A Young Woman's Heart

Aside from the flat tire, the car seemed to have no other problems.

Mo Xueyao pulled out a gray rag from under the seat and dusted off the seat and handlebars—though it looked only slightly cleaner than a bicycle.

It had been a long time since I had ridden a bike. When I stepped on the pedal, I actually felt a bit like I was riding with the wind, as if I were sitting on a white dragon that could soar through the sky.

"Oh! Wanyan, do you remember our New Year's Day talent show in our first year of high school?!"

"Ok?"

"Look, riding on the back of the silver dragon!" she laughed and patted her bicycle.

Li Wanyan paused for a second, then returned her a knowing smile.

The sound of the bicycle chain turning came from the bicycle.

At midday, with a few rays of sunlight shining on the earth, the two strolled leisurely through one path after another.

On Saturdays, even the owners of roadside shops seem unusually relaxed, and time seems to move much slower than usual.

The auntie who runs the barbershop is trimming the flower branches at the door; the owner who makes breakfast is munching on the flatbread he baked; the youngest son of the grocery store owner is slurping down a bowl of white porridge, his dirty sleeves covered with sticky rice.

"Hmph~ La la la~ Under the sky~" Mo Xueyao hummed a soothing song, which Li Wanyan had never heard before, and it seemed to be improvised by her.

Her voice was soft and gentle, with a hint of languor.

"Azure sorrow~ hum hum hum... di li li la..." Mo Xueyao took a breath before continuing to sing, "Those~ villages and farmlands~ have all~ gradually disappeared~ but the world... remains unchanged~"

"There seems to be no coherence between the lyrics."

"Haha, I just sing whatever comes to mind." Mo Xueyao grabbed the handlebars and shook the bike, slowing down her pedaling.

She continued singing the song she had just sung: "You are like... the jewel in my heart... ee-la-la-la..."

"It sounds nice."

"Really? Hmm... I feel like this would be perfect for someone to play guitar and sing along."

"The piano is also good."

"Unfortunately, I only have one electronic keyboard."

"I've written down the lyrics for you."

"Huh? Haha, no need for that. It was just a casual rendition. I won't even be able to find the tune later!"

The wind blew up Li Wanyan's long hair, strand by strand, flowing freely and casually.

At that moment, Mo Xueyao felt that if there were truly winter maidens in this world, they must look just like her.

"how."

"It's alright—"

Mo Xueyao looked around, as if trying to find a new topic to talk about.

And so she found it.

It was a tricycle traveling on the road, and the woman riding it was clearly looking for a suitable place to set up a stall.

The bags were filled with large bags of snacks, decorated with colorful polka dots, which looked quite nice.

But upon closer inspection, the snacks inside seemed to be just a jumble of random bits and pieces.

"Boss!" Mo Xueyao quickened her pace to catch up, shouting loudly, "Are these for sale?"

"Yes," the woman on the bicycle replied with a cheerful smile, turning her weathered face around.

"What are all these things?" The two of them pressed the brakes at the same time and began to slowly slow down.

"Scraps from a food factory! They taste the same, are very cheap, but don't look good."

"Hmm—I think I've eaten this before when I was little, my mom bought it..."

"I got them all from a nearby food factory, they're very fresh."

All three vehicles stopped. Mo Xueyao quickly propped up her bicycle stand and darted to the front of the tricycle.

The proprietress was also very enthusiastic in explaining what was in each bag.

"These are bread crusts; they're delicious eaten directly or toasted. These are potato chip crumbs; aside from being broken, they're the same as regular potato chips. These are poorly made Maltesers; they don't look good, but they taste the same. These are chocolate breads, also poorly shaped. These cookies are all broken, but the pieces are quite large, and they taste good, especially the one with white sugar..."

Although it's just a small tricycle, it's like a snack shop with a wide variety of snacks.

"So, what are the prices?"

"They sell it by weight. Bread crusts are 49 cents a pound, and potato chip crumbs are 57 cents a pound..."

It's only because it's considered a defective product from a snack factory that it's so cheap.

Moreover, in terms of shelf life, they are even 'fresher' than those sold in small shops.

"Then I'll take this, this, and this... one pound of each! What does Wanyan want?"

That's all.

"Hey, shouldn't we buy some more?"

"...It's a waste if we can't finish it."

"Auntie, where do you usually sell your products?"

"They sell it everywhere nearby! Sometimes it's at the market entrance, sometimes it's outside the apartment building..."

That's too vague to pinpoint the exact location.

When faced with these snacks, Mo Xueyao felt like a tycoon, able to buy them all with just her pocket money.

I bet Gao Yuan feels the same way every time she goes to buy snacks, right?

So she couldn't resist buying some more.

There were six pounds of snacks in total, packed separately in the bicycle baskets of the two of them.

It only cost less than five yuan in total, which is quite a bargain.

This is unlike spicy strips or instant noodles, where the price would be at least five times higher if you bought the product in good condition.

"Can we finish it?" Li Wanyan sighed helplessly.

"It's okay, if you can't finish it, just take it to the band room to eat! You can share it with everyone!"

"..."

Mo Xueyao understood Li Wanyan's expression: "It doesn't matter if it's a little broken, it won't affect the taste anyway, as long as it tastes good, right?"

Whether or not you lose face depends on who you're talking to.

Good friends aren't afraid of losing face at all; they might even feel proud of themselves for buying a lot of snacks for very little money.

Once again, Mo Xueyao got on her bike and this time hummed a cheerful song.

Although it was still a cold winter, with only glimpses of azure sky visible through the gaps in the clouds, it seemed as if she had already begun preparing to welcome spring.

……

Chapter 136 A Familiar Experience of Bicycle Maintenance

(One)

The two women sitting in the quiet fruit shop suddenly looked up as if they sensed something, and then saw a middle-aged man and a blue-eyed girl, each carrying a plastic bag, their legs turned outwards, and their bodies swaying.

"You two really are alike, aren't you?" the mother couldn't help but tease. "You even walk with such a swagger."

“Walking like this saves a lot of energy,” Mo Xueyao said, holding up the bag in her hand to Li Wanyan. “Wanyan, look! Spray paint!”

This was something I had agreed upon with my father yesterday. As soon as I arrived this morning, he took her to the building materials market.

Not to mention spray painting, even the big buckets of paint contain it.

Although she was just joking, her father still bought five colors of spray paint, intending to create a rainbow-colored spray paint – even though it would have two fewer colors than a real rainbow.

Of course, Li Wanyan also bought the silver paint she wanted.

In addition, I bought two new bells and a new handle from the hardware store—and some other replacement parts that I might need.

—Li Wanyan's bicycle was the oldest, so the handlebars were rusted beyond recognition, and the rubber grips were worn smooth, so they couldn't increase friction at all.

Fortunately, weather forecasts weren't always accurate back then, and today we had a rare sunny day.

Just like the day I was about to start high school.

However, instead of standing downstairs at home, I stood behind the fruit shop.

The van was parked under the shade of a tree, with only a small patch of sunlight shining on it.

Both bicycles were parked in the sunlight. Although it was just a small green belt, it looked like a forest to Mo Xueyao.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves into one of the few clearings in the forest, where two girls watched their father maintain the bicycle in front of them.

"Xiaoyao, bring me a basin of water."

"No problem!" Mo Xueyao readily agreed, after all, this was to help her with something, so it was only right to be proactive.

Business wasn't very good today, but my mother can manage on her own in front.

Li Wanyan only leaned over to look for a short while before losing interest and returning to the shop.

Right now, my father is wiping away the dirt on the car bit by bit with a rag, and using a steel wool pad to clean the rusty parts.

Although they were just wiped clean, they already looked much newer, and under the winter sun, they radiated a unique vitality.

"Xiaoyao, just watch! Hurry up and help, or we won't be able to finish before the sun goes down!" The father took a Yellow Crane Tower cigarette from his coat pocket with one hand, lit it without a lighter, and then, seemingly feeling hot, took off his coat and took out a lighter from inside to light the cigarette.

"Here it comes! Here it comes!"

"Please change the dirty water in my basin first."

"Yes, Father!"

"Haha, just putting on an act." The father laughed and scolded, took a puff of his cigarette, squatted down and started changing the handlebars on another bicycle, while also checking the brakes.

……

(two)