A Young Woman's Heart

The middle-aged man, smoking a cigarette, sat on a small stool. When he saw Zhou Yong pushing a bicycle over, he knew business was coming his way, so he asked in heavily accented Mandarin, "Young man, need your bicycle repaired?"

"Yes, the tire has blown out. Please get it fixed."

"Which tire did you have? Was it a second-hand tire?"

"Yes, yes."

The middle-aged man with dark and somewhat cracked skin didn't waste any more words. He pushed the car next to the washbasin, set it up, and then removed the outer tire to inspect the damage to the inner tube.

Next to this car repair stall, there is also a deep-frying stall with a tricycle.

Perhaps because there is a bus stop here, business is not bad. Occasionally, people who are getting impatient while waiting for the bus will come to buy some fried snacks and eat them while they wait.

"Mo Xueyao, would you like something to eat? It's on me, as an apology."

"No need, I already said I forgive you."

"Hey, hey, that won't do. You're injured anyway..."

"...It's just a minor injury." Mo Xueyao looked helpless, then sighed, "Whatever."

"Hey, what do you like to eat?" Zhou Yong asked happily.

Mo Xueyao glanced at the other person sideways. It was rare to see someone so happy when they were spending money on others.

Thinking about it carefully, this is actually an advantage of being a pretty girl.

It's like having a cheat code for life.

No wonder many beautiful girls are easily driven crazy; it's because their lives have been too smooth and they haven't experienced any setbacks, so their psychological resilience is completely insufficient.

The roadside stalls sell cheap food.

The most expensive item is a fried pork chop that costs only one yuan.

The rest, whether it's rice cake, lotus root, potato, tofu, or pork tenderloin, fried dough sticks, pork skewers...

They were all five cents.

It's just a difference in the amount of food.

Zhou Yong felt the change in his pocket and took out the largest bill—five yuan.

The banknote is brown in color and features half-length portraits of a man and a woman from an ethnic minority group.

The money was brand new, as if it had just been withdrawn from the bank.

This is a considerable sum of money for a student.

If you're buying instant noodles, you could easily buy ten packs.

In those days, ten packs of instant noodles were enough for an average high school boy's meals for a day.

Even at the very least, it's enough for two meals.

I'll use the money to buy fried snacks. Although I might get less, it'll definitely be enough to eat.

It's quite good as a snack before meals.

"Boss, give me four skewers of pork tenderloin, two skewers of cauliflower, two skewers of potatoes, and... a fried pork chop."

This five yuan was actually Zhou Yong's allowance for a week.

He usually spends one yuan every day after school, saving every penny.

But he spent it all today, which means that if he doesn't have any savings, he won't have any pocket money for the next four days.

If I spent money like this normally, I'd feel the pinch even if I were just eating it myself, let alone treating others.

But today he felt it was all worth it.

I was very happy to treat Mo Xueyao to something to eat.

For Zhou Yong, that was enough.

The happiness of an innocent young person is actually quite simple and unpretentious.

"Okay!" the owner replied, deftly placing the food to be fried into the oil. The aroma filled the surrounding air with the sizzling sound of the oil.

Meanwhile, the repair shop owner also found the location of the tire puncture; it turned out that a very thin nail had gotten stuck inside.

The repair method doesn't seem difficult either.

First, pull out the nail, then use a brush-like object dipped in water to clean the damaged area, then wipe it dry with a cloth, and finally stick on a plaster-like object, and you're done.

The shopkeeper inflated Mo Xueyao's rear tire to the maximum, listened carefully to make sure there were no leaks, and then let the air out before stuffing the inner tube into the outer tire.

Finally, inflate the tire fully, and it's patched up.

"One yuan and fifty cents," the shopkeeper said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his greasy hands.

"Oh, oh..." Mo Xueyao quickly unzipped her schoolbag and took out a twenty-yuan bill from a small money bag inside.

This banknote, which I've kept for so long, is finally going to be spent.

I'm actually a little reluctant to part with it.

"Oh, I'll pay for the tire repair!"

"No need, I'll pay myself." Mo Xueyao shielded Zhou Yong behind her. "Boss, give me my change."

"Hehe, okay, this young lady is very ambitious."

"What kind of stubbornness is this?" Mo Xueyao didn't understand. "My tire is flat, why should someone else pay for it?"

"Well, it's because of me after all..."

"It has nothing to do with you. Even if you hadn't shown up, you would have definitely gotten stuck in the nail." Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes, clearly not wanting to dwell on this matter any longer.

The boss smiled again, his dark face covered with wrinkles.

He's clearly middle-aged, but when he laughs, he looks like he's already old.

The twenty yuan was broken into change, turning into a pile of small change.

Although it was only 1.5 yuan less, it gave me the illusion that I had spent half of it all at once.

"Boss, except for the pork chop, divide everything else into two equal portions," Zhou Yong said as he paid for the fried snacks, which were already ready.

"Okay." The owner pulled out a napkin, wrapped it around the bottom of the bamboo skewer, and handed it over.

"Mo Xueyao, this is yours." Zhou Yong said, pointing to the one in the shopkeeper's hand, gesturing for her to take it.

"Thank you." Mo Xueyao didn't stand on ceremony and accepted the gift, then naturally started spreading sweet bean sauce on it.

Because there was a fried snack stall downstairs from her home, Mo Xueyao would occasionally be treated to a skewer or two by them, so her movements of spreading sweet bean sauce were not awkward.

"Let me help you push the cart, we can eat as we walk." Zhou Yong grabbed Mo Xueyao's handlebars with one hand, and eagerly brought the skewer to his mouth with the other, taking a big bite.

"Ha, okay." Mo Xueyao laughed heartily, took a big bite, and chewed vigorously with her cheeks puffed out.

"puff."

"What are you laughing at?"

"You eat like a squirrel."

“…You eat like a guinea pig,” Mo Xueyao retorted sarcastically.

But the distance between the two was shortened considerably by this sarcastic joke they exchanged.

However, Zhou Yong always felt that Mo Xueyao treated him like a buddy...

That is indeed the case.

Mo Xueyao almost instinctively put her hand on Zhou Yong's shoulder just now.

But the moment she raised her hand, she saw a few strands of hair hanging down her face, and suddenly realized what was happening. She awkwardly withdrew her hand, pretending that she had never had the idea of ​​putting her arm around Zhou Yong's shoulder.

Although the latter had already noticed it.

By the time Mo Xueyao finished eating her food, they were almost at the fruit shop.

She then said goodbye to Zhou Yong: "Okay, I'm finished eating, I'm leaving."

"Ah, okay..."

"Bye-bye, see you tomorrow." Mo Xueyao lightly tiptoed onto her bicycle, her long hair fluttering slightly in the wind, leaving Zhou Yong momentarily stunned.

He was still in a daze even after she had completely disappeared from his sight.

"Hey! What are you doing, standing in the middle of the road! What are you doing?" a fierce-looking man shouted angrily.

"Oh, sorry!" Zhou Yong quickly stood on the sidewalk, holding his digital camera, and began to look forward to it. "Going home, going home... to the photo studio!"

……

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Note ①: Luo'e: Liu Er, pronounced as Luo'e in dialect, basically means 'box', but also has the meaning of insulting someone as stupid.

Chapter 86 Doing Homework at the Fruit Shop

In the afterglow of the setting sun, Mo Xueyao parked her car on the side of the fruit shop, and with some difficulty, lifted her knees to walk up the steps and enter the fruit shop.

"Why are you so late today?" the father asked casually as he sorted fruit and put it into a bamboo basket.

"The car had a flat tire on the way," Mo Xueyao explained simply, then looked around, "Where's Su Tang?"

“At your feet,” the father replied without looking up.

"At her feet?" Mo Xueyao was taken aback, then looked at her feet.

The fruit shelves are like steps, rising one level at a time. Because they are made of wooden planks, with only a blanket placed on top, the bottom is hollow.

Su Tang lay lazily in the hollow below, squinting as she watched wave after wave of guests come and go.

It wasn't until Mo Xueyao reached out and scratched the latter's head that it stretched lazily and came out listlessly.

"Why are you crawling in there? It's all dirty." Mo Xueyao patted the dust off its body, pinched the scruff of its neck, and put it into the small cardboard box that was specially made for it to nest in.

"That's just how cats are. You make them a nest, but they still don't like it; they just prefer to hide in corners." The father chuckled. "Where's Li Wanyan? Didn't she come back with you?"