A Young Woman's Heart

"This...this, Teacher Ye..."

"Please accept this. We hope every child can have access to education. Oh, by the way, if that girl gets into university but doesn't have the money to attend, she can contact Yukong..."

"No need, no need, I can still come up with the money." Old Chen shook his head repeatedly.

Outside the window, Mo Xueyao had returned to the corridor and was leaning against the window waiting for her mother to leave.

Hua Yinyin has already gone home with her father, and Mo Zhuyou and Mo Xiaoxiao have also ridden away on their bicycles.

Mr. Xue was chatting and laughing with his father, who was also a physics teacher at a school...

Seeing her daughter standing at the door waiting, Yang Xiaoyu picked up her bag and walked to Ye Wen's side at the door: "Teacher Ye, we're leaving now."

She said this while looking at Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan.

"Yes, you don't need to worry about Xiaoyao and Wanyan. Although they have band activities, Wanyan will take care of Xiaoyao for you, so don't worry," Ye Wen said with a smile.

"Sigh, but my class ranking still dropped two places, and my grade ranking has fallen to almost twentieth."

“Occasional fluctuations are normal,” Ye Wen said, speaking up for Mo Xueyao, and playfully turned her head to wink at her.

"Yeah, that's right... Mom, your expectations are too high..." Mo Xueyao muttered.

"Isn't this for your own good?"

Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes dramatically: "Not again..."

Li Wanyan gently smoothed her long hair. Although her face was expressionless, the gentle movement made people feel that she was smiling.

It's a very subtle and strange feeling.

……

Chapter 53 May 1st

The pitch-black raindrops fell with a pattering sound, like ink spreading on rice paper.

The tightly closed windows obscure the outside world, and this small town in Jiangnan always seems to carry a touch of softness and melancholy, steeped in history, when it rains.

The date is May 1, 2001.

Yukong High School did not adjust the holiday schedule; instead, it combined Labor Day and Spring Festival break into a seven-day break.

A whole week was quite boring, and even though I hadn't finished my homework, I didn't seem to have any motivation to do it.

It was as if the days were still very long, so long that they would never come.

On Wang Jiale's tatami mat, Hua Yinyin lay sprawled, one foot propped up on Yu Shu's face. Wang Jiale, sleeping uncomfortably beside her, was unconsciously nibbling at someone's hair.

Then she was finally jolted awake by her own choking.

"Cough cough..."

"Hmm...Eh?" Yu Shu was about to yawn when her teeth lightly grazed Hua Yinyin's foot, startling her so much that she quickly shut her mouth. Being interrupted from yawning made her feel as if something was stuck in her heart, causing her great discomfort.

But no matter how hard she tried after turning over, she couldn't hit the ball anymore.

Wang Jiale's parents not only didn't rest during the May Day holiday, but were even busier because business was booming.

There was no one at home. She wasn't afraid of thieves or anything like that, but she was a little afraid of ghosts, so she dragged Hua Yinyin over with her.

Surprisingly, Yu Shu also volunteered to come along, because she wanted to take advantage of these few days to have Hua Yinyin teach her more music theory and keyboard playing skills.

Of all the members of the Snow Music Band, she was the most diligent and hardworking, to the point that even Mo Zhuyou, who often slacked off, felt embarrassed to keep slumped over the table.

The rain outside the window blurred the sense of time. The three of them woke up briefly, then closed their eyes and went back to sleep.

Hua Yinyin occupied the largest space, Yu Shu huddled in a crevice, and Wang Jiale was sleeping on his side against the wall, drooling all over the pillow.

The clock hands may seem to move very slowly, but in my sleep they seem to move very fast.

When they woke up again, it was already nine o'clock.

A full three hours have passed since then.

The rain outside the window hadn't stopped, or rather, it showed no sign of stopping.

If the clock hadn't moved, the person who woke up would probably have thought that not much time had passed.

"Hmm... 9... 6:05...? No, wait, wait a minute?" Wang Jiale suddenly became more awake. "It's past nine o'clock, Yin Yin!"

"It's only nine o'clock. I usually sleep until noon at home... I'll sleep a little longer..." Hua Yinyin tugged at the blankets, rolled around a bit, and then slapped herself onto Yu Shu.

"Time to get up! I don't want to waste my precious day off sleeping!"

"What? You don't get enough sleep during the week, so you should get a good night's sleep on holidays..."

"Get up~" Wang Jiale said coquettishly while lying on Hua Yinyin's body, blowing on her ears until they were tickled and finally made her open her sleepy eyes.

"Mmm, it's so heavy..."

"It's not heavy at all!" These words completely woke Hua Yinyin up. She jumped up, first touching her stomach, then suddenly stood up. "Get up, get up! Getting up early can help you lose weight!"

"Could you please look at the clock and say it again..." Wang Jiale couldn't help but tease.

Yu Shu finally felt much better and her breathing became easier. Perhaps because she had slept for too long, it was very difficult for her to get up.

The quiet house finally came alive as everyone busied themselves washing up and tidying up.

Breakfast consists of toast from the refrigerator, spread with my favorite sauces—jam, peanut butter, ketchup, you name it.

"Lele's family has so many instant foods." Hua Yinyin opened the freezer compartment and took a look. "It's full of all kinds of instant foods, including many flavors of instant noodles."

"Because my parents usually get home very late, I just use this to solve the problem. Plus, it's convenient and less strenuous to eat, especially in the morning, so I can use the time I would have spent eating breakfast to sleep a little longer!"

"Is that your reason for carrying bread to school every day?"

"Um, what's this?" Yu Shu, who was a head shorter than the two petite girls, cautiously peeked inside and curiously pointed to a black can and asked.

"That's caviar, and the one next to it is foie gras. You can put it in bread if you want. Feel free to eat anything in the fridge."

"Mingming's family looks very ordinary, but they're actually super rich." Hua Yinyin pouted. "Lele's family is richer than mine, right?"

"How would I know... Well, usually my parents give me money for whatever I want. For now... I guess there's nothing I want to buy but can't afford?"

"Wow, what a... show-offy statement!"

"Isn't Yinyin the same?"

"I didn't. I spent a long time trying to get a new pipa."

"It's probably just that your parents don't like you spending money recklessly."

"If I had the money, I definitely wouldn't mind!"

Yu Shu listened from the side, and asked in a slightly helpless voice, "Um... can we have breakfast now...?"

"Okay, okay!" Hua Yinyin carried out all sorts of bread-to-drink items at once, then slammed the refrigerator shut with her elbow. "Let's eat!"

"Shu'er didn't wear her hair in a bun today?" Wang Jiale looked at her with considerable curiosity. "Doesn't she look quite nice with her hair down?"

"Huh? Eh... Ugh!" Yu Shu hurriedly touched her hair, "I... I forgot..."

"Why are you so nervous?" Hua Yinyin asked, puzzled, and slammed everything onto the table with a clatter.

"Um...because...maybe...a little...a little impolite?"

"What's wrong with that? You should learn from Xiaoyaoyao."

Wang Jiale nodded in agreement and sat down at the low table: "We should really get together with Xiaoyao. That way, Xiaoyao will be more ladylike, and you won't care so much about what others think."

“But… if Xiao Yaoyao were very ladylike… ugh…” Hua Yinyin suddenly felt goosebumps all over her body, “That’s weird, that wouldn’t be her!”

"Don't be so quick to judge others... what if one day you just want to be a proper lady?"

"Impossible! Unless you were struck by lightning while walking, or got hit by a car and became mentally impaired or something."

"Say something nice... okay?"

The raindrops pattered against the window like the rhythm of drumbeats.

Hua Yinyin spread jam on her bread slices, then lazily leaned against the window and opened it.

It's often said that rainy days are dreary, but sometimes rain can bring fresher air than usual.

The oppressive feeling that lingered in the stuffy room was carried away by the breeze blowing in from outside the window.

Breakfast time is quiet.

It wasn't that we couldn't think of any topics to chat about; it's just that at that moment, everyone spontaneously wanted to listen to the rain outside the window and enjoy some peace of mind.

Yu Shu unfolded her brand-new basic music theory materials and flipped through them, while Wang Jiale unfolded a magazine that she had bought last week but only had time to read today.

The magazine contained a lot of content, the most interesting of which were various jokes and short stories. She didn't like reading the longer ones because she felt there was too much to remember after reading for a while, which gave her a headache.

There were also some quiz sections that she really liked, such as checking her horoscope and finding out what kind of person she was...

It's a bit like fortune telling for yourself.

If something feels similar, then believe it; if it feels different, then start to doubt yourself; if it's completely contradictory, then ignore it.

In the end, they'll just say something silly like "So accurate."

Breakfast has been finished, and Hua Yinyin is the only one who seems to have nothing to do.

He wanted to teach Yu Shu something, but seeing how seriously she was studying on her own, he felt he shouldn't interrupt her, since what she wanted to teach was actually all in the books.

Basic music theory... it's all the same stuff over and over again, unlike musical instruments which have techniques that are not easy to understand from books.

"So idle..."

"Want to read comics? We also have magazines."

"Hmm..." Hua Yinyin leaned on the table and turned her head away. "Shall we watch TV?"

"Hmm...the TV just broke a few days ago..."

"Hey? Why isn't it being fixed—"

"They probably don't need it usually, and besides, they deliberately didn't fix it so I could focus on my studies..."

"Tsk, so idle."

"Reading?"