Chapter 38

In a blink of an eye, it was January, the coldest part of winter and the end-of-term exams were just around the corner.

The students all crowded around after Tang Xiang Ping pinned up the seating chart and student numbers.

The seating was at random this time. Song Yu Meng saw her seat was 3-6-8, and she went to look for Yi Ran’s seat, realising it was 3-6-13.

She was happy at first because they were in the same general area, but she was a little disappointed at not being able to sit next to Yi Ran as she usually did.

She left the crowd and went to Yi Ran. “Crazy Yi, you’re sitting diagonally in front of me.”

“Tsk, it’s a bit of a shame we can’t sit together.” Yi Ran said casually. “But that’s good too, don’t you always dislike sitting next to me? I guess you’ll be happy now?”

She wanted to tease Song Yu Meng and lift her spirits, but Song Yu Meng got angry instead of happy, letting out a heavy “oh” and leaving.

You could feel her annoyance just from seeing her back.

Yi Ran panicked, knowing she had said something wrong. How should she coax this girl?

On the other hand, Song Yu Meng was at the peak of her anger. But after she calmed down, she was a bit regretful. Throwing a tantrum like that, would Yi Ran get upset and not want to talk to her?

After thinking carefully, she felt that Yi Ran’s words were true. In the past, she really didn’t like to sit next to Yi Ran. But why was it that now that they’re not sitting together, she would want to?

After lunch, Song Yu Meng found an exercise book that wasn’t hers on her desk with a post-it note stuck on the top.

【Angry? Then how about I guess a few science questions for you as compensation?】

Song Yu Meng smiled at the note. Was Crazy Yi coaxing her? Who would coax people by asking them to do homework?

Silly.

Yi Ran walked over, smiling and looking a bit embarrassed. What Song Yu Meng had just called silly was the result of her contemplation for an entire lesson.

“Still angry?”

Song Yu Meng turned her head away and said proudly: “What still? I’ve been angry all along, okay?”

“But I saw you smile just now.”

“I didn’t smile because of you.”

“Then why did you smile?” Yi Ran smiled and answered her own question. “Because of the post-it? I wrote it, it’s kind of considered smiling because of me, right?”

Song Yu Meng harrumphed, silently admitting it.

Yi Ran tapped her book and said: “Take a look at the questions inside, the end-of-term exam should feature a few similar ones. The more marks you can get, the better.”

“I don’t want to look at science questions, I hate them.” Song Yu Meng folded her arms, looking like she couldn’t be reasoned with.

Yi Ran: “……”

But Song Yu Meng was the one who said the stuff she didn’t mean the most, especially in front of Yi Ran. She said she wouldn’t look, but the night before the exam, she still took the book out and read all the questions, even finding similar questions to attempt.

– Maths exam –

As the paper was handed down, Song Yu Meng took a few glances. To her surprise, all the questions Yi Ran guessed were inside. One multiple-choice and two long-form questions.

She smiled at the paper: Who knew Crazy Yi was so good?

After about an hour, Song Yu Meng had finished the three questions and she guessed the rest of the answers.

There was about 1.5 hours left and she felt bored, so she sprawled on the table, an arm under her chin, and she looked at Yi Ran.

Song Yu Meng was sitting in the last row of the fourth group while Yi Ran was in the fifth row of the third group, diagonally to the right in front of her.

From this angle, it was perfect to see Yi Ran’s side profile. She was meticulous, sometimes frowning in deep concentration, sometimes scratching workings onto the paper with the pen in her right hand.

At 2PM, a narrow ray of sunlight cut through the cold air, coming in from the window and landing squarely on Yi Ran’s side. It trailed down from her left eyebrow, over her nose bridge and extending to the right side of her face.

All of a sudden, Song Yu Meng felt her heart skip a beat and her breath catch. She tilted her head, the left side of her face resting on her arm, smiling unconsciously.

She had never been as mesmerised by Yi Ran as she was right now.

Song Yu Meng’s face started to heat up as she tried to commit this scene to memory, this ray of light, this side of Yi Ran. So she lifted her pen and started to draw, sneaking glances at Yi Ran after every stroke.

Finally, that beam of light disappeared and her drawing was finished, forever left on the answer booklet of the end-of-term maths exam.

She was extremely satisfied with the drawing, but unfortunately, the answer booklet and question paper would have to be handed in. It would be great if she could keep it forever, she was a bit reluctant to hand them in.

When Song Yu Meng had started to draw, the examiner walking behind had noticed.

Without naming anyone, the invigilator said in a voice that was loud enough for everyone to hear: “Since it’s a maths exam, perhaps we shouldn’t be drawing?”

Yi Ran’s hand stilled as she smiled shallowly, before continuing with the question. She knew that Scaredy-Cat was drawing her again.

Despite being warned secretly, Song Yu Meng continued drawing Yi Ran. She wasn’t breaking any rules or cheating, just not doing the questions, so the invigilator let it slide, even walking behind her to see who she was drawing.

The bell rang and all the answer booklets and question papers were handed in.

When the invigilator took Song Yu Meng’s booklet, he offered a question: “The drawing’s not bad. Did you draw the person you like?”

He kept his voice low to prevent anybody else from hearing, but even so, Song Yu Meng panicked, looking up at the invigilator with a red face.

Her brain was a mess. Embarrassment and shock kept her from saying a single word.

The invigilator didn’t say anything more, taking away her paper with a smile. When he went to Yi Ran, he smiled mysteriously at her.

“???”

Yi Ran had on a face of confusion, not understanding why the teacher would smile at her.

After exiting the exam hall, Yi Ran saw Song Yu Meng was standing there as if waiting for someone to come out. She felt a rush of joy and her lips turned up. Was Song Yu Meng waiting for her?

Yi Ran stealthily walked to her side and smiled. “Waiting for me?”

Song Yu Meng turned her face away and rebutted. “Of course not.”

“No? Then why’s your face red?”

“…… I’m not going to talk to you.” She turned around and went down the stairs in a huff, not explaining why she was blushing.

Yi Ran smiled even wider, her eyes becoming crescents. She followed after and nagged: “Come on, say it! How terrible must it feel to bottle it all up?”

“No, not saying, you’re so annoying!” Song Yu Meng covered her ears with her hands, but the smile on her face was sweet.

She hated other people always pestering her, but she didn’t find Yi Ran a bother in the slightest. She even hoped Yi Ran would stick to her more.

At that moment, a big bunch of students who had handed in their papers came streaming out of the various classrooms and filtered into the stairwell. It was jam-packed with students, and if someone were to fall, they could easily be trampled.

Song Yu Meng and Yi Ran were squeezed together so tightly that it would have been hard to even fit a paper between them, but both of them secretly enjoyed the closeness.

Suddenly, Song Yu Meng felt a warm hand taking her hand tightly.

Her heart and breathing hitched, and she looked at Yi Ran, noticing she was looking nervously in every direction except Song Yu Meng’s.

“Why are you holding my hand?” Song Yu Meng smiled and asked.

Yi Ran’s ears were all red and she struggled to find an answer.

“I’m afraid you’ll fall.”

Song Yu Meng stayed silent, clutching onto Yi Ran’s hand even tighter. She was clearly moved, but her eyes prickled with tears.

……

The three days of examinations went by in a flash and Tang Xiang Ping said a few sentences before releasing the class.

The winter break was for exactly one month, and the next time they would see each other would be when spring came around in March.

Yi Ran was reluctant to part with Song Yu Meng but purposely teased: “Eh, you won’t be able to see me for a month during winter break. You’ll definitely miss me, right?”

“What! Who’s going to miss you!” A ribbon of red started spreading across Song Yu Meng’s face as she turned away, but secretly snuck a glance at Yi Ran.

Yi Ran hid her smile with a hand and patted her head gently.

“Don’t be stubborn. Come find me if you miss me. I live right next to you, it’s super close.”

“I’m not going. Even if someone is going, it should be you coming to find me.” Song Yu Meng mumbled with her face all red.

“Alright, I’ll find you when the time comes.”

A week went by, but Yi Ran hadn’t gone to visit her. Song Yu Meng was antsy, she was waiting all day these few days, but the person she wanted to see just wouldn’t show up. She was sick of waiting.

“She said she would find me, it’s been a week but she’s still not here!” Song Yu meng laid on her bed and looked at her chat with Yi Ran. “She didn’t even send me a single message, annoying!”

Their conversation had stopped eight days ago.

“Ahhhhh, Crazy Yi is so annoying! Liar!” Song Yu Meng rolled around on her bed, wrinkling her bedsheets. She pouted, on the verge of tears, and sniffed. “She said she would come over!”

At 9PM, Han Fan’s concert tickets would go on sale and a few months ago, Song Yu Meng had bragged to Yi Ran that she would snatch the tickets.

In the end, the tickets had gone on sale for ten minutes and were all sold out, with Song Yu Meng not managing to get her two tickets.

Originally, she wanted to buy an extra ticket to ask Yi Ran to accompany her, but now, she didn’t even have one.

She was already annoyed by Yi Ran in the day, and with this, she hugged her laptop and sat on the bed, crying and pushing all the blame to Yi Ran.

It’s her fault for not coming to find me!

The next day, Song Yu Meng heard her doorbell ring, and her heart almost jumped out her chest as she rushed from the living room to answer the door.

Standing in front of the door was the person she was complaining about every day, the Yi Ran that she both loved and hated.

The moment she saw Yi Ran, flowers had already bloomed in her heart, but her facial expression didn’t change. She hardened her face and asked: “Who are you? What are you doing ringing my doorbell? Are you plotting something?”

Yi Ran laughed heartily, one hand on the doorframe for support as she doubled over with laughter. She looked Song Yu Meng up and down as she said in a wicked tone: “That’s right, I’m plotting something. What can you do to me? You’re alone at home, right?”

She continued smiling wickedly as she approached Song Yu Meng, closing the door behind her as she entered the house. She really looked like one of the bad guys in movies.

When Yi Ran entered the house, Song Yu Meng hit her shoulder and complained: “You liar, didn’t you say you were going to come and find me? Where were you!”

Yi Ran didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Dummy, aren’t I right here?”

“But you put me in a bad mood, and I didn’t even manage to snatch the tickets to my idol’s concert! I wanted you to accompany me, and now you won’t have the chance to!” She got mad at the thought of it, folding her arms and pouting.

Yi Ran’s eyes lit up with amusement. “Isn’t that fine? I can’t accompany you, but you can accompany me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Meaning, I got the last two tickets. So do you want to go with me?”

Song Yu Meng’s eyes widened. “Great! You got the last two tickets! Why didn’t you say it earlier, I could have not been upset for the whole night!”

Yi Ran put her hands together and begged: “It’s my fault for not telling you earlier, okay? Then as an apology, will you accompany me?”

“Yes!” Song Yu Meng agreed in a heartbeat. “You’re the one who paid anyway, this lady is even saving money, why wouldn’t I go?”