A Young Woman's Heart

"Pfft, what's that? Xiaoxue, aren't you usually quite humorous?" Chali covered her mouth with the back of her hand and laughed loudly. "How come I never noticed that before?"

"Everyone behaves differently in different situations."

"Like playing yourself in different situations?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Okay, okay, stop using that translator's tone, it sounds weird."

"Oh, really? I think that's interesting." Mr. Xue couldn't help but smile.

“Alright, charming gentleman, so if you don’t want hot pot, what would you like to eat?” Cha Li asked in a pretentious tone, speaking in a rather strange, comical, and funny way.

You don't really notice it when dubbing foreign films, but if you talk like that in real life, it's a completely different story.

"On such a hot evening, why not have something refreshing? How about that dessert shop?" Mr. Xue finally calmed down a bit.

"Okay," Cha Li readily agreed.

The two walked side by side, with fifty centimeters between them, creating a sense of being neither too close nor too distant.

It's dinner time now, and the dessert shop is deserted, with not a single customer in sight.

This is not a Western-style dessert shop, but a Japanese-style dessert shop. The desserts inside are small and exquisite, and the tables and chairs are even more exquisite than the food. When you come here, you are not really eating the taste, but a kind of elegant and bourgeois sentiment.

"Welcome!" a slightly plump waiter said with a smile from behind the counter. "Would you two like something to eat?"

"Let me see," Cha Li said, speaking before Mr. Xue could.

"You can order a drink and a snack; we have set meals like that."

"it is good."

"Today is Qixi Festival, and couples'套餐 (set meals) are all half price!"

"Wow, so cheap." Cha Li leisurely flipped the menu to the page for couples' set meals.

Mr. Xue glanced at her with a half-smile and said, "You choose."

"So casual?" Cha Li didn't look up, but just smiled and teased.

“Of course, that’s the manners a gentleman should have,” Mr. Xue said, suppressing a laugh.

"Stop it, haven't you had enough fun yet? Xiaoxue, so you're quite mischievous too?" Chali gave him a disgruntled look. "Actually, I don't really like so-called gentlemanly manners."

Mr. Xue did not make a sound, but simply turned his head slightly, assuming a posture of listening attentively.

"Gentlemanly conduct is actually about taking care of the weak. It places women in a weak position from the beginning and assumes that they need to be taken care of. This is not equality at all, but a kind of condescension or charity from the 'strong' to the 'weak'."

"Makes sense."

"Huh, I thought you knew?"

“Everyone’s perspective is limited, and of course I can’t know everything.” Mr. Xue gently tapped the table. “But it’s still better than discriminating against women.”

"It's not much better, and good manners are something you only show to women of status."

“Then it’s different again. It’s no longer a problem between men and women, but a problem between classes,” Mr. Xue shook his head and corrected softly.

"Oh, right, how about we order the couple's set meal? That way we can save half the money."

Before Mr. Xue could answer, the waiter next to him laughed and said, "We highly recommend today's couple's set meal. And if you two are willing to take a couple's photo and allow us to hang it in the store, you can also enter a lucky draw. There will definitely be no thank you for your patronage, at least you will get a participation prize."

"I never expected a Western-style pastry shop to celebrate Chinese festivals." Cha Li glanced at the large "Qixi Festival" sign on the poster.

"To be precise, it's Japanese style."

"Is our own tradition being lost, only to be picked up by others?" Cha Li muttered to herself, ordering one of the couple's set meals. "This one, please?"

"it is good."

"Okay, please find a seat, we'll bring your set meal right away."

Mr. Xue and Cha Li, dressed in casual clothes, looked like adults and were naturally treated as such by others.

There was no one in the shop, so the two of them could choose any seat. They found a window seat and sat down. The desserts and drinks were either ready-made or semi-finished, so they were served quickly.

“Cha Li, you mentioned tradition before. Actually, Chinese tradition has never been lost,” Mr. Xue said while stirring his black tea with a spoon.

"But it will definitely be gone in the future. Think about it, you can hardly even see sugar figurines anymore."

"No, it's just that some things have been eliminated by history. Only a very small number of excellent things have disappeared along with them, while the majority of others are simply a matter of historical necessity."

Cha Li looked at him quietly without interrupting him.

So Mr. Xue continued, “China has always been a civilization of integration. When other civilizations are integrated, they become the colors of those other civilizations. But the Chinese civilization is different. It has always been gray. No matter how much it is integrated, it only makes the gray part a little more. The integrated civilization becomes a part of itself, rather than becoming someone else.”

"But what if there are more other colors than the original color?"

"No, because by now, this gray civilization group is too large. Even if a large number of foreign civilizations are absorbed into it, it will be difficult for them to account for half. And even if they do account for half, they can be integrated into the gray one. In fact, many of the brilliant cultures in Chinese history were created by mutual collisions. There are many things that do not belong to this civilization."

"That's true. For example, the suona is an instrument that originated from abroad, but its long history has made it a native instrument."

“That’s right, so you don’t need to worry. This civilization has a very strong self-regulating ability. What we need to do is absorb as much of the good things as possible. It doesn’t matter if we absorb the bad things, because they will naturally be eliminated by us.”

"Like a person who can learn and evolve on their own?"

“That’s right, this is our civilization.” Mr. Xue nodded slightly. “It is because we have been learning and absorbing that we have been able to keep up and continue to this day. In fact, this civilization has not been weak for long in the course of history; it has been strong for most of the time.”

“That makes sense. Otherwise, our civilization would have disappeared long ago like the other three ancient civilizations.” Cha Li scooped up a small piece of cake with a spoon, put it in her mouth and savored it. “Hmm… the desserts here are quite good, rather mild. I don’t like things that are too sweet.”

"Yes, the bitterness is just right."

"Happy Qixi Festival!" Cha Li raised her glass and clinked it with his as if they were drinking.

"it is good."

"However, there doesn't seem to be much joy in Qixi Festival without a partner, does there?" Cha Li muttered to herself in a very soft voice, but Mr. Xue still heard her.

"Qixi Festival is not only a symbol of love, but also a young girl's beautiful wishes for the future."

"Really? Oh, this ice cream looks good. I'd like to try making it myself, but I don't have the professional tools at home, and the homemade version doesn't taste as good."

"Some things taste better when made in larger quantities."

"Mm." Cha Li nodded. The two stopped talking, but they didn't feel awkward because they were both carefully savoring their food. If they continued chatting, it would only spoil the deliciousness.

After all, even at half price, it's not cheap.

"How much?" After finishing his meal, Mr. Xue waved and called over the waiter.

"Don't rush, you can take a group photo first and then enter the lucky draw. There are also discount coupons that can be used together."

"Row."

So Mr. Xue waited quietly for Cha Li to finish eating, and then, as arranged by the waiter, went to a corner area specifically for taking photos.

"Come on, come on—" The waiter squatted down with a camera in hand, looking quite professional. "Get closer~ strike a pose, okay, smile—!"

"Click".

The group photo was taken to capture the moment.

Cha Li and Mr. Xue were just leaning against each other, without holding hands or doing anything intimate. However, their expressions seemed very natural. It wasn't that they were shy and didn't do it. Rather, it was as if they had been together for so long that they no longer liked to do such sweet and mushy things.

"Come on, let's have a lucky draw!"

"Come on," Mr. Xue said, looking at Cha Li.

"Then let's try my luck." Cha Li didn't stand on ceremony and reached into the box to pull out a piece of paper.

The waiter, even more curious than she was, came over and clapped his hands loudly.

Congratulations! This couple's set meal is completely free today!

Mr. Xue glanced at it sideways and saw the words "Free of Charge" written in large characters on the paper.

"Oh ho, not bad luck!" Cha Li nodded with great satisfaction. This way, they wouldn't have to worry about who would pay or whether to split the bill.

"We'll print it out and stick it on the wall. And, if I may ask, I have one more question~"

"What?" Cha Li, who had already reached the door, turned around and asked.

How long have you two been together?

"Pfft, haha—they're not together yet!"

"what?"

Mr. Xue pushed open the glass door and gave the waiter an apologetic look.

If you're not a couple but bought a couple's meal deal and then won a free meal in a raffle, does that count as lying?

……

Chapter 100 Parents' Qixi Festival

"Special offer on fruit gift boxes for Qixi Festival! Small box 18, large box 68!"

In Mo Xueyao's family's fruit shop, a newly purchased portable loudspeaker is continuously playing her father's recordings on a loop.

The so-called fruit gift box was actually just a standard box that my father bought, wrapped in kraft paper, and filled with some exquisite fruits. It looked quite abundant, but the price was actually not expensive.

For example, it contains grapes, longan, apricots...

But actually, the small box only contained five grapes, three longans, two apricots, an apple, and so on.

The larger boxes are much more expensive, and of course, they contain more items, but overall, the variety is the same, with no significant changes.

At first, Mo Xueyao thought it was noisy, but she got used to it over time.

This constantly repeating shout became a unique background 'music'.

Even though there were no customers in the shop, my father was wrapping a bouquet of flowers, using flowers with simple colors and a refreshing fragrance.

"Dad, are you going to deliver the flowers upstairs later?" Mo Xueyao gently stepped on Su Tang with her bare feet, who comfortably exposed her belly, letting her feet caress her.

"No need to see me out." The father shook his head.

"Then why are you wrapping flowers?"

"Give it to your mom."

"Huh?" At first glance, this sounded like an insult. Mo Xueyao was stunned for three seconds before she realized what it meant.