A Young Woman's Heart

"Oh, so you mean he doesn't follow the rules?"

"Hmm!" Ren Wenkai looked like he hoped Mo Xueyao would uphold justice.

She looked at him with drooping eyelids: "If he doesn't follow the rules, then you don't either. Why are you so easy to bully? Your name is Ren Wenkai, not Ren Renzai, right?"

"..."

"Also, why don't you listen properly in class? Is it that boring? Why are you drawing tic-tac-toe in your notebook?"

"Uh……"

He definitely couldn't answer that question.

It's obvious without even asking that they played it because they were bored.

"You're here to attend classes, not to play." So, Mo Xueyao automatically moved on to the next stage, "You need to listen carefully in class, understand? You have to learn something to make it worthwhile. Otherwise, what are you doing at school? Wouldn't it be better to spend the summer vacation with the other people who didn't come to class?"

"Uh……"

"If you dislike going to class so much, why don't you call your parents and tell them you don't want to come? That way you won't have to come."

"No..." He immediately shook his head faster than a rattle drum.

"Then listen carefully. Look at me and the blackboard during class. Also, your handwriting is really terrible. Don't go out to play at noon. Practice your handwriting here with me." Mo Xueyao said, taking out a calligraphy practice book from the cardboard box at her feet. "Write at least three pages for me. If you don't do well, stay after school this afternoon to continue practicing."

"..."

"Also, you're in fourth grade now, stop using pencils all the time. Use a pen to practice this calligraphy."

"Oh……"

Mo Xueyao nodded in satisfaction and then instructed, "Go and turn that air conditioner fan around a bit, yes, that one. Then go and move the chair over from the last desk. That belongs to your PE teacher; he doesn't need it right now."

Ren Wenkai's expression was very blank at this moment. If you hadn't seen his radiant appearance before, you would have thought he was an autistic teenager!

"Okay, move next to me and sit here. I'll watch you practice each word one by one."

"Your pen grip is wrong. How are you holding the pen? Is this how you hold it? Grip it a little higher."

"Yeah, why are you making that delicate pinky gesture?"

Educating and managing students is never an easy task.

……

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Gradually Getting Used to Life

Sunday, July 15, 2001.

This week's formal teaching has ended.

Six whole days.

Not only were the students feeling tired, but the teachers actually felt even more exhausted.

Mo Xueyao had been looking forward to this day off since Thursday.

Today it has finally arrived.

She didn't plan to do anything; she just wanted to get a good night's sleep, a full twelve hours.

However, in reality, one's biological clock is not so easy to change. In addition, with the scorching sun outside, Mo Xueyao was woken up before eight o'clock by the sunlight that shone through the curtains and warmed her body.

Hua Yinyin had rolled off the bed at some point, a spot that offered some shade from the sun, but her forehead was still covered in fine beads of sweat.

Fortunately, this is an island, so although it's hot, it's not too stuffy, and you don't feel like you can't breathe.

"Ha—ah—hoo—" Mo Xueyao yawned widely, almost lying sideways on the bed, and stretched out her arm to gently pat Hua Yinyin's face. "Hey, Yinyin, wake up, wake up, why are you sleeping on the floor?"

"It must be because Xiaoyao is such a restless sleeper last night..." she mumbled groggily as she opened her eyes.

"Bullshit!" Mo Xueyao's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "You fell down by yourself, didn't you! You're the one with the worst sleeping posture every night!"

"Waaaa, Yao Yao bullied me..."

"Come on, you can keep lying down, I'm going to wash up."

She wasn't in a hurry to wake Hua Yinyin up, since there wasn't enough room for two people to wash up at the same time anyway.

Although it was still morning, the water flowing in through the pipes was already quite warm.

In the summer on the island, after washing up, you have to take an extra step of applying sunscreen. Even if you don't plan to go out, just sitting by the window will make you feel the sun's heat quite intense.

Sometimes even drawing the curtains doesn't seem to have much effect.

"Is breakfast finished?" After she finished washing up, Hua Yinyin rubbed her eyes and came out of the room, yawning and swaying as if she had just woken up from a hangover.

"I don't know, there should still be some." She had just gotten up, but she wasn't hungry at all, and even had the leisure to stand by the French windows and look at the scenery for a while.

The sunlight slanted down, setting the stage for a whole day.

What if we run out?

"Let's wait until lunchtime," Mo Xueyao said, shrugging. "Or we can ask the auntie to cook something special for us."

"Are you still using the downstairs kitchen?"

"It seems like we don't need to anymore. It seems like the cafeteria kitchen is used to cook breakfast and dinner for boarding students."

"What canteen? It's just a big kitchen..." Hua Yinyin leaned against the wall, walked into the small washroom, turned on the tap, waited for the not-so-large flow of water, and squinted as she brushed her teeth.

"Oh right, I brought instant noodles. How about we have instant noodles for breakfast? I haven't had them in a long time, and I suddenly have a craving."

"Mmm—I want some too—"

"Then I'll go downstairs to fetch some water and check if there's any breakfast left."

As she spoke, Mo Xueyao picked up the two kettles placed by the door, slipped on her sandals, and went outside.

Because I was too lazy to change my clothes, I was still wearing my nightgown.

But these nightgowns are designed to be worn to sleep or when going out—if you're just walking around the neighborhood, that's perfectly fine.

Most importantly, it is very loose and soft, so you won't feel restricted in your movements.

The downstairs restaurant was rather deserted; most students had already eaten breakfast. Qiu Yi was wearing a white apron and cleaning up the leftovers.

Ye Wen sat with her legs crossed at a clean dining table by the window, her chin resting on her hands, watching a TV series on a laptop that, while still sturdy, was much lighter than a desktop computer, looking like a high-class white-collar worker in a coffee shop.

The fact that this scene appears in the same place creates a strong sense of disjointedness.

Ye Wen is indeed a young lady from a wealthy family. She might try cooking, but she probably wouldn't even consider washing the dishes.

"Ah Qiu, are you the only one who's busy?"

"Yes, you're up? There's still some breakfast left. Qianyu and Taiyin haven't gotten up yet, and neither have Wang Jiale and Chali. Go up and call them later."

"Everyone's sleeping in?" Mo Xueyao scratched her head, turned around and walked into the kitchen. "Didn't Wanyan and Xiaoxue come for breakfast either?"

"They did eat, but they went down the mountain after they finished eating."

"Where are you going?" Mo Xueyao suddenly felt a strange sense of alertness.

“There are always a few problem children, so we went to their homes to make home visits.”

"Oh—speaking of which, there are only sixty people, yet there are so many problem children?" Mo Xueyao placed the kettle on the sink, turned on the tap and poured water into it with a 'whoosh' sound, then poked her head out from behind the door and asked.

Qiu Yi wiped his sweat with the white towel hanging around his neck, looking exactly like a servant in an ancient costume drama: "Left-behind children, more or less all have some problems."

"Be careful someone doesn't overhear you saying that," Mo Xueyao teased, turning around to plug in the kettle that was full of boiling water.

There's one electric and one gas-powered unit left here.

Most of the time now, it's more like a hot water dispenser.

Even the breakfasts for boarding students are cooked and brought over from the cafeteria.

"Aren't you going to eat breakfast? There's still some left."

"I'm not eating anymore, I have instant noodles upstairs."

"Haha—I like to eat that stuff too."

"Oh, really?"

"But you get tired of eating it all the time. Even now, I still have a pack occasionally. It's very fragrant. Of course, after you finish it, you feel like you'd rather not eat it at all."

"If it's too greasy, you can just use half of the seasoning packet."

While they were chatting, Ye Wen, who was sitting there watching TV, suddenly touched her pocket and answered the phone, which had only rang a couple of times.

"Hello? Hmm? It's delivered? Okay, I'll come to the school gate."

"What has been delivered?" Qiu Yi asked with his back to her.

"The extra electric fan has arrived. I'll go check the stock."

"An electric fan?" The water had been sitting there for a while, and Mo Xueyao was quite bored. "Why not an air conditioner? An air cooler would be fine too... although you'd need to put ice in it to make it cool."

"Do you think money grows on trees?" Ye Wen rolled her eyes at her, annoyed.

"Huh—?" To be honest, Mo Xueyao really thought so.

At the very least, Ye Wen and Wang Qianyu seem to have become teachers only after experiencing life firsthand; they look like the kind of people who could casually throw away hundreds of thousands of yuan.

"This is a fixed budget, we can't use more than that, otherwise my dad will nag me again," Ye Wen said frankly. "Besides, this is also a test and an experience."

"Okay... an electric fan is fine too, more airflow is always good."

"That's right~ I even bought a mahjong mat. Anyone who doesn't have one can come to me to get one." Ye Wen said, quickly walking out of the restaurant.

The electric kettle made a 'whirring' sound. Mo Xueyao quickly ran into the kitchen, unplugged it, and then filled two thermos flasks.

"Ah Qiu, I'm going up now."

"Okay, remember to wake everyone else up for breakfast. How can a teacher get up later than the students?"

"It's a holiday after all... so please let them off the hook..." Mo Xueyao said with a smile, but she was also somewhat impressed by the guys who hadn't gotten out of bed yet, as they could still sleep in the sweltering morning.

"There won't be any breakfast later."

“I don’t think they want to eat these either…” Mo Xueyao carried the kettle upstairs and knocked on Wang Jiale’s room and Cha Li’s room.

Neither of them reacted, but they could faintly hear a soft "coming" coming from inside.