A Young Woman's Heart

"Why are you suddenly so excited today...? What time is it?"

It's 3:30 now!

"...I want to sleep..." Mo Xueyao tilted her head back and fell down again.

"Don't sleep! It's so rare for me to get up this early! Besides, it's just me and Xiaoyaoyao going to see the sunrise this time, it's a date!"

"Go play somewhere else..." Yi had no interest in her ambiguous wording.

However, in the end, it was still woken up by Hua Yinyin, who was even noisier than the cicadas at dawn.

The air was exceptionally fresh and cool in the early hours of this morning, and after washing her face, she felt much more awake.

"Just the two of us?"

"Okay! Let's go!" Hua Yinyin was about to speak louder, but quickly lowered her voice, "Shh—don't disturb others."

Don't misunderstand, she wasn't really that 'kind'; she just didn't want anyone to disturb their rare outing together.

Going out in the early morning feels really different.

Because I rarely go out at this time of day.

Actually, it's only 3:30 now.

For most people, it should still be considered the middle of the night.

Like going out late at night, there's a special sense of excitement. However, since it's almost dawn, it doesn't carry the slight fear of going out late at night, but rather a feeling of boundless freedom.

The dormitory building was quiet, as if no one lived there at all.

The two of them walked very quietly, and only breathed a sigh of relief after they had left the area.

The soft and springy playground didn't make much noise. After passing through the teaching building, the two walked out of the half-closed school gate.

The big yellow dog I saw during the day was lying at the door, voluntarily acting as a gatekeeper. When it heard someone approaching, its ears twitched, then it turned over as if nothing had happened and went back to sleep.

"That's really early..." Mo Xueyao teased, "Even the dogs aren't up yet."

"Woof! Ah Huang, let's go!"

"...Do you know him?"

"I don't recognize it. Anyway, it's yellow, so I'll just call it Ah Huang, right?"

"..."

To Mo Xueyao's further dismay, the yellow dog actually shook its messy fur, stuck out its tongue, stretched, and followed her, wagging its tail.

"Does it think we've given it food?"

"Who knows? Maybe it's just about to come down the mountain?"

If that's the case, then it really is on the way.

After all, there's only one way down the mountain.

The moon was still bright, and the night was still pitch black.

The Milky Way hangs upside down above my head, as if it's slowly rotating.

Perhaps because there is less light pollution on the island, the starry sky looks exceptionally bright.

There were so many stars that it was impossible to count them all.

The big yellow dog walked slowly, its tail held upright like a foxtail grass. Sometimes it would run ahead to sniff the air, and sometimes it would lag behind and lift its hind legs.

It seemed as if it was just passing by and didn't obviously follow the two of them.

Just watching it run around is enough to pass the time during the first half of the journey; the further down you go, the more houses there are.

Occasionally, you can hear a few rooster crows and the barking of the guard dogs.

Big Yellow was like a free spirit, sometimes deliberately stopping to peek through the crack in the door at his colleagues who were tied up with ropes, which naturally drew even louder shouts.

Its calloused claws made a 'tap tap tap' sound as it walked in front, as if clearing a path for the two of them.

But in reality, it never intentionally stopped to wait for the two of them.

"It seems to go to the beach too?" Hua Yinyin asked in confusion.

"It seems so..."

On the other side of the island, there is no pier, so no ships dock.

The seawater seemed to be a bit clearer than what was directly in front of us.

Upon reaching this point, both of them slowed down because the various sizes of pebbles on the gravel beach prevented them from walking too fast.

But the big yellow dog still walked briskly, sniffing around as it went.

Suddenly, it sped up and ran over, opened its mouth and bit down hard on what was being pushed up by the tide, then turned and ran back until it stopped behind a relatively flat rock.

Mo Xueyao and Hua Yinyin were much closer to it now, and they could finally see what it was carrying in its mouth.

—It was a sea fish!

It was about the size of an adult man's palm. At that moment, it had its body bitten, and the fish was struggling, shaking its head and tail.

Then, a 'crackling' sound was heard, and the fish's movements became sluggish, finally ceasing its thrashing.

"This big yellow dog, whose day had not yet dawned, finally reaped the fruits of its labor, and at the same time, it was a gift from nature..." Hua Yinyin imitated the tone of a documentary and began to narrate in Mo Xueyao's ear.

"Pfft, stop making up those voiceovers!"

"There seem to be quite a few things washed ashore on the beach. Look, crabs! And starfish!"

"Oh, it's crawling?"

"Yes."

"This is the first time I've seen a starfish crawl...it's about the same size as a snail."

"And there's an octopus, hey, it's hiding inside its shell."

"Let's go take a look!" Mo Xueyao ran over excitedly, as if she had chosen to get up early today.

Almost half an hour had passed since we came down from the mountain, and the sky was still pitch black.

But no flashlight is needed; the starlight and moonlight overhead are enough to illuminate this beach.

—It was just a little blurry; you could only see things up close.

The octopus hiding inside the shell was only a few steps away. It was carefully concealing itself. After Mo Xueyao squatted down and watched it for a minute, it suddenly stretched out its tentacles and began to move the shell furtively, as if trying to sneak away.

Mo Xueyao immediately grabbed its shell and lifted it up.

It first abruptly retracted the tentacle into its shell, then suddenly burst out again as if it were going to fight to the death. Eight tentacles wrapped around her wrist, suckers firmly attached to her skin, and crawled up her arm and onto her body.

Although it wasn't as disgusting as an insect, it still looked quite strange. Mo Xueyao immediately got goosebumps all over her body and hurriedly shook her hand. She finally managed to shake it off to the ground, and the latter immediately hid in the pile of rubble, nimbly darting around and disappearing in an instant.

"Pfft, I hope Yao Yao wasn't scared."

"No!" Mo Xueyao denied it outright, her pride making her insistent. "I'm just afraid it might be poisonous!"

"Oh~ then we have to be careful, what if it's poisonous~" Hua Yinyin teased her sarcastically, and just as Mo Xueyao's palm came over, she laughed and dodged it.

“Let’s go there to watch the sunrise!” she quickly changed the subject again.

Mo Xueyao then remembered why Hua Yinyin had woken her up today.

Since we're already here, we certainly don't want to miss out.

Especially the moment the sun just rises.

It was already past four o'clock.

Hua Yinyin brought a pocket watch with her, glancing at the time every now and then.

At 4:26, Mo Xueyao suddenly felt that the sky was not completely dark anymore.

It becomes closer to deep blue.

Then, the color of the sky began to fade slowly.

Within minutes, the blue color was already clearly visible.

Hua Yinyin's eyes widened with excitement, and the two of them held their breath in unison.

The sun had not yet risen, but the sky was indeed gradually brightening.

It changed from dark blue to royal blue, and also gained a slightly transparent feel.

The moon was almost touching the sea level, and the seawater was churning like boiling soup.

The waves crashed against the beach one after another.

"Splash—"

"call--"

A warm glow gradually appeared below the sea level.

Pale yellow, orange, reddish-orange, bright red...

A halo of light spread outwards, dispelling the gloom of the sky.

Finally, Mo Xueyao and Hua Yinyin witnessed the moment when the sun rose.

It peeked out from under a small corner, then slowly rose amidst the churning bubbles.

No wonder the ancients thought the sun came from the depths of the ocean; after all, the scene was just too similar.

It's hard to imagine that the sun actually comes from a star in the sky 'very far away' from Earth...

The full moon slowly sank, and even the dazzling light of the rising sun completely overshadowed its brilliance, making it seem as if it had no light at all.

During this brief moment, the sun and moon shone brightly in the sky.

The moon and the sun are both bathed in the seawater at this moment, but one is in the east and the other is in the west.

The seawater swayed, and the light reflected in it swayed along with it.

It creates the illusion that they themselves are swaying.

It's like the little yellow duck in the bathtub when you're taking a bath.

"Yinyin, look! The sun and moon are shining together!"