A Young Woman's Heart

"Wanyan, are you having steamed buns today?"

"Ah."

"Red bean paste will do, the meat and vegetable ones will have to wait a bit longer!" The owner strode over quickly, carrying a steamer basket, stacking it on top of the other baskets. He then squatted down to check the stove fire, and only after confirming that everything was alright did he stand up and wipe the sweat from his face. "How about it, young lady, would you like some?"

"I'll have one."

"Is one enough?" the shopkeeper asked, rubbing open the plastic bag with his slightly sweaty fingers.

"Hmm, not very hungry. Where's Yaoyao?"

"Me? I want to eat something else, but I don't know if I can buy it..."

"Then two red bean buns, just in case."

"it is good."

One yuan for two red bean buns, each bigger than an adult man's fist.

It's filled with red bean paste, while the bun itself is just a thin layer.

In fact, Mo Xueyao prefers the kind of steamed buns that are a little thicker, because there is too much red bean paste inside, which can be a bit greasy. She needs the tasteless outer layer to balance it out.

It didn't take long to get to the school gate. The breakfast shops at the entrance were not yet open. The tightly closed roller shutters suggested that the owners were probably struggling to keep their sleepy eyes open as they made their way there.

However, there were also people who arrived early.

The uncle who sells egg pancakes from his tricycle always arrives very early.

You can buy a very large egg pancake for only 50 cents.

And it's very thick.

Even if you add some ingredients like pork tenderloin, sausage, or meat floss, it would only cost three yuan to fill it up completely.

They usually don't add them all, because it's too much trouble to eat them that way.

Mo Xueyao ordered an egg pancake with sausage and pork floss, and a serving of soy milk in a plastic bag, for only 1.5 yuan.

But that was only relative to later prices; compared to the past, Mo Xueyao still felt it was a bit expensive.

"Prices have been rising so fast lately. I remember when I was in elementary school, a serving like this only cost 40 cents."

"You can't compare them. Back in the day, soy milk only cost five cents a bag. Times have changed." The shopkeeper laughed and shook his head. "How about I add some meat floss for you?"

"Okay!" Mo Xueyao immediately stopped talking about 'rising prices'. She had to play along since she had gotten a good deal.

The school gates were locked, and even the side gates were locked; they couldn't be opened with a push.

Fortunately, the padlock was just hanging and not locked.

Mo Xueyao's slender arm slipped through the gap in the small iron gate, removed the lock, and the two easily opened the door and went inside.

The security room was empty, except for a few nearly empty bottles of beer and a styrofoam box with only a few crumbs left.

Last night, the security guard probably bought some barbecue and a few bottles of beer from a roadside stall at the night market and drank here all night.

Although the security guards' shifts aren't so strict that you can't actually sleep, you still have to stay up until the early hours of the morning.

Mo Xueyao envied this kind of life when she was in elementary school. She even thought that when she grew up, she would become a security guard.

Ideally, I'd be a security guard at a school—it's easy and comfortable...

The two went upstairs, opened the classroom door, put down their bags, and then went together to the band classroom in another building.

As soon as the plastic bag containing the egg pancakes was opened, a rich aroma immediately filled the classroom.

Even on days when I really don't want to go to school, sitting in this quiet school and enjoying breakfast is still a happy thing.

It was as if, before the other students arrived, the entire school belonged solely to Mo Xueyao.

She ate in small bites, savoring the food slowly unless she was in a hurry.

The only difference is that before, I would take a big bite and chew with my cheeks puffed out, but now I take a small bite each time and savor it slowly.

Some habits are ultimately influenced by the environment and change gradually.

“Eating red bean buns is so clean…” Mo Xueyao glanced at Li Wanyan sitting next to her, looking out the window, and suddenly remarked.

"Ok?"

“The most troublesome thing about eating egg pancakes is that—” Mo Xueyao said, just as she saw a few pieces of pickled vegetables and meat floss fall out of the bag and land on her skirt, “They leave crumbs.”

"Just be careful."

“I’ve already been very careful…” Mo Xueyao helplessly picked up the food crumbs from her skirt and stuffed them into her mouth. Then she brought her legs together, pulled them back, and placed them on the crossbar of the chair. “But they’ll fall to the ground again. Oh well, Yin Yin is in charge of cleaning here today anyway.”

It took Mo Xueyao almost forty minutes to finish eating that big, plump egg pancake.

However, it was still quite early; it was only a little before six o'clock.

The sky was much brighter, but the sun was still not visible, probably because it was obscured by clouds.

Mo Xueyao rested her head on Li Wanyan's chest and squinted at the sky outside the window.

The peaceful campus was shattered by the sound of a car engine.

Mo Xueyao, who was just starting to feel sleepy, opened her eyes wide again and leaned on the windowsill to look outside.

Several buses lined up and drove to the school gate, stopping with a screech of brakes.

One after another, many senior high school students could be seen carrying backpacks and dragging suitcases into the school.

They didn't go to the classroom; they just gathered near the security booth.

By 6:10, almost all the senior high school students had arrived.

Their respective homeroom teachers were restoring order, and the noisy students gradually lined up and boarded the bus one by one.

"What's going on? Why are senior high school students here so early today?" Mo Xueyao asked curiously, nudging Li Wanyan's chest with the back of her head.

As a class leader, Li Wanyan often went to the teacher's office to help with tasks and was frequently gathered by the student council for meetings.

So I know a little bit about it.

"It was a trip before the college entrance exam."

"Huh? A pre-exam trip? Is it this relaxing?"

"It's just a two-week break to study in a quiet rural environment, and then we'll have a holiday after that." Li Wanyan hugged Mo Xueyao and gently rubbed her cheek against her hair, intentionally or unintentionally. "We won't go back to school until a few days before the college entrance exam."

Will we do the same next year?

"Yes, this arrangement was made by the current principal."

Does it really work?

"I don't know." Li Wanyan's answer was serious. Perhaps she really couldn't understand why some people would never study on their own unless they were being supervised by others.

Such rural training camps can definitely be very helpful for students with particularly poor grades.

Because the worse the grades, the more room there is for improvement.

Students with average grades often find it difficult to improve further, because they are not necessarily lazy; rather, various factors prevent them from achieving better results.

As for students with exceptionally good grades... at most, it can help them focus on their studies and relax a bit.

The students, dragging their suitcases, placed their luggage in the luggage racks on the bus and then boarded the bus one after another.

The morning hustle and bustle didn't last long; about ten minutes later, the last bus also left.

You know, right now, not to mention that many people haven't even arrived at school yet, many are probably still lazing in bed at home.

Although there wasn't much noise when the senior students were around, now that they were about to leave school for a while, Mo Xueyao suddenly felt that the whole school had become a bit empty.

The thought that the floors above her classroom were all empty filled her with a subtle sense of reluctance.

Even though they might not see students from other grades again after this departure, she certainly wouldn't feel sad about it.

Perhaps it was because she was thinking about how this was the last time she would go out with her whole class after entering her senior year of high school, and that she would have to go her separate ways after the college entrance examination, that she felt reluctant to part ways with the senior students.

It's always girls who are empathetic, or rather, sentimental—even if they lived as boys for a long time.

……

Chapter 90 Stop Touching Me

The cicadas seem to have arrived later this year than in previous years.

Or perhaps Mo Xueyao's memory is flawed—in reality, the cicadas shouldn't have arrived that early.

Perhaps it's because of the recent rain, but I haven't been able to hear the chirping of crickets much.

She rested her chin on her hand, listening attentively to Ye Wen's lecture from the stage. Her thoughts would occasionally wander, but she would quickly bring them back to the present.

The main reason is that she had already previewed all of this material, so when she encountered some knowledge points that were no different from her own understanding, she would get a little distracted.

Of course, sometimes my distraction also stems from the 'harassment' of the two guys behind me.

The boy sitting behind the girl always seems to like to make some little gestures.

Although Mo Xueyao admitted that she had done this in elementary and middle school, she's a high school student now, she shouldn't be that childish...

And even though the two of them were lowering their voices, she could hear their conversation clearly.

The main problem is that it's whispering right behind you, making it hard not to hear.

Suddenly, she felt her ponytail being touched, as if it was being deliberately messed up.

The ponytail was styled by Li Wanyan that morning; she couldn't have styled it so neatly herself.

Mo Xueyao turned around and glared at the two of them. Le Tingfeng immediately pointed at Duanmu Ji with a grin, implying that he was the one who did it.

But based on her understanding of him, it was practically impossible for him to do such a thing.

So it's highly likely that Yue Ting dried it and then framed him for it.

Mo Xueyao didn't even need to think too much about this, after all, she and her friends used to play around like this.

Back then, Shi Haiming sat behind Shen Kelin and would often tug at her tank top straps or fidget with her hair tie, always blaming Mo Xueyao for it. This caused Mo Xueyao to be pinched on the soft flesh of her thigh while she was in class.

"See, it's okay to touch it, just try touching it."

"Uh……"