A Young Woman's Heart

"Why? I have class tomorrow."

"Tomorrow isn't Saturday... uh... I forgot, we have to go to class on Saturday... ah—I don't want to go to class—!" Mo Xueyao's feelings at this moment were exactly the same as many of her students.

"Alas--"

……

Chapter 49 Zhou Yong in the Summer Park

In the azure sky, the clusters of clouds are as soft and fluffy as cotton wool.

Looking up at the sky, it felt like lying on a cloud.

The cicadas chirped noisily in the summer air, and a bold green cricket even jumped onto Zhou Yong's forehead. When it realized that this was not a flat and smooth surface, it hopped away with a 'whoosh'.

"Ah..." Zhou Yong suddenly sat up—he had just been planning to lie down on this long stone bench and take a nap.

However, it is obviously impossible for an average person to fall asleep with sunlight shining on their face.

Besides, the weather is very hot.

This is a park near his home. It has no walls and is open to the public. It's right by the roadside, with some exercise equipment in the middle and a spacious square where many elderly people usually dance in the evening.

Although it's already noon, there are still a few elderly people practicing sword dancing and Tai Chi there.

Not far away, there was a stall selling cotton candy and candied hawthorns. The owner was eating the cotton candy he had just made by himself, with a lot of sugar stains on the corners of his mouth, but no one was buying anything from the stall.

I came out in this sweltering heat because we had guests at home.

Those were family relatives, and they brought four children with them.

It was incredibly noisy inside.

There was also a child who, when he was browsing forums on the computer, insisted on playing too.

He could only take advantage of the moment when the children were lured to the living room by their parents with watermelons, quickly lock the bedroom door, and then slip out.

Before leaving, I specifically told my father that I had homework in my room and he shouldn't mess it up.

It basically means they don't want anyone to come into their room.

When he's in his room, his relatives' children might come to visit him—but in reality, they're either playing on the computer or rummaging through his things.

Even if he's not there, it's still possible for him to get in, but the chances are much smaller.

However, after he came out, he felt somewhat lost.

Where should we go in this sweltering heat?

The large supermarket near my home is quite a walk away, and the few small shops with air conditioning don't offer a place to linger...

He felt his pockets and found a wallet, but it was empty, containing only a two-yuan bill and some loose coins.

I don't even know if it would be enough for ten yuan if we put it all together.

He glanced at the boundless sky, then his gaze fell on the newsstand by the roadside.

"Um... let's see if there are any cheaper books available..."

You have to find something to kill time, right?

So he bought a pirated magazine from a newsstand. The content inside was a mess, but its only advantage was that it was cheap. It was a thick book for only five yuan, enough for him to read for three or four hours.

He also bought a bottle of iced cola and a skewer of spiced tofu—he even added a lot of seasoning so as not to lose money.

They smeared all sorts of sauces on it—chili sauce, sweet bean sauce, ketchup—making the tofu completely unrecognizable.

As for the boss's sullen face, he simply pretended not to see it.

He had spent most of the money in his tattered wallet, so he returned to the park and sat in the stone pavilion by the dried-up stream.

The pavilion was only about two or three square meters in size, surrounded by a circle with two entrances. There was some dust on the stones, which he patted off. It didn't seem too dirty, so he naturally plopped down on it.

Perhaps it was because there were many plants in the park and the pavilion was well-ventilated, but it didn't feel that hot after it quieted down. Although I was still slightly sweating, it was still within a tolerable range.

He slowly started eating the dried tofu. Since it was summer, he wasn't worried about it getting cold, as long as he didn't let the sauce or anything else drip onto the magazine.

This magazine is like a patchwork; it seems to have no core theme. It just uses whichever story is interesting, some of which he has even seen in other books.

The problem is that some stories aren't fully shown here; they always end abruptly at the most exciting part.

It makes people grit their teeth in hatred.

When reading, one often loses track of time. Before you know it, the dried tofu is finished, but the skewer is still there, nibbled on from time to time, as if savoring the satisfaction of just now.

There are always many advertisements interspersed throughout the pages of the book, but not all advertisements are boring. Just like when we were kids, we would always linger in the toy section of the supermarket, even if we couldn't play with the toys, it was still nice to look at them.

Right now, he was intently watching an advertisement for a portable game console, which said that the thing had a color screen and was self-illuminating, meaning it could be played at night without any additional lighting.

The game console came with a free game, the name of which was entirely in English, but there were many in-game screenshots for reference. However, the pictures were a bit small, and even after Zhou Yong opened his eyes wide and moved closer, he still couldn't see them clearly.

Even for high school students, owning their own portable game console is one of their life dreams.

Computers are great, but they are not convenient to carry around, and in this day and age, there aren't many games ported to computers. Many fun things are exclusive to various game consoles.

Just as he was imagining himself buying all these things, he suddenly felt something gently poke his forehead.

Zhou Yong quickly looked up and saw a little girl of about five or six years old standing in front of him, leaning close and staring at him curiously.

"Uh……"

"uncle!"

"Uncle...??" Zhou Yong stammered, "Uh... ah... w-what's wrong?"

Although the little girl looks more than ten years younger than me and I could indeed call her "uncle," it still feels a little sad when I say it.

Zhou Yong touched his chin. Recently, his hormone secretion seemed to be very vigorous. Only half a month after the summer vacation ended, a few sparse whiskers had already grown there.

But he doesn't look like an 'uncle' at all, does he?

He felt that although he was of average appearance, he should still look relatively young.

"Uncle!" the little girl called out again in her childish voice, placing her hands on his thighs, seemingly getting excited.

"Oh, hello, what's up?"

"Uncle!! Are you here to see gods and demons?"

Curious eyes stared at him, making him unsure where to look.

"Uh, I'm reading a book."

"Is it pretty?"

"fine……"

"can I see!"

"Ah...can you understand it?"

"Hmm... Ah-woo-ah-ba-ah..." she pretended to read it aloud, then nodded energetically, giving Zhou Yong an affirmative answer, "I can understand it!!"

"Pfft...cough..."

"What are you doing?" A slightly overweight woman walked over and asked, looking down at the little girl.

"I'm watching Uncle read a book!"

He spoke so loudly that his saliva splashed all over him.

"You knew your uncle was reading, yet you still disturbed him?"

"Hmm..." The little girl took a half step back, feeling a little embarrassed, but still looked at Zhou Yong with curiosity. Suddenly, her chubby little hand quickly reached out, grabbed a lonely and long beard on Zhou Yong's chin, and then 'snap' pulled it off.

"hiss--"

"Pfft, what are you doing!" her mother asked, both amused and exasperated. "Quickly apologize to your uncle!"

"Uncle!" the little girl exclaimed happily, "I'm sorry!"

Although he didn't sense any admission of wrongdoing from her, Zhou Yong still smiled wryly and said magnanimously, "Ah, it's nothing, it's nothing..."

"Uncle! White beard!" She pinched the long beard in her hand and shook it. The end of the beard was a little white, which was probably why she had come closer out of curiosity.

After all, children always observe the things around them more carefully than adults.

"Ah, okay..."

The little girl stuffed her beard into her pocket and ran into her mother's arms. As she left, she turned back and waved to him.

"If all children in the world were this cute," Zhou Yong muttered. Although she was also mischievous, she was far more well-behaved than the four destructive children in her family.

He suddenly had a slight urge to have a daughter.

Of course, the prerequisite is that you have to have a wife.

For some reason, the first thing that came to mind was Tian Ting Chan.

He scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly and chuckled awkwardly to himself.

"Should I go visit her...? Is she home...? Uh...? Going without contacting her beforehand isn't really a good idea... Ah... even though we often talk online..."

He hesitated for a good half hour, his mind racing with a jumble of thoughts, but in the end he didn't move. He remained seated, leisurely reading the pirated magazine in his hands.

The sunlight gradually slanted.

The sky remained crystal clear.

Zhou Yong finally turned to the last page of the magazine, even reading through the various staff lists at the end.

He only put down the book when there was really nothing left to read.

I don't know if the relatives have left yet, but those who rarely come usually stay for at least dinner before leaving.

He stood up, but hesitated as he headed home.

As if some force had changed his direction, he walked to the bus stop next to him.

Before he could figure anything out, a bus that led to Tian Tingchan's house slowly came to a stop, and an inexplicable force pushed him onto the bus once again.

He was the only one who got on the bus.

The car slowly started moving, and the driver glanced at him sideways, seemingly wondering why the kid hadn't put in the fare yet.