The Sour Plum Girl [Rebirth] - Chapter 7

Song Yiran followed Song Song to a stir-fry restaurant called “Mi Qing.” The place was easy to find; they just had to turn a corner after leaving the coffee shop.

The storefront was very clean and tidy, and the font on the signage featured cute little symbols.

Pushing open the door, they found the place packed with customers. The proprietress greeted them with great warmth, clearly being an old acquaintance of Song Song.

They had arrived quite late, but fortunately, the proprietress had reserved a seat for Song Song.

The two sat in a corner where there weren’t many people, making it relatively quiet.

Song Song asked about her dietary restrictions and then ordered her own dishes. She then placed the menu in front of Song Yiran, signaling for her to order.

Song Yiran took a general look and saw that they were all home-cooked dishes. Song Song had ordered two light dishes, so Song Yiran decided to order Kung Pao Chicken.

Three dishes for two people was clearly enough to eat.

After the proprietress left, Song Yiran asked in a low voice, “Song Song, do you come here often?”

“Mm, the food here is good. Song Tian discovered it.”

“You and Song Tian have such a good relationship. I’ve never had such a close friend growing up,” Song Yiran said with a hint of regret.

“If you really had one, you’d definitely be annoyed to death,” Song Song said, shaking her head at the thought of Song Tian.

Song Yiran disagreed. “Sometimes being annoyed is a kind of happiness. I grew up alone. My mom was very busy when I was little and was always hard to find. She told me to go make friends with others, but those kids didn’t like me.”

“Why?”

“Maybe because I was always breaking the things they liked.”

Song Song had thought it was going to be some sad past story and was just about to offer some comfort, but now she realized she might have just been a nuisance.

However, she still offered a polite remark. “Perhaps in the future, you will meet a friend on the same wavelength as you.”

Upon hearing this, Song Yiran looked at her blankly. “Song Song, do we count as that?”

Song Song: “…”

Ultimately, under Song Yiran’s extremely expectant gaze, she feigned nonchalance, picking up her drink and tilting her head to take a sip. Her voice was slightly low and raspy. “Mm, I suppose so.”

Song Yiran became visibly happier. “Hehe, from now on I’ll tell everyone that we are good friends.”

She gazed at Song Song this way; the other girl no longer had her initial coldness and seemed to have a bit of human warmth in front of her.

If the anti-fans from before her rebirth knew they were good friends, Song Yiran thought the idea was simply exhilarating.

She sat there lost in her own imagination, occasionally biting her lip as her joy nearly overflowed.

Song Song was momentarily dazed seeing her like this, thinking that she really was a bit “crazy.”

Once all the dishes arrived, Song Song interrupted Song Yiran’s fantasy. Song Yiran immediately snapped back to reality and rubbed her head sheepishly.

She laughed quite honestly, causing Song Song to laugh out loud involuntarily. “Hurry up and eat. Eat more; it’s good for supplementing the brain.”

“This food can supplement the brain?”

“Not for others, but for you, it probably works,” she said in a slightly playful tone.

Song Yiran looked at her, half-doubting, as she picked up a piece of chicken with her chopsticks. It was tastier than she had imagined. “Song Song, this place is really good.”

She clearly liked the flavor of this restaurant.

Song Song just watched her eat. Her appetite was good much better than those socialite ladies she had seen before.

It was just that the girl was a bit dim-witted and couldn’t distinguish between a compliment and a jab.

Why such a fool would help her, Song Song couldn’t figure out.

But thanks to her, she no longer had to be as financially strapped as before.

Recalling when Song Yiran said she wanted to be friends, her eyes had been clear and transparent, making Song Song feel like a “small-minded person” in comparison.

Song Song watched quietly, her eyes dropping with a trace of dejection. She was a small-minded person to begin with…

Song Yiran enjoyed the meal immensely. After finishing, it was getting late, so she bid farewell to Song Song.

Watching her departing figure, Song Yiran wondered how she could get Song Song to agree to move in with them.

While pondering, she hailed a taxi home.

Just as she opened the door, she heard her mother on the phone.

Ms. Song: “What? Ten thousand yuan is gone?”

“Second brother, don’t worry. Ask Momo properly.”

Ms. Song’s brow was knitted into a tight knot. She paced back and forth in the living room, looking very anxious.

Who knows what was said on the other end of the phone? Ms. Song just hummed a couple of times, told him not to worry, and hung up.

Song Yiran didn’t expect Yu Mo to act so quickly, but the lie was too foolish.

She didn’t realize that Ms. Song was someone who took things very seriously.

Sure enough, as soon as Ms. Song looked up and saw her, she said, “Ranran, come with me to your second uncle’s house. Momo said ten thousand yuan is lost. Really, she’s so careless.”

Song Yiran immediately asked anxiously, “Ah! Then we must go quickly.”

She really wanted to see how Yu Mo would handle the situation this time.

Ms. Song drove fast, and in less than an hour, the two arrived at the second uncle’s housing complex.

At this moment, the complex was pitch black; many households had clearly gone to bed. Fortunately, when he bought this unit, he had asked Ms. Song for a loan, so the complex was one of the better ones in town with decent security. Their late-night arrival was relatively safe.

The second uncle’s home was on the seventh floor and they reached it quickly. Ms. Song pressed the doorbell, and soon footsteps were heard inside along with Yu Mo’s impatient voice: “Coming, coming! It’s the middle of the night, so noisy. What is it?”

When the door opened, Song Yiran clearly saw the surprise in Yu Mo’s eyes, as well as the shock when she saw her behind Ms. Song.

“Why are you here?” she shouted, contrary to her usual demeanor, completely ignoring Ms. Song’s presence.

Ms. Song frowned, her gaze toward her becoming unhappy, but she remained silent.

Clearly, Yu Mo realized her rudeness and immediately softened her voice. “Auntie, I wasn’t talking about you. It’s so late, why are you here? Come in and sit down; I’ll go call my parents.”

She reverted to her gentle and lovely persona, inviting Ms. Song inside. Just as Song Yiran was about to step forward, she was blocked. Yu Mo looked like she had something to say but was interrupted by Ms. Song.

“This is Ranran, your older cousin. It happens that you two haven’t met; get to know each other today.”

In the next second, Song Yiran clearly felt the person beside her stiffen, the smile on her face freezing.

Song Yiran smiled and reached out her hand. “Hello, cousin.”

Song Yiran emphasized the word “cousin,” reaching out to push away the hand that was blocking her. After shooting her a sidelong glance, she sat down next to Ms. Song.

Yu Mo’s eyes flashed with panic, but she had no choice but to go into the room to call her parents out.

After a while, Song Yiran saw her second uncle and aunt come out, both smiling radiantly at Ms. Song.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Ms. Song stated her purpose.

Suddenly, the second uncle looked at the aunt. The aunt’s refined face showed surprise, and after finally glancing at Yu Mo, she smiled and said, “I’ve lectured Momo too. She doesn’t know where she lost it either.”

“Where has Momo been? We should go look for it; the money is important.”

“A young girl’s skin is thin. She went out with friends before, and it’s hard to look for it now…”

“And you know the people Momo knows are all from families with elders. If they find out… I only gave birth to Momo, one daughter, and she was already not favored. Back then…”

Seeing that the aunt was about to launch into that same old routine of family grievances, Ms. Song interrupted her. “Sister-in-law, are you saying you aren’t going?”

“Fine, then I’ll go. I’ll go help you. I’ll be the one to lose face.”

Ms. Song often disliked interacting with her family; they always prioritized “face” over everything else.

People living their lives without knowing what was truly important it was truly foolish.

Seeing that Ms. Song was about to leave, Yu Mo became even more panicked. She hurried forward to grab her mother, her eyes turning red.

“Mom, we don’t understand these things. Let Auntie handle it. It doesn’t matter for me.”

“It doesn’t matter if I’m laughed at, and it doesn’t matter if I’m blamed by Grandpa and Grandma. As long as Auntie is willing to take charge, I’ll be happy.”

“With Auntie here, I definitely won’t end up being unable to go to school.”

She spoke while large teardrops fell, her eyes occasionally glancing at Ms. Song.

Song Yiran, accustomed to her theatrics, rolled her eyes.

To Yu Mo, she probably thought Ms. Song was rich and wouldn’t care about ten thousand yuan, and that she could get away with it just by acting pitiful.

She might even gain sympathy and get more financial aid from Ms. Song.

Unfortunately, her calculations were off. Although Ms. Song was generous, every cent had to be spent where it mattered.

These were things Yu Mo only found out after she moved in later.

Her pitiful appearance didn’t move Ms. Song; instead, it drew a scrutinizing gaze.

When Yu Mo’s subtle gaze swept over Song Yiran, it clearly carried a great deal of malice.

Ms. Song turned back and frowned at Song Yiran. Song Yiran blinked, looking completely innocent.

Immediately, Ms. Song’s eyelid flickered. Finally, she said, “Since that’s the case, I won’t get involved. The company has a lot of business lately too. I’ll take Ranran back now.”

Ms. Song didn’t mention a word about lending money.

In the past, whenever something happened here, she would provide money to help them without asking too many questions. That was why they thought they could just gloss over it. This sudden change in behavior left the three of them at a loss.

All three of them looked stunned.

Ms. Song was always vigorous and resolute. Seeing the three of them frustrated, Song Yiran didn’t forget to smile and bid them farewell.

Before leaving, she saw this family pretending to be close to them, while in reality, they were gritting their teeth.

They never expected Ms. Song to wash her hands of it, especially Yu Mo, whose gaze looked like she wanted to tear Song Yiran to pieces.

Song Yiran feigned composure and wished her well with her studies.

Sure enough, she saw Yu Mo grow even more furious.

Song Yiran’s heart bloomed with joy.

Back in the car, Ms. Song shot her a cold look, and Song Yiran confessed everything.

Ms. Song sighed deeply. “That sister-in-law of mine really takes me for a sucker.”

Song Yiran nodded silently.

In the next second, Ms. Song shot her another cold look. She immediately acted like a sycophant, stepping forward to massage her mother’s arm, saying flatteringly, “Mom isn’t a sucker. Mom is wise and resourceful; she just has a soft heart.”

“Having a soft heart isn’t a bad thing. It’s just that they don’t know how to cherish it.”

“You know how to cherish it best.”

“Of course! Who else is your little treasure?” Song Yiran propped her chin on her hands, giving a sweet smile to make Ms. Song happy.

Ms. Song gave a helpless smile and said, “You… you better get Song Song to move in quickly. Otherwise, given the current situation, I’ll still have to let Yu Mo move in. After all, we’re family; it would look too bad and people would laugh at us otherwise.”

“I know, Mom. I’ll work hard,” Song Yiran promised playfully.

After returning with Ms. Song that night, her mother went to sleep quickly.

Song Yiran didn’t disturb her; she knew Ms. Song sometimes needed some peace and quiet.

She thoroughly disliked Yu Mo. That whole family consisted of ungrateful “white-eyed wolves.” After everything she experienced before her rebirth, she no longer expected anything from them.

But she knew Ms. Song was different she hadn’t experienced those things yet. So, Song Yiran intended to let their masks slip off, piece by piece.

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