A Young Woman's Heart

"Whoosh, why is Cheng Yuan so warm?"

"...Fat people are probably warmer."

"Not fat at all, it's so comfortable to hug like this~" Wang Jiale squinted and rubbed against him. When his eyes met Lu Bolun's, he raised his eyebrows slightly, as if unintentionally.

This is a true agritourism destination.

Everywhere you look there are wooden houses and thatched huts; you can't find a single modern concrete building.

There is a large awning on both sides that looks like a bicycle shed.

What's placed below isn't a bicycle, but several large stoves and some stone tables with a structure somewhat similar to a kang (heated brick bed).

The three big white dogs continued to circle around the students, and some students who liked dogs had already squatted down and started rubbing their heads.

A large, white, furry dog ​​left a trail of small, plum blossom-like paw prints on the ground, which contrasted beautifully with the snow-covered landscape.

The students from the two classes were seated at eight tables.

The cook looked like a real farmer, with a dark and rough face, and strong, calloused hands that seemed ready to put down the stove and pick up farm tools to work in the fields at any moment.

"Wow! This table is warm!" Wang Jiale sprawled on the warm and clean stone table. "Is the teapot in the middle boiling water?"

"I think so?" Mo Xueyao picked up the teapot and poured some water into a disposable cup. Steam rose and spread around.

"Little Yaoyao...I want to drink too." Hua Yinyin, still feeling unwell from the car ride, mumbled weakly.

She was sleeping in the car and seems to have caught a chill; her nose is constantly running uncontrollably, and she's almost run out of tissues in her bag.

……

(four)

There is a huge windmill on the farm, not just for decoration, but a real, functional one.

It is now slowly turning in the wind and snow.

However, the leaves were still covered with a layer of snow that wasn't too thick.

People were busy at several stoves, and dishes were being served one after another.

These are all rustic farm dishes. They may not look particularly appealing, but they are all very fragrant and taste great—the only downside is that they are seasoned quite heavily, which might not be ideal for those who prefer milder flavors.

"Wanyan." Mo Xueyao gently kicked Li Wanyan's shoe with her toe. The latter slowly turned her head and twisted her leg to wrap around Mo Xueyao's ankle.

"how."

"Do you think that mill could also be used as a wind turbine?"

"Perhaps."

"I think we could install a wind and solar power system on the roof of our fruit shop. That would save us a lot of electricity over the course of a year!"

"...Compared to the electricity consumption of those light bulbs, the installation cost is not worthwhile."

"If only I could modify it myself!" Mo Xueyao suddenly clapped her hands. "Right, I'll ask Xiaoxue next time!"

"Wind power and solar power, huh?" Mo Zhuyou leaned closer, glanced at their feet, and chuckled to herself. "Ahem... um, by the way, Xiaoxue is trying to figure out how to install them for us."

"Huh? Xiaoxue can pretend?"

“He’s also doing research. Once the plan is out, my sister and I can just buy the materials. We’ve saved quite a bit of money this year.” Mo Zhuyou put her hands together and waved them gently. “Thank you for the generous sponsorship. Speaking of which, my sister and I have only met her once, and we haven’t seen her since, but she always sends money on time every month.”

Is your monthly allowance enough for living expenses now?

"That's about right. On weekends, I can occasionally do odd jobs at Sister Duanmu's place. My sister and I can earn two or three hundred yuan a month together."

"That's pretty good." Mo Xueyao wrapped her arms around Li Wanyan's ankles and locked her thighs with the back of her knees. The latter raised her eyebrows helplessly, her lips seemingly curving up, yet not quite.

……

(Fives)

"Everyone, you can start eating as soon as the food is served! No need to wait for everything to be served. Although the table is warm, it can get cold very easily in the middle of winter!" Ye Wen shouted at the top of her lungs. Even with the loudspeaker, you could hear the pain in her voice as she strained to shout. "Cough cough cough—"

There's no ladle on the stone table; if you want something, you just walk around to the dish or ask someone to pick it up for you.

Everyone helped each other, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

During the mealtime, it got completely dark. There were no stars in the sky. If it weren't for the burning stove fire and the incandescent light bulb hanging from the ceiling, swaying in the wind and snow, it would have been pitch black.

It makes one a little worried; how will the bus get back on such a snowy night?

Hua Yinyin, who had run in from outside, suddenly darted behind Mo Xueyao, pulled open the back of her collar, and shoved a cold object into her neck, causing Mo Xueyao a sharp pain as if chili oil had been rubbed onto her back.

"What?!"

"Pure and flawless snow!"

"Yinyin, are you feeling better now and starting to act up again? Just you wait, I'm going to bury you in the snow in a bit."

"Hehehe~ Come on, come on~"

"You, wait! Don't run!"

Li Wanyan watched the two chasing each other into the distance, and gently shook her head with a smile.

……

Chapter 121 Christmas Eve

The day before Christmas is Christmas Eve, which is equivalent to New Year's Eve for foreigners.

However, for Chinese people of that era, it was just an ordinary Western holiday.

Not every shop on the street is having a Christmas promotion, and Christmas trees can only be seen in some large shopping malls.

However, Mo Xueyao's fruit shop has recently started selling apples for Christmas Eve.

—It's one of those red apples with the word "peace" written on it.

In a sense, it can be considered a combination of Chinese and Western elements.

This morning when I went to school, my mother gave two to each of Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan.

The packaging is quite exquisite, with each one in a cardboard box. The outside features beautiful paintings and illustrations, but the inclusion of a few Chinese poems in the English text makes it seem somewhat incongruous.

The heavy snow has been falling for three days, and it hasn't stopped today, just much less.

Mo Xueyao had long since lost her initial excitement and started to find the snowy weather troublesome.

The dim yellow sky made the snowflakes appear yellowish as well, drifting sparsely like dust stirred up by the wind.

Early in the morning, you can see many sanitation workers carrying snow removal tools busy on the streets.

Some people carried large bags of de-icing salt and scattered handfuls of it into the snow; others used shovels to dig through the ice that had frozen solid on the ground; still others used brooms to pile all the snow aside; on the wider roads, there were snowplows sweeping the snow, and occasionally passing vehicles would consciously slow down and go around them...

In the snow-covered city, the pace of life seemed to slow down. People, their bodies stiff from the cold and their faces flushed, seemed to work much more leisurely.

In fact, the snow accumulation on the ground was even more severe on the weekend. As a southern city, we didn't have much experience in dealing with heavy snow, so traffic was almost paralyzed for those two days. As a result, Mo Xueyao and her friends, who wanted to go to West Lake to walk on the ice, could only stay at home and watch the snow outside their windows.

Today, the tools were clearly in place, and there were many more snow removal workers than before. Many community staff members, as well as some retired elderly people, volunteered to come and help.

Even so, Mo Xueyao still stumbled as she walked on the sidewalk.

Although the boots were waterproof, they weren't rain boots after all. As we approached the station, I could feel some snow water seeping in, and my feet were soaking wet, feeling like they were about to freeze.

"Hiss—" Mo Xueyao stood in front of the platform, vigorously shaking off the snowflakes from her clothes so that they wouldn't melt and soak her clothes when she got into the train car later. "Snowing is no good at all..."

"Hmm." Standing next to her, Li Wanyan helped her rearrange her scarf to make it warmer around her neck.

"However, Wanyan's wish came true, a snowy Christmas!" Mo Xueyao exhaled white breath and put her arm around Li Wanyan's shoulder—although it was a bit difficult for her because of her short stature, she still liked to put her arm around her like that.

Maybe it's because I used to do this when chatting with my close friends.

Some habits can be changed, but some are hard to change, or rather, they can't be hidden in front of familiar and close people.

Small snowflakes fell on the platform's awning, making a 'rustling' sound.

Only by hearing the sound of snow up close can one truly feel that it is both hard and brittle.

They look like tiny ice beads.

On snowy days, the wait for the bus is longer than usual. It was quite a struggle to finally catch a bus, the 312, which wasn't extended.

Mo Xueyao jumped onto the bus before Li Wanyan could, and swiped the bus card she had put in her knitted card holder.

"drop."

This wool card holder was knitted by Li Wanyan's mother. It does feel quite warm to the touch, but it's heavy to wear around the neck and bulges a bit when put in a pocket, so it's usually kept in her schoolbag.

There were few passengers in the carriage, and the fog on the windows made it impossible to see the world outside.

She sat in the double seat closest to the exit door, next to the window.

She stretched out her fair, rosy fingers and gently wrote "Merry Christmas" in cursive script on the glass.

However, due to the bumpy ride, the writing is crooked and uneven, like a bunch of earthworms huddled together.

The hazy view outside the window, the slowly moving bus, and the not-yet-crowded morning all made me lose track of time, as if I were traveling through a tunnel made of snow.

When we arrived at the station, it felt as if I had fallen into a wormhole and appeared there directly. The journey in between seemed to have been erased by an eraser, leaving no impression whatsoever.

Because the car was driving slowly, I arrived at school ten or twenty minutes later than usual.

But the campus remained quiet except for the sound of snow.

Instead of staying in the warm security booth, the security guard leaned against the door, smoking a cigarette, while holding a glutinous rice ball in his other hand. He took a puff of his cigarette and a bite of the glutinous rice ball, looking quite content.

No one was shoveling snow at the school, and the snow was already higher than the road outside.

It even makes one wonder if the automatic sliding door can still be opened normally.

"Uncle, why don't you sit inside?"

"It's warm today!"

Mo Xueyao clearly saw a half-empty bottle of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) at his feet, and shrugged: "You need to be more careful to keep warm when drinking, or you might catch a cold."

"Haha, it's nothing."

Drinking alcohol early in the morning is probably a habit of the older generation.

Perhaps in their time, the work was very hard and there weren't many warm clothes, so they could only rely on drinking to 'warm up' their bodies.