A Young Woman's Heart

If fruit shops relied entirely on individual customers, they wouldn't make that much money.

These kinds of big customers are the most common in the basement of the cancer hospital.

However, most fruits are delivered to the door, so my father comes here either to find some cheap bargains or specifically to buy some high-quality items.

"okay!"

"Put it aside for now, I'll look at something else."

"Row!"

Just accompanying her father shopping was tiring enough for Mo Xueyao, but her father still had to calculate the prices, compare prices at three different stores, check for any short weights, and inspect the quality of the goods...

There are so many things to do; if she were to do them, she would probably be completely overwhelmed.

But the father was able to handle all these chaotic things together one by one.

To be precise, it's like solving a Rubik's Cube. It seems like you're just randomly turning the pieces, but when the last few pieces are in place, you suddenly realize that the Rubik's Cube has been solved.

Mo Xueyao felt this way when she saw him get everything sorted out.

However, although it was very fast, it was almost 6:30 when everything was finished.

"Alright, let's go!" The father waved his hand, lit a cigarette to keep himself awake, and finished it before leaving the wholesale market. By the time he got to the van, there was already a lot of stuff piled up there.

The old man watching the parking lot nodded to my father, who immediately walked over with a smile, grabbed a few pieces of fruit for him, and offered him a cigarette.

"It's cold!" The old man didn't stand on ceremony at all, stuffing a few pieces of fruit into the large pocket of his coat, then picked up the cigarette his father handed him, shielded his eyes from the wind, and took a puff with a look of pure enjoyment. Even the wrinkles on his face seemed to smooth out a lot.

"Yeah, it's gotten much colder." The father hadn't lit his own cigarette; he just had it in his mouth.

The old man stamped his foot: "It's the end of the year, things are expensive!"

"Yes, it's good to prepare some New Year's goods early." The father smiled and steered the conversation back to the weather, "This winter we'll all be bundled up like rice dumplings again."

Yes!

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the father opened the car door and put the items inside one by one.

The many flowers he personally carried were placed into the red plastic bucket that had been set out earlier.

The flower branches were covered in water, and a lot of it dripped onto him, making him wet, as if he had just come out of the rain clouds.

The father skillfully took another clean white cloth from beside the seat, wiped his coat, and got into the car.

He still had that unlit cigarette dangling from his lips, and with a smirk, he called out to Mo Xueyao and the others, "Get on the bus, girls!"

It was already past 6:30. Usually, Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan would be at school by now.

As soon as she closed the car door, the hustle and bustle of the wholesale market seemed to fade away, but when she rolled down the window, the lively atmosphere rushed back in.

Laborers pushing handcarts to transport goods are busy; tricycles carrying goods creak and groan; a man riding a red motorcycle treats it like a saddlebag, twisting the throttle, and the old motorcycle still makes a rough sound.

"Radishes, five cents a pound, radishes, five cents a pound—"

Hey, make way!

"Can't you fucking see the road?!"

"You're the one who crashed into me! You fucking want to die?"

"Little chicks, little ducks, little kittens, healthy and strong..."

"Boss! Ten meat buns, please!"

Amidst the hustle and bustle, the van circled the sycamore trees in front of the wholesale market and slowly drove onto the main road, leaving all the noise behind.

"I'll take you to school first."

"Hmm." Mo Xueyao suddenly felt very hungry. The fried dumplings in the car were still warm, so she couldn't wait to take apart the disposable chopsticks and start eating.

The van was driving very fast.

We hadn't even finished eating when we stopped at the school gate.

The morning sun had risen sometime earlier and was now dispelling the chill of last night.

"We've arrived, get off!" the father said again.

So Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan got off the car. Although they were a little later than usual, it wasn't much different.

It was the same morning as that year, but the feeling was different.

Things at home are getting better and better, and a smooth road is opening up ahead for Mo Xueyao.

But who knows how much the parents sacrificed for all of this?

I get up so early every day and go home so late at night. Even if I go to sleep as soon as I get home, I can't guarantee that I get enough sleep.

But everyone persevered.

All the painful, anxious, complicated, and agonizing things were filtered out by her parents, leaving her only with happiness and joy.

Looking at the round sunrise, which resembled a basketball, Mo Xueyao felt a sense of satisfaction for no apparent reason.

"Wanyan! I suddenly thought of something interesting!"

"What?" Li Wanyan stuffed a fried dumpling into Mo Xueyao's mouth.

The latter quickly chewed and swallowed, afraid that if he didn't speak up immediately, he would forget everything he had just thought of.

"Let's write one—that one! Each student, write one for every single student!"

"Tell me slowly." Li Wanyan took out the bag of soy milk from her shirt. Because she had been holding it in her arms, it was still warm, and even seemed a little hot.

She handed the soy milk to Mo Xueyao, who took it without any hesitation, unscrewed the cap, and took a big gulp: "That's right, let's write a diary for each of our classmates! For example, write down anything interesting or memorable that happened with him or her that day, and then give it to them when we graduate!"

"Shall we write it together?"

"Hmm—let's break up! I won't write about the classmates you've already written about."

"Then you can consider it as writing together."

“Okay, then let’s write them together.” Mo Xueyao took another big gulp of milk.

The pan-fried dumplings weren't as tasty when they were slightly chilled, and they tasted a bit greasy.

A security guard with a scar on his face was playing with a small dog that was entirely black except for its white eyebrows, paws, and tail tip.

Seeing that Mo Xueyao couldn't help but take a few more glances, he proudly boasted, "Look, isn't this dog interesting? Its fur is very special, especially its tail, which is quite rare!"

"Where did you come from?" Since he took the initiative to speak, Mo Xueyao naturally had to ask as well.

"Haha, I found it. I thought if I didn't take care of it, this little guy wouldn't survive the winter, so I brought it back."

The security guard seemed to really like it, even sharing a small piece of meat from his own braised chicken leg with it.

The puppy will accept anything offered to it.

They eat meat, they eat flatbread, and they even eat scallions.

The security guard kept muttering to himself, saying he needed to get a cardboard box, put some old clothes inside, and buy some old cotton stuffing from old cotton-padded jackets and quilts at the night market to keep it warm...

He hadn't walked more than a few steps when Mr. Xue also entered the school gate, and the security guard proudly showed off to him again.

Mr. Xue, also quite interested, bent over with his knees propped up and glanced at the puppy's tongue: "Oh—it's a good dog, it can catch mice."

"Haha, that's good too, saves me the trouble of raising a cat!"

The security guard was very happy.

"Cook the bones until they're very soft, then mash them and mix them into the rice for it to eat."

"For health and fitness?"

"To save money," Mr. Xue replied, quite realistically.

The middle-aged man burst out laughing, finding his answer quite amusing: "It's both economical and nutritious!"

"Correct."

I'll give it a try later!

Mr. Xue didn't answer, because he had already stood up straight and smiled as he said goodbye to the security guard.

He strode quickly toward Mo Xueyao and the others, like a ray of sunlight moving.

"Xiaoyao! Class monitor!"

"Just call me by my name."

"Calling me class monitor is fun."

"How is it interesting?" Mo Xueyao asked curiously.

"It was definitely her."

Mo Xueyao was silent for three seconds before finally getting to his train of thought: "You mean, many people have a stereotypical view of class monitors like Wanyan?"

"Correct!"

“Hmm, Wanyan isn’t always so serious…”

"Xiaoxue, just call me Wanyan like Yaoyao does." Li Wanyan finally spoke, even taking the initiative to call me 'Xiaoxue,' whereas she usually calls me by my full name.

“You’re too kind!” Mr. Xue readily agreed, raising his hand and greeting him again.

"Ah."

"Good morning!" Mo Xueyao patted his shoulder and boasted about her experience that morning, "Xiao Xue, you've never been to the wholesale market at four or five in the morning, have you?"

"I've been to the market around 4 or 5 pm."

"Next time I'll take you to the wholesale market at four or five in the morning. They sell all sorts of random things there!"

"Okay." He grinned and nodded.

“I just came from there today.”

"Oh?"

"There are vendors selling chicks and ducklings, as well as kittens and puppies. Wholesale cabbages are sold in batches of ten, and some people even take away a whole truckload of cabbages!"

"Oh! Is it a hotel or something else?"

"No, it was just someone who came in a van to transport it, saying he wanted to make pickled cabbage to eat throughout the winter..."

Mo Xueyao's eyebrows danced with delight.