A Young Woman's Heart

"Awen and Teacher Qianyu both brought their laptops. We can take turns entering the test papers into them and then go to a print shop in the city to print them out."

“Yes, handwriting is too troublesome, and if it’s written sloppily, the students might not be able to understand it.” Mo Xueyao nodded, closed her sixth-grade textbook, and then picked up her fifth-grade Chinese textbook.

"These are all too easy, I'm too lazy to prepare. I just need to mark what I taught," Hua Yinyin muttered, pushing the Chinese textbook on the table aside. "I'd better do some summer homework instead. Honestly, I'm supposed to be a volunteer teacher, but I still have to do homework..."

"Teacher by day, student by night, it's a strange feeling." Mo Xueyao deeply agreed. "Won't Yinyin have a hard time switching back and forth?"

"I'm fine."

"Crunch, crunch." Mo Xueyao nodded without answering, and started chewing on her fries. The room instantly fell silent, with only the sounds of eating fries and turning pages filling the air.

……

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Feeling Full of Energy Even Late at Night

In remote rural areas, especially on islands like this.

I always feel that night comes earlier than in the city, and the late night seems to last longer.

When Mo Xueyao and Hua Yinyin felt sleepy and went to bed, it was only 9:30.

But they both agreed that it was already midnight.

In fact, the clock wasn't broken; it was just that the surroundings were too quiet, with only the sounds of nature, which made them feel like it was already very late.

Their internal biological clocks were also urging them to fall asleep quickly.

The sounds of nature are the best lullabies.

Mo Xueyao, in particular, falls asleep almost the moment her head hits the pillow; her speed in falling asleep rivals that of Nobita.

Although I only attended classes for half a day, I was busy with many other things for much longer.

Managing elementary school students is also a skill...

a little.

It was both late at night and early morning.

Although she hadn't slept for long, Mo Xueyao woke up surprisingly naturally.

It wasn't because I needed to go to the bathroom, it was just that I felt I had slept enough.

She stared wide-eyed at the ceiling, pushing against Hua Yinyin's chest, which was pressing against her arm.

The two beds together are already big enough, yet they still squeeze in here...

Fortunately, there was a downpour this afternoon, so the night was relatively cool, and it wasn't hot even when we were huddled together.

The other person was fast asleep, drool unconsciously dripping from the corner of their mouth, but it didn't completely soak onto the pillow, because whenever it was about to spill, they would slurp it back up.

Luckily, she has a cute face; if it were on an uglier face, this action would be absolutely disgusting.

Mo Xueyao shifted her gaze back to the ceiling, widened her eyes, and then forced herself to fall asleep again.

But no matter what I do, I can't fall asleep.

He was as awake as if he had slept for ten hours.

So she decided to get up and go to the bathroom.

—Although she didn’t feel the urge to urinate at the moment.

However, to my dismay, I became even more awake after going to the toilet.

I don't even want to lie down in bed anymore.

He was so energetic, it was as if he had been given stimulants.

She picked up the last French fry in the bowl and put it in her mouth. It was soggy and not crispy at all. It tasted like water being poured into her mouth. Then she ate the potato noodles directly.

The dazzling Milky Way hangs upside down in the sky, making one wonder if a few stars might flow down like a waterfall.

On the island, you can clearly feel the curvature of the Earth.

The stars in the distance, close to the ocean, look as if they had accidentally fallen down.

Not sleepy at all, Mo Xueyao glanced at the pajamas she was wearing, then simply slipped on her sandals at the door and went out.

The night wind is gentle, carrying a sense of leisure as if time will never pass.

She took a deep breath and felt refreshed and comfortable all over.

Sleepiness is completely nonexistent.

However, it's already past 1 a.m.

The dormitory building was quiet. She made sure her footsteps were quiet as she slowly went downstairs.

Perhaps it's because I rarely go out late at night—at least the other day I went out close to dawn.

There's still quite a while until morning.

In the city, people who stay up late still have their lights on at this time.

But not a single light is on here.

Even the streetlights on the playground were turned off.

Mo Xueyao strolled leisurely on the soft rubber track.

The light nightgown was slightly lifted by the wind, slapping against her thighs again and again.

The chirping of insects and the calls of birds have all stopped, as if they too have fallen asleep.

Mo Xueyao walked across the school gate on the soft rubber track.

This big yellow dog is here again. Maybe it's because the workers often feed it during construction, making it used to running around here.

And recently there have been some leftovers, not much, but enough for it to have a full meal.

Perhaps they consider this place their home—or perhaps it's one of several homes.

"Woof woof!" A few barks came from the village below the mountain, making the big yellow dog twitch its ears impatiently.

The streetlight was still on where it was lying.

The dim yellow light dispelled the surrounding darkness.

Lying here seems to make it feel very safe.

Mo Xueyao couldn't help but look at it. As if it could sense her gaze, the dog turned its head to look at her, then stopped its unrestrained lying position, moved to the side to make room, and turned its back.

The tail that slapped against the empty space beside it again and again seemed to be extending an invitation.

It probably felt particularly comfortable lying in that spot...

Mo Xueyao raised her eyebrows and turned towards the back of the teaching building along the playground.

"If someone were to play basketball right now, it would be absolutely terrifying..." She looked at the dark basketball court and couldn't help but mutter to herself.

"Dong dong."

Then, sure enough, the sound of a basketball bouncing on the floor came from inside.

In an instant, goosebumps rose on her skin.

Then I started to doubt whether I was dreaming.

After all, how is it possible to wake up naturally after only a few hours of sleep, and be particularly alert after waking up?

This clarity might just be an illusion created by a dream.

As she thought this, she casually pinched her thigh.

Hmm... I didn't use much force, but it hurt.

The azure sky was hazy and frosted, somewhat resembling the stone she had picked up.

The darkness of night always seems to stimulate one's senses, and although she was a little scared, she couldn't help but want to explore it.

I moved along and found myself standing at the entrance of the basketball court.

"Squeak—" Just like the sound in all horror movies, the wire door slowly opened and swayed gently twice.

By the light of the moon and stars, you can see that a basketball is stuck on the basketball hoop, and another one that was rolling just now has hit the wire mesh and slowly stopped.

It's possible that during the day, students were playing here and one ball got stuck. They tried to knock it down with another ball, but both got stuck. So they just left it there, and when the wind picked up at night, one of the balls fell down...

"What a bunch of brats! The ball got stuck on the court and they didn't even bother to get it off... If it rains heavily, the basketball will be blown away!" Mo Xueyao pouted and walked out of the basketball court.

As she walked away, the area fell into darkness again.

The moonlight seemed to illuminate only what was in front of her; beyond that, only a hazy outline could be seen.

"Xiao Yao".

"Ah!!" Mo Xueyao was startled and hurriedly turned around, her gaze falling on the big yellow dog standing behind her.

When did it catch up?

Wait, how can it talk?!

"Over here." The other person spoke again, and only then did she recognize that it seemed to be Xuan Anyi's voice.

Xuan Anyi was squatting in front of the barbed wire fence to her right. She had been looking towards the podium when she came over, so she didn't notice.

"Hey, Auntie, why aren't you sleeping?"

"And you?" Xuan Anyi smiled, then looked at the big yellow dog. "Why is it following you?"

“How should I know…” Mo Xueyao glared at it warily, but the latter calmly walked past her and then raised its leg from the flower bushes nearby.

Okay, I wasn't following her, I just came to use the restroom...

After resolving the problem, the big yellow dog seemed to deliberately glance at her a few more times before swaying its tail high as it strolled towards the school gate.

That streetlight is its favorite place to dream.

Come to think of it, wouldn't you say this is a watchdog that came voluntarily?

"I went to bed before seven o'clock."

"Ah..." Mo Xueyao remembered that Ye Wen brought the fries over at around 6:30, which meant that she went to sleep after frying the fries?