A Young Woman's Heart

Having just finished his noodles, the father casually picked up a cherry to moisten his tongue: "Girls! What kind of room do you want to make?"

"Room?"

"Well, things have settled down a bit now, so I'm planning to start renovations. Haha, are you excited?"

"Wow! Are we renovating?! We need a new toilet, a bathtub, a separate wet and dry shower area! And a water heater!" Mo Xueyao exclaimed, her eyes wide, spittle flying into Li Wanyan's bowl.

"Don't open your mouth so wide when you eat, okay? You're drooling all over other people." Her mother tapped her forehead in annoyance.

"Haha, I'll definitely take care of all that. The main thing is, do you have any special requirements for your rooms?"

"Where's Wanyan?" Li Wanyan was taken aback, seemingly not expecting to be asked for her opinion. She was about to say "whatever" when she swallowed the words back down.

She thought about it carefully for a long time, and finally, under the gaze of the three of them, she said softly, "The ceiling, painted blue... is that okay?"

"Blue? Are you going to make it look like a starry sky?"

"Ah."

"Oh—that's great!" Mo Xueyao agreed with both hands. "By the way, Dad, how about buying us a bunk bed? That way we can save some space."

Li Wanyan bit her tongue lightly, her small mouth moved slightly, but this time she didn't say anything.

"Bunk beds? Want to save space? How about this, put the bed on top and then make two desks underneath, so that when you two are at home, you won't have to squeeze onto one desk to do your homework."

"The bed is on top, and there's a desk on each side below?"

"That's right, and they can all be by the window, isn't that great?"

"This one will do!"

"Mm!" Li Wanyan nodded gently, her expression seemingly brightening.

……

Chapter Twenty-One: Moving (Part 1)

2001 3 Month 10 Day.

It's Saturday again.

School has been in session for some time now.

After the initial excitement wore off, school life became mundane again.

But life will always have its ups and downs—it just might not cause any major ripples.

Outside the window, everything was lush and green, the spring breeze had painted them with color, and two swallows with snow-white bellies landed by the window, tilting their heads to observe the people inside.

The house is finally ready for renovation, but of course, the prerequisite is to empty the house first.

My father had already made arrangements with Uncle Xiong, who manages the warehouse next door, so we could move into his warehouse.

Although there are many things in the house, they are nothing compared to the huge warehouse, taking up almost no space.

The warehouse district next door is full of all kinds of warehouses.

Even if it's just borrowing a corner space for a moment, that's enough.

While their mother was tidying up in the main room, Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan were also busy.

"Wanyan—let's just get rid of those elementary and middle school books and sell them as scrap!" Mo Xueyao shouted as she rummaged through the drawers. "They're useless anyway."

"What a pity..."

"But it's taking up space anyway. We won't go back to look at it, so we should just throw away things we don't need. Otherwise, the house will still be as messy as it is now after the renovation—it'll look like a junkyard."

Li Wanyan simply pursed her lips slightly, but still packed up the old books and placed them at the door.

Although it wasn't a move away, but just renovations, and she would move back later, Mo Xueyao's anticipation for the renovations was mixed with a bit of reluctance and nostalgia.

After all, it was the place where she grew up; she had lived there ever since she could remember.

Although her parents said she moved here with them when she was three or four years old...

After the renovation, the place where I live remains the same, but many of my past memories will be erased.

Humans are strange creatures. There are many things that we would never even glance at when they are right there, but if you tell us that we have to throw them away, we feel a little reluctant.

The drawers on both sides of the desk were crammed full of miscellaneous items, forming a stark contrast with the relatively tidy bookshelves.

It's true that places that aren't easily seen by others aren't properly tidied up.

"Huh? Hmm—" Mo Xueyao reached in and struggled for a long time before finally pulling out a huge pile of things.

The most unbelievable thing is how so many things can be stuffed into such a small drawer?

The items on the outside of the drawer are relatively newer, while the oldest items inside date back to her infancy... because she even found a yellowed pacifier inside.

"Knock knock." A gentle knock sounded on the open iron gate, and then Yu Shu timidly peeked in, holding a red plastic bag in her hand. "Um...is anyone...home?"

"Yu Shu?" Mo Xueyao jumped up. "What's wrong? I'm here!"

"Um, this, this is what my mom asked me to bring... This morning she... um, went to dig bamboo shoots early in the morning."

"So early? It's only a little past eight o'clock..." Mo Xueyao looked at the living room, which was now even more messy because of all the things that had been put there, and scratched her head awkwardly. "Uh—you can just put it on the floor."

"Um... Xiaoyao... what are you doing?"

"Moving."

"Huh? We're...we're leaving?" Yu Shu nervously twisted her fingers. "Where...where are we going?"

"I'll just stay at the fruit shop. It's just that the house needs renovation, so I'm emptying out my things."

"Phew..." Yu Shu let out a long breath, then straightened up somewhat shyly, "Um... do you need... help?"

“Sure!” Mo Xueyao agreed readily. To her, Yu Shu felt like a younger sister. Since they were close, there was no need to be polite.

Yu Shu nodded with a delighted smile and followed Mo Xueyao into the small room. As soon as she saw Li Wanyan, she hurriedly bowed and said, "Um... Hello, Sister Wanyan..."

"Hello."

"Yu Shu is here to help, Wan Yan, why don't you go help my mom? It's fine with me and her here!"

"Okay." Li Wanyan walked out the door without any objection and placed seven or eight zippered snakeskin bags at the door. "Put everything in here. There are also some boxes; you can wrap them with tape to store things there too."

"Okay, okay!" Mo Xueyao waved her hand, then plopped down again, continuing to sift through her pile of 'trash' that was at least a decade old.

"Should we pack up all the books on the bookshelf?" Yu Shu asked cautiously, tiptoeing as she opened the cabinet door.

Can you reach it?

“Of course!” she whispered, her face flushed, as if protesting Mo Xueyao’s ‘discrimination’.

These old things always bring back memories of the past, and every time you look at them, you feel the fleeting nature of time.

She still remembers many things from elementary school, and her junior high school life is even more vivid in her memory.

Although high school and junior high school are only a few years apart, it already feels like a very, very long time ago.

"Xiaoyao, this...should we pack it separately?" Yu Shu asked, her small feet in white socks resting on the desk as she held up the exquisite box containing 'Nancy'.

"Hmm? Um... there are dolls in here."

"Huh? Xiaoyao would buy something like this? Hmm, it must be very expensive, right?" Yu Shu became even more careful, afraid that a bump would break it. However, when she got off, she still couldn't reach the ground, slipped, and fell down with a scream.

"Hey!" Mo Xueyao only had time to shout before she quickly got up and caught her. Even though she was about to fall, Yu Shu still held the box tightly in her hands. Seeing that it was safe and sound, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"call……"

"Are you alright? Don't climb so high, it's dangerous."

"No, it's okay... I can help!"

"Alright, alright, be careful." Mo Xueyao didn't like forcing others to change their minds, so seeing how insistent she was, she could only shrug helplessly and carry her back to the table.

Yu Shu was much shorter than Mo Xueyao, with short legs, chubby thighs, and relatively thin calves. Wearing white stockings, she looked like two big radishes.

"Can we put it in this small cardboard box?"

"Yeah, let's pack them in. That box looks like the one used for oranges... Oh right, let's pack all the accessories in too."

"Um……"

The items on the bookshelf were gradually organized and cleaned up. Yu Shu arranged them according to size and category, making them look exceptionally neat.

"By the way, Xiaoyao, um... after you moved, where... where did you all live?"

"At the fruit shop."

"Are your parents coming too? Is there enough room...?"

"Hmm...it might be a bit cramped. My parents will be staying next to the cashier—there should be enough space for a folding bed there."

"Um..."

Then came a long, calm, and gentle silence.

The warm breeze outside the window gently caressed her face. Mo Xueyao turned on the radio and put in a soothing music cassette. The lazy music made her even more sleepy.

"Xiao, Xiao Yao... um... could you... pick me up?" Yu Shu, who had already tidied up the things on the table, was a little hesitant to get down, perhaps because she had almost fallen earlier and was now a bit timid.

"Huh?" Mo Xueyao turned her head and glanced at her, then helplessly opened her arms. "Oh, come down then."

"Whoosh...!" As if she was about to jump down from a great height, Yu Shu closed her eyes halfway and gently jumped down, bumping into her arms.

"Isn't it heavy...?"

"Ah, even lighter than Lele." Mo Xueyao looked at Yu Shu, who was almost a head shorter than her, and couldn't help but laugh. "I remember you were taller than me when we were little, right?"

"Back in kindergarten...?"

"Yes, you were taller than me back then. When I climbed the tree, I would throw down the fruit and you would be in charge of catching it. When I jumped down myself, you would catch me in the same way."

"Eh...? Well, back then..." Yu Shu's face turned slightly red. "Hmm... back then, Xiao Yao wasn't like a girl at all."

"Back then I was... cough, I was a bit naughty when I was little." Mo Xueyao coughed lightly. "Then help me organize my drawers? But most of them seem to be useless things, so just throw away the useless ones, like waste paper and the like."

As Mo Xueyao spoke, she unfolded a crumpled test paper, and the '32' representing the score was particularly eye-catching.

This is a math test from my first year of junior high. I really didn't want to study during that period, so my test scores were exceptionally bad. I was lucky to even pass...

"Has Xiaoyao ever gotten such a bad score?" Yu Shu blinked curiously. The score on the test paper in her hand was even lower; it was for English, and she only got three points.