A Young Woman's Heart

"Huh—? Didn't you say..."

"Yes, I did, but she still gave up. She didn't want to waste the donations and hoped they would all go to her daughter."

“…Hmm.” Su Yuqing pondered for a moment, and finally just sighed softly.

"In fact, even if she had surgery, it might not be successful, because she has too many illnesses."

“Yes.” She put the black cat on the ground, walked to Mo Kong’s side, stood on tiptoe with her insteps straight, and gently squeezed his shoulder. “That’s… how about this.”

“Everyone has their own choices.” Mo Kong nodded and turned to look at the rain outside the window.

……

No one expected the rain to last so long today.

Mo Zhuyou woke up after an afternoon nap, and it was already past seven o'clock in the evening.

She had another job scheduled for the afternoon, but her sister didn't wake her up; she simply went out alone.

There was a note she left on the dining table, and the food in the kitchen had gone cold.

Looking at the rain outside the window, she suddenly felt a little uneasy.

This class won't end until 8:30.

All the umbrellas in the house were left at the door, but Mo Xiaoxiao didn't take any with her.

Clearly, the bright sunshine when she left at noon made her unprepared for such a heavy and prolonged rain.

Mo Zhuyou rubbed her eyes hard, wanting to make a call to her sister, but found that there was no phone in the house that could be dialed.

She does have a cell phone, but it doesn't have a SIM card inserted. She usually just uses it as a game console for playing Snake and Tetris.

She reached out and touched the cold raindrops; the dark sky showed no sign of the rain stopping.

In the yard, a water-filled aluminum can was being banged on, and a strong gust of wind finally knocked it over. It rolled away with the wind, its wheels gurgling, seemingly heading nowhere.

She suddenly remembered something, quickly put on the slippers by the door, and ran to the little burrow where the black rabbit was kept.

Although there was a rain shield made of old templates, its feet were still a bit wet.

She quickly brought it in, cage and all.

"Phew, Black Chocolate, you stay home for now..." Mo Zhuyou breathed a slight sigh of relief, her expression somewhat hesitant.

She lingered in the living room for a full five minutes before finally going out, putting on a pair of rain boots, and then putting her sister's pair into the paper bag.

Then, she grabbed a long-handled black umbrella, locked the door, and walked out of the house alone.

The two sisters rarely went out at night, and Mo Zhuyou, the younger sister, almost never walked alone at night.

She took the flashlight she occasionally used from the wall and carefully stepped onto the country path.

If this were a movie, there would definitely be some appropriate background music, but at this moment, all she could hear was the 'pitter-patter' of rain that seemed to be threatening to shatter the umbrella, and the howling wind.

Mo Zhuyou could barely hold the umbrella; she practically had to hug the long handle with her whole body to keep it from being blown away by the wind.

The flashlight could only be held tightly, illuminating a short stretch of road ahead.

The surrounding darkness seemed to be trying to devour the only remaining glimmer of light.

A few barks came from afar, as if they were chasing something away.

Mo Zhuyou lowered her head in fear, only daring to look at the gravel path illuminated by the flashlight.

The sturdy rain boots traversed gravel roads, muddy dirt tracks, and puddles.

The whole world seemed to be spinning in the raging storm.

Sometimes she even felt like she was walking backwards in the sky.

Fortunately, there were no forks in the path, and it led straight to the end; otherwise, she would have definitely gotten lost in the dark, rainy night.

The firelight in the distant village flickered in the pitch-black rain.

Today's umbrella felt heavier than usual, as if it had ten pounds of weight on it.

Mo Zhuyou walked unsteadily, as if she was about to collapse.

The road ahead finally brightened up a little, thanks to the dim yellow light of the streetlights.

Although it is not bright, it gives people hope.

The city lights that never went out all night were more moving to Mo Zhuyou, who had emerged from the long darkness, than a ship at sea seeing a lighthouse.

That was the flame of hope, and the flame of civilization.

The electric light is truly one of mankind's greatest inventions.

This is the outskirts of the city. Although the roads have been paved with smooth asphalt, there are no pedestrians to be seen on the street on this rainy night. At most, a car can be seen speeding by occasionally, splashing water a meter or two high.

Although she often walked this road, Mo Zhuyou still felt her legs were a little sore, but she quickened her pace, crossed three traffic lights, turned a corner, and then stopped.

This is where my sister works today. Mo Zhuyou was supposed to come too—to clean and cook dinner for a family.

The two of us were both quite busy the past few days, I really don't know how hard it will be for one person today.

That family had seven members, and the house was quite large with several rooms. Just washing dishes was exhausting enough.

The rain didn't stop, and it didn't even lessen much.

From afar, Mo Zhuyou saw that her older sister had already come downstairs and was standing under the small eaves, frowning as she looked at the countless raindrops falling from the sky.

Then, as if she was prepared, she took half a step, and immediately a black umbrella was placed over her head.

"Huh...? Youyou, what brings you here?"

"Sister—!" Mo Zhuyou pouted and stomped her foot, splashing water from the puddle with her rain boots. "Why didn't you call me today?!"

"You're sleeping so soundly..."

"Can you manage all this by yourself? Really..." Mo Zhuyou gritted her teeth, but finally sighed helplessly, "Sister, you really are... Ugh... Aren't you exhausted today?"

"What are you saying?" Mo Xiaoxiao chuckled and poked her forehead.

"You're lucky you haven't died of exhaustion without my help. What time is it now?"

"It's past nine o'clock."

"It only took an extra half hour, so it's not too bad..." Mo Zhuyou said again, then handed the paper bag hanging on her arm to her sister. The outside of the bag was a little wet, but fortunately it only contained a pair of rain boots, so it didn't affect anything.

"How come you thought of everything so thoroughly today?"

"Hmph, I've always been very thoughtful, haven't I?"

"How many umbrellas did you bring?"

"Um... um..." The younger sister looked up at the sky a little shyly, "A handful..."

"Alright, then we'll have to share an umbrella today."

"Let's go together, let's go together. The umbrella is so heavy. Sis, you should put on your rain boots. I don't want to hold the umbrella anymore, it's so tiring."

"Okay." Mo Xiao smiled brightly, her dimples sinking deep into her cheeks. She bent down to put on her rain boots and then put the shoes she had brought into the paper bag.

The older sister opened the umbrella, and the younger sister finally felt relieved. She held the flashlight, which she had turned off once they got to the city, close to her sister to keep the rain off her.

The two sisters were pressed close together, and could even hear each other's heartbeats—even the sound of heavy rain couldn't drown it out.

A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, and the rain intensified.

There are obvious signs of rising water on city roads, and in many places, people have to wade through the water.

But for the two sisters who were wearing rain boots, it was no problem at all.

I walked past the dim streetlights and stepped onto the dark path once again.

But this time, Mo Zhuyou no longer felt flustered.

All I feel is peace of mind.

Although her older sister is not much older or stronger than her.

But as long as her sister is around, she doesn't worry about anything that might happen.

The rain gradually subsided, and the sound of rain boots rubbing against the gravel road echoed through the fields.

The dark clouds in the sky dispersed, and a silver moon quietly peeked out, casting its bright moonlight.

A few stars dotted the sky, blinking gently.

"Phew—I don't feel like sleeping at all today." Mo Zhuyou stretched lazily, leaned to the side and peeked outside. "Looks like it's not raining anymore?"

"It seems so," the older sister said, closing her umbrella. The cool breeze that blew in made them both feel much more refreshed.

The damp feeling from before seems to be fading away quickly.

"It's past ten o'clock now, isn't it?"

"Mmm." Mo Xiaoxiao didn't look at her phone, but her answer was very affirmative.

After all, they both knew how long it would take to walk from there.

"Hey—by the way, sis, did you walk or bike out today?"

"..." Mo Xiaoxiao's expression froze for two seconds, which was rare. "Um... riding a bike."

"Where's the car?"

"It's downstairs at someone's building."

"Hey, if we were cycling, we wouldn't have to walk so much!"

"Hmm..." Mo Xiaoxiao put her hands behind her back a little embarrassedly, "Okay, okay..."

"But it's strange, neither of us thought of that."

"He's probably just tired."

"Maybe... After all, it was raining really hard at the time. Oh right, if I had known you were riding a bike, I should have brought you a raincoat..."

"Me too, seeing your umbrella made me forget about my bicycle."

"Well..." Mo Zhuyou looked awkwardly at the dark farmland by the roadside, "I slept too long today, I feel all groggy."

“After all, yesterday’s performance was too tiring. You looked very sleepy in the morning, and by noon you couldn’t stay awake and went to sleep, so I didn’t wake you up.”

"I'm so tired. I can't even remember how many times I hit the drums yesterday. My arms are still sore..."