Stupid Cup Chapter 4
Translated by Novice Translations
Proofread by Nesryn
Chapter 4: The Cup is Maroon
There are always surprises or unexpected disasters in your life that can change you. Then, once you adapt to their existence, they suddenly leave silently.
Sheng Ran bit the pen with annoyance and had a glass of water beside her. The water cup was very clean. She picked up the cup and took a sip of water. She looked at her reflection on the water that was slightly distorted from the ripples of the water.
Her long eyelashes trembled. She took another sip of water, then held the cup against her mouth, with her thoughts unknown.
The stupid cup, Hu Bei, finished talking about leaving her that day. She blinked, then disappeared out of thin air in front of her.
One month later, Sheng Ran was able to accept the existence of the stupid cup after a month but couldn’t accept her departure after a month. It was really cruel.
But fortunately, she was on holiday where she was free to allocate her time. Apart from being in a bad mood during New Year’s greetings, no one else noticed her emotions.
Winter vacation for seniors had always been short. But because of the documents issued by the Provincial Department of Education, the school where Sheng Ran attended took a full 40 days winter vacation, which made countless university dogs and graduates bitter and hateful.
#Who said that seniors in high school were studying to death? ! #
There were still 10 days until school resumed, so a group of top students calmly completed the exam papers, while a group of scum students cried to the top students over a phone call*. “QAQ Deity, give me the answers to the exam papers!!!!!!”
(TN: Exam papers are like Scantrons in USA…or it might be exam papers like a practice test exam…either way it’s their “homework” before resuming school)
Naturally, there were some who abandoned themselves and played DOTA with a blank exam paper and instant noodle cups on the side the day before school started.
Che Dan didn’t study less during the holiday, but rather, there were too many papers. She was used to learning while writing notes, which fortunately caused her to start school with more than 20 papers of notes on physics*. She called every Great Deity from class one by one, but every one of their replies were: “I’m sorry ah. I already lent it out.”
(TN: She only completed the physics portion but not the others since it takes her too long with her studying method to go over everything…)
Looking at the last Great Deity in her contact list, Che Dan gritted her teeth and dialed it.
After all, she used to be her best friend. Also, if she calls Sheng Ran intimately, the call shouldn’t be too awkward. Che Dan first gave her a very late New Year’s greeting, then asked, “Little Ran, that, can I borrow your exam papers?”
Sheng Ran's popularity wasn’t very good. Even if everyone wants to borrow it, they weren’t brave enough to ask. She glanced uncomfortably at the white cup beside her and replied, “Not yet.”
She probably became prone to being lonely easier during this special period in her senior year. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have easily forgiven Che Dan’s actions. But thinking about it carefully, the culprit was still the stupid cup that comes and goes in a hurry. If it wasn’t for her, she would still be the stupid girl who places herself above others.
(TN: Basically a snob that is “too good” to socialize with others.)
Thinking of it, the first time they officially met was in the bathroom, which fits the theme of “coming and going in a hurry”.
Sheng Ran flipped through the thick stack of papers, made an appointment with her, picked out the papers that Che Dan needed, then carried them out of the door.
After the New Year, the weather was getting a little warmer, but the wind was even sharper than when it was at its coldest. Sheng Ran wore UGGs with cotton-padded pants, gloves, scarf, plush hat, and a mask fully equipped. On the contrary, Che Dan, who was waiting for her in the park, wore a short candy-colored down jacket, a short black skirt, a pair of leggings wrapped around long legs, and a lovely pair of short boots stomping the ground.
The only place she looked warm was her hands that were covered with white wool gloves, like the paws of a rabbit.
Sheng Ran already saw the difference between her and Che Dan. She looked at Che Dan’s red noise, hesitated, then took off her hat and handed it to her, “It’s cold, put it on.”
Che Dan was already used to the cold. But the cold and high Sheng Ran’s goodwill made her a little muddleheaded. She took the hat and wore it, surprisingly, it fit her very well, and along with her gloves, made her look even cuter.
After she handed over the papers, Sheng Ran went straight to the milk tea shop without asking for her hat back. She held up a warm cup of milk and breathed a sigh of relief. The employee from the milk tea shop came over to chat, “Are you a college student?”
"No, I’m a senior in high school."
The girl smiled, “Almost, you’ll be in college soon.”
Sheng Ran didn’t have anything to do. She was about to chat with her about what university she wanted to attend but paused.
In her freshman year of high school, she and Che Dan discussed their ideal university. One of them like Peking University while the other liked X University. Because of this, they had some conflicts since Che Dan hoped for them to attend the same university.
Now that she thought about it, it really was a fucking waste of time ah…
There was a story circulating on the Internet, saying that when you are young, you often struggle about whether to attend Peking University or X University. Finally, after deciding which one to attend, you realize that you thought about it too much.
Sheng Ran thought about her naïve self at that time and smiled, "Maybe the great Peking University."
If she asked Che Dan, would she still say that she wants to go to Peking University?
The milk tea employee’s eyes suddenly brightened, “How amazing! There’s very few people in our city that goes to Peking University every year…”
The topic continued indefinitely. The milk tea girl did a lot of business while they conversed. After talking, Sheng Ran was hungry. So, the girl came out with a piece of cake from the kitchen out back and said, “Eat this cake first. Otherwise, you’ll feel too hungry when you leave.”
"Do you want money?" Sheng Ran asked. The little girl said with a smile, “I won’t accept la. Thank you for sitting with me all afternoon. The time of seniors in high school is very precious.”
She blinked and smiled happily.
Sheng Ran happily enjoyed this delicious cake, and after leaving a compliment, she packed up and returned home.
She didn’t feel that it was difficult to communicate with others anymore. She could even hold a conversation with a stranger for a long time. So, why can’t she get along better with the people around her?
When school started, and Che Dan returned the exam paper and hat to her, she was instantly blinded by the smile that Sheng Ran showed to her.
She felt ashamed, she was the one who abandoned Sheng Ran, but she didn’t expect Sheng Ran, who had always been arrogant, to be friendly towards her.
As a result, the relationship between Che Dan and Sheng Ran got better again, and they started to help each other in high school.
If this was their freshman and sophomore year of high school, this kind of thing would definitely be gossiped about by their classmates, but now, no one was in the mood to do so. The first few days of school was definitely a nightmare on earth. The scumbags found that they forgotten all their academic knowledge and often stumbled to understand the homework given to them over the break.
However, the class teacher talked to Sheng Ran, praised her transformation, and told her to study hard.
For the third mock exam, Sheng Ran successfully made it to the top three in the school. She already had the strength to be admitted to X University, while Che Dan was still in the top 50.
Sheng Ran didn't know why she changed. Maybe her changes were magical. Besides being watched by the cup for a while, her life became extremely fulfilling.
Her senior year of high school, she had no regrets.
The fourth mock exam… the fifth mock exam…the pre-exam…
Sheng Ran, like a domineering lion, rushed to the forefront of the team and defended her throne of first place with strength.
Finally, on the day of the college entrance exam, Sheng Ran found that her heart was wound up tightly into a knot to the point where the string would soon break.
In order to cheer up their daughter, Father Sheng and Mother Sheng took her home and prepared a nutritious meal for the examinee that was highly discussed online since early morning.
The red date soy milk was slightly steaming in the white cup. She was worried that she would need to use the bathroom during the exam, so she just took a sip and went to the testing site.
Outside the examination room, there was a lot of noise. The parents got together with rich expressions on their faces. Sheng Ran looked at them the entire way in and felt a little nervous because of these parents.
She took a few deep breaths, got out of the car, and walked into the examination room along with the flow of people. It seemed that her father’s cheering voice came from behind her.
The college entrance examination, the so-called turning point in life, it’s here.
Sheng Ran walked into the examination room. She saw several people she knew and greeted them with a smile.
In front of the classroom, the proctor was checking the candidates with a metal detector. After checking, Sheng Ran went to her seat and sat down. She watched a girl with short hair explain to the teacher that the metal on her body was from her underwear.
(TN: ???metal in underwear?? Sounds like that gotta chafe as heck!)
One by one, she took out her necessary test-taking tools, and Sheng Ran began to make the final preparations. When she closed her eyes and opened them again, there was a person in front of her wearing a dress with a date flower-patterned dress.
The person seemed to have felt her gaze, turned her head, and smiled at her.
Sheng Ran wanted to return a smile to her but saw the person’s face clearly and could only hear a buzzing noise in her ear. She sat there, unable to hear the exam’s rules and regulations…
Now she has only one thought—damn it! ! ! Why does this person look exactly like that stupid cup? ! ! !