A Young Woman's Heart

The village nestled in the distance, low-lying, was obscured by trees and could not be clearly seen; only the occasional echoing bark of a dog could be heard.

At night, the sound of the river becomes more noticeable, and even when a car drives across the river, it feels as if the ground is slightly shaking.

Of course, most of the time it was as quiet as if we were in a no-man's-land.

The van's headlights weren't particularly bright, but in this suburban area, they pierced the darkness like sharp swords, shining brightly from afar.

It's 9:30 pm now. Usually, at this time, people would just be starting to pack up and close up shop.

"Yo-ho! Girls!" The van's lights went out, and the father jumped out. His silhouette was obscured, so much so that the lit cigarette looked like a spark suspended in mid-air.

"Dad! Are you closing so early today?"

"It's good to get some rest early sometimes, haha." His father approached, and finally, he could see the outline of his face. He took a deep drag, threw the cigarette butt on the ground, and stomped on it. "Why aren't the lights on so late at night?"

"It feels more atmospheric when it's dark."

"What kind of atmosphere is this?" The father laughed twice. "A haunted atmosphere?"

"Ali, can't you say something nice? Although Mother isn't that superstitious, she's still a little afraid of this kind of thing."

"Let's go, let's go into the warehouse and turn on the lights!"

In the darkness, four figures groped their way under the starry sky, moving slowly. The father turned on his phone screen, using its faint glow to offer some comfort to the mother. As for using it to light their way... that was basically unrealistic.

……

(two)

"Click!" The father casually patted the wall next to the small door, the switch was pressed, and the entire dark warehouse was instantly illuminated.

There are quite a few lights installed on this ceiling.

"How is it, honey? Isn't this place nice?"

The mother stared at it for a long time, then said with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, "You've been pretending for half a month, and this is all you've come up with?"

"Isn't this great? It makes use of waste materials, has all the furniture you need, and has everything you could want."

"How did you come up with the idea of ​​piling up a wrecked car shell here?"

"This thing was originally scrap metal, but after my modifications, it's become a home, understand? This is called a motel, you won't find anywhere else to stay!"

"You're really something." His mother gave him a disapproving look. "You don't even fence off the kitchen; it's just left open like this, as if you just dump things here randomly."

"It's fine to leave the kitchen open. Buying a range hood is too expensive, so I got a range hood fan instead. With the space more open, it won't be too smoky."

"If you don't want this scrapped car body, you could replace the range hood with this."

"This car body is cheaper than building several rooms!"

"Okay, okay, what you said makes sense," the mother said dismissively, sighing and shaking her head as she walked to what looked more like a communal restroom. "And what's this?"

"Toilet, and bathroom!"

"Why does it look like a public toilet?"

"It's alright, isn't this great? There are plenty of seats, so we don't have to fight for them."

The mother didn't answer, but just smiled helplessly as she walked inside. Finally, she saw the changing room, which looked like a public bathroom. And sure enough, it really was a public bathroom.

You definitely won't like this bathroom.

Sure enough, her mother clicked her tongue in disdain: "We don't have that many people in our family, why did you make such a big bathroom?"

"Anyway, there's nothing else to do."

"I think this place could be turned into a car wash, or a car repair shop."

"Hey! That's a good idea," the father teased. "If the fruit shop ever goes out of business, I'll open a car repair shop here."

"Do you even know how to fix it? You're a repair shop."

"Alright, alright, you never say anything good."

"You're just wasting money."

"Oh dear, what's wrong? Didn't you agree when I told you?"

The mother's expression froze for a moment: "Can't I nag a little?"

"Okay, okay, sure, no problem, of course." The father shook his head helplessly, walked into the bus, and then called out to Mo Xueyao, "Xiaoyao! Turn off the lights outside!"

"Oh! What for?" Mo Xueyao asked as she pressed the switch.

As soon as the switch was turned off, my father turned on the bus lights. However, unlike during the day, he even adjusted the color of the lights, from cool white to warm yellow. Most surprisingly, he even turned on a projector and shone it on the wall directly opposite. Then he ran off the bus and set up a large screen, turning it into a movie theater.

"Where did you get this projector? It must have cost a lot of money."

“Ah Liang gave it to me. He thought it was too much trouble to keep the curtains drawn with a projector, so he switched to a TV. This one is mine now.”

"Just keep taking advantage of him, honestly."

"Isn't this great? Look, what a wonderful movie theater, isn't it, Xiaoyao!"

"Yeah! This is so cool... It's even embedded in the design?"

"Hey, isn't that amazing?"

"Awesome!" Mo Xueyao gave a thumbs up.

……

(three)

Li Wanyan took her mother upstairs for a tour, while her father unloaded things from the van and arranged them one by one next to the bus.

Mo Xueyao opened a cabinet at the front of the bus and found it filled with all sorts of videotapes.

My godfather's old-fashioned projector could only play videotapes and didn't support the latest CDs, but that was still pretty cool. Plus, because videotapes were slowly disappearing from the market, the price had dropped quite a bit.

She was just casually flipping through the pages when she unexpectedly found an Ultraman videotape. Excitedly, she poked her head out and shouted to her father, "Dad! How do you put the videotape in?"

"There's a button in the middle of the control panel. Press it, and the opening will open. Then, just insert the videotape, making sure it's aligned correctly! If you're not mistaken, it will go in by itself!"

"OK!" Mo Xueyao excitedly put the videotape in. After a black screen, a copyright notice popped up.

"Dad—the curtain seems a little crooked?"

"You're such a busybody, haha." The father stopped what he was doing, adjusted the position of the curtain, and then adjusted the angle a little. "Is this right?"

"Yes! That's it!"

Mo Xueyao ran out of the car and sat on the chair her father had brought over, feeling even more excited than when she was watching TV on DVDs at home.

Actually, the picture quality on a projector is definitely not as good as on a TV. You can clearly see the rough edges, and there is also a slight shaking.

The sound came from a projector installed in the car. With the addition of this spacious area, it no longer sounded dull, and the experience was much better than watching a movie in my godfather's living room.

The father glanced at the curtain: "I knew you were going to put this out."

"Hehe." Mo Xueyao stuck out her tongue. "Anyway, you just want some background noise, so let me see it."

"See? See?"

"Dad, what are you doing?"

"We're setting up a barbecue grill for a late-night snack. You haven't had dinner either, have you?"

"Hmm... I won't be hungry if I sleep now, but I'll definitely be hungry if I wait a while." Mo Xueyao swallowed. "No, no, I can't eat too much today. I've already drunk half a bottle of cola, any more and I'll exceed my limit."

"Haha, then don't be tempted to eat later, I haven't had dinner yet, I'm starving."

"Eh—then, then I'll eat some grilled vegetables later, at least they'll be lower in calories," Mo Xueyao muttered softly, trying to convince herself.

……

(four)

Although her mother wasn't entirely satisfied with the warehouse's renovation, she was particularly fond of the yard attached to it.

Even though it was so dark, she still took a flashlight from the bus and walked around the yard with Li Wanyan, planning out all the open spaces.

In some places, people will plant some leafy greens; in others, they will plant some loofah; and in still others, they will dig a small pond and grow lotus flowers...

Even a small space on the roof of a fruit shop could be turned into a mini vegetable garden by my mother, let alone such a spacious area like this, which is enough for her to freely develop her ideas.

Of course, what the father actually bought was only the warehouse; the land outside, theoretically, did not belong to him.

But Grandma Jin is always easy to talk to; she'll just give us some more money later and we can buy the outer yard as well.

I just don't have any spare money lately, so I have to keep it in debt.

Grandma Jin didn't care about this.

……

(Fives)

"Hey, Xiaoyao, want some lamb skewers?"

"Gulp..." Mo Xueyao swallowed hard. "I...don't want to!"

"What about roasted cauliflower?"

"Hmm...this is fine..."

"I'll get you a plate to catch it, so you don't drop it all over the floor."

"Ugh, it's just a cement floor, yet they're being so particular."

"Haha, new things are always delicious for three days!" The father took a bite of a lamb skewer and gulped down a mouthful of beer. "Wife! And Wanyan, come and have some barbecue!"

"You seem to be enjoying yourself."

“Hey, land is a good thing. You can turn a piece of land into your own little kingdom. Ah!” The father handed over a skewer of roasted beef and a skewer of roasted lamb. “Here, eat. I brought a lot today. If you don’t finish them, they’ll go bad tomorrow.”

"how?"

There's no refrigerator here.

How much did you buy?

"Look, that big bag is full of strung-up turtles for me."

"how much is it?"

"Oh dear, talking about money at this time will ruin the atmosphere."