Ch.26
The results for the mid term exam came out during the last period on Friday, before school was released. Song Yu Meng came in last, while Yi Ran was lucky enough to score 10 marks more than her.
The two of them had pretty much put in the same amount of effort as before, but this time, Xu Yuan scored badly. She slid to rank outside the top 50 in the level.
She was incredibly sad, crying while lying on her desk and all the boys who had crushes on her went over to try and console her, Liu Luo Yang included.
Song Yu Meng hated this sort of hypocrisy. She could still cry after ranking slightly below the top 50, if it was Song Yu Meng who scored so well, she would probably wake up smiling every day.
“Scheming woman, who are you pretending to cry for? You just want to be consoled!” Song Yu Meng sat at the back of the class, continually complaining.
Yi Ran was coincidentally standing beside her to view the results. Hearing her complaints, she looked at Song Yu Meng while holding back a smile.
“What are you looking at, did this lady say anything wrong?” Song Yu Meng raised her head arrogantly.
Her tone was a bit fierce, but Yi Ran felt as if she was whining like a little girl throwing a tantrum instead.
Yi Ran had pretty much forgotten how they came down from the rooftop that day, she only recalled that their faces were both red and they didn’t say a word. Thereafter, neither of them ever mentioned it again, it was as if it never happened. Their relationship was still the same as before, not good, but not bad.
A crowd of boys surrounded Xu Yuan, and Liu Luo Yang jealously found a reason to get them to go back to their seats. In the end, he was the only one squatting by Xu Yuan’s desk and consoling her.
Song Yu Meng had originally packed up and intended to go home, but looking at this, she threw down her bag and started walking over in a huff, clearly looking to start some trouble.
Yi Ran moved before she thought about it, taking two leaping steps to stand in front of Song Yu Meng. She said happily: “Let’s go, let’s go. I’ll treat you to KFC!” Before she even heard a reply, she had pulled Song Yu Meng halfway out the classroom.
“Hey hey hey, what are you doing, I haven’t even taken my bag!” In the last second before she got pulled out of the door, Song Yu Meng snatched her bag up from the table.
Ont he way, Yi Ran held firmly onto Song Yu Meng’s left wrist without letting go. The pale delicate skin had already turned red.
“Why are you holding on so tightly, you’re hurting me.” Song Yu Meng said in a playful tone.
Yi Ran immediately let go and looked a bit distressed. “I was afraid you’d pull your hand away and leave.”
Song Yu Meng wanted to laugh. “Why would I leave? It’s such a waste if I don’t eat. You’re footing the bill anyway, I’m going to buy the most expensive thing.” The sensation of Yi Ran holding her wrist was gone, and she felt a bit odd.
“Alright.” Yi Ran smiled, the sunlight illuminating her face with two shallow dimples appearing.
The KFC outlet wasn’t far from the school, and students from Su Cheng First Middle School would usually gather there.
Song Yu Meng was adamant on eating Yi Ran broke, and she ordered the most expensive set meal. After she ordered, she saw Yi Ran standing to the side and not ordering, so she asked: “Aren’t you eating?”
“Nah, I’ll just treat you.”
Song Yu Meng “oh”-ed, then turned to the server and said: “Add another hamburger.”
Yi Ran snagged a seat while Song Yu Meng brought the tray over. The moment she put the tray on the table, she heard someone talking about her.
“Isn’t that Song Yu Meng and Yi Ran? Why would they be eating together, don’t they argue everyday?” One of the girls sitting nearby was talking to the other girls at her table.
“The thought process of that big miss, who could fathom it? Maybe they’ll start quarrelling in the next second?” A girl in red sniggered.
“Cheh, what’s the big deal about her? Isn’t it just because her family’s rich? She really thinks she’s all that.” A girl in white had disdain and scorn written all over her face.
The sharp sound of the girl’s voice had reached Yi Ran’s ears even in the noisy shop. Her face stiffened and she was just about to stand up and head over.
But Song Yu Meng was faster than her, and she had already walked to the four of them.
“Gossip about this lady behind her back again, and you can forget about me showing you any mercy!” Song Yu Meng’s face was terrible to behold.
The four of them who were so arrogantly gossiping just a moment earlier were scared by this outburst, and they lowered their heads, not daring to say anything to offend her.
After warning them, Song Yu Meng returned to her seat, although she still looked unhappy. Yi Ran placed her fist to her nose in an attempt to hide her smile.
She had never seen Song Yu Meng truly angry before, at least, not in front of her.
“You too! If you laugh again, don’t blame me for being nasty either!” Her tone was still fierce, but the difference was that this time, there was a trace of coquettishness that Song Yu Meng herself didn’t notice.
Yi Ran managed to hear it though, and she almost couldn’t hold back her laughter. “You’re so fierce.”
Song Yu Meng ignored her, but her face had softened considerably. She threw the hamburger to Yi Ran and said loftily: “It’s my treat.”
Yi Ran caught the burger and wanted to laugh. “I’m the one who paid, how could you, in good conscience, say you’re the one treating me?”
“Shut it. You have to finish it, no leftovers.”
Yi Ran looked at it helplessly. To be honest, she didn’t really like these sort of fast food, but she still finished the burger.
Song Yu Meng didn’t have a big appetite, and she couldn’t finish the set meal, with a chicken wing, fries and half a cup of cola left.
She pushed the tray to Yi Ran and said: “I can’t eat anymore, help me finish it.”
Yi Ran looked down at the tray before looking at her again: “You’re letting me eat your leftovers? Is that okay?”
“Why isn’t it okay! I haven’t touched the chicken wing or the fries, so what if you eat them? You can’t waste food, got it?”
Song Yu Meng had a point, and Yi Ran couldn’t do anything but to finish off the food.
With all that fried stuff in her stomach, Yi Ran was a bit thirsty, so she grabbed the cup of cola. Song Yu Meng’s face immediately turned red and she stretched out a hand to grab the cup back.
“Don’t……”
But Yi Ran calmly opened the lid and drank straight from the cup, then asked languidly: “What, did you think I was going to use the straw you use? I’m not that dumb, isn’t that an indirect kiss?”
She smiled after finishing her sentence. Song Yu Meng was embarrassed to death, both her ears turning red. Anybody could see it.
“You’re crazy.” She scolded then turned away, looking annoyed.
Yi Ran continued pestering her: “Hey, I have a question.”
“Spit it out if you have something to say!”
“You haven’t given away your first kiss yet right?”
The flush spread to Song Yu Meng’s neck and she couldn’t hide it even if she wanted to. Her eyes widened in anger and she stared at Yi Ran, not wanting to say a word.
Yi Ran also widened her eyes and held her hand to her mouth in feigned surprise: “It can’t be? Your first kiss is gone?”
“You’re gone!” Song Yu Meng stood up angrily and grabbed her school bag, rushing out of the door.
“Hey, don’t leave! You haven’t answered my question!”
Inside the shop, a bunch of people watched as a smiley girl chased after a girl who was blushing uncontrollably.
……
Today, Yi Ran woke up a bit late and when she entered from the rear door, she saw a bunch of people crowded around the front.
Curious, she stretched her neck out to see the middle of the circle.
It was Song Yu Meng, Liu Luo Yang and Xu Yuan.
Liu Luo Yang and Xu Yuan were standing together, with Liu Luo Yang shielding Xu Yuan behind him. He had a pained expression while Song Yu Meng stood alone on the other side, both hands clutching at a transparent bag containing bread.
Yi Ran’s heart squeezed, she could guess what had happened.
She heard Liu Luo Yang say in a reproaching tone: “We’re just friends, why do you always want to restrict my freedom and the freedom of others? Can you stop being so unreasonable?”
The hands clutching the bag tightened and her nails turned white. With her head lowered to try and keep her emotions under control, she looked a little pitiful amongst the crowd.
She suddenly felt she was very wretched.
Yi Ran’s heart suddenly felt like it was poked by needles. She didn’t think too much, throwing her bag and hurrying into the crowd. She grabbed Song Yu Meng and pulled her away, but not before glaring at Liu Luo Yang.
And Song Yu Meng was like a puppet with her strings cut, she let Yi Ran lead her away without asking her where they were going.
This time, Yi Ran was holding onto her hand and she led them up to the rooftop, ignoring the class bell.
Song Yu Meng could keep her tears at bay originally, but after seeing Yi Ran, all the grievances she had kept in her heart came rushing out and her tears splattered onto the floor.
“What did you bring me to the rooftop for……” Song Yu Meng sobbed quietly, her eyes red. She had one hand on her bag strap and one hand was frantically scrubbing at her tears.
“If I don’t bring you here, then where? Don’t tell me you want to continue standing in the classroom to be laughed at?” Yi Ran suddenly felt a lick of anger and her tone was a bit harder.
“Even you’re being fierce to me……” Song Yu Meng cried even harder, one hand was obviously not enough to wipe away all the tears.
Her nose was all red from the crying, the sight of it could make anyone’s heart ache.
Yi Ran felt a bit lost, all of her anger had disappeared and she was panicking, not knowing what to do.
She wasn’t scared of Song Yu Meng’s anger, she was only scared of her tears.
“You, you, you, could you stop crying.” Yi Ran was so nervous she couldn’t help but stutter.
But Song Yu Meng acted like she didn’t hear anything, crying her eyes out.
Yi Ran fished out a clean tissue and grabbed the hand that was wiping at Song Yu Meng’s face to still it, before wiping away her tears.
She was incredibly gentle, trying to avoid hurting her.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have been so fierce just now.” Yi Ran had never tried to coax someone so seriously before. She paused for a while before continuing, “so, can you not cry anymore?”
Song Yu Meng really stopped crying. Even the tears in her eyes had stopped, and her eyes looked particularly clear and bright.
At first, only her eyes and nose were red from crying. But now, red was creeping up her face and ears too.