A Young Woman's Heart

Mo Xueyao is quite tactful in this regard—to be honest, Li Wanyan is still a guest in her home!

While she was washing the dishes, Li Wanyan found the buckwheat noodles her mother had bought for the New Year, poured them into a small basin, and put all the small radishes in. After washing them, she found a clean cardboard box, cut off the protruding parts, leaving only a ring around the edge to prevent the radishes from rolling out on their own.

Then, lay the radishes flat on the top and place them on the right side of the balcony. Let them dry for another day tomorrow to complete this step.

Just as dried shiitake mushrooms become more fragrant, the same reason applies to properly drying pickled vegetables.

"Do we need to do the remaining steps tomorrow?" Mo Xueyao asked, shaking her hands as she walked out of the kitchen after washing the dishes.

"Yes, then it's time to marinate."

"How many days will it take at least to taste good?"

"Two weeks later."

"It's been a long time."

"It tastes even better after three months." Li Wanyan took off the apron she was wearing and hung it on a hook in the kitchen. She hadn't had time to shower since she got back, and she felt sticky all over.

"Ugh—I feel like I'm sweating again." Mo Xueyao stood in front of the electric fan and lifted her skirt. "Whew—this is definitely more comfortable!"

Li Wanyan shook her head helplessly and gently closed the rotten wooden door of the bathroom.

Mo Xueyao deliberately crouched down to look inside, and laughed loudly, "Hehehe, Wanyan, I can see you!"

"Your actions are like those of a little boy who hasn't grown up."

"What do you mean 'not grown up'! This is childlike fun, okay? Childlike fun! People should always keep a young heart, right?"

To be honest, this isn't childlike fun at all; it's just pure, morbid humor.

However, Mo Xueyao was just teasing her on purpose and didn't really mean to look. When she started to take off her clothes, she stood up again.

There was still some leftover cold radish salad on the table, which she put in the refrigerator, and casually picked up a piece and popped it into her mouth.

"I feel like this could be eaten as a snack."

"of course can."

"Oh, right, where are the radish leaves?"

"Put it in the refrigerator, we'll eat it tomorrow." Li Wanyan's voice was mixed with the sound of running water, making it sound somewhat indistinct.

……

Chapter 104 The Uncle and the Disabled Girl

Zhuang Lianlian's get off work hours are not fixed. In the morning, Grandma Jin usually opens the door because the elderly do not sleep for long and can get up in the morning.

You can have dinner before going home in the evening, or you can leave without having dinner.

The time difference may be one or two hours.

Chen Cheng went to Ma Jia's place today. Ma Jia came to see him during the day, saying they wanted to go swimming together.

I don't know which river we found.

She was still a little worried throughout the day, but she breathed a sigh of relief when he called to say he was coming back.

Anyway, it will take more than an hour for Chen Cheng to arrive. After all, he came from the other side of the city. If he gets a flat tire or runs out of power on the way, it will take even longer.

So she simply had dinner at Grandma Jin's place—actually, at Mo Xueyao's fruit shop.

Yang Xiaoyu can just cook a little more when she cooks, since neither of them can eat that much anyway.

"Do you sell mobile phone rechargeable batteries?" Just as Zhuang Lianlian finished eating and returned to the shop, a man reeking of sweat walked in.

"Rechargeable batteries? We have them." Zhuang Lianlian lowered her head and handed over a delicate little box. "Is that right?"

"Yes, it's number five, right?"

"Ah."

"how much is it?"

Five yuan.

This is the price for two AA batteries and a charger.

"Is there anything cheaper?" But the man in front of him still felt it was a bit expensive.

"Yes, there is..." Zhuang Lianlian bent down and pulled out a simple battery charger from under the counter. It didn't even have a box; it was just sealed in a simple plastic bag. The two batteries inside were of unknown brand.

How much is this?

"Two yuan and fifty cents, um... it might not be very reliable." She still gave a very sincere reminder.

"It's fine, this will do." He smiled and handed over two silver coins and one yellow coin.

"Lianlian—! I'm here to pick you up~!" Chen Cheng's loud laughter came from outside the grocery store. He was always happy to pick up Zhuang Lianlian every day.

After all, we hadn't seen each other all day.

The two got together very quickly, moving in together almost after only a few meetings, but their relationship was surprisingly long-lasting, unlike most so-called 'love at first sight' relationships that are short-lived.

"Mmm~" Zhuang Lianlian smiled happily, "Come in first, Grandma Jin is still chatting next door."

"Oh—" Then, the sound of an electric scooter being propped up came from outside the door. The reason why it could be identified as an electric scooter was, of course, because its sound was heavier than that of a bicycle.

Then, the tall and thin Chen Cheng walked in.

The middle-aged man who bought the batteries had just put them in his pocket when he looked up and saw him.

The two locked eyes.

Chen Cheng froze on the spot, his expression immediately turning strange.

The middle-aged man's expression froze. A full minute passed before he gave a self-deprecating laugh: "This is your girlfriend?"

"What's it to you?" Chen Cheng sized up the other person, frowning. "Why are you dressed like that?"

The father who had been dressed in a suit and tie the last time he saw him was now wearing tattered work clothes, filthy and reeking of sweat, looking no different from a migrant worker on a construction site.

"Heh, brat, you always talk to me like that. Well, I'll just say the same thing back." Old Chen, unusually, didn't hold back anymore. "What's it to you?"

"Tired of the life of luxury, want to experience life?" Chen Cheng's tone was somewhat mocking.

"Yes, it's good to sweat occasionally."

"Heh..." He retreated outside the shop, seemingly unwilling to stand in the same room as this man, but they still inevitably breathed the same air of the city together.

"Hey—Old Chen! You're up so early today?" Mo Wenli, who was standing at the door picking his teeth and chatting with Grandma Jin, waved to him. "Aunt Jin hasn't gone home yet. Why don't you go to her house and take a good shower? So you don't always have to shower in front of the shop!"

Old Chen usually comes home quite late. In the summer heat, he naturally needs to take a shower. He usually stands at the door, wearing only a pair of shorts, and then uses the tap water to rinse off.

Luckily it was summer; if it were winter, I would probably have gotten sick from the cold.

Moreover, washing like this definitely won't get you properly clean; it's just a makeshift way to clean your body.

Chen Cheng recognized the uncle from the fruit shop next door. He looked at the man, then at his father who was walking out of the shop, and asked in a deep voice, "Did your company go bankrupt?"

Old Chen remained silent, pretending not to see him.

"Idiot." Chen Cheng spat to the side and shouted to Zhuang Lianlian in the shop, "Let's go, Lianlian!"

"Huh...?"

"Let's go." He urged impatiently again, then straddled the electric scooter.

Old Chen went straight into the fruit shop and chatted with Mo Wenli with a smile.

Not long after, he got a key from Grandma Jin, and left with a washbasin and a change of clothes.

It was as if Chen Cheng had mistaken someone for someone else, and that the man was not his father at all.

"Grandma Jin, I'm going home now."

"Okay, be careful on the road." Grandma Jin, who was chatting with Yang Xiaoyu, waved to her.

Across a small street, the people at the fruit shop didn't hear the tense conversation that had just taken place here.

"What's going on? That...uncle is your father, right?"

Chen Cheng remained silent, and only after Zhuang Lianlian was seated did he turn the accelerator and leave the general store.

Because the start was too fast, she almost fell to the ground. Luckily, she quickly grabbed Chen Cheng's clothes, otherwise she would have really fallen headfirst to the ground.

Chen Cheng coughed and slowed down.

"What's wrong? Why are you so emotional? Your father... seems to be having a hard time?"

"Hmph, who knows what kind of tricks he's up to? Maybe he prepared this all along to try and gain my sympathy. If he were really struggling, how could he come up with so much money a month and still afford such good cigarettes?"

"Hmm..."

"But...but...um...aren't you going to say anything to him?" Zhuang Lianlian hesitated for a long time before changing her words.

"There's nothing to say."

“You always say that.” She hugged Chen Cheng tightly, pressing her cheek against his back, her long hair swaying gently in the wind. “Actually, you’re not such a cold person, are you?”

"Who said that?"

"If you were really that cold-hearted, you wouldn't have pitied me back then, would you? And I know that from the beginning, your feelings for me were just pity... It was my own fear of you leaving me that led me to deliberately let you, to let you and me..."

Chen Cheng didn't answer, but she sped up a little more, and the wind blowing in her face made her voice even more indistinct.

"You only fell in love with me after that, right? Or was it more out of a sense of responsibility?"

"Of course not. I've dated many women, haven't I told you that?"

"Those are different."

"Tch, how do you know you're different from them?" Chen Cheng's words were somewhat harsh. Although she knew he might just be sulking, Zhuang Lianlian still felt her heart clench.

"Stop being stubborn."

"Who said I was being stubborn? I'm just telling the truth. I'm a cold-blooded person. I'm only with you to fill a void! What do you know! If you make me unhappy, I can kick you out anytime!"

She seemed petrified, remaining silent for the rest of the conversation.

Chen Cheng didn't say a word either.

The two returned home in this awkward atmosphere.