A Young Woman's Heart

(One)

"It's a rare Sunday, and I really wanted to sleep in..." Mo Xueyao yawned widely, squinting as she placed her socks aside. "It's so hot, I guess I won't wear socks."

"But there are also a lot of mosquitoes."

"Ugh—this is so troublesome." Wearing socks doesn't completely prevent mosquito bites, but it's better than not wearing any. The trade-off is that it'll be much hotter—of course, if there's a breeze, it'll be quite cool.

Despite saying that, she still put on the semi-transparent white stockings, making her already plump thighs look even whiter and more tender, like rice cakes that made people want to take a bite.

As soon as they stepped downstairs, the cicadas seemed to sense their presence and began to chatter loudly to greet them.

Mo Xueyao waved her hand to shoo away a mosquito attracted by the sweet scent, and straddled her rainbow-colored bicycle.

Although she was wearing stockings, she wasn't wearing a skirt, but rather a pair of denim shorts that covered half of her thighs.

Its advantages are that it's perfect for cycling and it's also cool enough.

“The bike is fine to ride, why does Dad want us to ride it over and modify it? We can’t just change the paint again, can we? I think the color doesn’t need to be changed.”

"It must be something else."

"Brakes? They're fine. Maybe we should change the tires? Uh... they've been slipping a bit lately, and it's been a while since we changed them." Mo Xueyao bent down and glanced at them. "Never mind, let's go."

It's probably only during holidays that I can temporarily forget about the upcoming college entrance exam.

Although time was tight, Mo Xueyao still insisted on finishing her homework before the holiday. On the day of the holiday, she would relax and do whatever she wanted, whether she wanted to sleep in or go out to play.

……

(two)

It was only a little past seven o'clock, but the sun was already high in the sky, giving back all the sunshine that people had missed during the winter.

The shop isn't doing much business yet; it's mostly just a few customers buying ordinary fruit.

The father was pruning the flowers with scissors in his hand, while the mother was in charge of greeting the ordinary guests.

"Dad—" Mo Xueyao had just parked the car when she staggered up the steps, her voice trailing off, her arms hanging limply. "What's wrong? I was sleeping in at home when a phone call came and told me that I was modifying my bicycle too often."

"Haha, this time it's not that simple. This morning at the market, I saw someone selling used bicycle parts. The prices were so cheap that I couldn't resist buying some. There were even new-style bicycle chainrings in there. With this freewheel, you can get 24 gears!"

"Oh...that's to make you happy."

"I also bought four tire pads. Your tires are almost worn out, right? They'll fit perfectly. But these are a bit wider, so they might be a little harder to ride. But if you have new parts, it should be fine."

Where's the inner tube?

"They all come as a set."

Wow, are we going to do a big project today?

"Haha, to be honest, this is much simpler than painting. By the way, Xiaoyao, didn't you like those big bull horn handlebars? I bought you one this time too."

"That's great! It feels like a mountain bike!"

"Where's the bicycle? Park it in the back, get ready to start the modifications!"

Yang Xiaoyu glanced at Li Wanyan helplessly: "Sigh, she's like a child, wasting money again."

"As long as godfather and Yaoyao are happy."

"What do you mean by wasting money? This is useful. Otherwise, riding a bicycle for more than ten kilometers would be exhausting."

"Huh?" Mo Xueyao's eyes widened. "Dad, what did you do?"

"Haha, you'll see when the time comes!"

……

(three)

Under the lush ginkgo tree, the father, holding a wrench, was sweating profusely as he assembled new parts for Mo Xueyao's bicycle. In fact, the bicycle had been almost completely disassembled; apart from the frame, almost everything else had been replaced.

The back seats that were originally meant for passengers have been removed because the tires are too big. At most, a rain guard can be installed, and there's no space to add more back seats.

The same goes for the front wheel, so the handlebars were raised a bit to barely fit a small basket that wouldn't fit a backpack. Correspondingly, the seat was also raised, otherwise it would be very difficult to ride.

"Hey, Dad... this is completely impractical! And it's so high up, my toes won't even touch the ground when I'm sitting on it!"

“There’s nothing I can do, your frame is too small. Wanyan’s would be more suitable. You can also put the basket on it…” Mo Wenli glanced up at her, “Who told you to be so short?”

"Dad, you're only 1.7 meters tall yourself, okay?"

"Well, I'm at least 1.7 meters tall, so you should at least be as tall as Wanyan, right?"

"It must be because I wasn't well-nourished when I was little!" Mo Xueyao puffed out her cheeks angrily.

"Okay, then lower it a bit?"

"I'll try sitting on it," Mo Xueyao said, attempting to sit down. Her feet could touch the ground, but the car had to be tilted, and even then, only her toes could reach. "Lower," she said.

"Like this? If it's any lower, the handle will be too high."

"Okay, okay, that's settled then."

……

(four)

Both bicycles were fitted with better parts, making them look brand new.

"Wow, that brake is so fast!" Mo Xueyao gently pressed the brake, and the car came to a complete stop. "Was it too tight?"

"No, this is a disc brake. Hey, when I was young, I only saw them in books. Times have really changed. Now you guys can use them on your bicycles."

"But sudden braking could easily cause the car to fly off..."

"So be steady and try not to brake suddenly." Her father squatted down, lifted Mo Xueyao's foot off the pedal, applied some lubricant to the pedal's pivot, and then put her foot down again. "Okay, that's fine. It might be a little difficult to start now, but once you get going, you'll be flying like a rocket."

"It's more suitable for long distances now."

"That's it."

"So why make it more suitable for long distances?"

"Haha, come on, come on, put the bicycle in the van." The father didn't answer, but just laughed and opened the back door of the van, putting down a wooden plank used for dragging heavy objects so that the two of them could push the bicycle in smoothly.

"what?"

"Let me show you my new territory!"

"what?"

"Although the formalities haven't been completed yet, it'll only take a few days."

"ha?

The mother walked to the back of the fruit shop and glanced over here: "Ali, a regular customer wants you to make a fruit basket first."

"A regular customer? He's here!" The man, who had just pulled out his keys, quickly slung them back onto his belt and dashed into the fruit shop. His voice carried from afar, "Let's go when it's less crowded around noon!"

"Huh? What is it?"

"Your old man bought a warehouse from your Grandma Jin, and it even comes with a yard that he can use for free. He's so happy about it; he was just showing it off to your godfather yesterday."

Li Wanyan blinked, seemingly not understanding why she was so happy.

But Mo Xueyao immediately understood and clapped her hands together, exclaiming, "Wow! A secret base!!"

"No wonder you're father and daughter, you're exactly the same." The mother chuckled softly, "Looks like you'll be very satisfied later."

Now, Mo Xueyao couldn't wait to set off immediately; every minute and second until noon felt incredibly long to her.

……

(Fives)

"It's a bit far..."

"Otherwise, how could we have gotten such a good deal?"

The van moved forward on the uneven road, with the two bicycles behind it already lying on their sides.

When my father drives, he's much more aggressive than my godfather. His favorite thing to do is to slam on the gas and brake, and every now and then he'll drift the old van on the gravel road with a slight swerve.

Of course, this also made the speed much faster.

The journey of about ten kilometers took less than twenty minutes to complete.

You see, there were quite a few small roads along the way, unlike the smooth highways that lead out of the city—Mo Xueyao was worried several times that her father would drive the van into the drainage ditch.

But eventually, the speed gradually slowed down. After passing the village, there was another small road, and then we entered the very end of the peninsula.

A wall blocked the way. The large iron gate, which was completely open yesterday, was closed today, but it wasn't locked; it was just latched.

The father got out of the car, reached into the iron gate, unhooked the latch, and then pushed the gate open with a creak before getting back into the car and driving the van inside.

The warehouse was the same as before, but the roller shutter door had been lowered. The father took out the key, opened the small door, and went inside. Mo Xueyao followed closely behind curiously.

Wow, it's so big and spacious!

"right."

"Secret base!!" Mo Xueyao, like a child, ran around the spacious warehouse with her arms outstretched. "You can play basketball or badminton there now!"

"We'll use this space for parking later, so we'll just set it up quickly."

"Dad, I need a room! Just a small one will do, anywhere in the corner."

"Sure, you draw a diagram as a blueprint, and I'll build it for you!"

"Oh! I want one shaped like a treehouse, and it has to have windows—" Mo Xueyao had already started to imagine.

The father smiled and looked at Li Wanyan: "Wanyan, what do you think of this place?"

"Good."

"You can tell me any ideas you have, and I'll try my best to make them come true for you, of course, at a low cost."

Li Wanyan frowned slightly, seemingly deep in thought: "Hmm, I want a dedicated study."

"A study? Forget a study, even a small library would be fine!"

“A small library is great! Let’s get this one, Dad!” Mo Xueyao shouted excitedly.

"Okay, I've written it all down for you, don't worry."