A Young Woman's Heart

This did indeed elicit a reaction from the husky. It slowly stood up, wagging its tail idly, and then... then walked down the steps, went around to the other side, took a bite of the banana, peel and all, and then spat it out with obvious disgust.

"Hey, don't waste them!" Mo Xueyao shouted in dissatisfaction. Just as she was about to say something, she saw it walk over from the opposite side through the mahjong tiles, knocking over all the mahjong tiles on the ground, and then simply lying down on the fallen mahjong tiles...

"Woof woof—" It lay on its side on the ground and barked twice, then stuck out its tongue and lay there with its tongue hanging down.

"Stupid dog!" Mo Xueyao cursed, pushing the dog away in annoyance as she put the mahjong tiles back into the box.

Just then, two bold little tits flew in from the sky. They looked fluffy and round, with some yellow stains still lingering on their beaks.

They stood next to the bitten banana, pecked at it with their beaks, and then happily ate it, showing no fear of people at all.

Su Tang must have smelled something, because it popped out of the cardboard box and pounced on it so fast that Mo Xueyao didn't even have time to stop it.

Fortunately, the two tits were not without vigilance. They flapped their wings and flew up, looking down at Su Tang from a nearby telephone pole.

"Meow—" Su Tang, who had failed to catch the cat, was a little unhappy. It meowed as if complaining and then crawled back into its cardboard box.

"Sutang, don't go chasing birds like that." Mo Xueyao patted its head. "Isn't the food at home enough for you? Always wanting special treatment? Even if you want special treatment, why don't you go catch mice?"

"Meow..." Su Tang rested her chin on the back of Mo Xueyao's hand and rubbed against it affectionately.

This is the kind of mundane daily life that can happen during holidays.

Life can't be interesting every day.

Sometimes, what you find interesting may seem quite boring to others.

Before we knew it, it was noon. My mother took out the lunch items one by one and placed them on the stacked cardboard boxes.

A wooden board was placed on the cardboard box, which was intended to be used as a dining table.

The reason we don't use folding tables is because lately those folding tables have been piled with more and more things, and it's just too much trouble to take things out and put them down.

So we decided to use this assembly method to make a simple dining table.

The table was too low, so Su Tang kept trying to climb onto it, and Erha could easily shove his head into the soup bowl with just a little effort.

So you have to keep an eye on them while they eat.

"Xiaoyao, go and tie Erha back to Grandma Jin's grocery store."

"Okay." Mo Xueyao picked up the chain next to her, and the husky immediately stood up alertly—it hated being restrained by chains the most.

But if you don't chain it, it won't obey, so this is the only way.

Otherwise, none of us will be able to have lunch.

Mo Xueyao struggled to drag the husky back to the grocery store, then tied it to the door before finally breathing a sigh of relief.

"Phew... that's too strong..." Mo Xueyao muttered, wiping away her sweat. "Lianlian, want to eat?"

"Hmm, no need, I brought my own lunch."

"Grandma Jin isn't here again?" Mo Xueyao glanced inside a few times.

"Yes, she went out to play today."

“Since you started minding the shop, she’s become more and more relaxed…” Mo Xueyao brushed a strand of hair stuck to her forehead with sweat. “She can finally enjoy her retirement.”

"Actually, she could have always enjoyed it like this."

"Oh?"

"Grandma Jin said that these two shops on this street, as well as half of the shops on the next street, all belong to her."

"Huh—I didn't know that. Why not just collect rent? Why bother opening your own shop?"

“I don’t know…” Zhuang Lianlian moved her left leg. “I heard that this shop used to be owned by one of her friends.”

"Oh... I think I understand." Mo Xueyao's comprehension wasn't bad. She nodded slightly, then patted the head of the restless husky. "You just stay here obediently! You even tried to shove your head into the soup bowl just now. Honestly, aren't you afraid of getting burned and losing your fur?"

Mo Xueyao muttered as she walked back into the shop.

The food has already been served.

Because of the hot weather, my mother was too lazy to cook anything too complicated.

Most of the dishes on the table were cold, with only a simple and inexpensive tomato and egg drop soup being considered a hot dish.

The other dishes included cucumber salad with black fungus, pickled radish, and cold potato salad—Mo Xueyao didn't know if the potato salad was cooked, but it didn't seem to be completely raw.

Another dish is cold tofu salad.

In any case, they are all dishes that are very easy to make.

It's hot, so eating some cold dishes is a good idea; at least it's appetizing enough.

"You'll be going to school tomorrow, right?" the father asked casually, scooping a large spoonful of cold tofu salad into his bowl.

"Yes, tomorrow is Monday, and we have to go back to school. There probably won't be any more holidays after that."

"Is there no holiday for the Dragon Boat Festival?"

"Dragon Boat Festival... Shouldn't we have a half-day holiday for Dragon Boat Festival?" Mo Xueyao wasn't quite sure.

"You'll be divided into classes soon, right?" the mother asked.

"Yes, we'll be divided into classes at the end of the semester."

"Work hard! Are you two planning to be in the same class?"

“I plan to go to the humanities class.” Mo Xueyao looked at Li Wanyan. “Wanyan is the same as me.”

"Work hard! I still need to save up for your college tuition, haha! Get into a good university so I can save some money!"

Li Wanyan, who was eating her meal in small bites, suddenly felt a slight sting in the corner of her eye.

……

Chapter 264 He knocked down Duanmu Ji

On the morning of May 8th.

Before the sun rose, a shower had already passed, dispelling the lingering heat from yesterday.

After all, it was only the beginning of summer, and the morning after the rain was quite refreshing.

A new breakfast shop opened on the way to school, selling a kind of 'snack' that is rarely seen in Hangzhou.

This was the first time Mo Xueyao had ever seen such a peculiar dessert.

It is made from rice cakes and wrapped in the shape of dumplings—very large dumplings, about the size of a palm.

It looks a bit like a deep-fried chive pancake, except it's not deep-fried.

You can fill dumplings with whatever you want to eat; they're somewhat similar to glutinous rice balls.

"Boss, what's this called?" Mo Xueyao asked, gripping the strap of her backpack and pointing to the rice cakes in front of the stall.

"This is called 'Qiangao,' a specialty of small towns."

"Small city? Which small city?"

"It's that small city that's called a small city."

"Oh, oh~!" Mo Xueyao suddenly realized.

There's a city in Zhejiang with a rather peculiar name: Xiaocheng (Little City). It's a coastal city, and I heard that Qiu Yi, the instructor of their art club, comes from that city.

"How much is this?"

"Single-serving rice cake, without any toppings, is 50 cents. You can also add some sugar, also 50 cents." It was still early, and there were no other customers in front of this newly opened breakfast shop. The owner was focused on making rice cakes, and there seemed to be some braised food cooking in a large pot next to him. "The prices of other ingredients vary. For example, pork chop is 1 yuan for an extra serving."

"A pork chop for one dollar?"

"A little over half a piece," the shopkeeper gestured with his knife, "about a third of it."

"Hmm... shall we try it then, Wanyan?" Mo Xueyao turned to look at Li Wanyan.

"Hmm." Li Wanyan glanced at the ingredients on the counter. "I'd like shredded potatoes, dried tofu, and a pork chop."

"Then I'll have shredded potatoes, fried rice noodles, and... um... large intestine! Hmm, what's that deep-fried thing over there?" Mo Xueyao pointed to the golden, pancake-like object bubbling in the oil pan next to her.

That's called 'Paoha'.

"Huh?" Mo Xueyao tilted her head, completely not understanding.

"It's basically fried minced meat, coated with a very thin layer of cornstarch."

"Oh, how much is one of these?"

"Three for one yuan, or five jiao each."

"Then...then I'll have something for one yuan!" Mo Xueyao wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth. "Do you have anything to drink?"

"There is soy milk and soy milk."

"Don't you have tofu pudding?"

"Making that is too much trouble, I don't have any here." The shopkeeper scooped up three freshly fried 'paoha' (a type of fried dough). "Want some?"

"I mean, I want the fried food. As for drinks, Wanyan, how about soy milk?"

"Either is fine," Li Wanyan replied calmly.

"Eat here or take away?"

"Anyway, it's still early...?" Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan came out of the fruit shop, and it only takes about ten minutes to walk to the school. It's only a little past 5:50 now, and even if they have breakfast, they can definitely arrive at the school before 6:30.

In any case, most students with keys go to the classroom to open the door around 6:30. There aren't many students like Li Wanyan who arrive at the classroom around 6 o'clock almost every day to open the door.

"Let's eat here." Li Wanyan nodded gently.

The two sat down at a small folding table at the entrance of the shop.

The shop is very small; the kitchen takes up the entire space, and all the folding tables are placed outside.

Fortunately, this shop is not directly next to the street, and there is a parking space in between, otherwise I would have had to take it to go.

"Salty or sweet?"

"It's sweet, isn't it!"