A Young Woman's Heart

"But he's still a member of our band..."

“Yes, yes,” Wang Jiale chimed in. “And Shu’er prepared very carefully.”

"Yes, but Shu'er also has a performance. After our Senior 3 Class 2's performance ends, it will be Senior 2 Class 3's performance. The class order for this New Year's Day performance has been completely shuffled."

“I know she has that show where she accompanies other people’s singing.”

"Won't it be tiring to do both?"

“…Yeah, never mind.” Mo Xueyao stood up. “Then I’ll go talk to her about it later?”

"No rush, no rush, she shouldn't be in the classroom yet, right?"

Wang Jiale nodded in agreement, her two ponytails, which had grown considerably longer, swaying as she said, "We can talk about it in the band room!"

……

(three)

On the Gregorian calendar, people often just verbally celebrate the New Year, without really feeling much of a connection to it.

Aside from the initial burst of energy when I wake up in the morning, the rest of the day feels no different from any other ordinary day.

There was no sense of loss from the passing of another year.

I even feel like I'm still living in last year.

Of course, there were still some people who were quite excited.

For example, Hua Yinyin, who is currently cutting paper in the band room.

A red card with the words "Happy New Year!" already cut out has been pasted on the windowpane.

"It's a new year, 2002! It's been several years since the beginning of the century!"

Mo Xueyao glanced at her sideways: "What do you mean by several years? It's only been a few years, okay..."

"Yinyin is really excited today," Mo Zhuyou muttered, resting her chin on her drumstick. "I feel like I've gotten another year older."

"Speaking of which, my birthday is coming up soon. This year, the Lunar New Year is relatively late, so I feel like I can finally have a proper birthday celebration."

"Oh, right, it seems like Xiao Yaoyao has never celebrated her birthday. Your birthday is January 21st, isn't it?"

"how do you know?"

"Hmph, of course, I know everything about Yao Yao!"

"If you really found out, what would happen..." Mo Xueyao pursed her lips, clearly not believing her nonsense.

I probably only saw it in Ye Wen's list.

After all, it's not surprising that as the class representative for Chinese, she would have access to a list containing detailed personal information of the students.

This is different from other class representatives, because the Chinese teacher of Class Two is also the homeroom teacher.

The status of the Chinese language class representative is only slightly lower than that of the academic representative.

"So Xiaoyao is an adult this year, right?" Mo Zhuyou asked, blinking her eyes. "After her birthday."

"Yes, after my birthday this month, I will officially be an adult! I can openly go to occasions that are only open to eighteen-year-olds."

"Oh dear, what awful place does Xiaoyao want to go to?"

"Hmm—a more reputable internet cafe?"

"Actually, most minors can get in, right?"

"Cough...!"

"Hey, do you guys think we'll go back to school together again in ten years?" Wang Jiale leaned on the table and gently tapped it.

"Ten years from now—that's so far! That'll be 2012 already, too early, let's talk about it then!" Mo Zhuyou, who always lived one day at a time, didn't seem very interested in imagining such a distant future.

As they were chatting, Yu Shu pushed open the door and walked in. She was already used to the lively tea party in the band room. She picked up the camera hanging around her neck and snapped a picture.

"Yu Shu is here! By the way, your class's performance is right after ours. Why don't you skip the band performance later? You'll be too tired."

"Huh?"

"It must be tiring to appear on two shows in a row, right?" Wang Jiale took off the hair tie from her left ponytail and combed her hair again.

"No...no need, it's alright...I'm fine."

"But wouldn't that be tiring?"

"It's better not to participate."

"No! I want to go! I really want to go!" Yu Shu puffed out her cheeks. "Wh-what?! We practiced together before!"

Yu Shu's loud voice made everyone a little uncomfortable, and they all stood there stunned.

Fortunately, Mr. Xue broke the silence: "Yes, we practiced together before, and it is indeed inappropriate to not let Yu Shu participate now, but Yu Shu, don't misunderstand, they are just worried that you are too tired."

"Mmm-hmm-hmm—" The girls nodded vigorously in unison.

"Mmm..."

"Alright, alright, then—let's participate!"

……

Chapter 127 Why is it still The Little Match Girl?

For students at Yukong High School, the most anticipated event on New Year's Day is undoubtedly the arts and culture performance.

Of course, compared to students in grades 10 and 11, students in grade 12 who have already gone through two years of high school seem to care quite little.

Some people were taking a nap in the chairs of the multimedia hall; some were doing their homework in the dim light; some were playing Pokémon on pirated game consoles with small lamps plugged in; and some were sitting next to each other, chatting casually.

This contrasted sharply with the excited first- and second-year high school students around him.

They were talking loudly, huddled together playing around, or craning their necks to see if the show had started...

Looking at them, Mo Xueyao felt as if she were seeing her past self.

Especially for the first-year high school students, who have the biggest gap with the third-year students, the excitement and carefree joy are already filling the air.

At that time, she was just as clueless, and she was trying her best to adapt to the changes in her body, keeping herself busy every day.

—Unlike the busyness of senior year of high school, it was an emotional exhaustion.

Back then, I was still wondering whether I should try to adapt to being a girl, or whether I would give myself away.

As it turned out, none of the terrifying things I had imagined happened.

As for the thought that 'how could I possibly be a girl?', it has gradually come to fruition.

Subtle influence is a truly terrifying thing.

Mo Xueyao sighed for no apparent reason.

I feel as if I've grown old, or as if I've been defeated by some kind of spiritual symbol...

"What's wrong?" Li Wanyan's hand was already on the back of her hand, and her slender index finger gently tapped her knuckles.

"It's nothing." Mo Xueyao hesitated for a moment, then finally gave her a calm and composed look.

"What's past is past."

"Sigh, I know, there's nothing wrong with being a girl." When Mo Xueyao said this, she suddenly got goosebumps all over. She shrank her neck and felt as if her younger self, who was a boy, was staring at her from somewhere she couldn't see, casting a disdainful look at her and laughing sarcastically.

Li Wanyan pursed her lips, turned her palm over, and placed a cola candy in her hand.

This was Mo Xueyao's favorite candy when she was in her first year of high school.

But lately, probably because there are more things to eat, I haven't bought these cheap and delicious cola candies for a long time.

On the familiar yet unfamiliar stage, this time there were no teachers going up to read the opening remarks; instead, there were two hosts.

The girl was Shen Kelin, an old acquaintance, while the boy was a first-year high school student this time.

"The annual New Year's Day cultural performance of Yukong High School is here again."

"After a long period of snow, the weather cleared up today, as if it were celebrating the arrival of the new year for us."

"This will become our most precious memory; only three times in three years of high school..."

The male and female hosts, as before, took turns reading their opening remarks.

The boy seemed a little nervous, and his tone was too dramatic, making it sound awkward, like he was reciting poetry.

"High school seniors have been watching 'The Little Match Girl' for two years now, and she's back again!"

"Each time brings a different story. What new and exciting experience will this time bring us? Please enjoy Class 7 of Senior Three's 'The Little Match Girl: The Final Revised Edition'!"

This instantly transported some nostalgic students back to New Year's Day in their first and second years of high school.

Mo Xueyao unwrapped the candy, her eyes crinkling, and tilted her head back forcefully: "It's them again?"

"They might not be in the same class anymore."

"Like a tradition, um... a strange tradition... gulp!" She mumbled incoherently with the candy in her mouth, and accidentally swallowed the candy she had just put in her mouth, choking and making her swallow hard a few more times.

The crimson curtain slowly rose as the words were spoken.

The noisy multimedia hall quieted down a little.

Right from the start, someone couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Because all the props were prepared so poorly, they even seemed somewhat perfunctory.

But it is precisely because of this that a kind of humorous contrast is created.

It seems that even the relatively relaxed Class 7 inevitably gets busy during their senior year, leaving little time for rehearsals and preparations.

A beam of pale white light shone on the face of the student playing the little girl.

He was a burly boy, wearing clothes that looked like they were made of tattered rags.

Behind him were several pieces of cardboard of different sizes, with words such as "streetlight," "shop," and "wall" written on them.

Some people even crawled over dressed in all black, dragging a cardboard sign that read "carriage".

"Matches for sale! Matches for sale!" Although it was a boy, the voice that came out was that of a girl.