A Young Woman's Heart

It's a little embarrassing to admit, but as a sixteen-year-old high school student, Mo Xueyao has to find anime here...

Although the black and white version is a bit of a disappointment, being able to hear the sound is enough to make one feel satisfied.

Moreover, sometimes if it's a familiar character, even in black and white, you can imagine its actual color.

Today is Sunday, so the children's channel is broadcasting all day, but at this time it's showing some rather childish content for kids.

For example, right now they're showing... Teletubbies.

"The sun is rising." A sun with a baby's face slowly rises, and then several little people of different colors pop out.

"I'm Lala!"

"Bobo~"

"Ding Ding".

“Dipsy—”

Mo Xueyao awkwardly changed the channel. Although, in the eyes of adults, watching Teletubbies was just as childish as watching any other cartoon...

The next channel was playing the well-known 86 version of Journey to the West, which Mo Xueyao was already tired of watching.

Moving on to the next show, they played Princess Pearl...

"Never mind, I'll just leave it like this." Not finding a TV show she liked, Mo Xueyao felt a little bored.

"Xiaoyao, aren't you going to watch it? Then let me see if there are any TV series I like?"

"Sure, whatever you want." Mo Xueyao shrugged and started playing with the sugar candy while leaning on the table.

Before long, Li Wanyan found a TV show she liked to watch. It was a Qiong Yao drama that was over ten years old, called "Misty Rain". Although Mo Xueyao couldn't stand watching it at all, most women seemed to like it.

From teenagers to middle school students to elderly women in their fifties, everyone is captivated by it.

For Mo Xueyao, watching this kind of stuff was not as good as reading Jin Yong's novels.

She couldn't stand the dialogue in the show and soon couldn't take it anymore, so she moved a small stool and sat down by the door.

I've finished reading all the novels I have, and I don't want to go out to borrow books on a rainy day.

I've finished my homework, but I don't really feel like previewing or reviewing.

With nothing to do for the time being, Mo Xueyao stared blankly for a while, then, feeling a bit bored, wandered into Grandma Jin's shop.

She had some change in her pocket, wondering what interesting things she could buy to play with.

The store also had many small toys for five cents, such as magnets, pullback cars, bamboo dragonflies, and firecrackers...

But somehow, she took a liking to a cross-stitch piece wrapped in a small plastic bag.

The cross-stitch was about the size of her palm, and it looked small and delicate.

"Xiaoyao, what would you like?" Grandma Jin asked kindly.

"Ah... um... how much does this cross-stitch cost?"

"You like that one? Hehe, well, girls always like things like sewing and embroidery. If you like it, I can give it to you. I have even bigger ones, do you want one?"

"No need, no need, this is fine, the bigger ones are too difficult." This cross-stitch is a simple cartoon cat pattern, and it doesn't look complicated.

"Okay, take it if you like it."

"No...we still have to pay," Mo Xueyao insisted. "How much...is it?"

"Why are you being so polite with your Grandma Jin? Just take it." Grandma Jin said, feigning anger. "Why are you being so formal? This thing isn't worth much."

“But… my dad said I can’t just take other people’s things; I have to exchange them for something of equal value,” Mo Xueyao said with some difficulty. In fact, this was a personality trait she had developed since childhood.

"Okay, then tonight you can come and help me make some dumplings, as compensation for your labor."

"Eh...making dumplings?" Mo Xueyao knew nothing about this task, but she still agreed. Taking things from others for free always made her feel a little embarrassed.

Moreover, one should not develop such a habit, lest one become the person in the saying "a little kindness is appreciated, but too much kindness breeds resentment," who receives charity from others but still harbors resentment.

This small cross-stitch kit contains various colors of thread, cross-stitch fabric, and a plastic case. After you finish embroidering, you can put the fabric into the case. There is a round hole through which it can be used as a small keychain.

Actually, I learned cross-stitch in my home economics class last time, but it's been a while since I last did it, and I've almost forgotten how to start.

Mo Xueyao sat at the door for a long time with a piece of cloth in her hand, but all she managed to do was thread the needle.

"Oh my." The father was surprised to see Mo Xueyao trying out cross-stitch, then lowered his voice and said, "Starting to learn how to be a girl?"

"Shut up, shut up." Mo Xueyao pushed his face away. "Dad, your beard is so shaving!"

"Too stiff? Well, that's how it gets when you shave every day." The father stroked his stubble and teased in a low voice, "Envious?

"Get lost." Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes, finally remembering how to start the first step.

However, this is only the beginning.

She wanted to give up several times, but she kept telling herself that she had to be patient.

"Here, a band-aid." Her father placed a band-aid from the counter drawer next to Mo Xueyao. "You'll definitely need it."

"You..." Mo Xueyao was about to retort when she accidentally poked her finger. Although the needle was very thin and the wound was small, a drop of blood still seeped out. "You've ruined me! I wouldn't have pricked myself!"

"Cough cough, whose fault is it if you can't concentrate?" The father whistled, but still asked with concern, "Are you alright? Should you wash yourself with soap and water to disinfect?"

"No need, thank you!" Mo Xueyao gently tossed the candy into her father's arms and called out, "Candy, bite him!"

"Meow—" As if it understood, Su Tang quickly darted to the top of her father's head, scratching his hair, which was mixed with a few white hairs, into a mess, and then jumped down and darted onto Mo Xueyao's lap.

"This silly cat doesn't seem so silly after all. Does it really understand?" The father wasn't angry, but rather curiously poked its cheek. The cat immediately opened its mouth and put his finger in its mouth. "If you dare to bite it, you won't get any food for three days."

"Meow..." Su Tang pretended to 'bite' a few times, but actually didn't use her teeth. In the end, she still spat out her father's finger.

I don't know if they're scared.

"This silly cat is interesting, tsk tsk."

"Stop bothering Dad, let me embroider for a while, okay?"

"Fine, fine, you can finish embroidering by yourself. I won't bother you. Do you think I'm happy to chat with you? I'm just worried you'll be bored."

Mo Xueyao didn't say anything, but her little face was filled with the words "Get out of here".

She could finally immerse herself in it completely.

Making things is a fun thing.

The sense of satisfaction is indescribable, especially when you see your work gradually coming to a complete finish.

Even time seemed to speed up during this immersive experience.

She barely ate any of the fried crucian carp for lunch before throwing herself back into it.

It was soon 4 p.m.

Mo Xueyao's cross-stitch project was finally halfway completed, albeit with some setbacks.

Yes, it's not completely finished yet!

It looked so simple, but it turned out to be so difficult!

……

Chapter 129 Bubbling and gurgling

The best dumplings are the ones that are freshly made and cooked.

The key is freshness.

This is a taste that frozen dumplings can't replicate.

On the folding table sat an alcohol stove, and on top of the stove was a large earthenware pot, the water inside bubbling and gurgling, clearly already boiled.

"Xiaoyao, Wanyan, put the chopped tomatoes in to boil first, then add some ginger slices!" The father, who was wrapping flowers for someone else, said without looking up.

This is a bouquet of flowers for a patient. It contains snow-white granular 'baby's breath', 'lilies' symbolizing purity and whiteness, and 'peonies' representing recovery.

In addition, there were some leaves and grasses that Mo Xueyao couldn't name, as well as some small flowers used as embellishments.

"Squad leader, you can put it down." Mo Xueyao raised her hands, which were covered in flour. "My hands are covered in flour."

"Okay, I'll do it." Li Wanyan said, placing the washed tomatoes on the cutting board next to her. The cutting board was placed directly on the cardboard box, so she couldn't cut too hard, otherwise she might collapse the box.

The fruit shop has a lot of things, but also a lot of all kinds of cardboard boxes.

Especially recently, as business has gradually improved, we've been ordering more goods, and naturally, we've been accumulating more cardboard boxes for fruit.

Especially the cardboard boxes for watermelons—one small box contains one watermelon. These things are very expensive in winter, yet quite a few people still buy them.

Didn't you eat enough in the summer?

Watermelons that cost two cents a pound in the summer sell for one dollar and two cents in the winter because they are out of season.

That's a six-fold price difference.

"Clatter clatter clatter—" Li Wanyan deftly chopped the tomatoes, and a rhythmic, crisp sound came from the cutting board.

Mo Xueyao took a dumpling wrapper, put some filling on it with a spoon, and clumsily pinched it closed.

These are the dumplings I promised to make for Grandma Jin. She's coming to dinner today, so I'm putting some of my homemade dumplings in them.

Because we had dumplings, we didn't have rice for dinner tonight; dumplings became the main dish.

Mo Xueyao reluctantly tried to make dumplings, but her skills were truly lacking. If Grandma Jin's dumplings were dumplings, then what she made could only be described as wrappers around fillings...

Moreover, it wasn't sealed properly, so the filling would leak out.

"Xiaoyao, that's not how you wrap it. Look, you pinch it like this, and then make a few pleats." Grandma Jin demonstrated again.

"I'll try my best..." Mo Xueyao grinned. She couldn't learn how to wrap the dough from Grandma Jin at all. It was just like a painter teaching someone to draw a picture, saying, "Draw an outline first, and then add details."

But as the saying goes, failure is the mother of success. After failing to make seven or eight dumplings, she finally found some tricks and managed to make a decent-looking dumpling.

"Yes, that's good. Keep it up!" Grandma Jin encouraged with a smile.

"Hmph, it's actually quite simple, isn't it?" Mo Xueyao was a little smug, but she broke the next one.

"You're proud now, aren't you?"