A Young Woman's Heart

Actually, I had almost forgotten this habit during my two years of high school. What happened just now was a stress response that brought back the instinctive reaction that hadn't been completely forgotten.

Li Wanyan's brows were slightly furrowed, but her eyes were as calm and deep as still well water, but if you scooped up a ladleful, you would find that they were actually clear and sweet.

Mo Xueyao then realized that she had twisted Li Wanyan's right hand.

Even after all this time, the scars on my wrist are still very noticeable.

"Ah...does it hurt?" Mo Xueyao felt she had asked a pointless question. She wanted to rub it with her hand, but was afraid that it would hurt more.

"It doesn't hurt." She merely raised the corners of her mouth slightly, hiding her right hand behind her back. "Let's go."

"Not angry?"

"If Yaoyao thinks I'm angry, then I really am angry."

"cough……"

“Birthdays are unimportant,” Li Wanyan said, nudging her lightly with her elbow. “What matters is not birthdays.”

She conveyed the same meaning in two sentences.

Mo Xueyao sensed that there was an underlying meaning, but she remained silent.

"Then I'll play you a birthday song later!"

Li Wanyan pursed her lips, shook her head, and then nodded.

Should we listen or not?

Mo Xueyao scratched her head: "Didn't Wanyan celebrate every birthday before?"

"It's over, but it's no different from usual, except the food is a little better."

This is slightly better, Mo Xueyao understands very well—it's basically just that you can eat some meat.

And it's very likely that it's just the worst minced meat.

"Well, I don't really celebrate my birthday often, because it always falls during the Lunar New Year period, and it's easily overshadowed by other holidays. Oh dear, last year was the same, and this year is the same..."

"It will definitely be over next year."

"I don't really care about that. I think it's more fun to celebrate other people's birthdays than my own."

"how."

"Maybe it's because they think it'll be more lively? Also, it's a good challenge to pick out some birthday gifts that people will like with their limited allowance."

The two looked at each other and suddenly laughed at the same time.

But they quickly stopped and continued walking until they reached the top floor.

You can already hear the noise coming from inside. Practice hasn't started yet, and everyone seems to be playing their instruments haphazardly. The out-of-sync notes are all mixed together, making your ears hurt.

"Wanyan, why don't you try joining a band? It's really interesting."

"No, I don't have time."

"That's true. Sometimes you get asked to help grade papers or organize activities for class officers, and it seems like there's a lot to do."

"Ah."

"But you don't have to be the class monitor!"

Li Wanyan gently shook her head, her left hand pinching her right hand behind her back.

Mo Xueyao didn't say anything more, but she instinctively felt that being the class monitor was probably very important to her.

...But why do you think it's so important?

She always heard other class monitors complaining that the position was too demanding and busy, and that they had to put up with bad attitudes every day, making it completely pointless...

"Shu'er—!" As soon as the door opened, Hua Yinyin was heard shouting, lightly pulling Yu Shu's ear, "Delete the photos right now!"

Meanwhile, the two sisters, Mo Xiaoxiao and Mo Zhuyou, were laughing so hard they were shaking. The younger sister was even hugging her older sister and pounding the table, tears and snot streaming down her face.

"Don't make things difficult for Shu'er. It's fine to keep it as a souvenir, isn't it?" Wang Jiale held Hua Yinyin's hand, suppressing a laugh, as if she were trying to mediate the fight.

Mr. Xue was sitting on Mo Xueyao's piano bench, playing the harmonica and the electronic keyboard at the same time—but there was no musicality to speak of, just like a complete novice who knew nothing.

It turns out that the loud noise from earlier was actually coming from him...

Speaking of which, Mr. Xue was also joining in the commotion?

During breaks, Gao Yuan and his friends often go to Mr. Xue's place for a chat. Could it be that they caught it?

Mo Xueyao was somewhat worried. She imagined Mr. Xue, who had the personality of both Gao Yuan and Liu Xiaowei, and then imagined him showing that same lewd smile. Suddenly, she felt a chill run down her spine and shook her head vigorously to shake off this terrible thought.

"What are you doing?" Mo Xueyao rushed to Hua Yinyin's side. "Why are you bullying Yu Shu?"

Yu Shu looked at her pitifully as if she had seen a savior, but before Mo Xueyao could ask what had happened, she couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Mo Zhuyou laughed even louder, and even blew out a transparent snot bubble.

"Wow—" These girls really don't care about their image at all when there are no boys around.

When Mo Xueyao was thinking about these things, she obviously didn't take Mr. Xue into account.

"Don't let Xiaoyaoyao see this!" Hua Yinyin tried to snatch the camera, but she managed to take it from her first.

"Oh? Let me see what terrible thing I photographed?" The advantage of digital cameras is that you can check the photos anytime.

"Pfft cough..." Mr. Xue finally couldn't hold it in any longer. He put down his harmonica, first said to Mo Xueyao, "Sorry, I used the harmonica without your permission," and then he finally couldn't help but laugh heartily.

Thank goodness, it wasn't the lewd laugh I had imagined.

Even when making fun of others, it seems so open and aboveboard.

This made Mo Xueyao even more curious.

What kind of photos could make them find them so funny?

Hua Yinyin tried to snatch the camera, but Mo Xueyao had already found the photo.

What a ridiculous face it was!

It's not only something that seems impossible for a human to do, but... it's even beyond the power of words to describe.

It turns out that Hua Yinyin's facial expressions are so rich.

They are practically the complete opposite of Li Wanyan.

"Pfft, cough... Hahahaha..." Mo Xueyao finally couldn't help but burst out laughing, "This one, this one absolutely has to be kept as a souvenir!"

"Delete it—!!!" Hua Yinyin's voice was as sharp as freshly boiled water.

But instead, everyone laughed even harder.

I finally stopped and wanted to breathe some fresh air, but when I saw Hua Yinyin's face, that image kept flashing in my mind.

Then I couldn't help but laugh again.

"Delete it, delete it, delete it!" She finally snatched the camera from Mo Xueyao, who was laughing so hard she was exhausted, and deleted the photos.

When they heard the deletion sound, for some reason, everyone felt a great sense of regret.

However, when Hua Yinyin pressed the shutter to capture everyone's exaggerated smiles, everyone began to feel that something was wrong.

"Delete the flower—silver—silver—!" Now, the two extremes have been reversed.

It's perfectly normal not to see people practicing their instruments in the band room.

By the time they finally came to their senses, quite some time had passed.

Fortunately, school ends early on Friday, so everyone has plenty of time to spare.

In the noisy band room, the less-than-coordinated ensemble finally began to play.

There are now some subtle differences compared to before—because of the addition of guitar sounds.

The sound wasn't from a guitar, but from Yu Shu's shoulder-mounted keyboard.

Theoretically speaking, with enough technical skill, one person can form a band using a music synthesizer.

Li Wanyan always seemed like an outsider.

However, she was quite content to just watch quietly.

Now that everything had quieted down, she sat down at her usual table, listening to the song that seemed to be played for her, and occasionally glancing up at Mo Xueyao.

Mo Xiaoxiao, who was standing to the side, did the same.

The two "older sisters" seem to have a special understanding in this regard.

"You can't really see Youyou from here," Mo Xiaoxiao said with a soft laugh, resting her chin on her hand. "Wanyan is better; she can see Xiaoyao right away."

Li Wanyan didn't say anything, pretending that she was doing her homework seriously.

But in reality, every time she was here, she basically just did some simple copying assignments.

—After all, doing homework requires more attention to thinking!

……

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Too many days to remember

"Japan's new Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi yesterday..."

"3G phones will be put into practical use in the next few years. When will my country be able to catch up in terms of communication technology?"

"The Third East Asian Games are about to be held in Osaka. This Games marks..."

"The US continues to demand accountability regarding the incident on May 4th where Chinese youth stormed the White House website. China states..."

Mo Xueyao sat lazily on the cold tile floor, her right hand holding a remote control and constantly switching channels. However, no matter how she switched, all she saw were various news programs. When she finally found an animated show, it would always be interrupted by commercials.

The movie channel never shows the whole movie. A perfectly good two-hour movie is cut into several parts. Unless you specifically wait for a certain time, you can't watch a complete movie at all.

At times like these, "Approaching Science," with its long broadcast time and few commercials, becomes the preferred choice. However, its constant suspense and subsequent half-hearted explanations are quite frustrating.

"Ugh—there aren't any good channels!" She collapsed onto Mo Xiaoxiao's lap. "It's the weekend!"

"You'll get used to it." Mo Zhuyou, who was leaning against Li Wanyan, adjusted her position and settled down comfortably.

Today is Saturday.