A Young Woman's Heart

"...What about the past?" Li Wanyan took a sip of hot water from her paper cup and changed the subject.

"Back then, your mother and I were actually considered children of a wealthy family. In our small town, our family was one of the more well-known wealthy families. Your maternal grandfather, who is my father, did business overseas. Back then, we still needed cloth coupons and food coupons, so it was very inconvenient to buy things. But he always managed to bring back many things that were hard to buy through various channels. When I was a child, I could often eat beef and wear those beautiful clothes from abroad..."

“Grandpa.” Li Wanyan recalled for a moment, but she really had no impression of him. In fact, she had never met her maternal grandparents, let alone her maternal grandparents.

"Your maternal grandmother was the director of the local women's federation, and your father at the time..."

“He doesn’t deserve to be my father.” Li Wanyan’s tone suddenly turned cold.

"Actually, no matter what, it's because of him that you exist."

"..."

"Yes, back then, he was a well-known talent in the area." Pan Jiexiang poured herself a glass of water, looked at the rain outside the convenience store, and took a small sip. "We were a good match, and we got married."

Li Wanyan held a cup in one hand and cupped her cheek in the other, listening attentively.

But then a 'ding-dong' sound came from inside the convenience store.

The glass sliding door opened automatically, and a college student-looking boy walked in with his back slightly bent, his hands in his pockets, walking back and forth among the shelves, selecting goods.

It looked like they were going to buy a drink, but after looking at the refrigerator for a while, they finally decided to walk away.

Pan Jiexiang stopped what she was saying and smiled at the boy: "What would you like to order?"

"Uh?" He looked up and saw Li Wanyan standing next to him. He immediately took a few steps to the side, feeling a little shy. "Milk, please..."

"anything else?"

Do you have any bread?

"Yes, young man, the bread is all over here at the counter."

When business comes in, it's like it's just following along.

After the boy, four or five more people came in, and it took about ten minutes for the store to become quiet again.

Where were we?

"A good match in terms of social standing." Li Wanyan remembered it very clearly.

Pan Jiexiang composed herself and continued, "Everything was fine until the year you were born. Your grandparents passed away one after the other. Your husband failed the civil service exam and tried to start his own company overseas, but he lost everything within a year. Then, your maternal grandmother caught a common cold in the winter and couldn't be saved. Your maternal grandfather was shot and killed by enemies while doing business overseas..."

"Only the two of you are left..."

"Yes, it was just him and me left. We left that place of heartbreak and went to many cities. We settled down and moved around. It was like that. You grew up slowly. When you started kindergarten, we officially settled down in Hangzhou. But after experiencing many failures, his temper got worse and worse. Actually, he always had a bad temper, but at least he wasn't so unreasonable before."

There's no need to go into what happened next.

Li Wanyan knew a little bit about those things.

She suddenly lowered her head apologetically and asked softly, "Mom, did you ever love him?"

"I loved her for a very long time."

"now what?"

"still."

"..."

"It's just that the person I loved was him from the past, or rather, the him I imagined," Pan Jiexiang sighed. "Many things from the past are gone forever..."

Li Wanyan remained silent for a while, but Pan Jiexiang quickly composed herself, smiled, and leaned back: "Mom has to work all day today, until tomorrow morning, and then starting the day after tomorrow, I'll be working the night shift."

"Then we won't see each other much during the day, right?"

"Ah."

Li Wanyan pouted, stepped forward, and sat on her mother's lap: "Today, I'll work the night shift with Mom."

"What? Staying up all night is bad for your health."

"It's okay, it's a rare opportunity."

Pan Jiexiang smoothed her long hair, hesitated, and then sighed, "Alright, alright, it's rare after all, hehe, Yan Yan."

"Ok?"

"You're becoming a bit willful now."

"……I don't."

"Okay, okay~ no."

The rain was still falling outside the convenience store.

Another guest came in, carrying a wet umbrella.

Li Wanyan stood up and greeted the guests in place of her mother.

Time seemed to flow extremely slowly at this moment...

Chapter 84 The Convenience Store at Night

"Ding-dong~" As the sky darkened, the sliding doors of the convenience store slowly opened to the sides.

Mo Xueyao ran in with light steps, her clear blue eyes filled with excitement: "Wanyan, dinner's ready! Mom made rice cakes and swimming crabs today!"

Today isn't anything special, it's just that my mother's friend sent over three large swimming crabs.

Crabs have to be eaten fresh.

Over time, that slightly fresh, fishy smell will turn into a foul odor.

Li Wanyan raised her head, her thoughts still lingering in past memories: "Hmm..."

"You're gone? Oh, right, I brought food for Auntie. It included a crab shell and claws, rice cakes, and other dishes."

The crab shell she was referring to was the entire crab body, excluding the claws and legs, which also contained the most meat.

"Why did you bring such a big crab?" Pan Jiexiang quickly said, "I don't need it, you guys take it back and eat it. There aren't many swimming crabs in total, are there?"

"It's alright, it's alright, my mom asked me to bring it. Auntie, you can eat without worry! Wanyan and I still have some to eat!" Mo Xueyao quickly stepped forward, put her arm around Li Wanyan's shoulder, and tilted her little face up at her. "Come on, Wanyan!"

Li Wanyan hesitated for a moment, staggered a few steps as she was dragged along, and then reluctantly walked out of the convenience store.

It was as if he wouldn't see his mother for a long time.

Pan Jiexiang sighed softly, put the crab claws and shells into another clean lunchbox, added some rice, and put them in the refrigerator together.

The sky finally darkened completely, and the dim streetlights along the street lit up one by one.

There were fewer cars on the road than during the day, but more commuters were riding bicycles to work.

A rickety bicycle rattles and clangs, accompanied by the noisy ringing of bells and the sounds of laughter from twos and threes.

They weren't riding very fast, seemingly enjoying their leisurely commute home from get off work.

Occasionally, you can see one or two cyclists carrying their girlfriends, which makes several young men nearby look on with envy.

After eating, Li Wanyan didn't immediately return to the convenience store. Instead, she helped wash the dishes and pots, clean the store, and even took the fruit shop's trash to a large garbage room a kilometer away with Mo Xueyao to dispose of it.

It might not seem like much work, but by the time I finished, the clock was almost pointing to the 9.

The record player that Yu Liang gave to Mo Wenli seems to be malfunctioning lately; the sound it plays always has a hissing noise.

However, he didn't seem to care and simply turned the volume up a bit.

Michael Jackson's music was playing inside. Because it's been played every day lately, even the little kid who often passes by can sing along.

“Bili, bili…” He especially liked this line. Now, as he walked with his mother to the store to buy fruit, he kept singing along, even when the lyrics had already reached the next line.

It's like a universal lyric that can be matched with any melody.

At nine o'clock, the fruit shop was already close to closing time. They were actually packing up at this point. If there was no business, they would close at ten o'clock and go home.

Ten o'clock in this era may be quieter than three or four o'clock in the morning ten or twenty years from now.

Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan helped bring the boxes outside inside, and stacked the empty cardboard boxes together to sell to the recycling center later.

The shop has a lot of cardboard boxes, and they can sell several yuan worth every day, enough for the two of them to have breakfast every day.

So she was most enthusiastic when she was sorting and selling cardboard.

"Whoosh—" The sound of the roller shutter door being pulled down came from the noodle shop next to the convenience store, and in the distance, the sound of other shops pulling down their roller shutter doors could also be heard.

As if by unspoken agreement, almost all the shop owners closed their doors around this time.

"distant."

"Ok?"

"I'm not going back today."

"Hey, you're sleeping alone at the fruit shop?"

“My mom works the night shift, and I want to spend time with her this time.”

"Oh—" Mo Xueyao scratched her head, hesitating as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she swallowed it back. She patted the latter's shoulder hard, "Well then, spend some time with your mom! Uh, it's been a long time, and there are indeed a lot to talk about."

Li Wanyan nodded sincerely, her dark eyes seemingly holding starlight: "Thank you."

"Huh? Uh?" Mo Xueyao didn't understand what was going on. "Why are you thanking me? That's strange... By the way, if you want to take a shower, you should go to Grandma Jin's house now. She probably hasn't gone to sleep yet. It's past nine o'clock. She's probably just come back from the senior activity center."

"Ah."

Grandma Jin has been going to the senior activity center more and more often lately, and recently she's been bringing her husky along every time.

The venue was open-air, and because the elderly people always brought some food, it attracted a lot of stray cats and a few stray dogs.

Mo Xueyao once watched Grandma Jin play a sport called gateball. She couldn't understand it, but she felt that the sport seemed very leisurely and seemed to be very suitable for the elderly.

She was originally supposed to go back in the afternoon, but she brought her own lunch and didn't get home until evening.

Perhaps the older people get, the more they fear loneliness.

Grandma Jin's son and husband are both deceased. Perhaps when she first opened the shop, she didn't want to be alone at home...

……

The night is deep.

The time is 10:30.