A Young Woman's Heart

“Her? Ah… she was sick before, and she could hardly see in that eye. She’s been wearing a blindfold for most of the year. This year, it seems like her vision in that eye has improved a little, but she still can’t stand bright light.” Le Tingfeng shrugged. “She said she’ll get a pair of glasses in a few years when she’s feeling better, so she can go out for walks during the day.”

"So that's how it is..."

Li Wanyan finally spoke up: "So it's a family formed by two women?"

"Hey, Wanyan, you're so slow to react! Didn't we already know this from the beginning?"

"That's right!"

"Haha, yeah, other people might find it a bit strange, but I think it's fine. Mothers are all very gentle."

Hua Yinyin is quite knowledgeable about this: "Actually, when two women are together, one of them will dress like a man, but in your family... it seems that they are all very feminine."

"So they're all moms, not one mom and one 'dad,' I'm already used to it."

"It must have been tough for you; how come you didn't develop a sissy in this kind of environment?"

“...Even if it’s a single-parent family, a son raised by his mother doesn’t necessarily have to be effeminate.” Le Tingfeng covered his forehead. “Besides, besides being with mothers, there are so many men in bars. I’ve probably met far more men than the average guy growing up.”

"That seems to be true."

"Tingfeng, come help—!" Le Tingfeng's mother shouted in a loud voice.

Mo Xueyao suddenly remembered why Le Tingfeng had told them not to be surprised.

The previous one was already quite young, but this one is even younger.

In comparison, my own parents seem exceptionally normal, just like people their age should be.

But if possible, she still hopes to be like them and not get old so easily.

The prettier a girl is, the more worried she is about getting old.

— Mo Xueyao seems to be no exception.

……

Chapter 191 Yin Yao Combination?

(One)

Almost all of the dishes that Letingfeng's mom makes are stir-fried.

The plating was casual, but the aroma was very strong. Perhaps because they were worried that the guests couldn't handle the spice, there were two non-spicy dishes among the pile of dishes covered in chili peppers: one was stir-fried eggs with chives, and the other was sweet and sour tofu.

"When you come to our place, don't be shy. Come on, if there's not enough food, have some wine!"

"Mommy...you're a minor, you're a minor."

"So what if I'm a minor? I drank it when I was fifteen!"

“…Cough cough!” Le Tingfeng coughed a few times, watching his petite mother sitting on the sofa, taking off her scarf and casually draping it aside.

"Oh, thank you. Isn't your mom coming to eat?" Mo Xueyao took the bowl of rice that Le Tingfeng had served and asked softly.

"She has to watch the place. Oh, I almost forgot, I need to get her a serving to eat at the bar."

After finishing cooking, Le Tingfeng's mother sat barefoot on the sofa. Her rough posture was completely out of character for her appearance. She ate her food in large gulps, and mumbled incoherently, telling Mo Xueyao and the others not to be polite and to eat as much as they wanted.

On the contrary, Yue Tingfeng didn't return until everyone had eaten halfway through the meal. He had gone to the front desk to deliver food to his mother, and then was called to help move some things, which caused him to be delayed for quite some time.

"Glug glug glug—" Mo Xueyao watched as the rather young-looking woman in front of her was directly chugging a green beer bottle into her mouth, then letting out a long, satisfying sigh, "Hoo—haa!"

"Ahem... well." Yue Tingfeng raised his eyelids, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. "Would you like to check out our bar's stage performance later? We have a dedicated underground band here..."

"An underground band? How many people are in it?" Hua Yinyin was always very interested in this kind of thing.

"There are only three of them. They are hired by our family. We also have two part-time backup dancers on holidays."

"That's so little?"

"Well, my place is a legitimate bar, you know. Only those bars that offer special services, or at least skirt the line, would go to such lengths..."

"Yes! We're doing legitimate business!"

"Mommy... there's a grain of rice on your lip..."

"Hmm? Oh! Is it done?"

"That's all..."

"Since we're already here, let's go take a look, right, Wanyan?" Mo Xueyao habitually asked for her opinion first.

"it is good."

……

(two)

It was almost seven o'clock.

The bar started to get lively.

Step out of that corridor where a few rays of sunlight still linger, and you'll enter a world of lights.

Colorful LED strips are everywhere, and there are all sorts of small, light-up decorations.

On the not-so-large stage, the band was tuning their instruments.

"Wow...that looks so professional." Hua Yinyin gently tugged at Mo Xueyao's wrist. "Look, little Yaoyao, that's a real keyboardist!"

“Uh… this doesn’t even look like a musical instrument anymore.” Mo Xueyao stared wide-eyed at the keyboard with its countless buttons and switches. “It’s practically a spaceship launch control panel…”

The drum kit is much larger than the one used by Mo Zhuyou, and it also has many more small drums that can produce different timbres.

The only one with relatively simple equipment was the guitarist, who wore a particularly simple and lightweight electric guitar that looked quite small when held in his arms by the guitarist, who was wearing a vest.

The hall, which was almost empty a moment ago, now has several tables occupied by people drinking.

"Hello?" The guitarist, who also seemed to be the lead singer, patted the microphone in front of him to test the sound, then raised his voice, "Welcome to—the Kingdom of Night, the kingdom of the night! Today's theme is pale blue melancholy!"

"The music style is different every day, and today's is a relatively quiet one," Yue Tingfeng explained from the side, leading Mo Xueyao and the others to sit down in a corner.

This is the perfect place for people who don't like to be disturbed, whether you're chatting with your companions or quietly enjoying the performance.

"Le Tingfeng, where's your mommy?"

"She came out after washing the dishes."

"Your mom must be a bartender, right? Then what's your mommy?"

"The lighting technician." He rubbed his nose. "Haha, that's why you usually don't see her; she's backstage most of the time!"

Besides those who come with companions, there are also many customers who come to the store alone, and some of them choose to sit on the bar stools next to the bar.

A mature and beautiful bartender has a lot of charm and can attract many customers. In particular, her bartending movements are elegant, smooth and natural, and she does things with ease. Even just watching her bartend is a pleasant experience.

"Le Tingfeng, do you often come to watch band performances?"

"Me? No way." Le Tingfeng looked at Hua Yinyin strangely. "I don't watch it much. I'd rather go to bed early."

Mo Xueyao, her eyelids drooping, asked, "How exactly did you develop the habit of going to bed early and waking up early in this kind of environment?!"

"Cough...uh...I guess, um...people are all rebellious, right? Like, if you don't let me go out, I'll go out anyway; if you don't let me go to bars, I'll go anyway. But I live in a bar, and my moms don't care whether I go out or not, so I actually think it's more interesting to go to bed early and get up early, and develop a good sleep schedule..."

"Then why did you stay up all night yesterday?" Mo Xueyao rested her chin on her hand and took a sip of the non-alcoholic sweet drink that Le Tingfeng had just gotten from the bar.

"Don't even mention it. My mom drank too much and went to bed last night, so I kept the lights on all night..." Mentioning this gave Le Tingfeng a headache, and she even yawned, "Haaah... I feel so sleepy..."

"Go to sleep now?"

“Good idea…but before that, why don’t you guys go up and perform? It might be quite interesting.”

Mo Xueyao shook her head vigorously, her ponytail swinging back and forth behind her: "No, no, I can't use that keyboard at all!"

"I didn't bring my pipa today either."

"Just going up there to sing a song would be fine too." Yue Tingfeng took a sip of his drink, then suddenly covered his mouth with his hand and spat it out, "Cough, cough cough..."

"What's wrong?" Mo Xueyao patted his back. "Are you alright?"

"N-nothing..." Le Tingfeng looked up and glanced helplessly at the bar.

Li Wanyan followed his gaze and saw his mother wink mischievously.

"The drink my mom made for me is spicy..."

"Did you put in a lot of alcohol?"

"No, this is an alcoholic beverage made with raw white radish and chili peppers; there's hardly any alcohol in it..."

"What kind of alcoholic beverage is this? Would anyone drink it?"

"So it's usually used as punishment in games of punishment." Le Tingfeng pounded his chest, finally feeling better. "This thing is called Hell Rose..."

"Then why didn't you recognize me at first?"

"Because there are quite a few other drinks with a similar color, my mom deliberately diluted its color, and I thought it was an alcoholic beverage made with coconut milk..."

"Speaking of which, if Xiaoyao and I were to go on stage, what should we call our duo? Hmm—the Yinyao Duo, I guess! That's the one!"

"Why is your name always first?" Mo Xueyao glanced at her sideways. "Can't we just call ourselves the Yao-Yin Duo?"

"That doesn't sound good!"

"Then let's call it the Mo Hua Duo."

"It sounds like someone speaking Mandarin with a strange accent."

"Alas--"

……

(three)

In the end, Mo Xueyao and Hua Yinyin did not go on stage. They only listened to a few melancholic songs. It must be said that the lead singer's voice was very rich and the singing was quite good, although almost every song would turn from lyrical to rock at the end.

The atmosphere at the scene always reached its peak of excitement within those ten or so seconds, and then suddenly became relaxed.

It's like being woken up by an alarm clock early in the morning.

The customers seemed to be used to it, and even found it quite enjoyable, but Mo Xueyao's temples throbbed uncontrollably as she listened.

Le Tingfeng escorted them all the way out the back door, yawning incessantly: "Haa...ha—I'm so sleepy, I'll stop here, I need to go to sleep."