A Young Woman's Heart

but……

Fantasy is always wonderful.

Hua Yinyin is too naive to think that she can create lyrics just like that.

"Ugh...no...it still doesn't feel right." She scratched her head in anguish. "Looks like that's the only option...?"

Hua Yinyin looked at the bottle of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) in her schoolbag, opened the cap without hesitation, and gulped down a big mouthful.

"Heh...ha...delicious...yeah right! Ouch—it's so spicy and bitter—!"

Her face scrunched up as she quickly stuffed a handful of potato chips into her mouth, then looked out the window for a while, waiting for the effects of the alcohol to kick in.

My head started to feel dizzy, and the lights in the distance turned into halos of light, as if they were flowing along with the rain.

"Hoo-hoo—" Hua Yinyin took a deep breath, feeling as if inspiration was welling up in her mind, but more than that, she probably had the courage to put pen to paper.

Anyway, no matter how well it's written, I'll use these lyrics!

That's what she was thinking.

"Hmm~ Hmm hmm hmm hmm~" She hummed the tune as she wrote down the corresponding lyrics:

Autumn always brings fallen leaves

Fallen leaves swirled and danced.

This is a carpet that belongs only to autumn.

It was laid on the asphalt road.

I stepped lightly on its body

It made a crisp sound like potato chips.

"Autumn brings golden hues to everything"

"The autumn wind brings coolness"

This is the melody of harvest.

"Click-clack-click-clack"

I walked on a carpet of fallen leaves.

"Swaying, bouncing and jumping"

"Welcoming the Falling Leaves of Autumn"

"La la la~ la la——"

"Autumn leaves are everywhere here, like potato chips."

I really want to pick up a piece

"Click-clack~"

"The wind is eating the fallen leaves—"

"Mmm mmm..." Hua Yinyin took another sip of wine in a daze. With her last bit of strength, she screwed the cap on, stuffed it into the drawer, and then slumped onto another table.

"Hehehe~" Hua Yinyin sang a little off-key, gradually lying down on three chairs pushed together, and then accidentally rolled off again.

"Hah... sleepy..." She rubbed her eyes and swayed as she leaned against the foam mat at the back of the classroom.

The surrounding cardboard boxes contained all of Hua Yinyin's books that she no longer used from childhood, so that they wouldn't bend over with the slightest movement.

It also allowed her to lean on them.

"Meow meow meow meow—" Hua Yinyin's phone suddenly rang. She answered it groggily, and couldn't help but hiccup, "Hello... uh?"

"Yinyin, it's raining so hard today, are you sure you can make it back? Do you need me to pick you up?"

"No need, Dad... I'm staying up all night at school with my classmates tonight."

Why stay up all night?

"Because I have to practice... until very late, and I also have to do my homework."

"Oh...we can't always do this."

"This is rare, this is rare..."

"Okay, then take care of yourself, don't stay up too late, and remember to eat dinner."

"Okay, Dad." Hua Yinyin hung up the phone. The spirit she had just forced to muster instantly dissipated. She lay limply on the foam mat, babbling incoherently for a long time before gradually calming down.

"Achoo!" The cold wind blowing in from the window made her sneeze loudly, but she didn't have the strength to stand up and close the window.

They could only let the wind blow into the classroom, stroll around leisurely, and then leave.

Hua Yinyin curled up and drifted off to sleep in the cool, rainy night.

The heat from the alcohol is about to fade, leaving only a chill.

……

"Achoo!" Mo Xueyao, who had just returned from Grandma Jin's house after taking a bath, sneezed loudly. Her mother saw it and immediately started scolding her.

"I told you to bring an extra jacket when you went. Look at you, you caught a cold when you came back! It's easiest to catch a cold right after taking a shower. I already laid out thicker blankets for you all today. Remember to wear a jacket and long socks to school tomorrow morning, okay?"

"I know, I know... It's just a sneeze, it's not like I have a cold..." Mo Xueyao muttered softly.

……

Chapter Forty: Hua Yinyin Spends the Night at School

“Eek—” On a clear morning after the rain, Mo Xueyao stretched out a big yawn in front of the band room before leisurely taking out her key and opening the door.

Surprisingly, the door wasn't locked and opened with a simple turn.

"Yinyin didn't lock the door?" Mo Xueyao muttered as she walked in, only to see Hua Yinyin curled up on a foam mat, clutching her pipa bag.

The window next to the desk was half open, making the notebook on the desk rustle loudly in the wind.

"Yinyin, Hua Yinyin?" Mo Xueyao nudged her, instinctively wanting to find Li Wanyan to come and see, but then remembered that the latter hadn't come with her.

"Mmm..." At this moment, Hua Yinyin was exceptionally well-behaved, her long hair neatly draped over her body, like a kitten that hadn't woken up yet.

"You didn't just sleep like that all night, did you? Aren't you cold?" Mo Xueyao asked helplessly, but the latter was still not awake and obviously couldn't answer her question.

Just as she was feeling a little lost, Mr. Xue walked in and put down his schoolbag: "What's wrong?"

"Hua Yinyin is sleeping here. I don't know if she came too early or didn't go home last night."

"He probably didn't go home last night."

"how do you know?"

Mr. Xue smiled mysteriously: "Intuition?"

"Hey, Xiaoxue, why are you doing this too?"

"Haha, if you had spent the night here, you would have definitely caught a chill."

"Hmm, it looks pretty cold." Mo Xueyao took off her coat and tried to cover Hua Yinyin with it, but then she shivered from the wind.

After the autumn rains, it almost feels like winter is coming...

"Use mine." Mr. Xue took off his coat, which still retained the warmth of his body. "I'm not afraid of being cold."

"Hey, Xiaoxue isn't afraid of the heat or the cold, she's got a pretty good physique!" Mo Xueyao put her clothes back on, deliberately patted Mr. Xue's shoulder, and teased with a smile, "Yeah, very sturdy!"

"Achoo!" Just as she covered herself with the clothes, Hua Yinyin sneezed loudly and grabbed Mr. Xue's coat to wipe away the tears that flowed from her sneeze.

"I hope I haven't caught a cold?" Mo Xueyao muttered with a hint of worry as she put away her keyboard and schoolbag.

"I'm going downstairs."

Where are you going?

"Find some ginger."

"Ginger? Where did you get ginger?" Mo Xueyao scratched her head, but Mr. Xue had already walked away and did not hear her question.

Normally, she might have gone down with them, but she's been on her period lately, which makes her unwilling to move at all. She prefers to sit quietly—to be honest, sitting isn't comfortable either. If it weren't for the leg pain from standing, standing would be much more comfortable.

A short while later, Mr. Xue returned to the classroom carrying a small plastic bag.

"Where have you been?"

"The cafeteria." Mr. Xue smiled. "I'll try asking the cafeteria lady for some ginger and brown sugar."

So, it's all happening now?

"Hmm, here's the brown sugar." Mr. Xue took a small packet of brown sugar out of another pocket.

"But there's no pot either?"

"An electric kettle will suffice."

"Oh--"

"Achoo!!" While boiling water, Hua Yinyin sneezed loudly, finally waking herself up.

She cleared her throat, her voice sounding a little hoarse: "Um... Little Yao Yao? You're here...?"

"Yes, you spent the night here last night?"

"Yeah, I had a little wine."

"...Are you Russian?" Mo Xueyao looked at her with droopy eyelids.

"What are you doing? I also have some of that bloodline, even though it's not outwardly apparent." Hua Yinyin straightened up, watching Mr. Xue's coat slide to the ground. "Whose is this?"

"Xiaoxue's."

"Huh, it's not Yaoyao's!"

"They're all the same anyway, and Mr. Xue's is even a little bigger, isn't that good?"

"But Yao Yao smells even better!"

"...Then you can just go to my fruit shop and buy some fresh flowers and fruit, then hug them and smell them."