A Young Woman's Heart

Of course, if you're asking where the most exciting place to watch it is, it has to be the big screen at my godfather's house.

With such a large bag on her back, people would always stare at her a few times along the way. Mo Xueyao was already used to this. On the way home from school every day, drivers would sometimes look at her curiously—if not because of the electronic keyboard behind her, then because of her blue eyes.

The sidewalk is still quite spacious now, but when night truly falls, there will only be a narrow passage to walk on, and even the road will be partially occupied.

Hua Yinyin called her half an hour ago, saying that she was already on her way and would reserve a spot on the street where people always set up night stalls, and asked Mo Xueyao to come find her in half an hour.

As for the others, everyone except Mr. Xue has a cell phone and can be contacted directly. As for Mr. Xue, no one is worried that he will not be able to find the place.

She walked a short distance forward, and could faintly hear the sound of a pipa being played, passing through the roar of car engines and the crisp sound of bicycle bells.

Li Wanyan didn't come with her; she was helping out at the shop right now—because Mo Xueyao said there was a performance at the night market today, so they ate dinner a little earlier than usual.

There was even an old man selling shadow puppet shows from a small tricycle parked by the roadside.

If you want to see it, you have to pay first, then put your eye close to a small hole and you can see the image inside.

The old man even does his own voiceovers; his voice is loud and clear, unlike someone of his age.

A little girl was curiously lying there watching, her mother standing behind her, smiling and asking her if it looked good, but she didn't answer at all, clearly completely captivated.

The sound of the pipa grew closer, and Mo Xueyao finally saw Hua Yinyin.

I thought she would come out in a beautiful dancer's costume, but I didn't expect her to come out in a school uniform, and she was also wearing small round-framed sunglasses - the same style as the street performers on the overpass.

Upon closer listening, isn't it the pipa version of "Erquan Yingyue" being played?

To be honest, the erhu is more suitable; the pipa just doesn't quite suit me.

"Ah, Xiao Yaoyao!" Hua Yinyin suddenly stopped playing, stood up from the folding plastic stool, and waved vigorously at her, "Here you are!"

"I saw it, I saw it..." Mo Xueyao fanned herself awkwardly, feeling that there were even more eyes on her from all around.

Hua Yinyin's round sunglasses slipped down a little, revealing two round almond-shaped eyes behind them: "Hey, Xiao Yaoyao, did you bring a stool?"

"I put the piano bench and piano stand together." Mo Xueyao patted the bag she was carrying. Both of these items were foldable and didn't take up much space when packed away.

"I've already contacted the others!" Hua Yinyin very attentively helped Mo Xueyao take the bag and set up the piano stool and stand next to her.

Mo Xueyao glanced at her sideways, bent down to place the violin case on the back of her feet, and then unzipped it: "Why are you wearing those sunglasses?"

"Hehe, how about it? Don't you look like a street performer?"

"Then you should wear more suitable clothes, and you should play the erhu."

"Hmph, I can play the erhu too!"

"real or fake?"

"My dad taught me that."

"Your dad used to perform under the overpass, didn't he?" Mo Xueyao teased.

"Oh, little Yao Yao—"

"Don't pinch my cheek—! I was just joking with you, okay?"

Hua Yinyin's palms were sweaty, and now they were all smeared on Mo Xueyao's face, which made Mo Xueyao so angry that she used the hem of Hua Yinyin's clothes to wipe her face vigorously.

Wow! Little Yao Yao!

“I’m just giving them a taste of their own medicine!” Mo Xueyao immediately retorted.

Suddenly an old man walked over, tossed a coin into Hua Yinyin's pipa bag, and said with a smile, "Is this a crosstalk performance? It's quite interesting."

Well, now they've really turned into street performers.

Mo Xueyao wanted to say that this wasn't a crosstalk performance, but she was too embarrassed to explain.

Hua Yinyin, however, shouted, "We're not performing for money! This isn't crosstalk; this is how we usually interact. This is what young people do!"

"Oh—" the old man tossed in another coin, "This part is good."

Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes inwardly, but had to keep smiling on her face.

"Hey—yo!" She took out her electronic keyboard, placed it on the keyboard stand, and adjusted its position slightly.

"Little Yao Yao, how about we play a duet right now?"

"Huh? Aren't you waiting for the others?"

"It'll probably take at least another half hour... The agreed time is six o'clock."

"Uh... just the two of us..."

"Uh-huh, in that case we're no longer the Snow Music Band, we should be a duo now." Hua Yinyin always seemed to be thinking about unimportant things. "What would be a good name?"

“A zither and pipa combination,” Mo Xueyao said casually.

"No, no, that's too perfunctory."

"It was only temporary, you know..."

"Let's call it—the Silver Snow Duo!"

"It sounds like they just reversed the characters for 'Yukine'."

"Eek, it's different, it's 'Gin' not 'Oto'! Okay, then... it'll be the Gin-Haruka duo!"

Mo Xueyao turned on the electronic keyboard to test the sound. Luckily, it had its own battery. If it were one of the cheaper ones in this era, it would probably still need to be plugged in to play.

"Why is your name always at the beginning?" Mo Xueyao took out a wire and connected it to the roller speaker that Hua Yinyin had brought, in order to make the electronic keyboard sound louder and clearer.

After all, they were performing in this noisy night market. If they played too softly, they might not even be able to hear themselves.

"Hmph, after all, I'm on top!"

Having spent so much time together, Mo Xueyao already knew what Hua Yinyin meant. She always liked to make these risqué jokes, sometimes just like a boy, except that she was much cuter.

Mo Xueyao narrowed her blue eyes and glanced at her sideways.

The sky in the distance was tinged with orange-red, and it was finally starting to feel like evening.

Before we knew it, a few more stalls had appeared nearby, and the once relatively quiet street suddenly became quite lively.

A slightly warm breeze brushed against Mo Xueyao's face. Not far away, a shop was playing an advertisement on repeat, almost brainwashing people.

"Seven days left! Seven days left! Everything for one yuan! Everything for one yuan! Everything for one yuan!"

So much so that during her audition, she subconsciously composed an impromptu tune to match the rhythm of the advertising slogan.

"Huh?" Hua Yinyin noticed it keenly.

"Cough!" Mo Xueyao quickly stopped. "Ah, that advertisement was too loud. I feel like I can't even remember the sheet music."

"Then let's play something more intense to drown it out!"

"Intense music?" Mo Xueyao remembered that although the Snow Music Band's self-composed pieces also had fast tempos, they were definitely not very 'intense'.

"Let's play that one! Does Xiaoyao know it?" Hua Yinyin paused for a moment, then said the song title at the very end, "How about 'How Much Love Can Be Relived'?"

"I often hear my dad play this song, but I've never seen the sheet music..."

"Don't worry, Yao Yao has an absolute sense of rhythm, she'll definitely be fine!"

"Hey……"

Before Mo Xueyao could finish speaking, Hua Yinyin had already started, and she could only hurriedly follow. The melody of the song soon filled the bustling street.

……

Chapter Ninety: Performing at the Night Market (Part 2)

The night market gradually comes alive as the lights come on.

The setting sun cast an increasingly dim and yellowish glow.

The most enthusiastic audience member was an elderly man with graying temples, who clapped and tapped his feet to the beat, seemingly able to sing the song as well.

It seemed like someone was fiddling with the speakers behind her, but Mo Xueyao was so engrossed in her performance that she didn't notice.

"I often blame myself for what I shouldn't have done..." The old man hummed along, but his voice was drowned out by the noise from the roadside; all that could be seen was his mouth moving as if he were singing the song.

Suddenly, a microphone was held to his lips. Even though Mo Xueyao was busy looking down at the piano keys to keep up with the music, he still couldn't help but look up at it.

It is Mr. Snow, dressed in white, as pure as snow.

With the microphone, the old man seemed even more energetic. He was even more uninhibited than Hua Yinyin, completely absorbed in the song.

This is a popular song from 1999, which was widely sung among young people, but I didn't expect the old man to sing it so skillfully.

"Whether—we always linger outside the door of our hearts—" The old man raised his head, his deep voice even trembling slightly.

If the original singer conveyed the helplessness and heartbreak of a breakup, then the old man's rendition was filled with a sense of vicissitude.

He didn't break up; he was separated from his wife forever. The popular song captured the flavor of that era.

Hua Yinyin's pipa also changed its tune, seemingly to match his singing.

"How much love can be rekindled? How many people are willing to wait? How many people can come back?"

Without realizing it, he changed the lyrics, his eyes now misty.

Muddy tears welled up in the sockets of those cloudy eyes.

"These years have been neither good nor bad, it just seems like some people are missing..." When the old man sang this part, he suddenly laughed and stopped singing. "I'm doing very well, it's just that you are missing."

Hua Yinyin stopped playing the pipa, but Mo Xueyao didn't stop immediately. She seemed to empathize with the music, and the melody gradually softened before finally stopping.

"Are they comrades-in-arms?" Hua Yinyin asked gently, her eyes lowered, as she stroked the pipa.

Sitting on the piano bench, Mo Xueyao slightly raised her right foot, and the bell on it rang melodiously.

"Sigh, I'm sorry, old people tend to reminisce about the past." The old man pressed his wrist to his eye socket. "You two young ladies played very well. Would you be interested in coming to our senior activity room to accompany us sometime? Dinner included!"

"Uh, cough cough!" Mo Xueyao felt that she wasn't old enough to go to that kind of place.

But Hua Yinyin was very interested: "Okay! But we'll have to be available. We're in our final year of high school, so we'll be very busy then."

"No problem, no problem."

"This is the daughter of the fruit shop owner over there. Just go find her when the time comes, and we'll arrange it according to the schedule!" Hua Yinyin immediately began introducing the business, which made Mo Xueyao roll her eyes.

"Xiaoxue, when did you arrive?"