Chapter 20: Chapter 20

Ch.20

Song Yu Meng stood up, she had no idea which question was being discussed and she was both embarrassed and angry. Was Crazy Yi insane? What did she mean by choosing me now after passing me up just now!

Staring angrily at Yi Ran with wide eyes, Song Yu Meng pouted.

Tang Xiang Ping looked at her suspiciously and asked: “Song Yu Meng, you should know where we were discussing till, right? Do you not know where, or do you not know how to do the question?”

“Of course I know, I’m just recalling how I did it.” Song Yu Meng said convincingly, seeming to have fooled Tang Xiang Ping.

Yi Ran chuckled, thinking: This person can really lie with a straight face.

“Alright, hurry up and remember then.” Tang Xiang Ping looked at the question and waited.

Song Yu Meng quickly patted on the shoulder of the girl in front, who understood and quickly circled the question and handed the paper to Song Yu Meng.

The workings and answer was very detailed, and Song Yu Meng just read off the paper: “The answer is A. First, add both functions into one, then…[1]“

“Not bad, you explained it well. In the future, just solve similar questions the way Song Yu Meng did, you won’t get it wrong.”

After listening to Tang Xiang Ping’s praise, Song Yu Meng lifted her chin and hmph-ed arrogantly.

Yi Ran was perplexed. Song Yu Meng shouldn’t have been able to answer the question, she purposely left it to her!

This person was absolutely cheating! She wasn’t convinced!

Because there wasn’t enough time left in the class, Tang Xiang Ping started explaining the questions herself.

After class ended, Song Yu Meng went over to rub it into Yi Ran’s face. “Hmph, you think you can prank this lady with such a petty trick? Dream on!”

Yi Ran looked at her as if she was an idiot.

After a moment, Song Yu Meng played with her hair and asked in a casual way: “Does that Xu Yuan like you?”

“Are you mad? What kind of rubbish are you saying???” Yi Ran stared at her with incredulous eyes.

Song Yu Meng immediately reacted explosively: “You’re the one that’s mad! Can’t I just ask?” She then tried to act casual again: “Then what about you? Do you like that green tea?”

Yi Ran stood up with an upset look on her face: “If you’re sick, go and get it cured quickly. Stop accusing other people.”

Song Yu Meng also felt that she was acting crazily, how could she have thought that Crazy Yi would like Xu Yuan?

“Oh, if you don’t like her, that’s best. Don’t get deceived by that woman.”

Yi Ran watched Song Yu Meng make her way back to her seat, unsure why she would ask such a question. Accusing her of liking Xu Yuan, what kind of madness is that!?

Why on Earth would she think I like Xu Yuan?

……

It was a sunny, breezy afternoon on Tuesday.

The second class was physical education, and when Song Yu Meng saw Liu Luo Yang change to a basketball jersey and leave the class, she hurriedly pulled Su Xiao Xiao out of class.

“Xiao-Yu, walk slowly. Where are you rushing to?” Su Xiao Xiao was completely being dragged along by Song Yu Meng.

“It’s physical education next, Liu Luo Yang gege is going to play basketball. I’m going to buy water at the commissary for him!” Song Yu Meng’s sweet smile was pretty much reserved for when she was talking about Liu Luo Yang. “Let’s go watch Liu Luo Yang gege play basketball……”

Yi Ran heard everything and tsked. Basketball wasn’t even as fun as badminton, what was there to watch?

Yi Ran grabbed the shuttlecock from her table as He Xiao Meng walked over with another shuttlecock in her hand.

“Student Yi Ran, shall we play next lesson? I just got a new shuttlecock.”

“Great! I won’t have to bring mine then.” Yi Ran put her shuttlecock down and followed He Xiao Meng to the field.

It was a large field with a 400m running track, a soccer field, badminton court, table tennis area and a basketball court.

Three classes had physical education at the same time, so there were plenty of people milling about, especially at the basketball court where the guys in Class Seven and Class Eight had already staked their places.

There were also plenty of spectators. Some guys had wanted to watch the game, but most of them were females who didn’t even know the most basic rules of basketball; they were just there to see the people playing.

And the girls who went to see Liu Luo Yang play were the majority, with at least 20 people, including Song Yu Meng who had pulled Su Xiao Xiao over and stood at the leftmost side in the first row.

Xu Yuan stood at the middle of the first row, also clutching a bottle of water in her hands.

“There are so many people watching the basketball match.” He Xiao Meng exclaimed.

Even though there were so many people crowded around, Yi Ran only saw Song Yu Meng with the bottle of water she bought, looking intently at Liu Luo Yang and cheering louder than anybody else whenever he managed to net a three-pointer.

Yi Ran complained emotionlessly: “Are they there to watch basketball? More like they’re there to see the people playing?” Her gaze lingered steadily on Song Yu Meng.

“Hahaha, you’re right.” He Xiao Meng pointed to the court with her racket and said: “Let’s go reserve the court first, or else there won’t be space for us.”

Yi Ran hummed in acknowledgement and placed their rackets on the court. When the bell rang, the gym teacher made them run two laps before releasing them for their own activities.

More and more people flocked to the basketball court as the match went on.

Suddenly, Liu Luo Yang grabbed the ball and evaded the two defenders as he slam-dunked the ball to win the match.

The spectators were cheering loudly, with Song Yu Meng jumping up and down.

On the badminton court, He Xiao Meng hit the shuttlecock over. Normally, Yi Ran would have been perfectly able to hit it back, but she missed it and the shuttlecock fell on the grass.

He Xiao Meng won both rounds of the match.

The shuttlecock landed near Yi Ran’s feet, but she stayed still, looking at the basketball court. More accurately, looking at Song Yu meng.

Seeing her enthusiasm and her gaze stuck on Liu Luo Yang, Yi Ran’s heart felt uncomfortable and she thought: Isn’t it just basketball? It’s that good? Should have come watch me play badminton instead.

Yi Ran turned her head back and He Xiao Meng had already walked to her side, asking: “Why didn’t you hit that back just now?”

“My bad, it must have been the crowd being too noisy. I’ll definitely hit it next time.” Yi Ran forced a smile as she pointed at the crowd.

The basketball match started again and Liu Luo Yang played particularly fiercely, with the crowd cheering again and again, Song Yu Meng’s voice the loudest.

Yi Ran also lost again and again. Everytime she heard Song Yu Meng cheer, she missed the shuttlecock.

He Xiao Meng noticed Yi Ran was out of sorts and asked: “Are you feeling unwell? Why does it seem like your heart isn’t in the game?”

“Huh, I seem distracted when playing? Am… Am I?”

Yi Ran had an innocent expression and He Xiao Meng laughed: “Yeah, you even stuttered.”

Yi Ran smiled awkwardly, not sure what else to say.

Looking at her watch, He Xiao Meng said: “There’s still ten minutes left, are we continuing?”

The basketball competition was already at the last stage and Liu Luo Yang’s three-pointer helped his team win, with the spectators all exploding into cheers and screams.

After walking off the court, plenty of girls wanted to offer their water bottles to him.

Song Yu Meng was the first one to rush there, with the other girls not daring to push her out of the way.

She held out the water bottle to Liu Luo Meng, happy she was about to win.

Yi Ran watched, then a smile dawned on her face.

“Nah, let’s take a break.” She was speaking to He Xiao Meng, but her eyes were glued to Song Yu Meng.

“Oh, are you thirsty then? Let’s go grab water from the commissary?”

Yi Ran immediately felt thirsty, but she saw the bottle of Nongfu spring water in Song Yu Meng’s hand, a layer of condensation on the cold bottle. It looked pretty good.

Yi Ran wiped the sweat off her forehead and licked her dry lips, smirking.

She had a good idea.

“Nah, you go ahead and get yours. I think snatching some water over would be even tastier, right?” Yi Ran smiled and pointed at the bottle of cold water Song Yu Meng was holding.

He Xiao Meng laughed: “What kind of logic is that? Alright, I hope your hand won’t get chopped off by the big miss.”

Yi Ran handed the shuttlecock to He Xiao Meng and walked towards Song Yu Meng.

Liu Luo Yang was about to pass by Song Yu Meng when she held out the bottle to him and said excitedly: “Liu Luo Yang gege, you must be thirsty, want some water!”

The other girls who wanted to give him their bottles scoffed, both envious and jealous.

“Cheh, if it wasn’t for this girl having so much money, I wouldn’t be letting her do as she wishes.”

“So what if she’s rich? Hasn’t she been a backup plan all these years?”

“Hahaha exactly, she deserves it.”

Xu Yuan was standing aside, holding a bottle quietly, being pushed to the back. She didn’t lift her head to look at Liu Luo Yang, nor did she try to push her way through the crowd, but some girls gossiped about her regardless.

“She already came over with water, what’s she acting like she doesn’t care for.”

“Exactly, who’s she putting on this pitiful act for? Disgusting.”

“You guys don’t understand, if you don’t act pitiful, how could you secure the school grass’[2] heart? Just watch, Liu Luo Yang will take Xu Yuan’s bottle for sure.”

Song Yu Meng blinked her eyes, anticipation written all over her face.

Liu Luo Yang was debating whether to take the bottle or not. He actually didn’t want to, but if he didn’t take it, she would get upset, and if she got upset, he didn’t want to have to coax her either……

In the end, Liu Luo Yang still felt that he shouldn’t let the fishing line get too slack, or else the big fish would escape.

Liu Luo Yang was just about to reach out his hand to take the bottle when Yi Ran beat him to it and grabbed the bottle.

[1] Eh… It’s a long sentence about how to solve a maths question, my Chinese isn’t good enough to translate it properly hahah, sorry!

[2] 校草 – Literally school grass. If you remember, school flower refers to the most beautiful girl in school. School grass is, well, the male equivalent, the most handsome guy in school.