A Young Woman's Heart

"Yan Yan, you should eat properly. You can't eat in big bites. You should take small bites and chew slowly. That's how a lady eats."

"Hmm." Li Wanyan immediately slowed down her chewing.

"Here, I've served you a bowl of soup." Her mother smiled and placed the small bowl in front of her. "Drink slowly, it's very hot."

"Hmm..." Li Wanyan scooped into her soup bowl with a spoon and found several pieces of chicken inside.

Looking at the mother, she was also ladling soup for herself, but she put the chicken that she had accidentally scooped up back into the soup. In her own bowl, there seemed to be only tofu and soup.

"Drink more soup! Look, I've already had three bowls."

"Um...Mom, don't you eat meat?"

"Yes, I've eaten several pieces. I'm full. Yan Yan, you can eat now."

“I didn’t see you eat anything.” Li Wanyan looked at her mother earnestly.

"Oh dear, I secretly ate several pieces while I was making the soup!"

"Um..."

……

"Wanyan, Wanyan, math class is over. Didn't Awen tell you to go to her office after the first period?" Mo Xueyao's voice rang in her ear.

"Uh-huh."

"Wanyan, you've been daydreaming the whole math class."

"No," Li Wanyan denied outright, then stood up and walked alone toward homeroom teacher Ye Wen's office.

……

Chapter 313 News of Mother

"Knock knock." Amidst the sound of raindrops outside the corridor, Li Wanyan knocked on the wooden door of the office.

"Please come in," came the voices of other teachers from inside.

Not all the teachers were in the office. Apart from Ye Wen, only Qiu Yi was sitting by the window, casually drawing something.

The person who just said "Please come in" was him.

"Teacher Ye Wen." Li Wanyan walked to Ye Wen's desk, where she was grading the students' assignments.

"Hmm? Hmm, Wanyan's here." Ye Wen nodded, put down the red pen she was using to grade homework, pointed to the chair next to her, picked up a yellow and white lazy cat that was lying on it and placed it in her lap, "Sit here."

"What do you need me to do?"

"Well, there's something I need to tell you." Ye Wen thought for a moment, seemingly organizing her thoughts.

"Okay." Li Wanyan sat up straight, looking all ears.

She guessed what activities the school would be organizing soon, and that she, as the class monitor, would be responsible for the preliminary preparations.

As a class monitor, she was very responsible. Other class monitors would often complain even if they did what the teacher assigned, but Li Wanyan never complained once.

It's important to know that sometimes the class monitor's responsibilities can be so numerous that they can even affect their studies.

For example, some minor subjects might be called to meetings, and even some major subjects might be called to do things that the class monitor needs to do.

"It's like this, actually our school has been helping you gather information about your parents." Ye Wen gently stroked the cat named Naitang in her arms and said softly. She spoke slowly because she knew that Li Wanyan needed enough time to process this.

Her life had actually settled into a peaceful routine. Perhaps the absence of her parents would allow her to live a quiet and uneventful life.

Li Wanyan's body trembled slightly. She lowered her head and did not reply.

"Your father... well, his whereabouts are still unknown for the time being, but we have received news about your mother."

"Where...is she now?" Li Wanyan rarely showed such strong emotions. She tried hard to control herself, but she couldn't help but interrupt Ye Wen and ask.

"She doesn't want to tell you where she is right now because there are some things she needs to handle herself," Ye Wen explained ambiguously.

"Why!" Li Wanyan clenched her fists, as if she vaguely guessed something. "My mother... what happened to her?!"

“Your mother is fine, but she needs to take care of her own affairs. Also, she lives far away from Hangzhou and won’t be able to come back for three years. For now, you can stay at Mo Xueyao’s house. Bringing you along would be a burden for her right now.”

Li Wanyan slumped weakly against the back of the chair, as if her bones had been removed. After a long while, she raised her hand with trembling hands, bit her fingers, and asked in a low voice, "Is she... alright now?"

"Well, it's alright. Our school has also provided her with some small assistance."

"Thank you." Li Wanyan breathed a sigh of relief. "Then... can I call her? Or, can I send her a letter?"

"If you have anything to say, you can tell me, or give me the letter and I will forward it for you."

"Mmm, thank you, teacher..." Li Wanyan unconsciously licked the saliva remaining on her fingers and murmured absentmindedly.

"Well, your mother's birthday is coming up soon, isn't it?"

"...Yes, it's Mom's birthday." Li Wanyan suddenly realized, "Can I...give her a gift?"

"Of course, we actually called you here to ask if you have any birthday gifts you'd like to give to your mother. We can mail them to her; if we do it sooner, it should still be in time."

“Today is already the first day…” Li Wanyan looked a little anxious. “Teacher, I’m going back to the classroom now to write a greeting card.”

"Well, well, there's no need to rush. You can write in the art club's activity room at noon. There are more materials there, so you can make a gift that you want."

Li Wanyan nodded vigorously, then took a deep breath and stood up: "Then... Teacher Ye Wen probably doesn't have anything else to say, right?"

"Yes, that's all."

Li Wanyan bowed deeply, then pushed open the door and left the office.

Distracted, Li Wanyan's steps were unsteady, and she almost tripped over her own foot and fell to the ground.

"Wanyan, what's wrong?" Mo Xiaoxiao, who was passing by, quickly helped her up. "Are you alright? Didn't you sleep well last night?"

"It's nothing." Li Wanyan shook her head and quietly sat back down in her seat.

"Wanyan is acting strange today." Mo Xueyao rested her chin on her hand and looked at her, hesitating whether to ask her what was wrong.

But most people would probably still answer with "It's okay".

Lunch break arrived quickly, and Li Wanyan, unusually, didn't call Mo Xueyao, instead going into the art club's activity room on her own.

When Mo Xueyao finished eating and entered the activity room, she found Li Wanyan making a sunflower out of plaster. The sunflower was already roughly shaped and she was waiting for it to cool.

Today wasn't actually the art club's activity day, so some people didn't come. For example, Zhou Yong went to play badminton with Tang Sishi, who sits behind him.

—Today was a rare occasion, as several girls invited him to play badminton together, provided that Duanmu Ji from Class 7 was also included.

Because Duanmu Ji would occasionally come to see Zhou Yong, the girls sitting next to Zhou Yong had become somewhat familiar with him.

"Wanyan, what's wrong with you today?" Mo Xueyao sat down beside her. "You seem distracted the whole time?"

"Hmm." Li Wanyan turned to look at Mo Xueyao, staring into her eyes for a good ten seconds before saying softly, "There's news about my mom at school."

"Huh?" Mo Xueyao was stunned for a moment, then asked in a panic, "So that means you're going to go back to your own home?"

“…My mother has something to take care of, so she won’t be able to come see me for at least three years.” Li Wanyan shook her head.

"Phew... Well, that's alright." Mo Xueyao patted her chest, making a crisp 'slap slap' sound. "And then, three years from now... what are Wanyan's plans?"

"I don't know," Li Wanyan said uncertainly. She looked away from Mo Xueyao's face and at the plaster sunflower on her desk. "Where's Yaoyao?"

"Me? Are you asking me? What do you mean?" Mo Xueyao's mind didn't quite catch on for a moment. After saying that, she suddenly realized, "Oh... of course, I hope Wanyan will continue to live in my house. I'm an only child... I don't have much contact with relatives, and I've never had any brothers or sisters since I was little. It feels pretty good to have someone my age living with me."

"Mm." Li Wanyan smiled and gently smoothed Mo Xueyao's ponytail. "Okay."

"However, if your mother comes back, you should still live with her. She'll probably be lonely by herself."

“…Hmm.” Li Wanyan nodded with a complicated expression.

"What are you doing?"

"Birthday present."

"Your mother's?"

"Correct."

"That's not bad, at least we can keep in touch."

"Mm." Li Wanyan smiled.

"Do you want to make a greeting card? I can help, but you'll have to write the words yourself."

"It needs to be done."

"Then I'll do it. Making greeting cards is my forte~" Mo Xueyao took out cardstock and waxed paper from the pile of materials next to her and pieced them together.

For the entire lunch break, only Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan were in the art club, as if everyone else had deliberately reserved a quiet space for them.

After the greeting card was finished and the sunflower plaster that had cooled and been colored was carefully packaged by Li Wanyan and delivered to Ye Wen's office after school.

However, the homeroom teacher was not in the office.

"What's wrong? Is it a gift for your mother?" Qiu Yi looked at Li Wanyan. "Just put it on Wenwen's desk. I'll talk to her about it later."

"Thank you, teacher." Li Wanyan then gently placed the gift on the table.

Most students in Class 2 knew that Qiu Yi and Ye Wen were a couple. Even those who weren't in Class 2 would likely assume the same thing if they played Rain Sky Brawl.

Li Wanyan felt more at ease handing the items over to him.

The office door was closed again, and a brief silence fell once more.

Qiu Yi shook his head and sighed to himself, "Why are most families in this world so imperfect?"

……

After locking the classroom door, Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan walked out of the school as usual.

Of course, there was one more person than usual, Lu Chengyuan.

Since Lu Chengyuan started going home with the two of them, there has been one more student staying in the classroom every day after school.

Sometimes she would help with cleaning, just like Mo Xueyao, to speed things up so everyone could go home earlier.

It rained all day, and the temperature dropped quite a bit.

The three people walked side by side, each holding a separate umbrella.