A Young Woman's Heart

"Alright, we can finally start spraying paint!" The father threw away the cigarette butt from his mouth and stomped it out with his foot.

There was already a lot of ash and cigarette butts on the ground, and the two bicycles in front of us were wrapped in newspaper.

Those are areas that do not need to be painted.

The simplest one is Li Wanyan's, as long as it's all silver, so we'll start with that.

The father held the spray paint in one hand and a cigarette in his mouth with the other. Perhaps he also felt that he had smoked too much, so he did not light the cigarette, but just held it in his mouth to taste it.

—Although Mo Xueyao couldn’t imagine what it would taste like at all.

After that, it was all her father's show. Mo Xueyao didn't need to help at all, so she washed her hands, grabbed a handful of broken potato chips, and watched leisurely, occasionally pointing and asking a few questions.

"Dad, what about inside?"

“Just paint it on with a pen. Didn’t you see me do that before?” The father, holding the spray paint, turned around, a cigarette dangling from his lips, and raised an eyebrow.

"That happened so long ago, you've probably forgotten about it already!"

This is a true metallic paint, not just plain silver; it even reflects a slight metallic sheen in the sunlight.

It looks as beautiful as if the outer coating had been scraped off and then polished.

There is a pure beauty in the object itself.

"It's quite pretty too."

"Right? You're the other extreme, all flashy and frivolous," the father teased, deliberately raising his voice.

"I was just joking," Mo Xueyao tried her best to explain.

"Hey, do you think I believe you?" The father said with a half-smile. "Haha, but it's not bad either, that color might actually suit you quite well."

"what?"

"Don't you always act like a little kid? Those kindergarten clothes your mom used to make you wear didn't look strange at all on you."

"Hey, Dad, what do you mean by this?!"

"Hahaha—what, you want to hit your dad again?"

"Tch—I'm a girl now, so what if I hit you? It's perfectly legitimate!"

"Oh my, so you know how to use your status advantage now, not bad, not bad. But, you brat—try to fight me?" The father pinched Mo Xueyao's cheek with one hand and pulled it to the side, causing the latter's saliva to flow uncontrollably.

"Ah ah ah..."

"It's still a hundred years too early!"

"Tch! Dad, you're so shameless, no wonder I couldn't pull it!"

"If you weren't thick-skinned, how would you have won over your mother?"

"Now you admit that you were the one who pursued her first, right?"

"She seduced me first..." the father quickly defended himself.

"Pah, that's what all men say!"

"You're not?"

“Yes, I’m not.” Mo Xueyao puffed out her chest as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

She's now immune to that kind of teasing and banter.

After all, these parents of their own child are not careful at all. Others might accidentally reopen old wounds, but they deliberately reopen old wounds to take a look, and sometimes they even pour salt water on them.

It's practically a desensitization therapy.

So much so that in front of his parents, this matter was not considered a sore spot at all.

In the past, she would have jumped up in a panic, determined to prove that she was a boy.

……

(three)

It wasn't until the winter sun was almost setting that the shadows of the trees stretched long and slanted.

It wasn't until all the birds in the trees had returned to their nests that they shook off a few feathers.

It wasn't until the last blush of red on the azure sky faded away.

The wind ruffled Mo Xueyao's bangs. She gently brushed her hair aside and watched as the bicycle, painted in bright colors, was finally completed.

The five-colored bicycle has a warm color scheme, like a colorful cream cake.

"Done, it was more tiring than arranging flowers all day... Damn it..." The father finally straightened up and gave himself a good thump. "I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow, so it can dry here in a day."

"You can't ride it tomorrow."

"Don't be in such a hurry. Of course you can't ride it tomorrow. Aren't you afraid of being embarrassed if you ride it to school?"

"What's the big deal? The paint's already on, it's too much trouble to fix it now. Besides, as long as I don't feel ashamed, people will actually envy me!"

"You've really honed your skills."

The father was referring to the previous times Mo Xueyao had gone out to play wearing clothes in various kindergarten color schemes.

"That's all thanks to Mom—"

"Are you two done? Ali, you go keep an eye on things up ahead, I'm going to cook."

"Okay, okay, I just finished. I'll move it over there so it doesn't get fumes from your cooking."

His mother rolled her eyes at him and pointed to the cigarette butts on the ground: "How many packs of cigarettes have you smoked? So many cigarette butts, you'll die from smoking them all."

"Just one pack..."

"One pack isn't enough? You're increasing your consumption by more and more. Quit smoking!"

"Yes, yes, I'll smoke less tomorrow."

"How much less do you smoke?"

"Smoke one less cigarette..." The father's voice trailed off as he quickly slipped back into the fruit shop before the mother could speak.

"No good!" The mother was amused and annoyed, laughing and scolding from behind with a spatula in hand, even waving it around a couple of times in a mock manner.

When Mo Xueyao returned to the fruit shop, she saw Li Wanyan knitting something.

—Just like what my mother usually does.

"Hey, Wanyan, are you learning to knit?"

"It is."

"Knitting a scarf? Or gloves? Scarves are probably easier for beginners, right?"

In fact, Mo Xueyao didn't know how to knit at all. She just watched her mother knit a lot, so she said a few words out of curiosity.

Li Wanyan raised her eyelids and glanced at her indifferently: "Hmm."

"scarf?"

"Ah."

"Oh—for me?" Li Wanyan pursed her lips, her head lowered, but the corners of her mouth were still visible. "Why?"

"Ha, it must be a birthday present, right?" Mo Xueyao was as excited as if she had discovered a surprise in advance.

"……That's not it."

"Huh? Oh, a New Year's gift for your mother?" Her expression turned serious.

Li Wanyan didn't speak, but glanced at her twice more and swayed slightly as if to answer.

"Can you send me one too?" Perhaps influenced by Hua Yinyin, Mo Xueyao's skin has been getting thicker and thicker lately.

Of course, it's also possible that they've become more and more familiar with Li Wanyan, and they no longer need to hold back when speaking, nor do they need to hide their thoughts.

“…Okay.” Li Wanyan’s eyebrows curved into a smile. “If there’s still time.”

If Mo Xiaoxiao made that expression, she would definitely reveal two deep dimples.

"Then I'll give you one too—never mind, I'll give it to you on your birthday." Mo Xueyao was clearly trying to be lazy.

"We'll see," Li Wanyan said, not caring about such trivial matters.

While we were chatting, a business opportunity came in.

Two groups of customers arrived at once. The one who drove went to find the father to order a custom-made fruit basket, while the family of three who walked were picking out some inexpensive fruits.

"Is this orange sweet?"

"Not sweet at all, it's terribly sour." Mo Xueyao answered honestly, or rather, blurted it out, so when she wanted to take it back, she could only laugh awkwardly.

"That would be perfect, I love sour things..." The woman's mouth seemed to be drooling.

Mo Xueyao quickly handed over a bag, opened it, and let the other person choose what they wanted and put into the bag.

"Where's the pear?"

"...not very sweet, but quite juicy." Those were the cheapest batch of pears.

"Perfect for making pear soup."

Fortunately, the family was surprisingly satisfied with the fruit.

Mo Xueyao picked up another bag, her thoughts already drifting to the day after tomorrow.

……

Chapter 137 Sunflower Seeds

(One)

The stars and moon in the sky showered down upon the earth, but only the light from the streetlights illuminated the snow-covered ground.

In Hangzhou, where the sun is nowhere to be seen during the day, the nights are clear.

Mo Xueyao, who had just come out of the study room, took a deep breath of the cold but refreshing air.

The snow seems to have melted a bit more.