A Young Woman's Heart

"Eat, eat, eat! I've never had fruit rice before."

The fruit rice was very fragrant and sweet, but the fruit itself didn't taste very good because it was overcooked.

But once the apples and bananas are cooked until very soft, they mix well with the rice and you can hardly taste the difference.

The pineapple itself was just right, soft on the outside and slightly crunchy on the inside. Although it wasn't as delicious as a fresh pineapple, it wasn't bad either.

Mo Xueyao, who had eaten a large bowl of rice, actually wanted to eat more, but she couldn't because her stomach couldn't hold any more.

"Ah—I didn't get enough to eat, but I can't eat anymore, it's so uncomfortable!" Mo Xueyao complained, rubbing her lower belly.

“Xiaoyao has a smaller appetite than I do,” Li Wanyan said with a smile.

“I wanted to eat some more… but… I really couldn’t eat anymore…” Mo Xueyao stood up and stretched her body. “Hmm—Class monitor, shouldn’t we go to school now? It’s almost 5:30.”

"What's the rush? The parent-teacher meeting starts at 6:30, there's still an hour to go," the father said slowly. "Xiaoyao, why don't you wash the dishes for me before you leave?"

"..." Mo Xueyao said with drooping eyelids, "As expected, I still couldn't escape the task of washing dishes..."

"I'll wash it," Li Wanyan said immediately.

"No need, no need, I'll do it."

"Then let's shower together."

"Hmm...that works too."

"Look how sensible Wanyan is," the father said, picking his teeth with a toothpick. "When will you, my little girl, be able to be like her?"

"Why should I learn from others? Why do I always have to imitate others? Can't I just be myself?" Mo Xueyao said matter-of-factly. "Even being a girl doesn't mean you have to be like Wanyan! And Dad, you're so long-winded! You repeat the same things every day, aren't you tired? Are you a broken record?"

"How can you listen if I don't repeat myself a few times?" The father wasn't angry, he just smiled.

"You really are a tape recorder. Next time, I'll just shove the tape in your mouth and it'll automatically repeat itself. We won't even need to buy a tape recorder." Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes.

“Xiao Yao…” Li Wanyan gently tugged at Mo Xueyao’s sleeve, “How can you talk to your father like that?”

"Haha, it's alright, it's alright—" Before Mo Xueyao could speak, her father spoke first, "That's how it is in our family. We don't need to be so serious with each other. We can be like friends. That's how we can build relationships. It's tiring to always put on airs."

“But… shouldn’t Xiaoyao respect her father a little more?” Li Wanyan couldn’t quite understand this kind of family relationship.

"Respect isn't something you show off, it's something you keep in your heart, right, you brat?" her father said with a smile, winking at Mo Xueyao.

"Tch, old man, I'm going to wash the dishes."

"Hurry up and go! By the way, how were your midterm exam results?"

"Third in the class, ninth in the whole grade," Mo Xueyao said proudly. "Not bad, right?"

"Well, it's just so-so," the father boasted. "Back in my day, I got full marks in every subject. You're still a bit short."

"Tsk, you're just bragging." Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes. "Anyway, we don't have your previous report cards, so no one can call you out no matter how much you brag."

"Haha—anyway, keep it up, and don't get arrogant!"

"Tch, I wouldn't dare to be proud if I didn't get full marks!" Mo Xueyao retorted sarcastically to her father.

Then, both father and daughter couldn't help but laugh.

On the contrary, Li Wanyan, who was watching from the side, was a little nervous.

"Wanyan, why are you so nervous?" Mo Xueyao asked, pouring some dish soap onto the dishcloth.

"I always feel like the way you talk makes me think you could start arguing with your father at any moment."

"No, no, I've always been like this since I was little." Mo Xueyao shook her head. "Not all fathers in the world are like your father... Ah, sorry!"

"It's nothing." Li Wanyan smiled and shook her head. "Maybe I'm just not used to it. I always thought my father was the most serious person in the family, and the one who wouldn't allow any arguments. Otherwise, he would definitely get scolded or even beaten."

"After staying at my house for a while, you gradually get used to it." Mo Xueyao placed the bowl that had been coated with dish soap into the basin next to her.

Li Wanyan picked up the bowls that had been smeared with dish soap and carefully rinsed them under the tap: "Maybe."

After washing the dishes, Mo Xueyao got on her bicycle and rode Li Wanyan to school.

It only took a few minutes; that's one of the advantages of living close to the school.

This should be the quietest time of day at school, but now it's brightly lit.

The lights were on in every classroom, but there were hardly any people inside.

In the classroom of Class 2, Grade 11, the homeroom teacher was sitting at the podium writing something.

"You two are here?"

"Um, Wen, is there anything I need to do?" Mo Xueyao asked as she walked to the podium.

But upon seeing those delicate collarbones and fair skin, I quickly looked away, lest I see something I shouldn't have.

"Xiaoyao, check the seating chart and stick these papers with students' names on them on their desks." Ye Wen then looked at Li Wanyan, "Wanyan, could you help fill out these grade cards and distribute them to everyone's seats as well? Make sure you don't give them to the wrong people."

"Ok."

This was Mo Xueyao's first time helping a teacher prepare for a parent-teacher conference, and there was surprisingly a lot to do.

For example, the hygiene needs to be cleaned again carefully, and the tables and chairs need to be pulled apart a little so that the adults can sit comfortably.

Photos taken during military training should also be posted on the photo wall on the side as soon as possible.

After completing all this, Li Wanyan was assigned to hold up a sign that read "Class 2, Grade 1" at the school gate to greet the parents of Class 2 and tell them which classroom on which floor Class 2 was located.

Mo Xueyao, on the other hand, was responsible for guiding parents to their children's seats in the classroom.

Welcoming one adult after another still made Mo Xueyao a little nervous.

Everyone arrived by a little after 6:30.

Apart from Mo Xiaoxiao and Mo Zhuyou, whose seats were empty.

Their parents didn't come...

……

Chapter 123 Parents' Meeting

The school, usually quiet at night, was brightly lit today.

Yukong High School is located on the outskirts of Hangzhou, which is considered a suburban area.

Surrounded by farmland and low hills, if you look down from above, you'll see that the brightest spot in this area is Yukong High School.

Many electric bikes and bicycles were parked directly at the school gate. The newly arrived security guard with a scar on his face was responsible for arranging for students and parents to park their vehicles neatly, leaving more space for others.

Mo Xueyao leaned against the window in the corridor and looked down, watching parents dressed in different ways walk into the school.

The few parents who drove there parked their cars inside the school.

Sitting in the high seat was a woman dressed very elegantly and generously, who stood out among a group of middle-aged women.

She looks like she's only thirty, radiating the beauty of a young woman.

Only upon close observation can one see the faint crow's feet at the corners of her eyes.

This must be Gao Yuan's mother. The necklace she's wearing is probably worth several times more than the entire wardrobe of many parents in their lifetime.

Although everyone knows that Gao Yuan's family is very wealthy, no one feels distant from him because of this.

The main reason is that Gao Yuan himself is a little chubby, which makes him seem easy to get along with.

Although he has a quirky personality, he is not annoying; on the contrary, he brings people closer to him. After all, wherever he is, there is always laughter.

"Are all the parents here?" Mo Xueyao asked Li Wanyan, who was walking out of the stairwell with a list in her hand.

"Well, apart from the Mo sisters and my parents who didn't sign up for the parent-teacher conference, everyone else's parents attended." Li Wanyan took a breath, put the wooden sign aside, and leaned it against the wall. "Finally, I can put it down. It was too heavy."

"Is it heavy?" Mo Xueyao lifted it up. "Is it alright?"

"Try holding it up for half an hour," Li Wanyan glanced at Mo Xueyao, then lowered her voice as she looked at the classroom full of parents. "Has it already started?"

"It seems like it hasn't officially started yet." Mo Xueyao glanced at her mother, who noticed her gaze and looked back with a straight face, but within three seconds, the mother and daughter couldn't help but laugh.

I don't know why I'm laughing.

It's like playing a game where whoever laughs first loses; once it starts, you inexplicably find it funny.

Wang Jiale's mother and Mo Xueyao's mother looked to be about the same height, except that Wang Jiale's mother was dressed more elegantly.

Of course, she couldn't compare to Gao Yuan's mother, but her attire was still quite elegant and tasteful.

"Ahem." At this moment, the principal cleared his throat and spoke through the loudspeakers in each classroom, "Good evening, parents. I am Mo Kong, the current principal of Yukong High School. Thank you all for attending. The purpose of this parent-teacher meeting is not to criticize parents for their poor parenting, but to hope that teachers can have closer communication with parents and better understand the children's inner world..."

Next, the principal will give a speech that will last about fifteen minutes.

Perhaps because parent-teacher meetings are a rare event, the explanations were given in exceptional detail.

He also elaborated on his teaching philosophy and explained the reasons behind some of the changes made at Yukong High School this semester.

This was the most boring time. Ye Wen even went out of the classroom to let the two of them go to the office to rest for a while, but going to the office seemed even more awkward, so they simply waited in the corridor.

Li Wanyan was discussing a few questions that she might have gotten wrong with Mo Xueyao, while Mo Xueyao occasionally glanced back at her mother as they talked.

Many parents in the classroom also liked to whisper to each other while the teacher was speaking; the men seemed to suddenly become brothers, and the women seemed to suddenly become sisters.

However, the most awkward person was the parent of the student with the worst grades in the class, who was sitting next to the parent of the good student.

No, no, the most awkward ones are definitely Liu Xiaowei's parents, right?

His mother's expression was not good from the moment she sat down in this seat. It seemed that if Liu Xiaowei's grades didn't satisfy her, he was in for a good beating when he got home...

Mo Xueyao silently mourned for him for a second.

Perhaps to avoid upsetting the parents, Ye Wen didn't announce the specific scores of each student, but only the top ten students in the class, and then called out the three students with the lowest scores.

"Hua Yinyin got first place in the whole grade in Chinese, but she almost failed in other subjects. She's a bit unbalanced in her studies," Ye Wen said to Hua Yinyin's mother.

"It's alright, as long as she likes something." Hua Yinyin's father, who came to the parent-teacher meeting, waved his hand and said generously, "Anyway, I didn't expect her to become an all-rounder."

"But... we still have to try our best. To be honest, high school material isn't that difficult. It'll be really hard when we switch to new textbooks in a few years." Ye Wen smiled helplessly. "If we can work hard, it's better to try."

“I will talk to her, but this little girl may not listen to me.” Hua Yinyin’s father laughed twice. “She has always been a very opinionated child.”

"Well, it's good that you can talk about it. Actually, Hua Yinyin is quite well-behaved at school. She completes her homework for other subjects on time, and as for being my Chinese class representative, I'm quite satisfied with her—cough, um." Ye Wen interrupted the topic and nodded to Mr. Xue and Mo Xueyao's parents.