A Young Woman's Heart

"How did you know it was her birthday...?"

"Of course Xiaoxiao and Youyou told me. Tch, so what if she likes that blue-eyed girl? Do you think I really didn't know?"

"..."

"Go ahead and pursue her without worry!" Duanmu Bi patted his shoulder hard, making him wince in pain. "Even if you don't succeed, you can still be with your sister!"

Duanmu Ji immediately swallowed back his words of gratitude.

He muttered under his breath, cursing, "Who wants to be with you...?"

"Aren't you touched? So touched you can't even speak? Come here, give your sister a hug~ I'll always be your support and your backup bride!"

Duanmu Ji helplessly covered his forehead: "Alright, alright, sis...have you had enough...?"

"Honestly, it's gotten so boring now? You were trying to peek at me while I'm showering before."

"I just went in to get my clothes, who knew you'd be taking a shower without turning on the showerhead, the lights, or making any noise!"

"Oh dear, are you shy?"

Duanmu Ji decided to keep quiet. Countless experiences had taught him that if he tried to argue with his older sister, he would basically only end up being teased.

"Oh right, today is Laba Festival. When I go out later, I'll buy some Laba porridge for breakfast."

"Whatever—" Duanmu Ji had already put on his clothes. "Shouldn't it be about time to head out? I still need to prepare the ingredients for the shop."

"Okay, let me wash up first."

"You've been in the bathroom for so long, and you haven't even washed up yet..."

"What's wrong? You have to tell me when I go to the bathroom?" Duanmu Bi glared at him, her earlier intimacy completely gone. "None of your business!"

"Okay, okay, I don't care. I'm going downstairs. What do you want to eat? I'll go buy it first."

"Laba porridge, and then—red bean steamed buns."

"You ate such a light meal today?"

"You brat, don't you know your sister is on her period?! Honestly, do I have to tell you?" The older sister grabbed a pillow and threw it hard on the back of his head.

Duanmu Ji's poker face darkened slightly, and he quickly turned around, awkwardly taking two steps: "I understand..."

……

Chapter 145 A Pile of Gifts

(One)

Monday, August 2002, 1.

This is probably one of the rare birthdays that is a little further away from the New Year for Mo Xueyao.

However, for her, today was no different from any other Monday. Compared to the joy of her birthday, she was more worried about the upcoming final exams.

It's not that I'm worried about my ranking in school.

Instead, she was a student who had passed the entrance exam for a top-tier high school last time. This time, all top-tier high schools would be participating in the unified exam. What if she didn't do as well as last time? Wouldn't that be embarrassing?

She can't guarantee that she'll perform perfectly every time.

In comparison, Mr. Xue is obviously more reliable. The most embarrassing thing is that he still maintains good results, while Mo Xueyao has fallen far behind in the rankings due to some oversights or other mistakes.

After all, comparisons are the only way to feel hurt.

"Hoo..." She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, silently calculating the time for the final exam in her mind.

Li Wanyan glanced at her sideways, but didn't ask anything. She simply took a cola candy from her pocket with practiced ease, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth.

……

(two)

Monday mornings are always hectic.

Because we need to hold the routine morning meeting.

The flag-raising ceremony, which has been held every Monday since I started school, has honestly become somewhat tiresome.

As I watched that bright red flag rise, the excitement and solemnity I felt when I first joined the team and the group were long gone.

Students yawning incessantly were everywhere on the playground, with senior high school students being the hardest hit.

Mo Xueyao even suspected that some people were sleeping standing up.

If this were an era where everyone takes things too seriously, then probably half of the people here would be arrested and subjected to public criticism.

Principal Mo Kong wasn't present today, so the speech was given by the vice principal, that somewhat balding old man.

Perhaps because he hadn't spoken on stage for too long, he had prepared a long speech for today, and he kept repeating the same things over and over again.

Mo Xueyao would rather watch the flag-raising ceremony ten more times than listen to him continue.

Unfortunately, the speech continued for quite a while, even taking up a significant portion of the first class period.

"Senior high school students, hurry up! You only have this final exam and the next semester left. Junior high school students, you should also prepare yourselves; half of your high school life is already over..."

"...Alright, then I'll stop here for now." The vice principal glanced at the physical education teacher standing guard to the side, nodded slightly, displaying the demeanor of someone who had once been the principal.

In any case, the students didn't find anything simple about this long and tedious speech.

"Alright, Monday morning assembly is now over. Teachers, please leave first, and students from each class, please leave in order."

The PE teacher's words were like a lifeline, bringing the students, whose souls were almost leaving their bodies, back to their senses, and the quiet playground became noisy again.

Because the first class had already started, the original five-minute break time was compressed to two minutes, so both boys and girls had to run to get there.

Fortunately, Mo Xueyao didn't have the habit of having to go to the toilet before the first class, so she just sat down in the classroom—which saved her some energy.

"Alright, everyone, calm down. Now, take out your weekend Chinese exam papers, especially the 1998 college entrance exam mock exam. We'll go through the questions and go over the answers together. Listen carefully and don't get distracted—"

……

(three)

Because the morning meeting wasted too much time, the first Chinese class went overtime for once, which also forced the second English class to go overtime, using up the entire break time to make up for the lost time.

So much so that the four classes in the morning felt like there was no chance to breathe, with the teacher of the next class arriving as soon as one class ended.

Mo Xueyao's notes were so messed up that she wrote geography stuff in her math notebook—and she didn't realize it until half a class period later.

The intense mental exertion left the students feeling extremely hungry.

As soon as the bell rang for the fourth class, several boys rushed out, giving Yinling no chance to extend the class.

Even though she was the head of student affairs, whom no one dared to offend, she seemed insignificant when it came to meals.

Although Mo Xueyao hurriedly grabbed her tableware and ran out of the classroom, she was still a step behind the boys.

When we arrived, there were already quite a few people ahead of us.

"Little Yaoyao! Let me cut in line!"

"What are you doing? You always cut in line."

"I just went to check what the first few windows were like."

"It doesn't matter, as long as there's food."

"The dessert at our window today is fried bananas!"

"and then?"

"Fried rice with rice cakes."

"...Could it be that the leftover rice from last Friday was mixed into the rice cakes and stir-fried together?"

"It doesn't seem impossible," Hua Yinyin tilted her head. "How about we try another window?"

"Forget it, running around and having to queue again is too much trouble."

"By the way, Yaoyao, is your family throwing you a birthday party after evening self-study?"

“It’s already past midnight when evening self-study ends. You’re not even going home to eat, so why are you having a birthday party?” Mo Xueyao yawned and listlessly draped her arm over Hua Yinyin’s shoulder. “Every day when I get home after evening self-study, all I want to do is sleep. I don’t want to do anything else.”

"Well, how about we throw you a birthday party in the band room?"

"What's wrong with me? It's not long after the last class ends until evening self-study starts. Besides, having to continue classes after the birthday party feels weird. I can't relax at all."

"Tsk, this is an annual birthday, you know?"

"It doesn't matter, I don't usually celebrate my birthday anyway." Mo Xueyao waved her hand lightly. The student in front of her walked away with his plate, and she immediately stepped forward with her meal ticket in hand, not forgetting to tell the auntie serving the food, "I don't need too much."

"Let's have one~ I've even prepared a birthday cake for you."

"Huh, when did this happen?"

"Xiaoxiao and Youyou made it."

"Ah—but when I think about it," Mo Xueyao paused, holding the plate and standing aside, "the thought of having to go to class after my birthday makes me feel really down."

"How about we ask Wen to let us skip evening self-study?"

"How could it possibly pass? Our band would have to ask for leave, wouldn't we?"

"Eh~ why does evening self-study exist in this world?" Hua Yinyin sighed like a philosopher, but after struggling for a long time, she couldn't come up with anything profound. In the end, she could only sigh helplessly and shake her head.

"Of course, it's for people like you who don't do their homework."

"What do you mean by 'like me'!" Hua Yinyin complained, puffing out her cheeks as she held the plate.

……

(four)

Perhaps the Winter Solstice bestowed special favors upon her on her birthday, making the midday sun exceptionally bright.

The light was so strong that the walls were reflecting light, and staring at it for too long could even make you feel dizzy.

After finishing her lunch, Mo Xueyao lowered her head and carefully wiped the tableware clean with a napkin, then packed it into a box and put it back in her schoolbag.

"Xiaoyao!" Then, a very enthusiastic shout was heard, and her table shook.

"what?"