A Young Woman's Heart

"But it's quieter."

"It'll be a bit... quieter, at least the noise from the playground won't be so clear." Mo Xueyao covered her mouth and finally let out a yawn, which made her feel much happier.

"Crackling, click-clack..." The familiar sound of a key turning rang out, and Li Wanyan pushed open the door and went in first.

Mo Xueyao followed behind and helped her open all the windows in the classroom.

As for whether the students by the window should close it later, that's their business. Right now, we need to ventilate the room first.

As soon as all the windows were opened, the classroom door was slammed shut by the wind.

It was raining outside, so the ventilation was particularly good.

Sitting in my seat, I could feel a constant breeze blowing on me, as if an electric fan was blowing directly at me.

"Yaoyao, don't open all the windows near the window, or the rain will come in," Li Wanyan said while wiping the blackboard.

"Oh, oh!" Mo Xueyao closed a few of the windows she had opened. "Didn't you erase the blackboard yesterday?"

"Ah."

Yesterday, Li Wanyan left early and did not supervise the others to clean the blackboard, leaving only Ye Banxia, ​​the hygiene committee member, behind.

When I arrived today, I noticed that the blackboard hadn't been erased, or rather, it hadn't been cleaned properly. For example, the class schedule and yesterday's duty roster written next to it hadn't been erased. Although some parts had been wiped off, they were wiped with a blackboard eraser, so they didn't look clean at all.

The blackboard should be wiped clean with a damp cloth at the end of the school term.

"Looks like Xiaxia hasn't been able to control those people again," Mo Xueyao said with a smile.

“She herself wasn’t serious enough.” Li Wanyan shook her head.

"Oh dear, we can't blame her. That's enough. She can't manage so many people by herself."

"When others haven't cleaned up properly, and you can't keep them, you should clean up properly yourself."

"Oh dear..." Mo Xueyao chuckled awkwardly, unsure of what to say. Luckily, Ye Banxia wasn't there, otherwise the scene would have been incredibly awkward.

"Yo, good morning." Just then, Mr. Xue, who was usually the third to arrive at school, walked in from the door. He was holding a long-handled umbrella, and water droplets were flowing down the umbrella surface to the tip and then dripping to the ground.

"Good morning, Xiaoxue." Mo Xueyao sat back down in her seat and took out the tape recorder.

When there are few people around, she will listen to tapes or radio without headphones. Only when there are many people will she plug in headphones and listen to them at her own pace.

"Good morning." It wasn't Mr. Xue who answered her, but another girl standing at the door.

She had no umbrella in her hand, but her body was very dry, making her look like she had just woken up at school and walked down the corridor.

Her long, straight black hair cascaded smoothly over her body, and her dark blue eyes appeared deep black in the dim light.

"Good morning, Ashley."

"Hmm." Ashley smiled, looking quite energetic. "Did you have a good dream last night?"

"Yesterday? Hmm... I forgot if I dreamed about it." Mo Xueyao chuckled and pressed the play button on the cassette player. The melodious classical piano music filled the classroom.

"Hmm, I had an interesting dream."

"What dream?" Mo Xueyao wasn't particularly curious; she just followed the conversation because she saw that the other person was interested in chatting.

"I dreamt that a huge monster crawled out of the ground on the school's playground."

"Oh, that's a classic scene from a tokusatsu (special effects) film!"

"As it awoke, everyone fell into a dream, but no one realized they had switched from reality to a dream world, and they continued living their lives as usual." Ashley gazed out the window, describing quietly, "It derives pleasure from people's dreams, and when it gets bored, it kills everyone..."

"It's not particularly scary, but for some reason it sounds a bit creepy..." Mo Xueyao muttered.

“Hmm, an interesting dream.” Ashley smiled.

“Your definition of ‘interesting’ is so weird,” Mo Xueyao muttered, resting her chin on her hand. “How long have you lived in China?”

"He must have lived in an unconscious state for several years."

"I still think your Chinese is really impressive."

"Perhaps it was in that state that I heard other people talking around me, so I was also learning."

"Ah, learning in dreams? I want that ability too!"

"Um... I was just kidding."

"Oh, I was just joking."

The atmosphere suddenly became somewhat awkward.

Since they weren't very familiar with each other, they were quite polite to one another.

If it were chatting with Hua Yinyin, Mo Xueyao wouldn't be so polite.

"Knock knock." The door, which had just been blown shut by the wind, was knocked on again, and then pushed open with a 'creak'.

"Oh, I knew you were here." Qiu Yi walked in through the door. He was the art teacher and also the instructor of the art club. It seemed that he was also planning to be the band teacher for Class 2 of the second year of high school.

"Good morning, A-Qiu," Mo Xueyao greeted cheerfully.

“Ah Qiu…” Qiu Yi’s eyelids twitched. “Why are you suddenly calling me that?”

“Look, the homeroom teacher is Wen, so as her boyfriend, you should match her, so you’re called Qiu.” Mo Xueyao analyzed, counting on her fingers.

"Uh... okay, okay." Qiu Yi helplessly covered her forehead. "Your band's... leaders haven't arrived yet? Anyway, let them know when they arrive. Our class's band room is 508, in the lab building, not this building, don't get it wrong. I just put up the soundproofing foam yesterday, and I also paid for a lot of soundproofing equipment myself. The effect is really good now, and the location is also very good. It's on the fifth floor at the very back, which I fought for. Everyone should make good use of it. Oh, by the way, starting next week, we can officially practice. You can also get used to bringing your instruments here every day for the next few days."

"Yes--"

"You stingy guy, why don't you put that keyboard in the band room?" Ye Wen's voice came from outside the door. She walked in with her cheeks puffed out and grabbed his ear to question him.

"Ouch... Ouch... Ouch... No, no, it's so expensive, how can I put it in the classroom!"

"So what? I'm ordering you to give the keyboard to Xiaoyao!"

"Ah...?" Qiu Yi looked completely unwilling.

"I'm just having you bring it every day. You're the band's instructor, right? Wouldn't it sound better with your instrument?"

"Ahem, actually there's no need to use something so expensive. Mo Xueyao is perfectly fine using her own..."

"You stingy bastard!" Ye Wen stomped her foot angrily, put her hands on her hips and stared at him, who was overwhelmed by her imposing manner.

"Okay...okay..."

"No, no." Mo Xueyao shook her head hurriedly, "Teacher Qiu's electronic keyboard is too expensive, I dare not use it."

Qiu Yi didn't speak, but conveyed a "see?" meaning to Ye Wen with his eyes.

"Ignore him. He's making a huge fuss over such a small amount of money, but this concerns the honor of our class!"

"Hey, there's no need to use that..."

"Awen, I really don't need it..." Mo Xueyao said with a dry laugh. If she were to use such an expensive electronic keyboard, she probably wouldn't be used to it, because it was just too pricey.

"Ahem!" Qiu Yi patted his clothes. "Actually, it's not that I don't want you to use it, it's just that you can use the regular one for practice at the beginning. When it comes to the competition, I'll lend you my piano. If you can get first place in the whole school, then... I'll lend it to you until graduation!"

"That's more like it, but you're still being stingy." Ye Wen glanced at him sideways. "This is my first class, so pay more attention to it."

"Leave it to me! Uh, anyway, should we go check the classroom now?" Qiu Yi awkwardly changed the subject.

"I think it's unnecessary."

“Yes, let’s go together when the others arrive.” Mr. Xue agreed with Mo Xueyao’s suggestion.

"Alright, then you can go by yourselves. Anyway, it's room 508 in the lab building, just don't get it wrong." Qiu Yi had barely finished speaking when Ye Wen, who was like a wild beast, dragged him away.

……

Chapter 18 The Band Practice Room 508 (Part 2)

The laboratory building is a separate teaching building from the main teaching building.

The main teaching building is shaped like two large pairs of shorts stuck together, while the laboratory building is a very ordinary single five-story teaching building.

Its width is roughly the same as the width of the main teaching building's "underpants".

There are actually many classrooms that are usually empty, in case of emergency.

Now, seven classrooms have been specially set aside to form a band.

Class 1 and Class 2 are both on the top floor, at the deepest part of each side of the staircase.

After all, they are the two best classes, so it's normal for them to receive special treatment.

Although Qiu Yi claimed that he fought for it, it was hard to believe. This arrangement was obviously pre-arranged by the school, wasn't it?

"508, 508... Hmm, it's here." Hua Yinyin stopped in front of the classroom at the end of the corridor, then took out the key she got from Qiu Yi and pushed open the door.

There are five keys in total, and each of the five members of the band has one.

Only the captain possessed the key to the back door—though it was of little use, Hua Yinyin was quite proud of it, considering it a symbol of status.

And now, she's using the back door.

The classroom layout is actually the same, except for some minor differences elsewhere.

For example, there is no blackboard in the classroom, and there is no raised platform. Instead, there is a whiteboard placed directly in front of the platform.

Various soundproofing materials have been installed all around, and when you walk in, you can clearly feel that the surrounding noise has disappeared. If you are calm enough, you can even hear the sound of your own blood flowing, not to mention the sound of your heart beating.

The classroom was extremely empty. There were six desks and chairs next to the window facing the back of the playground. In the left corner where the blackboard should have been, there was a filing cabinet. Although the cabinet was old, it was empty, and it was impossible to know what it used to contain.

There was nothing else besides that; it was very empty.

"Wow... This is the first time I've ever thought a classroom was this big." Mo Xueyao looked down at the floor and noticed that the classroom had a very luxurious wooden floor, but it probably wasn't newly installed because there were obvious signs of use on it.

"Wow, it's huge!" Hua Yinyin lay down on the desk. "This is our territory now!"

Indeed, it felt like setting up a secret base within the school, which was incredibly exciting.

But Mo Xueyao always felt that Hua Yinyin's performance was a bit too exaggerated...?

Although soundproofing materials have been installed, it is still a converted classroom, so the windows are not sealed off and can still be opened.

In other words, there will still be some sound leakage, so it seems that the windows should be closed when practicing.

"Click." Standing by the door, Mo Zhuyou turned the somewhat stiff switch, and the three ceiling fans on the ceiling immediately started spinning.

"Phew, there's even a ceiling fan, so refreshing~" Hua Yinyin was completely captivated.