A Young Woman's Heart

"Everything is fine, the high fever is slowly subsiding."

Ye Wen looked up, squinting at the scorching sunlight outside the window. Even though it was already three or four o'clock, the sunlight showed no signs of stopping.

"I'll set a date... let's call it a day after the students finish their final exams, then it'll be over."

"What about the exam? I checked the weather forecast, and it's not going to rain anytime soon."

"Let's use our own money to buy a regular air conditioner, install it in a classroom, and use that classroom for exams."

"Also."

"But it will probably be three or four days later, it won't be that fast."

"It's better than nothing." Qiu Yi leaned back in her chair. "It's a pity that we spent almost all the money we had saved when we were building this school. Sigh."

"Tsk, I don't want to ask my dad for money. You know he's so annoying. If we ask him for money, he tells us to quit being teachers..." Ye Wen pouted and muttered, "Who wants to work at his lousy company? He's busy all day long, and the family members are always scheming against each other. It's so annoying."

"Haha, yeah."

……

(four)

When Li Wanyan opened her eyes, she felt a heaviness in her chest. She barely managed to lift her eyelids and saw Mo Xueyao resting her head on her chest, her hair disheveled and somewhat fluffy.

"Phew..." She let out a long breath, and with a hint of helplessness, gently touched Yi's earlobe. "Yaoyao."

"Ugh! Ah!" Mo Xueyao suddenly raised her head and asked in surprise, "Ah, Wanyan, you're awake?"

The sky outside the window was a dusky yellow.

The setting sun is painting everything in its colors.

Even though it was already evening, the heat hadn't subsided much.

But it's still much better than the hottest period.

Li Wanyan couldn't help but chuckle softly, a laugh that sounded somewhat like Mo Xueyao's usual chuckle: "Alright, I'm fine."

Are you still dizzy?

"much better."

"That's good." Mo Xueyao raised her head a little shyly, sat up straight like a primary school student, and then relaxed again. "It's almost time for dinner. Xiaoxue said he's going to make a dinner that can cool you down in the summer. I wonder what he's up to. Let's go eat later."

"it is good."

"Awen said she might end her teaching stint early because the weather is too hot."

"Ah."

"Are you able to get out of bed now?"

“Okay.” Li Wanyan took a deep breath, sat up with force, and then put her feet on the ground and slowly stood up.

"Let's go eat!"

"Little Yaoyao—is Wanyan ready yet? It's time to eat—" Hua Yinyin's voice came from outside the door, and then stopped abruptly.

Because she was already standing at the door, she saw Mo Xueyao put her arm around Li Wanyan's shoulder.

“Oh, little Yao Yao, tsk tsk.”

"Why?"

"It's nothing, hmph, come and eat."

What did Xiaoxue do?

"Cold jellyfish salad, boiled corn, mashed potatoes, stir-fried bitter melon with pork... What else did I forget? Let's go! Is Wanyan alright?"

"It's alright." Li Wanyan smiled and nodded, then walked with Mo Xueyao to Hua Yinyin's side and gently took her hand. "Let's go."

"Ugh! It's so hot, I feel like I'm about to get heatstroke."

"It's really hot. It's not so hot in the indoor stadium."

"I've decided to take a cold shower today!"

"I told you a long time ago that you should take a cold shower."

……

(Fives)

The sun was about to set completely.

The sea breeze brought a touch of coolness.

The stars appeared and disappeared in the sky, hidden behind the blazing red clouds.

Mo Xueyao, who had just finished dinner, walked out of the restaurant and stretched comfortably: "If only it were as cool as it is now all day long. Hey, I think we should just have class at midnight. That way we definitely won't get heatstroke!"

"Pfft, how could that be!"

Cha Li nodded with interest: "You can give it a try! I'll suggest it to A-Wen later!"

"There's no way it'll pass."

"Thinking about it, it's actually quite interesting." Mo Xueyao couldn't help but imagine it for a moment, then suddenly her expression changed and she squeezed her legs together.

But red liquid still kept seeping out from under the skirt.

"Oops!"

"Go back to your room quickly!" Hua Yinyin was the first to realize.

Mo Xueyao left a trail of blood as she ran frantically towards the third floor; anyone who didn't know better would have thought some kind of murder had occurred.

What an unlucky day...

……

Chapter Sixty-Three: The Life of the Islanders

Wednesday, November 2001, 8.

Even in the early morning, the sun still burns like fire.

Mo Xueyao had no classes this morning, as did Wang Jiale. With nothing to do and feeling hot in the house, they decided to go to the beach together to escape the heat.

The entire island is dominated by mountains, and if you ignore the sea next to it, it doesn't feel much different from a rural village in the mountains.

In addition to planting things in the yards of every household, there are also large areas of terraced fields on the hillsides.

These terraced fields are not neat and are scattered, making them look somewhat messy.

A muddy water buffalo was slowly walking back and forth in a field, dragging a heavy plow.

Its tail gently slapped its body, shooing away the annoying mosquitoes.

The cattle driver stood by, leisurely watching the cattle work with his arms crossed, requiring no instructions whatsoever.

Once the field is plowed, the buffalo driver leads it uphill by its nose ring, then stops and lets the buffalo continue walking back and forth.

Further along, you can see a winding river on the island. A large water buffalo is lying down downstream, enjoying the cool air. Several mischievous children are splashing water at it, but the good-natured buffalo doesn't seem to be affected. It continues to sway its head slightly, occasionally blinking its huge eyes.

This reminded Mo Xueyao of her maternal grandmother's home, a small mountain village by a stream, where summers were just like that.

When I was little, during summer vacation, my parents were too busy to take care of me, so they would leave me at my maternal grandmother's house.

You can often encounter water buffalo on the village roads. They are very intelligent and will give way to people. Most of the time they are very good-tempered.

She stood on the bank, seemingly wanting to touch the buffalo's fur. Don't be fooled by its smooth texture; it actually has many fine hairs, and the feel is similar to petting a short-haired dog.

"Xiaoyao, what's wrong?" Chali pulled her hand to the side. "The beach is over there."

"It's nothing... I just remembered the feeling of touching a water buffalo when I was a child."

"Huh, you haven't touched it before?"

"Haven't you ever touched a tea jar before?"

Upon hearing this, the latter shook his head vigorously: "I grew up in the city, and I've hardly ever seen a water buffalo."

"Then you can touch it if you have the chance... uh, it's probably similar to a short-haired dog that's been soaked in the rain?" Mo Xueyao muttered, stroking her chin. "It's better not to get close to cows you don't know. Although they're usually very good-tempered, they can be very dangerous if they get angry. They can easily break someone's bones with a single kick."

"An animal so much more powerful than humans is merely a tool."

"After all, humans use tools, and when combined, they are much more powerful than them."

Mo Xueyao shrugged and saw the water buffalo that the children had splashed with water shake its head vigorously, let out a muffled groan, and emit a deep and magnetic moo.

It splashed all the water from the river onto the children, making them laugh and scatter to the side.

Without stopping, the two continued walking down.

On the way, we encountered several goats, with two lambs running happily beside them, their running posture almost like that of dogs.

Mo Xueyao strongly suspected that it was the dogs on the island who taught them.

Perhaps because it was still early and the weather wasn't too hot, the island was quite lively.

The bright sunshine shines on everyone's face, and there are always a few people or animals sitting in the shade of the trees to cool off.

The farmers carrying manure to fertilize their plants walked briskly, and passersby quickly made way for them to avoid being splashed with the filthy substance.

From afar, a huge dog could be seen approaching, about the size of an adult goat, or even larger.

It was furry all over and kept sticking out its tongue; just looking at it made me feel hot.

A petite girl stood beside it, gently stroking its head.

"Hey, Teacher Taiyin!" Mo Xueyao blurted out, standing on tiptoe and waving her hand.

The latter turned her head slightly. Although her face was expressionless, the sunlight reflecting off her eyes made it seem as if she was smiling.

"What a big dog!" Cha Li couldn't help but take two steps forward. "So cute!"

“Uh…” Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes.

Although I'm not so afraid of dogs anymore since Grandma Jin next door got a husky that I watched grow up, I still feel a little scared when I see such a big one.

Even standing upright, just with all four feet on the ground, he was almost as tall as Mo Xueyao.