A Young Woman's Heart

She looked up and saw Aya Akimoto slam a rectangular, unpretentious gift box onto her desk.

Just as the uncapped pen was about to roll to the ground, she quickly reached out and caught it.

"What's wrong……?"

"A birthday present!"

"Huh??" Mo Xueyao vaguely remembered that she didn't seem to have publicized her birthday in class.

"Yinyin mentioned it during our chat. It's a pity you have evening self-study tonight, so you probably won't have time to go home for your birthday, right?"

"Uh...yes..."

"So, happy birthday!" Aya Akimoto laughed and patted her on the back. "It's just a little something, don't mind it!"

"Of course not..."

Mo Xueyao was still a little dazed when a group of girls surrounded her.

Among them are some familiar faces, such as Wang Jiale and Hua Yinyin, which is not surprising.

However, Cha Li, Xuan Anyi, Ye Banxia, ​​and even Zhang Yumeng and Tang Sishi, whom they were not particularly close to, and even Chen Mengqi, whom they rarely interacted with, all sent gifts.

The girls' gifts were all repackaged, and no matter how simple or fancy the packaging was, they all had a sense of being carefully prepared.

This made Mo Xueyao feel somewhat flattered.

Although people usually like to gather around her to chat, the impact of giving her gifts all at once is much greater than this.

"Oh... so many people gave me gifts, wait, wait, could you please tell me your birthdays, otherwise..."

"Oh dear, we'll talk about it later. It's okay if you don't remember." Cha Li ruffled her hair roughly. "We're giving you gifts not so we can expect a return gift from you later, are we?"

“Is that so?” Xuan Anyi nodded with a smile.

"Um... excuse me—" Huang Yuxi seemed to have some difficulty squeezing through the crowd. After his repeated calls, he finally managed to squeeze in. Among a group of girls, his handsome appearance made him stand out without any sense of incongruity.

He seems to have grown a little taller recently, but I don't know if it's just Mo Xueyao's imagination.

"Xiaoyao! Birthday, here's a present!" He breathed a sigh of relief, his face beaming with a smile that could melt ice and snow. He handed over a gift with rather unique packaging, wrapped in rather traditional, unassuming, waxy yellow oil paper. "I baked these—chocolate, cookies, and biscuits!"

"Ah, thank you, Xiaoxi..."

As soon as Huang Yuxi squeezed in, she immediately helped Mo Xueyao share the 'firepower,' with half of the girls going to rub his head and face.

Both of them are among the most popular guys with girls, and they probably both have a bit of a charm that appeals to both men and women.

"After the fourth period, we will hold a birthday party for Xiaoyao in the band room on the fifth floor! Although it won't last too long, everyone is welcome to come and join us!" Hua Yinyin shouted, making Mo Xueyao scratch her cheek, feeling both touched and helpless.

"What?! Mo Xueyao's birthday today? Oh my god, how come I didn't know that!"

"Gao Yuan, you haven't been chatting with Xiao Yao much lately, of course you wouldn't know."

"Then I'll sponsor a case of Coke as the drinks for your birthday party!"

"Hey, don't waste money..." Mo Xueyao quickly stopped her.

"It's nothing, it's just a small amount of money!"

Gao Yuan always speaks with such arrogance and wealth...

……

Chapter 146 A Rare Birthday

Mo Xueyao was immersed in the glow of the evening. The last class on Monday afternoon was physical education. She had just finished her warm-up exercises when the PE teacher announced free time, and she went back to the band room alone.

The playground was too noisy, and she rarely wanted to find a quiet place for a while.

During free time, Wang Jiale and Hua Yinyin would definitely drag me to play badminton or force me to join in strange gossip chats.

Humans are social animals, but sometimes they need some time and space to be alone.

There was nothing on my mind; I was just slowly watching the sunset gradually slant away, like a guest who comes every day, slowly walking out of the classroom.

Mo Xueyao, who was sitting here, was probably saying goodbye to it.

"Birthday..." she muttered to herself, oblivious to the drumsticks rolling off the table and onto her lap.

My last birthday was three or four years ago.

Back then, she was still a 'boy'.

It's quite interesting. Ever since I had surgery and regained my identity as a girl, my birthdays have been overlooked for one or two consecutive years because of various reasons.

It seemed like an unintentional act that was actually intentional.

A birthday is a celebration of one's own birth, so wouldn't this long-awaited birthday be considered a celebration for the 'girl' herself?

From now on, every birthday will be celebrated as a girl's birthday.

And speaking of which, I think I'm already an adult today...

Mo Xueyao gently blew on the scraps of paper on the table, feeling that it all had happened rather quickly and was somewhat unreal.

Before today, she always felt that becoming an adult was something very far away from her.

Even though she knew she would be going to university, she still felt that even as a university student, she would still be just a half-grown child.

If this were in our parents' generation, they would probably be ready to get married by now.

Eighteen years have passed in the blink of an eye, but the previous fifteen years seem to be less memorable than the last three.

She bent down to pick up the drumstick that was stuck between her thighs, gently pinched her soft flesh, and then slapped it hard.

"Well... I'm a girl now." Mo Xueyao muttered to herself as if in a hypnotic state, then lazily lay down on the table, her eyes, which shimmered like a small stream, slightly narrowed.

"Aha, I knew Yao Yao was here!"

The tranquility was soon shattered by a sudden sound.

Then a large crowd surged in.

"Huh? What...?"

"It's your birthday, and it happens to be during PE class, so I thought I'd celebrate it with you a little early. That way, it'll take about an hour!"

"……All right."

"What's wrong, Yaoyao? You seem down. Is it because I haven't touched your thigh lately and you feel like I'm neglecting you?"

Mo Xueyao didn't answer, but just rolled her eyes at Hua Yinyin.

"Xiaoyao, this is a cake my sister made! Because it was too big to carry around, she made several smaller ones."

"Huh?"

She saw Mo Zhuyou and Mo Xiaoxiao place four lunchboxes on the table. When they opened the lids, they found strawberry cakes with some cream smudged inside.

Even so, it looks as exquisite as something bought from outside.

"Cut it up, everyone can share it." Mo Xiao smiled, her eyes sparkling, her two dimples exceptionally deep.

Mo Xueyao recalled that when she first met her, she was attracted by her dimples.

However—the yellowish hair at the ends is gone.

“I brought candles!” Wang Jiale placed two number candles on the table, one of which was “1” and the other of which was “8”.

The birthday gifts that everyone sent were all piled up in the band room, since there were too many things to fit into the already full desk drawers.

"Happy 18th birthday, Xiaoyao!"

"How does it feel to be an adult now?" Cha Li put her arm around her shoulder and smiled, winking at her.

"You're an adult now? Hmm... can you go to a proper internet cafe now?"

"Pfft, let's change our thoughts!" Wang Jiale helplessly covered his forehead. "For example, where did I want to go for fun?"

"Hmm—Nordic!"

"Change it!"

"I'm serious, let's plan our graduation trip to Northern Europe, what do you think? I heard they have the midnight sun and the polar night there."

"It's more fun to go in winter."

"Well……"

Mo Xueyao, who didn't want to return to reality from her quiet bliss, felt a little embarrassed when she saw such a large group of classmates celebrating her birthday.

"Um, thank you everyone..."

"I'm just here to join in the fun." Aya Akimoto sat down on the windowsill—which was just a slightly higher chair to her.

"It's a pity that we already gave gifts before, so there won't be a gift-giving segment."

"What did you all give Xiaoyao?" Wang Jiale asked curiously.

"Well, we'll have to wait for Xiaoyao to take it apart herself..." Ye Banxia said softly.

"Whoosh—" Hua Yinyin was the most enthusiastic.

She ran and drew the curtains, chasing away the familiar sunset from the classroom ahead of time, but the latter still stubbornly shone a bit of orange-red light through the curtains.

"Let's light the candles!"

"I just borrowed a lighter from Teacher Qiu." Chen Mengqi took out a simple lighter from her pocket, just like the plastic lighters that most people use.

Mo Xueyao had thought it would be one of those brand-name lighters made of metal.

In the not-so-dark darkness, a lighter lit two candles, and the flickering flames seemed to ignite Mo Xueyao's heart.

Although my identity has changed 180 degrees, at least everything in my life is moving in a positive direction.

Even as a girl, I still have so many friends and so many classmates who like me.

What's more, she herself is a great beauty.

If you have to complain about this every day and feel frustrated and unfulfilled, then you'll practically be hunted down by everyone else.

This is a life that many people can only envy.

It's important to understand that, often, paying a 'price' doesn't guarantee a 'reward'.