A Young Woman's Heart

"What's wrong?"

"Didn't you write that letter of challenge?"

Mo Xueyao had no intention of playing dumb in front of Mr. Xue, so she answered with a smile, "Yes, I'm amazing, aren't I? I helped Cheng Yuan get together! She should have succeeded by now, right?"

Mr. Xue rarely showed a look of sudden realization, but then sighed helplessly: "I'm afraid it's not that easy."

"It shouldn't be too difficult for a girl to pursue a boy, right? Cheng Yuan isn't bad-looking; although her face is a little chubby, she's still very pretty, isn't she?"

Mr. Xue hesitated for a moment, seemingly unsure as well: "Perhaps...?"

"What? Xiaoxue knows less about love than I do?"

"Hehe, let's go up and take a look. The others went up too."

"The others? What are they going up there for?"

"I was worried it was a pre-arranged fight, and since Lu Bolun hadn't gone down for a while, I went to keep things going."

"Tch, these idiots can only see a newlywed couple." Mo Xueyao winked smugly. "Come on, Xueyao, let's go up! Those guys' jaws will probably drop in shock!"

However, as soon as the two stepped out of the band room, they saw Lu Bolun come out alone from the rooftop and quickly run down the stairs.

"Huh, Lu Bolun? Alone?" Mo Xueyao glanced at him, then at the wooden door to the rooftop, and hurriedly ran up. "Oh no, oh no!"

"Make way, make way!" Mo Xueyao pushed aside the boys blocking the doorway and stood in front of Lu Chengyuan, who had been keeping her head down.

“Uh, we didn’t bully her,” Li Hongran quickly said. “We saw her standing here as soon as we came up, and it looked like…”

"Go away, you all don't need to worry about it, I know what's going on!"

"Well, everyone, please leave first," Mr. Xue said calmly from the outermost position.

"Damn, what's going on? Old Lu hit a girl?" Li Hongran scratched her head and asked uncertainly.

Liu Xiaowei gave him a disdainful look: "Idiot, that can't be right. Oh—I get it, I get it!"

"What do you know?" Zhou Yong asked, puzzled. "If you know, just say it!"

"Let's go down first!" Liu Xiaowei deliberately kept everyone in suspense and ran down the stairs first, followed closely by the other boys. Their footsteps gradually faded away, and from the rooftop, it was clear that they had all left the teaching building and were heading towards the playground.

“Xiao Yao…” Lu Chengyuan’s voice was choked with sobs. She slowly squatted down, her hair falling messily across her face, obscuring her reddened eyes.

"I'm so sorry, it's all my fault... for coming up with such a bad idea..."

"No, it's not your fault... but he..."

"Did he reject you?"

"Mmm..." She finally choked up, wiping her eyes as she spoke haltingly, "I...I took the initiative...uh...hiccup...him..."

"Don't worry, don't worry..."

"But... hiccup... go back... back to... my deskmate... hiccup..."

"Just pretend nothing happened, that way no one will feel awkward," Mo Xueyao tried her best to comfort her. "And don't feel inferior or anything, he definitely didn't reject you because he didn't like anything about you! By the way, maybe he's just worried about that kind of thing happening again!"

"What……?"

"Didn't Lele break up with him before? And then he was the one who confessed to her first. You know why Lele broke up with him, right? It was... well, it made sense, but it was also quite hurtful..."

"But...but I...this time...I took the initiative..."

“I know it’s different, but he’ll also worry that you’re just having a passing fancy and what if you break up with him later?”

"I won't..."

"Who can predict what will happen in the future? He must have some psychological trauma from this, which is why he rejected you. Nobody wants to be hurt repeatedly, right?"

Mo Xueyao's words seemed to make some sense to Lu Chengyuan. She slowly stopped sobbing and nodded gently.

"Maybe there will be other opportunities in the future—if you still like him... Never mind this for now, why don't you go to my band room and relax? Don't worry about it too much, it's nothing!"

"Xiaoyao, thank you..."

"Uh... I also bear some responsibility for this..."

……

Chapter Seventeen: Hua Yinyin Who Can't Celebrate Her Birthday

Spring, a season that always makes people feel sleepy.

Because whether it's sunny or rainy, the feeling is so gentle and soothing, that the passage of time seems to slow down.

"Dong dong, ding ding ding..." Mo Xueyao was practicing last year's piece, but she seemed a little absent-minded, having already made several mistakes along the way.

"Little Yaoyao, what are you thinking about?" Hua Yinyin quickly plucked the pipa as if she were playing with glass beads, and moved a chair closer to her.

It was already after school, and most of the students had left. Only the occasional noisy sounds could be heard from the playground.

Currently, apart from Class 3 and Class 2, all the bands in other classes have disbanded, so even the experimental building, which should be filled with noisy practice sounds, is unusually quiet.

Mo Xueyao shook her head, reached out and plucked the pipa in Hua Yinyin's arms, producing a few clear and melodious sounds: "I wasn't thinking about anything, uh... it's so quiet, didn't Class Three come to practice either?"

"The third-grade students are practicing in their classroom. They've had quite a few competitions lately." Wang Jiale muttered, slumped over her desk, staring at the pink bass in the corner. "Ugh, I'm so tired today, I don't want to practice..."

"What have you been busy with? You look so tired. Did Lele receive a lot of love letters today?" Mo Zhuyou asked curiously as she came closer. Mr. Xue, who was standing nearby, picked up the kettle and filled her cup with tea.

Wang Jiale tilted her head and leaned against Mo Zhuyou's arm: "I just don't want to move~"

"Huh, that's strange. Did Youyou and Lele switch bodies? Youyou should be the one saying this normally, right?" Mo Xueyao teased, deliberately pouting.

"Hey, what? I've already started working hard! I'm not slacking off anymore!"

"Who is this person who's been playing the drums for only a short while and is now sitting here drinking tea?"

"Click." Yu Shu, sitting in the corner of the classroom, picked up her camera and took a picture.

Everyone has gotten used to her taking a picture every now and then, and then choosing the best one to save.

At first, everyone was shy, but now... if they find out she's taking pictures, they might even deliberately strike a funny pose.

"Okay—we've practiced for so long anyway!"

"Half an hour." Mr. Xue picked up his teacup and took a small sip.

Hua Yinyin glared at him with her hands on her hips: "Xiaoxue hasn't practiced yet today!"

"Well, I slacked off," he answered frankly, leaving Hua Yinyin speechless for a moment.

She paused for a full half minute before continuing, "So, let's sit down and have a tea party!"

"I think we don't need to call it the Snow Music Band anymore. Let's just call it the Snow Sound Tea Party," Mo Xueyao said jokingly.

"What's wrong with that? Right, Xiaoxiao!"

"Yes, I brought some snacks." Although she wasn't a band member, Mo Xiaoxiao, who spent almost every day in the band room because she was going home with her younger sister, nodded slightly. Li Wanyan over there didn't seem to be involved—she was diligently doing her homework, which wasn't assigned by the teachers but was something she had done on her own.

"These snacks are so delicious!" Mo Zhuyou swung her legs gently, seemingly eager to taste the delicacy.

The pale green leaves on the trees outside the window swayed in the wind, and the spring maiden brought a 'green' breeze into the open band room.

Mo Xiaoxiao brought the snacks to the table, and Li Wanyan also received a separate serving.

Today's sandwich is matcha flavored. If I were to eat it by hand, I'd probably finish it in just a few bites. But since it's a snack to enjoy with tea, it's only right to use appropriate tableware, like a knife and fork...

Mo Xueyao followed Wang Jiale's example, cutting off only a small piece each time, just as a garnish after taking a sip of tea.

"Sigh, maybe we should ask Cheng Yuan and Awen to switch seats. The atmosphere between her and Lü Bolun seemed really awkward today." Mo Xueyao sipped her sandwich, not even needing to bite, as if the ingredients were melting in her mouth.

Hua Yinyin was focused on pouring milk into her coffee, and asked without looking up, "So what happened to them? I heard that Lu Bolun bullied her?"

"No—" Mo Xueyao drawled, still hesitating whether to tell everyone about it. She looked at Mr. Xue, who just smiled and nodded. "Well, it's just that Cheng Yuan likes Lü Bolun and asked me for advice. So I had her write a challenge letter and invited Lü Bolun to the rooftop of this building. Um... just to give him a surprise and tell him in person."

"Huh, Lu Bolun refused?" Mo Zhuyou asked in surprise. Her older sister cut half a sandwich from her plate and put it on Mo Zhuyou's plate.

“Yes, um…” Mo Xueyao looked at Wang Jiale nervously, but the latter did not seem uncomfortable.

Wang Jiale took a sip of tea: "That's normal. Maybe she's not his type?"

"Can Lele understand?"

"You can understand it a little bit, right? I used the same reason before, so he probably didn't want to hurt Cheng Yuan's feelings, so he... just refused?"

"You and Lu Bolun were really a perfect match," Mo Xueyao couldn't help but tease. "It's a real shame you didn't stay together; you had similar ideas."

"Maybe it's because Lele dumped him that he's traumatized?" Mo Zhuyou muttered, resting her chin on her hand.

"Maybe...maybe he didn't even know if he liked her, so...so he just...ran away?" Yu Shu stirred her tea with a small spoon, took a small sip, and her delicate eyebrows furrowed immediately. "So bitter...!"

"Oh, you're drinking the tea Xiaoxue brought? Tsk, the tea he drinks is always so bitter. Why don't you drink the ones I brought, or have some Yinyin's coffee?" Mo Xueyao clicked her tongue. "I don't know what kind of tea Xiaoxue's black tea is, it tastes as bitter as Chinese medicine."

"Um... I just wanted to try it out..." Yu Shu lowered her head somewhat shyly and took another small sip.

"Hehe, don't force yourself. Not everyone can get used to this bitter taste," Mr. Xue said with a smile, adding some more boiling water to his teacup.

"Sigh, it's all my fault. They're already deskmates, I should have let them develop their relationship. Then things would have fallen into place naturally." Mo Xueyao tapped her head. "How can I fix this..."

"Just let nature take its course, Xiao Yaoyao, don't worry too much." Hua Yinyin nudged her forehead with her head.

“The best way is to pretend nothing happened!” Wang Jiale knew Lü Bolun quite well. “He’ll forget about it in a few days; he won’t remember it for that long.”

"Isn't Lele jealous?" Mo Zhuyou asked mischievously.

"What? He's not my current boyfriend... Why would I be jealous?" Wang Jiale pouted. "I'm very magnanimous."

Mr. Xue smiled without saying a word and took another sip of tea: "Hmm, judge by actions, not intentions; when judging by intentions, no one in the world is perfect."

Wang Jiale was stunned, seemingly not yet understanding the meaning of those words.

Before she could even react, Hua Yinyin suddenly let out an exaggerated lament: "Waaah, little Yaoyao, what do we do—"

"What's wrong? What's wrong with you?" Mo Xueyao glanced sideways at Hua Yinyin, who was hugging her neck. "Can you stop hugging other people all the time if you don't have anything to say?"

"Hey, Yaoyao's body is quite soft!"

"Tsk..."

"I didn't celebrate my birthday this year!"

"why?"

"My birthday is February 29th, but this year February only has 28 days!"