A Young Woman's Heart

The dim streetlights illuminated the street, and many shops along the roadside looked rather desolate.

It was getting late, and some shops were already packing up to close.

Looking around, it seems like several new shops have opened, but I can't remember what the original shops were. My memory is becoming blurry, as if it has been erased by something.

— Probably because we don't tend to remember things we don't care about.

There were quite a few students from Yukong High School riding their bikes on the street, since it was a main road and many students were going home from there.

The laughter and playful chatter of the senior high school students filled the somewhat deserted street, and the owners of the scattered night stalls all beamed with smiles as they enthusiastically hawked their wares to the students.

……

(two)

Li Wanyan applied the brakes and stopped in front of a bakery with beautiful floor-to-ceiling windows and bright lights.

The white light emanating from those spotlights was several degrees brighter than the dim yellow light from the neighboring shops.

The goods displayed on the shelves inside were also neatly arranged, and each item looked clean and exquisite.

Of course, the exorbitant price tag also makes it prohibitive for many.

Mo Xueyao followed them in, and when she saw that a small piece of cake in the shop window was selling for ten yuan, she gasped in shock.

A custom-made mini birthday cake from a regular small cake shop costs no more than fifty yuan, and that's enough for three or four people.

There were three employees in the shop. One was busy tidying up and cleaning, another seemed to be the manager and was checking accounts with a calculator, and the third looked at the two of them with a smile: "Would you like to buy anything? Some of the cakes nearing their expiration date are on sale tonight."

"Approaching the due date?"

"They're all here, and there are some on the middle shelf too."

Mo Xueyao saw a cake that was similar to the one she had just seen, but even with the discount, it still cost eight yuan.

"Is the discounted item... expiring tonight?" Li Wanyan raised her head slightly and asked.

"No, they all expire around this time tomorrow night."

"Huh, aren't there any that are about to expire?"

"Those that were about to expire have already been disposed of."

"Ugh..." Mo Xueyao felt it was a waste and muttered under her breath, "It would have been better to give it to me for free than to get rid of it..."

Li Wanyan glanced at her helplessly, while the kind shop assistant maintained her polite smile.

"Wanyan, it's so expensive here," Mo Xueyao whispered in her ear. "If you want to buy a cake, you might as well go to the regular cake shop next door..."

“No need.” Li Wanyan shook her head, pointing to the whole small cake among the near-expiry items, which was priced at “27”. “Wrap this up for me.”

"Okay, do you need anything else? If you sign up for a membership card now, you can get an additional 20% discount."

"What should we do?"

"You can get it by topping up 100."

"No need." Li Wanyan shook her head, pointed to the four-yuan pork floss bread, hesitated for a few seconds, and then pointed to the two-yuan red bean paste bread next to it, "I want both of these."

"Okay, shall I wrap it all up for you?"

"Ah."

"That's thirty-three in total, I'll take thirty-five, here's your two dollars change, please have a safe trip, and welcome to come again next time!"

Li Wanyan nodded lightly, then walked out carrying a delicate paper bag in each hand.

The cakes were packaged separately, while the red bean paste bread and pork floss bread were packaged together.

"Wanyan, why did you think of buying such an expensive cake? This pork floss bread only has a little more pork floss. A similar one in a regular store only costs one yuan."

"It's rare for me to splurge a little."

“Hmm—this is really not like Wanyan.” Mo Xueyao winked at her. “Has Wanyan learned to treat herself now?”

"Oh, and also, today is Mom's birthday."

"Huh?"

Li Wanyan smiled and took the pork floss bread out of the bag and handed it to her: "Eat yours before you go over."

……

(three)

Mo Xueyao, who was originally going straight home, followed Li Wanyan around in circles and rode back up the uphill road where the fruit shop was located, stopping in front of Pan Jiexiang's tailor shop.

The tailor shop was lit by warm-colored incandescent lights, and a desk lamp was on in front of the foot-operated sewing machine. Pan Jiexiang was diligently sewing a red dress, her movements exceptionally efficient.

"Mom." Li Wanyan gently kicked off the bicycle kickstand and walked into the small shop.

"Yan Yan? Haven't you gone home yet?"

"Hmm." Li Wanyan gently bit her lip, her hands behind her back, looking somewhat hesitant.

"Aunt Pan, Wanyan bought you a birthday cake! I just found out it's your birthday today, happy birthday!" Mo Xueyao said for her, smiling as she placed a pink candle on the table. "Since it's not a special birthday cake, there were no candles, so I went to the general store to buy one. Hmm... this is probably the most suitable color, cough cough!"

Li Wanyan smiled, her face slightly flushed, and picked up the cake in her hand, gently placing it on the table: "Happy birthday, Mom. I've grown up, and I will never forget any of my birthdays from now on."

"Oh dear..." Pan Jiexiang's face was exceptionally rosy. "I almost forgot it was my birthday today. Yan Yan bought a cake... It's so beautiful, I don't even want to eat it. It's so pretty, it must have been very expensive, right?"

"It's alright." Li Wanyan shook her head gently—the price tag that was stuck on it had already been torn off when she arrived.

"Try it and see how it tastes! It's sure to be delicious!"

"Okay, I'll give it a try. Yaoyao, Yanyan, you two should have some too. I can't finish all of this by myself."

"No, no, I'm full..." Mo Xueyao quickly shook her head. Although she was a little tempted, after eating that meat floss bread, she wasn't very interested in the cake anymore.

"Mom can eat by herself."

"Okay, I'll eat some first, and put the rest in the convenience store's refrigerator."

"Either is fine." Li Wanyan nodded gently.

Mo Xueyao looked around and found that there were many new styles of clothes, mainly women's clothing, with only a few men's clothing items, all of which were relatively formal styles.

She saw the suit on the only mannequin and, as if remembering something, asked, "Oh, right, is the suit for that uncle from before finished?"

"Yes, it's been finished for a while. This set was made extra by me. It looks good, doesn't it?"

"Hmm! That's great." Mo Xueyao puffed out her right cheek. "I also want to try wearing a suit."

"Pfft, suits are usually worn by men, but there are women's suits too."

"Yes, I like this kind of well-tailored men's suit."

“Like this.” Pan Jiexiang nodded gently, as if she had thought of something. She scooped off a small piece of cake with a spoon, slowly put it in her mouth, and savored it, as if letting the cake melt in her mouth. “It’s delicious, it tastes like a high-class cake.”

"Really?" Mo Xueyao was somewhat tempted.

Pan Jiexiang saw through her little scheme, so she also scooped out a small piece and held it towards her little mouth: "Here, Yaoyao, have a bite, ah—"

"Ah—" Mo Xueyao instinctively opened her mouth, "Ugh! Expensive is indeed expensive... cough cough!"

"Yan Yan, why don't you have a bite too?" Pan Jiexiang didn't seem to care, she just smiled.

"it is good."

……

(four)

"Ah, the evening breeze is so comfortable..." Mo Xueyao squinted her eyes. She had just come up the slope and was about to go down a slope. After this, she would be close to home.

There are hardly any bicycles left on the road; after all, in this day and age, there aren't many jobs that end after nine o'clock.

Therefore, the two can travel freely on the empty road.

Of course, you still have to be a little careful, since there are more drunk drivers at night.

"Slow down."

"Wanyan, is this really okay? It doesn't feel like we celebrated much. We just gave her a cake or something. When it's my mom's birthday, my dad cooks, and then everyone gets together to chat. We might not even buy a cake..."

"It's okay, this is fine."

"Next time, be better prepared, okay? I can help too."

"it is good."

“But next time won’t be until next year. By then, I’ll be a college student.” As the terrain gradually leveled out, Mo Xueyao released the brakes and started pedaling her bicycle again. “Time really flies.”

She had only ridden a few steps when she suddenly braked again because the light ahead was red.

No matter how she rides, Mo Xueyao still follows traffic rules—even though no cars are driving by now.

"Passport, have you made up your mind?"

"Oh right, we still need to get our passports. I'll ask Xiaoxi tomorrow, and also get everyone's opinions. If nothing unexpected happens, we should really be going to Japan. Will Wanyan come along too?"

Li Wanyan smiled and pursed her lips: "I don't need it."

"Hey? Why aren't you coming along?"

"I made a promise with Xiaoxiao and Chali to go play in other places."

"Hey—so Xiaoxiao isn't going either? Chali? She said she was going to go with Xiaoxue, so it can't be that Xiaoxue isn't going either..."

"will not."

……

Chapter 286 Everyone Forgot

(One)

A light drizzle was falling from the sky on June 7th, at noon in Yukong High School.

It's lunch break time now.

Yu Shu stared blankly at the air in front of her, seemingly lost in thought.

"Yay, everyone, welcome to today's Rainy Day Radio! I'm Jiang Ying, the super cute and super charming new host you should already know! Applause!"