A Young Woman's Heart

"Yeah, that's why we came out to take a look, but it seems only big shopping malls have Christmas promotions." Mo Xueyao sank into the sofa. "It's mainly about enjoying the atmosphere, you know what I mean by atmosphere?"

"Hmm... Christmas is indeed getting more and more lively in our country lately, but it's just a bunch of promotions that shopping malls put up to sell more things for the New Year. Ordinary people don't really celebrate this kind of holiday." Wang Jiale pouted. "Christmas, all I like is a gift from Santa Claus. It's a pity that my parents have never given me a gift for Christmas."

"It's good enough to have a birthday present, okay?" Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes. "A Christmas present? Dream on~ It's not a Chinese holiday."

“Actually, Xiaoyao herself wants a Christmas present.” Li Wanyan smiled slightly.

"I didn't!"

"On the way here, didn't you say something like, 'Why is Santa Claus fake? I wish he were real?'" Li Wanyan ruthlessly exposed her.

"Well, who doesn't want a present!"

"Couldn't the gift that Teacher Qianyu gave to Xiaoyao last time also be considered a Christmas gift?" Wang Jiale encouraged.

I don't like that.

"No way—?" Wang Jiale's eyes widened dramatically. "You don't like such a nice doll? You have to know that it's handmade, made to order, and the production time can be as long as ten months, just like ten months of pregnancy!"

"...I don't like dolls."

"What does Xiaoyao like?"

"I like... robots!"

"That's something boys like, okay?"

"Why do we have to separate them by gender?" Mo Xueyao suddenly found it very boring.

"If we don't distinguish between them, wouldn't that mean men could wear women's clothes? That would be too strange."

"Hehe~ Actually, when skirts were first invented, they were worn by men, including stockings." Zuo Ziya walked out of the kitchen carrying food, her speed was unexpectedly fast.

Of course, the food was indeed very simple, just plain food.

Each person has a small bowl filled with beautifully presented rice, which even looks somewhat translucent.

Each person had a small plate containing some braised beef, sprinkled with peanuts.

The dishes were also served separately, with each person having their own bowl containing boiled vegetarian food.

It contains firm tofu, roasted gluten, Chinese cabbage, snow peas, glass noodles, chopped vegetarian chicken, and diced carrots.

It looks simple and refreshing, with almost no oil.

Mo Xueyao was very used to eating this kind of food.

When my family was even poorer, we ate even vegetarian food, but at least this has beef.

I remember when she was in the first year of junior high school, her dinner for a whole week consisted of cabbage porridge.

Yes, it's the kind of cabbage rice porridge that only contains cabbage and rice.

I ate it for a week.

In comparison, the variety of dishes here is much greater.

And there's also braised beef.

It doesn't seem like much, but it's about two ounces per person.

"Thank you, teacher," Li Wanyan said softly.

"Thank you, teacher!" Wang Jiale also expressed her gratitude.

"Thank you!" Mo Xueyao couldn't wait to start eating.

To be honest, I'm actually a bit hungry.

After all, we walked such a long way along West Lake.

"Mo Xueyao, do you think it's better to be a boy or a girl?" Zuo Ziya asked casually.

“Of course it’s better to be a boy,” Mo Xueyao replied matter-of-factly.

"why?"

"Xiaoyao just thinks it's troublesome for girls to have their periods," Wang Jiale explained for Mo Xueyao with a 'I understand her' expression.

"Tch...that's just one of the reasons, um...but if you really want to know why, I can't really say. Anyway, I prefer being a boy."

Zuo Ziya nodded slightly, her smile looking somewhat meaningful.

"If you want to come in the future, you can come with Wang Jiale to audit the class on Sundays."

"I don't have any money..."

"It's free, of course, just listening."

The term "just listening" obviously does not include one-on-one teaching.

But it's free after all—even if it's just listening in.

"Uh... forget it. I'm fine with listening to music, but I can't learn it. It's too much trouble." Mo Xueyao shook her head like a rattle drum.

Li Wanyan sighed helplessly; she seemed to have originally intended to agree.

……

Chapter 139 Preparations for the New Year's Day Cultural Performance

Monday, August 1999, 12.

The sky was overcast and the air felt stuffy, making it hard to breathe.

The classroom was as noisy as ever, especially on Mondays like this, because there was a lot of homework over the weekend, so many people hadn't finished several subjects and came to school early to copy the homework.

Laziness is human nature; it's normal not to do anything other than your favorite subjects.

After all, this is just an ordinary high school, not a key high school, and people like Gao Yuan and Liu Xiaowei are frequent visitors who copy homework.

To be honest, if you only looked at the time they arrived at school, you'd really think they were all good students.

Arriving at school so early makes them seem like studious people, but in reality, they're just there to copy homework...

On the contrary, those with relatively good academic performance do not come to school so early.

Of course, Mo Xueyao, Li Wanyan, and Mr. Xue are special cases. As the top three students in the class, they are always the first to arrive.

As a result, Mo Xueyao and Mr. Xue became increasingly familiar with each other.

Right now, she was sitting in the seat next to Mr. Xue, which was Li Hongran's seat. But that guy was currently lying on someone else's desk copying homework with others, so it wouldn't hurt for her to sit there for a while.

Besides, if a girl is sitting in his seat, as long as there's nothing important, the guy will be very gentlemanly and let her sit wherever she wants.

Li Hongran's seat was always closer to Zhou Yong, who was behind Mr. Xue. At first glance, it looked as if Mo Xueyao was sitting next to Zhou Yong, which made the boy who was copying homework a little uneasy, and his eyes would always fall on her neckline from time to time.

Because she doesn't like to pull her neckline up too high, even in winter, you can still see her fair skin and delicate collarbone.

"Xiaoxue," Mo Xueyao nudged Mr. Xue's arm with her elbow, "Do you have any good ideas for this New Year's Day cultural performance?"

"What did the class monitor say?" Mr. Xue put down the magazine in his hand and asked with a light laugh.

"Wanyan, she hasn't decided either, so I have to think about it... Although I'm the entertainment committee member, this is my first time doing this, my first time planning a New Year's Day cultural performance. How am I supposed to know what kind of program to put on? If we just sing, won't that seem too tacky?" Mo Xueyao muttered, resting her chin on her hand.

Moreover, Li Wanyan is not in the classroom right now. This week it is the turn of Class 2 of Grade 1 to be on duty, and as the class monitor, she went to the door to stand guard early.

A little while later, the others would also be urged by Ye Banxia, ​​the class's life committee member, to go and clean up various parts of the campus.

"If it's not singing or dancing, then it's either a play or a stand-up comedy routine. That's basically all the programs there." Mr. Xue took out a pack of chewing gum from the drawer, tore it open, popped one into his mouth, and handed another to Mo Xueyao. "Want some?"

“Of course.” Mo Xueyao took the chewing gum quite naturally, tore open the wrapper, and popped it into her mouth. “Not only that, but also… recitation.”

"But very few classes choose this, since recitation may seem simple, but it is actually the most difficult program."

"Hey, vice class monitor, what's your idea?" Mo Xueyao chewed her gum, trying to blow a bubble, but failed.

"Xiaoyao, can I copy your chemistry notes?" Wang Jiale, who usually only arrives at school early on Mondays, shouted.

"It's on the table, help yourself," Mo Xueyao answered skillfully, then continued the previous topic, "Think quickly, one class needs two performances!"

"Even if you asked me to think about it, I couldn't come up with anything that quickly," Mr. Xue smiled helplessly. "Mo Xueyao, do you want something unique, or something more exciting?"

"Hmm...can't I have both?" Mo Xueyao said greedily. "Also, didn't we say before that I'll call you Xiaoxue, and you can just call me Xiaoyao?"

“Yes, Xiaoyao.” Mr. Xue nodded. He was the only boy among them who could call her Xiaoyao. “If a genie appeared and asked you to make a wish, you would definitely be the kind of person who would say, ‘I wish for a hundred wishes.’”

"Ahem, isn't that good?"

“But being too greedy will only lead to having nothing,” Mr. Xue said seriously.

"Oh, I was just kidding, Xueyao, why are you taking it so seriously?" Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes, feeling a sense of camaraderie from chatting with her buddies. She habitually put her hand on his shoulder and leaned closer to his face, saying, "How about one performance is a play, and the other is a singing performance?"

“Alright.” Mr. Xue remained composed, sitting upright in his seat, and said softly, “So, what songs should we sing? What plays should we perform?”

"So, let's brainstorm!" Mo Xueyao said, her eyelids drooping. "Otherwise, why would I come to you?"

"I don't know what to sing, but I do have an idea for stage plays."

"How so? Is it The Little Match Girl, Romeo and Juliet, or Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai?" Mo Xueyao asked, yawning widely.

"Holy crap, look at Mo Xueyao and Xiaoxue!"

"With arms around each other's shoulders!"

"No way, our school beauty is taken?"

"Idiots, what are you thinking?" Mo Xueyao heard the sudden murmur and turned around to glare at the others. "Can't good buddies put their arms around each other? Right, Xueyao?"

“Hmm.” Mr. Xue nodded, not paying any attention to the matter, and continued the previous topic, “I’ve thought of an interesting script, set in a remote mountain village.”

"Well, then what?"

"Then communication with the outside world was very inconvenient there, and there were no doctors. One day, someone fell seriously ill, and the doctor from the county town received the news and rushed over..."

"It sounds a bit old-fashioned." Mo Xueyao became slightly interested. "Could you make it a little more modern?"

"Is it modern? Modern cities basically have supporting facilities, so it's not easy to develop a story like this."

Mr. Xue lowered his head, randomly picked up a blank notebook, and began to write on it.

Mo Xueyao also leaned closer to take a look and offered suggestions from time to time.