A Young Woman's Heart

The road from home to school is neither too long nor too short, mostly straight, but with many turns.

By the time we arrived at the school gate, the dark clouds in the sky were about to dissipate, and it looked like dawn was just around the corner.

Actually, if it hadn't rained, it would have been light long ago. After all, it's only autumn, unlike winter when it might still be dark at 6:30.

"We're here!" She breathed a sigh of relief and instinctively reached for the small door, only to find that it wasn't ajar today.

Forget about crossing the electric gate next to them, since they each had their own bicycles.

"Uncle—Uncle—" Mo Xueyao shouted, "Get up—"

"Hey there, you're up so early on the first day of school?" The security guard, carrying breakfast, walked up behind them with a smile. "I just went to buy breakfast, have you had it yet?"

"I've already eaten!" Mo Xueyao greeted warmly, "Good morning, Uncle, it's been a long time!"

"Yeah, it's been a long time, haha, you're a junior in high school now, right?"

"Yeah, I'm in my second year of high school! Ah... time flies." Mo Xueyao smiled, her eyes narrowed.

The security guard simply nodded without replying.

After the two followed the man into the school, they pushed their bicycles and parked them in the underground parking garage.

There are still a few bicycles here that haven't been ridden. Judging from the dust and cobwebs covering them, I seriously suspect that they've been here for two years, not just two months.

Would anyone steal their car after graduating?

After parking the car, she went upstairs with Li Wanyan.

Just as he was about to turn out, Li Wanyan stopped him: "Our classroom is on the fourth floor."

"Huh? Oh...right, we've moved to the fourth floor, classroom 402." Mo Xueyao slapped her forehead, finally realizing what had happened.

The quiet hallways and classrooms felt both familiar and strange.

Well... it's natural to feel unfamiliar, since it's a different classroom.

Moreover, this classroom is at the end of the corridor, where you can see the other half of the teaching building across the way, which is classroom 401, the classroom of Class 1, Grade 11.

“It’s the classroom at the end of the corridor. Good, it’s quiet here.” Mo Xueyao shook her head. “Wanyan, open the door.”

"..." Li Wanyan's expression was unusually stiff.

"Uh... could it be... you didn't bring your keys?"

"...The homeroom teacher didn't give me the key."

“Oh—you should have said so earlier! We should have asked the security guard earlier! Now we have to make a trip again…” Mo Xueyao covered her forehead helplessly. “Even Wanyan can be absent-minded sometimes.”

"cough!"

……

Chapter Two: The New Class Key

"So early~" Ye Wen's voice came from behind the two of them. She waved her arm, and a bunch of keys jingled in her hand.

"Good morning, Wen! Long time no see!"

"Hmm, long time no see~" Ye Wen casually pinched Mo Xueyao's cheek, "How was your summer vacation?"

"not bad."

"Don't you want to go back to school?" Ye Wen inserted the key into the lock, turned it a few times, and opened the classroom door.

"No, I'm actually looking forward to the start of school." Mo Xueyao shook her head and answered earnestly, "Because I'll be able to see my classmates again."

"Really? It's similar to when I was in school. Come on in! Remember to open the windows for ventilation." Ye Wen chuckled, took a key from a bunch of keys and handed it to Li Wanyan. "Here you go, Wanyan. I'll leave the opening to you. You'll have to work hard again."

"It's no trouble at all." Li Wanyan took the keys, hung them on a blue keychain, and then carefully put them in her schoolbag.

Giving her the key to keep is definitely the most reassuring thing to do.

"Alright, I'm going back to my office. I have other things to do. It's really busy at the beginning of the semester..." Ye Wen waved her hand and handed several notices to Li Wanyan. "Here is the new semester's timetable. Wanyan, you can put it back in its usual spot. The other notices are the new semester's activities. You and Xiaoyao can take a look at them together."

"Ok."

"What kind of event is it?" Mo Xueyao naturally took the thing that was supposed to be handed to Li Wanyan and started looking at it herself.

"Teacher, where's the seating chart?"

"Oh dear, I forgot to make a new seating chart. You can sit in the seats from last semester for now!" Ye Wen clapped her hands. "Alright, another thing to do. I'll leave these to you, Wanyan."

"Ok."

Li Wanyan went to the blackboard and posted the class schedule and duty roster, while Mo Xueyao looked at a few activity documents.

An activity doesn't necessarily have to be a large gathering; for example, creating a blackboard bulletin board for the start of a new school term is also considered an activity...

"Ugh...it's the blackboard bulletin board again." Mo Xueyao, the publicity committee member, covered her forehead in anguish. "They give me something to do as soon as school starts, damn it..."

"Yaoyao." Although Li Wanyan was putting up the class schedule, she still heard her muttering to herself.

"Ahem! The theme for the blackboard bulletin in September is summer vacation, what should we draw on it?"

"Let's draw the story of our trip to the beach."

"Ugh... this feels so troublesome, I still have to write the copy." Mo Xueyao rubbed her temples in pain. "Wanyan, can you write it for me..."

"Ah."

"Really?"

"real."

"Great! Hehe, please take care of it. In that case, I only need to draw. As for writing, my handwriting isn't very good, so let Xiaoxiao write it. Hmm... the workload will be reduced a lot!"

In addition to the blackboard bulletin's theme, there are other activity announcements.

But these are all things that have little to do with most students.

For example, the district's calligraphy competitions, essay competitions...

These are relatively regular competitions, which happen frequently and are usually scheduled on weekends that don't interfere with classes.

Ye Wen had already selected the students to participate based on each student's strengths, and all Li Wanyan had to do was deliver the notification.

"So many competitions right at the start of the semester, the Education Bureau really has a lot of tricks up its sleeve." Mo Xueyao pouted. "It all feels like formalism, it doesn't really mean anything..."

"There is some, at least it's a form of recognition."

"Tch... I always feel like they're just putting on a show. They only care about the grades in the main subjects. Things like calligraphy and ink painting aren't taught in school; students learn them on their own. Isn't this just giving students from wealthy families a chance to get a prestigious education?"

"Ugh—Xiao Yaoyao's tone is so sour!"

"Huh?" Before Mo Xueyao could even raise her head, Hua Yinyin's face had already appeared in her mind.

Then, she put her schoolbag down in front of Mo Xueyao. If they were still sitting in the same seats as last semester, then she would be sitting at the desk in front of Mo Xueyao.

"Little Yaoyao, it's been a long time!"

"We just saw each other last week, okay..."

"It's been a long time for me!"

"So, did you go and buy it later?" Mo Xueyao rested her chin on her hand, ignoring Hua Yinyin's daily 'teasing'.

"I went again, but it was still closed."

"Isn't it open yet?"

"It seems they said they'd be opening today."

"September 1st, are you going to go see it this afternoon?"

“Of course, I’ll go after school. Little Yao Yao, come with me!” Hua Yinyin slapped Mo Xueyao’s face with both hands.

"Hey!" the latter retorted, not to be outdone, and the two started bickering again.

What I'm talking about is that I went to Hua Yinyin's house to stay overnight that day. I originally planned to accompany her to the music store the next day, but when we went there the next day, it was closed.

There were actually people in the store, but all the musical instruments had been moved out because renovations were underway.

After all, it's a ten-year-old establishment, and it's time for a renovation.

They said it was nearing completion and the renovations would be finished in a few days, but when Hua Yinyin went there yesterday, it still hadn't officially opened.

"What did they say when you went there?" Mo Xueyao leaned back slightly, dodging Hua Yinyin's groping hand, and brought the topic back to normal.

"They were already cleaning when we got there." Hua Yinyin grabbed Mo Xueyao's finger and tried to put it in her mouth, but the latter resisted and tried to pull away, and the two were caught in a tug-of-war.

However, the conversation continued as normal.

"Will it open today? Or is it just another scam?"

"Should... be able to?"

"Huh...? That place is quite far, I don't want to make a wasted trip..."

"It only takes a little over half an hour to bike there from school! Little Yaoyao, come with me!"

Did you ride your bike here today?

"Mmm! The rain feels great."

"Haha? Right? Right? I think so too!" Mo Xueyao nodded vigorously as if she had found a kindred spirit. "Especially the feeling of rain being blown by the wind onto your face, it couldn't be better!"

"That's right!"

"We'll be using the new timetable this semester. I wonder what courses are included." After Li Wanyan finished posting the timetable, Mo Xueyao got up and walked over.

The course schedule is quite different from last year's.

"Aha, the three science subjects are finally gone! Is there only one math subject left in the sciences...? Why is there still math..." Hua Yinyin muttered, touching her timetable.

"The number of geography, politics, and history courses has increased a lot, um... it seems like the computer class is gone? Oh right, geography is an extra class."

"This schedule is not fun at all... There are main classes on Fridays too..." Hua Yinyin said dejectedly, as if she had suddenly lost the motivation to go to school.

"But the last two periods on Friday are PE class."

"That's why PE class is so bad. The morning is all main subjects, and then there are two PE classes in a row. Do you want to kill us with exhaustion?"

"Don't worry, you'll definitely be free to do whatever you want. You can rest whenever you want."