A Young Woman's Heart

"Try a bottle, is it possible to choose the flavor?"

"Apple flavor, lemon flavor, peach flavor..."

"Lemon-flavored." Mo Xueyao liked this slightly sour drink.

When I was a child, I couldn't afford drinks, so my favorite drink was the plum juice that my mother would make in the morning and let cool down by noon.

A must-have drink for summer...

Moreover, we already had a refrigerator at home back then, which was something many of my childhood friends envied.

Many people even deliberately go to his house just to get some ice.

Yes, it wasn't a popsicle, just ordinary ice cubes with no flavor, but in my memory, it tasted better than any ice cream.

"How is it?" Gao Yuan seemed somewhat expectant, but Mo Xueyao just smacked her lips and shrugged. "It's alright. It doesn't seem to have much of an alcohol taste, but it tastes pretty good, similar to Fanta."

"Damn, this is way more expensive than Fanta..."

“Then you definitely overpaid,” Mo Xueyao said with certainty.

Gao Yuan laughed along with her, "Oh dear, I should have bought Fanta already!"

He dragged out the last syllable with such intonation that it made people want to laugh.

Actually, this sentence isn't that funny, is it?

"Oh right, give me another bottle."

"Okay, you want more?"

"No, I'll give some to... other people."

Is one bottle enough?

"That's enough, that's enough, we can just share it."

"That works too. Most girls probably can't drink that much anyway."

"This stuff has an alcohol content similar to beer, who wouldn't like it..." Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes. "It's just for everyone to try it out, um—give me the peach flavor."

"OK!" Gao Yuan is always happy to share what he brings.

Or perhaps he brought snacks, drinks, and even game consoles to school to share this joy with others.

The leaden clouds in the sky seemed drunk from the rain, emitting a muffled rumble as if they had phlegm that they couldn't cough up.

No wonder people in the past thought there was a thunder god in the sky, because the sound of thunder is sometimes so varied that, with the wings of imagination, one can even feel that it is expressing different emotions.

Mo Xueyao put down her schoolbag, then left the main teaching building with an opened bottle and an unopened bottle of cocktails in her hands.

When she entered the band room, she saw that Hua Yinyin, who had arrived earlier, looked listless, with her hands supporting her chin. Even her braids were frizzy, and she looked very unenergetic.

"Yinyin, what's wrong? Look what I brought you."

Hua Yinyin turned her head slightly and glanced at her with her dead fish eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong? You seem so listless today. Didn't you sleep well last night?"

"Next door, renovations..." Hua Yinyin's words startled Mo Xueyao, because her voice was unusually hoarse and rough, like that of a woman in her fifties or sixties.

"How did the renovation turn you into this?" Mo Xueyao made her a cup of tea before sitting down beside her.

Hua Yinyin took a sip of tea, then sobbed softly, moved, "Waaah, Xiao Yaoyao...she's so kind..."

"Alright, alright, you should talk less now that your voice is hoarse."

“Hmm…” Hua Yinyin nodded, then suddenly got up and walked to the whiteboard at the front of the classroom, where she wrote, “The renovations next door have been going on all night, I couldn’t sleep, and I caught a cold.”

"Renovating all night... Why the rush? And can we complain about renovations at night?"

"Hoo... the sound isn't that loud... but... my head still hurts..." Hua Yinyin muttered in a hoarse voice as she swayed back to her seat, her face full of discomfort, like a middle-aged man with a hangover.

"I'll file a complaint."

"Um... my mom will be there today, for the reaction." Hua Yinyin said a long sentence, and suddenly felt a sharp pain in her throat, and even could barely make a sound.

She cleared her throat forcefully and then opened her arms to Mo Xueyao.

"what?"

"hug--"

"Are you a primary school student? Do you need comforting just because you have a cold?" Mo Xueyao said this, but she still helplessly opened her arms and let Hua Yinyin hug her.

She was probably really not in a good mood today; she didn't even rub against him, but just nestled comfortably in his arms, resting her chin on his shoulder.

The torrential rain and thunder mingled, and the dim light shone on the translucent wine bottle, making the slightly intoxicating light spread slowly like ink spots on rice paper.

Time passed quietly, and Hua Yinyin fell asleep.

But he was soon awakened by the sound of the door being pushed open, and in his drowsy state, he bit Mo Xueyao's shoulder.

"Hey, stop biting! It's all saliva! Every time my mom does laundry, she says there are water stains on my clothes, and you're the culprit!"

"Mmm mmm..." Hua Yinyin didn't want to talk, she just nodded to show that she understood, but she still hugged her and wouldn't let go.

Mr. Xue opened the door, shook the water droplets off his umbrella, and then opened it in the corridor.

"It's raining heavily outside."

"Yes."

“It wasn’t this big when I came here.” Mo Xueyao shook her sore arms and pushed Hua Yinyin against the other wall.

"Waaah, hug me..."

"I can't carry you anymore! Why don't you lie down on the table and take a nap?"

Hua Yinyin gave her a resentful look, then simply lay down on her lap. Despite feeling very uncomfortable, she still had to put on a sly smile of triumph.

"Is Hua Yinyin catching a cold?"

“Yes.” Mo Xueyao watched Mr. Xue walk into the classroom and sit down in front of her. “Here, want some drinks? Gao Yuan brought them. I bought a bottle. If you want to drink, use a glass.”

“Okay.” Mr. Xue did not refuse. He filled his teacup with some wine and took a small sip.

"Similar to a beverage, right?"

"It is indeed considered sweet for a wine."

"It tastes similar to soda."

"Hmm." Mr. Xue's cheeks were slightly flushed after finishing the small glass of wine, like pink light reflected on a white wall.

Mo Xueyao watched as he slowly sat down, pretending to be completely oblivious, and did not expose him.

Men are all concerned about their image, especially when it comes to drinking.

She couldn't help but smile smugly. Even though he seemed perfect in many ways, he wasn't without weaknesses.

Mr. Snow, with his weaknesses, is more like a mortal and more relatable.

Mo Xueyao took a sip of her lemon-flavored cocktail, squinted her eyes, and smacked her lips. Suddenly, she had an urge to get Mr. Xue drunk.

It's been so long since I've seen him drunk; I really want to see it again...

Will he still fall asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow, or will he do something different?

For example, when inspired to write poetry, one might compose poems or couplets while facing a wall, just like Li Bai.

……

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Suddenly Remembered What I Had Forgotten

May 11, 2001, was the second Friday of the month.

—Last Friday marked the beginning of summer.

After several days of hot, sunny weather, it rained on and off for a few more days.

The rain and the sun seemed to be racing against time. As soon as the rain stopped and it was daytime, the sun would eagerly peek out, evaporating all the water on the ground and rooftops in one go, forcing people who had just put on coats to put on short sleeves again. Then, a few hours later, another heavy rain would come.

Such events can repeat themselves throughout the day, like a protracted tug-of-war with no clear winner.

Mother's Day advertisements were already flying all over the city, and even the slow-witted Mo Xueyao suddenly realized that the holiday was approaching.

And it was only when I started counting the days that I suddenly realized I had forgotten something.

"Ah, Wanyan!" Mo Xueyao, who was about to step onto the stairs with her backpack slung in front of her, suddenly turned around and asked with wide, sky-blue eyes, "I think your birthday is in May?"

“May 5th,” Li Wanyan replied with a smile.

Such a smile on her face would look rather terrifying.

It was like the calm before the storm.

"Uh, um, I forgot! Sorry, sorry! I completely forgot your birthday... I just remembered today, it was around May last year."

"Ah."

"I'm sorry..." Mo Xueyao cleared her throat, not daring to look directly at her, only daring to turn her small face to steal a few glances at her. When she noticed the other person's gaze, she immediately straightened up, as if she were participating in military training.

"I didn't pay attention."

"Well."

“When my mother isn’t around, I forget about my birthday. She’s the only one who used to remember.”

"Oh, well, I'll definitely remember next time! How about we make it up when we get back today?"

"Need not."

"Cough." Mo Xueyao felt increasingly uncomfortable.

The only sound I could hear was the faint clatter of leather shoes on the stairs.

A hand suddenly patted her shoulder, startling her so much that she instinctively twisted it back.

Besides the inexplicable pressure I just felt, there are also some habits left over from junior high school.

In junior high, boys often liked to put their hands on each other's shoulders, not to scare anyone, but to dry their hands after washing them.

Some guys would even deliberately not wash their hands after using the toilet and then strike up a conversation with someone, which led Mo Xueyao to develop this habit.