A Young Woman's Heart

"Well……"

"After all, she's so beautiful, wouldn't it be a waste not to admire her more?"

Li Wanyan lowered her cheeks slightly, which looked like they were covered in pink blush: "I'm not as pretty as Yaoyao."

"What? We're just different styles." Mo Xueyao shrugged, walked to her side, and pointed at the two of them in the mirror. "Look, when we stand together, neither of us seems to be overshadowed by the other, so it's not a difference between flowers and green leaves, but rather a difference between lotus flowers and roses."

Who is the rose?

"Of course, it's a tactful way of putting it."

Li Wanyan picked up a comb and began to comb her long hair: "Why?"

"Because roses have thorns."

She glanced at her with her mostly black eyes: "You're a lotus flower, is it because you emerge from the mud unsullied?"

"Is not it?"

Li Wanyan chuckled lightly and casually gave her two words: "Narcissistic."

"Tch, what does Wanyan think I am?"

Water lilies.

"Huh? Why?"

"Innocent and carefree."

"Just say I'm childish if you want to," Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes at her. "Alright, alright, let's go out! I hope the rain won't get any heavier. It feels like there haven't been any sunny days since the Spring Festival."

"Let's go."

"Mom—we're leaving now."

"Be careful on the road, and remember to eat breakfast!"

"I understand."

The first day of the last semester of high school began on such an ordinary morning.

Li Wanyan held the transparent umbrella that Mo Xueyao had bought earlier, while she herself held a red umbrella. Because she left early, she wasn't worried about being late for school and was quite relaxed on the way.

If she weren't wearing leather shoes, Mo Xueyao would have even had the leisure to step into those puddles—she always felt that the sound of her shoes stepping on the puddles was particularly crisp and pleasant.

Instead of going to their usual bus stop, the two took a slightly longer route and entered the main bus station.

It's too early; you won't be able to catch a bus at the usual bus stop. Only at this bus terminal do buses start running around 4 a.m.

It doesn't stop at the usual bus stop, nor does it arrive at the bus stop closest to the school, but the distance isn't too far. Plus, Mo Xueyao plans to buy some breakfast on her way to school, so it becomes the most suitable choice.

These are some of the oldest buses in Hangzhou. The carriages have a persistent musty smell, and there's a huge bulge at the front where the engine is supposedly located.

When there are many people, that area can also be used for seating.

Most of the doors for boarding and alighting cannot open automatically and must be manually opened by the train attendants.

There was no coin slot on the bus. After giving the money directly to the conductor, she handed Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan each a small red ticket.

The ticket was so thin it felt like it would melt if it got wet.

The two of them strolled over to the seats next to the exit door and sat down. They saw two or three elderly people who were probably going to the wholesale market in the suburbs to buy vegetables. The conductor pulled the door shut with a rope, the driver finished eating the last bite of his glutinous rice ball, and the old bus started up with a 'humming' sound.

The windows of the entire car were shaking so badly that they looked like they were about to break free of the window frames and fall out.

"Ah, really... I never expected to ride in such a shabby car in Hangzhou. I thought you could only find these kinds of cars in the countryside," Mo Xueyao said teasingly, resting her chin on her hand. "It brings back memories of my childhood."

“I couldn’t even afford to take a car before,” Li Wanyan said casually.

"Huh? No way?"

"Yes, I prefer to walk to save money unless it's too far. Later, after I learned to ride a bicycle, I rode one. An old bicycle only costs about ten yuan, and I could save the money I would have spent on taking the bus in just half a month."

Every time Mo Xueyao compared herself to Li Wanyan, she realized that she wasn't actually that poor when she was a child.

She tilted her head and changed the subject: "By the way, speaking of which, on the first day of my last semester in sixth grade, I also got up that early and took a bus that was similar to this kind of bus to school, but in the opposite direction from where we are now."

Were you alone that day?

"Of course it was one person. I remember it very clearly because I saw a very pretty little girl that morning."

Li Wanyan glanced at her sideways and asked, "Hmm...?"

"Ah, my memory is very blurry now, but I just felt she was very beautiful, especially beautiful. She was crystal clear, like she could glow." Mo Xueyao was still a little excited when she talked about her. "I don't mean she was actually crystal clear, but that feeling, you know? She was the same age as me, a sixth-grade student, but from the school next door. I've forgotten exactly what she looked like, but I just remember she was very beautiful."

"I didn't realize that Yaoyao had such a great interest in girls at such a young age."

"Uh, what, no, no, that's called... a longing for beautiful things, like when you see a particularly beautiful butterfly by the roadside, you'll take a second look."

"So, do you want to possess her or become her at that time?"

"Neither... When you see a butterfly on the roadside, do you want to become a butterfly or catch it?" Mo Xueyao leaned back in the creaking plastic chair. "Now that I think about it, many people's first impression of me was probably the same as mine back then, right?"

"In terms of narcissism, Yao Yao is almost catching up with Yin Yin."

"I call this having a comprehensive self-awareness, okay!" Mo Xueyao argued loudly, blushing slightly. "Besides, isn't this the truth? You see, sometimes when I'm walking around school, I run into quite a few boys staring at me. By the way, Wanyan probably does that too, right?"

"They dare not look at me."

"Tch, she'll definitely peek secretly, believe me—after all, Wanyan is very pretty, and people can't resist beautiful things."

Are you subtly praising yourself?

"Hmm, what's wrong with Wanyan today? She keeps trying to have a verbal battle with me."

"That's fine too."

"It could mean something else, you know!"

Mo Xueyao opened the window a little and watched the scenery around her slowly recede into the distance.

The bus lights were turned on, illuminating the darkness ahead.

But the surrounding area remained completely dark.

Especially when driving onto that road without streetlights.

Surrounded by farmland, it's often only when other cars drive by that the sound of their engines and the wind reaches your ears that you notice them.

Mo Xueyao couldn't help but shout at the wind outside the window, "Wow! Wow! Wow!"

"What are you doing."

She didn't reply: "New semester, here I come! Summer, here I come!"

Summer is still a long way off.

"But it's already spring, so summer isn't far away. Hangzhou has always only had summer and winter, and spring and autumn always pass by very quickly."

Are you happy about starting school?

"Yes, a little bit, because I can see everyone every day, but also a little bit... melancholy, because this is the last semester, and everyone will soon be going their separate ways."

"It's okay, I'll always be with you."

……

Chapter 177 Familiar Classmates

(One)

Unexpectedly, the first day of school brought the first snow of spring.

It was raining when they arrived, but as Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan carried breakfast into the teaching building, they watched as the heavy raindrops outside the stairwell window turned into light snowflakes, which danced gracefully in the wind.

The whole world suddenly turned pure white.

"Ah, I bet they'll taste like cream..."

"Feeling hungry?" Li Wanyan looked at her with a relaxed brow.

"Hmm—I'm a little hungry, I want something sweet, oh no, I should have bought some sweet soy milk..."

"Let's go to the classroom."

"Ok!"

The winter break was much shorter than the summer break, but when they returned to the classroom, they still felt as if they had been apart for a long time.

The classroom door was locked. Through the window, you could see empty desks and a blackboard that had been wiped clean of writing before the students left.

Not knowing what the theme of the first blackboard bulletin board would be at the start of the semester, Mo Xue gazed at the blackboard behind her, feeling as if she could already hold various colored chalks in her hand.

Li Wanyan held the plastic bag containing breakfast in her mouth, turned her schoolbag to the front, and took out a set of keys from the inner pocket.

Having not opened the classroom door for a long time, she seemed a bit rusty. It took her several attempts to find the key, and then she grabbed the doorknob and pulled it outwards, finally opening the door smoothly.

The dust in the classroom seemed to welcome old friends who hadn't seen each other for many years. It spun and danced in the wind that smelled of spring snow, welcoming the two girls who were the first to arrive.

"Cough cough... It's always like this." Mo Xueyao fanned away the overly enthusiastic dust with her hand, and she and Li Wanyan quickly walked to both sides of the classroom, opened the windows to let the stale air in the classroom become a little fresher.

"Why does it smell musty..." Mo Xueyao muttered as she looked around and found a piece of cake that hadn't been finished in Liu Xiaowei's drawer.

However, in reality, that thing can no longer be called a cake.

Mold had spread all over its body, completely 'corroding' it.

"Ugh—Liu Xiaowei, that guy, he didn't even throw away the cake he didn't finish!" Mo Xueyao put down her schoolbag and breakfast, found a napkin, quickly grabbed the moldy cake, ran downstairs with it, threw it into the big trash can downstairs, and then ran back quickly. For her, it was like a morning workout; sweat covered her forehead, and her body, which had been a little cold just now, warmed up.

……

(two)

Mo Xueyao bought a steamed cake for breakfast, which included pork tenderloin and large intestine.

Li Wanyan was eating glutinous rice balls. In a sense, the food they were eating was similar, only the wrapping was different.

One is rice cake, and the other is glutinous rice.

This is a bowl of savory soy milk in a plastic box, so it's a bit more expensive. It contains fried dough sticks and pickled vegetables. Mo Xueyao even saw the owner put a little bit of lard in the soy milk before pouring it.

This allows its rich aroma to permeate the entire classroom.

Of course, with the windows open, the smell dissipated in no time.