A Young Woman's Heart

"Haha, it's funny to see you just spacing out by yourself."

"I'm just watching the sunset, don't you think it's beautiful?" Mo Xueyao raised her chin. "This is an island far from the city, without all the hustle and bustle, like a paradise..."

"Without convenient transportation, the conditions here aren't that great," Mr. Xue said, rubbing his nose. "I'm going to play ball, do you want to come?"

"Play ball? Uh... you can play with those kids."

"Haha, good!" He laughed twice, and it didn't sound like he was joking.

"By the way, have you finished washing the dishes?"

"Correct."

"So fast?"

"It's been more than half an hour."

"what?"

Mr. Xue turned around, waved, and left. Duanmu Ji, who was some distance away, glanced in this direction, hesitated for a moment, and then walked towards the basketball court.

She leaned leisurely against the fence, which was very sturdy and there was no need to worry about it collapsing. Even if it did collapse, it wouldn't matter, because the fence wasn't built on the edge of the cliff. A little further out, there was a low wall less than a meter high, which was obviously another safety measure.

If this were at Yukong High School, the land between the fence and the low wall would probably be filled with all sorts of vegetables by the security guard and the shop owner.

Moreover, fences are particularly suitable for climbing vines, so there's no need to build trellises.

Taiyin walked quietly from the direction where the sun was setting to Mo Xueyao's side, staring at her with her doll-like eyes for a full minute.

"Uh...Teacher Taiyin...what's wrong?"

"Here you go." She held out her hand and handed Mo Xueyao a small cucumber.

This cucumber is a bit chubby and looks quite cute. The little yellow flower on it hasn't withered yet, and it looks as fresh as if it was just picked.

"Huh, for me?"

"Yes, I've washed it."

"Thank you." Mo Xueyao didn't stand on ceremony and took a small bite after accepting it.

Crisp and sweet.

"Where did it come from?"

She didn't answer, but simply pointed down the mountain expressionlessly.

It seems to have been given by the islanders who live locally.

Seeing how cute she is, most people would definitely be tempted to give her some treats to tease her.

The refreshing cucumbers were indeed a good after-dinner snack, and even Mo Xueyao felt that the sunset was more beautiful, as beautiful as a half-cooked sunny-side-up egg...

Then she suddenly paused, and then burst out laughing.

what happened?

She wondered if she hadn't eaten enough today.

Although it's a primary school, the basketball hoops are standard.

Elementary school students can't jump up and dunk, so most of their games consist of three-pointers.

Mr. Xue wanted to join in, but they refused.

Why can't I join in?

"Because you're too tall, teacher! We can't beat you!" shouted the tallest boy, but he only reached Mr. Xue's stomach.

"How about we try something else?"

"what?"

"Dribble the basketball around the track and see who reaches the finish line first! There are still many basketballs in the equipment room, enough for everyone."

The children looked at each other, but it seemed quite fun to have a teacher organizing such a game. After the first person nodded, the others followed suit and nodded their own little heads.

"Xiao Ji, want to come together?" Mr. Xue put his hand on his shoulder.

"Oh," the latter replied listlessly.

"Be more cheerful when playing with the children."

"Oh." Duanmu Ji's voice was a little louder.

It wasn't just boys playing basketball; two girls were also among them, one of whom was Song Shanyan, who had been the first to arrive at school.

Actually, it's the same, because there are a few boys playing badminton with the girls over there as well.

Leaning against the fence, Mo Xueyao watched curiously as Mr. Xue and Duanmu Ji led several children to the equipment room. Each child was given a basketball, and then they returned to the playground, where they all dribbled the ball and ran around.

Mr. Xue was in the lead, but Duanmu Ji fell to the middle, with two boys running faster than him.

Come to think of it, it's true that we rarely see Duanmu Ji playing basketball...

Mr. Xue would occasionally be called upon by Li Hongran to fight a few matches.

The children were always full of energy. Even while bouncing a ball and running, they kept muttering to themselves, as if shouting out their names would give them some kind of boost.

"Charge!"

"Whirlwind Charge Tornado!"

"The Unrivaled Ball-Dribbling Technique!"

"The Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms!"

"A crow flies an airplane!"

They shouted out strange names of their moves, not caring whether they were appropriate or not, and just ran happily forward until they reached the end of the straight path behind the teaching building.

"You have to turn back before it counts!" Mr. Xue shouted, and deliberately paused to wait for the two fastest boys to catch up, before bouncing the ball and running forward again.

He always maintained a speed that was just about to be caught by the two men, but no matter how fast they sped up, they still couldn't overtake Mr. Xue.

Just as he was about to reach the finish line, he seemed to run out of stamina and slowed down suddenly, allowing the fastest boy to seize the opportunity and overtake him to win first place.

"Yay, I'm the fastest!!!" he shouted excitedly, then seemed to realize that his voice was too loud and he didn't sound calm enough, so he lowered his voice and said in a deep, adult-like tone, "Teacher, it seems I'm still a little faster."

"Yes, that's great!" Mr. Xue gave a thumbs up, not holding back his praise. "Let's take a break and play some other games."

"Okay! What do you want to play?"

"The school is so big, we can play hide-and-seek."

Should we hide?

"No, we can only play on the playground. We have to catch them. The person who gets caught has to join in catching them."

"There's only catching, no hiding."

"You can go to the entire playground, but you can't go into the teaching buildings or dormitories, and you can't leave the school gate."

"Is the runway on the front side okay?"

“Okay.” Mr. Xue nodded and looked at Duanmu Ji. “Let’s have Mr. Duanmu and I catch everyone for the first time. You can rest for five minutes first, and then we’ll start the game.”

"it is good--"

Mo Xueyao watched with great interest, and out of the corner of her eye she caught a familiar figure. Without looking closely, she knew who it was: "Wanyan? Look, Xiaoxue seems to be the leader of the children."

"Ah."

"What are they playing that makes them so happy?" Xuan Anyi asked curiously.

"I was just playing a game where you dribble a basketball while running."

Hua Yinyin, hands on her hips, asked, "Are you really that happy?"

“That’s how kids are, they’re easily satisfied,” Cha Li said, walking towards Mr. Xue. “I’m going to play too, aren’t you coming?”

"Forget it..." Mo Xueyao shook her head vigorously.

Not everyone finds playing with children enjoyable—watching and participating are completely different things.

……

Chapter Twenty-One: Sea Glass

The island is actually very peaceful at night.

All you can hear here is the sound of nature.

It was 9 p.m., and under Qiu Yi's inspection, all the lights in the student dormitories had been turned off.

The only lights still on were in the teachers' dormitories.

Mo Xueyao had just finished showering and had only dried her hair with a dryer.

She just felt that being wet like this, with the wind blowing from the window, would make her feel especially cool.

At the table, she was flipping through her Chinese textbook. In fact, she had already skimmed through it before leaving. Although it was all content she had learned, so much time had passed, so she still had to take a look.

The articles themselves aren't difficult; you can teach them step by step. The challenge lies in the fact that she has to teach Chinese to six grades by herself. If she gets confused while teaching, it's easy for them to get mixed up.

"New words and characters... and homework... Hmm, how should I assign tomorrow's homework?" She rested her chin on her hand, gently tapping the textbook with her pen, leaving ink marks of varying shades on it.

The main purpose of teaching during the month-long summer vacation was to help the children consolidate the knowledge they had learned before, and then teach them some of the content that they would learn after the start of the new school year in September.

These rural children, unlike children in the city, do not have abundant educational resources. Starting their studies earlier can make it easier for them to keep up with the pace later.

Although the content of the entrance exam for junior high school is the same across the province, the educational levels in different regions are completely different.

It's not that there's a huge difference in the quality of teaching among the teachers, but rather that these children don't have many opportunities to sit down and study quietly.

Sometimes when I get home, the first thing I do isn't to do my homework, but to help my parents with farm work...

The sky by the sea seems bluer than inland, almost the same color as the seawater.

The weather was calm today. Although the sun was strong during the day, perhaps because of the storm that had just hit yesterday, the night after sunset wasn't hot. The ceiling fan was blowing, bringing only cool air.

A golden full moon hung high in the sky, prompting Mo Xueyao to subconsciously calculate the lunar calendar date.

Today is the 16th day of the lunar calendar. As the saying goes, the moon is roundest on the 16th, just like it was drawn with a compass.