A Young Woman's Heart

"To be precise, the priority should be women, children, and dogs."

"……dog?"

"There aren't that many people keeping pets these days, and young people are really willing to spend money on their pets," the father said, shaking his head. "Observe your own life more!"

"Tch, I'm not in business, why should I observe so much?" Mo Xueyao stretched out a big yawn. "That fruit shop upstairs is copying you again."

“Imitation is normal. It means we’re doing well. Otherwise, why would others imitate us?” The father said calmly. “You shouldn’t be too hostile towards others. We’re all in business, and it’s normal to learn from each other.”

"Is this what you call studying..." Mo Xueyao muttered, her eyelids drooping.

"Haha!" Father laughed as he placed the fruit basket on the shelf by the door. "Don't be so stingy, Xiaoyao."

“Don’t be like your father. He suffered a lot when he was young because he was too generous,” his mother teased.

"Nonsense, if I were too stingy, wouldn't I lose all my friends?"

"So how many friends do you have? Everyone treats you like a 'cow or pig' (dialect: livestock to be slaughtered at will)."

The father shook his head and didn't continue arguing with the mother.

Of course, Mo Xueyao couldn't suddenly have a complete awakening and become infinitely broad-minded, not taking such trivial matters to heart at all—it's not so easy to change a person's way of thinking.

Li Wanyan was reading the newly borrowed novel; this was the first time Mo Xueyao had ever seen her borrow a novel to read.

In the past, she would borrow relatively profound books, and even when she read novels, they had to be classic works.

The book's title is entirely in Japanese, as are all the texts inside, and it also features very beautiful illustrations.

But it clearly doesn't reach the level of a classic.

Li Wanyan consulted the dictionary slowly, while Mo Xueyao would never have had that kind of patience.

Even reading English novels gave her a headache—even though her English grades were pretty good, the stories were so long and full of slang, they were really hard to understand.

"Mom, today is Mother's Day." A child who was probably just starting elementary school walked past the fruit shop.

"Yes, today is Mother's Day—a day for children to express their gratitude to their mothers," the young woman said with a smile, holding the boy's little hand.

"Then I want to buy a present for my mom!" The little boy skipped and hopped to the fruit shop and shouted at Li Wanyan, who was reading a book at the door, "Auntie, do you have any fruit that I can buy for one yuan?"

Li Wanyan slowly raised her head, and Mo Xueyao could sense a hint of anger hidden beneath her calm face.

This little brat... She's only a high school student, and he's already calling her "auntie"...

Mo Xueyao helplessly covered her forehead. Women hate being called old the most!

"Hmm, fruit for one yuan? You can buy an apple, or two bananas," Mo Xueyao quickly said, because she had never sold it like this before, so she wasn't quite sure.

"Can I have three bananas?" the little boy asked Mo Xueyao with an innocent look.

“Sure.” Mo Xueyao could handle this small matter. In business, one should never be too stingy, as her father had taught her. She immediately picked up the three bananas that had fallen on the table and handed them to the little boy. “Here you go.”

"One yuan, right?" the little boy asked cautiously.

"Yes."

"Thank you, sister!" the little boy exclaimed happily, holding the three bananas with his small hands with a little effort. He took one out and handed it to his mother, "Happy Mother's Day, Mom!"

"Wow, so thoughtful!"

"What a sensible child," Mo Xueyao's mother echoed.

Meanwhile, Mo Xueyao noticed that Li Wanyan seemed to have even more black lines on her forehead.

I was treated differently by the little boy...

Perhaps it was Li Wanyan's overly serious expression that made him unconsciously assume she was older.

Since she had bought bananas, the young mother naturally bought some other fruits as well, and then left with the bags.

Perhaps it was Mo Xueyao's 'generosity' that made this young woman feel favorably toward the store, which is why she decided to buy some other fruits.

"Mo~ Xue~ Yao~!" A soft call came from not far away. She turned her head and saw a slightly chubby girl smiling at her from below the steps of the fruit shop.

It is Lu Chengyuan.

She was a few feet taller than Mo Xueyao. She wasn't actually fat, but her cheeks were a bit chubby, and her head was somewhat round, so she appeared to be a slightly chubby girl.

However, she actually weighs only 100 pounds.

Even so, the boys in the class still liked to tease her by calling her "Little Fatty" or "Round and Chubby".

Actually... this slight chubbyness adds to the cuteness and doesn't affect the overall appearance.

But if someone is truly overweight, like Tian Xinnan, the guys wouldn't tease her so 'kindly'.

They either ignore her or call her "fatso," and those who hate her call her "fat pig."

"Lu Chengyuan? What are you doing here?" Mo Xueyao asked in surprise. "Do you live nearby? Or did you come to the hospital?"

“My family doesn’t live around here, but my parents run a shop here. This is my first time here. When I saw it from afar, I thought it was this shop, but it turns out it’s the one upstairs.” Lu Chengyuan lightly jumped to Mo Xueyao’s side. “Is this your family’s fruit shop?”

“Yes.” Mo Xueyao’s expression was complicated. She hadn’t expected Lu Chengyuan to be the daughter of the fruit shop owner upstairs. She really didn’t know how to face this…

"Oh, are you the daughter of the fruit shop owner upstairs?" the father said enthusiastically. "Come on, try this."

"Hello, Uncle! No need, I have everything you have here at home."

“Hey, your dad didn’t buy this.” The father proudly stuck a toothpick into the already cut fruit. Strangely enough, there was some soy sauce and chili powder on the fruit.

"Is this fruit?" Lu Chengyuan had never been to her family's fruit shop before, so she didn't know anything about fruit.

However, even Mo Xueyao didn't recognize this thing at all.

There are also fruits that can be eaten with dipping sauce?

"This is a rare treat, called an avocado. It's rich in various vitamins and protein... Not only can you eat it, but you can also use it to make butter and soap." Her father picked one up with a toothpick and handed it to Lu Chengyuan. "Have a try. Ours just arrived, and I was just about to try it myself!"

"When did this arrive?" the mother asked疑惑地. "How much does it cost per pound?"

"I'm planning to sell it for sixty yuan a pound. Things are valued for their scarcity. I'm probably the only fruit shop around here that sells this!"

"Avocado...?" Lu Chengyuan took it curiously. "Thank you, Uncle."

"Is it really delicious?" Mo Xueyao also picked up a toothpick, poked a piece into her mouth, and then frowned, "Ugh—"

"Delicious!" Lu Chengyuan's eyes lit up.

"It tastes awful!" Mo Xueyao almost threw up.

……

Chapter 274 One More Companion on the Way Home

Time doesn't seem to pass quickly as it flows by, but when you look back, you'll be surprised to find that the number representing the date has jumped so many times.

By mid-May, it seemed that half the year had already passed.

After more than a week of sunny weather, Hangzhou finally welcomed a rain shower.

It was just a light rain in the morning, but the rain got heavier and heavier and didn't stop all day. By the time school let out in the afternoon, it turned into a downpour.

This was the first time in Mo Xueyao's life that she had ever seen rain like this.

Normally, rain gets lighter and lighter, but this rain got heavier and heavier, and it lasted for a whole day.

"Whoosh—"

"Pat, pat!"

Raindrops pattered on the awning. Mo Xueyao watched her classmates cleaning the classroom and lazily swung her legs.

Huang Yuxi had already returned home, and Lu Chengyuan sat down next to her with a notebook, writing and drawing in it.

"Lu Chengyuan, aren't you going home? Aren't you on duty today?"

“Let’s go home together, it’s on the way anyway. Starting today, I’ll go to the fruit shop first after school, so it’ll be easier to have dinner.” Lu Chengyuan cut off a small piece of tape and stuck it on her notebook.

This is a grid notebook. The interesting thing is that the grids are very small. Although it's not impossible to write words in them, if you write one word in each grid, all the words will be crowded together and become difficult to read.

So in fact, when Lu Chengyuan was writing, she made each character occupy two or even four squares.

So, what is the purpose of those squares below?

It's better to just buy a blank notebook; that would be much cleaner.

"Oh...then the three of us will go home together." Mo Xueyao was quite happy. Li Wanyan was too dull. Although she would occasionally joke with her now, Mo Xueyao was the one who talked more on the way home.

It will be much more lively if Lu Chengyuan joins in.

"What's wrong? Aren't you welcome?"

"Why wouldn't you welcome me? Of course you're welcome." Mo Xueyao rested her chin on her hand, looking at Lu Chengyuan's notebook. "What's going on here?"

"Ladies, could you please lift your legs a little? I'm mopping the floor, thank you." A man in a vest with angular features and a slightly dark complexion walked over with a wet mop, yawning as he spoke.

"Oh, oh..." Lu Chengyuan put her legs on the metal bar of the desk. "This is a journal."

"A journal? For keeping accounts?" Mo Xueyao interpreted it literally.

"Well, it's basically a notebook you carry around with you. Have you ever watched Japanese dramas? Many people in Japanese dramas have notebooks like this."

“I haven’t seen it. I’ve only watched the anime.” Mo Xueyao shook her head.

Lu Chengyuan neatly pasted the tape, creating a cute frame around the page:

"In short, it's about recording life. You can write anything on it—things you plan to do, how you feel today, what you bought..."

"Like a simple diary."

"Then why go through all that trouble of wrapping it with tape and drawing doodles on it?" Mo Xueyao asked, puzzled. "If you're trying to remember things to avoid forgetting them, shouldn't you keep it as simple and clear as possible? With all that fancy drawing, can you really find what you forgot to do right away?"

"Oh dear, Haruka really has absolutely no romantic side..."

"What does this have to do with romance...?"

“A girl’s notebook should be cute, of course!” Lu Chengyuan wrote the last period and closed the leather notebook. “That way, when I look back at it, I can feel the emotions I had at the time to the greatest extent.”

"Is that so?" Mo Xueyao remained noncommittal. "I'd probably just think it's a waste of space..."

"Xiaoyao is just like a boy in this respect."