A Young Woman's Heart

Dusk enveloped the entire city, and a gentle breeze, called tranquility, drifted through the streets.

Li Wanyan stood at the entrance of the convenience store, watching Mo Xueyao's van leave, before turning around and walking back into the store.

On the streets, discarded newspapers and plastic bags were scattered everywhere, and from the night market stalls in the distance, one could still hear a few noisy chatter.

In fact, at this time, even some night market vendors had begun to pack up and close their stalls.

From afar, you could hear the sound of a wine bottle being smashed.

Every night in the city, there are always these drunken troublemakers.

They have become part of the city, like—a symbol.

Just as she was about to sit down next to her mother, more guests suddenly appeared.

They were all residents living nearby, and most of them were young.

Most of them come to buy beer, drinks, and instant noodles.

Some lingered in front of the magazine shelves, eventually picking out a few magazines that skirted the line of erotic content, suitable for late-night reading.

In an era when entertainment was not readily available, people who couldn't sleep at night could only rely on these things to pass the time.

Storytelling, Readers, and cheap, low-quality magazines...

We were busy until 11:30, when the last customer bought the last bento box of the day.

The streets were deserted; there were hardly any night market vendors to be seen.

What followed was a long night, with almost no more customers coming in...

The hustle and bustle vanished like the tide, leaving behind a feeling of emptiness.

The mother came out from behind the counter, carrying the heated rice and the crab from earlier, and sat down with Li Wanyan at the wooden table by the window.

"Yan Yan, are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?"

"I'm not hungry, Mom. Didn't you eat any crab?"

"Yes, I'm allergic to crabs, so I saved them for you."

"Hmm..." She nodded with some doubt, but couldn't find any flaws, because she had never seen her mother eat crab before.

Perhaps we were too poor back then to afford them—even though crabs were much cheaper back then than they are now.

The reason my mother knew she was allergic was probably because she had eaten it when she was young, before the family suffered any misfortunes.

"We can't let it go to waste." Li Wanyan rested her chin on her hand and used one finger to move the lunchbox over, while her mother carefully peeled the crab claws for her.

The sauce from the blue crab was still there. Although it didn't taste as good after being reheated, it was still quite tasty.

The mother and daughter sat side by side, with the pitch-black night visible through the floor-to-ceiling window in front of them.

All the shops were closed, except for the convenience store, which was the only one with its lights on in the area.

Further on, there are residential areas.

There were still a few houses with lights on, but those distant and faint lights were as unreachable as a lighthouse in the dark city.

"Huh?" Li Wanyan suddenly realized, "Why are all the streetlights off?"

Before Pan Jiexiang could answer, the streetlights lit up again, but as if the voltage was unstable, they flickered on and off, and even after they stabilized, they were much dimmer than before.

"Yan Yan, what university do you want to go to? You'll be a senior in high school soon, time flies!" Her mother held a crab claw meat to her lips, her face full of wrinkles, and asked with a smile.

"Is it possible to get into Zhejiang University?"

"Yes, you can. If you want to, there's nothing you can't do."

"Mom, that's too superstitious."

"Oh, is this how you've always been encouraged?"

Li Wanyan was taken aback, then her face flushed red. She probably thought of something and couldn't help but whisper, "I was accidentally influenced by Yaoyao."

"One who stays near ink gets stained black, and one who stays near vermilion gets stained red; people always influence each other."

“If I’m influenced by her, I’ll become lazy.” Li Wanyan shook her head and said seriously, “That won’t do.”

"Have you considered any other options? Secondary choices?"

“Anything else? No…” Li Wanyan shook her head. “I want to study traditional Chinese medicine or work as a journalist in the future.”

"How about management positions? I think Xiaoyao's father will definitely open many stores in the future, and you can help him out then."

Li Wanyan pursed her lips and pondered for a moment before swallowing the crab meat and nodding gently, "Alright."

"The pressure of studying will be immense once school starts, won't it? Why don't you take advantage of these few days to have some fun?"

"No need, let's talk about it after I get into a good university."

"Mom, how are you doing in prison?"

"Prison is actually quite good. At least it feels better than before. I owe it all to your school principal. He used his connections to make sure I wasn't bullied in prison. And without him, I wouldn't have gotten out so quickly."

"...What do they do inside?"

"Hmm~ I just woke up this morning, first..."

Li Wanyan chatted casually with her mother, trying to alleviate her mother's loneliness that night.

But she was the first to fall asleep.

Looking at Li Wanyan, who was asleep on the table, her mother's gentle eyes held a hint of sadness: "Yanyan, you must live a good life..."

She stroked her long, smooth, black hair, as gently as if she were soothing a baby.

……

Chapter 85 On the Rooftop

Time has slowly moved to the end of August.

Suddenly, every moment of summer vacation became all the more precious.

Mo Xueyao slept in late and woke up around noon.

"Hoo-hoo..." She yawned widely, her eyes filled with tears, and turned over, feeling that her arms were a little weak.

It's probably because I slept for too long.

She lay on her back on the bed, her eyes seemingly glued shut by super glue, unable to open them wide.

Even though the intense sunlight outside the window was shining directly on her face.

"Hoo..." She felt so weak that she didn't even have the strength to speak. Her whole body felt languid and limp, almost as if she had merged into the mattress.

The sound of a television could be heard coming from the living room.

It seems like they're replaying last night's TV drama.

"Ugh ugh ugh—" She struggled against the bed and finally got up, but slipped on the stairs and slid down to the floor with a 'thump thump thump'.

"what……"

Even the pain was delayed, taking several seconds to reach her.

"Yaoyao, are you alright?" Li Wanyan walked over quickly in slippers, bent down, grabbed one of her arms, and pulled her up.

"It's...okay..." Mo Xueyao yawned several times, and even infected Li Wanyan, who couldn't help but yawn as well.

"Are you that sleepy?"

"I don't know either. I should have slept enough, ha... phew..." Mo Xueyao rubbed her eyes, patted Li Wanyan's shoulder, and staggered out of the room.

Her mind was a jumbled mess, making it hard for her to even remember what she was supposed to do.

Like a drunkard, he leaned against the wall, swaying as he looked at the calendar hanging on it.

Now, we don't use those daily calendars at home anymore; instead, we use a large wall calendar with one page per month.

Each one contains several different photos of beautiful women.

This made her seriously suspect that her father bought it for this reason.

"Huh, is Qixi Festival almost here?" she muttered to herself. "Phew...so fast."

"Yaoyao, hurry up and wash up, I'll heat up the porridge for you."

"Okay~" Mo Xueyao staggered into the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror, rubbing the dirt from the corners of her eyes.

Because I rubbed my eyes so much, they became slightly red, making it look like I was wearing makeup.

She must have slept terribly last night; her hair was a complete mess, and it'll take her ages to comb it.

However, she was too lazy to move at all today. Even when brushing her teeth, she rested her elbows on the sink, as if even standing up was too tiring.

"Wanyan~ can you comb my hair for me later?" Mo Xueyao spat out her mouthwash and called out softly to Li Wanyan in the kitchen.

"it is good."

She looked at her blue eyes in the mirror, tilted her upper body, and stretched in a strange way.

Today was neither hot nor cool; this just-right temperature made Mo Xueyao feel lightheaded as she walked.

You can even just sit in the living room and watch TV all day.

But when she realized that she had actually wasted half a day, she was filled with guilt.

"Hmph, oh, trash~" Mo Xueyao hummed a strange folk song with altered lyrics as she walked out the door carrying a trash bag.

But her path was blocked by a dilapidated bamboo ladder.

A man was standing on it, making the ladder creak and groan.

Mo Xueyao looked up in confusion as she ate her breakfast—or at least breakfast—still looking like she hadn't woken up yet, her little face appearing a bit silly: "Uh... what are you doing?"

"Hmm?" The man lowered his head and smiled at Mo Xueyao. "Oh, Xiaoyao, it's been so long! You've gotten even prettier!"

That was the uncle who sold fried skewers on the fifth floor.

Once Mo Xueyao realized this, she seemed to immediately smell the strong stench emanating from him.

This is the smell that comes from being mixed with stinky tofu for so long.