A Young Woman's Heart

"Do you want to rent it and drive it yourself?"

"Me drive? I can't possibly drive that far, can I?"

"Tsk tsk, Dad, you're so unambitious! Didn't you ever think about renting out the whole street?"

"Haha, we'll have to ask Grandma Jin if she agrees!" Father laughed. "Alas, it's a pity. Old Chen doesn't seem to have much money. Otherwise, it would be great for him to open a noodle shop here. He definitely wouldn't lose money; it's just a matter of how much he would earn."

"He doesn't look like someone who can cook..."

"Yeah, that's right. This guy never knew how to cook before, and although he knows a little now, he's probably only half-baked." The father picked up the cigarette case next to the pawn shop and wanted to smoke a cigarette.

However, Mo Xueyao stopped him: "Dad! Don't smoke in the car, it's choking people!"

"Alright, alright, can't he just not smoke?" The father shook his head helplessly and then brought up Old Chen's matter again, "But making noodles isn't difficult. If he wants to open one, he can learn a little and start one."

"It's not that easy. If you want to do something professionally, it takes a long time to learn."

"Tch, it's just noodles, right? Let me tell you, when your dad was young, before you were even born, I watched someone make tofu pudding for three days, and then I opened my own shop. And it wasn't someone who taught me; I just secretly watched and learned it from them, okay?"

"You're kidding me."

Why would I lie to you? Your dad is really awesome.

"Is it really necessary to boast like that?" She looked at his profile with drooping eyelids.

"Hey, why don't you ask Wanyan if she thinks I'm amazing?"

"sharp."

"look!"

"Wanyan is just brushing you off!"

Amidst the noisy banter and jokes, the van arrived at its destination.

There is a large fishpond here, which could easily be mistaken for a small artificial lake.

It looks like it was run by locals, as there were small groups of people sitting here fishing.

Those who can afford to come here to fish and relax at this time are mostly wealthy people.

So, it seems that Mo Xueyao can now barely call herself a rich person?

"Is fishing here free?"

"Of course it costs money. If you don't catch any, you don't have to pay. If you do catch any, you'll pay the market price—it should be a little cheaper than in the market. This is just an extra service. How many fish can you catch with a fishing rod?"

"She's got a good business sense..." Mo Xueyao muttered. "What's that over there for?"

"That's a chicken farm. It's such a big area fenced off, so it's basically free-range. They have free-range chickens and eggs here. I'll buy a carton when I go back."

"A whole box? Can you finish it?"

"There's no way we can't finish them all. There are only thirty-odd pieces in a box. If we eat three meals a day, we'll finish them in ten days at most."

"Are you a black hole called the Egg-Eater..." Mo Xueyao shook her head helplessly, "But free-range eggs are expensive, aren't they?"

"It's a little expensive, but it's okay. Our family's living conditions are better now, so of course we want to eat better."

"Tch, you just bought a car and your savings have plummeted. Instead of saving money, you're spending it all like this?" Mo Xueyao is quite frugal when it comes to money, but she pales in comparison to Li Wanyan.

"This is all small change!"

"Hey Dad, do you have a fishing rod?"

"If you don't have any, you can rent some."

"Tch, more money to be spent."

"It's alright, I'm an old friend of Ah Liang's, just let me know, there's no need to spend any money."

"Don't waste favors like that!"

Friday morning at nine o'clock.

The weather in the countryside is much cooler than in the city.

You won't feel hot if you hide in the shade of a tree.

My father borrowed a fishing rod and bait, moved a small stool over, and sat leisurely on the bank to fish.

Meanwhile, Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan prepared lunch using the newly purchased tableware.

Although starting preparations at nine o'clock might be a bit too early, none of us had used these picnic tools before, and just figuring out how to use them already took up quite a bit of time.

As for clean water, you can just draw it from a well.

In the countryside, well water is free; there's no need to spend any money.

"Wow, I caught one!"

"Pull the lever quickly!"

"Damn it, it's so tiny!" The father cursed in Hangzhou dialect as he looked at the tiny fish, which was no bigger than a thumb, and then threw it back into the fishpond.

"Haha, all you can catch are small fish!" Mo Xueyao laughed loudly from the side.

"Wait a minute, I'll catch a big one for you later!"

……

Chapter 135 Repainting the Two Bicycles

Saturday.

The weather still shows no sign of rain today. The continuous sunny days have lasted for quite some time, and even the brightest and most beautiful weather can become tiresome.

Early in the morning, Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan rode their bicycles to the fruit shop.

The reason they didn't run here today is because their father made them ride their bikes over, saying it would be useful, but he didn't explain why.

The two parked their bicycles behind the fruit shop. There was no van there, obviously because the father hadn't returned from buying the fruit yet.

Although it was only a little before seven in the morning, several customers had already come to buy watermelons in the few minutes since the two of them arrived.

According to the lunar calendar, it is actually autumn now, but in Hangzhou, autumn is hotter than summer. The name "Autumn Tiger" is well-deserved.

"Mom!" Mo Xueyao greeted loudly, startling her mother who was doing business.

"What are you doing, shouting so loudly? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Hehe...wait, isn't this the fish I caught yesterday? Didn't you kill it and put it in the refrigerator?" Mo Xueyao was about to walk into the store when she saw a red plastic basin on the ground of the steps outside the store, with two grass carp swimming lazily in it.

This is what we achieved yesterday.

If you can catch fish, you're not too bad at it, especially since these two are quite big.

The sugar beetle was watching intently from the side, occasionally slapping the water's surface with its furry claws, scaring the grass carp in the water into scattering in all directions.

"If we don't kill him soon, I think he'll be eaten by the sugar candy."

"Don't worry, it hasn't touched a thing all night, so it definitely won't eat it."

"Really?" Mo Xueyao poked Su Tang's head, and the latter gently shook its tail, glanced at her, but its attention remained focused on the fish in the basin.

They probably didn't treat them as food, but just as toys?

Frozen fish is definitely not as fresh and delicious as fish that has been killed on the spot, which is why my mother raises them like this.

But without professional equipment, they definitely won't last long. I guess they'll be taken care of by noon today.

Mo Xueyao had absolutely no interest in grass carp because it had too many bones, comparable to crucian carp. One bite and it was not meat with bones, but rather meat with bones!

Anyway, she couldn't spit out the thorn cleanly.

"A lot of people bought watermelons today." After the customers left, Mo Xueyao walked to the shelf where the watermelons were displayed and casually tapped one of them.

"Don't tap randomly, wait until you've mastered it."

"Tch, it's not that easy." Mo Xueyao said, tapping again defiantly, the crisp sound having a strange rhythm.

"Because the seasonal watermelons are almost out of season, many people who still want to eat watermelons are hurrying to buy some to try."

"Huh? I seem to remember that watermelons are sold in winter?"

"Those are greenhouse watermelons. They don't taste as good as seasonal watermelons. Watermelons are best in the summer. They're sweet and refreshing, unlike greenhouse watermelons, which are either cloyingly sweet or tasteless and bland."

"Oh...no wonder..."

"And it's cheaper to buy now. Once it's completely out of season, only greenhouse watermelons will be available, and greenhouse watermelons are both unpalatable and expensive."

"But people still buy them, don't they?"

"They either have money or they just want to eat it." The mother placed the watermelons that had come in earlier on top and the newly arrived ones on the bottom. "Your dad should be back by now."

"Good spot! Look, isn't that Dad's van?"

Not far away, a silver-white van slowly drove up to the fruit shop. Everyone helped unload the goods, and by the time they were all put away, another half hour had passed.

"Come on, have two slices of chilled watermelon!" Father deftly cut a fresh watermelon, which was the freshest we had today. If Mother had cut it, she would have definitely chosen the kind of watermelon that had been stored for a longer time.

This is why Mo Xueyao always calls her mother a "stingy person"...

Of course, this is what it means to be thrifty and manage a household well.

"Has the bicycle come over yet?" The father finished a slice of watermelon in less than ten seconds, then picked up another slice and devoured it in less than ten seconds.

This isn't eating watermelon, it's a watermelon shredder!

"You've ridden over, so what are you going to do?"

"Haha, it's a new semester, of course I have to check out my bicycle."

"Pshaw, it's so close from the fruit shop to the school, you don't even need to ride a bike."

"But what if we need it for other reasons? And it's more convenient to have a bicycle to store our schoolbags, isn't it?"

"Too……"

"And while you're at it, let's change the color of both of your cars."

"Great! What colors are available?"

"What color do you want? I'll go buy it right now." The father picked up a Double Happiness cigarette, lit it with a plastic lighter, and took a deep drag. "Tsk, I'm used to Liqun cigarettes, I'm not used to this one anymore."