Ch.27
“Thank you.” Song Yu Meng said softly, with watery eyes.
Yi Ran really wanted to pat her head. Her hand was already stretched out halfway, but she eventually pulled it back and smiled: “You need to be sincere when thanking someone.”
Song Yu Meng raised her head and looked at Yi Ran with wide eyes, then lowered her head again and bit her lip. She looked at the bread in her hands for a long time before raising her head again, having made up her mind.
“Then I’ll give you this.” Song Yu Meng stretched out both hands and held the bread out to Yi Ran.
She was stunned for a second, but then took the bread.
“You’re giving something that other people don’t want to me, that’s called being sincere?” Yi Ran used her index finger to push against her forehead. “Aren’t you being too perfunctory?”
Song Yu Meng turned her head away. “Forget it if you don’t want it.”
“I never said I didn’t want it.”
Yi Ran hid the bread behind her back, and Song Yu Meng saw it all from her peripheral vision. Her frigid heart slowly warmed up and the corners of her mouth lifted in happiness.
It’s not particularly cold in November, and 7.30am was when there were still weak rays of sunlight. Everything could be seen from the rooftop and the wispy rays of sun illuminated the roof as the clean autumn breeze brushed by them.
Yi Ran took a bite of the bread, the rich taste of butter spreading in her mouth. She said: “This bread is pretty good, where did you buy it from?”
Song Yu Meng shyly said: “I made it myself.”
Yi Ran paused mid-chew, a sourness spreading in her heart as if she had drunk a big bowl of vinegar. What’s so good about that Liu Luo Yang, is he even worth all your effort?
“Are you silly? Is it worth it doing all this for him? Does he even appreciate it?”
Song Yu Meng lowered her head even more, ashamed.
Yi Ran forced a smile onto her face and said half-jokingly: “Seriously though, wouldn’t it be better to bring me breakfast everyday instead? At least I won’t reject your kindness. How could I resist such delicious bread?
Song Yu Meng still stayed silent and Yi Ran continued: “Hey, seriously. Don’t bring Liu Luo Yang breakfast in the future, bring it for me, okay?”
At this, Song Yu Meng suddenly retorted: “Not okay, who wants to bring breakfast for you?” Her tone was suddenly arrogant again, completely different from the Song Yu Meng who was crying just now. “You’re just lucky today, or you won’t be able to eat my bread.”
Yi Ran laughed: “I’m lucky indeed, or else I’d be going hungry today.”
“Hmph! Good that you know, hurry up and thank this lady.” Song Yu Meng’s mood was definitely lifted.
“Than thanks, Scaredy Cat.”
She huffed at Yi Ran. “Hey! Who thanks people like that?”
“Eh? Weren’t you just crying? Why are you happy the moment you see me?” Yi Ran rubbed her chin as if deep in thought. “On the web, they say that if you see someone and you smile immediately, you’re either an idiot or you like them…”
Yi Ran’s eyes lit up.
“Eh, you wouldn’t happen to like me, would you?”
A blush exploded over Song Yu Meng’s face and her heart rate picked up. Her reaction was way bigger than normal, and she raised a fist and chased after Yi Ran to punch her.
“Who likes you!!! Are you mad, Crazy Yi!!!”
The two of them ran around the rooftop for a while, before finally leaning on the railings lazily.
“One good deed deserves another, I’ll treat you to breakfast tomorrow too.” Yi Ran said.
“Hmph, at least you still have a conscience. If this lady isn’t satisfied by tomorrow’s breakfast, then it doesn’t count.”
“There’s a breakfast shop opposite school, it’s really good. I’m sure you’ll be satisfied.”
Song Yu Meng teased: “Might not be the case if you buy it.”
“Prideful brat.” Yi Ran muttered.
“What?” It wasn’t clear if Song Yu Meng heard it or not, but she stared at Yi Ran.
“Cough cough, nothing, you heard wrong.”
The next morning, Yi Ran went to the shop as promised to buy breakfast.
While she was queueing, she heard a neighbouring table talking about Song Yu Meng.
Four girls and a hooligan with his hair dyed blonde were sitting there, and the girl who was talking was a bit familiar to Yi Ran. It was the girl wearing white yesterday in KFC.
After the blonde hooligan heard the story, he said fiercely: “Isn’t it just a girl? What are you scared for? I’ll find someone to deal with her!”
The four girls were all in approval, even discussing how they should harm Song Yu Meng and spitting out rumours to blacken Song Yu Meng’s name even more.
Yi Ran listened to them, a fire growing inside her stomach.
She left the queue and pounded her fist on the table, saying sharply: “I think you’ve misunderstood Song Yu Meng. Even if you hate her, you shouldn’t slander her. Besides, those are baseless accusations.”
Yi Ran’s face was scary to see and she was staring at the girl in white. All four girls were frightened, looking at Yi Ran.
But the blonde hooligan’s temper rose and while Yi Ran wasn’t paying attention, he spat out a “hey” and punched her right in the face.
Being punched without any sort of warning, Yi Ran lost her balance and fell hard on the ground. Her hand not only didn’t manage to grab onto the table for support, but it also swept the food on the table to the floor.
The right side of Yi Ran’s face immediately started swelling and the food also fell onto the ground with a loud clatter.
The girls were dumbfounded, frightened after seeing the situation blow up.
But the blonde hooligan mocked Yi Ran: “Serves you right for being such a bloody busybody.”
Yi Ran had only wanted to warn them not to spread rumours, she hadn’t thought about starting a fight. But now, she was thoroughly angered. Getting up smoothly from the ground, she clenched her fist tightly and punched the guy.
He also fell to the ground, holding his face and howling in pain. But Yi Ran didn’t stop there, she continued punching and kicking him.
The girls had already fled in fright, and it was the shop owner who had to step in and pull Yi Ran off the guy.
……
“Tick tock, tick tock……”
Song Yu Meng had been waiting in the classroom for a while now, but Yi Ran hadn’t shown up.
She had her elbows on the desk, propping her chin up with both hands. When the second hand had completed another revolution, she turned her head and looked at the empty seat, a sense of loss in her heart.
Why wasn’t Crazy Yi here? Song Yu Meng sighed.
One minute before students would have been marked late, Yi Ran finally entered through the rear door, her jacket hood worn up and her head lowered, carrying breakfast.
Song Yu Meng’s heart leapt although her expression didn’t change. She even needled Yi Ran: “Crazy Yi, why are you so late today? There’s just one minute left, are you trying to starve this lady?”
She didn’t notice the bruise on Yi Ran’s face.
Yi Ran kept her head lowered and just hoarsely said “your breakfast”, placing the food on her table before rushing back to her seat.
She didn’t want Song Yu Meng to see the bruise.
Song Yu Meng stared at Yi Ran’s back, then looked at the breakfast on her table, a flicker of unease crossing her mind. She wasn’t sure what was going on, today’s Yi Ran was acting weirdly.
Yi Ran wore the hood up for the entire morning self-study period. Usually, Song Yu Meng could see the side of her face once she turned her head slightly, but today, she couldn’t see Yi Ran’s face clearly at all.
Song Yu Meng’s chest felt a bit tight, and she wanted to ask what was going on after the morning self-study, but Yi Ran immediately sprawled out on the table and went to sleep.
She stopped halfway, not wanting to disturb Yi Ran’s rest.
She could only go to the walkway to eat the breakfast that Yi Ran bought for her. It was tasty, but she didn’t have any appetite for some reason. She could only keep thinking about why Yi Ran was acting so weirdly today, was it just her?
Plenty of students were in the hallway eating breakfast, and coincidentally, two girls were gossiping about Yi Ran getting into a fight.
“Did you hear? Today, Yi Ran from the neighbouring class got into a fight with that blonde hooligan. I heard the fight was pretty bad.”
“Ah, no way? Why would Yi Ran fight with him?”
“You might not believe it, but it seems like it was because……”
Once she heard “Yi Ran fighting”, Song Yu Meng immediately tensed up and rushed up to the girl, pulling on her collar and asking anxiously: “What?! You said Crazy Yi fought with someone? Why?”
“Because, because, because……” The girl was tongue-tied, unable to say anything.
Song Yu Meng’s anxiety was through the roof. “Because what?! Say it! Not like I’m going to eat you alive!”
The girl slowly said: “I heard it’s because some hooligan was talking badly about you, so Yi Ran……”
Song Yu Meng’s expression had turned dark and the girl immediately said: “I heard it from someone else, please don’t beat me!”
The other girl also hurriedly pleaded: “Yeah we heard it from someone else! Please don’t……”
Before she had even finished her sentence, Song Yu Meng had turned and ran, even leaving behind her breakfast. She finally understood why Yi Ran was acting so oddly today, it was because she had gotten into a fight over her.
“Idiot!” Song Yu Meng scolded Yi Ran while running. Her eyes were glossy with unshed tears and her nose started to prickle.
She was about to cry.
She didn’t know if she was feeling more touched or more self-reproaching, but what was certain was that she was very worried about Yi Ran right now. Her heart was pounding in her chest.