A Young Woman's Heart

Page 1327

"Huh, what's that written? It's not a romance novel, is it?"

“At least not entirely.” Li Wanyan took a deep breath. “Yaoyao, is it really that fun between male brothers?”

"Hmm? Between brothers? Ah... It's really fun between best friends, joking around and bickering. And guys aren't as easily angered or overly sensitive as girls. Even if they have a conflict in person, they'll be over it by the next day."

"Yes, this is the first time I've learned about it in such depth."

"Oh? So what's the ending?" Mo Xueyao, who had only read the synopsis, was still a little curious.

"The ending is that a group of people graduate, and it doesn't say who the male lead ends up with. That's how it ends."

Is this considered an ending?

"Perhaps it counts." Li Wanyan was clearly somewhat disappointed.

Mo Xueyao, however, thought of her best friend Shi Haiming.

That guy runs a shop near the supermarket. Although it's very close to her home, she hasn't been there many times. Since she thought of it today, she might as well go and take a look. Anyway, it's not far from the station.

Li Wanyan was still thinking about the story in the book, absentmindedly following Mo Xueyao down the opposite road from home, without asking why.

The shop was rather quiet, with only two ceramic cups warming on the small stove, emitting a faint, subtle aroma of meat.

The shop is still open, but business doesn't seem to be very good.

Shi Haiming sat alone in the shop, lost in thought, occasionally taking a sip of the baijiu in his small cup.

"Xiao Ming!"

Shi Haiming didn't react at first, then suddenly sat up straight and looked at her.

"It's Haruka!"

"Hmm, what's wrong? Business isn't too good?"

"It's not good. I can only break even and can't make much money. I'm planning to close down. I might as well find a job."

"I've already said that doing business isn't that easy," Mo Xueyao shook her head helplessly. "Has Atao been here?"

"He only came once, with his girlfriend, tsk tsk." Shi Haiming yawned widely, exhaling a mouthful of alcohol fumes. Mo Xueyao frowned at the smell and couldn't help but fan herself.

How much did you drink?

"I only drank one bottle of Erguotou."

He was met with an eye roll from Mo Xueyao: "What's wrong? You've been under a lot of pressure lately, haven't you?"

"Sigh... I'm an adult now, so I should be able to take care of everything myself, sigh..."

Mo Xueyao was quite surprised that Shi Haiming would say such mature words.

This guy is probably the most free spirit among her friends.

But now, are you thinking about settling down and starting a family?

"This isn't like you."

"Damn, people grow up, you know!" Shi Haiming looked up and downed the last of his wine in one gulp, then pointed to the pigeon soup that was still simmering on a low flame. "You can have it yourself. Anyway, I'm planning to close down tomorrow."

"Have you made up your mind?"

"Well, I've thought about it for a long time." He forced a smile, "Sigh, doing business is never as simple as I thought."

Shi Haiming was the first among Mo Xueyao's friends to give up studying, so he was also the first to bear the pressure from society and life.

Mo Xueyao turned off the heat for him to prevent the pigeon soup from burning.

She had just eaten dinner and wasn't hungry at all, but she still opened a cup, picked out a piece, and chewed it.

"Where do you plan to work after you close down?"

"We'll see, I can't exactly go back to my old ways," Shi Haiming said with a self-deprecating laugh. "I saw a job posting for a network administrator, I'll probably give it a try."

"Oh……"

Although Mo Xueyao still felt that this job was not promising, she still patted him on the shoulder encouragingly.

"Now you know how good it is to go to school, right?"

"Sigh, it's definitely better to be in school. Why didn't I study harder back then?"

"Pfft, 'back then'? It hasn't even been a few years, has it?"

"Three years! Isn't that a long time?"

Mo Xueyao immediately swallowed back what she wanted to say.

The lighting in this shop is not very good; it's even less bright than the streetlights next to it.

In the dimly lit shop, Shi Haiming tilted his head and chuckled twice.

"When I wasn't in school, those three years felt like they went by way too fast."

“Three years of school go by so quickly.” Even though she has been in her senior year of high school for so long, she still subconsciously feels like she is still a freshman.

So much so that when Shi Haiming said that three years had passed, she was even taken aback.

They had once walked the same path, but after a certain point, they parted ways, and their future paths became increasingly different.

It was at that moment that Mo Xueyao suddenly realized that she and Shi Haiming had become estranged.

Because he had been depressed for so long, yet he hadn't called her to tell her all of this.

If she hadn't come, she wouldn't even have known that he was closing the shop tomorrow.

Will the feelings between old and new friends gradually fade after making new friends?

The amount of emotion a person can give away is probably indeed limited.

Thinking of this, Mo Xueyao couldn't help but turn her head to look at Li Wanyan.

Are you getting ready to pack up and close up shop?

"In a bit."

Are you really okay?

"It's nothing!" Shi Haiming waved his hand. "You should go back to sleep early. You have class tomorrow, right?"

"Tomorrow is Sunday, no classes."

"Oh--"

The silence lasted a full five minutes.

It felt like half a century had passed.

Mo Xueyao couldn't think of anything else to talk about, so she finally said goodbye to Shi Haiming.

See you next time.

"Okay, I'll call you again once I have a stable job!"

"We absolutely have to fight."

"Don't worry, we'll definitely fight!"

Mo Xueyao eventually left with Li Wanyan.

On the wide road, there wasn't a single car in sight. In a daze, Mo Xueyao ran a red light, something she rarely did.

She only realized it when she walked over.

Behind them, a car sped past in the last few seconds of the green light.

The journey back was also quiet, with most shops having already closed their roller shutters.

My parents should be back in their van in a little while.

At the familiar park entrance, the old man on the fifth floor was still setting up his stall. Business was slow now, and he was idly munching on freshly fried stinky tofu.

"Oh, you're so late today!" Uncle waved his hand, as usual. "Going to school must be so tiring, are you hungry? Want some fried dough balls? I even made two with red bean paste filling today!"

"No, no, I'm full." Mo Xueyao touched her stomach, but it didn't actually feel round at all.

"Then I'll have two pork tenderloins! Freshly fried!"

"Really, you don't need to..."

"Hey, take it, take it. One skewer each, just two skewers of pork tenderloin, what's there to not be able to finish!" The uncle enthusiastically handed over the two skewers of pork tenderloin, and even carefully wrapped a clean napkin around the bamboo skewer where you could hold it.

"Ah, um... thank you..."

How's school lately? Are you taking the college entrance exam soon?

"What about next year?"

"It's coming soon."

"Well, I guess it's almost there." Time always seems to pass quickly to adults.

Even for Mo Xueyao, half a year was still a very long time.

Li Wanyan quietly took a bite of the pork tenderloin, then suddenly smiled, her lips pursed.

"what happened?"

"Hmm? It's nothing, it's just that the protagonist of that book also likes to eat fried pork tenderloin, so it feels a little strange."

"Even Wanyan has moments like this..."

"What do you mean?"

"It's nothing, haha!"