A Young Woman's Heart

When it rains, it feels like there aren't that many people in the city, especially when the buses head to the suburbs.

"Clang~ Clang—" There was always such a sound echoing, as if a heavy object had been smashed into a hollow cement pipe.

Hua Yinyin couldn't tell exactly how far away it was, but she always felt like she could hear it no matter where the car was driving.

Hangzhou felt somewhat deserted on a rainy day.

Wang Jiale rested her chin on her hand and gazed out the window. The dense raindrops made it impossible for her to see anything outside, but she was completely absorbed in looking at it.

Yu Shu touched the piano keys through the piano case, seemingly still trying to familiarize herself with them.

"Ah, a train." Hua Yinyin suddenly exclaimed, staring at the train that was passing over the bridge. The carriages behind it were filled with black coal, and the chimneys overhead were belching black smoke.

Even in Hangzhou in 2001, you could still occasionally see such 'old' trains passing through the city.

Sitting idly at home feels different from sitting idly in a car.

After all, the scenery outside the window changes.

I wish I could experience this change at home.

There's absolutely no need to go out.

Just like the movable house in Doraemon.

"Ah, we've arrived."

Hua Yinyin suddenly came to her senses and hurriedly ran to the car door: "Lele, Shuer, let's get off the car!"

The school gates were deserted during the holiday.

Even the small shop next door had its roller shutter half-closed, and it was unclear whether it was even going to do business.

The newsstand not far away was open, and the owner was yawning, lazily biting into a soda cracker, crumbs falling everywhere.

"Boss, excuse me... do you have the latest issue of 'Far Sky' magazine? The one that just came out today!"

"Yes." The boss nodded listlessly, but his answer sounded exceptionally reliable.

"Really?"

"Yes, fifteen yuan." He nodded, took out a magazine still neatly sealed in plastic from the drawer, and placed it in front of her.

"Thank you!" Wang Jiale excitedly paid for the magazine and hugged it to his chest.

"Do you like it that much?"

"Because there's a story I really want to see! I'm so curious to know how it ends..."

"Then let's go see Xiaoyao."

"Won't this disturb them?"

"Is everything alright...?"

The three of them probably walked more distance today than they usually do on their way to school.

The fruit shop wasn't far from the school, but because it was raining, it felt like it took forever to walk there.

Mo Xueyao's father wasn't in the shop; her mother was arranging flowers, and she did it quite well, though a bit stiff, but at least it wasn't bad.

Li Wanyan was tidying up the shelves, while Mo Xueyao lay on the rocking chair, swaying leisurely.

"See? Little Yaoyao is really free!" Hua Yinyin pointed at Mo Xueyao, then waved her hand and shouted, "Little—Yao—yao—!"

"Huh?" Mo Xueyao tilted her head and looked this way, then sat up with great difficulty. "Yinyin, Lele, and Shuer, what brings you here?"

"Hey, I'm here to hang out with you, I'm super free today!"

"Don't deliberately use a Taiwanese accent, okay..." Mo Xueyao stood up with droopy eyelids, glanced at the crowded fruit shop, exchanged a look with Li Wanyan, and then said to the three of them, "Let's go to Grandma Jin's convenience store next door. It's more empty there, and we can sit by the window and chat."

"OK! I was just feeling peckish, let's get some oden!"

Zhuang Lianlian is currently minding the shop, and Grandma Jin occasionally doesn't come, which Mo Xueyao has long been used to.

Compared to the dark and damp streets on rainy days, the bright and clean convenience stores are like paradise.

Wang Jiale couldn't wait to sit down and unpack the magazine. The scent of ink made her take a deep breath.

Hua Yinyin pulled Yu Shu to pick up some oden, and Mo Xueyao also ordered a few skewers.

I sold these oden to them at cost price. Actually, it wouldn't be a problem if they didn't pay, but it would be a bit too embarrassing to do so.

"Oh, so, what do you want to do here? There doesn't seem to be anything fun around here, does it?"

"Hmm—" Hua Yinyin unfolded the notebook she had just bought from the store and twirled the cheap ballpoint pen. "How about we practice Xiao Yaoyao and Shu'er's writing skills?"

"what?"

"Huh?"

Hua Yinyin smiled slyly and smoothly wrote the words "Assigned Essay" in large characters on the paper: "Each of you write an essay praising me!"

"That's too direct..."

"Then... tell me what kind of person I am? Hehe."

"It's just a different way of saying it, isn't it...?"

……

Chapter Fifty-Five: A Short Essay Praising Hua Yinyin

"Da da da, da da".

Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, a little girl in a yellow raincoat walked by, her rain boots making a crisp yet slightly sticky sound as they stepped into the shallow puddles.

An ambulance sped past on the main road, and it seemed that another family was about to be plunged into anxiety. However, to others, it was just a part of their ordinary lives.

Mo Xueyao took a small sip of the oden. In this gloomy spring, it was just right to sit down and eat something hot and soupy.

"Ta-da! Here's the paper. As for pens... well, buy two more!"

"There have been some here at the counter..." Zhuang Lianlian said softly.

"Thanks!" Hua Yinyin immediately stood up and handed over the pen without any hesitation.

Mo Xueyao rested her chin on her hand, muttering speechlessly, "No way? Are you serious?"

"Hurry up, hurry up! This is the Chinese class representative's extracurricular tutoring!"

All she got in response was a pair of rolled-up eyes.

However, Yu Shu picked up the pen very seriously, looking like she was struggling with how to begin.

"Yu Shu, don't mind her. She's just having a sudden whim. She'll be interested in something else soon."

"Huh?"

"What? You have to write! Hurry up!" Hua Yinyin looked at the two of them and urged them expectantly.

"Then Lele won't write it?"

Although Wang Jiale was reading a magazine, she shifted her body to the side, as if she wanted to sever ties with Hua Yinyin right now.

"Well, let her finish reading the magazine before she writes." This statement seemed to be giving Hua Yinyin a way out.

Mo Xueyao took a meatball and popped it into her mouth, puffing out one cheek. She tapped her forehead with the pen cap and said, "Even if you insist that I write, I don't know where to begin..."

"Then write down your strengths, weaknesses, and your opinions about me!"

Is it mandatory to write this?

"Uh-huh!"

"Tsk." Mo Xueyao felt that Hua Yinyin seemed to care more about what others thought of her than she had imagined. Although she herself sometimes cared, it was only to avoid appearing too out of place with her status and to pay a little attention to her words and actions.

"Hurry up and write!"

"Okay, okay, take your hands off my shoulders, they're heavy."

"Those muscles are from exercising while holding the pipa every day!"

"..."

Looking at the rainy streets outside the window, Mo Xueyao suddenly felt that it wouldn't be so bad to just daydream like this—as long as she didn't write any of those little essays about "her opinion on Hua Yinyin."

However, Hua Yinyin's gaze remained fixed on her, burning hot.

It's like the look a teacher gives you when you're daydreaming in class.

Mo Xueyao had no choice but to pick up her pen.

Because she didn't want to write an essay, she simply drew a simple table, just like writing a personal profile, and wrote down five categories: personality, appearance, voice, strengths, and weaknesses.

Hua Yinyin nodded repeatedly, and Mo Xueyao finally began to write formally.

"Personality... lively?"

"Mmm! What else? What else?"

"You like playing pranks, have a quirky mind, and... actually, you have a pretty low tolerance for stress?"

"No way!" Hua Yinyin completely denied it.

Mo Xueyao continued writing: "As for her appearance... she's quite pretty, looks like a middle school student. Although she's petite, she has a great figure. Boys would probably like this type."

Hua Yinyin nodded in satisfaction and subconsciously puffed out her chest.

Wang Jiale often lamented the unfairness of fate because of this incident.

Well, after two years of high school, Wang Jiale has grown a lot. If she still had the mentality of a little girl, she definitely wouldn't care how old she is.

And then there are people like Mo Xueyao, who wish they were smaller, so that even walking would feel much lighter.

"But it seems a bit short? It would be better if it were taller, right?" Mo Xueyao then wrote down this sentence.

"This is already a perfect proportion! Do you even understand the golden ratio?!"

In any case, if you point out even the slightest flaw in her, she will always try to defend herself.

"Voice...voice...um...is your voice usually a bit high-pitched? It sounds like you're always very excited."

"No way!"