A Young Woman's Heart

In some places, stepping on them causes water to squeeze out like a sponge, making a 'plop plop' sound with each step.

Winter break is a cold winter break, and wearing thick clothes makes it inconvenient to exercise. Plus, if your coat gets soaked with sweat, you'll have to wash it, but winter clothes are not easy to wash...

After saying all that, all I've really done is slack off.

Mo Xueyao hardly exercised during the winter break. Although she didn't gain weight, it seemed that a little bit of fat had replaced muscle.

The first lap was relatively easy. You could run while admiring the wildflowers that had just bloomed by the roadside, or look up at the azure sky and the soft white clouds that made you want to hug them.

However, by the second lap, he started to have trouble breathing.

Akimoto Aya, who was in good physical condition, still had no change in her aura and looked very light as she ran, while the girls following behind her were all left behind by a bit.

"Ha-hoo-hoo-" Mo Xueyao took a deep breath, trying to adjust her breathing rhythm. However, she hadn't run for a long time and couldn't adjust in a short time.

She opened her mouth wide, even sticking out her tongue, as if she wanted to pant as fast as a dog.

Sweat, tinged with oil, slowly rolled down her forehead, wetting her eyelashes and making it difficult for her to see the road ahead. She had to shake her head vigorously to shake off some of the sweat, but this also consumed some of her remaining strength.

For this era, Yukong High School's playground was considered large. Not counting the various basketball courts, badminton courts, and other facilities next to it, the running track itself was 400 meters long in one lap.

Even during exams, girls only run two laps.

"Don't stop! Girls, run five laps today! Boys, run seven laps!"

Upon hearing this, many people instinctively tensed up. However, running isn't something you can solely rely on willpower to persevere in...

Tian Xinnan, Gao Yuan, and the other chubby guys were the first to fall behind, all ending up at the very back of the girls, barely managing to keep up.

Mo Xueyao frowned, lowered her head, and charged forward like a bull.

Because if she didn't do it this way, she seriously doubted she would be able to persevere at all.

"Okay, girls have three laps to go, boys have five laps to go!"

As the second lap ended and the third lap began, most of the girls were running unsteadily, while about half of the boys were still able to keep up with the group.

Both Li Hongran and Qiu Yuanling appeared completely at ease.

The entire girls' line scattered, turning two rows into four or five. Those who still had the energy to run quickly stayed on the outer circle, while those who didn't squeezed into the inner circle.

"Huff... Huff..." At this moment, Mo Xueyao was no longer in the mood to look at the blue sky and white clouds, and she didn't even have the energy to think about anything to distract herself. She just wanted to sit down and rest, but the PE teacher was still following closely behind her, so she couldn't slow down.

Fortunately, Gao Yuan and the others were behind her, so they couldn't 'spur' her on for the time being.

Someone squeezed in from the side, forcing Mo Xueyao to move further inside. With a little effort, she turned her head slightly and saw that Hua Yinyin's little face was all scrunched up, and the extra weight on her body was shaking violently, each movement taking away more of her strength, and it seemed that the air resistance was greater than that of an average person...

"So...tired..." Hua Yinyin tilted her head and stuck out half of her tongue, looking somewhat similar to the husky at Grandma Jin's house after it had run too hard.

Mo Xueyao couldn't help but laugh out loud, which caused her to catch her breath and slow down considerably.

"Cough cough..."

Hua Yinyin, who was running by herself, stretched out a small, white, tender, and chubby hand without turning her head, as if to give her a ride.

She instinctively grabbed that hand, and was dragged along like that for a while until their speed became the same again—but perhaps it wasn't that her speed had returned to normal, but rather that Hua Yinyin had slowed down.

"Ugh... I can't go on!" Wang Jiale exhaled and shouted, then stopped on the spot. She was only good at sprinting, and this was already over 800 meters, which was really going to kill her.

"Don't stop! You girl, move!"

"Teacher, I really can't run anymore!"

"If you can't run, then run slowly. Don't stop or walk! Look, these big fat guys are all running! How come you, who's so thin, can't run?"

"Damn... I'm just... a little... a little fatso..." Gao Yuan said, shaking his head. His running posture was also strange. While others ran straight ahead, he ran while shaking his head. Maybe he was trying to make himself dizzy so he wouldn't feel tired?

By the time she finished the third lap, Mo Xueyao felt as if every breath she took was tearing her trachea. Not only could she barely open her eyes, but even breathing felt exhausting.

The only one still following her around was Hua Yinyin.

The others were either too slow and had fallen far behind, or they were maintaining relatively steady breathing and continuing to follow closely behind Aya Akimoto.

For example, Leng Feng and Li Wanyan.

Even though they haven't exercised much, Li Wanyan seems to have better stamina...

It's quite remarkable that Hua Yinyin has managed to persevere until now.

Her stamina was relatively good; at least her expression wasn't as contorted in pain as Mo Xueyao's.

Even the most beautiful person can't look beautiful when they make this expression...

Although Hua Yinyin doesn't have time to appreciate the expression on her face right now.

More and more people started walking, and Ye Ran lowered the standard again, changing from jogging to brisk walking. Actually, Mo Xueyao could have rested a little at this point, but she was determined to keep running.

There's a boy's competitive pride here, and a girl's desire to take this opportunity to lose weight.

Although the amount of exercise is significant, even if you finish running, you won't actually lose much weight...

Well, it's probably just a kind of self-comforting obsession.

"Gulp..." By the third and a half lap, Mo Xueyao felt like her throat was on fire, and she was running unsteadily, unable to even run straight.

When extremely fatigued, a person's physical coordination declines—just like it is now.

She tripped over her own right foot with her left, immediately losing her balance. She managed to jog forward a couple of steps before falling forward uncontrollably.

Hua Yinyin happened to be running in front of her, and was caught off guard and knocked to the ground.

Fortunately, she had already run a couple of steps to dissipate the force, and with Hua Yinyin's soft body as a buffer, she didn't feel much pain. In fact, she comfortably pressed her cheek against the latter's back.

"Ouch..." Hua Yinyin clutched her knee and struggled to roll over. Her long skirt had lifted up a little when she fell, but it wasn't torn. However, there was a hole in the knee of her white stockings, revealing her knee, which was bruised and bloody from being rubbed against the rough track.

The injury wasn't serious, but it looked terrifying.

Mo Xueyao slumped weakly into Hua Yinyin's arms, too exhausted to even lift her eyelids.

"Huff... What's wrong... It hurts so much... I'm so sad..." Hua Yinyin complained, clutching her knee, but suddenly sat up straight with a tense expression. "Xiao Yaoyao? Xiao Yaoyao? Are you alright? Did you faint? You... open your eyes?"

Mo Xueyao just wanted to lie down for a while. Hua Yinyin's calls seemed to her as indistinct as if they were coming from a distant horizon, so she didn't want to pay any attention to them.

—That's how she saw it, but in Hua Yinyin's eyes, she had completely fainted.

"Little Yao Yao... Mo Xueyao! Wake up!"

"What's wrong? What's wrong!" Ye Ran rushed over and asked loudly.

"She...she suddenly fainted! Oh no...! She seems to have a heart condition! Although it's not serious, and she can exercise now, but...but she can't do this much exercise!"

Why doesn't she say so herself?

"How should I know?!" Hua Yinyin glared at Ye Ran resentfully. "It's all your fault! Why did you make everyone run so many laps for no reason?! People with heart conditions can really die from strenuous exercise! My sister is one of them...!"

Ye Ran immediately became serious, jogged over, placed his fingers on Mo Xueyao's wrist, closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then relaxed and smiled again: "She's fine, just too tired..."

"What do you know! Look, her eyes aren't even open, she's fainted!" Hua Yinyin shook Mo Xueyao's head violently, seemingly more flustered than ever before. She wiped her eyes with her sweaty little hands, her voice trembling slightly, "Little...Little Yaoyao? Little Yaoyao? If...if you're alright, open your eyes! How are you? Does your chest hurt? Does it hurt a lot? Move a little..."

“Well… she’s really fine…” Ye Ran pinched the corner of his eye. “You should let her lie down and take a nap. Holding her like this will only make her more uncomfortable.”

Mo Xueyao was indeed shaken even more, and saliva uncontrollably dripped from the corner of her mouth.

Others also came over upon hearing the noise, but they didn't run because they were too exhausted.

"What's wrong with Xiaoyao?" Wang Jiale, who was closest to her, took the opportunity to sit down, not caring whether the grass in the middle of the playground was clean or not.

"Look, Yaoyao is so hot! And she hasn't responded at all, has she fainted...?"

"Xiao Yao?" Wang Jiale poked Mo Xueyao's cheek, but the latter didn't react. "It's really hot."

"What's wrong?" Li Wanyan walked over quickly from the front, sweat still dripping from her forehead, but her tone was unusually calm.

"Wanyan, look! Little Yaoyao is foaming at the mouth!"

"No...it's just that she relaxed a little and her muscles temporarily went out of control..." Ye Ran helplessly covered his forehead. "Alright, alright, I'll carry her to the infirmary to rest for a bit..."

"Need any help?" Leng Feng, who had already run a lap more than Mo Xueyao, stopped panting. "Phew, it's probably better for a girl to carry me, isn't it?"

"Mo—Xue—Yao—!" Hua Yinyin couldn't help but shout into her ear, her face filled with anxiety and tension, "Wake up—wake up!"

Lu Chengyuan plopped down next to Hua Yinyin and said, "Alright, alright, Yinyin, if you keep making such a fuss, Xiaoyao's head will start to hurt."

“Exactly, exactly.” Mo Zhuyou tugged at the back of Hua Yinyin’s collar. “We could just have everyone help carry her to the infirmary… Sometimes I’m so tired from running that I don’t want to move at all.”

For Mo Xueyao, the voice that had seemed so distant before suddenly became a roar that seemed to be echoing in her mind.

"What's wrong with Hua Yinyin, that idiot..." Mo Xueyao muttered to herself, seemingly about to fall into a deep sleep.

……

In Chapter Nine, only Hua Yinyin was worried.

Mo Xueyao herself didn't even know how she ended up on the bed in the infirmary.

I vaguely remember that it was the girls who helped carry it, and I also heard Mr. Xue's voice in my half-awake state.

Actually, the most 'noisy' one is Hua Yinyin, but she is so noisy that she is easily ignored as background noise.

"I'm so thirsty..." This was the first thing Mo Xueyao said as soon as she opened her eyes. As if it had been prepared in advance, a small ceramic spoon was already at her lips. She subconsciously opened her mouth, and warm water flowed down her tongue.

"How are you, Xiao Yaoyao? Are you feeling better?" Hua Yinyin asked with concern as she leaned over the edge. Others were also gathered around. Near the door in the distance, a few girls were chatting. When they saw that Mo Xueyao had woken up, they didn't come over but just glanced at her from afar.

"I'm so thirsty..." Mo Xueyao struggled to sit up, took the porcelain bowl from Hua Yinyin, and gulped down the whole bowl of water. She felt much better afterward, but still felt unsatisfied. "Is there any more water?"

"Yes, but you can't drink too much water right after strenuous exercise." Su Yuqing, wearing a white coat, poured another glass of water, as if she intended to let it sit for a while before giving it to her.

Mo Xueyao smacked her lips and licked her teeth: "It seems a bit salty, the water from earlier..."

"Salt water is less of a burden on the body when consumed right after exercise."

"Little Yaoyao, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

"It's alright, I don't feel anything special." Mo Xueyao looked at the people gathered around her with a puzzled expression. "I'm just a little tired... What are you all doing here? I just fell down and was too lazy to get up... Is there any need to be so nervous?"

"It's always good to be careful," Li Wanyan said calmly, turning her gaze elsewhere.

"It's because Yinyin was really nervous, so we came with her," Wang Jiale muttered, arms crossed. "But thanks to Xiaoyao, none of us had to run around, and we all got to rest!"

Seeing that she was alright, Mo Zhuyou joked, "How about Xiaoyao comes every time the PE teacher makes us run extra distances? That way everyone can relax!"

"What? I didn't do it on purpose. I was just tired from running, so... I guess I stepped on some small pebble and that's why I fell." Mo Xueyao turned her head to look out the window somewhat awkwardly. For a girl, falling while running is nothing, and she might even get some concern from others. But for a boy, it was a very embarrassing thing.

How can a grown man fall down while running? That would be so useless!