A Young Woman's Heart

"Hey, isn't that a bit too arrogant?" Shen Kelin put her hands on her hips and teased with a smile, "Looks like you're very confident in your looks."

"Isn't it obvious?" Mo Xueyao shrugged, saying this deliberately.

"Seriously, you're much more mischievous than before. So, are you coming tomorrow or not?"

"Um... well, then I'll—reluctantly go? By the way, were you selected?"

Shen Kelin ignored the teasing in her words: "Okay, it's settled then—if you want to know, come and see tomorrow!"

"Hey, you didn't actually get elected, did you? Did you abuse your power for personal gain?"

"Hmph, although I'm not as pretty as you are now, I could still easily be chosen as the school beauty, okay?"

“I think you’re much more narcissistic than I am now…” Seeing the other person roll their eyes at her, Mo Xueyao suppressed a laugh and continued, “Unlike me, I’m just being realistic.”

"Ugh—so true of the facts, my dear school beauty!" Shen Kelin flicked her forehead with her finger in annoyance. "I really can't stand you anymore. Where did the straightforward and honest Xiao Yao go?"

After she finished speaking, she didn't give Mo Xueyao a chance to refute her. She turned around and hurriedly went downstairs again, as if there were other people she needed to notify.

"They didn't even notify me..." Wang Jiale was a little frustrated.

"I think she probably forgot, after all, you and I are together."

"Really?"

"Well, Lele should at least be in the top ten of the school beauties, right?"

"They're actually choosing ten school beauties?" She was taken aback.

"After all, they are students in three grades."

"Isn't ten too few?"

"..."

Mo Xueyao shook her head helplessly, bent her knees, and continued walking down the steps.

Because I had a PE class today, I didn't wear leather shoes, but instead wore ordinary canvas shoes.

The sound of the soles of the shoes hitting the steps was somewhat dull—Mo Xueyao still preferred the crisp sound of leather shoes when walking.

It feels like you're playing a musical instrument; it's very rhythmic.

Downstairs on the playground, Li Hongran and several other boys were carrying out two large baskets of sports equipment.

Inside, various rackets and their respective balls were scattered haphazardly.

The most durable of these is the tennis ball, while the most easily damaged is the ping-pong ball.

Sometimes you can search for ages in the box and still not find one that's intact and without any dents.

Therefore, many students who like to play table tennis usually bring their own ball and racket.

—Because table tennis rackets often come unglued, many rackets are left bare, with only the piece of wood in the middle remaining.

"I feel like my racket has been getting worse and worse lately..."

"You just bought a lot of new rackets this semester, right?" Mo Xueyao looked at a badminton racket she had marked. It wasn't damaged much when she used it last week, but now the grip was starting to come unglued.

"The racket is fine... but it seems like there aren't any new shuttlecocks?"

Wang Jiale muttered to himself as he laboriously pulled a dented badminton tube from the bottom. The shuttlecocks he took out were also flattened, but fortunately, they could still be used if he straightened them out.

"Whoosh—" Mo Xueyao swung the racket hard, felt it was okay, so she kept it, planning to hide it in the flower bed later.

"Lele, Yaoyao, did you help me carry it?"

"You'll have to find them yourself... I don't think there are many good ones left to photograph."

Hua Yinyin ran quickly to the basket, her braids on both sides of her head shaking vigorously, slapping against her shoulders again and again.

Fortunately, we took a lot of photos, so if we look carefully, we can still find a few that are usable.

There are almost no perfect rackets; even those with a few minor flaws are considered highly sought after.

"Speaking of which, the school seems to have a badminton club and a tennis club, right? Did they take all the new rackets from the school?" Mo Zhuyou muttered, turning sideways and stuffing her hand into the basket, taking out a racket that looked perfectly fine. But when she took it out, she discovered that the handle was almost completely broken off, with only a small part still attached to the racket.

"Pfft, isn't this the one that Yin Yin broke last time?"

"Ugh, what does that have to do with me? It's just that this racket is so bad. I swung it hard and it broke!"

The school bell rang for the senior high school students, and there wasn't much time to waste during the short five-minute break.

Jin Jiahui blew his whistle, calling the students of Class Two to gather.

He lazily walked around the lined-up students twice, swinging the red rope attached to his whistle: "These past few days, the school has been under construction, maintaining marble, rubber tracks, walls, and things like that, so there won't be any running today. You shouldn't play on the playground either; go play on the court next door. Okay, you're free to do whatever you want now!"

"oh--!!"

"Finally, we can move around freely!"

"Cool!"

"Long live!!"

Even something as simple as not having to run during PE class can instantly make students happy.

Students' happiness is always so simple.

"Little Yaoyao! Let's go play badminton!"

Hua Yinyin took her hand and dragged her toward the badminton court.

The man I had seen before was wandering around the edge of the playground looking a bit lost. When he saw Mo Xueyao and Hua Yinyin, who were closest to him, he finally made up his mind and walked over.

A slightly embarrassed smile appeared on his dark face as he picked at his faded jeans with his cement-covered fingers: "Excuse me, where's the restroom around here?"

“There’s one in the teaching building.” Mo Xueyao pointed to the restroom not far away, feeling that the sign should be quite obvious.

Upon hearing this, he rubbed his jeans even harder with his fingers, as if using them as sandpaper, smearing all the cement from his fingers onto them: "I wanted to ask if there are any restrooms around the playground, right outside here."

“Yes, there is…” Mo Xueyao pointed to the corner diagonally opposite, “but it’s very far away.”

"It's nothing, it's nothing." He quickly waved his hand and said gratefully, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Before Mo Xueyao could finish speaking, he had already jogged off there.

Wang Jiale ruffled Hua Yinyin's braids with a puzzled look and muttered, "Why go to a far place instead of a nearby one?"

"Maybe they're afraid of dirtying the toilet," Mo Xiaoxiao said, seemingly understanding the other person's mindset.

"Anyway, there are people who clean it regularly... Speaking of which, it seems like there's more dust in the school these past few days."

"After all, it's under maintenance; there's even scaffolding erected over the lab building."

"Do you need to paint the walls all at once?"

"No, it's just that the cracked and damaged marble needs to be replaced."

Just as he said this, a loud 'thud' came from the direction of the laboratory building, as if something heavy had fallen down.

The girls were all startled and looked in that direction.

It doesn't look like an accident; it's just that some workers knocked off the cracked marble.

Hua Yinyin covered her ears in pain: "Honestly, the family next door just finished renovating, and now the school is starting construction again. I get a headache just hearing this kind of noise..."

Mo Xueyao cast a sympathetic glance at her, but the latter took advantage of the situation and hugged her arm: "Hey, little Yaoyao, don't worry, I'm fine~"

"Hey, I haven't said anything yet! Who said I was worried about you? Don't cling to me, I still have badminton to play..."

……

Chapter Sixty-Three: Father (Part Two)

(One)

"Hey, I haven't said anything yet! Who said I was worried about you? Don't cling to me, I still have badminton to play..."

"Alright, alright, Yinyin, stop fooling around. Look where your hands are touching!" Wang Jiale pulled Hua Yinyin off Mo Xueyao. "Although Xiaoyao has a good temper, you can't always push your luck like that, can you?"

"No way!" Hua Yinyin glanced at Mo Xueyao secretly, then glared at her.

"You need to be mindful of boundaries. Not everyone likes to make these kinds of jokes all the time." Mo Xiaoxiao nodded in agreement. "Yinyin has been too clingy to Xiaoyao lately, hasn't she?"

"Like a spoiled cat," Mo Zhuyou said, resting her head on her sister's shoulder.

"What? Talking about being cute and affectionate? Shouldn't it be you, Youyou, who's doing that?"

Wang Jiale pouted the right corner of her mouth earnestly: "Xiao Yao may not say it out loud, but she might get really angry sometimes."

"Huh? Little Yaoyao can sulk?" Hua Yinyin looked incredulous. "If she were really angry, she would definitely show it."

"Don't act like you know me so well, okay?"

"Hmph, I might know you better than you do yourself!"

Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes and lightly kicked a pebble at her feet: "To be honest, Yinyin, you can be really annoying sometimes."

"Oh dear, you have to listen to Xiao Yaoyao's words in reverse~" Hua Yinyin grinned her cute tiger teeth and smiled as she pressed them against her again.

"Stop messing around!" Mo Xueyao impatiently pushed away the hand that was placed on her with her shoulder.

Mo Xiaoxiao quickly reached out and jokingly rubbed Hua Yinyin's little face: "Alright, alright, let's play badminton!"

"Okay, let's go." Mo Xueyao walked in front, and the others quickly followed.

It wasn't until they walked into the badminton court, which was surrounded by wire mesh, that everyone realized someone seemed to have fallen behind.

Mo Xueyao turned her head and urged her, "Yinyin, hurry up!"

Hua Yinyin, who had been biting her lip with her head down, put on a playful grin and said, "Here I am, here I am!"

……

(two)

The lunch break at noon is a rare time to relax.

After finishing their meal, Mo Xueyao and the others went straight to the band room.

Even if you don't practice, just sitting there drinking tea and chatting is wonderful.

When Mr. Xue, who eats slowly, returned to the classroom to put away his tableware, it was already quite lively inside.