A Young Woman's Heart

"Not necessarily, maybe it's for the sake of the Mo Xiaoxiao sisters."

"Them? Hmm, you mean their parents aren't around either?"

"It's very likely that both parents have passed away."

"Really?" Mo Xueyao's eyes widened.

"I guessed." Li Wanyan smiled faintly.

"If they ask you to stay there, would you want to? Hmm... it's much more spacious than a small room, and it's your own home."

“Home is not just a place to live, but also a place to find solace for your soul,” Li Wanyan said softly.

"Huh? So... does Wanyan mean you're not planning to stay there?"

"Let's talk about it later," Li Wanyan smiled gently. "It's too early to talk about those things."

"It's getting late. The sofa frame in the activity room is almost finished."

Because the arts and culture club needed to undertake such a large project, they applied to the school for an empty classroom to be used temporarily as a warehouse. Almost every day at noon, everyone would gather together to study how to make simple but useful furniture.

The boys would even stay late to work, so you could always hear some knocking and banging noises when school ended.

"..."

Seeing that Li Wanyan was still unwilling to answer, Mo Xueyao changed the subject, making the atmosphere awkward: "Speaking of which, does Wanyan like listening to Teresa Teng's songs?"

"It's alright," Li Wanyan smiled. "But I haven't listened to it carefully; I've only heard the songs playing in shops on the street."

"Oh, I see... Um... Speaking of which, Xiaoxue and I are in charge of the play for the New Year's Day cultural performance. What are we planning to do for the other performance? Singing again?"

"Let's sing, how about Xiaoyao goes to sing?"

"Huh? Me? Forget about it. Unless it's a song I know very, very well, I'm sure I'll sing off-key."

"There's still about a month to learn, that should be enough."

"Uh... I think I'd better not." Mo Xueyao shook her head vigorously. "What if I sing something wrong in front of the whole school?"

"As long as you are well prepared, it won't be a problem."

"No, I don't think so... Why don't you sing it yourself, Wanyan?"

"Me? I... am tone-deaf."

"Who would believe that!" Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I'm not singing. Let's find someone else to sing. Hmm... how about a guy?"

"A boy who can sing?" Li Wanyan thought for a moment with her head down. "An Ruosu should be good."

"You've heard of it?"

"My guess."

“Then let’s ask tomorrow! Hey, wait a minute, I suddenly have an interesting idea!” Mo Xueyao suddenly grinned mischievously, “How about we have An Ruosu wear girls’ clothes, and then find a girl to wear boys’ clothes and sing love songs together? How about we switch identities and sing them together?”

"That's a good idea, but how are you going to convince An Ruosu?"

"Ah... this... should the class monitor go first?"

"Even though I'm the class monitor, I can't force others," Li Wanyan said seriously. "Also, who's going to wear the boys' clothes?"

"This shouldn't be a big problem, the key is An Ruosu, how do we persuade her?" Mo Xueyao put herself in her shoes and started to have a headache too, after all, what boy wants to wear girls' clothes!

Unless it's something like Mo Xueyao's situation, where there's no other choice.

"Well, Xiaoyao promised me she'd sing on stage and wear boys' clothes, so I'll help you convince An Ruosu, okay?"

"Ah... wearing boys' clothes is fine, but singing... what should I sing?"

"Let's sing Teresa Teng's songs."

"Hey, those are mostly love songs!"

"Why didn't you let another girl sing a love song with An Ruosu just now? Why are you unhappy when it's your turn?" Li Wanyan smiled mischievously, "Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you, Xiaoyao, that won't do."

"...Dad! Which Teresa Teng song do you think I'm best suited to sing?"

"You? Give me a break!"

He really is his biological father.

……

Chapter 141 Christmas Eve 1999 (Part 1)

"Ugh... Huff... Ugh... Hiccup..."

"Hey, Haruka, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"Waaah... I... didn't cry...!"

At nine o'clock in the evening, the small restaurant had finished its busiest time. At this time, only a few customers turned their heads with curious eyes to look at Mo Xueyao, who was sobbing in Mo Xiaoxiao's arms.

"So, what's wrong?" Perhaps because she often took care of her younger sister, Mo Xueyao felt very safe with Mo Xiaoxiao at this moment. She gently stroked the latter's smooth long hair, put her arm around her, comforted her, and led her outside the restaurant.

Around 9 PM, most people are already in bed preparing to sleep. In this era with limited home entertainment, many people go to bed relatively early.

So the streets were a bit deserted. A few staggering drunk men were helping each other walk by. One of them accidentally bumped into Mo Xueyao and mumbled an 'sorry' while looking down.

"Hey, hey, I told you to watch your step, did you bump into someone? Haha..." The man's friend grabbed his shoulder and pulled him closer. "Hurry up, hurry up, almost... home!"

"It's all your fault for making me... drink so much...!"

"Sigh, I've noticed you've been feeling down about all sorts of things for the past six months, so I wanted to help you relax a bit."

"Relax my ass... I'm... even more... upset...!" The man who had just bumped into Mo Xueyao suddenly stopped, grabbed the wall beside him, and barely managed to aim at the drain, opening his mouth to let out a 'whoosh'.

A strong smell of alcohol hit her nose, causing Mo Xiaoxiao to cover it involuntarily.

Mo Xueyao, however, had a stuffy nose from crying and didn't react much.

"Don't worry, don't worry, what's wrong? Tell me slowly." Mo Xiaoxiao gently patted her back and said with a smile, and she seemed to gradually calm down because of this reassuring gentleness.

When people are really sad, they don't want to explain anything or say anything.

Because even the ability to organize language has decreased, even if one wants to speak, it is impossible to clearly explain what happened.

I just want to cry.

Although sometimes the more I cry, the more heartbroken I become, but once I get tired, I can calm down.

The drunk man next to him was still vomiting, and when the other friends who had also been drinking saw this, they followed suit and started vomiting while leaning against the wall, as if the vomiting was contagious.

"Damn, you little brat... you threw up... and made... us all throw up! Haha!" A young man laughed loudly, tilting his head back.

"I hate drinking..." The man who had just spoken finally vomited up most of what was in his stomach. He shook his head and wiped the snot and tears from his face. "Life... is so hard... living is so tiring... why are there always so many torments and difficulties? Why can't people understand each other? Damn it... damn it! Living is so tiring, living is so tiring!"

Perhaps he had a lot to say, but in the end he couldn't say anything, only repeating the words "living is so tiring".

"Hey buddy, even if you're drunk, don't... bang your head against the wall... haha... here comes the ones who understand you... classmates for three years in high school, classmates for four years in college... haha... is there anyone who understands you better than... us?"

"Boom!"

"Life is so tiring!"

"Alright, alright, we still have to live..."

"I know... this... this is the most tiring thing... I don't want to live, but I'm afraid to die..."

"You're not in that much pain. So what if your girlfriend broke up with you? So what if you were fired because you always worked overtime without pay, couldn't get five hours of sleep a day, argued with your boss, and got fired? So what if... your bicycle got damaged? So what... your girlfriend broke up with you because it wasn't right for you. You can find someone better in the future."

"Yes!" others chimed in, with some adding, "It's better that you resigned; there will be places more suitable for your development in the future!"

"Since the bicycle is damaged, I'll buy a car instead!"

"That's right! Kid, you have a long way to go in life! How old are you? Only twenty-five! What are you afraid of? What are you worried about? What's this little setback? Don't cry, get up, let's go, let's go home!"

"Go home...go home!" The dejected young man stood up, his legs trembling. "Today...is Christmas Eve, isn't it?"

"Yes, on Christmas Eve, let's go home safely!"

"There are apple vendors on the roadside, let's buy some... apples... for peace and safety every year."

"Okay, okay, buy it, buy ten pounds of that damn stuff!"

"happy!"

Mo Xueyao stared blankly as the group of people left, until they completely disappeared from her sight before she looked away.

"How are you feeling? Are you feeling better?"

"Hmm..." Mo Xueyao touched her throat and said somewhat embarrassedly, "I'm a little thirsty."

"Come in and sit down, I'll get you some hot water." Mo Xiaoxiao pushed Mo Xueyao into the shop and let her sit down near the door. Then she went into the kitchen and soon came out with some hot water from her own ceramic cup that she used to drink water in the shop. "Drink up, the cup is mine, it's already washed."

"Thank you... Where's your sister?"

"Oh, she went to deliver food. She's been gone for fifteen minutes, and she should be on her way back now." Mo Xiaoxiao smiled slightly. "What's wrong with her today? Why did she suddenly come here?"

"Hmm... I feel like my mom doesn't care about my feelings at all."

"What's wrong? Did you have a fight with your mother?" Mo Xiaoxiao gently stroked Mo Xueyao's head. "Sometimes adults are just too shy to speak up or to swallow their pride."

Mo Xueyao took a sip of hot water. Although it was a little hot, it was just right to drink in this weather.

Her stomach warmed up, and she held the cup in her icy little hands, wanting to press her face against it, but then, as if remembering something, she moved her face away from the cup.

"Um," Mo Xueyao pulled out a few napkins from the table to wipe her eyes, "can I stay here at Xiaoxiao's tonight?"

"Huh? Staying overnight at my place?"

"Yes... If it's inconvenient, then forget it..." Mo Xueyao's voice gradually lowered.

"Of course, no problem. But my house is very small, is that alright?"

"It's okay, I can sleep on the floor."

"No need for that. The bed has one end against the wall... If we use boxes to make a makeshift bed, it should be able to squeeze three people in."

"Thank you."

"It's okay. We're classmates and good friends, so helping each other is only right."