A Young Woman's Heart

“Xiao Yao—” Wang Jiale looked at her helplessly.

"Let Teacher Qiu print it; he has a special photo printer."

"Yeah, this is definitely cheaper than going outside. Hmm—maybe Qiu won't even take our money."

"No, please... I'll just print it myself."

"Then we..."

Wang Jiale coughed lightly twice, glanced at Yu Shu who was so anxious she was about to cry, and whispered in Mo Xueyao's ear, "Okay, Xiaoyao, let Shu'er print it out. We can send her gifts later. If you try to exchange someone else's gifts and goodwill for money, they'll be angry."

"Huh? I didn't..." Mo Xueyao was stunned for a long time, still unable to understand why.

Only at times like these can she feel that she is still a boy at heart.

It seems that three years is not enough time for her to understand all of a girl's thoughts.

……

(four)

As darkness fell, I looked up and saw a sky full of stars.

The girls sat inside the tent, looking up at the sky.

No one spoke; they were all simply enjoying the quiet moment.

Mr. Xue was outside the tent, stroking a small dog kept by the keeper.

This is a small dog whose breed is hard to tell; it's fluffy and looks like a ball of cotton.

"Hey... I think we should go for a stroll in the city tomorrow? It always feels like the city is more vibrant at night than during the day."

"Oh right, we saw a lot of stalls the other day, but we haven't tried any yet. How about we go and try them tomorrow night?"

"How about we go grab some late-night snacks? Sounds great!"

"So what do we do during the day?" Mo Xueyao supported herself with her hands on the ground, leaning back, probably because her neck was a little sore from holding it up for too long.

"How about a maid café!"

"what is that?"

"It's a coffee shop where they call you 'master' as soon as you walk in."

"You call every guest that?" Mo Xueyao was surprised.

Yes.

"Does Yinyin like this kind of thing..." Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes. "I don't want to go. What's so fun about that kind of place? And don't you feel embarrassed if strangers call you that?"

"Eh—does Little Yao Yao like being called that by familiar people?"

"I don't like any of them! I think we should go to Disneyland during the day instead! It's not too far from where we're staying."

"Yes, yes, that's a good idea!" Wang Jiale nodded vigorously. "Let's decide on this one?"

"Oh, Disneyland, a place for little kids to play..."

……

Chapter 9. Even in bad weather, I still want to go out and play.

(One)

The world outside the window was shrouded in wind and rain, with flashes of lightning.

A bolt of lightning struck the sky, seemingly illuminating the entire world, until it was almost dark before a deafening explosion followed.

Yu Shu, who was lying on the bed, was startled and instinctively hugged Mo Xueyao next to her. The latter had half of her body already outside the air mattress, and the thunder had not woken her up at all—she was still sleeping soundly.

This led Yu Shu to suspect that she wouldn't wake up even if Japan sank.

"Achoo!" Hua Yinyin sneezed from the poorly soundproofed room next door, along with Wang Jiale's somewhat disgusted grumbling.

Someone staggered to their feet, pushed open the door, and thumped into the toilet.

"Boom—!"

Another clap of thunder followed, then a torrential downpour that seemed to sweep in like a tsunami.

Even staying indoors makes one feel extremely uneasy.

Mo Xueyao tilted her head and scratched her thigh, then her cheek, then reached into her chest and scratched it, then picked her nose, completely ignoring the drool that was already dripping from the corner of her mouth to her ears. It's hard to imagine what kind of sweet dream she could have in this terrible weather.

The sounds of rain and thunder act like an invisible curtain, separating the outside world from the house. If you close your eyes, you can even imagine yourself in a transparent bubble, quietly watching the storms and towering waves outside.

Yu Shu couldn't fall asleep.

Although it's still early.

……

(two)

When Wang Jiale came to Japan, she specially changed to a Japanese SIM card for short-term travel, and her phone can now receive local text messages.

She lay on the bed, the light from her phone making it hard to open her eyes. Forcing them open a crack, tears welled up and streamed down her face. "Haha... I can't go out today."

"What's wrong?" Mo Zhuyou had just returned from the bathroom, and her sleepiness had mostly dissipated.

“A category 8 typhoon…” Wang Jiale turned his phone screen to show Mo Zhuyou lying next to him, “Look… the one below is an announcement that Disneyland is temporarily closed due to severe weather…”

"I don't understand it."

"Oh... well, we can't go out anyway. A lot of places are probably closed today, so we can only stay in the hotel..." Wang Jiale's phone slipped uncontrollably from her hand and fell to the ground. She didn't even bother with it because she had fallen asleep again.

"Ah-ba ah-ba..." Hua Yinyin smacked her lips, mumbling incoherently, seemingly talking incoherently.

Then, the alarm she had set on her phone went off, making the floor seem to shake.

"Whoa!" She sat bolt upright with a start, her eyes still closed, but she began to shout, "Get up and let's go!"

"Yinyin—" Mo Zhuyou covered her mouth, "Everyone is sleeping."

"What's wrong? We need to leave early..." Hua Yinyin still didn't open her eyes and kept yawning.

The group took a taxi back around 1 or 2 a.m., and in fact, they had only gotten two or three hours of real sleep so far.

The reason I took a taxi back in the early morning was, of course, because sleeping in the tent was simply not comfortable.

Camping isn't as wonderful as you might imagine.

"Hey? Why aren't you up yet..."

"A typhoon is coming; we can't go out today."

"Oh... phew..." Hua Yinyin lay down decisively, "Then I'll sleep a little longer..."

……

(three)

It was already eight o'clock in the morning, but the sky outside the window was still as dark as midnight.

The raging winds showed no signs of abating; on the contrary, they grew even stronger.

At first, Yu Shu was a little worried about whether there would be any problems with the building's strength, but she didn't expect it to be so sturdy. In fact, she forgot that this was actually a reinforced concrete hotel. Although it looked like a wooden cabin, it was just its decoration style.

Everyone woke up groggily, even though they had only slept for three or four hours.

Mr. Xue was in the best spirits. He was holding a cup of noodles and drinking soup, and seemed to be enjoying staying in the room in such bad weather.

Mo Xueyao fell asleep again on the tea table in the Japanese-style room, and the cup of coffee in front of her had gone cold.

Wang Jiale was trying to wake herself up, and had even applied some medicated oil to her temples.

"Hiss—it's so cold, so cold, so cold..."

"Ugh, am I really not going out to play today?"

"Not only Disneyland, but even the maid café that Yinyin wants to go to is probably out of the question."

"Damn it!"

"Are any shops still open? It's a rare opportunity to travel abroad; we can't just sleep in a hotel all day, can we?"

"Hmm..." Mo Xueyao responded unconsciously, as if her dream and reality were intertwined—maybe in her dream, she was the most lucid one.

"Xiaoxue, quickly think of somewhere we can go to play!"

“I think it’s more reliable to ask Tong Jue about this kind of thing…” Wang Jiale hugged Mo Zhuyou, who was standing next to him, and the two of them lay lazily on the ground.

The house is cleaned every day, so while it's not spotless, it's fine to lie down in.

"There should still be some shops open." Mr. Xue was holding a Tokyo travel guide and flipping through it rapidly, making one wonder if he could even read the words on each page. No, at that speed, he probably couldn't even see the pictures clearly.

"OK! How about the gym?"

"Sports stadium?"

"Oh! I heard that's pretty fun, like an indoor stadium." Wang Jiale nodded vigorously. "It sounds quite interesting."

"What? We used to go to indoor stadiums all the time when we were in school. Is it that strange?"

"That one is different, we'll talk about it when we get there."

"Can I get a taxi now?"

"It's alright, it's not far, I can walk there."

……

(four)

When you're inside, it feels like the wind is just blowing through the windows, but when you actually go outside, you realize how difficult it is to walk.

The wind was so strong that it was difficult to walk properly, and it felt like you could be blown away if you weren't careful.

People could only walk along the walls or close to the trees. Most of the shops on the street were closed, and the few that were open looked deserted.

Although it was only a two-kilometer journey, it took them almost an hour to walk.

Everyone was carrying an umbrella, but by the time they arrived, they were all basically soaked to the bone.