A Young Woman's Heart

No matter how hard I try, I don't make much progress; instead, the gap between me and others keeps widening.

Very few people can persevere and keep striving under such circumstances.

Mo Xueyao was twirling her pen, slowly digesting the knowledge she had just learned in the previous lesson.

Even though it was only five minutes, the classroom was still incredibly noisy when class ended.

The boys' shouts were so loud that even the pen Mo Xueyao had placed on the table bounced and slid down.

Ye Banxia was taking advantage of the short five-minute break between classes to continuously recite the important content taught in class.

Some boys were laughing at her, saying she couldn't even remember something so simple.

She frowned, but her mouth kept moving.

Actually, what's most disheartening in senior year of high school isn't the inability to learn, but rather that some people who are much more lazy than you can learn things quickly, while you have to struggle for a long time.

Fortunately, this is a liberal arts class, so the girls have some advantages.

The mocking voices coming from the science class were even louder when get out of class ended.

The class next door only had about half the number of students, and only about ten girls. That was a top-performing class of science students.

Most girls have already made a huge effort just to keep up with the pace.

It must be admitted that there is a natural difference in talent between boys and girls when it comes to arts and sciences.

Mo Xueyao rested her chin on her hand and gently poked her cheek with the pen cap.

Five minutes is a very short time; it feels like there was no rest at all, and the next class is already here.

The time in senior year of high school is just that tight.

People who lack talent, perseverance, or mental strength will find it difficult to persevere in such a high-pressure environment.

The college entrance examination in the new era still inherits the imperial examination system of the old society, and its various difficulties are themselves a way of screening the masses.

A strong mind, sufficient talent, and diligence are all essential qualities; you need at least two of these to get into a good school.

Mo Xueyao stroked the rough texture of the desk.

There are many words carved on it by our predecessors.

Most of them are meaningless; their greatest function is probably just to relieve some stress when touching the textured surface.

The words carved on the desk were certainly not something like "early," nor were they the grand "study for the rise of China."

What remains are only complaints about studies and life.

A stink bug wobbled onto Mo Xueyao's desk, only to be swatted away by her.

"Ah—sleepy..." Zhou Yong, Mo Xueyao's deskmate, yawned so wide that it looked like he was going to eat the whole table.

"Are you that sleepy?" Mo Xueyao licked her teeth. "You always look like you're about to fall asleep."

Zhou Yong said with a hint of helplessness, "I stayed up too late doing my homework..."

"Can't homework be finished in four or five hours?"

"Huh? You finished it in four or five hours?"

"Oh, what else?"

Mo Xueyao gently tapped the desk, her little finger seemingly busy prying off a piece of the veneer covering the desk leg.

Zhou Yong scratched his head in pain: "Sigh, I used to think that as long as I worked hard, I could solve everything. Now I realize that I'm just an ordinary person."

"what?"

"It's nothing..." Zhou Yong scratched his hair, "Before, the teachers always said that we didn't have much time left to waste, but I didn't really feel it. Now I really realize that we really don't have much time left..."

"Just study hard. I also caught up with the pace in junior high school by working hard on my own," Mo Xueyao encouraged, but it only made the other person's smile more forced.

Compared to other subjects, the Chinese language class is not much more difficult.

This made the second Chinese class go by much faster than usual.

Some students joked that, given their current educational level, many students in Class Two could have gotten into Peking University during the Republic of China era.

If you could travel through time, you might even meet Mr. Zhou Shuren, who was still working at Peking University back then.

The third period on Wednesday is physical education class.

A rare opportunity for senior high school students to relax a bit.

Once you finish the initial jog, you'll be completely free to move around.

During this period of rainy weather, the air at the high school is not very fresh.

Dust was always flying everywhere because much of the marble on the walls and floor was badly worn and was being replaced.

With only four or five workers, the entire school had to be renovated within half a month.

"Hmph—uh—" Mo Xueyao, who was resting on the flower bed during her free time, saw a hunched middle-aged man walking past her.

He was carrying several marble slabs by himself, swaying precariously, which looked very strenuous.

His beard was a mess, clearly not properly groomed in a long time.

His walking posture was also somewhat strained.

Although there were only a few marble slabs, Mo Xueyao felt as if he was bearing a weight of over a hundred pounds.

In this cool autumn.

Even with a little exercise, you won't sweat much.

However, the clothes he was wearing were already soaked with sweat.

His simple, even tattered, clothes revealed his bronze skin.

Liu Xiaowei couldn't help but glance at him a few more times, as if he wanted to call out his name, but in the end he didn't say anything.

Mo Xueyao's gaze fell on the thin man.

His arm muscles are much more exaggerated than his leg muscles.

"Drink—ah!" Not only do you have to lay marble, but you also have to support the weight yourself.

This year's renovation at Yukong High School involved replacing all the original wall tiles with marble covering more than one square meter.

The man, with messy hair and lots of dandruff, laboriously carried the stones over and over again.

Not only do they need to be moved, but they also need to be cut and then 'attached' to the wall with special materials.

It's supposedly called a facade renovation.

During his break, Liu Xiaowei couldn't help but glance at him a few more times.

Mo Xueyao also glanced at him a few more times because of him.

Both were thin and small, and both had dandruff-covered hair...

As he worked, yellowish-white dandruff would fall down in a rustling sound.

"Boom-thump-"

The knocking sounds continued incessantly.

A little girl passing by the school gate asked her mother, "Mommy, what are they doing?"

"They're doing hard labor. You have to study hard in the future, don't end up like them, exposed to the wind and sun outside. Look how hard it is. If you study hard, you can work in an office..."

……

Chapter Sixty-Two: Father (Part 2)

A little girl passing by the school gate tilted her head back, her clean face bathed in golden sunlight. Curious, she asked her mother, "Mommy, what are they doing?"

"They're doing hard labor. You have to study hard in the future, don't end up like them, exposed to the wind and sun outside. Look how hard it is. If you study hard, you can work in an office..."

These were just passersby walking past the school fence.

The lean man seemed oblivious to the sounds outside the wall and continued doing his own thing.

It was a cool autumn day, yet he was drenched in sweat.

He was only wearing a dirty gray vest, and the muscles in his arms would tense up instantly when he exerted force, making his eyebrows and mouth seem to furrow together.

After bringing in enough marble, he started mixing ash in an iron bucket.

"Xiaoyao!" Wang Jiale's shout interrupted her gaze, "Next period is PE class, let's go grab badminton rackets first! Otherwise, there will only be a few broken ones left!"

"Oh, oh," Mo Xueyao replied absentmindedly, then turned to look at the man working by the wall.

He took a moment to light a cigarette, picked up a rusty measuring tape, and knelt beside the marble wall, measuring something.

"Xiaoyao, aren't you going?" Wang Jiale had already walked to her side and gently patted her shoulder.

"Where are you going?"

"...Get the badminton shuttlecock! You weren't listening at all!" she said angrily, puffing out her cheeks. "I'm not responsible if you get a crappy racket later!"

"Oh, I'm here, I'm here." Mo Xueyao hurriedly followed.

The girls' main activity in physical education class was badminton; most of the time, they would gather together and chat.

They always manage to turn a perfectly good physical education class into a tea party.

As Mo Xueyao and Wang Jiale entered the stairwell, Shen Kelin ran out from around the corner. She looked up, saw Mo Xueyao, and exclaimed in surprise, "Oh, I was just looking for you! Xiaoyao!"

"Looking for me? What bad news is it this time?"

"What do you mean 'bad news'?" Shen Kelin crossed her arms and glanced at her sideways. "It's to inform you that you'll be participating in tomorrow's school beauty and hunk competition!"

"...Are you really planning to do it?"

"Of course, it was supposed to be done a long time ago, but because so many leaders have come to the school recently, it had to be postponed for so long. Well, it's a good thing, it gave us more time to prepare."

"Can I not? It's too much trouble," Mo Xueyao said with a hint of complaint.

Shen Kelin glanced at her up and down a few times: "Hmm—if you really don't want to go, then forget it. I was originally thinking of having you present the award, since you're the unanimous number one this time."

"...Not surprising."