A Young Woman's Heart

"Ugh—what kind of awful game are you guys playing?"

"Check if he's a robot!"

"Hey, don't bully Xiaoxue." Mo Xueyao walked over helplessly, and Mr. Xue showed some signs of struggle at this moment. He tried to get up, but was held down by the girls. Wang Jiale was on his left, Cha Li was on his right, Mo Zhuyou was on his left foot, and Mo Xiaoxiao was on his right foot.

Even Xuan Anyi joined in the fun, pressing down on his chest along with Hua Yinyin.

"Hahaha, alright, alright, your clothes are all messed up!" Mr. Xue laughed heartily. Although he looked disheveled, he didn't seem embarrassed at all. The scene that other boys dreamed of didn't make him think anything.

"Yeah, why do you always bully Xiaoxue?"

"Because he's the only boy here!" Hua Yinyin replied matter-of-factly. This whole 'drama' might just be something she orchestrated.

"Isn't there still Xiaoxi?"

"Xiao Xi? Hmm—that's right!"

Mo Xueyao helplessly covered her forehead, watching the girls bully Huang Yuxi again, and couldn't help but wonder if she had done something wrong.

"Aren't you going to cook?" Li Wanyan cleared her throat, her voice not loud, but strangely penetrating.

The people in the living room were quiet for a few seconds, but soon became noisy again.

As Mr. Xue straightened his clothes, he smiled and pointed to the kitchen: "Today, Huang Yuxi's brother is cooking."

"Wow, making guests cook, as expected of Yin Yin, she has such a thick skin."

"Hmm, do you want to help?" Mr. Xue stood up and put all the cups that were easily knocked over on the coffee table onto the dining table, so that the girls wouldn't break the cups when they were playing around, and if they fell on them, they might get cuts.

"Let's go." Li Wanyan nodded. When visiting other people's homes, she always took the initiative to help out, as if she would feel embarrassed to stay if she didn't do something.

"Ah... I'll go too!" Mo Xueyao didn't want to join the girls' awful game of hugging and sticking together, so she immediately ran into the kitchen.

……

Chapter Nineteen: Spending the Night with Hua Yinyin!

The stars in the night sky cascade down like a waterfall, and standing in front of this floor-to-ceiling window, one can't help but feel that they are within reach.

Standing in this tall building, you feel closer to the Milky Way and further away from the mundane world.

Mr. Xue had already taken all the plates on the table into the kitchen, where Huang Zhengyang and Li Wanyan were busy washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen.

Others also helped clean up the trash that was scattered everywhere.

The birthday party dinner has already been enjoyed, and all that's left on the table is a half-eaten cream cake.

This cake was made by Mo Xiaoxiao. Since it wasn't bought by Hua Yinyin, no one wasted time smearing it on others.

It was getting late, and those who could take the bus home had already left. Wang Jiale was planning to take a taxi home—she really wanted to stay overnight, but her parents had called to urge her to go back, so she had to go home early.

"Little Yaoyao, you're not going home today, are you?" Hua Yinyin asked excitedly and nervously.

It was almost nine o'clock, the buses back home had already stopped running, and taking a taxi was too expensive, so she was a little reluctant to go.

"Hey, Xiaoyao, your house isn't that far from mine, is it? Why don't you take a taxi with me later?" Wang Jiale, who had already reached the door to put on his shoes, suddenly looked up and asked.

Standing by the table, Hua Yinyin subconsciously clenched the hem of her dress.

“Yeah! Lele, you should take a taxi home too. Then Wanyan and I can go with you…” The temptation of a free taxi ride home made Mo Xueyao waver again.

"Anyway, my sister and I definitely can't go back tonight, so let's just stay here with Yinyin!" Mo Zhuyou hugged her sister, her eyes darting around. "Where should we sleep? The sofa seems pretty comfortable..."

“There are guest rooms available! If you can’t sleep here, you can sleep with me!” Hua Yinyin answered loudly, as if afraid that Mo Xueyao, who was hesitating on the other end, wouldn’t hear her.

"How about it? Let's go together? Me and Cha Li, plus you and the class monitor, the four of us should be able to fit."

Just as Li Wanyan finished washing the dishes, she came out of the kitchen. She took off her apron and hung it on a hook. Mo Xueyao immediately turned her head to look at her, casting an inquiring glance.

Hua Yinyin gently bit her lip, pretending to be nonchalant as she picked up the last cherry on the cake: "Wow, there's still one cherry here!"

"I bought these cherries, and there's still one left. Eat them quickly, or they won't taste good tomorrow," Mo Zhuyou said, resting her head on her sister's chest and urging her to eat.

"Everyone else ate before, except for Yinyin..."

"Little Yaoyao didn't eat either, did she?"

"Tsk, I don't like cherries." Mo Xueyao shrugged. Her family owned a fruit shop, so she could eat whatever she wanted.

At most, one can only say that you can't always get the freshest food.

After all, the freshest ones need to be kept for sale.

"It's too late, let's stay here tonight." Li Wanyan's gaze lingered on Hua Yinyin for a moment, then she said with a faint smile.

"Yay!! Little Yaoyao is sleeping with me tonight! Let's go take a bath together!"

"Hey, wait a minute, I didn't bring any spare clothes..."

“It’s okay, you can wear mine for now! Besides, you don’t have to change your school uniform skirt every day!” Hua Yinyin excitedly grabbed Mo Xueyao’s arm. “Look, Wanyan said she’s not leaving today!”

"Alright, alright." Mo Xueyao glanced at Li Wanyan with some confusion, feeling that she seemed particularly lenient towards Hua Yinyin lately... no, I should say she was giving her special treatment?

No, that's not quite right... it would be more accurate to say that she received special care.

If it were the old Li Wanyan, she would definitely have chosen to go home.

Hmm, that's not bad. Doesn't that prove that she has friends besides herself?

Mo Xueyao couldn't hide the smile on her lips. After all, a person should have more than one friend, at least four or five, right?

It would be more worrying if you only had one friend.

"Let's go then~" Wang Jiale had already put on her shoes. She stood at the door and hopped around like a rabbit, "Bye-bye~"

"See you tomorrow!" Mo Xueyao waved vigorously.

"Alright, then Xiaoxi and I should go too." Huang Zhengyang picked up Huang Yuxi, who was tired from playing and had already fallen asleep. "It's time to wash up and go to bed."

"Tsk tsk, are you going to give Xiaoxi a bath?"

"Oh? If he really doesn't want to get up, I'll give him a bath."

"Eek—" Hua Yinyin smiled slyly, as if she had imagined some terrible scene. "How is Xiaoxi's figure?"

"Hey, Yinyin, can you be serious for once?" Mo Xueyao felt embarrassed for her. "Ahem, well, bye-bye, you guys should go to sleep early too."

"Yes, thank you for your hard work today!" Hua Yinyin shouted back.

"Okay, let's go."

The lively house fell silent again.

Actually, today's birthday party wasn't much different from last year's; it was just a noisy, joking party to pass the time during dinner.

The only difference is probably that... this year, on her birthday, someone else stayed overnight with her.

"Sigh, I wish I had real sisters," Hua Yinyin muttered softly, resting her chin on her hand.

Mo Xueyao didn't hear what she said clearly, so she asked, "Huh? What?"

"Huh? What? I didn't say anything! Come on, Yaoyao, let's go take a bath together!!"

"Hey, stop making normal things sound so abnormal, okay?" Mo Xueyao covered her forehead in exasperation. "Can't we just wash them one by one?"

"It's getting late, wouldn't that be a waste of time?"

"Well……"

"Wanyan, come along too!" Hua Yinyin intertwined her fingers with Mo Xueyao's with one hand, and linked her other arm with Li Wanyan's. "Let's go, let's go! I'll get my change of clothes later! Youyou and Xiaoxiao, you can use the ones outside, we'll use the ones in my room!"

Hua Yinyin's family has two bathrooms, and each one is much more spacious than Mo Xueyao's family's. Not only are the wet and dry areas separated, but each one also has a bathtub.

"Dad said the renovations will start this year, but I don't know when it will begin..." Mo Xueyao thought to herself as Hua Yinyin pulled her into the room.

Although the three are of different heights, pajamas are generally quite loose, so what Hua Yinyin can wear, she and Li Wanyan can also wear, just perhaps not as loose.

"Please come in! Everyone, please take a shower first! It will take a while for the water to fill up!"

"Don't act like a hostess, okay..." Mo Xueyao vigorously rubbed Hua Yinyin's head, and the latter laughed happily, grabbing Mo Xueyao's hair and rubbing it hard as well.

Although it was just simple playful banter, the distance between the two narrowed considerably at that moment.

Hua Yinyin's bathroom has a window, and you can see the street outside from the bathtub.

"Aren't you worried about flashing?" Mo Xueyao pointed at it.

"Don't worry, don't worry, no one can see in from the outside." Hua Yinyin knocked on the window triumphantly. "You can open it if you want some fresh air. Besides, even if someone could see in, it wouldn't matter, right? It's such a tall building, who could possibly see in?"

"It seems so..."

"Hurry up, Yao Yao, let's be honest with each other!"

“You think about these things every time we shower together…” Mo Xueyao is no longer shy about this, at least not in front of her close friends.

Hmm... now we should call them best friends, as girls would say.

However, Mo Xueyao still prefers the term 'bro'.

"Hey hey, it's a rare birthday that only comes once a year, so I'm the birthday girl now! Little Yaoyao, you have to grant me all my wishes!"

Li Wanyan quietly took off her clothes, and her waist-length hair cascaded down like a waterfall, further highlighting the whiteness and delicacy of her back skin.

However, her skin was only as white as an egg, while Mo Xueyao's skin was as white as snow.

There's still a noticeable difference between the two when they stand together.

Wow, Wanyan seems... a little more mature?

"Probably." Mo Xueyao didn't seem to feel much. She stood in front of Hua Yinyin and calmly took off her clothes. "See, see."

"Oh dear—I never expected Little Yaoyao to actually..."

"Tch, you see it every time anyway, you're used to it by now, aren't you?" Mo Xueyao twirled in front of her without batting an eye, like a model walking the runway. "Look, did you enjoy it? Honestly, you can look at your own stuff every day, why do you like looking at other people's stuff so much?"

"Others' things are different from mine... Damn it... It's no fun with Yao Yao like this!"

"Tch—you've got a lot of demands... Should I be a little shy and say something like, 'W-what are you doing? Don't look!' or something like that?"

"Yes, yes, that's it!" Hua Yinyin nodded vigorously.

"Boring." She rolled her eyes and swaggered into the bathroom, where Hua Yinyin squeezed in to join in the fun.

The bathroom was spacious enough, but with three people inside, physical contact between them was inevitable.