A Young Woman's Heart

Exquisite accessories, clothing, and even some small props.

They even have furniture.

This surprised Mo Xueyao, as she hadn't examined it closely when it was brought to her.

Such an exquisite sofa is of course handmade. Just looking at it, you can tell that it is extremely difficult to make. After all, the smaller it is, the more difficult it is to control.

This is a European-style genuine leather sofa, and there is also a small European-style mahogany round table.

The small bag contained odds and ends, including a coffee cup about the size of Mo Xueyao's little fingernail.

Even Mo Xueyao, who was initially resistant, was amazed by these exquisite and delicate parts.

Finally, at the very bottom is the doll itself.

It was packaged in a small, vintage-style box—or more accurately, a miniature coffin—adorned with a silver cross and other intricate patterns.

Upon opening the box, inside lay a young girl dressed in ornate European attire. She had long silver hair, her eyes were tightly closed, and her eyelashes were long and curled. Her unusual makeup added a touch of evil, making her look like a vampire.

When Mo Xueyao carefully lifted it up and stood it upright, its eyes suddenly opened.

Those were red pupils.

Beautiful and alluring.

Li Wanyan subconsciously swallowed, a hint of envy in her eyes, but she quickly hid it.

"Tsk tsk, it's exquisite! This little thing is truly remarkable," the father remarked.

"Tch..." Mo Xueyao raised an eyebrow, but couldn't say anything to criticize.

This is a vampire girl. In addition to the gothic dress she is wearing, she has two other outfits. One is in the style of a noble young lady, and the other is in the style of a British high school girl, which is similar to the uniform of Yukong High School.

Mo Xueyao placed the little figure on the sofa and slowly manipulated its joints, making it cross its legs.

It's so lifelike.

It's as if it's about to speak at any moment.

This feeling is so subtle.

Mo Xueyao, who had never played house since childhood, felt this way for the first time.

There's also an irresistible urge to talk to it.

"Tsk tsk, you liked it as soon as you opened it, didn't you?" the father teased with a smile.

"Tch, I don't like BJD dolls at all." Mo Xueyao's surprise immediately vanished. She frowned, put everything away, and returned it to the paper bag.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to play?"

"This is boring." She rolled her eyes and pushed the paper bag in front of Li Wanyan. "Class monitor, you can have it if you like it."

"I don't want to." Li Wanyan's eyes flickered, and she looked away, pretending to be indifferent.

"Then you can keep it. You can play with it if you like. I don't like it anyway." Mo Xueyao pouted, picked up Su Tang, and rested her head on it like a pillow. "Ah—Daddy—I'm so hungry—!"

"What's the rush? The food has only just started cooking."

"What are we eating today?"

"Ma Po Tofu."

"and then?"

Hot and sour shredded potatoes.

"Ok."

On days when we're saving money, we usually eat these cheap and affordable home-style stir-fries.

Fortunately, Mo Xueyao isn't too picky. As long as she doesn't eat the same dish every day, she shouldn't get tired of it.

"Okay, I'll put it away and keep it safe for you. Come find me whenever you want it." Li Wanyan couldn't bear to see such an exquisite and expensive doll being thrown around carelessly, so she carefully put the paper bag away and placed it in the small cardboard box by her bedside.

"Whatever." Mo Xueyao shrugged, turning away subtly to the other side, suppressing her urge to watch the vampire girl a little longer.

She was conflicted. Was that impulse just now a sudden liking for 'dolls', or a sudden 'liking' for dolls?

……

Chapter 136 A Kerosene Lamp

"Splash—! Splash!"

The sound of rain mingled with the sizzling of stir-frying, accompanied by the delicate aroma of vegetables, whetting Mo Xueyao's appetite.

The rice in the rice cooker is cooked, and we're just waiting to finish stir-frying the vegetables before we can officially start eating.

Li Wanyan was writing fluently with the fountain pen that Wang Qianyu had given her today, which made Mo Xueyao a little envious.

I should have known she wanted a fountain pen too; it would be so much more convenient to use.

Yes, it's just a little troublesome when filling the ink tank.

"How is it? Is it easy to use?" Mo Xueyao wrote the last period, finished all her homework for the day, and turned to ask Li Wanyan.

"That's good." Li Wanyan nodded gently. "Xiaoyao, would you like to try it?"

"Okay." Mo Xueyao took the pen from Li Wanyan and wrote a few words on the paper. Sure enough, her own ballpoint pen was no match for this!

But when it comes to exactly what's good about it, I can't quite put my finger on it.

Anyway, it's smoother and more comfortable.

"Alright, girls, put away your homework, put the cat on the floor, wipe the table clean, and here comes the food!" The father, as if performing a comedy routine, carried over two plates full of food, and placed a large bowl of tomato and egg drop soup on a wooden box to the side.

"Click." But in that instant, all the lights in the fruit shop suddenly went out.

"What's wrong?" Mo Xueyao looked outside in a panic, only to find that the street was also pitch black.

Neither the streetlights, the apartment buildings, nor the shops were lit up.

A car driving out of the hospital briefly illuminated the street, allowing her to see the panicked expressions of several passersby holding umbrellas.

"The power's out?" Using the car's headlights, the father placed two plates of food on the folding table, then took out his phone and looked around for a while with the faint light from the screen. He found a large flashlight, but after pressing the switch several times, it still didn't work. "Tsk... I think I forgot to charge it."

"Are there any candles? It's so dark we can't even eat!" Mo Xueyao muttered as she stood up. She had just taken a step when she heard Su Tang let out a pitiful meow.

"Meow--!!"

"Oh, what's wrong?" She hurriedly pulled her foot back.

“You stepped on its tail,” the father said, shining his phone's light on the water.

"Sorry, sorry..." Mo Xueyao squatted down apologetically and gently rubbed Su Tang's tail. The latter seemed to know that she did not mean it and still licked her palm affectionately with its tongue.

"Sit down for a while, and stand up when your eyes have adjusted to the darkness," Li Wanyan said softly.

“But there has to be light. It’s raining heavily today, there’s not even starlight, and there aren’t always cars passing by…” Mo Xueyao muttered as she sat down again.

"It's alright, you all sit down first. I'll go to the grocery store next door to find your Grandma Jin and ask if they have any candles." As the father spoke, he walked out using the dim light of his phone. He could hear Grandma Jin's trembling voice coming from the store.

"Ali—"

"Oh, Aunt Jin, what brings you here?"

"Just checking on how things are here."

"It's the same everywhere, there must be a power outage," the father said helplessly.

"So I brought you a kerosene lamp." Grandma Jin shook the kerosene lamp hanging in her hand. "I need this flashlight for myself."

"It's good enough that there's a kerosene lamp. Wow, you can't even buy a kerosene lamp anymore, it's an antique!"

"I keep it as a keepsake. I take it out to use it often. It's always full of kerosene, enough to keep it burning all night," Grandma Jin said with a smile.

"Ugh... I'm starving. Never mind, I'll just have a bite." Mo Xueyao muttered, grabbing a few strands of potato shreds and putting them in her mouth.

Anyway, it was pitch black, and no one could see clearly.

"Ali, do you still know how to use it?"

"Probably still. I remember you needed kerosene coupons to buy kerosene back then!" The father took the kerosene lamp with a nostalgic air, placed it on the table, and, using the light from Grandma Jin's flashlight, unscrewed the lampshade. Then he took out a lighter from his pocket, lit the wick, and screwed the lampshade back on.

"It seems a bit too low," he muttered to himself, then turned the outside switch to raise the wick slightly, making the flame burn brighter.

Although it's not as bright as a flashlight, it's much brighter than a candle, and at least it's enough to eat a meal.

From the top cover, wisps of gray smoke rose up, carrying the acrid smell of kerosene.

"Are you having dinner right now?" Grandma Jin asked with a smile.

"Yes, want to eat together?" the father invited.

"No, I just had fast food. You guys eat." Grandma Jin shook her head. "I'm going back now."

"Uh, okay then." The father didn't insist any further, mainly because he was also hungry.

In this area, some shops and residential areas were also lit up with faint lights, obviously because someone had lit candles, turned on flashlights, or found these 'ancient' kerosene lamps.

While it may be called ancient, it's not actually that old. After all, many people in rural areas were still using it a decade or two ago.

It's just that times are changing so fast that the younger generation doesn't see these kinds of things anymore, which makes them seem very old.

Sitting around this kerosene lamp eating dinner evoked many memories for my father.

It brought back many memories of 'back then'.

“Hey, think about now, and then think about the past. Things are so much better now. Back then, every person and every family had to rely on all sorts of coupons to buy things. Once you ran out of meat coupons, you couldn’t buy any more even if you had money, unless someone in your family didn’t eat meat and sold their coupons to you.” The father put a mouthful of hot and sour shredded potatoes into his mouth and said with a smile, “But a family only had that much meat ration for a year, so who would be willing to sell it? They would only sell it if they were really that poor.”

"I don't think we had food coupons or anything like that when I was little?" Mo Xueyao thought for a moment and asked, "Anyway, I don't remember it."

"The year you were born, they started abolishing grain coupons, in '84!" The father shoveled a big mouthful of rice. "I remember it started in Shenzhen, but it wasn't until '91 that they were all abolished, don't you remember? When you were little, you used to excitedly use grain coupons to buy rice!"

"I don't remember... I think I vaguely remember?" Mo Xueyao scratched her head. "Never mind, I can't recall."

“I remember, back then my father sold his meat ration coupons to get money, otherwise our family wouldn’t even be able to afford rice.” Li Wanyan had a deep impression of that past. Her voice gradually lowered, and then she gently shook her head. “Indeed, this era is better.”

“Yes, for example, this kerosene lamp. We used to be reluctant to turn it on to its brightest setting when we ate,” Mo Xueyao’s father said, turning the kerosene lamp. “Because kerosene was rationed, and if you didn’t use it sparingly, it would run out. If you needed it urgently at night, you would have to borrow it from someone else. But… every year we had a lot of kerosene left over. Eventually, we stopped using the kerosene lamps altogether, and we still had a lot of kerosene left. Haha, we Chinese just have this talent for thrift.”

"Dad, where's the soup spoon?" Mo Xueyao reached out and touched it.