A Young Woman's Heart

"No way—I can't take it to college."

"That's right, once you're in college, what will you care about then?"

"They have to come back eventually, during summer or winter vacation."

“It’s alright, we can handle it in other ways.” Mr. Xue quickly searched his brain’s knowledge base. “Hmm, we can string discarded CDs together on a rope and hang them on tree branches. The reflection will deter birds from approaching this place.”

"Xiaoxue always has a solution!"

"Alright, alright, Youyou, stop getting so close. Let Xiaoxue do it by herself."

……

Chapter 301 Let's Play All Day (Part 1)

(One)

A wind began to blow across the distant sky.

The wind filled the entire world.

Though invisible, it influences all things, making many things feel light and airy.

"Hurry up, hurry up, Wanyan!" Mo Xueyao was wearing a light blue dress, which complemented her equally light blue eyes.

She wore white slouch socks that reached halfway up her calves, and her black leather shoes were the simplest kind, giving her a very clean and simple look.

Li Wanyan was bending over as she put on the same style of leather shoes as Mo Xueyao, but a size larger.

She was wearing a black dress, not the same style as Mo Xueyao's, because it didn't have as many fancy lace decorations and cute patterns.

The skirt was slightly puffy, like a freshly baked chocolate cake.

She wore a black bow hair clip that blended seamlessly with her long, pure black hair, making it almost invisible unless you looked closely.

"I'm here." Li Wanyan patted her pockets to make sure she had her keys, wallet, tissues, and other essentials before leaving the house and closing the door behind her.

Mo Xueyao held her phone, sent Shi Haiming a message saying "Already set off," then snapped the phone shut and put it in her pocket.

She took Li Wanyan's arm and pulled her along, walking briskly downstairs.

……

(two)

The meeting place was an old street.

It's neither bustling nor deserted; a straight street leads forward, and at one end connects to a road leading uphill.

Of course, that mountain isn't very high; you could probably reach the top in less than ten minutes.

Moreover, it was just an ordinary barren mountain, with nothing on top—nothing in the past, nothing now, and perhaps nothing in the future.

When she arrived, Mo Xueyao saw Shi Haiming sitting on a children's rocking horse, his body swaying up and down: "Daddy's daddy is called grandpa, daddy's mommy..."

Li Gutao stood to the side, looking into the distance with a hint of helplessness. When he spotted Mo Xueyao, he waved vigorously as if he had discovered a new continent: "Xiaoyao!"

"Xiao Ming, are you getting younger and younger?" Mo Xueyao walked up quickly, leaned against the rocking machine, and flicked his forehead with her slender finger. "You're so childish."

"This is called experiencing the joys of childhood. What do you know? You're a corrupted person who's lost your innocence, so you wouldn't understand."

"You're all talk and no action, but I bet if anyone's going to be corrupted, it'll be you who gets corrupted the most!" Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes. "Let's go, let's go, what are we doing?"

"Won't you sit down?"

"...Don't tell me I know you later." Li Gutao covered his face.

"Sigh, a bunch of kids who have no sense of childhood fun." Shi Haiming looked heartbroken.

When Li Gutao saw Li Wanyan walking beside Mo Xueyao, he cleared his throat slightly and immediately became more serious: "Hello."

"Hello."

"Let's go, let's go, what should we do today?"

"Let's play on the rocking horse first."

"Are you fucking ate too much?" Mo Xueyao glanced at him sideways. "By the way, why isn't Atao's girlfriend here?"

“She’s locked up at home and can’t get out. Her aunt said that if she can’t even get into a vocational college, she’ll have to repeat a year.”

"Tsk tsk, what a pity. Speaking of which, Tao, you're taking the college entrance exam soon too, right? Are you taking it with us?"

"Yes, it's for a period of time, but we don't want it to be that difficult. We want it to be a little simpler. I don't have high requirements. I just want to be able to attend university for three years."

"You guys are making me want to go to college now." Shi Haiming jumped off the rocking horse that had stopped. "Let's go! Let's go to the snack shop first! We can eat when we get hungry."

"Great!" Mo Xueyao's eyes lit up. "I wonder if the snack shops here have raised their prices."

"You'll see when you get there."

Mo Xueyao didn't say where they were going this time, and Li Wanyan didn't ask either.

In fact, we didn't have a specific destination when we came out to play today. We started playing the moment we met.

……

(three)

This street is quite old, but it's not narrow. When it was built, the middle section was designed to be wide enough for cars, but it was later converted into a pedestrian street. The two lanes are a bit crowded for drivers, but they are quite spacious for pedestrians.

The streets are lined with low-rise buildings, mostly one or two stories high, and most of the shops are simply decorated. Walking on such a street gives you the illusion of traveling back to the 1960s or 70s.

There was a snack shop by the roadside, run by an old lady.

Mo Xueyao was most familiar with this place because she often came here to play when she was in elementary school. She even brought Li Gutao and Shi Haiming here for the first time.

The elderly woman running the shop still looks as old as I did when I was in elementary school. Back then, I thought she was in her seventies or eighties, and she still looks the same now.

"Wanyan, take whatever you want. Everything here is very cheap." Mo Xueyao was putting snacks into the bamboo basket. "The most expensive one is only three cents."

This place has the cheapest snacks and is a favorite among children.

Even if you only have one dollar in your pocket, you can still enjoy a big meal here.

Because the cheapest piece of candy costs as little as five cents, while most snacks cost ten cents.

In shops like this, one can truly appreciate the great wisdom of the people, because even though the ingredients are basically soybeans and flour, they can still create a wide variety of snacks with distinct styles.

There are crispy rice noodle rolls made with flour, and soy products that taste similar to meat. There are as many as twenty or thirty kinds of spicy strips alone.

Snacks that are not usually available at the school gate can be bought here.

The key point is that it's also very cheap.

Only in stores like this do you feel like a rich person, able to lavishly spend money.

"Ah, found it!" Mo Xueyao picked up a bag of green spicy strips. Inside was a whole strip shaped like a tongue, and even the texture was somewhat similar. This was the most expensive snack here, but it only cost three cents. "Atao, Xiaoming, look what I found!"

"Oh—that's it, the Devil Tongue!"

"Damn, this is incredibly spicy." Shi Haiming subconsciously opened his mouth wide and inhaled deeply, as if he had already been burned by the spiciness.

Although Li Wanyan was born into a poor family, her family was so poor that she rarely even went into small shops that sold cheap snacks.

So for her, this wasn't a childhood memory, but rather something new and exciting everywhere she looked.

"Yaoyao, what's this?" Li Wanyan picked up something that didn't look like a snack at all; it was shaped like a hand grenade. "Ah, this... let me see, isn't it supposed to spray?"

Li Gutao was engrossed in searching for snacks he had never seen before. He glanced up and casually replied, "It's a kind of chocolate-dipped biscuit, with long, thin biscuits and chocolate inside."

"Is it tasty?"

"It's alright, about the same as the Planet Cup."

"Oh—Wanyan, you can try it!" Mo Xueyao casually put the novel snack into the basket. "Is there anything else you're interested in? Just buy whatever you like, it's all cheap anyway."

"Hmm...this packaging looks beautiful."

"Ah, that's sour candy, similar to gummies, but really sour. The taste is quite good though! I'll buy a pack and try it!"

"Okay, and this too..."

"This is a whistle candy. It comes with a toy, so you can't eat it."

"Oh, I thought it was gummy candy."

"Aha, found it!" Shi Haiming finally found the kind he wanted from a huge pile of spicy strips. "Xiao Yao, do you remember! We were curious for a long time about what it tasted like."

"Ew... Tang Monk's flesh..."

"Yes, the result is actually no different from regular spicy strips."

"The main packaging is quite interesting."

Shi Haiming, who was standing next to him, also found the snack he wanted. It was a spicy snack shaped like a donut, and its biggest feature was that it wasn't very spicy and was mostly sweet.

For kids who were afraid of spicy food but still wanted to eat spicy snacks, this was the best alternative to regular spicy snacks back then.

It's not only sweet and spicy, but also has a slight lemony sour taste.

Unfortunately, whether in the past or now, the quantity of goods is pitifully small. Li Gutao finally found two packs, but he couldn't find the same ones again.

……

(four)

The snacks the four of them bought were all piled together, and the old woman counted them carefully one by one. Just like in the past, she didn't use a calculator, but instead fiddled with an old abacus.

In total, everyone bought about a hundred bags of snacks, which couldn't all fit in one big bag and had to be packed into two bags.

However, in the end, it only cost twenty-five yuan.

As is typical for most people, there was no rush to pay. Instead, the three best friends exchanged a smile and asked in unison, "Who's paying?"

"Ha ha……"

They were so in sync that the three of them burst into laughter.

"Then I'll do it?" Mo Xueyao pointed to herself.

"Alright, then we won't stand on ceremony."

"It's up to you, Xiaoyao!" Shi Haiming patted Mo Xueyao on the shoulder.