A Young Woman's Heart

The brittle was also annoyed by the flying insects, its long, fluffy tail thrashing wildly from side to side.

"Dad," Mo Xueyao suddenly remembered something and called out.

"What are you doing?" The father, sitting in the dim light, had a cigarette butt burning in his mouth that was particularly conspicuous.

"Why don't you go to the hospital for a check-up when you have time?"

What do you mean?

"What if you're sick..."

"Huh? You brat, what did I do to you today?"

"Uh, never mind, never mind, forget I said anything..."

……

Chapter Sixty-Five: A Warm Night

"Ahem, never mind, never mind, never mind..." Mo Xueyao awkwardly touched her nose, picked up the candy from the ground, and saw that someone had tied a red ribbon into a bow on its tail, which it was now impatiently flicking at her arm. "Who tied this?"

"How would I know? Maybe some kid was being naughty and tied it up."

"..." Mo Xueyao slapped Su Tang's head helplessly, "Su Tang, Su Tang, don't you know how to hide? What if someone kidnaps you next time?"

Su Tang meowed irritably, as if to indicate that it could distinguish between good and evil.

"Oh, you still think this bow is very cool, right? Then I'll leave it hanging there for you." She put it down, and the bow didn't even bother to move. It just lay there wherever it was left.

The sound of the spatula hitting the bottom of the pot always comes from different directions.

It seems that every household's "chef" has the habit of tapping the pot with a spatula.

In the distance, I thought I heard someone calling, "Dinner's ready!"

Mo Xueyao responded instinctively, only to realize that it wasn't her mother calling.

Her father, who was dealing with rotten fruit, looked up at her and asked, "What's wrong? Why are you so easily startled? Have you gone stupid from studying?"

"You're the one who's gone mad from all this learning..." Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes.

Because evening self-study sessions have been ending quite late lately, I've been going straight home after school.

Aside from occasionally coming on weekends, I spend much less time at the fruit shop now.

For her, this place felt like another home.

Having not heard these familiar, noisy sounds for so long, I felt a deep sense of nostalgia.

"Awooo—" A large, furry dog ​​howled, nudging Mo Xueyao's legs with its nose, then resting its enormous head on them, staring intently at her with its incredibly innocent blue eyes.

The husky has been staying by Grandma Jin's side lately, and she rarely leaves it alone in the store.

So the arrival of the husky also means that Grandma Jin has arrived.

She looked up and, sure enough, saw Grandma Jin, dressed fashionably and with curly hair.

"The purchase procedures for the shop are all complete." She smiled and took out several shop property certificates from her stylish little handbag, handing them to Mo Wenli.

The latter accepted it with some surprise, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes became even more pronounced: "Aunt Jin, thank you so much."

"Don't forget me when you make money in the future."

"Definitely, definitely, I will treat you like my own mother!"

"Then there's no need."

The two laughed jokingly, and Yang Xiaoyu brought over the stir-fried dishes.

Because there were many people coming for dinner today, we put the two small folding tables together.

They could have gone to a noodle shop, but it was rush hour and there were hardly any seats available.

The roar of engines could be heard from outside the store from time to time, coming closer and then quickly fading away.

The smell of car exhaust always lingers at the store entrance. After getting used to it, it doesn't smell bad anymore; on the contrary, it makes people feel at ease.

Mo Xueyao took out a fly swatter and swatted a large black moth that kept flying onto the vegetables. Disdainfully, she wrapped it in a napkin and threw it outside.

The husky, however, seemed to have spotted a new toy and dashed over in a flash. Unfortunately, she threw it too accurately, and the moth landed in the sewer. It was very disappointed and kept scratching at the sewer cover with its paws, as if trying to fish it out.

Tonight's meal wasn't very lavish, because we didn't know beforehand that Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan would be back early, nor did we know that Grandma Jin would be coming over for dinner.

Everything was prepared on the spot, so the dishes were rather simple.

"Aunt Jin, you didn't even tell us you were coming today. We only have a few dishes to enjoy. I feel really bad about it."

"What's wrong with that? I usually eat porridge and pickled vegetables at home. As long as it fills my stomach, that's fine. Besides, Xiaoyu, your cooking tastes great. It doesn't have to be meat and fish to be considered delicious."

"Haha, we won't stand on ceremony anyway, just treat it as our own home for a meal."

“That’s right, I treat this place like my own home,” Grandma Jin replied, echoing her sentiments.

Li Wanyan placed the bowls and chopsticks on the table one by one, while Mo Wenli took out a large bottle of Sprite and the bottle of beer he wanted to drink from the refrigerator.

"Come on, ladies, I'm treating you to Sprite today!"

Mo Xueyao's eyes lit up immediately. She didn't even want to serve herself rice anymore and directly picked up her bowl: "Dad, have a bowl!"

"Let's make this clear first, you're only allowed to drink one bowl. Drinking too much is bad for your health."

"I know, I know—"

Pan Jiexiang helped serve the rice, and everyone gathered together, seemingly with endless things to talk about.

Yang Xiaoyu took a large bowl, filled it halfway with rice, then added some vegetables to the bowl before standing aside to eat.

When Grandma Jin saw this, she made some room for Xiaoyu and called out to her, "Xiaoyu, I can squeeze in here and sit down."

“I’ll stand here and watch the business,” Yang Xiaoyu explained, setting her chopsticks down.

Mealtime was a rare time for my father to rest.

Unless it's something that absolutely requires freshly wrapped flowers or a freshly made fruit basket, he doesn't need to do anything.

During mealtimes, guests would always arrive sporadically.

She didn't buy much, and Yang Xiaoyu could manage on her own.

However, the mealtime was not very continuous. Often, after only taking a couple of bites, someone would come to ask about the price, and when you put down your bowl to get your bag, that person would leave again.

"Xiaoyao, Wanyan, how are your studies going?"

"It's alright..." Mo Xueyao replied modestly.

"Still among the top students in the class?"

"Yes, that's right, but Wanyan is always better than me."

"Then you have to work hard too!"

"I think that's enough... I'm too tired, so I don't want to study anymore." Mo Xueyao stuffed a piece of pork belly with skin into her mouth, chewed for a long time but couldn't chew it properly, so she had to spit out the skin and fat.

"Tsk tsk, look at you, wasting food," the father said with some heartache. "If you don't eat the fatty meat and skin, leave them for me."

"Oh!" Mo Xueyao immediately bit off a piece of lean pork belly, then threw the remaining large piece of fat, skin and all, into her father's bowl.

The father happily stuffed the fatty meat into his mouth and took a big gulp of beer: "Hey, let me tell you, back in my day, we couldn't even eat fatty meat if we wanted to. We only had it during holidays. Back then, we would even marinate fatty meat in winter and take it out to eat with drinks when guests came over. And we would slice each piece very thinly, just to avoid wasting it."

"Ugh, cured fatty meat, what's the difference between that and drinking cooking oil directly?"

"Nonsense, of course there's a difference!" the father replied irritably. "Sigh, it's been so long since I've had cured fatty meat, just thinking about it makes my mouth water."

"Hehe, back then, let alone fatty meat, I was lucky to have boiled edamame to go with my drinks." Grandma Jin also recalled those days, but she quickly brought the topic back, "By the way, Lianlian, she plans to take the college entrance exam on her own. Sometimes, when you have time, you can go and teach her. She's too embarrassed to ask. As for Chen Cheng, he's not doing very well either."

"Huh, you're planning to take the college entrance exam yourself? That must be really difficult."

"Hehe, you know what, her grades might not be worse than Chen Cheng's now."

"That's because Chen Cheng's studies are too bad..." Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes. She knew very well that Chen Cheng was one of those students who consistently ranked in the bottom ten of the class, always around twelfth or thirteenth from the bottom.

Although he might be considered average or even above average in a regular class, he would be classified as a poor student in an advanced class.

"So, you should help her out when you have time. Sigh, it's quite pitiful, isn't it? She was born into a wealthy family, but then she encountered that kind of thing. Her own relatives didn't help her at all and even wanted to divide up the family property..." The father sighed and shook his head, then took another sip of beer.

Zhuang Lianlian has lived here for so long that almost everyone close to her knows about her background.

Fortunately, Chen Cheng's parents not only did not object, but also supported the two of them being together.

That's how a greater tragedy was averted.

At the dinner table, the adults discussed everything from the recent price increases to the world situation, and then from the world situation to who was a traitor and who was a corrupt official.

It seems like we can never get tired of talking about this kind of topic.

Having finished her meal, Mo Xueyao showed no intention of helping with the dishes. She strolled leisurely to the shop entrance and stretched comfortably.

Inside the brightly lit rooms, the sounds of conversation could be heard from the dining table.

Some of them were very large, and you could hear them shouting from afar, though their voices sounded somewhat drunk.

Some were very small, making rustling noises, as if they were whispering to each other.

The old man on the tricycle was carrying a full load of waste cardboard, and he was about to take it to the recycling station to sell.

Although he was covered in sweat, he moved with incredible speed, making the pedals creak and groan under the strain.

Right now, you can see some junior high students who have just finished school. Some are looking forward to graduating soon, while others are sighing with their companions, thinking about the even more difficult life in senior year, and feeling frustrated about the future.

The old man selling roasted sweet potatoes bent down to add firewood to the oven, hoping to sell a few more amidst the crowds at the night market across the street.

The cool yet slightly warm autumn breeze gently lifted Mo Xueyao's long hair at her temples, playing with it and lightly poking her cheeks.

Pedestrians walking under the streetlights cast long shadows, as if they were about to merge with the darkness of the night.

A black cat moved forward, stepping on the shadows of passersby, as if it were wearing an invisibility cloak, making it difficult to be noticed.

"Hoo—ha—" Mo Xueyao took a deep breath, as if she hadn't eaten enough and wanted to take another gulp of the cool, minty air. Although she also inhaled a lot of dust, causing her to cough a few times, "Ptooey...! Cough cough, cough cough—"

"Yaoyao, what are you thinking about?"

"Nothing... Oh, right, tomorrow's the 1st, isn't it?"

"Ah."