A Young Woman's Heart

Although she was completely awake, she felt as if she had been thrown directly into the snow. Her usually warm hands were now red and frozen.

Mo Xueyao followed the aroma and rushed into the kitchen: "Wow, it's so warm here! You're right, of course it's not cold in your kitchen! The fire's on, and there's even some hot steam..."

My mother was putting the fried dumplings onto a plate and was about to make fried noodles when she shooed them away without turning her head, saying, "Go away, don't make a mess, I'll make it for you right away."

"Hey!" Mo Xueyao slapped her mother's shoulder, as if afraid of being beaten, and ran back to her bedroom in a flash.

Li Wanyan was still lying in bed with her eyes wide open, seemingly preparing herself to get up.

"Wanyan!" Mo Xueyao suddenly pressed her two icy little hands against Li Wanyan's cheeks, making her shiver.

"Get up! Uh, the water in the kitchen should be boiling, just go get it yourself. The water heater just turned on, there's no hot water yet." Mo Xueyao piled Li Wanyan's clothes all over the quilt. "If you're really too cold, put your clothes on in bed first before coming out, but I think it's better to do it all at once. I don't feel that cold anymore now."

Even though we've already experienced more than a dozen winters, each winter still feels so 'new'.

Yes, even though I got used to it last winter and could quickly crawl out of bed, I still have to get used to it all over again this year.

Li Wanyan quietly dressed herself in bed before getting out of bed.

Mo Xueyao casually spread out the quilt and put on her school uniform.

On a cold morning like this, school uniforms alone are definitely not enough.

I can't wear pants down there, so I can't let my upper body get cold, right?

The mother had naturally taken this into consideration; the down jackets, which were much larger than other clothes and worn over the school uniforms, were neatly folded and placed on the chairs of the two children.

The color scheme remains black and white.

Today, Mo Xueyao's school skirt is pure black, so she can be considered dressed entirely in black.

She looked in the mirror and surprisingly felt that she looked pretty cool dressed like that.

The loose black coat she was wearing was thin and comfortable; it was a gift from her godfather to the two of them.

Originally, these were winter down jackets issued by a government agency. When my godfather submitted the application, he filled in the sizes for two people and requested two women's jackets, one black and one white.

This is very common there; everyone is used to it.

After all, most people have been working for several years. If the cotton-padded coats they received in previous years are still wearable, they will usually make one for their family this winter.

To her godfather, Mo Xueyao was naturally no different from family.

Well, to be honest, Li Wanyan was more of a side effect...

If Li Wanyan weren't there, Mo Xueyao should have had two items by herself.

Mornings always seem to fly by; she had only been daydreaming for a short while when ten minutes had already passed.

Li Wanyan had finished washing up and was putting on her large cotton-padded coat.

After breakfast, we can set off.

"Here, breakfast is packed for you. Just take it with you." The mother opened the door and handed over a paper bag.

Mo Xueyao was about to reach out when Li Wanyan took it first.

“I bought you an insulated lunchbox, so you can eat breakfast at school. This will save you from having to rush around every time you eat breakfast and keep telling me you want to eat out.”

Upon hearing this, Li Wanyan naturally looked at Mo Xueyao.

It's obvious without even thinking that she said those words...

"Hey! I was just saying..."

"Don't waste money just because we have a little now, okay? There are still many things we need to spend money on." The mother smiled and shook her head. "This way, you can sleep in longer if you want. It's getting cold in winter, and you have to go to evening self-study every day, so you'll be going to bed later than before..."

"Okay, okay! Let's go!" As she spoke, Mo Xueyao had already run to the door with her schoolbag on her back, squatted down, and prepared to put on her little leather shoes.

She left a pair of sneakers at school so that she wouldn't forget about PE class and end up wearing dress shoes instead.

"I haven't finished yet. The bottom layer is porridge, the second layer is fried noodles, and the top layer is fried dumplings. Yan Yan, be careful when you carry it. Although it's supposed to be sealed, I'm still afraid it might spill."

"Okay." Li Wanyan nodded gently.

"Let's go! Let's go!" Mo Xueyao, wearing small leather shoes, stomped her feet hard at the door because her feet were too cold, and this would bring some warmth to them.

The sky was still dark, making it impossible to tell what time it was.

Mo Xueyao glanced at her watch; it was actually only a little past 5:20.

If she was late, she would wait for Yu Shu, who lived across the hall, but at that moment, the girl who liked to wear her hair in a bun was probably still curled up in her warm bed.

"Yaoyao, take the trash downstairs!" Her mother stood at the door, still nagging. "Eat right away when you get to school. They say it's kept warm, but it'll get cold if you leave it too long. You have to finish the porridge! If you really can't eat the fried noodles, you can have them as a snack when you get hungry!"

"I know—" Mo Xueyao drawled, helplessly picking up the trash bag placed by the door and walking briskly downstairs.

As soon as she stepped outside, the cold air hitting her face made her feel like her face was about to freeze.

"Ah, it's so cold, so very cold..."

"Ah."

Mo Xueyao quickly ran to the garbage room not far away, threw the garbage bag in, and then put her hands in her pockets because she was freezing in the wind.

The cars parked on the roadside were covered in frost, and their windows looked as if they were frozen solid.

"It looks like it will snow in Hangzhou this year."

"Didn't it rain before?"

"That doesn't count. What's the point of such a little snow? I have a feeling we'll have a heavy snowfall this year, a really heavy snowfall! My gut tells me! Maybe the snow will be knee-deep!"

"Snow like this is rare in the South."

"My mom said that when I was little, there was a time when the snow was up to her waist. She stayed at home almost all winter and didn't go out. At times like that, the countryside was good because you could make a fire to keep warm. Tsk... How about we do what Youyou and the others do and find an iron bucket to make a fire in winter?"

"It's too dangerous."

"It's okay, it's very warm!"

"My dad... my godfather and godmother won't agree to me making a fire in the new house."

"Ah, that's true..."

……

Chapter Seventy-Six: A Rare Band Tea... Band Practice! (Part 1)

On November 9, 2001, the sudden drop in temperature was a sign that winter was coming.

Meanwhile, today is also Friday, and students who have been exhausted after a week can finally go home and rest earlier instead of having to attend evening self-study sessions until 8 p.m.

However, what they didn't know was that the life they found difficult now would become the envy of many high school students in the future.

Ten or twenty years later, even junior high school students spend more time in school each week than they did...

The two afternoon self-study sessions ended at 4:45 PM.

After a week of tension, people finally relaxed, so much so that some of them ran out of the classroom with a rather unrestrained pace.

Mo Xueyao stared in disbelief at Liu Xiaowei, who was running away with bizarre movements and a wobbly gait: "Is that even a human being can run like that?"

"After all, we have two whole days of rest ahead of us." Hua Yinyin deliberately dragged out the word "two days," then patted Mo Xueyao's shoulder forcefully. "Little Yaoyao! You must come to the band room today!"

"The band practice room... Oh right, I almost forgot!" Although it happened last night, after a busy day, Mo Xueyao hadn't remembered it for a moment. "I've chosen a practice spot off-campus for the band! It's very close to the school! Let's go check it out!"

"Huh, why did I suddenly think of this?"

"Because that way we can practice on weekends too. We wanted to come to school to practice a few times before, but the gate was locked and we couldn't get in, right?"

"Yes, but you've been quite busy lately, haven't you?"

"At least you can put the drum set there."

“I think Youyou would rather take the drum set home to practice…”

Mo Xueyao was momentarily speechless, then puffed out her cheeks in a huff: "Tch, forget it then!"

Hua Yinyin immediately reached out and patted her head, comforting her, "But it's not a bad idea to go and take a look!"

"I don't want to go anymore."

"Oh my, little Yao Yao can actually act cute."

Mo Xueyao didn't want to admit that she was being coquettish: "I wasn't. Never mind, let's call everyone to come together. Where are Lele and Youyou?"

"The two of them went to the toilet together, and they haven't packed their schoolbags yet."

It's perfectly normal for girls to go to the restroom together after school.

However, compared to the boys' high efficiency, the girls' toilet use seemed more like gathering at the toilet door to chat...

It's practically become an open intelligence exchange venue.

Gossip from each class was flying around outside the restroom.

Shouldn't taverns be the usual place for exchanging information?

Comparing a toilet to a pub always conjures up terrible images in Mo Xueyao's mind, like beer that isn't actually beer.

"No rush, I have to wait for Wanyan anyway."

Even though they were already in their senior year of high school, Li Wanyan, the class monitor, still had to help supervise the cleaning.

It's not that the cleaning wasn't done properly, but Ye Banxia still couldn't control people. The girls were fine, but the boys simply wouldn't listen to her.

If Li Wanyan isn't around, someone will just do a shoddy job and leave, leaving Ye Banxia to do the cleaning herself.

Actually, Ye Banxia isn't weak-willed; she's just easy to talk to and kind-hearted.

It is precisely because I understand everyone's desire to go home early that I always take the initiative to do the finishing touches.

Unfortunately, while she is considerate of others, others are not considerate of her.

This made Mo Xueyao feel a little emotional, and she couldn't help but mutter, "Really, should good people be bullied?"

"What is Xiaoyao muttering?"

"Hmm? It's nothing." Mo Xueyao shook her head and saw that Ma Jianhang, who had just run out the door, was stopped by Li Wanyan. She insisted that Ye Banxia check the cleanliness and make sure it was clean before allowing him to leave.

As a result, Ye Banxia turned a blind eye and took a rag to wipe some dusty corners, and considered it clean.

This is basically the same scene as always.