A Young Woman's Heart

"It's alright, there's still plenty of time. A lot of fruit is being delivered directly these days, so you don't need to stock up on too much stuff, right?"

"I guess it'll be done by at least six o'clock. Okay, okay, then you guys hurry up and wash up, I'll give you a ride."

Now it was Mo Xueyao who hesitated: "Maybe we should just go to sleep..."

The father was both amused and exasperated: "You brat, what exactly do you want?"

"Okay—! I'll go wash up, and while I'm at it, I'll ask Wanyan if she's coming—Wanyan, do you want to ride in Dad's van?"

"Dad's van...?" Still dazed, Li Wanyan felt as if Mo Xueyao was referring to their shared father. She didn't immediately understand, but after a few seconds, she replied, "Okay..."

"Okay, Dad, let's wash up first!"

"No, you guys go first, I'll go first. I need to go downstairs to start the bus and carry some things down. I'll go first, I'll go first!"

After Li Wanyan came out, the father finally got to wash up as he had wished.

When Mo Xueyao was still a boy, she washed up just as quickly as he did.

In just two or three minutes, you can wash your face and brush your teeth all at once.

The father glanced at the toothpaste foam on the corner of his mouth in the mirror, wiped it off with the back of his hand, and then walked out of the bathroom with a very cheerful expression.

Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan were left. To save time, one of them brushed their teeth and the other washed their face, so that one person could take care of both of their washing and grooming needs in one go.

When I came downstairs, my father was arranging red plastic buckets in the back of the truck, and casually wiped the truck with a dry rag that hadn't been washed in who knows how long.

Mo Xueyao was the first to get dressed and run down.

"Dad!"

"Where's your schoolbag?" Her father turned around and glanced at her.

"Ah!" Mo Xueyao quickly turned around and heard Li Wanyan's quick but not hurried footsteps. Then she saw Li Wanyan come out carrying two schoolbags. "Hey, thank goodness for Wanyan!"

Li Wanyan shook her head gently, as if she was already used to it.

"Alright, girls, get in the car!" The father patted each of them on the shoulder.

Although the van had soft seats, it was still a little cool when you first sat inside.

There was a layer of white fog or frost on the window. My father first wiped the fog off the windshield and the windows on both sides, and then wiped the rearview mirror and the inside of the window.

Only then did he throw down the rag and start the car.

Today can be considered the first day of winter.

The cold-faced winter maiden immediately gave Mo Xueyao a hard time.

The temperature that morning was so low that she couldn't help but shiver, and even though she was wearing fleece-lined socks, she didn't feel warm.

Looks like I really will have to wear fleece-lined leggings tomorrow.

She and Li Wanyan swapped clothes today, so they both wore one black stocking and the other a white stocking.

"It really feels like winter; you can even see your breath in the cold air when you talk..."

"It's just a bit cold in the early morning."

“I prefer to say it’s early morning…” Mo Xueyao was unwilling to admit that it was early morning before the sun had risen.

The pine trees in the neighborhood stretched towards the sky, and the pitch-black night showed no sign of illuminating; there seemed to be no difference between four o'clock and midnight.

The van started moving slowly, and its speed increased after leaving the residential area. It only picked up speed completely once it reached the main road.

There weren't many cars on the road, and the bright white headlights could illuminate a great distance.

Perhaps in a hurry, my father would almost always run red lights whenever there were no cars or people around.

In the days before traffic lights were equipped with surveillance cameras, this was perfectly normal.

My father also had to wipe the windows from time to time because they would always fog up.

The window was opened a little to slow down the fogging process.

This also made the carriage freezing cold; Mo Xueyao even felt like she was riding in a convertible…

The van sped along and quickly arrived at the wholesale market.

There were already many tricycles and vans parked outside. The father found a spot nearby and stopped: "Come on, let's go buy some breakfast for you, and then you can wait in the car!"

"It's okay... I'm just moving around, otherwise I'll freeze to death." Mo Xueyao sneezed, shivering.

"Whatever you two want." The father slowly rolled up the window, the crank seeming rusty and difficult to turn in winter. "What would you both like to eat?"

"Whatever... the fried dumplings and buns are ready." Mo Xueyao took a deep breath and moved closer to Li Wanyan.

This will make it warmer.

She put both hands in her pockets and took another deep sniff.

"What does Wanyan want to eat?" her father asked, tilting his head as he took a puff of his cigarette.

"Just like Yao Yao."

"Okay, then let's buy two portions, fifteen in each, is that enough?"

"There's too much food, I don't have much of an appetite..."

"Ten then!"

Ten pan-fried dumplings and buns still cost one yuan here.

My father bought two portions, along with two bags of hot soy milk, and bought a pancake for himself to eat with a cup of red bean porridge.

"Alright, we need to hurry up and get the goods! You two should keep up, don't get lost, if you do, just go back to the car!" In the bustling market, the father's voice rose a little.

I never expected there to be such a lively place in this quiet city.

So many people are here, busy making a living.

Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan, who weren't very hungry, put the fried dumplings in the car and held a bag of soy milk in their hands. Drinking it was secondary; their main purpose was to warm their hands.

Her father strode forward, and Mo Xueyao felt that she couldn't keep up and had to jog.

He threw away his cigarette butt and took a big bite of the pancake as he walked away.

When chewing, the whole face moves along with it.

"Phew... It feels like I've gone back to that autumn last year... around this time, right?"

"What, last year?"

"We set off together very early that day, but back then you only had a tricycle."

"Oh, that was the year before last!" My father always had a good memory.

"Ah, wait, it really was the year before last, yeah, it was during my first year of high school... Phew, time flies."

"Haha, three years will be fast, of course!" The father's mouth was full of food, but his words were still clear.

"Hey, make way! Make way!" Someone pushed a cart and ran quickly outside, the cart loaded with vegetables and fruits.

It was obviously to help deliver the goods outside the wholesale market.

After all, this place is very big, and vans and tricycles can't get in.

Basically, we can only rely on these handcarts for delivery.

Some businesses will help with delivery, but if they don't, you'll have to hire someone to deliver it.

From inside to outside, no matter how far, a single trip costs two or three cents.

They're all physically demanding jobs.

Even if you make a hundred or so trips a day, you won't earn much money.

Outside the wholesale market, some farmers also come to sell their own goods, mostly in small quantities. However, if they sell for a low enough price, my father will combine their goods with those of other farmers and load them all into the truck.

Right now, he's squatting down asking how much oranges cost per pound.

He roughly estimated that it was half the price of what he usually paid at the wholesale market, so he asked a few farmers nearby for their prices, then had them pack them up separately, and paid them separately as well.

These inexpensive oranges are a best-selling item in fruit shops, especially in the autumn and winter seasons.

There are a lot of people buying oranges to eat.

These oranges, sourced directly from farmers, can be sold at a lower price, which is perfect for attracting customers.

The father simply called over a delivery worker nearby and asked him to use a handcart to deliver the oranges to the van with the designated license plate and leave them there.

"Dad, aren't you worried about someone stealing it?"

"Haha, it's okay. The old man in the parking lot outside is a good friend of mine. He knows my license plate and will keep an eye on it for me."

"Oh, oh..." Mo Xueyao always felt that things like interpersonal relationships and social customs were too far removed from her own experience.

If she could, she wouldn't really want to be such a smooth person.

……

Chapter 71 The Wholesale Market at Dawn

Here, one yuan can even buy ten cabbages; here, the value of money is magnified many times over.

In a corner near the entrance, someone was selling yellow chicks in a large basket, and next to it, a cardboard box contained several kittens. It was still early, and they seemed to be half asleep, lying there with their eyes only slightly open.

Mo Xueyao remembered that the crispy candy was also bought from the market here, and she couldn't help but want to go and see it. However, her father walked very fast, and she only had time to turn her head to look a few times before she had to hurry to catch up.

As he walked, his father ate, going further and further in. On the way, he bought fifty catties of noodles and a large pile of beef offal and pork offal, which he had delivered to the van.

This is something I brought back for the noodle shop.

But if he's too busy, Old Chen will have to buy it himself.

Walking to the very back of the wholesale market, I finally saw rows and rows of fruit stalls.

When she arrived here, there were finally fewer people, and the air was filled with the fragrance of fruit and flowers, which made her take a deep breath.

In any case, it smells much better than the previous smell of sweat mixed with the stench of meat and rotten vegetables.

The father walked confidently to his usual stall, picked up an apple from a basket, felt it, and took a bite: "Hmm, this is it, boss! Give me two boxes!"

Don't think that two boxes is a lot; customers often come to the fruit shop and buy a whole box at once.