A Young Woman's Heart

"I give up."

"what……"

"Mo Xueyao, do you think I should find a girlfriend?"

His eyes were sincere; he was earnestly seeking an answer.

Mo Xueyao didn't know if her answer was right, but she still decided to give him one: "Hmm! Try finding one! Maybe it will change you? After all... going against the tide of the times will only leave you battered and bruised."

"Hmm—" he drawled, then sighed with a helpless smile.

"Go for it, Susu!"

"it is good."

Then came the sound of footsteps leaving.

"Wait! You forgot your glass jar!"

……

(six)

Despite the gray sky, pure white snow can still fall.

However, snow also clings to dust, proving that there is indeed nothing truly sacred in this world.

An Ruosu didn't use an umbrella; she just walked slowly, getting soaked in the snow.

Now only senior high school students remain in the teaching building, making it much quieter than during the day.

However, occasionally a few lower-grade students who were going home late would still come out of the teaching building.

It was already late for them, but for senior high school students, there was still a long time before school ended.

An Ruosu was somewhat lost at this moment, and didn't even know where she should go.

The vast snow blocked the road, and there were hardly any other footprints left by others.

Perhaps it's because there aren't many people coming to the laboratory building.

Just as he was in a daze, a loose snowball hit him in the face with a 'thud'.

Snowballs scattered on his coat, with half of them falling back onto the snow.

He turned his head blankly and saw a girl with a beauty mark on each side of her face waving at him with a cheerful smile.

Just as he was wondering which acquaintance it was, another snowball hit him squarely in the face.

"Senior! Want to have a snowball fight?!"

"what?"

He was met with another snowball, which he nimbly dodged to the side this time.

"Aren't you going home yet? It's very late."

"I'm a boarding student!"

"oh oh……"

"Snapped!"

"...Do I really have to play?"

"Aren't you going to play?" the other person asked excitedly, which was really puzzling.

"Let's play!" An Ruosu seemed to have suddenly found an outlet for her frustration. At first, she just made a snowball and threw it symbolically, but after being hit by the other person several times, her competitive spirit finally surged into her heart...

……

Chapter 124 A 'Date' with My Best Buddy

(One)

The date was Saturday, December 29, 2001.

The golden but not warm sunlight shone on the still snow-covered city.

The snow on the streets has been almost completely cleared, but the dirty snow piled up on the roadside still shows no sign of melting.

The clock hands are pointing to the '7' position.

Mo Xueyao, wearing a red and black checkered scarf, was standing at the entrance of the train station.

She stomped her legs hard, which looked even plumper because of the cashmere tights she was wearing, and exhaled puffs of hazy white breath.

"Where's that idiot Xiao Ji?" she muttered, her eyes wide as she scanned the crowd, hoping to find that familiar figure among them.

"Hey." But to her surprise, the guy's voice came from behind Mo Xueyao.

She turned her head slightly and saw Duanmu Ji, who was wearing only a leather jacket and jeans, looking at her with a cool expression.

It reminded her of Takumi Fujiwara from Initial D.

Of course, his face isn't nearly as long as it appears in the animation.

He had a large bag slung over his back, its contents bulging and bulging, the contents of which were unknown.

The two were neither too far nor too close; their breaths didn't even reach each other's faces.

"You brought it?"

"I brought it."

"Oh! How do I change it later?"

"Uh...the changing room."

Mo Xueyao's face was full of anticipation, but she still patted his shoulder with some regret: "But Xiao Ji, you're still a bit short. If you were 178cm tall, you would look really handsome in this! Okay, okay! Let's hurry and catch the train!"

As she spoke, she turned around and waved vigorously at him with her back to him.

Duanmu Ji didn't answer, but secretly tiptoed when she wasn't looking at him.

Then he tried gesturing above his head.

"Hurry up, buddy! Even though there's still half an hour, we can't waste it. There are so many people here!"

"Oh……"

……

(two)

With the Lunar New Year approaching and coinciding with the weekend, some people have already started celebrating the New Year early.

However, those who can arrive so far in advance are mostly migrant workers who work on construction sites.

Because it's basically only in places like this that people start their holidays a month in advance.

The sunny day after the heavy snow was actually colder than when it was snowing, and many people waiting for their trains in the waiting hall were hugging themselves and shivering.

Some people sneakily smoke when the staff aren't looking, and it's difficult to stop everyone from smoking during such a busy time.

The waiting hall is always so chaotic, and you can often see people coming and going to see off friends or relatives.

Mo Xueyao slung her backpack over her shoulder, put her hands in her shirt pockets, and looked around warily, like a little owl going on a long trip for the first time.

"What are you doing?" Duanmu Ji asked, his face tense, as if he was trying to suppress a laugh.

"Be careful, there are a lot of pickpockets at the train station!" Mo Xueyao now felt that everyone in the hall was a suspect.

"...Isn't that unnecessary?"

"Hey, what are you doing!" Mo Xueyao suddenly glared at him. Duanmu Ji turned around and saw a small, thin figure slip into the crowd, and the zipper of his backpack had just been pulled open a little.

"See!"

"..." Duanmu Ji was speechless, and like Mo Xueyao, he put his schoolbag on his back.

……

(three)

Even a regular train from Hangzhou to Shanghai doesn't take much time.

But swaying and rattling in that strangely smelly carriage was still somewhat unbearable.

Mo Xueyao had prepared a whole bunch of topics to avoid awkwardness on the way, but she barely managed to say a few words.

Only Duanmu Ji kept holding the bag, afraid that she might throw up at any moment.

As for the scenery along the way that I've planned to see in advance...

Then they missed out on everything.

"Oh no, I caught Yinyin's condition, I even get seasick on the train..."

"Huh? What?"

"It's nothing..." After saying this, Mo Xueyao vomited in front of a trash can next to the bus stop.

She felt that she wasn't dizzy from the train's swaying, but rather from the stench.

……

(four)

Shanghai is noticeably warmer than Hangzhou, though only by a small margin.

It didn't snow that heavily here; you could only see a few patches of unmelted snow in some secluded corners.

Although she had been there once before, Mo Xueyao still felt oppressed by the towering buildings overhead, as if they were encroaching on the space that originally belonged to the sky.

As soon as she exited the station, Mo Xueyao hailed a taxi. The driver turned around and spoke in a somewhat non-standard local dialect, which felt a bit awkward, like someone trying to imitate someone else.

"Hey, Xiao Ji, I'm asking you, where are you?"

"I'm looking!" Duanmu Ji quickly lowered his head and scanned the words on the admission ticket. He couldn't explain it clearly for a while, so he could only hand the ticket directly to his master.

"Oh, here it is. Okay, it's a bit far, about 60 or 70 yuan."

Mo Xueyao clutched her wallet with a pained expression, and for a moment she almost wanted to get off the bus.