A Young Woman's Heart

Huang Zhengyang smiled and patted Huang Yuxi's head. He then took the unwashed kitchen knife out of the sink and washed it a few times with his hands.

It wasn't until he touched the blade that he suddenly realized it was the blade, not the back.

But it was too late; he now had two more scratches on his fingers.

"Ha..." Huang Zhengyang laughed bitterly, "Now we're both going to need band-aids."

Huang Zhengyang wrote a few words on the whiteboard and held it up: "Days of Bloodshed".

"Perhaps this is a way of averting disaster through bloodshed. It seems we won't encounter anything worse today," Huang Zhengyang comforted him.

"Misfortunes never come singly." Huang Yuxi wrote these four words on the whiteboard.

"Hey, don't be so superstitious! Trust me, nothing bad will happen today!" Huang Zhengyang said, walking towards the door... and then he accidentally bumped into the door.

The door was open just now, but it was blown shut by the wind while he was chatting with Huang Yuxi. It's not that he didn't notice, but he just forgot about it when he walked over.

Huang Yuxi stared at him with wide eyes and sighed softly.

It seems he's prepared for all sorts of bad luck today.

……

"Bang!" Mo Xueyao, who was leaning on the windowsill looking at the scenery, suddenly heard a crisp sound coming from the classroom door. When she turned her head, she saw Zhou Yong squatting down, covering his nose, with bright red blood flowing from between his fingers.

"Are you alright?" Mo Xueyao asked, suppressing a laugh. "What happened? Did you bump into a door while walking?"

"No..." Zhou Yong replied in a muffled voice, "I was just about to come in when the wind blew the door shut outwards, and then I, I just happened to bump into it!"

"That's terrible." Mo Xueyao said with a hint of schadenfreude. "How about it, do you need to go to the infirmary?"

“I shouldn’t…” Zhou Yong stood up with his head tilted back, and swayed as he walked to his seat and sat down.

Mo Xueyao then handed over two napkins: "Want me to slip you some?"

"Thank you..." Zhou Yong reluctantly took the napkins, rolled them up, and stuffed them into his nostrils, looking quite comical.

"What's wrong with him? Did he see something he shouldn't have and get a nosebleed?" Wang Jiale asked suspiciously as she walked into the classroom.

Seeing that she arrived so early, Mo Xueyao knew that she must have some homework that she hadn't finished and was rushing to school to do it.

For her, this kind of morning before school is probably when she is most efficient at doing her homework.

"He just walked in when the door was being blown shut by the wind and hit him in the face."

"Pfft, hahaha—" Wang Jiale burst into laughter without any regard for his image, "How stupid!"

"Hey! This was purely an accident!" Zhou Yong shouted in dissatisfaction.

"Couldn't you have dodged for a bit?" Mo Xueyao asked, resting her chin on her hand.

"I was thinking about something else..." Zhou Yong said somewhat guiltily. In fact, he was thinking about how to greet Mo Xueyao today. Should he do it the usual way, or should he say something longer? Or perhaps use a special gesture, or a different tone of voice than usual?

As a result, they didn't notice the classroom door being suddenly blown open by the wind.

"Ooh!" At this moment, the laughter stopped abruptly, and Wang Jiale covered his mouth, frowning in pain.

"What's wrong?" Mo Xueyao asked curiously.

"Ugh... I bit my tongue..." Wang Jiale touched the tip of his tongue, and a faint trace of blood appeared on his fingertip.

It seems he bit down quite hard, even drawing blood from his tongue.

"You deserve it... Who told you to laugh so exaggeratedly?" Mo Xueyao shook her head helplessly. "It takes at least a week for your tongue to heal after you bit it."

"Waaah..." Wang Jiale walked to Mo Xueyao's desk with a long face, "Homework..."

Seeing how miserable she was, Mo Xueyao stopped teasing her and readily handed over the homework for the subject she usually copied. Then, she saw her stick out her soft little tongue to blow on it while copying the homework.

Perhaps she thought that letting the wound be exposed to the wind for a while would speed up the scab formation?

"Something feels off today," Mo Xueyao muttered to herself as she sat down in her seat, resting her chin on her hand.

Then she saw Huang Yuxi walk into the classroom and greet her with a "Good morning" on the whiteboard.

"Hey, what happened to Xiaoxi's hand?"

"I got cut by a sharp edge this morning," Huang Yuxi wrote on the whiteboard.

"You're bleeding too?" Mo Xueyao asked with a strange expression.

“Hmm…” Huang Yuxi tilted her head, as if asking why she said that.

"It's nothing...it just seems like a lot of people are bleeding today," Mo Xueyao muttered. "Speaking of which, why hasn't Xiaoxue come yet? He usually doesn't arrive much later than Wanyan and me."

Speaking of Cao Cao, Cao Cao will arrive.

As soon as Mo Xueyao finished speaking, Mr. Xue pushed open the classroom door and walked in, a rare look of distress appearing on his usually calm face.

"Xiaoxue, what's wrong? Your face is all twisted!"

"Sigh... my tooth hurts." Mr. Xue, who rarely sighs, let out a long sigh today. "My wisdom tooth is coming in."

"Huh? Wisdom teeth? Oh, so a tooth is pushing up, right? Does that mean I need to get it pulled?"

"Hmm...sigh." Mr. Xue sighed again, "It's already broken through a little, and it's bleeding slightly."

"Then you should go see it right after school today!"

"Okay, I'll go after school." Mr. Xue grinned and sat down in his seat. It was surprising that Mr. Xue, who was usually calm and collected, could be like this.

This made Mo Xueyao feel very novel, but at the same time, it also made him seem closer to ordinary people, which is to say, shortened the sense of distance.

Does it hurt a lot?

"It hurts quite a bit," Mr. Xue replied as he took out his homework.

"I thought you weren't afraid of pain!" Mo Xueyao teased.

"Of course I am. I'm a human, not a god or a zombie." Mr. Xue smiled helplessly and sprayed some temporary pain relief spray into his mouth.

"There are so many people bleeding today..." Wang Jiale muttered, looking up. "Is it some special day?"

"If we're really talking about special days... it's probably like days of bloodshed, isn't it?" Mo Xueyao joked. "Let's see if anyone else will bleed next."

"What a coincidence." Wang Jiale pursed his lips.

In fact it does.

Several classmates bled today due to accidents, but that was just a coincidence.

However, these little episodes helped Mo Xueyao regain her usual cheerful mood after her period-related gloom—because it felt like everyone was bleeding with her, and the discomfort of her period was shared.

……

Chapter 271 Just Think About It

After a week of sunny weather, the temperature has risen considerably.

On a pillar by the fruit shop door, there was a simple thermometer with the current approximate temperature displayed, pointing to '32'.

Today is May 13th, Saturday.

At 8:30 in the morning, the sun was already shining as brightly as it would be at noon in early spring or winter.

"Mom, I'm going out!"

"where to?"

"Let's go for a stroll around West Lake."

Come back soon.

"Okay—" Mo Xueyao drawled, grabbing Li Wanyan's wrist as they left the house.

Because it was too hot, the two of them decided not to ride bicycles and instead took the bus.

"There are a lot more air-conditioned buses this year." Mo Xueyao stood on tiptoe, looking at the bus with the letter 'K' coming from afar. "Wanyan, we can just take the one without air conditioning, it doesn't feel comfortable on the bus with the air conditioning on."

“Either is fine.” Li Wanyan nodded, holding a popsicle stick in her hand. It was the cheapest salt water popsicle, costing only two cents. She and Mo Xueyao each bought one, and even after paying five cents, they received one cent in change.

“It already feels like summer~” Mo Xueyao stretched out a big yawn. “I feel like my hair is burning.”

"Stand in the shade," Li Wanyan pointed to the side.

The two were wearing a new outfit, the kind that's perfect for summer.

It's a short-sleeved dress with the hem slightly above the knee, which is neither too revealing nor too conservative, while still keeping you cool enough.

In this kind of weather, Mo Xueyao no longer needs to wear stockings; going bare-legged is the most comfortable thing to do—especially when the wind is blowing.

Even if you have equally short pants to wear, they are definitely not as comfortable as a skirt.

In this kind of summer, Mo Xueyao experienced many of the advantages of being a girl.

And... girls can eat popsicles or ice cream whenever they want.

Yes, in this relatively conservative era, boys who are nearing adulthood and still like to eat sweets will be ridiculed as 'effeminate'.

Girls are different; it's only natural for them to like sweets, or rather, it's their right.

Regardless of how people in the future view it, this is certainly true in this era.

People have very stereotypical views about gender, and although there are changes, they are very slow.

A bus with a 'K' on it drove by, but the two didn't get on. They waited until a bus without a 'K' arrived at the stop before getting on.

Buses with the letter K cost two yuan per person, while those without the letter K cost one yuan per person.

In this day and age, this price is still a bit expensive—especially for people who frequently take the bus.

However, Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan have a monthly pass that costs thirty yuan a month, which is quite cost-effective if they need to take the bus frequently.

"Beep." Mo Xueyao swiped her monthly pass as she got into the car, then said to the driver, "Wait a moment before swiping it a second time."

"Hmm." The driver, who was already used to this, glanced at her, a slight smile appearing on his expressionless face. "Okay."

Pretty girls always receive more... kindness from others.

However, there are gains and losses; she also bears more malice than other girls.

About two or three stops later, Mo Xueyao, who was sitting and waiting in the next seat, swiped again, and another "beep" sounded.