A Young Woman's Heart

"But there's no air conditioning, it'll be very hot in the summer," Wang Jiale tried to find its shortcomings.

"It's okay, we're not at school during the hottest time anyway."

"What if we need to practice?"

"We'll see when the time comes!" Hua Yinyin was the type to take things one step at a time, which made everyone seriously doubt whether she could make a good plan for the subsequent practice sessions...

However, with Mr. Xue around, handling important matters shouldn't be a problem.

So, as expected, everyone has started to accept that Hua Yinyin is just a figurehead captain.

"Where should I put my drum set?" asked Mo Zhuyou, who was carrying a heavy leather suitcase.

"Let's put them in the back for now, we'll clean them together later—phew, let's also rearrange the layout, put these tables and chairs in the front by the window and then put them together, put all the instruments in the back, and put the whiteboard in its usual spot, hmm, no problem!" Although they had only just arrived at the band room, Hua Yinyin had already started conducting.

It is noon now.

Although everyone knew in the morning that they had their own band room, they still suppressed their excitement and didn't come over until noon.

So much so that even Mo Xueyao, who usually eats the slowest, finished her lunch in just five minutes today.

Although Mr. Xue didn't say it aloud, his joy was already evident on his face.

"Let's begin. I'll go get a bucket of water." Mr. Xue opened the cleaning tool cabinet in the corner near the door and took out a red plastic bucket that looked like it hadn't been used in a long time.

"Then I'll go wash the mop!" Mo Xueyao also looked very enthusiastic.

"What about me?" Mo Zhuyou pointed to herself. When her sister wasn't around, she seemed to lack her own opinions.

"Youyou, come and clean the drum kit with us," Mo Xiaoxiao's voice rang out from the doorway.

"Oh, sister~!"

"I was still worried about leaving you alone with the band."

"What? I'm not going to eat her." Hua Yinyin pouted.

Mo Xueyao glanced at her sideways, thinking that this kind of thing could really happen—another kind of 'eating'.

"No, it's because I'm worried that Youyou won't be able to do things well by herself."

"Well, if Xiaoxiao doesn't want to participate in club activities, it's fine to stay here. It'll make things a bit more lively," Wang Jiale said without any objection.

"I think it's already quite lively."

"What do you mean?" Mo Xueyao slapped Hua Yinyin's head.

"Wow, Xiao Yaoyao dares to hit me now!"

"Don't change the subject."

"Ahem, if Xiaoxiao were here, she wouldn't be able to bully Youyou anymore, hehehe..."

"You were thinking about something terrible, weren't you...?"

"Let me help too~ Is that okay?" Mo Xiao smiled and looked at the others in the classroom.

Hua Yinyin snapped her fingers: "No problem, there's still one more spot."

“But I won’t come often.” Mo Xiao smiled and nodded. “I still have to participate in clubs.”

Band members are allowed to skip club activities with the teacher's permission, but others who don't participate won't accumulate enough credits and may even have points deducted for consistently missing club activities.

"Then—let's get to work!" Hua Yinyin jumped up, opened the paper bag she had brought, and took out one cleaning tool after another. Wang Jiale did the same.

After all, this was something we agreed on yesterday.

Then they opened the drum kit, and Mo Xiaoxiao first took the leather bag and wiped it with a not-too-damp cloth, mainly to clean the dust off the outside.

Hua Yinyin and Wang Jiale then taught Mo Zhuyou how to maintain and care for his instrument step by step.

The originally dirty drum set became clean after they carefully wiped it.

It finally regained its original color, no longer so yellowish, but as white as ivory.

Mr. Xue and Mo Xueyao also cleaned the entire classroom. Although it didn't look dirty, a lot of dust could still be found when cleaning carefully.

"Phew, finally finished." Mo Xueyao slumped wearily onto the table.

After finishing their tasks, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and sat down at their desks, which had already been rearranged.

When the tables are put together, they resemble a rectangular conference table, which is perfect for everyone to sit around.

"Come on! I'll treat everyone to Coke!" Hua Yinyin said generously.

"So what about Coke?"

"I'll pay for it, but who will buy it...?"

"Hey, move around a bit."

"Where will Xiaoyao go?"

"I don't want to go..."

"So who should go...?" Hua Yinyin looked around, but in the end, Mo Xiaoxiao stood up.

"I'll go."

"Please, Xiaoxiao, you're like an angel saving lost travelers in the desert!"

"Don't exaggerate so much, okay..." Wang Jiale smoothed her hair, which was stuck together with sweat.

Mo Zhuyou glanced at Mr. Xue: "Suddenly I feel that Xiao Xue is very cunning. He's the only boy here, shouldn't he be the one going?"

"That's right—" the girls exclaimed in unison, all turning to look at him.

Mr. Xue coughed lightly: "Can I slack off once in a while?"

"Huh—?"

"Xiaoxue actually has times when she slacks off!"

"This is terrible!"

"I'm not a saint, of course I'll slack off sometimes," Mr. Xue said with a helpless smile. "I think we should bring in some more tables and chairs, maybe we'll need them for other occasions."

"That makes sense. Let's go when it snows lightly then."

"Okay... I'll go do this."

When there's only one boy among a group of girls, don't immediately feel happy, because it's very likely that the only boy will be the one doing all the hard labor, having to do all the dirty and tiring work.

It was like the only slave among a group of slave owners.

Mo Xiaoxiao accepted the money from Hua Yinyin and returned with the bag after a while.

There were only five bottles of Coke inside.

"Why didn't you buy your own?" Hua Yinyin asked, puzzled, as she took the change.

"I'm not a member of the band."

"What does it matter? Aren't we friends? It's perfectly normal to buy a Coke for a friend!" Hua Yinyin pouted. "By the way, why did it take so long? We're almost dying of thirst..."

"I was worried that the vending machine downstairs would swallow my money, so I just went to the convenience store to buy it."

"Oh, as expected of Xiaoxiao, she's very thoughtful."

“Yeah, he’s nothing like our captain,” Mo Xueyao teased.

"Hey, I paid for this Coke, didn't I?!"

After drinking a few sips of iced cola, everyone finally recovered.

The best part about cola is that the first few sips are the most enjoyable; the more you drink, the more cloyingly sweet it becomes. So, after drinking half a bottle in one go, Mo Xueyao capped it.

The students, who had been joking around, suddenly fell silent and all looked towards the back of the classroom.

That area was designated for storing musical instruments.

It's also where we usually practice.

“Starting tomorrow…” Wang Jiale said blankly, resting his chin on his hands, “Can we bring the instruments now?”

"Mmm!" Hua Yinyin nodded vigorously. "Hey, a band... my dream~!"

"They actually formed a band, a bunch of half-baked..." Mo Xueyao also felt a strange sense of unreality about all of this.

"What do you mean by half-baked? I'm not half-baked! I've practiced the pipa for ten years, ten years!" Hua Yinyin made a 'ten' gesture and shouted.

"Anyway, none of us are professionals."

“That’s wonderful,” Mr. Xue suddenly said with a smile.

"Where is it good?"

"The relationship between you two."

"What? Does that mean Xiaoxue and we aren't good together?"

"Haha, but I am a boy after all."

"Yes, it would be great if Xiaoxue were a girl." Hua Yinyin nodded.

The others exchanged glances and couldn't help but start imagining things.

—If Mr. Yuki were a girl…

……

Chapter Nineteen: Holiday Notice Due to the Typhoon

The last class on Tuesday afternoon is math.

Ms. Jingdie remained as serious as ever. Although the math class for the humanities students was much easier, some students still found it difficult to concentrate.

Mo Xueyao saw Wang Jiale, who was sitting in the first row, pull out several strands of hair.

"Huang Yuxi, stop staring at the Japanese exchange student next to you, okay? Although she is indeed very pretty, you should be looking at the blackboard right now!" Jingdie slapped the blackboard hard, and chalk dust fell from it with a 'whoosh'.

"Eh!?" Huang Yuxi, who had never been criticized by the teacher before, turned pale with fright. He had indeed been looking at Sanhua Tongjue and smiling. When the whole class turned their attention to him, his movements seemed to become much more sluggish.

"Did Xiaoxi originally like that type of girl?"