A Young Woman's Heart

It had been a long time since she had been up a mountain, and the road up felt incredibly long. With the last stretch of road almost at the top, Mo Xueyao mustered her courage and started running up the steepest but shortest slope.

"Huff—ha—huff—" She stood at the top, supporting herself on her knees and looking down. She was panting heavily like a broken bellows. Her long hair, sticky with sweat and haphazardly draped over her shoulders, appeared somewhat brownish in the sunlight.

If you look closely at each strand, you'll see that they seem to have a slight golden sheen.

Mo Xueyao's hair is indeed not pure black, but it's usually not noticeable.

She took a full minute to catch her breath before she finally felt herself able to straighten up.

Then, she gently brushed aside her long hair, which was slightly translucent in the sunlight, leaned against the railing, and shouted, "Hurry—up—!"

"Shu'er, how are you? Have you rested well?"

"Um……"

"Let's go." Hua Yinyin grabbed Yu Shu's small hand and effortlessly pulled her up.

The light was exceptionally good today, and there was no fog. The blue sky seemed to merge with the distant horizon. The city buildings nearby were low, and the further away you went, the more tall buildings there were. The surrounding buildings looked like stars guarding the moon, encircling the area.

The dilapidated little wooden house is still there, only the vines climbing on it have grown more luxuriantly.

On the wooden wall, there were even a few pale yellow loofah flowers hanging. Mo Xueyao recognized them because her mother had also planted quite a few on the roof of the fruit shop.

Although she was dragged up by Hua Yinyin, Yu Shu was still out of breath for a long time.

The sun showed no sign of setting.

Mo Xueyao pushed the door, which was loose and easily opened.

The sign that used to be placed at the door and the stone that blocked the doorway have been moved somewhere.

"Ah, our secret base!" Hua Yinyin looked inside in a panic. Newspapers that had been spread on the floor were scattered everywhere, and the newspapers that were blocking the window had a big hole in them. At a glance, she could see something wrapped in newspaper in the corner. After looking at the color more closely, she could roughly guess what it was.

Someone is using this place as a toilet...

Even if this place is abandoned, can't we use the woods next to it?

Could it be because it rained that day?

Or was it intentional?

"It seems... this place is no longer habitable."

"Damn it, our secret base!" Hua Yinyin stomped her foot and shouted angrily, "How are we supposed to use it like this?!"

Mo Xueyao was actually quite relieved, otherwise she felt that she would definitely be dragged by Hua Yinyin to climb to the secret base on the mountaintop frequently during the summer vacation.

"What's wrong...?" Yu Shu hadn't figured out what was going on yet; her breathing had only just calmed down.

“Someone used the toilet inside, so this place can no longer be used as a secret base.”

"That's outrageous!" Hua Yinyin nodded vigorously.

Mo Xueyao deliberately teased, "Who knows if no one used the toilet here when we lived here before? What if it was just a pee or something, so no trace was left?"

"Oh dear—Little Yao Yao spent the night here with me last time!"

"Well... so it's better to avoid these abandoned cabins. If you really have to spend the night on the mountaintop, you might as well use a tent or something."

"That's right." Hua Yinyin slapped her palm. "Next time, bring a tent!"

"Assuming you can carry it..."

"No problem, I have great stamina!"

Since the cabin had been 'ruined' by others, the three of them decided not to linger there and instead went up to the mountaintop.

There is a two-story pavilion at the top of the mountain. Standing on the second floor, you can enjoy the strong wind blowing in your face.

"Whoosh—" The wind picked up a bit more, making the three of them's skirts flutter loudly.

"Ugh, what a rogue wind!" Hua Yinyin suddenly covered her skirt that had been lifted up.

"Who told you to wear such a short skirt on purpose?" Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes at her.

The way to wear a short skirt is not to fold up the hem, but to fold up the upper part, that is, the part with the elastic band. This will make the hem look much shorter than it originally was.

Of course, there's an even simpler way: like some elderly people, pull your belt up to your stomach—it's all about the same thing.

"Short skirts make you look more mature! Only little kids wear long skirts!" Hua Yinyin shouted, pointing at Mo Xueyao.

However, they were both wearing summer school uniforms, the only difference being whether or not they had rolled up their belts.

"If all adults were as childish as you, the world would be better off ending sooner."

"whispering sound--"

Yu Shu finally interjected, "Um, tomorrow is Father's Day... Xiao Yao and Yin Yin, have you prepared your gifts?"

"Father's Day?" Mo Xueyao had no recollection of such a holiday.

"I've got it ready, a wasabi-flavored sandwich cookie!" Hua Yinyin blinked excitedly. "I'll give it to him tomorrow!"

"Is this really how you celebrate Father's Day?"

"That's how we show our closeness!"

Upon hearing this, Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes and decided to ignore him for the time being: "Yu Shu, what about you?"

"I folded some origami cranes myself..."

"Ah, can I borrow a few?"

"Hey, Yaoyao, that's someone else's gift!"

"It's okay..." she said, sounding a little guilty.

"Make it yourself, that way it shows your sincerity!"

Mo Xueyao pressed Hua Yinyin's close face to the other side: "The guy who's planning to feed his dad wasabi sandwich cookies has no right to talk to me!"

……

Chapter 107 Father's Day

2001 6 Month 17 Day.

Father's Day.

Early in the morning, Mo Xueyao sat on a high stool in the convenience store, with a cup of hot oden that Grandma Jin had served her next to her.

In front of him was half a cardboard box—this thing was originally a cigarette box.

She cut it up and glued it back together to use as a temporary storage box.

The box contained some simple handicraft accessories, which I bought yesterday afternoon at the Qianjiang Market.

A whole bunch of random, miniature decorative accessories, only two yuan per pound.

Mo Xueyao bought a pound of it and carefully selected the ones she wanted: all of them were small, tiny parts, some even smaller than a fingernail.

A bottle of super glue was placed to the side, and in front of Mo Xueyao was a paper-shelled walnut that had been evenly broken in half.

Generally speaking, these kinds of walnuts are very fragile, but this one is unexpectedly hard.

Yesterday morning, she was sitting in a fruit shop eating a big bag of walnuts like this.

After finishing each walnut, she would always try to crush it out of boredom. But this one was different. Although the walnut meat inside was bad, the outer shell just wouldn't crack. She was about to try using more force when suddenly she had an idea.

The walnut shell, evenly divided into two halves, looks like an egg when put back together; it's hollow inside.

I learned about the story of the carved walnut boat when I was in elementary school. It was about carving a lifelike little boat out of a walnut. Mo Xueyao doesn't have that skill, but she can stick some little things inside the walnut and decorate it to look like a room!

Perhaps it's because I've been seeing those pirated Doraemon comic books, smaller than the palm of my hand, being sold near the school gate lately, that my thoughts have been wandering.

Children who have seen the Shrinking Light probably all yearn to shrink themselves down and live in a model house—a life that requires only a small space yet provides exceptional enjoyment.

And wouldn't this be a perfect Father's Day gift?

Although there might not be enough time.

But she was a woman of action. Yesterday she went to several places and finally bought the parts she wanted. This morning, she couldn't wait to assemble them here.

It's called an assembly kit, but there are actually no instructions at all; you have to improvise entirely.

She first cut out thin pieces of colored paper and pasted them on both sides of the walnut.

One side is beige, serving as the background wall of the home, while the other side is dark blue, representing the sky.

Stick on small gray-blue pieces of paper to represent clouds, and then stick on shiny little reflective pieces to represent stars.

A bench no bigger than a little finger was glued in, and some plastic flowers and plants were added next to it.

Because each side is a semicircle, it is not completely flat, but can be designed to have a three-dimensional feel.

It sounds easy, but it's actually a meticulous job.

At first, it was really difficult to put it properly without the help of tools. Later, Grandma Jin brought her tweezers, which made it a little easier.

The oden on the table had stopped steaming, and more pedestrians were passing by outside the window.

However, the sky did not light up, and the people passing by all held umbrellas, like a walking mushroom.

Raindrops patter on different umbrella surfaces, weaving together a song that belongs to a rainy day.

"Da da, da da da".

"Pat-pat, pat-pat."

The rain, neither too light nor too heavy, was falling gently, and it looked like it would last all day.

Water accumulated on the eaves flowed down the gutter, pattering rapidly against a water-filled aluminum can.

Su Tang braved the rain and crossed the small road, leaving a long trail of plum blossom-shaped footprints on the clean tile floor of the convenience store with her wet soles.

Grandma Jin, who was mopping the floor, bent down, picked it up by the scruff of its neck, wiped its paws with a rag, and then put it down.

It did not resist during this time, and was as docile as a kitten.

"Meow~" Su Tang excitedly jumped onto Mo Xueyao's lap, as if she wanted to jump onto the table.

"Don't move." Mo Xueyao quickly patted its head. If it destroyed it, all their efforts would be wasted.

As if it could understand, Su Tang circled around her thigh, found a spot closest to her lower abdomen, curled up its front paws, and lay down comfortably, squinting its eyes.