A Young Woman's Heart

Hua Yinyin poked Mo Xueyao's cheek, then giggled and darted to the sofa next to her.

Wu Xiaoping was suddenly surrounded by so many girls, which made him feel a little overwhelmed.

"Would it be a bother if I sat here?" He seemed a little reserved now.

"It's okay, you can keep your calculations." Hua Yinyin waved her hand naturally.

When did she take the initiative?

"Would you like some tea? I happen to have some here, uh, it was a gift from the landlord."

"Japanese tea?" Mo Xueyao asked curiously.

“No.” Wu Xiaoping took out a tea canister from under the coffee table, with the three large characters “Longjing Tea” prominently displayed on it.

Although the tea wasn't cheap, it seemed surprisingly ordinary to everyone.

With tea involved, this break naturally evolved into a tea party.

The dragon fruit that my father just cut can also be served as a snack.

Although Wu Xiaoping and his group didn't have any fancy pastries, they had plenty of cheap snacks like spicy strips and instant noodles.

Mo Xueyao clearly saw two boxes of instant noodles in the corner...

Tea parties during breaks in band practice are the most relaxing.

Perhaps it's because they know this time won't last long that they cherish it so much.

Humans are truly strange creatures.

If we had unlimited time to squander, we wouldn't enjoy it anymore, would we?

A tea party is a gathering where people get together to chat about anything and everything. Of course, the girls' topics aren't always gossip. Don't be surprised, they also talk about national affairs, and they might even get excited about how they'll unify the world and then march into the boundless galaxy after acquiring new weapons.

The curiosity to explore the mysterious and unknown is universal, regardless of gender.

Mo Xueyao sat next to Wu Xiaoping and watched him constantly press the calculator buttons, but he always made a mistake halfway through and had to start over.

"It cost a total of seven hundred and sixty-four yuan and fifty cents..." Mo Xueyao finally couldn't help but calculate the result for him. "How come you still can't figure it out with a calculator?"

"Heh, haha, I never liked studying back in school." Wu Xiaoping chuckled dryly. "I stopped studying after graduating from elementary school."

"Good grief, isn't this compulsory education?"

"Too lazy to learn."

"Tsk tsk, speaking of which—" Since the conversation had started, Mo Xueyao didn't mind saying a few more words, "Are you currently relying entirely on everyone's contributions for your expenses?"

"That's how it is for now. Everyone has contributed some money, and we've pooled it together..."

"What happens after that? Where will the money come from? Are you planning to use this shop to start a business?"

"One game machine isn't enough. We can only buy one slot machine at most... Besides, I don't like other people crammed into the studio." Seeing Mo Xueyao staring at him, he quickly explained, "Oh, I wasn't talking about you guys."

"I didn't think about anything," she said, shrugging. "You guys really plan to make money just by making movies?"

"Is this one of our hobbies?"

"Okay, even if you take the photos with that entry-level digital camera, how do you plan to sell them? Burn them onto CDs? Nobody would buy them, and you're not famous."

Wu Xiaoping was immediately speechless.

To be honest, he hadn't really thought that much about it. At first, he just wanted to start a studio so that everyone could do something meaningful together.

Writing a novel and publishing it together, or making a movie together, are both great ideas.

But the problem is, this doesn't generate profit either.

"Luckily, there's no rent here..." That was all he could say at the moment.

Mo Xueyao shook her head helplessly: "This can't go on forever. The others need to make a living, right? Our parents can't keep supporting everyone forever..."

Wu Xiaoping fell into deep thought. He stopped calculating and seemed to be trying to come up with a promising solution in just a few minutes.

"So you didn't think that much about it when you were doing it?"

"Yes, we just acted impulsively..."

"How about trying to open a rental shop? If you have money, buy some used DVDs; if you don't, buy some used books and rent them out. You won't earn much, but it's stable."

"Even if we buy secondhand books, the money left over might not be enough..."

"How about selling wine!" Zhou Yufan, who looked like a panda, suddenly sat up abruptly. Mo Xueyao thought he had already fallen asleep.

"Where did you get this wine? Do you know how to brew it?"

"Hey, my hometown is Shaoxing, I'm a fellow townsman of Lu Xun!"

"You can do that?" Wu Xiaoping looked him up and down as if he were meeting him for the first time.

"No! But my parents do. They brew wine in their hometown, so they can transport it here and sell it. We can just make a profit on the price difference. Wine from the place of origin is very cheap! Wine that costs two yuan a pound there will sell for five yuan a pound here!"

"Then you need to consider the shipping cost."

"Use a van! One shipment of wine will be enough to sell for a long time."

"You have a driver's license, but we don't have a car."

"My dad has one!" Mo Xueyao regretted her words almost as soon as they left her mouth, but she still forced herself to continue, "If you can return the car before tonight, you should be able to borrow it... I'm not sure..."

"See, that solves it! It's great to have many friends!" Zhou Yufan slapped his hand. "It's winter now, and many people like to drink warm rice wine. We can also make some side dishes. Oh, we can even make some oden. You can make that with a rice cooker. Buying a special appliance isn't expensive!"

"Let's discuss this further when the others return..."

"Don't forget that you need a business license to open a shop. Selling alcohol seems to be a bit more difficult to get a business license for."

"It's alright, it's alright. It's okay to have difficulties. What's scary is not having any ideas!" Wu Xiaoping and Zhou Yufan chatted enthusiastically, discussing the feasibility of this matter.

It seems that Xuehui Studio will soon be renamed Xuehui Tavern...

If it were to actually open, she would be happy to warm a bowl of wine on a snowy day, and also order a plate of fennel beans, just like in the story of Kong Yiji.

"Pfft, haha—"

Suddenly, everyone in the band burst into laughter.

"What's wrong?" Mo Xueyao asked curiously as she leaned closer.

"Yinyin made that same funny face again just now. It's so funny every time I see it. Pfft, is that an expression a human could make?" Wang Jiale covered her mouth and laughed so hard that she was shaking all over and could barely speak.

"Is it really that exaggerated?!" Hua Yinyin's face fell, as if she had suffered some huge blow.

"What kind of face is that?"

"Little Yaoyao wants to see? I'm not letting you see it!"

"Hello, hello—"

"We'll talk about it next time, we'll talk about it next time—" Hua Yinyin waved her hand as if shooing away a mosquito.

Yu Shu tilted her head and looked at everyone. She seemed to enjoy the feeling of sitting and chatting in the crowd—even though she hardly spoke.

"The news says that a top high school in Shanghai has installed surveillance cameras on campus," Mr. Xue said, seemingly continuing the previous topic.

"Install surveillance cameras? Where would you install them?"

"Walls and similar places."

"Hmm, it feels like my every move is being monitored, it's weird..."

“It’s fine to install it. If someone gets into a fight, we can just look at the surveillance footage and know who started it.” Hua Yinyin seemed to be in agreement.

"What if the surveillance camera just happens to be broken?"

"It's not that easy to break."

"Hard to say." Mo Xueyao pursed her lips. "It's like some people's ears—they just can't hear when it really matters."

"Hmm, I have a feeling that Xiaoyaoyao is deliberately hinting at something to me!"

"I didn't say anything."

"Anyway, as long as it's not installed in the classroom, right? Otherwise, being watched by the teacher during class, breaks, and lunch break is just too... ugh." Mo Zhuyou shuddered, as if she was already being watched.

“There are more surveillance cameras on the streets lately. It’ll be a society with surveillance cameras everywhere in the future. It should be very safe, right?” Wang Jiale leaned against Hua Yinyin and massaged his fingers.

Mr. Xue smiled and said, "How to use a tool depends on the person using it."

The setting sun outside the window is about to disappear, and the night, which comes earlier and earlier, is finally about to descend.

Wu Xiaoping's brothers who had gone out also returned one after another, carrying large and small bags of things.

There were daily necessities, tools, and all kinds of food...

Instant noodles were the most common.

Some people even brought back an old sofa.

"Why buy so many sofas?" Mo Xueyao asked curiously.

"If any of the brothers don't have a place to sleep, you can make do here. It's much better than before. Sometimes we don't go home..."

"Is it because your family won't let you go back?"

"Ahem, anyway, at those times we could only find abandoned streets or dilapidated houses to sleep in, or make do in under bridges or somewhere else, haha, everyone was crammed together back then, tsk tsk, it was quite lively."

"So, your friendship was partly built on sleeping together?"

“That’s true…” Wu Xiaoping looked at Hua Yinyin, “but there’s something strange about what you’re saying?”

"Hey, it's nothing, it's nothing~ I didn't say anything~"

A lot of people came back at once, and everyone introduced themselves to each other again.

Hua Yinyin, who was usually very outgoing, suddenly stopped complaining about being tired and instead pulled everyone up, clamoring to start practicing.

As soon as she started playing, her pipa played exceptionally loudly, captivating everyone.

"Hey, Yin Yin! What are you doing?"

"what happened to me?"

"A band isn't a one-man show, you have to coordinate with other people's instruments!"

"Hey, I accidentally went off-track~"

"Let's try again..." Mo Xueyao said helplessly, "Don't play like that again this time."