A Young Woman's Heart

The city outside the floor-to-ceiling windows is still flashing with colorful neon lights, and the bright street scene, even at night, seems to be telling the story of the city's prosperity.

In an era when skyscrapers are still relatively rare, one can truly appreciate the exhilaration of living high up and enjoying a panoramic view of the city.

This is also why many people in this era prefer high-rise buildings.

However, history is cyclical, and in a few years, people's preferences will likely revert to their old ways...

After too many repetitive fights, drowsiness gradually crept into Huang Yuxi's heart. During the five-minute commercial break, he finally fell asleep with his head lolling to one side.

Huang Zhengyang didn't realize that his younger brother had been asleep on his shoulder for a long time until he finished watching all the episodes of the day.

This kind of thing happens often. He skillfully carried Huang Yuxi to the bed, carefully tucked her in, and then rolled in himself.

He knew he would be starting work the moment he opened his eyes tomorrow, which made him reluctant to fall asleep.

I always feel that spending the long nights sleeping is a bit of a waste...

But his body told him it was time to sleep, so after a while, his upper and lower eyelids struggled together, and he finally closed his eyes, unable to stay awake any longer.

Huang Yuxi unconsciously turned over in her sleep, then hugged Huang Zhengyang tightly.

He was still muttering something incoherently.

"Ugh...no...Tongjue..."

"I'm out of energy..."

"next time……"

Huang Zhengyang suddenly felt a sense of crisis that the 'young maiden' he had raised was about to get married. In the past, his younger brother would call out to him in his dreams, but now he was calling out to his little girlfriend.

If they really get married in the future, won't they become less and less close to their brother?

Actually, he had always hoped that his younger brother would grow up soon and get married, so that he could rest easy.

But if this actually happens, I can't help but feel uneasy.

Besides that, I also felt a little sour and uncomfortable.

"Ah, when will I ever get a girlfriend?" Huang Zhengyang muttered to himself, burying his face in the pillow. "I never get a chance to meet her..."

Huang Yuxi still clung to him affectionately, and in this familiar feeling, her brother finally drifted into a dream.

“Mmm…brother…no…no…smoking…” In the quiet night, Huang Yuxi suddenly uttered another incoherent murmur, and then everything fell silent again.

……

Different people have different nights; some sleep peacefully, while others are unable to sleep at all.

It doesn't necessarily mean you're sad or upset; it could just be that you can't sleep.

Tian Tingchan is one of the people who suffer from insomnia in this city late at night.

The sounds of loud dancing could be faintly heard from a bar that operated all night not far away. Whenever someone pushed open the thick door and walked out drunkenly, the noise would be amplified as if the volume of a television had been turned up.

But as soon as the door closes, the sound will soon fade into the distance.

Tian Tingchan sat curled up on the bay window. Even though this was the city center, at two in the morning, it was still as quiet as the suburbs.

It was a long time before a car would drive by with its high beams on, and whenever that light reached her window, it felt like the day had already dawned.

She wasn't thinking about anything at that moment, just quietly lost in thought, the water droplets falling from the eaves seeming to keep her watching all night.

In a daze, it was as if she had returned to the small house she had rented before, where the starry sky and the earth were spinning, dragging her into that distorted vortex.

She remained bewildered, her mind blank, as if her soul had been ripped away.

One after another, vague and indistinct outlines appeared before her eyes. She couldn't tell who they were, or even whether those phantoms were human.

The melodious chirping of birds in the early morning woke her from her dream. When she returned, she was still on the bay window of this room. She had slept here all night, leaning against the wall, and she still couldn't figure out why she couldn't sleep.

I just felt a cool and damp sensation on my face, and when I licked it with my tongue, it tasted a bit salty and astringent...

……

Chapter Fourteen Valentine's Day

February 14, 2001, Wednesday, Valentine's Day.

This is a Western holiday, but as China has taken greater steps in learning from the West, young people have become increasingly enthusiastic about such holidays, forgetting that the true Chinese Valentine's Day is Qixi Festival.

But that doesn't matter. In this long history of five thousand years, countless customs have been changed and countless new things have been absorbed. Chinese culture is inclusive. What is now called tradition may have been novel things back then!

Students' boring daily routines always need some fresh excitement, and festivals like these are what they love most.

If you're brave enough, give it a try; if you're not, at least join in the fun.

However, for Mo Xueyao, it was just an ordinary day, nothing special.

As usual, Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan arrived at school early. The difference was that they were both wearing the school's new long skirt uniforms, which were much warmer than short skirt uniforms in early spring.

Although leggings do keep you warm, they still feel cold when the wind blows, and they can't compare to real pants at all.

While long skirts aren't as practical as trousers, they at least offer better protection from the wind...

The security guard wasn't at the guard booth; perhaps he went to buy breakfast.

Since it's still early, they sometimes eat at nearby breakfast shops instead of taking the food home.

Even if the journey may not be far, let's take mixed noodles as an example—the taste is different when they are served in a styrofoam box versus a porcelain bowl.

But when asked to pinpoint exactly what's different, they couldn't quite put their finger on it.

The two went upstairs in silence. Sometimes they would go upstairs without saying a word, not because they had argued or were sulking, but simply because they had nothing to say.

After all, we've spent so much time together that we've already said what we wanted to say, so it's normal not to want to talk or have nothing to say early in the morning.

Li Wanyan isn't like Hua Yinyin or Wang Jiale, who always have so many topics to chat about endlessly.

"Thump, thump, thump." And so, only the crisp sound of their footsteps echoed in the teaching building.

The audio wasn't very synchronized and sounded somewhat fragmented.

"Little Yao Yao!"

Just as she reached the fourth floor, Hua Yinyin's voice suddenly rang out, startling Mo Xueyao. Upon closer inspection, she realized that Hua Yinyin was still running towards her from a distance.

She, who had been making a ruckus, immediately quieted down and tiptoed over like a child who had done something wrong.

"You startled me! Why are you up so early?"

"Hey hey, it's Valentine's Day today, so I'm going to be the first to give Yao Yao a Valentine's Day gift!"

"You're so boring..."

"I'm not bored at all! Hmm, did I scare you just now?" Hua Yinyin said, and wanted to pat Mo Xueyao's chest, "Do you want me to rub it?"

"You're trying to take advantage of me, aren't you!" She slapped away the groping hand in an annoyance. "I told you it's nothing, heart disease or something, right, Wanyan?"

“…It’s very serious.” Li Wanyan suddenly shook her head with a serious expression. “Don’t lie to yourself.”

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Huh? Is it really that serious, Yao Yao? Could it be that she didn't go to the band practice yesterday because she had to go to the hospital for a checkup? Is it okay...? I heard that if it's serious, she'll have to get that... what was it again, an artificial heart?"

Mo Xueyao covered her forehead: "What? Yesterday it was because I forgot to bring my electronic keyboard again, and Lele and Youyou didn't bring any instruments either, so we left early!"

"You didn't bring it today either?"

"Huh?" Mo Xueyao reached behind her back, then slapped her forehead, her face slightly flushed. "Ah... I went home specifically yesterday to bring the electronic keyboard to the shop... I forgot to take it this morning...!"

"Maybe it's still not too late to get it now?"

"Yes, yes, I'll go get it now!" she said, and was about to run downstairs again, but Hua Yinyin grabbed her.

"Wait a minute! Wanyan said your heart condition is very serious, and you're still running!"

"Wanyan is lying to you!"

Hua Yinyin sneered, "Who are you kidding! Everyone lies, but Wanyan definitely wouldn't!"

"She's really lying to you!" Mo Xueyao was already helpless, but it was inconvenient for her to run away while Hua Yinyin was holding her like this. What if she fell down? After all, her knee injury hadn't healed yet.

"Little Yaoyao, don't be so reckless. It's really dangerous. My sister was scared to death by three little boys..."

"Oh...so I don't...wait, didn't you say the day before yesterday that he died while swinging on a swing?"

"Eh? Hmm... Hmm..." Hua Yinyin touched her head, "Hmm... Hmm... I think she died while swinging on the swing?"

"Which one is it? You didn't just make up a non-existent older sister, did you?"

"I'm telling the truth! It's just... um... um... maybe my memory is a bit off? Well, I can't remember clearly, anyway, it was very dangerous!"

"Wanyan—" Mo Xueyao finally couldn't take it anymore. She shook her arms and called out to Li Wanyan for help in a drawn-out voice.

Li Wanyan's brows relaxed. She slowly walked forward, took out her keys at the classroom door, and casually tossed out a sentence: "Yeah, I was just kidding."

"Eh...huh!?"

"See? I told you, Wanyan was lying to you!" Mo Xueyao raised her eyebrows triumphantly, leaving Hua Yinyin, who was bewildered in the wind, behind, and went into the classroom that had just opened.

"Strange, the sun didn't rise in the west today..." Hua Yinyin muttered, staring blankly at the sky. Then she suddenly snapped out of her daze and ran quickly into the classroom. "Wait a minute, Xiao Yaoyao! I haven't given you your Valentine's Day present yet!"

"What are you going to give me..."

"A Valentine's Day token of love!"

"Hey……"

"Pfft, I knew Yinyin would do that." Mo Xiaoxiao's soft laughter came from the doorway as she and her sister walked into the classroom together.

"Hey, Xiaoxiao, it's so early."

"Well, this is actually a return gift from Yin Yin, we brought some too."

"What kind of return gift?"

"You brought your Lantern Festival gift yesterday, even though the Lantern Festival has been over for several days... Well, we'll take this opportunity to give you a gift in return for Valentine's Day."

"Huh? Is that so? Cough... I didn't expect a return gift either. I let you choose yourselves yesterday. What did Yin Yin get?"

"Paper umbrella!" Hua Yinyin excitedly patted her schoolbag. Mo Xueyao looked closely and sure enough, the beautiful red oil paper umbrella was hanging on her schoolbag.

"There's no need to get so excited... It didn't rain today..."