A Young Woman's Heart

On a clear night, a moon and several bright stars can be seen in the sky.

This area is far from the city center, so you can see more stars at night.

These are the busiest times at the night market.

With such nice weather, many people are happy to come out and stroll around.

The night breeze at this time of year is neither too cold nor too hot; it's just the right amount of refreshing, making one feel relaxed and comfortable.

The streetlights weren't particularly bright, but each night stall would hang one or even several wired or battery-powered light bulbs to illuminate the area.

"It's as lively as a temple fair..." Mo Xueyao twirled a stray strand of hair and muttered softly, "Japan has summer festivals in the summer, but it seems that China doesn't."

"Does Yaoyao like lively atmospheres?"

"Hmm... I like lively events that aren't really my problem."

Li Wanyan looked at her with surprise: "She's different from others."

"Hey, right? Most people would like the noise and bustle around them, but I prefer the kind of noise and bustle that's the other way around, because it doesn't feel lonely and it gives me a sense of peace from being detached."

"Hey—Xiaoyao—!!" Suddenly a shout came from afar, piercing through the layers of people and reaching Mo Xueyao's ears.

"Huh, who called me?" She turned around in confusion, but didn't see the person who called her.

"Here she is!" Then, Li Wanyan saw Mo Zhuyou squeeze out of the crowd and rush to Mo Xueyao next to her.

"Xiaoyao! Good evening!"

"Ah, Youyou." Mo Xueyao looked at Mo Xiaoxiao behind her. "Xiaoxiao, what brings you two all the way here?"

"Let's go to the night market to buy some daily necessities! Because they're cheaper there." Mo Xiao smiled at Li Wanyan and made a hugging gesture.

Li Wanyan didn't move, but simply let her hug her, which was her way of greeting her.

"Well, I'll also check if I run into Xiaoyao. If not, I'll go to your family's fruit shop."

"Ah, I see..." Mo Xueyao nodded, "What do you want to buy to take back?"

"Things like towels, scrubbing brushes, and laundry detergent."

"You probably can't find these at night stalls..."

"There are some, but not many, so we're still looking." Mo Xiaoxiao tucked a sideburn behind her ear and said, "Xiaoyao, do you know where there are books for sale at night stalls? I want to buy some to fill out my bookshelf so I don't have to watch TV when I'm bored."

"Oh, yes, but they seem to sell very thick pirated books, and some are sold by weight, but those are all older books."

"It's okay, I should be able to find one I like."

"I remember the book stall was over here..."

So, Mo Xueyao led the two Mo sisters toward the direction she remembered.

Most of the people who regularly set up stalls here have fixed locations, as if they have reached some kind of tacit understanding.

Sometimes disputes even arise over who took whose spot to set up a stall.

Before long, Mo Xueyao led the two of them to the stall.

The book seller was a young man who didn't look much older than them.

I guess he didn't continue his studies after graduating from high school.

The books here are the most affordable, so she often came here to buy books before she got a library card.

Most importantly, if you buy those thick pirated books, you can exchange them for books you've already read.

It only costs two yuan to change it once.

Other books are sold by weight; there are all kinds of books available, and sometimes you can even find some useful supplementary teaching materials.

Mo Xiaoxiao and Mo Zhuyou squatted in front of the stall for a while. The former picked up a cookbook, a book of practical household tips, and several foreign classics written entirely in English, while the latter picked up several comic books and some romance novels with long and strange-sounding titles.

For example, "Everyone's book titles are so long except mine, is there something wrong with me?" and "I know you know I know you know".

Anyway, it's all pretty strange.

This is probably a Japanese novel; the title is very long because of the translation.

The other domestic novels by Mo Zhuyou were all written by an author using the pen name Mo Yan.

For Mo Xueyao, these books were somewhat 'old-fashioned,' the kind that her parents' generation would read.

—One book is "The Mangrove Forest," and the other is "Thirteen Steps."

After buying them, the books were placed in the bicycle basket.

"I think if you don't want to collect them, it's cheaper to get a library card at the Yinshan Library near our school," Mo Xueyao said, following Mo Xiaoxiao who was pushing her bicycle.

"Yes, I did get one, but I only got one. There are some books I'd rather buy and collect..." Mo Xiaoxiao smiled gently. Although she wasn't well-off, she still had her own little hobbies.

"Hmm, that's true. Actually, I prefer buying books, but I choose to borrow them to save money."

“There’s a stall selling laundry detergent and soap over there,” Li Wanyan said, stopping and pointing to a stall not far away.

"Ah, finally found it! Thank you, class monitor!"

"Ah."

"So, are you done shopping?" Mo Xueyao asked, her hands in her pockets.

After taking a shower, she changed back into casual clothes instead of that particularly childish dress.

The shoes and clothes were all in a bag, which Li Wanyan was carrying.

"Yes, I've finished buying it."

“By the way, there’s a stall that specializes in selling rice cakes lately, all kinds of rice cakes. Do you want to try some?” Mo Xueyao suggested. “I haven’t tried them yet, but I saw some pea rice cakes when I passed by last time.”

"Pea rice cake?" Mo Zhuyou leaned closer curiously. "I've never had this before?"

"So why not give it a try!"

"It should be made of glutinous rice," Li Wanyan added from the side.

The four of them walked through the night market and came to this rice cake shop.

Compared to other food stalls that sell fried or grilled foods, it appears quite bland.

However, quite a few people also moved small stools to eat at the folding tables.

"Girls, would you like something to eat?" The owner was busy making rice cakes, but he didn't forget to attract customers.

Is there anything wrong?

"That's a lot."

"I don't know what to eat..."

"How about we give each of you the most popular serving: pea rice cake with bean curd soup?"

"Soybean dregs soup?" Mo Xueyao had never eaten such a thing before.

"Yes, both salty and sweet are fine, it's delicious."

"how much is it?"

"A pea rice cake and a bowl of bean curd soup cost one yuan."

"Then let's have four servings to try!" Mo Xueyao immediately took out money from her pocket.

The owner took the prepared pea rice cake out of the steamer. It was indeed made of glutinous rice and was inlaid with peas. Mo Xueyao couldn't help but take a bite. It was salty and had a filling inside, which was peas and bamboo shoots. The taste was quite good.

Ah...delicious!

"Not bad, haha—" the boss laughed smugly. "Come on, these are for the rest of you. The folding tables and chairs over there are mine. Please sit wherever you like."

"Ok!"

……

Chapter 215 The Hangover

When Zhou Yong woke up, he saw the golden light shining into the room through the gap in the curtains. He could vaguely see a seven-colored halo flashing, but when he looked closely, he could no longer see it.

"Cough...headache..." Zhou Yong rubbed his head as he struggled to sit up, only to find that his shirt had disappeared. The blanket slowly slipped down, revealing his bare upper body, with a noticeably chubby belly.

This is a tiny room, like a pigeon coop, where you can see the entire house at a glance.

The room was a little messy, but it was clean enough. There were no beds, only blankets and quilts on the floor.

A woman with long hair draped over her shoulders was sitting at a low folding table, writing something.

"Ah—" Zhou Yong stood up abruptly, but felt dizzy and realized that he was only wearing a pair of boxer shorts. He quickly crawled back into bed.

"Awake?" Tian Tingchan turned her head slightly, so that Zhou Yong could only see one slightly upturned phoenix eye. "You threw up everywhere yesterday."

"Ah...sorry, sorry, wait, yesterday?"

"Ah."

"Eh, eh—? A whole night has passed? Then, um… ah!" Zhou Yong was somewhat incoherent. He scratched his head and hesitated for a long time before shamelessly asking, "I didn't do anything strange, did I?"

"It would be even stranger if you were still doing strange things when you were that drunk, right?" Tian Tingchan glanced at him sideways. "You threw up all over yourself in the park. I washed your clothes yesterday and they're still hanging there to dry."

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..."

"I thought you would wake up at night, but I didn't expect you to sleep until the next day."

"Ah... so, so you weren't asleep?" Zhou Yong scratched his head awkwardly. He felt that in such a small space, it seemed impossible for two people to lie down at the same time.

"She's asleep."

"Oh...oh?!" A picture of a woman with a somewhat gloomy and sickly air holding him as he slept immediately flashed into his mind.

After all, if two people have to sleep in this small space, there's no other way but to hug each other, right?

Here, you might bump into the wall even if you just roll over.

"I slept by the door." As if sensing what Zhou Yong was thinking, Tian Tingchan explained softly, her cold voice hiding a hint of shyness.

Zhou Yong's gaze then fell on the door, where he found a large straw cushion and two black pillows.