A Young Woman's Heart

"She has something to do and won't be out for a while, so I came back first."

"Oh, then let's order fast food when she gets back."

"Okay, I'm not hungry right now anyway." Mo Xueyao, who had just eaten, rubbed her stomach, unfolded the table that had been folded and was leaning against the wall, then moved a dark red wooden stool over and sat down.

The environment for doing homework in the fruit shop is certainly not as good as at home; at the very least, it is far less spacious and comfortable than her desk.

But it's good enough if she can write enough; she's already finished most of the difficult assignments at school anyway, and the ones she brings home are mostly assignments that require thinking.

For example, subjects like mathematics and science.

Like other copying assignments, she usually finishes them during breaks between classes and rarely takes them home to do.

Because I always feel that doing those 'boring' homework at home is tedious...

At least homework that requires thinking can at least put your mind to something and prevent it from being so boring.

—Although the teachers did not assign copying homework today because of the school sports meet, they still assigned some simple pre-class assignments through the class representatives, even though there was no class.

This kind of homework is actually optional, since the teacher won't check it anyway.

But most self-motivated students will do it.

Even if it's pre-study homework, you still need to complete some questions in the workbook.

This process of doing so is also a learning process in advance. When the time comes, you will understand exactly where you are not good at something, so you can listen to the teacher's lectures more effectively, which can greatly increase efficiency.

So even though most people wouldn't do the homework assigned on the day of the school sports meet, Mo Xueyao would still do it.

After all, if you think about it carefully, you'll realize that this wasn't done for others; ultimately, it was done for yourself.

Seemingly because she was used to being at home, Su Tang wanted to jump onto Mo Xueyao's lap as soon as she sat down.

"Hey, you're all dirty, don't jump on me, you're covered in dust." Mo Xueyao tugged at its whiskers and shooed it away.

The latter seemed to feel a little wronged, and stopped jumping up. Instead, it rubbed against Mo Xueyao's feet, its tail stretched high and straight, like an antenna.

Unfortunately, Mo Xueyao wasn't a radio, so it couldn't receive any signals from its antenna...

After rubbing against her for a while without getting a response, Su Tang finally stopped, lightly jumped into a large pile of fruit baskets, and lay down inside to secretly peek at her through the gaps in the fruit baskets.

However, once Mo Xueyao gets into the zone, her focus is very strong, and it is almost impossible for the outside world to affect her.

This is why she is so efficient at doing her homework.

The most important thing is not to waste time.

Many people do their homework until midnight, and a big problem is that they get distracted in the middle, wasting a lot of time.

That's always been her way; she does what she's supposed to do when she's supposed to.

Do your homework seriously, and play to your heart's content when you play.

As only a sliver of orange sunset glow remained on the horizon, Li Wanyan finally returned to the fruit shop, her long shadow trailing behind her.

She looked a little tired, even though she seemed quite energetic when school just ended.

"Uncle, Xiaoyao, I'm back." When she returned to the fruit shop, Li Wanyan greeted them and then walked into the small room behind the fruit shop with her schoolbag.

"Wanyan seems to be in a bad mood. Aren't you going to comfort her?" the father asked.

"Ah...ah? What's wrong?" Mo Xueyao had just snapped out of her studying. "I was thinking about something."

"Wanyan is back."

"Oh, let's order fast food, I'm hungry." Mo Xueyao rubbed her stomach, closed her workbook and stuffed it back into her schoolbag, then stretched out a big yawn. "Finally finished, so tired."

"I said," the father said helplessly, "your friend seems to be in a bad mood. Aren't you going to go see him?"

"Wanyan... Hmm... I'll go check on her." Mo Xueyao reluctantly walked into the small room and saw Li Wanyan doing her homework under the desk lamp.

To be precise, he was holding a pen, ready to do his homework.

Because she hadn't even opened her workbook yet.

"Wanyan?" Mo Xueyao tentatively called out to her softly.

The latter looked up at her, but his eyes were unfocused, like a stagnant pool.

It instills a sense of inexplicable fear in people.

It's like seeing your own living doll.

Or rather, she's like a female ghost from a ghost story.

—She would look even more like it if she let her hair down.

"Are you alright?" Mo Xueyao asked tentatively.

"..." As if her soul had returned to its body, Li Wanyan's eyes regained their light. She nodded gently and sighed softly, "My mother, perhaps... is dead."

"Huh? Why do you say that?"

Li Wanyan simply shook her head, not answering the question: "Xiaoyao, can I have some peace and quiet by myself?"

"Uh... well."

Mo Xueyao, who wasn't very good at comforting people, had no choice but to leave the room.

"How is it?" the father asked as he packed the fruit basket.

"I don't want to say right now," Mo Xueyao said, shrugging. "Have you ordered fast food yet?"

"I ordered it, it will be delivered shortly."

The fruit shop wasn't doing particularly well, but it wasn't deserted either; on average, at least one customer would come in every ten minutes or so.

Someone even bought a fruit basket—at a price that was almost half again as much as buying fruit individually.

It turns out that people who come to the hospital to see patients don't seem to care about spending money.

Or rather, even knowing that it would be more expensive to buy here, it doesn't matter; I just want to try something new.

The fast food arrived at the store more than half an hour later, and Mo Xueyao picked up a portion and placed it on the table in the small room.

Li Wanyan was lying face down on the table, her body trembling slightly, as if she were crying.

Mo Xueyao didn't disturb her. After leaving the food, she quietly left and closed the door behind her.

"Xiaoyao, are you coming home with me today or riding your bicycle?" Her father asked, picking up a shredded potato and eating it leisurely.

Mo Xueyao glanced at the bottle of beer next to him and thought that he wasn't having dinner, but just treating the dishes as snacks to go with his drinks.

Hot and sour shredded potatoes with drinks?

Is it really delicious?

"Let's go back soon, go back early and get some sleep, otherwise we won't get home until one o'clock if we go together." Mo Xueyao said, and couldn't help but yawn a big yawn, as if she was already missing her soft Simmons bed.

After finishing her meal, Mo Xueyao helped her father clean up the fruit shop before preparing to go home.

But before leaving, she couldn't help but carefully push open the wooden door of the small room.

She noticed that the fast food on the table was completely untouched, and Li Wanyan seemed to have temporarily put her unhappiness behind her and started doing her homework seriously.

His focused expression suggested he wasn't easily disturbed.

Watching Li Wanyan do her homework is actually a pleasure, because when she answers questions, she hardly pauses and continues working smoothly.

It felt as easy as knowing the correct answer in advance.

Moreover, her handwriting is also very beautiful.

Words are like another face of a person.

Perhaps it's because everyone's handwriting is closely related to their inner self.

She watched Li Wanyan finish her homework before she suddenly realized that she had been standing there dumbfounded for half an hour.

"...Wanyan, hurry up and eat dinner, or it will get cold."

"Ah."

"Are you OK?"

"I'm fine," Li Wanyan forced a smile.

"I'm going home now, see you tomorrow." Mo Xueyao scratched her head, wanting to say something comforting, but ultimately couldn't bring herself to say it.

"..." Li Wanyan remained silent.

Mo Xueyao then turned around and pushed open the door.

"Xiao Yao".

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"……tonight."

"Um……?"

Li Wanyan gently bit her lip, looked at Mo Xueyao's questioning eyes, and whispered, "Spend the night with me."

"what?"

“…A person…can have nightmares.” Li Wanyan finally said what she wanted to say, no longer keeping it bottled up inside. “Besides, I also have a lot to say…that I want to confide in someone.”

Even the most serious and earnest person has moments of being sentimental.

Perhaps at this moment, Li Wanyan is more like a girl than the meticulous class monitor.

Mo Xueyao ultimately couldn't refuse.

After all, when you see a girl who is usually independent and strong looking at you with pleading eyes, even the coldest iceberg would melt.

Besides, Mo Xueyao's heart isn't some frozen iceberg.

"Alright." Mo Xueyao nodded and called out to her father outside the door, "Dad, I'm not going home tonight. I'll stay here tonight!"

……

Chapter 87 Taking a Bath at Grandma Jin's House