A Young Woman's Heart

Mo Xueyao's lips twitched, and she covered her forehead with a headache.

"So, Hua Yinyin, have you thought of the lyrics yet?" She then changed the subject.

"Huh? Well... lyrics are really hard to come up with..."

"...Never mind, let's just practice the piece until we're familiar with it first."

"That's right, we can take our time coming up with the lyrics~ I don't have any particular inspiration yet~ cough umm!"

"Xiao Yao".

"Xiaoxue, what's wrong?"

"How about we play the game Liu Xiaowei was just playing?"

"Oh...what's up? You want to pinch my cheeks too?"

“I’d like to give it a try,” Mr. Xue said candidly with a smile.

"Rock, paper, scissors—! Haha, Xiaoxue, you lost! Let me squeeze it! Hmm, it feels nice!"

"Really? Really?"

"I want to pinch it too!"

……

Chapter Thirty-Six Lotus Root Box

In the distance, a white-bellied bird slowly landed on a branch, its neck tilted to the side, motionless, as if frozen in place.

The band's practice had ended, and Mo Xueyao stood at the crossroads where she parted ways with everyone, leisurely gazing at the sky.

The pale yellow moon has risen in the west and is currently hiding behind the clouds, appearing and disappearing intermittently.

"Yaoyao." Li Wanyan gently nudged her.

"Huh? Oh... um."

"What are you thinking about?"

"It's nothing, I'm just marveling at how fast time flies. Another day has passed in the blink of an eye. It seems like the older I get, the faster time goes by."

That's roughly it.

Is it because you have more things to think about and more things to be busy with?

"Ah."

"Ah—I'm so hungry."

"Go home for dinner."

"There's a fried food stall up ahead, want to check it out?"

Li Wanyan glanced at her helplessly: "You won't be able to eat later."

"It's okay, just one skewer, just one!" Mo Xueyao pleaded.

The small cart was parked at the crossroads of this alley.

This area used to be an urban village, but it has now been demolished and new buildings are being constructed.

There are many workers on the construction site, and they get tired of eating in the canteen every day, so there are still some customers in front of the cart.

Most workers eat dinner in the canteen before coming here, so this is just a snack after the meal. After all, if they really wanted to eat their fill, given their appetite, it would probably take half a day's wages.

For migrant workers at the bottom of society, this is a rare luxury.

The woman selling fried skewers was an old lady. She was quite quick and efficient, but her memory wasn't very good. You had to take the fried skewers yourself and pay for each one you took. You weren't allowed to take and eat first.

Among the group of workers, a girl in a school uniform stood out.

Mo Xueyao felt that the figure looked somewhat familiar, but when she walked over, she realized that it was her classmate Tang Sishi.

Tang Sishi is the math class representative. She wears thick glasses, and just looking at her makes her seem heavy.

Other than that, there's nothing special about her; she's just an ordinary-looking girl.

"Tang Sishi!" Mo Xueyao smiled and nudged her. "What a coincidence!"

"Hmm, Mo Xueyao? Did your band just finish practice?"

“Yeah.” Mo Xueyao shifted her body, causing the violin case on her back to sway. “What about you? Why aren’t you home yet?”

"I was participating in a club activity." Tang Sishi pushed up her thick glasses. "I wanted to grab something to eat on the way, and I happened to see some fried skewers here, so I came over. I'll have to go back to catch the bus later."

"Oh~ Go home early, it's the Mid-Autumn Festival today!" Mo Xueyao looked at the food available for selection, "Hmm, there are lotus root cakes!"

"Yes, that's delicious. I bought two too," Tang Sishi said, glancing at the old lady. "Boss, is mine ready yet?"

"what do you?"

"Lotus root cake".

"These are the two, right?"

"Yes, I've already paid."

"Almost done, I'll fish it out for you—"

The golden-brown lotus root cakes were quickly scooped out, wrapped in a newspaper, put into a plastic bag, and handed to Tang Sishi.

It's very common to see roadside stalls wrapping things in newspaper.

After all, food is greasy, and using a plastic bag will make your hands greasy and hot.

Wrapping it in newspaper will prevent it from getting so hot and greasy.

The downside is probably that it might swallow some ink.

But in this day and age, people aren't really that particular about it. Everyone is used to this kind of packaging and doesn't find it strange.

"Boss, give me two too."

"Five cents."

"Okay." Mo Xueyao put the bright orange five-cent coin into the money box.

This money box appears to have originally been a tin box used to store cookies.

Lotus root cakes, also known as lotus root pancakes, are among the cheapest meat dishes sold at roadside fried food stalls, and are usually only available around the Mid-Autumn Festival.

It's basically just slicing lotus root, sandwiching minced meat between two slices, coating it with batter, and frying it in oil. Although it contains meat, it's priced like a vegetable.

"Please pack it into two portions," Mo Xueyao instructed again.

"Okay, wait a minute, don't rush, little girl."

"Ah."

Tang Sishi, who was standing to the side, had already taken a small bite, but because it had just been fried, it was so hot that she stuck out her tongue.

"Is it good?" Mo Xueyao asked.

"They're delicious! I've been buying them here every day for the past few days," Tang Sishi said with a satisfied smile. Her glasses were now fogged up by the steam rising from the lotus root cakes, making her vision a little blurry.

"Ah, it's not ready yet..." Mo Xueyao was already swallowing hard.

After finally getting the fried food ready, she took the first one handed to her by the owner and took a bite with a 'crunch'.

Although the lotus root cakes are quite thick, they are very crispy and fully fried inside, with a slightly sweet aftertaste when chewed.

The meat flavor is also very strong, and you have to be careful not to let the juices from the minced meat spill out while eating it.

On the way home, having a lotus root cake made the journey seem much shorter.

The road for repairing the water pipes wasn't finished yet, so the two of them took the same detour they did yesterday to get home.

On the table were several Suzhou-style mooncakes, which were the kind of mooncakes that Mo Xueyao disliked the most.

It looks similar to wife cake, but the filling is not tasty at all, and it is mostly filled with mixed nuts and sesame seeds.

Its only advantage is probably that it's cheap, right?

A tub of Suzhou-style mooncakes contains about ten pieces and costs only a few yuan, while a box of Cantonese-style mooncakes, though beautifully packaged, costs several times more.

"Ah, these kinds of mooncakes again." Mo Xueyao sat down in disappointment.

"What? Don't you like it?"

"It doesn't taste good at all." She pouted and let Li Wanyan carry her schoolbag and violin bag into the small room. She then picked up Su Tang, who was lying next to her, put it on her lap, and rubbed its head vigorously.

"You're so picky."

"If you don't want to eat mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival, what do you want to eat?" her father teased her.

"I want to eat the kind that's thicker, like... Cantonese mooncakes, right?"

"Those kinds are expensive, and they're not very tasty either; they all taste the same."

"Anyway, it tastes much better than this."

"If you don't like it, then eat rice or vegetables!" The mother brought out the stir-fried vegetables in a bad mood. "That's just for later when we're enjoying the moon. If you don't want to eat it, then don't."

"Oh my, moon gazing? Mom, when did you become so romantic?" Mo Xueyao teased deliberately.

Li Wanyan walked over to her and helped serve her rice.

"Aunt Jin, come have dinner with us!"

"I just ate, haha."

Why don't you eat together?

"Yes, I always spend the Mid-Autumn Festival with them."

"Oh—" The father immediately understood.

The so-called 'them' are actually Grandma Jin's deceased husband and son.

On this day of reunion, it's also a way to express one's longing.

"Where is Lianlian?" the father asked again.