A Young Woman's Heart

"Why are you wearing clothes? It's cooler if you don't wear anything." Li Hongran patted her abs, making a muffled sound that sounded very solid. "In the middle of summer, why would you wear clothes at home?"

"Be careful not to catch a cold during the typhoon."

"You said the same thing yesterday, tsk tsk, fine, fine, I'll go put on a shirt, you're too particular."

"Remember to wear pants!"

"Damn, they're all guys, is it okay if they don't wear trousers? It must be so hot wearing them."

"Turn on the electric fan if it's hot."

"No, no, I hate wearing my mom's pants at home the most."

An Ruosu's gaze swept quickly over his body before she turned away: "Whatever, can't you have any manners?"

"Anyway, we're at home, and no outsiders are watching, so what's with all this talk about manners? But you, dressed all neatly at your brother's house, like you're going to work, what's the point?" Li Hongran laughed and scratched her head. "By the way, Susu, are you going home tonight?"

"Tonight? Hmm...we'll see."

"I said if you're not going back, I'll go downstairs later and rent some videotapes so we can watch them tonight!"

What do you want to rent?

"Then it has to be a martial arts movie, or a war movie would be fine too, what do you like?"

“…Uh, I’m fine with anything.” An Ruosu licked her lips a little shyly. “As long as it’s an action movie.”

"Oh—I get it, an action movie, right? Hey, let me see if I can find any!"

"What? I meant action movies, not that kind!" he shouted, his face flushed.

"I never said it was some kind of action movie, did I? Tsk tsk, you're the one who got the wrong idea, aren't you?"

An Ruosu didn't know how to refute for a moment, so she could only lower her head and chop the vegetables with all her might, as if Li Hongran was the one lying on the cutting board.

"I'm here to help! What do you need me to do?"

"Do you know how to marinate chicken? Marinate it, it'll taste better when you fry it later."

"I'm the best at this, don't worry! Leave it to me!" Li Hongran, who had just thrown on some clothes, walked into the kitchen and began to work skillfully.

……

Chapter Sixty: A Concert on a Typhoon Day

A night with howling winds.

Although it's a bit better than yesterday, the sea is still very rough.

As soon as Mo Xueyao pushed open the door, she felt a tremendous resistance trying to knock her back into the room.

The invisible wind seemed to have a tangible presence at this moment.

She covered her hair, which was being blown wildly in the air, and took two difficult steps forward before grabbing the railing of the corridor.

It's like escaping from a gravitational field; the resistance suddenly becomes much less.

"What a strong wind!" Hua Yinyin's braids swayed in the wind. She quickly darted forward two steps, but before she could turn around, the door was slammed shut with a 'thud'.

Luckily I brought my key, otherwise I would have been locked out.

"Have Awen and the others already gone?" Hua Yinyin shouted loudly—in the howling wind, if you didn't raise your voice, even if you were standing very close, you wouldn't be able to hear what the other person was saying.

"Okay! Let's hurry up and go!"

Going downstairs isn't too difficult, but walking out of the dormitory building is truly a struggle.

It wasn't that there was great resistance in front, but rather that the wind was pushing the two of them forward from behind, forcing them to push backward, otherwise they would stumble and fall to the ground.

The umbrellas they held were practically useless; they not only failed to keep out the downpour but also made it even harder for them to maintain their balance in the wind.

"Whoosh!" Mo Xueyao's umbrella was blown upside down by the wind. She stumbled forward a few steps, clutching the umbrella, before finally regaining her balance.

For a brief moment, she really felt like she was being blown into the sky.

"Let's put the umbrella away!" Hua Yinyin shouted, struggling to put the umbrella away, then grabbed Mo Xueyao's wrist and ran wildly towards the teaching building.

Whether it rains or not doesn't matter anymore; the most important thing is to get to our destination as quickly as possible.

The strong wind whipped up their clothes and tousled their hair, making them look like refugees who had escaped from a war zone.

At this moment, the journey to the teaching building seemed exceptionally long.

The moment they ran upstairs, rushed into the indoor gymnasium, and closed the door, Mo Xueyao and Hua Yinyin felt as if they had escaped from hell.

The scene outside, with its raging winds and torrential rain, was as terrifying as an apocalyptic disaster movie.

The heavy wooden door slammed shut, shutting out the noisy wind and rain.

The indoor gymnasium was spotless, with a red carpet at the entrance and pairs of one-size-fits-all slippers next to it. The teachers and students who had already entered had taken off their shoes and placed them neatly aside.

The umbrellas were piled up on the other side, rainwater dripping down their surfaces.

"You're finally here! Remember to take your shoes off!" Ye Wen shouted from the stage, but the microphone didn't work. She slapped the microphone hard again, then cleared her throat, "Ahem, hello? Can you hear me? Can you hear me?"

"OK, no problem." Qiu Yi's voice followed, and then he walked out from backstage with a microphone in his hand.

There are five boarding students who haven't left, but it seems there are more teachers than students.

Qiu Yi was just backstage adjusting the sound system; it looks like he's preparing some kind of program.

"The floor is quite clean. Who mopped it?" Mo Xueyao put on her slippers, walked to the middle of the floor, and asked curiously.

There weren't many people to begin with, and everyone was huddled together, which made the indoor stadium seem even more empty.

"Ahem, ahem!" Ye Wen cleared her throat again and said loudly, "Since everyone's stuck in their rooms with nothing to do during the typhoon, I've gathered everyone together for a little singing party! Everyone can eat and watch, and then when it's your turn, you have to come up and sing. Everyone has to sing! There will probably be three rounds, meaning everyone will sing three songs!"

"Ah Wen—!" Hua Yinyin raised her hand high, "Can I bring my own instrument?!"

"Of course you can."

"Um... but my pipa is in my dorm room..."

“My bass is too…” Wang Jiale quickly nodded, her little face scrunched up in a pained expression, “But I don’t want to go back and forth again…”

"Xiaoxue!" Hua Yinyin immediately turned her head to look at Duanmu Ji, her eyes sparkling like the brightest star in the night sky.

"Xiaoxue!" Wang Jiale followed suit.

"Xiaoxue!" Mo Xueyao chimed in.

"Little Yaoyao, what are you doing? You didn't bring any musical instruments!"

"Can't you just shout it out too?"

“Xiao Ji.” Mr. Xue looked at Duanmu Ji with eyes that were equally full of expectation and sparkling with starlight.

Duanmu Ji was stunned for a full three seconds before he came to his senses: "What are you doing?"

"I'm entrusting this to you." Mr. Xue placed his hand on his shoulder in a heavy tone, as if entrusting him with something important.

"What, you're asking me to do this?"

Musical instruments.

"That's a girls' dormitory. Can I just walk in?"

"It's okay, I've granted you the permissions!" Hua Yinyin waved the dormitory key in her hand.

“See, she said it’s okay.”

"..." Duanmu Ji's gaze lingered on Mr. Xue's face for a long time, his serious expression making him somewhat dazed.

If this were a battlefield, and a comrade told him to take his letter home and retreat quickly, then this expression would be perfectly natural.

Finally, he came to his senses, grabbed Mr. Xue's arm, and dragged him outside: "Okay, let's go together."

"Wait! We haven't taken the keys yet!" Hua Yinyin and Wang Jiale shouted in unison.

Duanmu Ji caught the key that was thrown to him, stuffed it into his pocket, and continued to pull Mr. Xue outside.

"Wait a minute." Mr. Xue looked at him seriously and asked, "Can I skip it?"

"No way!! It's just the two of us guys, who else do you want me to bring?"

“Mo Xueyao, I suppose,” he said seriously. “Her personality is also very masculine.”

"Pfft!" Hua Yinyin never expected him to say such a thing.

"Hey Xiaoxue, are you running a fever today? Or did you switch personalities?"

"Yeah, you see, boys are always so carefree, and Mo Xueyao is always carefree too. Boys always like to put their arms around each other's shoulders, and Mo Xueyao likes that too. Most boys don't care about details, and Mo Xueyao doesn't care about details either—"

"So I'm a boy, right?" Mo Xueyao asked, her face full of black lines. "I almost hope that's true!"

"Keep it up." Mr. Xue gave a thumbs up, looking gentle and encouraging.

"Add you my foot! I'm leaving!" Duanmu Ji couldn't help but raise his voice.

Mr. Xue gently patted his shoulder: "Okay, let go, I can walk by myself."

"Uh……"

Just when everyone thought Mr. Xue was about to say something different from usual, he walked out with his umbrella as usual, standing firmly in the wind and rain like a towering tree with its roots firmly planted. He turned back to Duanmu Ji, who was still in a daze, and asked with a smile, "Xiao Ji, what are you still daydreaming about? Let's go and come back quickly."

"You... never mind." Duanmu Ji felt he might not be able to outwit Mr. Xue, so he simply shut his mouth, opened his umbrella, and struggled to walk out against the strong wind.

The wind was favorable when we came, but it will be headwind on the way back.

After trying and failing, he threw away the umbrella and ran wildly towards his dormitory.

Hua Yinyin shouted from behind, "The waterproof bag is in the pocket next to the violin case, remember to cover it up—!!!"

“Me too!” Wang Jiale shouted, holding up a megaphone with both hands.

Mr. Xue held up his umbrella as if strolling in a light rain. Although the umbrella above his head swayed slightly, it remained very stable and did not tilt to one side.

With his back to them, he made an 'OK' sign and caught Duanmu Ji, who almost slipped and fell.

"Alright, alright, let's serve the food first. It's like a buffet, everyone can help themselves to whatever they want."

Who cooked dinner tonight?

"The class monitor made it." Wang Jiale nudged Li Wanyan's arm beside her. "Come on, let's go help serve the dishes! There are quite a lot of different kinds today."