A Young Woman's Heart

Li Wanyan sat beside Mo Xueyao with a banana leaf in her hand, gently fanning herself. The sunlight outside was still dazzling, and the flow of time seemed to slow down on this otherwise unremarkable day during the summer vacation.

Only those who live in bustling cities year-round know how precious the quiet mountains are.

Inspirations that would have been affected by external noise in the past suddenly surged into Hua Yinyin's mind.

“Hmm… the panels here should be slanted, even more slanted, that’s right! This makes it more expressive…” Hua Yinyin has a great talent for drawing, and she can learn many things on her own, which is of course due to her boundless imagination.

Hua Yinyin was in exceptionally good form today, not only bursting with inspiration but also displaying high accuracy, which meant she didn't need to make frequent revisions while painting.

What used to take four hours, she can now finish in an hour or even half an hour.

Mo Xueyao hadn't actually slept for long, only about an hour. When she woke up, it was only 2 p.m.

"Phew..." She wiped a few beads of sweat from her forehead and let out a soft breath.

"Don't sleep a little longer," Li Wanyan asked, handing her a fan made of banana leaves.

"Uh, I had such a stimulating dream... phew." Mo Xueyao swallowed. "When I woke up, I was greeted by such bright sunshine, and I immediately felt relieved."

"What dream?"

“I dreamt that I became the protagonist of my novel and had to face an extremely terrifying monster.” Mo Xueyao didn’t get up, but instead rested her head on Li Wanyan’s lap. “But even though I couldn’t beat it, I still had to hold on and not back down… In the dream, I felt like a hero.”

"We cannot retreat, for behind us lie the lights of countless homes."

"Hey, hey, right, that's roughly what I was thinking back then!" Mo Xueyao suddenly sat up, almost bumping into Li Wanyan's chin. "I've got another idea!"

"What inspiration?" Mo Xueyao's shout finally made Hua Yinyin, who was focused on drawing, react.

"The inspiration for the next chapter, or rather, the inspiration for the overall framework!"

"By the way, the illustration is finished. I'm drawing the comic now. Would you like to see the illustration?"

"Okay!" Mo Xueyao suddenly remembered this and was looking forward to seeing what it would be like.

The moment Mo Xueyao saw the image, she gasped in shock.

"What? You're not satisfied?"

"No...it's exactly what I imagined...!" Mo Xueyao exclaimed. "Yinyin, are you a tapeworm in my stomach? You can even see the scenes I imagine!"

"What do you mean by 'worms in the stomach'? Am I a worm?" Hua Yinyin was very dissatisfied with this analogy. "It should be called 'telepathic understanding'!"

“It’s like we share a single brain.” This time, Mo Xueyao didn’t refute her.

The painting was such a pleasant surprise, completely exceeding her expectations, and she never imagined that Hua Yinyin could depict it so perfectly.

"Hmph, of course! I care about everything that Yaoyao cares about!" Hua Yinyin patted her chest proudly. "I'm going to become a top painter someday! This is just the first step on my road to fame!"

"So our little studio is up and running now?" Mo Xueyao took her notebook and sat down. She wasn't planning to write anything specific right now; she just wanted to quickly jot down her inspirations and continue refining the overall story framework.

"What name are you planning to use?" Hua Yinyin held a pencil to her upturned lips.

"Shall we each choose one of our names to name it?"

"It seems a bit too casual." Hua Yinyin suddenly shivered, noticing the 'dangerous' look Li Wanyan was giving her.

"Then let's choose a nice-sounding name."

"How about we call it... Pencil Studio?" Hua Yinyin was completely making do with what she had on hand.

"You're being even more casual, aren't you?" Mo Xueyao waved her hand. "Forget it, how about we just call it the Light Particle Studio for now?"

"I don't know why she's called that, but as long as Xiaoyao likes it, that's fine." Hua Yinyin didn't seem very interested in it. She lowered her head and went back to drawing her comics.

Visuals can actually convey a lot. A chapter may seem to have a lot of words at first glance, but when presented in comics, it's really just a few pages long.

After finishing the entire chapter, Hua Yinyin finally let out a long sigh of relief and slumped into her chair.

"Whew—this is the first time I've ever gotten so tired from drawing!"

"Thank you for your hard work," Mo Xueyao said sincerely.

"I need to rub my thigh against Yaoyao's leg to relieve my fatigue~"

This time, even Mo Xueyao felt embarrassed to refuse. She could only scratch her cheek awkwardly and say, "Tsk, whatever you want..."

Then, she picked up the comic that Hua Yinyin had finished and started reading it.

The comic is, of course, in black and white, and apart from the main parts, other elements such as the background are blurred.

This saves time while also creating the desired atmosphere.

Mo Xueyao flipped through the pages one by one, wishing she could immediately seal them in plastic to prevent them from being damaged.

The sense of power and life in the battle, as well as the subtle changes in the muscles, are all very well done. Although each page is a still image, reading it in one go feels very tense, as if the images are in motion.

If novels can create a world to fill one's wildest imagination at the lowest cost, then comics can depict seemingly moving images at the lowest cost.

Some people lack imagination and find novels somewhat dry and boring, but if they are translated into comics, they can immediately immerse themselves in the story.

This is why far more people prefer reading comics than novels.

Hua Yinyin rubbed against Mo Xueyao's thigh, her restless hands groping everywhere, even trying to slip inside.

Of course, Mo Xueyao quickly slapped it away.

"What are you doing? Stop fooling around."

"Hehehe, I just wanted to see how Yaoyao is developing~ Has she gotten bigger?"

"...I don't want to develop. Don't you think it's tiring to carry around two such big burdens all day?"

"What do you mean by 'burden'? This is a girl's most precious possession!"

"Tch, it's like you're carrying a heavy load when you run." Mo Xueyao curled her lip in disdain.

"Hmph, Little Yaoyao is just jealous of me. It's okay, I'm a professional massage therapist. Little Yaoyao, let me massage you every day, and I can help you get bigger!"

"Go play somewhere else..." Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes.

Next, the two discussed and revised some details.

Li Wanyan would occasionally offer her own opinions from the side.

“If it’s such a huge creature, it must be very massive. If it stood on a city road, the ground would definitely collapse,” Li Wanyan said softly, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Eh? Well... the giant can be said to be composed of special light particles, which are relatively light, like an ultra-light alloy."

"And what about the monster?"

Mo Xueyao scratched her head vigorously: "Uh... um... monsters are about the same?"

"We still need some weight to enhance the expressiveness."

"Uh-huh, so when the monster appears, the ground still has to collapse a bit?"

“Normally, the ground would be like sand or swamp to such a huge monster; you would sink into it just by standing on it.”

"Then let's compare it to ordinary people walking on sand... Wouldn't it be difficult to depict many battles in a swamp?" Mo Xueyao asked.

"It depends on whether you need to pursue ultimate realism or partial realism," Li Wanyan told her to choose for herself.

"Okay, then let's go with the sandy area."

Time flew by during the discussion, and it wasn't until the afternoon sun was setting that everyone finally finished discussing most of the issues.

"By the way, what are those fruits on those trees outside? Are they edible?" Hua Yinyin stretched lazily, revealing her smooth and delicate belly. "They look like mulberries?"

“It’s mulberry,” Li Wanyan nodded. “But it’s a bit tall.”

"Hmm—it doesn't look like it will be easy to climb up there."

"Shall I give it a try?" Mo Xueyao excitedly raised her hand. Climbing walls and trees was something she used to do often when she was a child. Although she hadn't done it for many years, she figured she could still do it and wouldn't be too rusty.

"No, it will break your skin," Li Wanyan refused.

"It's okay, I'm wearing long pants. I mainly use my thighs for support, so it won't tear." Mo Xueyao was very experienced.

"How about Xiaoyao tries it?" Hua Yinyin seemed a little tempted.

"Give it a try! It looks ripe enough to eat. Mulberries are delicious, whether they're sweet and sour or very sweet." Mo Xueyao licked her lips, recalling the days when she climbed trees to pick mulberries as a child. She remembered the taste of mulberries as wonderful, and how eating too many would turn her mouth and tongue a dark purple color…

……

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Picking Mulberries

Mulberry trees are generally easy to climb, but these few are clearly not. Perhaps they are older, or perhaps they are a special variety. In any case, they look too straight and do not have enough branches, making it difficult to climb them.

The best way is to grip the tree trunk with your legs and pull yourself up with your arms.

Therefore, only an experienced person can do it.

To avoid being bitten by mosquitoes while climbing the mountain, Mo Xueyao was wearing long pants and also put on the jacket she had in her backpack to prevent her exposed arms from being scratched by the rough tree trunks or sharp branches.

"Be careful," Li Wanyan said with a worried look. "If you can't make it, come down."

"Little Yaoyao, don't worry, I'll catch you down here!"

"Can you catch it...?" Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes and spat twice into her palm. "Hmph, don't worry, I was really good at climbing trees when I was a kid!"

If Mo Xueyao had been quiet as a child, with her delicate features, she wouldn't have been considered a 'tomboy' even if her hair had grown a little longer.

But in fact, when she was a child, people who didn't know the truth would still treat her as a boy—even though she was a boy at that time.

This also shows how mischievous she was as a child.

The little boy's personality is such that he likes to climb up and down.

Mo Xueyao rubbed her hands together, and then Hua Yinyin tossed her gloves over.

"Wouldn't it be better to wear gloves?"

"Oh dear, is it really necessary to be so particular?"

"Put it on," Li Wanyan said in an unyielding tone.

Rough tree bark can easily damage the skin, especially for delicate girls.

“Okay…” Mo Xueyao reluctantly put on the gloves, because they were too hot to wear and she couldn’t show off her non-existent 'masculinity'.

"Whoosh!" She took a deep breath, and past memories flooded her mind. At first, she was a little rusty, but gradually she became more skilled and climbed higher and higher.