A Young Woman's Heart

Chapter 161 Snow and Hailstorm

The second day of the new year.

The laziness of the first day of the Lunar New Year seems to have carried over to today.

It hadn't gotten any light outside since morning; snow and hail were falling, and the temperature had dropped below zero.

Small shards of ice were blown by the wind and hit the windowpane, as if trying to leave dents on it.

The mother was busy tidying up the messy house, while the father, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, was packing something into a large bag on the balcony.

It's not even eight o'clock yet, there's still plenty of time.

Mo Xueyao had just finished breakfast, and Li Wanyan was helping to tidy up the kitchen.

She sprawled out on the sofa like an old man, her feet tucked in with cotton socks, and leisurely watched a dozen or so episodes of a cartoon.

"You brat, lie down on the sofa, are you comfortable?"

"It's alright, generally comfortable~" Mo Xueyao picked up the milk on the table and took a sip. It was originally bagged milk, but Li Wanyan helped her heat it in hot water before pouring it into the cup, and even added a little honey.

In this cold weather, we need some high-calorie, high-sugar food to make us feel happier.

"I'll make you comfortable," her mother teased her as she moved a chair and mopped the floor.

"It has to be comfortable." Mo Xueyao moved the sofa cushion next to her and placed it under her head, making her look like a beef burger with many layers stacked up.

"Get ready, get dressed, let's go out!"

"Going out? Why would you go out? It's freezing cold and snowing, why would you go out?"

"Let's go fishing!"

Fishing in the snow?

"It's precisely because it snows that fishing is so good! Think about it, when fish have nothing to eat, they're more easily attracted to the bait, aren't they?"

Now that you mention it, it does make some sense?

"Hahaha, hurry up and get dressed!" The father patted Mo Xueyao on the head and laughed heartily.

"Oh dear, let Mom get it for me. I don't know what to wear now."

"So, how will you manage living alone?"

"—Looking for Wanyan?"

“Alone—” the father drawled.

"How could I be alone?" Mo Xueyao was completely oblivious to that. As she spoke, she took another big gulp of milk, her lips turning slightly white from the milk.

"Forget it, I can't be bothered to talk to you." Her father gave her a disgruntled look and placed the large bag full of things by the door.

After finally finishing cleaning, the mother busied herself finding suitable clothes for Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan.

It was cold and snowing, but if you wanted to go out and play, wearing too many layers would make you look too clumsy.

So they simply put on warm cashmere sweaters and close-fitting sweaters, and then put on a large, thick, and windproof down jacket.

The lower half of the body is covered with very warm cotton pants, and because they are windproof, there is no need for cashmere pants at all.

Mo Xueyao put on the large hood, pretending to be a nun walking in the world.

—Although the style of this garment has nothing to do with nun's habit at all—at most, it has a cross-shaped pattern sewn on the right breast pocket.

That thing is a combination of Chinese and Western styles; it even has an oriental dragon coiled on top.

"Let's go, let's set off!"

At the father's shout, the whole family dressed and went out.

My mother, who doesn't usually buy clothes for herself, is wearing new clothes.

And the father was dressed in a leather jacket and pants—which the mother had bought for him this year.

The leather jacket and pants made his father look more capable and energetic, especially when he had a cigarette in his mouth and his hands in his pockets. Even Mo Xueyao couldn't help but think he looked handsome.

To be honest, he's not particularly handsome. The key is his mature, weathered look.

"Whoosh—" As soon as she got downstairs, Mo Xueyao exhaled several breaths of hot air, and visible moisture filled the air, melting a few snowflakes that had fallen from the sky.

The van was parked downstairs, and it didn't look crowded in the spacious residential area.

The father, who was prepared, took a dry rag, wiped away some of the snow on the window, then opened the car door, climbed in, and started the engine.

"Boom, boom..."

The old diesel engine made a sound like an old man coughing and roaring, and the whole car shook.

However, Mo Xueyao didn't mind it at all.

After all, in this era when cars are still expensive, having a car is already quite good. Although vans aren't very attractive, they are practical enough!

The large package I brought earlier has been left in the trunk, where there's also a blanket, perfect for this cold, snowy day.

Although the air conditioning wasn't on, the engine, once it started running, gradually warmed up the cabin.

The mother squatted by the green belt, tending to the few orchids she had temporarily planted there.

"Are you done yet?!" The father threw his cigarette butt out the window and shouted as he leaned out.

Mo Xueyao clearly saw that there were a few more white hairs on the top of his head.

"Here you are!" When the mother returned, she brought an empty flowerpot and placed it in the back as well, before getting into the passenger seat.

"Alright, let's go! It's the Lunar New Year, we should go out and have some fun!"

"With this weather, there shouldn't be many people outside, right?"

"That would be even better!" the father said, skillfully and smoothly shifting the gear lever. The van slowly started and drove out of the residential area.

The still-lit streetlights and snow-covered pine trees beside me slowly leaned backward, and the van, which always rattled and clattered as if it were about to fall apart, gradually picked up speed.

Mo Xueyao turned on the tape player and put on the headphones, while Li Wanyan gently took off one of Mo Xueyao's headphones and put it into her own ear.

"Well?"

"Listen to music."

She said softly, resting her head gently on Mo Xueyao's shoulder.

"Did you get up too early and not sleep well?"

"perhaps."

Not long after Li Wanyan finished speaking, Mo Xueyao heard her even breathing as she drifted off to sleep.

The mother was chatting casually with the father about their youth, sometimes deliberately lowering her voice as if afraid of being overheard by the two girls sitting in the back row.

However, that was actually just burying one's head in the sand. If she really wanted to hear it, Mo Xueyao could have heard it perfectly clearly; it was just a matter of whether she was interested or not.

For example, Mo Xueyao was quite interested in topics like how the two of them met when they were young...

"Tell me honestly, how did you fall in love with me back then?" The mother's tone was like that of a little girl who hadn't grown up, with a hint of coquetry.

"Like a turtle eyeing a mung bean, they've hit it off."

"Who is the mung bean?"

"Then why don't you become a turtle?"

"Go away!" the mother said with a laugh, gently patting the father's arm.

"Hahaha—" The father's hearty laughter carried far across the empty highway through the slightly ajar window.

"Did you suddenly contact me that day because I was wearing a skirt?"

"Huh? I don't remember."

"You were staring at me intently, as if I really didn't know anything?"

"Hahaha……"

"Besides, who comes in every hour to buy something, sometimes cigarettes, sometimes chewing gum?"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The snow kept falling.

The van moved forward slowly through the wind and snow.

This journey was quite long. After leaving the city, we drove for a considerable distance into the mountains, following the narrow, winding path, and finally stopped halfway up the mountain.

It wasn't that the car didn't want to drive any further up, but there was simply no road ahead. The road ahead was only wide enough for a person to walk on, and even two people passing side by side would be difficult.

The mountainside is quite spacious, with a small river flowing down from the mountain.

It's probably about seven or eight meters wide.

The bare willow tree next to it was covered with 'snowflakes'.

The car was parked under the tree, and although the handbrake was on, the slope still made me a little worried that it might slide down...

The father took out all his big bag of things and started laying them out on the shore.

First, a standing tent for fishing was set up, then fishing rods were assembled, and bait was prepared...

Those baits covered with English names had all been opened; it was obvious that the sugar daddy had given him his surplus.

A portable wood-burning stove was set up in front of the tent, and his mother quickly gathered a large handful of dry firewood and piled it up there.

"You have this much firewood even in winter?"

“There’s plenty of firewood in winter. Back then, we had to climb the mountain to find firewood. We would usually prepare a lot in the fall to get through the winter. If it wasn’t enough, we would still go out to find more in the winter, especially collecting fallen pine needles. Sometimes we would also dig up some pine resin. That stuff is really good. Look, this is it. A small piece can burn for a long time.”

"Oh--"

"Back then, we had to go up the mountain to chop firewood almost every day. We'd carry heavy loads on our backs and bring them home. If we had any extra, we could take it to town to sell for money. Everyone else would use the money to buy candy and toys, but I saved it to buy pencils and books. I even saved up my own tuition for school. But even so, your grandfather wouldn't let me finish elementary school. So, you must cherish the good life you have now—"

"Okay, okay..." Mo Xueyao nodded somewhat perfunctorily. What she found most annoying was that her mother would always start lecturing in the middle of a conversation, which would make the originally interesting topic lose its fun.

"Come on, come on, we'll grill every fish we catch, freshly grilled and eaten right away, it's absolutely fresh!" the father said, casting his fishing rod and tossing the bait into the river.

The river flowed gently, somewhat calm, and it seemed as if all the fish had hidden under the mud and sand, showing no intention of surfacing.