A Young Woman's Heart

This means that evening self-study has ended.

The quiet school suddenly became noisy.

The stillness of the night was broken, and even the moon rippled with faint waves.

The noise startled a few dogs barking in the distance, and several sparrows flew down from the branches, but they didn't fly far before landing on the wall again.

The senior high school students began to leave the school one after another.

They mostly traveled in groups, chatting loudly, seemingly unconcerned about breaking the silence of the night.

The dessert shop welcomed another group of customers at this moment. The long wait was all for this moment. Once the senior high school students left, the shop would officially close for the day.

The owner handed her the freshly made ice cream.

She turned and left quickly; any slower and she would have been overwhelmed by the students.

Actually, not everyone travels in groups; some people travel alone as well.

For example, Zhou Yong.

No one accompanied him.

It's not that he doesn't have friends, it's just that Gao Yuan and Liu Xiaowei had made plans to go to the arcade today, so they rushed out as soon as school was over. After all, they only had an hour or two to play, so they had to be quick.

Zhou Yong walked out of the classroom alone with his hands in his pockets. The blue-eyed girl behind him hesitated for a moment, then withdrew her outstretched hand and started chatting with the girl next to her, as if she hadn't thought about anything at all.

He might seem lonely to outsiders, but at this moment, his face was slightly upturned, as if he were admiring the starry night sky, and he did not feel any loneliness at all.

It's nice to do things quietly by yourself sometimes.

Then, an ice cream cone came into his view. The hand holding the cone was much longer and more slender than that of an average girl, and the owner of the hand was surprisingly familiar.

"Brother Chan?" Zhou Yong suddenly widened his eyes and refocused his gaze.

She stood by the steps, silently watching the crowd, taking a small lick of her ice cream, as if searching for something.

Zhou Yong slipped through the crowd, avoiding her gaze, and quietly appeared beside her.

Just as he was about to pat her on the shoulder to startle her, she seemed to sense something and suddenly turned her head, which startled Zhou Yong so much that he took a half step back.

"Haha, I've been found out, Brother Chan, what are you doing here?" Zhou Yong scratched his thigh, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"I just happened to be passing by and bought an ice cream," Tian Tingchan said softly, tilting the cone slightly towards him. "Do you want some?"

"what?"

"Want to try a bite?" Her gaze fell on the streetlight behind him. "It tastes pretty good."

"Huh? You've already eaten..."

"You're disgusted?"

Zhou Yong stared at the ice cream cone for a full three seconds, then nodded earnestly and sincerely, as if he had made some important decision.

After nodding, he couldn't help but lick his lips.

Tian Tingchan pouted her little mouth, said nothing, and just took a small bite of ice cream.

"How have you been lately?" Zhou Yong, carrying his schoolbag, started a conversation. "Going home? Are we going the same way?"

"How should I know?" Tian Tingchan rolled her eyes, her tone different from usual. Zhou Yong couldn't tell if it was coquettishness or not. "Are you going home now?"

"Yeah, I have class tomorrow, haha—" he said, tilting his head back and yawning. "I just want to sleep after I get home and take a shower. Luckily, I didn't have much homework today, otherwise I would have to keep doing it when I got home..."

"Oh." She took another lick of her ice cream and deliberately glanced at him sideways.

Zhou Yong quickly turned his head to the other side.

"I'm still in college, and I won't start my internship until next summer." Tian Tingchan walked down the steps, and Zhou Yong followed closely behind.

Walking and chatting made the atmosphere much more natural.

"Is university life very relaxed?" Zhou Yong asked with a hint of envy.

"It's alright. Actually, I'll be busy from the start of this semester, but I've been preparing, so there's no problem."

"Chan-ge seems to have gotten a lot prettier lately, hehe."

Tian Tingchan seemed somewhat surprised by Zhou Yong's compliment. She licked her ice cream several times, as if organizing her thoughts: "It's alright, how much prettier is she?"

"It's become more beautiful... by 20%?"

"Oh……"

Her face betrayed no emotion.

"I'm a senior in high school now, and it's only just started, but I already feel so tired."

"That's how it is for all senior high school students. Your school is already considered to let out early."

"If it gets any later, I'm afraid I really won't be able to handle it. It's not a boarding school... Luckily, I'm not a boarding student. Boarding students don't seem to finish evening self-study until 9:30 or 10:00, I think?"

"It seems you've been very busy lately."

"It's alright, at least we still had weekends off last semester."

"Oh, are you free this Saturday?"

"Ah...what?"

Tian Tingchan ate her ice cream nonchalantly, her tone even more indifferent than before: "Someone gave me a set of movie tickets, a set of two, which are about to expire, and I think it would be a waste not to use them."

"Well, could you watch it with a girl you're close to?"

"No."

"So you're going to watch the movie with the person who gave you the tickets?"

"She's not going."

"Oh……"

Zhou Yong's heart beat a little faster; he seemed to have thought of something.

I dared not look at the sky and listen to the cicadas anymore.

"Tsk." Tian Tingchan suddenly spoke as if she were chatting on a forum, "Hey, don't overthink it. I'm just worried about wasting money. Do you think I have other intentions?"

"Ah, no, no—!" Zhou Yong breathed a sigh of relief, his face showing an expression of knowing it was true, and his stiff body became much more natural. "I wasn't thinking about anything, I was just wondering if I would have time on Saturday."

"Is there?"

"Of course, uh, what movie ticket is this?"

"You can watch any movie. Two people can come in at a time, or only one person can come in, but that's wasteful because it's useless after it's used up. You can't use it twice." As if she knew what he wanted, she simply answered all his possible questions in one go.

Zhou Yong chuckled twice, unsure of what to say.

"Then come to my house at nine o'clock on Saturday morning."

"Okay, haha, watching a movie with Brother Chan is not bad." Zhou Yong laughed exaggeratedly on purpose. "Does this count as the big brother taking care of the little brother?"

"Of course! The older brother has to protect the younger brother, right?"

"Chan-ge, every time you do this, I feel like you're just like my current deskmate, hahaha. I mean, your personality is so carefree and easygoing, it's good that you're like this."

"Your deskmate?"

"Hmm, a blue-eyed mixed-race child, quite good-looking."

"Oh, then she's definitely much prettier than me." Tian Tingchan's voice was much softer.

"No, no, it's about the same, she's a little prettier..." Zhou Yong finally told the truth, but expressed it in a slightly more tactful way.

After finishing the ice cream in the cone, Tian Tingchan looked at the remaining crispy shell, as if hesitating about something.

Or perhaps, it's just an attempt to cover up the awkwardness of not knowing what to say.

"Don't you want to eat anymore?"

"Yes, I'm full."

Lost?

"..."

"What a waste to throw it away!"

"Then you eat it?" Tian Tingchan asked jokingly.

"...Okay."

"Here." She really did hand him the crispy pastry.

Zhou Yong did indeed accept it.

"I'm really hungry!" He opened his mouth wide exaggeratedly, took a bite, and made a crisp chewing sound.

The two walked onto a road with few lights, and the silvery moonlight enveloped them, making them appear exceptionally clear.

Although it is still hot during the day, the nights are much cooler, especially when there is a breeze, which is very pleasant.

The wind seems quite light today.

At least that's what Zhou Yong thinks.

“My grades are good. If I pass the exam, I might be able to start my internship early,” Tian Tingchan suddenly said.

"Oh, I see."

"I might go to another city."

"Uh."

"Don't miss me then, okay?" She suddenly laughed heartily.

"Tch, why would I miss you?" Zhou Yong laughed along.

The two laughed together, laughing so hard that the wild cats on the wall jumped down, laughing so hard that the clouds that tried to cover the moon were shattered, laughing so hard that tears streamed down their faces.

The sound of a wildcat crying like a baby in the bushes finally stopped the two from laughing.

"Has it been decided?" Zhou Yong asked again.

"Not yet. Even if I decide, I might not be assigned to an internship in another city. The chances of that are actually very small."

"Oh—that's good."