A Young Woman's Heart

She's the only one out of everyone still struggling with homework.

……

Chapter Ninety-Eight: Doing Homework All Night

(One)

Is 2 AM considered late at night or early morning?

Even the energetic Hua Yinyin finally started to feel sleepy at this point.

She yawned repeatedly, not even in the mood to tease Mo Xueyao, and focused solely on tackling the last few history questions at the table.

History class is supposed to be fun, but for some reason, history questions are always so boring and make me sleepy.

"Phew." Mo Zhuyou sniffed. She had just brought in a pile of firewood from outside and threw two pieces into the fire.

Sparks flew everywhere, dispelling the chill that had just enveloped her in the cold night.

"Is it raining outside?" The older sister keenly noticed the two water droplets that had landed on the tips of her hair.

"Hmm..." Mo Zhuyou sniffed again, "Phew, it's so cold."

"I heard it will only be minus one degree tomorrow," Mo Xueyao said, her hands never stopping.

"Xiaoyao is still very energetic."

"Fortunately."

"Can you still concentrate on doing the questions?"

"Hmm? Hmm—I deliberately left the copying homework to the end. Now it's all about copying homework, like tests and stuff, I copy them all at once."

—Because the last English exam was really bad, especially Mo Xueyao who made a silly mistake, she had to copy more material as punishment than other students with average or below-average grades.

She had to copy that test paper completely three times...

You have to copy down the questions, word for word.

If it were Li Wanyan, she would definitely copy and memorize carefully at the same time, since that is the main purpose of copying.

But Mo Xueyao couldn't do that. When doing this kind of copying homework, her mind was usually blank, and sometimes she couldn't even remember what she had copied after she finished.

She has been able to study well until now entirely thanks to her self-regulation ability.

Everyone has a different personality. If someone like Li Wanyan were to be constantly on edge and working hard, Mo Xueyao definitely wouldn't be able to last a month, or even a week.

"Have you finished your warm wine?"

"Hmm? Hmm, I've finished drinking it."

"Let me heat it up for you."

"Ah, no need, no need, it's too wasteful to give it to me."

"Huh?"

"...I didn't feel drunk at all."

"Drinking doesn't have to be done until you're drunk to avoid it being a waste," Mo Zhuyou said, unable to suppress a smile.

"It's alright, just drink some hot water."

"Okay, then I'll go make some."

"Xiaoxiao has been busy all day, she probably hasn't had much time to do her homework, right? If she's really in a rush, why don't she copy mine later?"

"No need, it's better to write it yourself."

"I want to copy—" Wang Jiale stretched out his arms like a person dying of thirst in the desert, "I, I can't, keep going, anymore..."

"I'll do it myself." Mo Xueyao stuffed her math test paper into her schoolbag.

"Waaaaah, Haruka's being unfair!"

"For you, it's probably better to do it yourself, I guess."

The flames flickered, and the raindrops outside the glass window grew larger.

The advantage of floor-to-ceiling windows is that you can clearly see the raindrops falling on them.

Mo Xiaoxiao, who had just boiled water, went to the cupboard and took out a quilt and a blanket, which could be shared by two or three people.

Without realizing it, everyone seemed to have moved a little closer to the fireplace.

On a cold night, you can't help but huddle up to something warm.

Leng Feng and Qiu Yuanling, who were theoretically the best in terms of physical fitness, were the first to collapse.

Moreover, they sleep exceptionally well, and no amount of noise can wake them up.

Ashleigh was doing a mirror divination in front of the mirror—she had been staring at her reflection for more than ten minutes.

Sitting by the mirror, Mo Zhuyou got goosebumps: "Ai Xiu'er...? Are you alright?"

"Hmm? Hmm, it's nothing."

"I feel like if I keep looking at you, you'll be replaced by your reflection in the mirror..."

This was a half-floor mirror, and she had never felt so terrified before.

"No, it won't." Ashley touched the pendant around her neck. "With this, it's alright."

Is this a talisman?

"Sort of." She paused. "Actually, it's a witch's magical artifact."

Ai Xiu'er spoke with such seriousness that Mo Zhuyou felt somewhat helpless.

This subtle feeling is hard to describe; it can't be called naive, nor can it be called foolish...

Even if you say she's superstitious, it just doesn't feel right.

"Ha-hoo-hoo-" Ye Banxia covered her mouth, lowered her head and yawned, physiological tears bursting from the corners of her eyes, moistening her somewhat dry eyes.

For a moment, the sound of yawning echoed throughout the room.

……

(two)

Being able to refrain from copying homework and finish it on your own is already considered being a good student.

Even if their grades aren't good, they still hope for things to improve.

Even Hua Yinyin showed no intention of copying the homework, which surprised Mo Xueyao.

She's clearly the one who loves finding shortcuts and being lazy the most.

"Gurgle—"

It was the sound of Mo Xueyao pouring hot water into her cup.

Steam rose again from the water glass.

On a night like this, when you're doing homework all night, holding a cup of hot water and slowly sipping it is even more enjoyable than drinking coffee.

You can even taste the sweetness in the water.

It tastes better than tap water in the city, probably because it's water drawn from a mountain spring.

Only an hour has passed since then.

But it seems like no one can keep going. At Yukong High School, homework usually doesn't need to be done this late; most of the time, it's all finished by midnight.

If you still haven't finished writing by this time, then you're basically a student who really likes to dawdle.

So most people don't have much experience staying up all night. From midnight onwards, the drowsiness just keeps creeping in.

Ye Banxia had already curled up, and Mo Xiaoxiao, afraid that she would knock over the water, cleared away all the water glasses on the table.

She was lying next to the fireplace, wrapped in a fluffy blanket, shivering every now and then, as if she were having a nightmare.

Mo Xiaoxiao was worried that she would be cold, so she added a few more pieces of firewood.

If the two sisters only use this firewood regularly, it can actually last a long time.

Firewood costs money in the countryside. Although you don't actually spend money, you're just exchanging money for other equivalents.

Normally, they would only burn the embers for a short while, leaving only the ashes. The second floor was the bed, so the warmth could rise up a bit, and they wouldn't have to worry about the blankets being too cold to get into.

And most of the time, they don't actually light fires for warmth.

The extra firewood that was brought in later was originally intended for cooking.

Li Wanyan calmly looked at the homework in front of her, nodded, and then gently put the pen cap back on the pen, with a smooth, swordsman-like motion as sheathing his sword.

She turned to look at Mo Xiaoxiao, who had finished her work and sat back down: "You've worked hard."

"It's okay, as long as everyone has fun. After all, it's rare to have so many people get together like this."

"Spend all the money you've saved up."

Mo Xiao smiled and revealed two dimples: "It's okay."

"Yaoyao and I will come to help next time."

"It's really okay. Xiaoxue and Chali come here often. Chali always brings some ingredients or snacks, and Xiaoxue often helps us catch earthworms to exchange for firewood from other people."

Neither of them showed up today.

It's so late, they should both be going home by now.

"what."

"What's wrong?" Mo Xueyao looked at Mo Zhuyou, who had suddenly spoken.

"...Aishue is asleep."

"...Even the Dream Witch can't stay up all night."

"Maybe I've been swapped in body by the person in the mirror... Ugh—how terrifying."

"You're overthinking it. It's impossible. Can't you be a little more scientific?"