A Young Woman's Heart

"I slept so well," she mumbled, yawning. "But I'm still a little sleepy."

"That's perfect, so you won't have trouble sleeping tonight."

"Awooo—" Mo Xueyao hugged Li Wanyan, rubbed against her lower abdomen, wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth, and then laughed as if her evil plan had succeeded, "Hehehe..."

"Don't smile like you're rich."

"Is there?"

"Exactly the same."

"By the way, are the pickled radishes ready?"

"Ah."

"Is it okay to put it on the windowsill? Won't it get directly exposed to the sun when it's sunny?"

"Leave it for now, and ask your godmother where you can put it when she comes back tonight."

"There doesn't seem to be any cool, dry place in the house where we can put it." She propped herself up on Li Wanyan's thighs and sat up. "Do we have to put it under the bed?"

"Perhaps."

Holidays are always a wonderful time.

The day just slipped away in sleep.

I feel like this is a bit of a waste.

But sleeping for so long in one day is really satisfying. It's probably like making up for the lack of sleep during the school year during the holidays.

Summer vacation is almost over, and the start of the new school year in September is just around the corner.

Having already finished her homework, Mo Xueyao didn't feel any aversion; on the contrary, she was looking forward to seeing her familiar and lovely classmates again in class.

Actually, even in the past, she loved going to school, not for the sake of learning any knowledge, but simply so that she could see her friends again.

And the lively atmosphere of being with peers is completely different from the feeling of staying at home.

When she first woke up, she didn't feel hungry; instead, her stomach felt bloated. But an hour later, her stomach started growling.

Although I really wanted to eat freshly pickled cherry radishes, I heard they don't taste good that way, so I just had some noodles for dinner.

Today, my mother returned a few hours earlier than my father.

"Why are you here so early today?" Mo Xueyao, who had just finished eating noodles, was leaning back in her chair, lazily turning her head to look at the door.

"I'm tired, I'll go to bed early tonight."

"Oh."

Mo Xueyao got up at 10 o'clock today, fell asleep again at 12 o'clock, and didn't wake up until 8 o'clock in the evening.

I always felt something was off when I heard my mother say those words.

While she was sleeping, everyone else had already finished their day's work.

I feel like I've wasted time, which seems a bit of a pity.

"Have you just eaten?" the mother asked.

"Yes, we've finished eating."

"I don't want any, I already ate some." Her mother rolled her eyes at her, then noticed the jars and bottles on the windowsill. "So many pickled radishes! Did Yan Yan make them?"

"Ah."

"Look at you, Yaoyao, your hands are clumsier than your feet. Can't you study properly? You're always slacking off. What did you do today?"

"Ahem... I slept all day."

"Why did you sleep all day?" Instead of scolding her as Mo Xueyao had expected, her mother asked with concern, "Are you feeling unwell?"

"Uh, I don't know, I just really want to sleep."

"It's possible she has roundworms in her stomach. Roundworms can also make you sleepy. I used to be like that." The mother, who was about to take off her shoes, put down the things she had brought back and hurriedly went downstairs again.

Before long, he returned home with a small plastic bottle.

The bottle contained pale yellow, puff-shaped candies. Actually, it was a kind of deworming medicine, but it tasted quite fragrant and delicious. Mo Xueyao had eaten quite a few when she was a child.

"Here, take two roundworm pills. You need to take them every day until you finish them."

"What are you doing, eating so much?"

"Get rid of roundworms."

"How can you be so sure it exists...?"

“Then you can eat it like candy. This is different from regular deworming medicine. It’s okay to eat more. Just consider it a preventative measure.” The mother looked at Li Wanyan. “Yanyan, you should eat some too, just in case.”

"Ah."

Mo Xueyao reluctantly accepted the yellow medicine bottle, took out two pills, and popped them into her mouth.

I had two after dinner, and they actually tasted pretty good.

"How is it? How does it taste?" The mother took one and put it in her mouth. "When you were little, there was no candy. When we gave you this kind of roundworm medicine, you were always so happy."

"Really...?"

"Of course."

"Okay, I think the taste is just so-so."

“Of course, things are better now, we definitely wouldn’t want this kind of candy.” Mother smiled. “When we were little, we didn’t even have this kind of candy. Back then, we had to trade toothpaste tubes for candy. One toothpaste tube could be exchanged for several pieces of maltose or ginger candy. The candy sellers would just tap a small wooden board and knock off a few pieces. The number you could exchange for different toothpaste tubes was also different…”

"Maltose? Is that sticky, cloyingly sweet stuff? What's so delicious about that?"

"Back then, it was a real treat. Even if you had a toothpaste tube, you couldn't exchange it for candy unless someone selling candy passed by!" Mother recalled a funny incident. "Your uncle was the worst off. Once, the candy exchanger came, and we didn't have any empty toothpaste tubes at home, so he squeezed out all the toothpaste tubes that were still half full and took the tubes to exchange for maltose!"

"Oh, and then what happened?"

"Later, of course, your grandfather hung him from a tree and whipped him."

"Tsk tsk, serves him right, toothpaste was quite expensive back then."

"Exactly, everyone was poor back then, and he was still so wasteful. Don't you think he deserved a beating?"

"Hahaha--"

It seems that everyone has such a painful past.

……

Chapter 118 Selling Popsicles!

Saturday morning.

Before the sun became too hot, Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan left home.

Today is the day I've arranged to meet Nora.

I called her last night—she now has a Chinese phone number.

However, when she calls Mo Xueyao, no one may answer, because she only knows Mo Xueyao's home phone number, but not the fruit shop's.

If everyone is at the fruit shop, then it's naturally impossible to get through to their home phone.

This is the biggest drawback of landline phones.

But what can you do when mobile phones are so expensive?

Ordinary people can't afford it.

Even a basic mobile phone costs an average person a month's salary.

Landline phones are much cheaper, costing only two or three hundred yuan each. Although they are inconvenient, they are better than nothing.

Nora's neighborhood is considered a mid-range neighborhood. There's a security booth at the entrance, but the security guards don't actually check people coming in and out; it's just for show to let people know someone is there.

Mo Xueyao's parents didn't like this kind of community with security guards at all, mainly because the property management fees would be much higher.

In this day and age, most ordinary people dislike property management companies, thinking they are useless, charge high fees, and pass the buck when they have problems. They feel it's better for homeowners to manage themselves.

Moreover, even without property management, there is still the community. The community belongs to the government and may play a more significant role than property management in some situations.

Mo Xueyao's thoughts drifted far away, while Nora's yard drew closer.

Just then, the slightly distorted, electric voice of a cheap loudspeaker rang out in the neighborhood: "Ice popsicles for sale! One cent each!"

"Oh, an ice cream vendor?" Mo Xueyao exclaimed with delight. "People used to call out like that when I lived here, but I haven't seen it this year!"

"Hmm, I don't think I've seen him this year." Clearly, Li Wanyan had seen quite a few before.

A short while later, the owner of the voice appeared at the corner of the neighborhood on a bicycle. A foam box was tied to the back seat, and a smaller one was in the basket in front. He also had a small bag for money hanging on his body. He was riding unsteadily.

"Has Wanyan eaten this before?"

"I've eaten it before. The last time I ate it was the year before last. Back then, it was five cents a piece."

"The price has doubled in two years?" Mo Xueyao once again felt the soaring prices firsthand. "Let's have one? And I'll bring one back for Nora too."

"Ah."

These vendors riding bicycles or tricycles can be found all year round. In summer they sell popsicles, in autumn they might sell ginger candy, and in winter they might sell sweet potatoes.

They are more likely to appear in the more dilapidated the neighborhood; they might not come to mid-range neighborhoods like this one.

The most common places are still in urban villages, mainly because the goods sold by these vendors are very cheap.

"Boss, I want to buy an ice pop!" Mo Xueyao waved and shouted.

"Okay, how many do you want?" The vendor immediately stopped, propped his bicycle up with one foot, and asked, leaning slightly to the side.

"Three."

"Three cats (hair)."

"Okay, here you go." Mo Xueyao handed over fifty cents directly.

These are handmade popsicles, completely different from those bought in supermarkets.

They looked like crystal-clear, light blue cuboids, simply packed in styrofoam boxes filled with ice, without any covering.