okay, go do your stuff then.】
Honestly speaking, Song Yu Meng already expected Liu Luo Yang’s rejection. All her attempts to invite him out in the past were always rejected for different reasons.
Even though she was expecting the rejection, she was still slightly disappointed; she even took extra care when putting her makeup on.
Even so, she could go alone, but she just felt like buying an extra ticket was a bit of a waste.
……
– Shopping centre, 1pm –
The movie theatre was on the seventh floor of the shopping mall and Song Yu Meng immediately saw the long queues at the ticket counters.
But why did she feel the person at the end of the queue was so familiar? White t-shirt, grey sweatpants, a thin jacket tied around the waist and this posture…
Isn’t this her hated enemy, Crazy Yi?! Song Yu Meng thought to herself: How small can this world be? Why do I see people I hate everywhere?
Yi Ran noticed Song Yu Meng standing at the door, dressed as spicily as her temperament.
A pure white crop top that exposed her stomach and a black pleated skirt that was so short, it was on the verge of public indecency.
Yi Ran lowered her head in a hurry, putting her right hand in a fist to her face that had suddenly burned red when she was looking at Song Yu Meng.
Song Yu Meng turned around as well, not wanting Yi Ran to see her, but she didn’t know how provocative her outfit was; plenty of people were secretly ogling her.
And there were some who were openly staring.
Yi Ran lifted her head to take another glance at Song Yu Meng when she saw a lecherous middle-aged man openly staring hungrily at Song Yu Meng, smiling disgustingly.
Yi Ran coughed loudly and the man looked away, frightened.
Song Yu Meng still had her back turned to Yi Ran, not knowing how many people were devouring her with their eyes.
There were still two people ahead of her in the queue, and a bunch at the back, but Yi Ran left the queue and walked towards Song Yu Meng with an angry look.
As she walked, she complained mentally: Her clothes yesterday in school were perfectly fine, what the hell is she wearing today?
[1] As I was typing, I realised some people might think of the wrong type of scooter. It’s this sort, that requires the riders to wear a helmet etc.
[2] 左右两根铁柱支撑不怎么好握 – The original text seems to imply there are two metal “sticks” to hold onto for the rear passenger, but… I’ve never seen a scooter that has those, so…
[3] 刘德华 – He’s an extremely popular actor in Asia, and he has released his own self-composed songs etc before as well. If you’ve ever watched older Hong Kong dramas, you might have seen him before. The one that really propelled him to fame (in my opinion) was when he played the male lead (Yang Guo) in Return of the Condor Heroes.
[4] QQ is another messaging app in China, think of it as the Chinese version of MSN Messenger (showing my age here lol)
[5] Here’s the emoji/sticker: