A Young Woman's Heart

"They took the Eight Maidens with them, that's it."

"KO!"

Mo Xueyao's smug expression grew even stronger.

The boy frowned and moved on to the next round.

In the third round, he was defeated even more thoroughly.

In the best-of-three series, Mo Xueyao won.

However, she still had game coins, so she asked, "Want to play again?"

"Hit." He finally spoke, and without hesitation, he tossed four or five game coins into the coin slot on his side.

That way, you won't have to add a coin every time you play a game.

Mo Xueyao was delighted and put all her game coins in.

Tapping game console buttons is actually a way to release emotions.

Only at this moment could she forget her transformed male identity, as if she were still a boy, still in that summer vacation after her first year of junior high school, still wandering in that bustling arcade, transformed into her signature character Iori Yagami, using precise and swift operations to wildly defeat one opponent after another.

My thoughts drifted a little away, and when I came back to my senses, I found the other person randomly pressing buttons.

The actions had lost their logic, and the moves were being released haphazardly.

But it actually had a significant effect.

Mo Xueyao was caught off guard.

Because the opponent is full of flaws, yet seems to have no flaws at all...

"Your hand speed is fast, but... it's too reckless..." Mo Xueyao, who was beaten to death by a flurry of punches, said helplessly to him.

The latter didn't answer, but a hint of smugness appeared on his face.

"You can succeed once, but you can't succeed twice." Mo Xueyao snorted and taught the other party a lesson with even faster hand speed.

All four game coins were spent in one go.

I played four games in a row. Except for the first game, I played as the starting hero in every game after that, and I didn't change the hero in either of the two games. This means that I played against three opponents in two of the four games.

"Phew—" She stood up and stretched, feeling as if she had stepped from the first year of junior high to the first year of senior high, even though not much time had passed.

The past is the past.

If it were the old her, she wouldn't have stopped so easily.

Now... I'm not as addicted as I used to be to the point of being unable to stop.

"...Not playing anymore?" the boy asked, turning his head. "If you don't have any game coins, I'll give you some."

"Have you had enough fun?" Mo Xueyao patted the other person on the shoulder like an old friend. "You had a lot of fun today. See you next time, bye-bye."

Just like every time I've ever gone to the arcade, when it's finally time to go home, I say goodbye to the friends I just met after playing all day...

But just like time that can never be turned back, the way she interacted with the boys could never be the same again.

……

Chapter Ninety-Two: The Street in the Rain

Mo Xueyao was in the arcade for about fifteen minutes.

By the time we got back to the fruit shop, it was completely dark.

It wasn't that the sun had completely set, but rather that dark clouds covered the entire city.

The dark clouds gathered in the sky for about half an hour, and then the pitch-black raindrops began to fall in a drizzle.

The sunny weather didn't last all day, and by evening, a gloomy drizzle began to fall.

The whole city suddenly became cold and damp.

On the asphalt-paved street, rainwater rolled down the slope, and several stray cats and dogs fled in panic, searching for a roof over which they could take shelter from the rain.

A curly-haired, filthy little dog cautiously hid under the eaves of the fruit shop, vigorously shaking its wet fur.

It was ready to run away as its father walked by.

However, he only went over to get a bucket.

So the stray dog, which had only run a few steps, darted back after the father went back into the fruit shop.

The street where the fruit shop is located is a long slope. At the top of the slope is a cancer hospital, and on the left side of the middle section of the slope is an elementary school.

The elementary school students who had just left school didn't seem to mind the light rain at all; instead, they ran happily in the rain.

"Wow—!"

"Wow—"

The children shouted loudly, bouncing and skipping with their oversized backpacks that were completely disproportionate to their size.

It's worrying that they might fall to the ground.

In fact, falling down is quite normal.

But the boys were very strong; they got up and continued running happily.

When other boys asked if he was alright, the boy who fell would nonchalantly reply, "It's just a scrape, nothing serious! Besides, what's a little injury to a real man!"

It is from this period that boys and girls gradually begin to go down two different paths.

Strength seems to have always been a synonym for boys.

A man should be brave, fearless, and strong; he should not be afraid of pain.

I don't know who started teaching it.

Perhaps it's your grandparents, or perhaps it's one of your relatives.

But in short, that's what every adult thinks.

This is how they educate their descendants.

Mo Xueyao also received this kind of education—for sixteen years.

So even if she wanted to actively transform into a girl, it wouldn't be an easy thing, let alone the fact that she was constantly resisting it.

When Mo Xueyao is doing her homework, that's probably the busiest time at the shop.

Even on rainy days, there are still quite a few people coming to buy fruit.

After all, it's a hospital upstairs. Whether it's raining or not, you still have to buy what you need when you go to see the patient.

My father's fruit prices were very reasonable, and he also had a good business sense.

He set bananas as the cheapest fruit in the store, and was even willing to sell them to others at cost price.

But this can attract more customers to the store.

Most people come in because bananas are cheap, right?

Most people, having come all this way, won't just buy one bunch of bananas; they'll likely buy something else...

Moreover, they will find the store cheap and affordable, and will come back often in the future.

No wonder her father said that the owner of the fruit shop near the First Municipal Hospital where Mo Xueyao went for her checkup didn't know how to do business.

Indeed, compared to him, that boss was both greedy and stupid. If it weren't for the fact that he was affiliated with a hospital and was the only fruit shop he owned, he probably wouldn't have been able to keep operating.

Mo Xueyao only spent an hour doing her homework, and there was still plenty of time in the evening.

After all, most of the homework was already done at school.

Moreover, whether it's because she's in her first year of high school or because Yukong High School has never assigned much homework, Mo Xueyao's homework load is much lighter compared to other high schools.

When Mo Xueyao finished her homework and came out, she found that the stray dog ​​that had temporarily sought shelter from the rain was gone. Perhaps it had run to a quiet alley where no one would pass by to take shelter from the rain.

Fruit shops are never short of cardboard boxes.

Those cardboard boxes temporarily stacked together are Su Tang's daily paradise.

It was lying in the middle of the cardboard box, with only a black tail peeking out from the gap, swaying back and forth. Mo Xueyao couldn't help but grab it and rub it hard.

"Meow~" Su Tang suddenly popped out of the box, then jumped up and into another box.

For a cat, this must be paradise, right?

"Xiaoyao, have you finished your homework?" Li Wanyan moved a stool and sat at the side entrance of the fruit shop. It wouldn't affect other customers entering the shop, and it was relatively quiet, so she could relax and enjoy the rainy street at night.

"I'm done writing." Mo Xueyao reached for an apple on the fruit stand next to her. "Dad! I'll have an apple!"

"Take it yourself!"

"Dad, when is dinner?"

"It's raining today, so the delivery might be a little slow. Don't worry." The father leisurely arranged flowers on a green, brick-like square of clay, pondering more beautiful flower arrangement techniques.

"Tsk, I'm so hungry. I guess I should have an apple first—squad leader, want one?"

"No need." Li Wanyan gently shook her head. Staying here already added a bit of burden to this family, and she didn't want to waste other people's money in other ways.

That's probably what makes being an outsider so different.

Even though everyone is kind, they still can't let go of the fact that they aren't one's biological parents.

It's like Mo Xueyao can just grab some fruit when she's hungry, but Li Wanyan can't do the same.

"Then I'll eat it all by myself." Mo Xueyao was completely unaware of the complicated feelings in Li Wanyan's heart. She picked a smaller apple, wiped it on her skirt, and then put it in her mouth. "Huh, it's a pink apple!"

"Xiaoyao... why do you always use your skirt as a rag?" Li Wanyan, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand it anymore and finally asked.

"Huh? Ah... well... because it's convenient?"

"Putting aside the fact that your skirt isn't as clean as a towel used for wiping your mouth and face, if you keep doing this, it'll be easy for you to get your skirt dirty."

"Cough cough... I'm used to it..." Mo Xueyao chuckled awkwardly.

I used to wipe my face with my pants, but now it's more convenient to wipe it with my skirt, so this habit is even harder to break.