A Young Woman's Heart

This is a true indoor stadium. The tall, transparent glass dome keeps out the torrential rain, reminding Mo Xueyao of Yinshan Commercial Street, which also has a style that encloses an entire street indoors.

Of course, this place has a larger area, and with its extremely efficient use of space, it feels like it could accommodate the entire student body of Yukong High School without feeling crowded at all.

Everyone contributed money to buy tickets, which Wang Jiale then collected and purchased. Only after entering with the tickets could one truly see the whole thing.

There are volleyball machines with automatic ball serving, badminton courts for two or four players, basketball courts, and only one football field, located in the very center.

Most courts are scaled down as much as possible, just enough to be usable, but basketball and football courts are the only ones that are not scaled down at all.

In addition to exercise, you can also win prizes through sports games here.

For example, if you hit certain targets on a volleyball machine, you can win different prizes—similar to popping balloons at a night market.

There are also bicycle races, basketball shooting games, goal shooting games, and many more.

……

(Fives)

The raging wind and rain outside the venue seemed irrelevant to everyone; they could barely hear any sounds from outside.

Mo Xueyao explored her way to an archery area. Although she was a little disappointed that she couldn't find the gun gallery, it was still nice to try out a bow and arrow.

Her interest in this kind of thing far exceeds that in others.

It's probably because it's completely unavailable in the country.

"Hah—uh—uh—" Mo Xueyao's arm muscles were tense, but she could barely pull the bowstring open. If anything, she could only pull it open a tiny bit.

A staff member next to them brought over an orange bow that looked much lighter, and mumbled something incoherently.

Fortunately, she had Wang Jiale as her translator. Although there were some stumbles, at least she understood the general meaning.

"Hmm... She said a 30-pound bow is too much for a girl. You look like a beginner. Try a 10-pound one first."

"Ah... well, then I'll try the twenty-pound one."

The result was a little better, but the arrows were still shot crookedly, and could hardly be called aiming.

"Uh... it's still ten pounds, I guess..."

She gently scratched her cheek, her gaze towards Wang Jiale becoming somewhat evasive.

"Hey, Haruka, don't push yourself."

"I just wanted to give it a try... What about the others?"

"Xiaoxue and the others went to play badminton."

"Hey, we've come all this way, can't we play some new games?"

"Hmm, does Haruka want to try bowling? Shall we go play later?"

"Hmm! Sure, let me shoot a few arrows to test it out first..."

Archery is a sport that looks simple, but is actually incredibly difficult to master.

When Mo Xueyao first touched a gun, she could at least hit the target almost every time, if not hit the bullseye. But with archery... she drew the bow ten times and didn't hit the target once—and that was only after the staff helped adjust the target closer on the fifth try.

Also, this thing is much more strenuous than playing with a gun.

After pulling the bow ten times, her arms started to ache. If she hadn't been wearing protective gear, she suspected she would have gotten red welts on her chest. She also worried that if she did another ten or so, she might not even be able to lift her arms when she took a shower that night.

"Um... Lele, shall we go to the bowling alley?"

"Okay, let's invite everyone too?"

"Ok!"

However, bowling is actually quite strenuous.

But Mo Xueyao didn't realize this.

I guess it's because I've never even touched a bowling ball in China; the only thing that's somewhat similar is shot put...

"Hey, hey—" Mo Xueyao walked over to the badminton hall, waved vigorously at the other four people playing, and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Let's go—let's go bowling—it's rare to be out, let's try some—new—sports!!"

"Let's finish this round!" Hua Yinyin said, hands on her knees. "Youyou and I almost beat Xiaoxue!"

"real or fake?"

"Of course, isn't that amazing!"

"That's because Xiaoxue's teammate is Yu Shu, right..."

……

10. A roadside ramen stall

(One)

The city that was ravaged by the typhoon was no longer as clean as it was when it first hit. Garbage was blown everywhere, and wet plastic bags were unintentionally dragged around by stray animals.

The wind and rain in the city had not yet stopped, but compared to the fierce typhoon, it was already quite insignificant.

The sky seemed to have never brightened up today, and the night arrived in a gloomy gray.

"Ah—my arms are so sore—" Mo Xueyao twisted her arm and put her other arm on Hua Yinyin's shoulder.

"Who told you to insist on taking the heaviest ball?"

"I think if you throw something heavy, it'll slide farther..."

"You shouted, and then you hit the target twice? The lighter one was clearly easier."

"Cough cough!"

Bowling games like this also have prizes, but if you want to win a prize, you have to pay extra for each bowling attempt—and the same applies to other games.

Mo Xueyao's two successful attempts were just to test the waters. However, when she spent money on the project later, she never won a single time. She even suspected that there was a magnet inside the projector, otherwise why would her ball always be so skewed?

Mo Zhuyou was quite lucky. Although she was short of money and only tried once, she hit all the prizes on her first try. She also hit all the prizes in the two free attempts. She could have continued playing, but if she missed all the prizes in one attempt, she would lose the reward. So she chose to stop there and picked a strangely shaped plush toy from the second prize pool.

—A dinosaur's tail.

It's green, and the cut surface even has a raw meat effect like in the anime.

She loved this novel plush toy and wouldn't let go of it.

Thankfully, a typhoon had just passed today, so it was not only cool but even a bit cold; otherwise, her sweat would probably have soaked through it.

"The streets are so deserted."

"Probably because the typhoon just passed, no one is out." Mo Xueyao strolled leisurely down the street, glancing sideways at the detached houses along the roadside.

Most of them have a fairly ordinary design, but there are also some razor blade houses built on the roadside or even in the middle of the road.

It makes one wonder if two people could actually walk side by side in a house like that.

In comparison, the warehouse that my father had taken over was far too spacious.

That warehouse alone could house dozens of these blade houses.

"Luckily, our country is vast and rich in resources; it's fortunate they could tolerate it."

"In another ten years or so, perhaps we will also be like this, where every inch of land is worth its weight in gold."

"How could that be, Xiaoxue? We have so much land that we haven't even used yet. It's easy to develop it however we want."

"What if development is not allowed at will?"

"Alas?"

“Restricting the area of ​​land will cause land prices to rise.”

"That's impossible in our country. We will definitely ensure that everyone has a place to live. Many factories still provide housing, don't they?"

Mr. Xue didn't say anything, but a bright smile appeared on his face. He changed the subject and pointed to a small stall not far away: "There's a roadside noodle stall over there, want to try it?"

"Oh—! I know this, it's the ramen stand that appeared in Ultraman Tiga! It's exactly the same!" Mo Xueyao excitedly rushed over, as if she had found the reality corresponding to her fantasy. "Wow, the song they're playing is the same too, how come?"

"This is the traditional tune played at roadside ramen stalls, just like the shouts we usually hear," Mr. Xue explained with a smile, then walked over and started chatting with the bald stall owner in Japanese.

……

(two)

The old man seemed to be in good spirits, but you could still see that his hands were trembling slightly as he carried the items.

I don't know if it's because he's too old, or because he drinks a lot.

—In fact, even when cooking noodles, he would pick up that small wine glass and take a sip, with an expression of utter enjoyment on his face.

"I feel like there are so many people who like to drink in Japan," Mo Xueyao said, resting her chin on her hand. "Or is it that there are fewer people who drink in the South? If they do drink, it's usually beer or something like that."

“Yes, we don’t drink much baijiu. My dad drinks beer when he goes out for business dinners. Only high-ranking officials drink baijiu or anything like that.” Hua Yinyin took a small bite of a skewer of grilled meat dripping with golden oil. “Little Yaoyao, don’t you want some? It’s really delicious.”

"I'm afraid I won't be able to finish my ramen later."

"Wow, when did Yao Yao's tummy get so small?"

"I've been eating too much these past few days! You know, you need to... you know!"

"It's not something Lele would consider, that's what losing weight is."

"Yinyin, haven't you noticed?" Mo Zhuyou rested her chin on her hand and leaned closer with a mischievous grin. "Your face has gotten so much rounder these past few days, hasn't it?"

"How could that be...?"

"If you don't believe me, go weigh yourself on a scale by the roadside later and see?"

"do not want!"

"Feeling guilty?"

"What are you doing? It's perfectly normal to gain a pound or two!"

……

(three)

The old man chatted lightly with Wang Jiale and Mr. Xue, but his hands never stopped moving. Perhaps because he had been making ramen for so many years, his movements were exceptionally quick and efficient.

He banged on the side of the pot to shake off the water from the noodles, then poured them into a bowl that already contained soup. He then cut five or six tender and delicious braised meat slices and arranged them neatly on top of the noodles, sprinkling some scallions and other pretty toppings. Mo Xueyao only recognized fish cake; she didn't know what the others were called.