A Young Woman's Heart

I really hope to meet one. If I do, I'd love to grow old with him under the setting sun!

On the 8th of last month, I made a special trip to worship Bhaisajyaguru Buddha on the day of destiny, hoping to meet someone I like.

Hmm... I don't know if it actually works, but I'll pray anyway.

That day I also happened to participate in a shrine festival and spent 5,000 yen to catch goldfish, but I didn't catch anything. In the end, the uncle who set up the stall gave me two.

But I didn't want to buy goldfish at all!

Otherwise, why don't I just go to the goldfish shop and buy some?

Just like playing a claw machine, the enjoyment comes from the process of grabbing the item.

There are no direct flights from Nagoya to Hangzhou yet, so I plan to enjoy the journey as much as possible by taking a cargo ship from my dad's company to City X, and then flying to Hangzhou after arriving.

I've never traveled such a long distance alone before.

Fortunately, there were many people I knew on the ship, otherwise I might not have been able to stand it.

But once you arrive, you'll have to fly alone!

Therefore, you need to bring all sorts of things for entertainment and relaxation.

Hmm...like game consoles or something?

I'll stick with the GBC for handheld gaming. I can play consoles on the cargo ship, so I'll bring my new PS2. Anyway, there's bound to be a TV in my room on the ship.

By the way, has Lele ever been on a ship?

Those huge ships that cross the sea are like moving buildings, they're really spectacular!

Well, I'll tell you about that later, since I haven't experienced it many times myself.

In the past, when I went out with my parents, we always took airplanes, since it was the fastest and most convenient way.

Oh yeah, speaking of which, something really funny came to mind. When I was still in school, a classmate told me that it only takes an hour to fly from Japan to China.

Pfft, even the nearest flight takes about three hours, right?

After I corrected him, he still insisted that it would only take an hour, and said that I had never been on a plane before.

Are they just ignorant idiots, or is he riding in a fighter jet?

The funniest thing is that they think a plane can take off from anywhere and fly to any point on Earth in a maximum of two hours.

They have absolutely no concept of speed, don't you think, Lele?

Hmph, thankfully I don't stoop to the level of these commoners. They always like to exclude people who are different from the group, no wonder they think I'm a delinquent.

I think the real 'bad boys' are those students who have good grades but poor character!

Here, school bullying is quite common. There are often thugs around, and some people bully others at school, or everyone simply bands together to ignore a particular person.

How boring. Can't they put their energy into something meaningful?

It feels like every school here is like this—from my elementary school, middle school to high school, it's all the same.

I wonder if it's like this where you are?

Moreover, some people get angry for no apparent reason.

For example, once I met an older student but didn't greet him. Later, he came to my class and accused me of disrespecting my senior...

What? I was thinking about something at the time, so it's perfectly normal to forget to say hello. You're such a sensitive idiot.

What I hate most is having to bow and bend over to greet older students.

He's only two or three years older than me, why is he so arrogant?

But some people are really strange. For example, I don't insist that younger students do those 'etiquette' things. We can communicate as equals. But I didn't expect that the younger students would not respect me as much because of it.

really...

In the end, I was so angry that I lost my temper, which finally made them realize they were afraid.

Are they all beasts who only learn fear after being beaten?

Humans are clearly higher animals; they shouldn't communicate and interact in this way.

Tsk, if they knew my father was the president of Denling Corporation, this definitely wouldn't have happened.

But I still don't want them to know.

Because then you won't be able to make true friends.

At the very least, those who are still willing to be my friends when everyone treats me like an ordinary person are the real friends.

Well, I've been writing this letter on and off for three days, and I've finally finished it. Well then, see you in Hangzhou!

2000 7 Month 17 Day.

—Sanhua Tongjue.

Chapter 125 Stone Grilled Meat

You do sweat when playing in the water, but you don't feel it because you're soaking in the water.

If you don't wash yourself clean in the water before getting out of the water, you'll feel tiny bumps on your skin after it's dried in the wind.

Mo Xueyao picked up a grain and put it in her mouth, tasting it: "Hmm...it's salty."

"Eek—Xiao Yao ate bugs?" Mo Zhuyou, who hadn't seen clearly, immediately exclaimed, "She can't be that hungry, can she?"

"What bugs? They're just salt grains!" Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes at her, annoyed. "Why would I eat bugs?"

"Actually, some insects are quite delicious," Mo Xiao said with a smile. "Xiao Yao, would you like to try some?"

"Although the insects that my sister roasted are really delicious, I suggest that Xiaoyao should not eat them—unless you don't know they are insects, you will always feel like there is something moving in your stomach."

"That's just Youyou's imagination." Mo Xiao smiled, smoothed her sister's long hair, stood up from the water, and dried herself with the clean towel she had brought.

After resting for a while, everyone took a bath in the clean stream before changing their clothes and leaving.

What made Mo Xueyao a little regretful was that no one had actually walked through this place. If someone had, she could have seen Nora's reaction.

"Could it be that I've really picked up Hua Yinyin's perverse tastes? No, no, one is influenced by one's surroundings... It would be terrible if I became like her. People would stare at me with strange looks whenever I went out. I don't have her thick skin..." Mo Xueyao muttered to herself as she walked behind Nora, but she couldn't help but recall the image of Nora without clothes in her mind.

How should I put it? Surprisingly, she seems more alluring when she's wearing clothes.

Humans are truly strange creatures.

Or perhaps, it's just her who's strange?

When we returned to the simple 'villa', it was already 1 p.m., the hottest time of day.

Although they were playing in the water, everyone was already very tired. They watched TV for a while in the air-conditioned room. When Mo Xiaoxiao brought over lunch, she found that everyone except Li Wanyan and herself had fallen asleep.

Even Li Wanyan was only watching TV to keep going, but she clearly had no appetite for lunch.

"Why don't you take a nap if you're sleepy? It's okay to skip lunch once in a while," Mo Xiaoxiao said to Li Wanyan in her usual tone when speaking to her younger sister.

"Okay." She didn't try to be brave, adjusted her position slightly, leaned back on the sofa, and closed her eyes.

Fortunately, Mo Xiaoxiao made mostly cold dishes. The only hot dish was hot and sour shredded potatoes, but it's still edible even when it's cold, and some people might even prefer it cold.

She put the food into the refrigerator one by one, and then sat down on the sofa where her sister was sitting, squeezing in next to her.

It's usually just as quiet.

During the midday break, after lunch, my younger sister curled up in my arms like a kitten, enjoying the sunlight streaming through the window and the air conditioning on. I leaned back on the sofa, holding her in one arm and holding the remote control in the other, turning down the volume and switching to my favorite channel, watching intently.

It's a typical noon, and although it's as quiet as it is now, there's a sense of liveliness hidden within the quiet.

Because there were other people lying next to her, the originally empty little house now felt very full, which lessened the emptiness in her heart.

In fact, Mo Xiaoxiao is a person who likes lively atmosphere.

If she could, she would prefer to live with her whole family, with endless things to talk about and endless fun every day. Even the quarrels that were tinged with complaints but sounded more like playful banter were something she loved to hear.

Unfortunately, that's all in the past.

My parents are no longer here.

They will never be able to come back—because they went to another world.

Mo Xiaoxiao turned the TV volume down to '3', and then quietly watched while stroking her younger sister's long hair.

"Hmm...uh..." Mo Xueyao seemed to be dreaming. She was resting her head on Li Wanyan's lap, rolling over from one side to the other.

Several times she almost fell off, but Li Wanyan instinctively grabbed her each time.

Even in her sleep, she subconsciously protected Mo Xueyao, sometimes even opening her eyes slightly to make sure she hadn't fallen to the ground before closing them again with peace of mind.

"You slept so hard," Mo Xiaoxiao couldn't help but tease softly. "Wanyan cares a lot about Xiaoyao, but this kind of nap isn't very comfortable, is it?"

"It's alright," Li Wanyan replied in a very soft voice, glancing at her with her eyelids slightly raised. "Aren't you the same?"

"Has Wanyan already started treating Xiaoyao as her real younger sister?"

"Hmm..." Li Wanyan's reply was delayed, it seemed she had fallen asleep again.

Among all the students in the class, besides Mo Xueyao, the second person to call her 'Wanyan' was Mo Xiaoxiao.

I don't know when it started.

Perhaps it was because he felt she was one of his own kind that he used a more intimate term of address?

Everyone else calls him 'class monitor,' and depending on the tone, it can express closeness or politeness, but it's not quite as intimate as it sounds.

Mo Xueyao was the last to wake up; to be precise, she woke up at the same time as Mo Zhuyou. They were both the last to wake up.

When I woke up, the bright sun overhead had disappeared, replaced by a pale yellow moon.

Moonlight streamed into the courtyard, shining through the French windows, and the twinkling stars resembled an audience below a stage.

What they see are the stories of the people on this planet.

She didn't rush to get up from the sofa, but instead stared blankly at the starry sky.

If those stars represent individual audience members, whose story on Earth would they prefer?

Will a few stares fall upon her?

Hmm, that's unlikely. After all, although her story is somewhat different from others, it's generally quite ordinary.