A Young Woman's Heart

"What do you mean by urging me to get married?" The mother was a little confused, perhaps because in her eyes, Mo Xueyao was still just a child, so she had never had any thoughts about that kind of thing.

"Uh, it's nothing."

"Oh—pressuring you to get married? What…" The mother smiled knowingly, "I thought you would spend your whole life with Yan Yan."

"Huh? Wanyan is going to get married in the future too, how will she live her whole life?"

"Why don't you two just not get married?"

"puff……"

"Anyway, Mom doesn't really believe you'll fall for a boy," the mother said with certainty. "Alright, enough with the questions. Focusing on your studies is the right thing to do. Come help serve the dishes!"

"They're here, they're here..."

"Hey, Xiaoyao, did you get me an iced beer?"

No—you didn't say that.

"I forgot."

"Bing was too late when I got back," Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes and laughed gleefully, "Serves you right~"

……

Chapter Ninety-Two: The Big Watermelon

(One)

A beam of golden light shone down from the azure sky and streamed into the classroom through the window.

The white clouds were very thin and sparse, just like the eggs in the seaweed and egg drop soup in the school cafeteria.

Mo Xueyao, holding a watermelon twice the size of a basketball, lay sprawled on the desk in the band classroom.

The green watermelon is a perfect match for the just-warming summer day.

Because it was brought over early in the morning, it's still a little cold.

However, if we keep covering it up like this, it will probably cool down in no time.

Mo Xueyao hugged it simply because it was cool and comfortable.

"Little Yaoyao!" Hua Yinyin's tone was very distinctive, and with her deliberately raised and slightly shrill voice, Mo Xueyao instantly recognized who it was.

"You're here."

"You seem listless, what's wrong?"

"It's so early in the morning, and I'm carrying this huge watermelon and that big violin case on my back. I'm exhausted."

"Why did you bring such a big watermelon?" Hua Yinyin placed her pipa on the foam mat, sat down curiously opposite Mo Xueyao, and flicked the watermelon rind. A crisp sound came from inside. "Oh, it sounds nice."

"Of course, my dad picked out these watermelons. They were just brought in this morning and are super fresh. He insisted that I bring two."

"two?"

“There’s another one that Wanyan has, it’s in the classroom…” Mo Xueyao gently rubbed it with her palm, which was much smaller than a watermelon. “Let’s open it and eat it when everyone gets here.”

"But how do we cut it?" Hua Yinyin made a hand chop gesture. "We don't have any tools."

"Just split it open with your hands."

"How is this possible..."

That's what my dad did.

"Then how do we divide it equally?"

"Hmm—just scoop it out with a spoon?"

……

(two)

Watermelons are definitely better in summer.

With today's advanced technology, we can enjoy out-of-season fruits and vegetables even in winter.

But no matter what, seasonal produce is always the most natural and the most delicious.

These watermelons were delivered from a small city. There are many watermelon fields along the coast there, and the watermelons grown there are much tastier than those grown inland. They have a sweet taste with a hint of saltiness.

"Snap." Mr. Xue lightly tapped the perfectly ripe watermelon with his loosely clenched fist, and it immediately split into two irregular pieces, releasing a refreshing and sweet aroma.

"What a fresh taste!" Hua Yinyin exclaimed, her eyes widening in surprise. "Is this what fresh watermelon tastes like?"

Mo Xueyao puffed out her chest with a hint of smugness: "Hmph, of course, you guys haven't tried it before, have you?"

"Hey—Xiao Yaoyao's family owns a fruit shop, I'm so envious, she must be able to eat fresh fruit every day, right?"

Mo Xueyao responded to this with only a slightly awkward smile.

Although her family owns a fruit shop, she doesn't seem to really like eating fruit.

My favorite fruit is banana, with the occasional apple or pear. I don't seem to touch other fruits much.

"What's next? How do we eat it?" Mo Zhuyou asked, resting her chin on her hand. "We can't exactly ask Xiaoxue to cut the watermelon into several pieces again, can we..."

"Duh, just scoop it out with a spoon, or—put it in a cup! Scoop out as much as you want, isn't that great?"

Eating watermelon from a cup feels like eating ice cream.

This experience is truly magical.

"So sweet!" Hua Yinyin exclaimed, covering her mouth after taking just one bite. "It's so sweet, just like Xiao Yaoyao's!"

"You only wanted to say the second half of the sentence, right?" Mo Xueyao asked, her eyelids drooping.

Everyone's feelings are different.

For example, Yu Shu thought the taste was too salty, while Mo Zhuyou thought it was a bit bland, like soup with MSG but no salt.

Such a big watermelon, if shared among six people, there's not much left to eat.

But the feeling of sharing always makes one feel fulfilled.

“Little Yaoyao.” Hua Yinyin munched on a watermelon, her lips a bright red, as if she had smeared lipstick on them. “I finally have the feeling that your family really does run a fruit shop.”

"what?"

"This seems to be the first time you've brought fruit to eat, right?"

"Ah... um...? It seems so... no, I've brought bananas and stuff before."

"Little Yaoyao ate all of that by herself!"

"It seems so..."

Sharing beauty always brings more beauty in return.

That's probably why the father insisted that Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan each bring a watermelon to school.

"You can wear the watermelon rind on your head after you've finished eating it!" Mo Zhuyou suddenly said. "It'll make a great hat in the summer!"

Green watermelon rind, green hat.

I have a feeling it might have a bad connotation...

When did humans begin to extend the meaning of "green hat" to another matter?

……

(three)

Compared to the casual way the Snow Music Band cuts melons, Li Wanyan is much more meticulous.

She borrowed a kitchen knife from the security guard and cut the watermelon into dozens of thin slices.

—There are probably about twenty pieces.

Fortunately, the watermelon was big enough that even after being cut into so many pieces, it was still relatively thick, allowing everyone who ate it to enjoy its full flavor.

Moreover, Li Wanyan treated everyone equally, giving watermelons to everyone who came into the classroom on a first-come, first-served basis. As long as there were still watermelons available, every student who entered the classroom would get one.

This is actually a very rare thing.

The usually stern and unsmiling class monitor actually shared a watermelon.

And it was so carefully and evenly cut into more than twenty pieces.

"Huh, class monitor?" Cha Li was the most surprised, because as the academic representative, she often interacted with Li Wanyan, but in her opinion, Li Wanyan's gentleness seemed to only be shown to Mo Xueyao. "What's wrong with her today?"

"Godfather... Yao, Mo Xueyao's father asked me to bring him here."

"Oh, no wonder, so you're the one who's supposed to divide it?"

"Ah."

"This watermelon is huge, I've never seen one so big before."

"Hmm...me too." The watermelons that came in today were indeed exceptionally large, and the price was very cheap, only a little over ten cents a pound.

Mo Wenli said that they didn't actually make much money; they only made money from shipping costs. The watermelons were so cheap, just to attract some customers.

Just like those fruits sold at low prices.

Summer is theoretically the best season for fruit sales.

But in reality, because of the hot weather, people don't really want to go out. Even if they pass by after get off work, they won't go into the store to take a look.

With such cheap fruit as a 'signature', it's no wonder that people will be willing to come closer and take a look.

When it comes to doing business, Karen Mok is quite adept.

Of course, without Yang Xiaoyu managing the money, the fruit shop wouldn't actually make much money.

Because he always squanders money when he has a lot in his pocket.

It doesn't necessarily involve gambling; it could also be buying things that don't really matter, like fancy shelves or fruits and health supplements that few people buy.

Or even to buy some very expensive mobile phones or something.

For people in the Z province area, being henpecked is never a derogatory term.