A Young Woman's Heart

You know, Li Wanyan herself has fallen off her bed before, let alone two people.

For Mo Xueyao, the nights spent being held tightly like a rag doll, with her face pressed against that soft mass, were destined to be sleepless.

It would be better if it were a boy.

This sentence was the one that kept appearing in her mind all night.

Li Wanyan, however, slept soundly.

I felt more at ease than on any other night before.

……

Chapter 89 Mr. Xue

"October 26th, 1999." Mo Xueyao stood in front of the calendar on the fruit shop wall, tore off yesterday's page, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into the trash can next to her. Then she stretched lazily. "It's Tuesday today~"

"Not counting today, there are still three days of holiday left." Li Wanyan, who had just finished washing up, stood aside drinking the leftover cold water from yesterday. "Time to go to school."

"Does the class monitor also calculate the holiday time?" Mo Xueyao asked curiously.

“Rest is something everyone longs for, isn’t it?” Li Wanyan brushed a strand of hair that fell beside her ear. “Of course, I’m no exception.”

"That's true. All this hard work now is so that life will be easier when we grow up," Mo Xueyao nodded. "Speaking of which, what does the class monitor want to do after graduating from university?"

"...Hmm, perhaps I want to study medicine."

"Studying medicine? I've heard it's quite tiring."

"To save the world."

"What a grand ideal!" Mo Xueyao said with a hint of teasing.

"Where's Xiaoyao?"

"Me? I don't have any grand ideals, nor do I want to help the world, let alone do anything particularly significant. If I had the opportunity, I would like to travel, to travel around the world. Hmm... I wonder if there are any jobs that would allow me to travel?"

"Tour guide?"

"That's not very free."

"Then I can only become a freelancer, like earning money through royalties or something."

“Writing novels? Hmm… I’m not very good at that kind of thing,” Mo Xueyao shrugged.

As they were talking, the roller shutter door at the entrance was lifted up.

The imagined golden sunlight did not appear, because it was getting closer to winter, and the sky was getting dark later and later.

At six o'clock, the sky was only just beginning to lighten, with most of the sunlight blocked by the buildings.

A cool breeze swept into the fruit shop from the street, making Su Tang shiver and crawl out of the cardboard box where she had slept all night.

"Hey, girls, good morning!" the father greeted them energetically. He looked quite hot, with both sleeves rolled up to his arms. A tricycle loaded with fruit was parked at the door.

Mo Xueyao glanced back and said, "Huh... Dad, did you bring this cargo here by yourself?"

“Yes, the money spent on hiring a tricycle is better spent on buying some good food!” the father laughed. “I saw that one tricycle could carry everything today, so I transported it back to the shop myself.”

"Need any help?"

"No need, you two go have breakfast." The father said, walked to the cashier, took out a ten-yuan note and handed it to Mo Xueyao, "Have a good breakfast, and keep the extra money as pocket money."

"The store has just opened, wouldn't it be better not to waste money like that?"

"It's alright, it's alright." Her father stuffed the money into Mo Xueyao's hand. "Do you think I don't know whether I can make money or not? You little... little brat, don't worry about such things!"

"Hmm..." Mo Xueyao held the ten-yuan bill, thought for a moment, and then put it away. She called out to Li Wanyan, "Wanyan, let's go have breakfast."

"I'll go get my schoolbag."

"Take mine too!"

"Ok."

The minute hand on the clock on the wall gradually moved away from the number '12' and pointed to the position '1'.

Mo Xueyao went to the breakfast shop across the street to buy breakfast, and then brought one back to her father before officially embarking on her journey to school with Li Wanyan.

To be precise, it should be traveling by bicycle.

Li Wanyan sat on the back of Mo Xueyao's bicycle, gently gripping the handlebars with some concern, and asked, "Is Xiaoyao really okay?"

"It's alright, it's just carrying someone while riding. I used to give people rides all the time. You're so light, it'll be no problem for you," Mo Xueyao replied casually. "It'll just be a little slower, but we still have plenty of time, so there's no rush, right?"

"Yes, as long as you're at school before 6:30, you can open the door."

After all, there aren't many students in a class who can arrive at school an hour and a half early.

Unless many people hadn't done their homework that day, they wouldn't have arrived at school so early.

However, yesterday's assignments were all pre-class preparation, and the teacher wouldn't even check them. For students who don't do their homework, there's absolutely no need to come to school beforehand to copy it...

At this time, the security guard at the gate has already gotten up and is sitting in the guard booth leisurely reading the newspaper and eating breakfast.

When she saw Mo Xueyao drive Li Wanyan in, she only glanced at her before returning to her own news.

"Xiaoyao, could you open that window for me?" As he entered the classroom, he opened the window on the corridor side and said to Mo Xueyao.

"Ah, okay." Mo Xueyao replied, quickly opening all the windows and letting the cold wind blow into the classroom. Then she couldn't wait to sit down in her seat and start enjoying her breakfast.

This morning she bought stir-fried rice cakes, and the stir-fried rice cakes at this store seem to be a little different from those at other stores.

It looks like it's braised, with a slightly sticky sauce, and the taste is absolutely amazing.

Of course, it must be eaten while it's hot, otherwise it won't taste good.

"Xiaoyao always eats so fast," Li Wanyan said softly. "It would be better to chew slowly."

"Well, I'm used to it," Mo Xueyao mumbled, her cheeks full of rice cakes. "I feel more satisfied this way..."

Not much time had actually passed, since the fruit shop wasn't far from the school; it was only a ten-minute walk or a few minutes by bike.

The school was unusually quiet at this time, with only the boarding students running on the playground, doing the school's required early morning exercise.

Mo Xueyao's position faced the playground. From her vantage point, she could see An Ruosu running at the very front, as always. While everyone else was jogging slowly with small steps, he was running with long strides, each step following a certain rhythm, like a nimble rabbit.

Hmm... it seems that this is the only metaphor Mo Xueyao can think of to describe him right now.

Just then, a soft footstep sound came from the doorway, and Mr. Xue, dressed in a men's school uniform suit, slowly walked in carrying a book.

"Good morning." Mo Xueyao greeted her classmates who often arrived early, just like always.

"Good morning." Mr. Xue closed his book, a clean smile on his face. "You two come so early every day."

"It's easier to come to school early, right? If you're worried about being late, you can't even sleep soundly. If you come early, even if you're sleepy, you can take a nap on your desk." Mo Xueyao smiled. "Xue...Xiao Xue, don't you come this early every day too?"

"I just prefer taking a less crowded bus to school," Mr. Xue smiled and sat down in his seat.

"Xiaoxue reads books every day, but what exactly is she reading? Is it some interesting novel?"

"Various kinds of novels, mostly science fiction." Mr. Xue is not actually a taciturn person; he just rarely takes the initiative to start a conversation with others.

If someone initiates a conversation with him, he can chat for half a day.

"For example?" Mo Xueyao has also been experiencing a reading slump lately. In this era where students don't have much entertainment, reading is basically her only way to pass the time.

“For example… the one I’m reading right now?” Mr. Xue pointed to the not-so-thick novel in his hand.

"Tell me about it?" Mo Xueyao wiped her mouth, threw the empty styrofoam box into the trash can at the back of the classroom, and sat down next to Mr. Xue quite naturally.

The latter did not show any signs of annoyance or disgust, but instead smiled calmly and kindly.

In his eyes, the difference between boys and girls didn't seem to be that big.

This made Mo Xueyao feel much more relaxed.

It was only when she was chatting with Mr. Xue that she felt like she was still a boy.

Or rather, only when chatting with him can one shed the constraints imposed by gender on each person.

"This book tells a story about time travel."

"Time travel?" In this era, this kind of science fiction story is the most popular, so Mo Xueyao asked with great curiosity, "Is it about going back in time to save the world, like Terminator?"

“It’s not the kind of war science fiction novel.” Mr. Xue shook his head. “The story is about a woman in the future who has a sex reassignment surgery that allows her to have a uterus transplant. She then travels back in time, marries her past self, and then accidentally travels to an even earlier era. Later, their child is born and grows up to be the same man she was at the beginning.”

"Huh? So, the father, mother, and child are all the same person?"

"That's right. I haven't finished watching it yet, but it seems that even the doctor who helped with the surgery and the beggar on the street are the same person."

"That sounds interesting!"

Do you like reading science fiction novels?

"I really like it."

"I have a lot of science fiction novels at home. If you're interested, I can lend them to you. What kind of novel would you like?"

"Hmm... You can skip this one if you want. As for the others... I prefer science fiction that's logically consistent." Mo Xueyao stroked her chin. "But finding books is such a painful thing... There are quite a few science fiction novels, but they're either translated ones from abroad, which are hard to read, or they're domestic science fiction stories with a lot of plot holes. They're usually in magazines. Come to think of it, it seems like there aren't many science fiction novels in China?"

“Yes, I do.” Mr. Xue pulled out a notepad and started writing on it. “Hmm… there are a few good articles in Science Fiction World magazine. I have some at home. I’ll go find those issues for you. I think the author’s name is… Liu Cixin.”

"Uh-huh."

"There are also some well-translated foreign science fiction novels, such as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Have you read them?"

“I’ve already read such a famous novel.” Mo Xueyao proudly raised her chin. “I’m also a big fan of reading novels!”

“I’ve got it. Maybe you can try this one.” Mr. Xue said, taking out a novel with a cover that looked like a kindergarten doodle from his bag. “This book is very interesting. The author has a lot of imaginative ideas, and many of the settings are quite realistic.”

"Really? Let me take a look." Mo Xueyao happily accepted the novel.

The novel's cover also features crooked, scribbled text, much like a child's doodle.

The words "Unmanned Travel" were written on it.

This is probably the title of the book.

……