A Young Woman's Heart

"It's just a slow jog, I won't run too fast." Her mother always wanted her to wear a skirt, which made it seem a bit deliberate at times.

Actually, her idea was very simple: to let Mo Xueyao wear more skirts and experience the life of a girl.

However, after so much time has passed, and she's worn skirts quite often, so a day or two won't make a difference. If you're talking about getting used to it—she definitely has long since gotten used to it.

This time, Mo Xueyao wasn't making excuses; she was genuinely considering safety and convenience.

Otherwise, if she were to accidentally expose herself, wouldn't it be embarrassing if people kept staring at her?

"Wear a skirt! Mom bought you and Yan Yan a sporty skirt set before, but you haven't tried them on yet!"

"Mom—you're really overdoing it. Have you got a lot of money lately? Why are you buying so many clothes? The old ones aren't even worn out yet."

"A girl shouldn't wear tattered clothes."

“Girls aren’t that delicate.” Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t go against her mother’s wishes. She could only watch as her mother pulled out two sets of sports dresses, handing one blue set to Mo Xueyao and the other white set to Li Wanyan.

“You wear the blue one, and Yan Yan can wear the white one.”

"What?"

"Your white clothes get dirty easily."

"Tch—I'm not a child anymore."

"In my eyes, you are exactly the same as when you were a child."

"Tsk." Mo Xueyao clicked her tongue, but in the end she obediently put on the blue sports dress.

Sports skirts are actually no different from ordinary casual wear. The top is also short-sleeved, but the shorts are replaced with a skirt.

Another difference is the material. The set my mother bought is more form-fitting and comfortable, making it suitable for summer wear.

The tracksuits that Mo Xueyao wore as a boy were all made of linen and were quite rough.

She strongly suspected that it wasn't a difference in quality between men's and women's clothing, but rather that her mother had bought her more expensive women's clothes—at least more expensive than the men's clothes she had bought for herself before.

This is probably because... boys can be more casual, but girls can't settle for less.

Li Wanyan sometimes gets up later on holidays, but she usually gets up around six o'clock.

"Yaoyao, are you going for a run?" Li Wanyan ran her fingers through her long hair, which had become a little messy after a night's sleep, and asked with squinted eyes.

"Yes, Wanyan, are you coming along?"

"Okay, let me wash up." Li Wanyan easily climbed out of bed, a stark contrast to Mo Xueyao's usual struggle to get out of bed.

"Wanyan, how do you manage to get up so easily?" Mo Xueyao asked enviously. "I can't do it. It always takes me ten minutes to get up..."

"Perhaps Yao Yao isn't sleeping well," she replied softly.

"Huh?" Being told that her sleep quality was bad always gave Mo Xueyao a strange feeling. It seemed that when they first started living together, she didn't sleep well every day. When did she start to have better sleep quality than Mo Xueyao?

On summer mornings, there are noticeably fewer students on the streets, and even those who are there are mostly wearing their own clothes rather than the uniforms.

Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan only ate a little breakfast to fill their stomachs, and did not eat too much, mainly to avoid overeating and getting stomach aches when running.

"Going back and forth?"

"Yes—! Come back and take a shower!" Mo Xueyao clenched her fists. "Is Wanyan confident she can finish the run?"

"It's alright," Li Wanyan replied ambiguously.

The two walked slowly out of the residential area, treating it as a warm-up exercise.

As they left the community gate, the repair shop owner glanced up at them, then picked up a spray paint and focused intently on changing the color of a bicycle.

Judging from the car model, it should be a car for young people, since only young people like to tinker with things.

Under a big tree next to the auto repair shop, two old men were playing Chinese chess at a small folding table with a built-in chessboard. Another old man next to them sneered, "How many years have you two been playing Chinese chess? Aren't you tired of it yet? What's so interesting about Chinese chess? It's just the same old routine over and over again. You might as well play Go with me!"

"Old Li, shut up!" Another white-haired old man, who was pondering his move, spat to the side. "You old codger, you talk too much."

"Ha ha--"

It seems they weren't arguing, but just playfully teasing each other as good friends.

Even at such an advanced age, she still retains a childlike heart.

Jogging on such an old street will always attract the attention of many people.

Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan were like a beautiful sight, bringing people a good mood for the day.

They rode their bikes to the fruit shop, and also walked to the bus stop before taking a bus to the fruit shop.

But this is the first time I've ever run the whole way like this.

Running at a moderate pace allows you to see many details that you wouldn't normally notice.

The barber shop owner had arrived early, but the roller shutter door was only half open. Through the half-open door, you could see the barber inside with his legs propped up on the table, eating noodles he had bought from a breakfast shop.

The noodle shop on the left side of the alley hadn't opened yet, but the owner's son had arrived early and was entertaining himself with a model airplane.

The shop is a long, narrow corridor, with the front half being a noodle shop and the back half being a tea room and chess and card room.

It connects to Mo Xueyao's residential area, so if you want to come here but don't want to go around, you can take this route.

By the time she reached this point, she was quite tired; her chest was heaving, and she was breathing more rapidly.

"Huff, huff... huff..."

Are you tired?

"It's alright, let's continue." Mo Xueyao swallowed and took a shortcut to keep running forward.

Because I haven't exercised for so long, my muscles have atrophied, and I feel so tired that I can't muster any strength even after running only a short distance.

By the time she reached the station, she was panting heavily, like a broken bellows.

"Take a break," Li Wanyan suggested. She seemed quite relaxed. Although she hadn't deliberately exercised, she hadn't missed a single morning exercise or PE class run at school.

"Just... hang in there..." Mo Xueyao struggled to speak, her body leaning slightly forward as she swayed and ran forward, her hair soaked with sweat and large beads of sweat rolling down her forehead.

"If you haven't exercised in a long time, you have to take it slowly."

"Hmm..." Seeing that she was about to hit someone, Mo Xueyao grabbed Li Wanyan and stopped the 'car'. Then, she supported herself on her knees and couldn't move an inch for a long time before she recovered a little. "Ah, so tired, let's walk for a while...!"

"Ah."

She originally thought this wouldn't be too difficult, but she didn't expect it to be so painful to actually do it.

When I'm running, even breathing heavily can make my throat feel sore.

She had only jogged about a kilometer when her throat was already parched. She gulped down the whole bottle of water that Li Wanyan had brought in one go.

"You need to drink sparingly, otherwise there won't be any water left to drink." Li Wanyan looked at her, shook her head helplessly, and wiped the sweat from her face that was obscuring her vision with a handkerchief.

Mo Xueyao also parted her matted hair and let out a long breath.

After walking for a while, she felt a little unwilling to just walk all the way to the finish line, so she dragged her heavy body and started running again.

This time, she had to stop and walk after running only 500 meters because she was out of water. She had to buy a large bottle of mineral water from a roadside vendor, using Li Wanyan's money—because she hadn't brought her wallet with her at all.

When you're riding a bicycle, it doesn't feel particularly far, but when you're running or walking halfway between, the journey feels incredibly long.

It took us ages to get near the heavy machinery factory; almost an hour had passed.

Once you get to this area, there are far fewer pedestrians on the road. Sometimes you can't see a single shop for an entire stretch of road, only cars driving by, making it seem quite deserted.

But it's also perfect for running, at least you don't have to suddenly slow down or take a detour because there are people in front of you.

You should know that when jogging, taking detours and constantly slowing down and accelerating are the most tiring things.

Students training in physical education at the school are often required to do interval running during training.

Most people simply couldn't handle it.

As the sun rose higher and the clouds gradually dispersed, the temperature quickly rose.

Only when under the shade of a tree can one feel a little coolness.

Li Wanyan's clothes were also soaked with sweat, and her steps looked a little heavy, but she was much better than Mo Xueyao, who couldn't even drag her legs.

"Ah—I was overthinking it. I even ran back and forth. I'm lucky I even made it across..."

"Let's run there today."

"Um, I need to take a shower when we get there... Oh no, I forgot to bring a change of clothes!" Mo Xueyao lamented. "Won't I have to take a bus home to shower again when we get there? If that happens, I'll feel like an idiot..."

Li Wanyan did not answer, clearly she was also unsure whether there were still their clothes there.

It seems she was overconfident, making the round trip too easy.

……

Chapter Ninety-Six: The Exhilaration After Exercise

By the time she arrived at the fruit shop, Mo Xueyao was exhausted, looking like a dead dog.

She didn't even have the strength to breathe, and plopped down on the small stool, feeling like she was about to ascend to heaven.

Just as Su Tang jumped up, Mo Xueyao pushed her back down: "Stop messing around, I'm exhausted, don't come up, it's too heavy..."

"Did you finish the whole course?" the mother asked with a hint of teasing. "Or did you only run part of it?"

"Run a bit, stop a bit, ah, so tired..." Mo Xueyao drank the last bit of water in one gulp and leaned against the cardboard box behind her. Even when Su Tang jumped on top of the box and scratched her hair, she didn't have the strength to hit it.

"So, are you still going to run back?"

"Absolutely, absolutely not, I can't run back!" She shook her arms; even though she had run on foot, for some reason her arms were aching. "I want to take a shower... Are there any clothes here...?"

“I knew you wouldn’t be able to run back, so I brought you a change of clothes, and I brought Yan Yan’s too.” The mother, with an expression that said, ‘Don’t I know you?’, took out a plastic bag. “Go wash up. You’re all sweaty. Aren’t you uncomfortable?”

"Ah, sit for a while, sit for a while... Should we go to Grandma Jin's house to wash or to Godfather's house?"

"Let's go to your godfather's house, and bring a chilled watermelon while we're at it." The mother said, taking out half a chilled watermelon wrapped in plastic wrap from the refrigerator.

Although it was only half a watermelon, it was bigger than a whole watermelon. The inside was almost seedless and as red as ink.

This was the first time Mo Xueyao had ever seen such a red watermelon.

"These are watermelons that just came on the market this year; they're especially red and sweet."

"What a huge watermelon!" She thought it was big enough to be used as a washbasin, and it would be so satisfying to scoop it out and eat it.