Ch.16
“What the hell are you smiling at?” Song Yu Meng took her anger out on Yi Ran, punching her shoulder.
It didn’t hurt Yi Ran at all. In fact, it made her even more amused and she smiled wider.
Yi Ran twisted her upper body around and leaned over slightly to whisper into Song Yu Meng’s ear: “Be good. This is a public space. We can talk about it after the movie.”
Song Yu Meng shivered a little at Yi Ran’s hot breath hitting her ear, and her irritation had also subsided.
Yi Ran sat back up after she finished her sentence, but Song Yu Meng’s face was blushing red and hot to the touch. Thank god the lights were dim and nobody could see.
But to vent the last bits of unhappiness in her heart, she snatched the tub of popcorn Yi Ran was hugging and finished it in less than 10 minutes. Stuffing it into her mouth, it was like she was scared Yi Ran would fight her for it.
Yi Ran stared at her, annoyed and thought: Didn’t you say you’d get sick of it after a few bites?
The movie ended and the lights came up, with the crowd starting to get up and disperse. Many couples were holding hands and walking together.
Liu Luo Yang didn’t hold hands with Xu Yuan, but they walked closely as usual, giving off the impression they were a couple.
Song Yu Meng had stood up the moment the lights went on, and she kept staring at the two of them. Especially Xu Yuan, she glared with a vicious expression.
Liu Luo Yang took Xu Yuan out of the theatre hall and Song Yu Meng hastily stuffed the popcorn tub back into Yi Ran’s arms.
“Hold onto it! This lady is going to catch the third party[1] now!”
Yi Ran held onto the empty tub, looking at Song Yu Meng make her way down to the exit and said softly: “Catch the third party? But they’re the couple?”
In the novel, Liu Luo Yang and Xu Yuan would get together, but not right now.
Yi Ran hurried after Song Yu Meng, tossing the empty tub in a nearby rubbish bin.
Liu Luo Yang and Xu Yuan turned left after leaving the theatre and Song Yu Meng followed secretly behind them, trailing by 10 metres. She wanted to see where the two of them would go.
They headed down to the fourth floor, not realising someone was tailing them. There were a few toy-catcher machines[2]. and Xu Yuan was trying to catch a prize from one of them. Liu Luo Yang’s gaze was firmly on Xu Yuan’s hands on the controls. Picking up his courage, he held her hands over the controls under the pretence of helping her catch a soft toy.
Hiding behind a wall, Song Yu Meng saw it clearly and she stormed over. It was obvious how angry she was from how rushed and heavy her steps were.
This green tea bitch actually dared to secure her Liu Luo Yang gege again, this time, she must teach her a lesson!
“Hey, get away from him!” Song Yu Meng pulled the two of them apart, standing in the middle and facing Xu Yuan, asking relentlessly: “Green tea, you’re seducing Liu Luo Yang gege again. Didn’t I warn you to stay away from him?”
A few passersby were watching the show, and Xu Yuan was so embarrassed that tears started gathering in her eyes. “It’s not what you think it is, Luo Yang was only helping me to catch a toy, you’re misunderstanding.”
Raising her chin and with derision in her eyes, Song Yu Meng said: “Hmph, you’re really shameless. Who doesn’t know that you’re the most capable actor in the world.”
Xu Yuan cried: “How could you say that of me……”
The people watching didn’t know of the grudge between Song Yu Meng and Xu Yuan, they just thought that Song Yu Meng’s words were too hurtful, so they placed all the blame on her.
Female passerby A: “What’s up with this girl, she’s purposely embarrassing her.”
Female passerby B: “Exactly, thank god I’ve never met someone like that.”
Even though they were talking in hushed voices, Song Yu Meng heard them. She hated other people gossiping behind her back.
Staring viciously at the two girls, she warned them: “Meddle in my business again and this lady will make things difficult for you!”
The two girls could see it was unwise to offend Song Yu Meng, so they quickly left, all while complaining under their breath.
A: “Cheh, what’s she being so arrogant for? Her chin is almost pointed to the sky.”
B: “She’s so crude.[3]“
After that, the rest of the passersby dispersed too, with just the three of them left before the machines.
Xu Yuan was crying so brokenheartedly that Liu Luo Yang quickly took out a tissue for her, feeling incredibly pained.
“Thank you.” Xu Yuan sobbed and took the tissue.
Song Yu Meng immediately pulled on Liu Luo Yang’s arm and said urgently: “Liu Luo Yang gege, don’t be fooled by this girl. She’s clearly……”
Before “fooling you” could come out of Song Yu Meng’s mouth, Liu Luo Yang snatched his hand away. His brows knit together tightly and he couldn’t hide the disgust in his eyes.
He raged: “Song Yu Meng, how could you be so unrespectful to others? Why do you always interfere with other people’s lives? Does everyone need to live according to your wishes before you’re satisfied?”
Song Yu Meng was shocked, staring at Liu Luo Yang. “Liu Luo Yang gege, you… How could you say that?”
“Why can’t I say it, isn’t it the truth?” Liu Luo Yang saw Song Yu Meng’s look of hurt and his anger went down a little. “In the future, don’t interfere with me and Xu Yuan.”
After saying that, Liu Luo Yang held Xu Yuan’s hand and pulled her away. Unseen to anybody else, Xu Yuan secretly smiled in a self-satisfied manner.
Tears welled up in Song Yu Meng’s eyes and she bit her lip to keep them from falling. The sight of Liu Luo Yang holding Xu Yuan’s hand and walking away was getting blurrier and blurrier, her tears were on the verge of falling.
Because she walked away too quickly, Yi Ran had lost sight of her, and spent a great deal of effort to find her near the claw machines on the fourth floor.
When Yi Ran was going down the escalator, she saw Liu Luo Yang walking away hand-in-hand with Xu Yuan, while Song Yu Meng stood motionless staring at the two.
Yi Ran’s eyes were sharp and she noticed Song Yu Meng was crying, big tear drops rolling down her cheeks.
Walking to Song Yu Meng, she saw that her makeup was ruined by all the tears.
Yi Ran fished out a clean tissue from her bag and held it in front of her, asking her concernedly: “Are you alright……”
Before she could finish her sentence, Song Yu Meng turned tail and ran, wiping her face as she went along. Yi Ran’s heart hurt for her.
“She’s really an idiot.” Yi Ran said softly, following after her.
She found Song Yu meng at the empty stairwell of the fourth floor.
Sitting in the middle of the steps, Song Yu Meng was crying while hugging her legs and resting her head on her kneecap, looking like a stray cat that was abandoned by its owner.
Yi Ran walked up silently and sat by her side.
Realising someone was by her side, Song Yu Meng looked up with damp cheeks, her intricate makeup all smudged by her tears, revealing a splotchy pale face.
“Why are you here? Did you come to laugh at this lady too?”
“No.” Yi Ran held out the clean tissue again. “Wipe your face, your makeup’s all smudged, you don’t look good anymore.”
Song Yu Meng took the tissue, softly hiccuping with sobs.
Seeing how sad Song Yu Meng was, Yi Ran was at a bit of a loss. “Don’t cry, okay?” She stared at the steps below her feet rather than look at Song Yu Meng.
Even though she was witty when she was arguing with someone, she couldn’t think of a single suitable sentence when she was trying to console Song Yu Meng.
Suddenly, the soft sobs from her side stopped. Yi Ran looked up and saw Song Yu Meng staring at herself, face wiped clean of tears.
The makeup had been wiped off too, and Song Yu Meng’s face looked much gentler, without that arrogant and domineering air.
Yi Ran shifted her gaze back to the steps and smiled: “See, I told you, you look much better without makeup on.”
Song Yu Meng smiled tearily: “You’re terrible at comforting people.”
“Mm, I’m not very good at it.”
“Clearly.”
Yi Ran’s appearance made Song Yu Meng feel much better, it seems like it was the same the past few times too. Odd, shouldn’t she feel unhappy when her enemy appeared?
The two of them sat in silence for a while as Song Yu Meng put her emotions back in order. She suddenly stood up and said bossily: “Hey, Crazy Yi, accompany this lady to go take a stroll.”
Yi Ran stood up and teased: “Do I get something for accompanying you?”
“Nothing!” Song Yu Meng tightened her lips and said: “Forget it if you don’t want to go, this lady will go herself.”
“I didn’t say I won’t accompany you. I came out today to have fun anyway, I’ll accompany you.”
Song Yu Meng let out a satisfied smile. “Hmph, at least you know what’s good for you.”
“So where do you want to go?” Yi Ran checked the time on her phone. “It’s already 4pm, we should hurry.”
After a bit of consideration, Song Yu Meng said: “Come with me.”
Bringing Yi Ran to the arcade on the first floor, she exchanged a hundred dollars worth of game tokens.
Carrying the tokens, Yi Ran followed behind her and asked: “You’re almost out of the arcade already, what on earth do you want to play?”
Song Yu Meng smiled and pointed at the machine in the corner. “That one.”
Yi Ran’s eyes trailed in the direction she pointed at, it was a King of Fighters machine. Yi Ran asked in shock: “You play King of Fighters?”
“Of course! Didn’t expect it huh?” Song Yu Meng said proudly. “This lady is great at King of Fighters. Do you want to have a battle?”
Yi Ran said happily: “Sure, but don’t complain I’m bullying you when I trash you.”
“What! The person getting trashed is you, okay!” Song Yu Meng rebutted.
“I’m looking forward to it then.”
In the real world, Yi Ran would skip school to go play King of Fighters, and she had still kept a clean win record with no losses.
Full of confidence, Yi Ran smiled at Song Yu Meng, thinking: Just wait for me to beat you.
[1] 捉奸 – Usually used to mean you’re going to catch the person your spouse/partner cheated on you with. Funny in this case because, well, like Yi Ran said, it’s more like Liu Luo Yang and Xu Yuan are the couple.
[2] 抓娃娃机 – Literally doll-catching machines. You might call them claw machines, toy-catchers etc.
[3] 素质 – This word is a bit difficult to translate. The catch-all words for it in English would be class/elegance/bearing. Basically, sometimes we say someone’s 素质 isn’t very high, which means they’re not very graceful/classy. In this sentence, the passerby is saying Song Yu Meng has no 素质, so I wrote it as “crude”.