A Young Woman's Heart

Mo Zhuyou and Wang Jiale walked in one after the other.

Carrying such a heavy suitcase down from the fourth floor, then walking a short distance and climbing back up to the fifth floor, Mo Zhuyou's forehead was covered in glistening beads of sweat.

"Everyone's here! Let's take a break, then we'll get ready to start practicing!"

"Wait a minute, the sheet music hasn't even been checked, how are we supposed to practice? Besides, Youyou is still a beginner, she doesn't even know how to play the drums very well."

“If we use the score for Two Tigers, playing the drums should be very simple... just tap twice at the rhythm points.” Hua Yinyin said quite casually.

"It's not that simple. Anyway, let's teach Youyou how to play first." Wang Jiale put down his bass bag and saw Hua Yinyin trying to open the zipper to take a look, so he immediately stopped her, "Hey, stop! Yinyin, don't touch anything!"

"What? You're so stingy. I wanted to see what kind of guitar you bought, Lele."

"It's pink and white, really... never mind, I'll show it to you." Wang Jiale muttered as he opened the violin case and took out the bass.

"Wow, what a girly color scheme."

"No way! I'm a young girl! So what if I like pink and white!"

"Alright, alright, alright... Why are you all arguing so early in the morning..." Mo Zhuyou took out her drum set. "I definitely won't be able to participate in the ensemble at the beginning. I need to learn first."

"Drumming is easy to learn. As long as you have good hand-foot coordination, you can do it. Even if you can't read the sheet music, you can just memorize the rhythm."

So, it was obviously impossible to practice this morning. Everyone came over to teach Mo Zhuyou how to play the drums, but they all talked at once and there was no clear answer.

In the end, Hua Yinyin overruled everyone's objections and insisted that Mo Zhuyou listen to her, while the others helped with the background music so that she could figure out the tricks of the trade more quickly.

Mr. Xue provided guidance from the sidelines, sometimes using words that were even more precise than those used by Hua Yinyin.

"Xiaoxue, do you also know how to play the drum?" Faced with the seemingly omnipotent Mr. Xue, Mo Xueyao no longer felt any surprise.

"I only know a little about ethnic drums," he said modestly with a smile.

If it were anyone else, people would think he was being falsely modest and deliberately showing off his abilities.

But when Mr. Xue says that, everyone will feel that he is indeed being modest.

By his standards, this level of knowledge might only be considered superficial...

……

Chapter Twenty-Four: Cherry Tomatoes

"Alright, I know you're all waiting for lunch, so..." During the last class of the morning, Wang Qianyu stood on the podium and glanced at her watch, "I'll let you end get out of class one minute early today!"

"oh--!!"

"Charge!" Liu Xiaowei was the first to sound the charge, grabbing his utensils and rushing out of the classroom. The other boys followed closely behind, not to be outdone, as if they hadn't eaten in ages, much more energetic than when they were running a kilometer.

Although it was only one minute earlier, it changed the entire queuing pattern in the cafeteria.

When we arrived at the cafeteria, it was still quite empty. The bell had only rung for a short while, and the boys from other classes arrived around the same time as the girls from Class Two.

Arriving early not only avoids long queues, but also allows you to freely choose the dishes you want to eat.

If you arrive late at some windows, you might even find yourself in a situation where you've reached the front of the line, only to find that there's no food left.

For example, today window number four has sweet and sour pork, while window number three has fried pork chops. These dishes are very popular, and the lines are very long.

If you don't want to wait in a long line, you can only choose the dishes next door that most people don't like to eat.

For example, stewed white radish with meat.

Mo Xueyao naturally chose sweet and sour pork without hesitation. Although she grew up in Hangzhou and had eaten this local specialty countless times, she had never gotten tired of it.

Moreover, the sweet and sour pork at Yukong High School is particularly generous, with much more meat than flour, so you can actually taste the meat, unlike some places where you can only taste the flour.

Ahead of her in line was Wang Jiale. When it was her turn, she tiptoed slightly, pointed at the stir-fried tofu with meat, and said, "Auntie, um, can I skip the tofu? Could I have some cherry tomatoes from the window next door?"

"What?" The cafeteria lady didn't know whether she hadn't heard clearly or hadn't understood.

"Yes, replace that vegetable with cherry tomatoes."

"Oh." So the cafeteria lady quickly served her a spoonful of sweet and sour pork and bok choy, then grabbed a small handful of cherry tomatoes and placed them on the remaining space on her plate before handing it to her.

"Thank you!"

"Lele likes to eat cherry tomatoes?" Mo Xueyao asked.

"Because it can nourish and beautify the skin!"

"Ugh, it's all fake, okay?" Mo Xueyao handed over her meal ticket, watching the cafeteria lady serve her food, and said to Wang Jiale next to her.

"Who said that? It really works!"

"I still prefer stir-fried tofu with pork." Mo Xueyao pouted and picked up her plate. "Where shall we sit?"

"The one by the window, I guess."

"Then Wanyan, let's go sit down first."

"it is good."

Lunchtime is always a time for students to relax.

It's unlikely that people won't chat while eating, because usually, mealtimes are the only time a lot of people gather together to chat throughout the day.

If one were to strictly adhere to the rule of "not speaking while eating or sleeping," life would be far too dull.

Before long, the long table was filled with girls, some of whom Mo Xueyao knew, and some she didn't.

But it's still nice to have everyone chatting together. Even if you don't participate, just listening quietly makes the food seem even more delicious.

"Hey, Yinyin's eating vegetarian today instead of meat?" Mo Xueyao teased Hua Yinyin, who was sitting opposite her. "Why are you taking so many cherry tomatoes? Are you trying to beautify your skin like Lele?"

"...I've gained a little weight recently," Hua Yinyin said worriedly. "I heard cherry tomatoes can help with weight loss..."

“It doesn’t help with weight loss at all,” Wang Jiale retorted. “It’s just for beauty and skincare.”

"So this time I'll eat less..." Hua Yinyin muttered under her breath, "Honestly, why is Xiao Yaoyao targeting me!"

"No, I was just curious."

Today, Hua Yinyin served mixed fried rice and cherry tomatoes.

She only ordered a very small amount of the mixed fried rice, about a third of the normal amount, but asked for a lot of cherry tomatoes.

She was supposed to be given about five, but now her plate has nearly twenty.

"Hey, can eating cherry tomatoes help you lose weight?" Ye Banxia asked, "Really?"

"No, but it can beautify and nourish your skin."

"Ugh, I should have gotten the cherry tomatoes..." Ye Banxia touched the pimples on her face and said with some regret, as if eating the cherry tomatoes would make all the pimples on her face disappear immediately.

"Youyou's here, where's your sister?"

"My sister wants fried pork chop, and she's still in line." Mo Zhuyou looked around and sat down next to Hua Yinyin. "Excuse me, give me a seat."

"Hmm... You're so fat, Youyou."

"What? I haven't gained weight. It's you, Yinyin, who's gotten fatter!"

"Really?" Hua Yinyin nervously covered her face. "Is it your face that's gotten fatter, or your body?"

"Her legs have gotten thicker?"

"No way? Really!?"

"Yes, a little bit."

"...I'm not eating anymore." Hua Yinyin put down her spoon. She had only eaten one-third of the fried rice to begin with. Although she was swallowing hard, she was still staring at the cherry tomatoes in her bowl. After finishing the cherry tomatoes, she resolutely refused to touch any more food on her plate.

"Ugh, what a waste of food." Mo Xueyao ate a piece of sweet and sour pork with a crispy exterior. "Youyou is obviously lying to you. I can't tell you've gained weight at all."

"It's normal that Xiaoyao can't tell."

"...What kind of image do I have in your mind?!"

"A careless and absent-minded girl?"

"Who said that? I'm clearly very careful." Mo Xueyao pouted.

"Do you want Xiaoyao? I'll give you mine."

"...I can't eat that much either." Actually, Mo Xueyao could eat, but Hua Yinyin made her a little nervous, as if she would gain weight if she ate too much.

"Hey, give us what the girls can't finish!" Gao Yuan shouted from the next table. "I'll eat it!"

"You'd eat something that's been spit on?" Cha Li asked jokingly.

"Eat it! Why wouldn't I eat it? I love the drool of pretty girls!"

"Me too! Me too!" the others shamelessly shouted as well.

Boys really use all sorts of tricks to attract girls' attention.

In the end, Mo Xueyao left a little food, as if that would ensure she wouldn't gain weight.

It's really just psychological comfort; in reality, exercising every day is still more important.

As she watched her last two pieces of sweet and sour pork being poured into the bowl, Mo Xueyao felt a pang of heartache.

Having never liked wasting food since she was a child, she was really not used to doing this.

It was delicious...

"Is Yaoyao feeling unwell today?" Li Wanyan took the chopsticks from her hand and washed them with her at the sink.

"No."

"Then why didn't you finish eating?"

"Uh……"

"Don't we usually finish eating?"

"Ahem, um... I'm afraid of getting fat..." Mo Xueyao answered in a very soft voice.

Li Wanyan looked at her in surprise for a few moments, then said softly with a hint of a smile, "Yaoyao is quite self-aware as a girl now."

"What? Can't boys be afraid of getting fat? Really... It's mainly Hua Yinyin's fault. It's all her fault. She's made me a little panicked too."

"Girls are all like this, but having a sense of crisis is a good thing."