A Young Woman's Heart

"That's so tacky..."

"How about bracelets made of various beautiful stones?" she asked, pointing to another section of the stall.

"Little Yaoyao! Look! A conch shell! It's a huge conch shell! How about we give it to Shuer?"

"Are you sure she'll really like this kind of thing...?"

Mo Zhuyou put one hand on Xiaoxue's shoulder and tilted her head to look at her: "I say, since you're not sure, why don't you call Shu'er? Just ask her what she likes?"

"Oh right!" Wang Jiale clapped his hands. "Xiaoyao has Shu'er's phone number, right?"

"Yes, I have it saved..." Mo Xueyao felt her pockets and found them empty. She felt a little flustered at first, then immediately looked at Li Wanyan, "Wanyan! Do you have the phone?"

"Ah."

"Phew... I thought I'd lost it." Mo Xueyao breathed a sigh of relief, took the pink flip phone from Li Wanyan, flipped through the menu, found Yu Shu's mobile phone number, and quickly dialed it.

There were stalls and pedestrians on both sides, and it was quite noisy.

Mo Xueyao had to raise her voice and call out, "Hello—Yu Shu? Are you home?"

"Huh? Uh... I think I'm about there."

"Are you on holiday?"

"Ah."

"We're planning to bring you some local specialties as a gift. Would you like, uh—seashells, pretty stones, conch shells, or something to eat?"

"Huh...anything is fine, right?"

"Ah—we just don't know what to bring you, so, would you like something to eat or some handicrafts?"

"...Is either fine...?"

"Hey, hey, either way is fine."

"Those handicrafts?"

"Okay! Yu Shu said she wants handicrafts!"

"I knew it!" Wang Jiale glanced at the trinkets on the stall. "What kind do you want?"

"I'm fine..."

"Hey, don't you have any concrete ideas?"

"If I choose myself... will there be no surprise?" Yu Shu's voice was very soft on the phone, and Mo Xueyao had to press her ear tightly against the phone to hear her clearly.

"What?" This time she didn't hear clearly.

"Anything is fine!"

"Okay, then it'll be handicrafts, anything is fine. Um, I'm hanging up now!" Mo Xueyao quickly hung up the phone and relayed Yu Shu's words to the others.

The plan is for everyone to chip in to buy Yu Shu's gift, so that each person doesn't have to spend too much money to get a nice gift.

Of course, we need to reach a consensus before that.

Wang Jiale and Hua Yinyin were arguing fiercely, their ideas were completely different, and neither could convince the other.

At first, they were trying to reason with each other, but then it turned into a childish game of pretend, with each of them saying one thing and the other another.

"Listen to me!"

"Listen to me!!"

"I'll definitely buy this one!"

"No, no, buy this one!"

……

The setting sun had already dipped behind the green hills, casting its dim, yellow light obliquely across the world.

This is the bus on the way home.

Almost every student buys something as a souvenir, some are food, some are practical, and some are just for display.

Although a few people were still chatting with others with great energy, most people felt somewhat tired.

Mo Xueyao leaned back in her chair, yawned three times, and tears streamed uncontrollably from the corners of her eyes, blurring her vision.

The distant scenery was turned into patches of color.

Hua Yinyin, who was sitting next to her, seemed to have run out of power and slumped onto her lap, not moving at all. It was probably only at times like this that she could calm down for a while.

The bus drove out of the city and onto a not-so-wide highway, but its speed increased slightly, probably because there were not many cars on this road.

Sometimes it takes seven or eight minutes for a car to whiz past and overtake you.

The trees on both sides of the mountain acted like sieves, turning the sunlight into beams. The interlacing light and shadow shone on Mo Xueyao's face, making her squint her eyes.

Last night when I was driving on this road, I couldn't see anything at all. It wasn't until today that I could see the road leading into the mountains.

The vegetation is lush, and you can sometimes see lakes between the mountains, with a few scattered houses.

The further in you go, the narrower the road becomes, turning from a four-lane road into a two-lane road, and then into a single-lane road.

It went from an asphalt road to a cement road, and then to a dusty dirt road.

The car swayed and wobbled, its speed gradually decreasing.

When the road is paved with cement again, it means you've arrived.

With one turn, the scenery from where we came was left behind.

After walking along a narrow path lined with pine trees, winding and turning up to the mountainside, the view suddenly opened up to a plaza where parking was available, and a lonely old concrete building standing there.

It appears much larger during the day than at night.

"Phew... We're finally here." Mo Xueyao rubbed her sore eyes, stuffed the game console she had been playing for a while back into her pocket, and patted Hua Yinyin's forehead. "Yinyin, get up, get up, we're here."

"Ugh—" Hua Yinyin straightened up with a pained expression, grabbed the handrail and swayed as she got off the car. The fresh air in the deep mountains helped her recover a lot.

"Ah Wen said she's going out to play tomorrow." Cha Li put her hands in her pockets and followed Li Wanyan over, telling her roommates this 'information' she had heard from Ye Wen.

"Ugh, another free day like today? I feel so tired." Mo Xueyao adjusted her backpack strap and tugged at it. "Do I have to wear my school uniform tomorrow?"

"Yes, we'll still wear the school uniform, but tomorrow won't be a free trip."

"what is that?"

"It's a school-organized trip to an amusement park."

"Is there an amusement park here?" Wang Jiale asked curiously as she approached.

"Yes, I heard it's a newly built park, with the surface part being a scenic park, and the main part being underground."

"The underground section?" Mo Zhuyou asked with great curiosity. "I've never been to an underground amusement park before."

"It's built under the reservoir, and its name is Dragon Palace."

"What a grand name! I wonder if it'll be fun." Mo Xueyao rubbed her stomach. "Right now, I just want to know when it's time for dinner..."

"Soon." Cha Li led the way towards the assigned classroom. "We'll have something to eat soon once we get back to the classroom."

"Ah—I'm starving! I'm going to eat three bowls of rice today!" Gao Yuan shouted, holding up three fingers.

"Huh, Gao Yuan, you can actually go hungry?"

"Damn it, all the snacks were gone today, and Wen wouldn't let me buy anything to eat, saying I wouldn't be able to eat anything tonight. I've been starving since noon!" Gao Yuan yelled, as if someone was abusing him.

"What do you mean you've been hungry since noon? It's only 6:30, okay? It's normal dinner time! You're just eating too much. You need to lose weight, you know?" Ye Wen put her hands on her hips and glanced at him sideways.

"So I'm going to eat my revenge tonight!"

"Awen!" Mo Xueyao raised her hand and waved it. "What are we having for dinner?"

"It's the same as what I usually eat at school, just packaged in a lunchbox. There are several different combinations."

Mo Xueyao's stomach finally couldn't help but rumble.

……

Chapter 252 Midnight Conversations

(One)

If you get used to the nights in the mountains, you'll find that they're not actually that dark.

The deep blue sky is dotted with stars, and a bright, clear moon hangs high in the sky, bringing a few lights-like illuminations to the dark night.

After a day of playing, everyone was actually a bit tired.

Today, unlike yesterday, we didn't play the pillow-catching game. After taking a shower, we all crawled into bed.

"It's still early, it's 9:30." Wang Jiale buried half her face under the covers, looking at the incandescent light that had just been turned off, still emitting a faint yellow glow. "Going to sleep already?"

"Hmm—I'm already sleepy." Mo Xueyao turned over, then turned back over, and used her feet to pull the blankets together, wrapping herself up like a cocoon before finally lying down contentedly.

"My feet are tired from walking." Even though she was all alone with her own bedding, Hua Yinyin still insisted on leaning towards Mo Xueyao.

"We still have to get up early tomorrow," Cha Li said, letting out a big yawn as she lay down near the door. "Hmm... whose shoes smell so bad?"

"It must be Yin Yin!" Mo Xueyao said without hesitation.

"Hey! I'm wearing canvas shoes, while Yaoyao is wearing leather shoes. If anyone's shoes are smelly, it's Yaoyao's!"

“Wanyan is also wearing little leather shoes.” Mo Xueyao tilted her head and squinted at Hua Yinyin in the moonlight.

The latter immediately pretended not to say anything and began to hum a little tune.

The noise outside the room was still a bit loud, since it wasn't lights out yet. Students were walking around in the corridors and stairwells, visiting each other's rooms, and some hadn't even finished showering yet.

……

(two)

"I'm not sleepy yet, I think I ate too much tonight... Where's my older sister?"

"I'm not sleepy either." Mo Xiaoxiao and Mo Zhuyou shared a blanket, not because there weren't enough blankets, but simply because they were used to sleeping like this.

Cha Li moved the pillow away from the door, saying, "This is actually a good time for midnight conversations."