A Young Woman's Heart

"It's cold wind..." Ye Banxia whispered, "She went to the restroom..."

"Okay—Liu Xiaowei, come up here and wipe the blackboard."

"Damn it, what's going on? It's not my turn to be on duty today."

"This is punishment for falling asleep in English class last time," Wang Qianyu said playfully, winking.

"Teacher Qianyu, teaching three English classes in a row is too much for anyone to handle, let alone me."

What's wrong with you? Do you think you're inferior to others?

"My English isn't good... and I was really sleepy during the three English classes." Liu Xiaowei walked out of his seat helplessly, picked up the blackboard eraser and started wiping the blackboard, dust flying everywhere in front of the podium.

"Don't worry." Wang Qianyu retreated to the back of the classroom, far away from the chalk dust. "Today won't be so boring. After all, it's three consecutive English classes. I'll try to make it more interesting."

……

(two)

Mo Xueyao lay on the table, feeling incredibly tired no matter what she did that day.

Perhaps it was the intermittent rain outside the window that blocked out the noise from the outside world, and the classroom was warm enough, and she felt safe being close to the wall, that made her start sleeping during her lunch break indoors, and she still felt sleepy when the bell rang for the first class in the afternoon.

She just wanted to close her eyes and wait for Wang Qianyu to delay for a few more minutes before starting the class.

Yes, even sleeping for just one more minute would be great.

When you're sleepy, it seems like there's nothing more important in the world than sleeping.

Wang Qianyu, standing on the podium, cleared her throat: "First, we'll go over yesterday's exam papers, then we'll finish explaining yesterday's homework. Next, we'll play some fun games, so everyone must listen carefully. The faster we explain now, the more time we'll have to play later."

Three consecutive English classes gave the students something to look forward to, and their attention was immediately drawn in.

The rain outside the window continued to fall intermittently.

The glistening raindrops pattered on the broad, tender green leaves, then slowly trickled down along the veins of the leaves.

Feeling sleepy, Mo Xueyao glanced out the window and yawned several times before trying to rouse herself.

"Little Yaoyao, you seem to be sleepy a lot lately?" Hua Yinyin whispered to her while looking at the blackboard, barely moving her mouth.

"Yes—because of Wanyan."

"Ugh, what awful things did you all do last night? Damn it, could it be—"

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes. "It's because her mother is hospitalized, so she has to go see her every day when she gets home, and it's already very late every time."

"Huh? I've never heard you mention this before."

"I just felt there was no need to say it." Mo Xueyao glanced at her sideways. Wang Qianyu on the podium wrote down the questions from the test paper and then gave several other examples.

"Many people got this question wrong, so everyone must remember that in situations like this, verbs..."

"If you're really too tired, do you want to lean on me?"

"Hmm—let me lean on your shoulder." Mo Xueyao leaned against Hua Yinyin, listening to the lesson rather lazily.

She wasn't worried about not understanding anything, because if all else failed, she could always ask Li Wanyan.

Thinking this, she couldn't help but turn her head and glance at Li Wanyan's position.

But I found that she was also somewhat distracted.

Well, he's probably still worried about his mother.

But it's okay, even if we don't have Li Wanyan, we still have Mr. Xue.

As a result, Mo Xueyao's lips twitched involuntarily, because Mr. Xue was resting his chin on his hand, and although he was looking at the blackboard, his posture hadn't changed in a long time. It looked like he wasn't listening to the lesson, but rather daydreaming.

What day is it today? Even the top student in the class is starting to daydream?

Clearly, Mo Xueyao had already included herself in her calculations.

After all, learning is a long marathon, and it's impossible for everyone to maintain high energy and concentration at all times.

Everyone needs to rest sometimes, and that doesn't even count as being lazy.

……

(three)

The bell rang, pulling Mo Xueyao back from the brink of losing her senses.

This entire lesson was just explaining the problems; it was incredibly boring.

In reality, the senior year of high school is indeed a very tedious time for studying.

Fortunately, Wang Qianyu seemed to plan to use the remaining two classes for games. She went to the office and brought back a bag containing all sorts of trinkets, which looked like prizes.

This made her feel like she was back in her first year of high school.

That was probably when Wang Qianyu was giving out prizes the most, because every English class back then felt like a fun game.

As time went on, the courses became more and more intense, and prizes were given out less and less often.

Then, in the senior year of high school, everyone was fully engaged in review, and there was no time for 'playing' anymore.

The repetitive practice and explanation of problems made every subject boring.

Chinese language reading comprehension exercises often focus only on key points, rarely explaining the text itself.

Mo Xueyao's favorite subject, history, has become a repetitive memorization of key knowledge points.

When something interesting is broken down into its components, it loses its appeal and becomes boring knowledge that needs to be swallowed whole.

……

(four)

"In the next two classes, we'll be playing all sorts of fun games. Winners will receive prizes. I hope everyone will participate actively so that everyone can get a small prize." Wang Qianyu shook the bag in her hand, which contained all sorts of things.

There are stationery, toys, and snacks.

Don't think they're all cheap stuff; in fact, each item costs at least five yuan if you actually go to buy them.

Here, there are as many as forty or fifty kinds.

Keep in mind, these were prizes she planned to give away in just one class.

This made Mo Xueyao sigh inwardly once again; at this rate, it seemed even a teacher's salary wouldn't be enough to buy prizes for the students...

“Okay, let’s warm up with the first game. It’s a game everyone can participate in! Hmm—we’ll work in groups. There are eight groups in total, so one row makes one group.” Wang Qianyu held up an A4 sheet of paper with text printed on it and demonstrated. “First, the last student in the group has to turn around, look at the text on this paper, and then translate it into an English word based on the Chinese. Next, they have to tell the person in front of them, in a very low voice, what the word they translated is, until it reaches the first student. Then, the first student has to say the word they heard out loud.”

"As long as the word I say is the same as the word said by the student sitting at the last seat, is that okay?" Hua Yinyin asked, tilting her head.

"No, it has to be a correct translation. If it's successful in the end, the whole group can choose any small item as a reward."

“Alright, everyone, did you all understand the rules? So, let’s start with—” Wang Qianyu’s gaze fell on An Ruosu, “starting with the eighth group. Come on, An Ruosu, turn around. No one else is allowed to turn around. I’ll show you the Chinese on this piece of paper. Translate it into English and then tell the students in front of you.”

There are actually many English mini-games like this, but to be honest, they don't really help you remember more words; they're just for relaxation.

Just as Wang Qianyu said, it was just a warm-up game.

Of course, she could also include some words that are difficult to remember or easy to misspell to help students memorize them.

The paper contained two words: "typical" and "characteristic".

An Ruosu frowned and pondered for a moment, then immediately turned around, gently poked Duanmu Ji's back, and said in a low voice, "Features."

"OK." Duanmu Ji understood the English words he said completely, and then vigorously flicked Mo Xueyao's ponytail.

"..." Mo Xueyao turned around helplessly, protecting her ponytail with one hand.

Duanmu Jize cleared his throat, coughed slightly, hesitated for two seconds, then leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "F...features."

Being so close, even able to smell her fragrance, threw Duanmu Ji into a daze, causing him to utter somewhat incoherent words.

Mo Xueyao frowned, as if trying to figure out what he was talking about.

But everyone only gets one chance to speak, so Duanmu Ji could only blink awkwardly.

"Okay, I must have heard correctly..."

So, Mo Xueyao patted Liu Xiaowei on the shoulder, and Liu Xiaowei then relayed the word to Ms. Xue.

When it reached Mr. Xue, the word had become—

“Fears.”

“…It’s all wrong from An Ruosu onwards.” Wang Qianyu couldn’t help but laugh and covered her cheeks.

……

Chapter 206 Weather with Fluctuations in Temperature

(One)

Early in the morning, as I stepped out of my house, I saw several broken tree branches and some tangled power lines.

In front of the car repair shop, a utility pole collapsed and crushed the roof of a car parked on the side of the road.

The repair shop owner always opens very early. Right now, he's wearing glasses and flipping through a repair magazine—the contents don't seem to be about repairing bicycles, but rather motor vehicles.

People born in that era were always eager to acquire all kinds of skills and knowledge.

Unlike the textbook knowledge that Mo Xueyao and the others learned, what they learned was always closer to 'crafts', that is, the kind of things that can be used immediately after learning them.

The weather was exceptionally cold. Even though her mother had temporarily changed them into thicker tights and brought out the clean coats she had been preparing to put away, the cold wind still made Mo Xueyao feel as if she had returned to winter.

It's March, after all, and the weather is still quite cold, which is normal. But you should know that the temperature was as high as 30 degrees Celsius just two days ago. After the rain these past two days, it has suddenly dropped to the level of five or six degrees Celsius.

The sudden change from cold to warm caused many leaves to fall from the evergreen trees along the roadside.

"Oh, you're still in class today?" The repair shop owner, who recognized them, greeted them, his gaze shifting from the magazine.

"Yes, it's a bit cold, but we still have to go to class."

"It was very windy last night."

"But it seems we haven't received any typhoon warnings?"

"Yes, but I felt the wind was almost as strong as a typhoon. Look, even the telephone poles were blown down."

"Hmm—no wonder it's so cold today." Mo Xueyao muttered, hugging her arms tightly, and suddenly sneezed.