A Young Woman's Heart

"Well, but the results don't seem to be very good. Not many classes can cooperate. It's mainly because we have to make dishes that everyone likes, which is quite troublesome."

"So how did we organize our class?"

"Well, it's because Wanyan and Xiaoxue are here, and with Gaoyuan added, we can make the menu and stuff to a level that everyone is quite satisfied with." Hua Yinyin finished chopping the vegetables and started peeling the potatoes. "Peeling is so troublesome, can't we just eat them with the skin on?"

“I also think potatoes taste better with the skin on.” Mo Xueyao shook her head, the warm firelight making her feel incredibly comfortable.

Perhaps in the past, the happiest moment for farmers in the countryside was when they were making dinner?

The family gathered together, working together, and the firelight illuminated the walls with a reddish glow, making the cold house warm.

The best time is winter, when it's snowing outside...

"But some people don't like to eat them, so we still have to peel them." Hua Yinyin threw the peeled potatoes into the vegetable washing basket next to her. These small potatoes are not cut; they can be directly put into the pot for frying or braised, which are both delicious.

How long will it take to bake this potato?

"It's so small, it'll be ready soon, right?"

"Now you can taste it."

"Tsk tsk, you greedy little Yao Yao." Hua Yinyin smacked her lips. "Give me half when it's done baking."

"Hey, you're the same way, and how can you divide something so small?"

"Just cut it open with a knife."

"Your knife is all wet, it won't taste good if you cut it open." Mo Xueyao pouted. "It must be especially comfortable to eat this in winter."

“In the city during winter, if we don’t turn on the air conditioning, we wish we had a heater at home.” Hua Yinyin seemed to be thinking about her childhood. “Hmph... thankfully we have air conditioning now.”

"My house doesn't have air conditioning, so it's hot in the summer and cold in the winter." Mo Xueyao felt a headache coming on as winter approached.

Especially on rainy winter nights, her bed was placed by the window, and even with the window closed, she could feel the cold seeping into her body through the walls.

It was so cold that my hands and feet were freezing, and no amount of blankets could keep up.

It's important to know that Mo Xueyao doesn't have a cold constitution; most of the time, her hands and feet are warm, which gives you an idea of ​​how poorly warm her home must be.

"Hehe, it's okay. Little Yaoyao can come to my house in winter. My house is warm with the air conditioning on! There's air conditioning everywhere!"

"I don't want to go." Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes. "I'd rather go to Yu Shu's house."

This is something that just suddenly came to her mind.

Yu Shu's family has air conditioning. I remember when I was little, they would turn it on when it was very cold in winter. Now that they've come back, I guess they'll still have the same habit as before.

"Yu Shu? Who is that? Little Yao Yao has been getting to know so many girls behind my back, humph!"

"We're childhood sweethearts, we've known each other since kindergarten."

"Alas--!"

"Don't look at me like I caught them cheating." Mo Xueyao gave her a disdainful look. "Her house is right next door to mine. To be precise, if you open the door, her house is right across the street."

"Damn it, so close! I didn't expect there to be another obstacle besides Wanyan!"

"What weird thing are you trying to do that's getting you stopped?!"

"For example, make Xiaoyao a bride and put her in a wedding dress or something."

"Sure," Mo Xueyao said with a smirk, "unless you become a man one day."

"What? Women can't have that?"

"But it's illegal."

"Laws are just constraints, Yaoyao, let's cast aside those rules and regulations! Break free from the shackles of human reason and come into my arms!"

Mo Xueyao tugged at her braid and chuckled, "Can't you be serious for once?"

"I'm very serious," Hua Yinyin blinked and began to play dumb.

"Come on... uh, the potatoes should be ready." Mo Xueyao muttered as she took out the small potatoes. The freshly baked potatoes were still very hot. She tossed them from her left hand to her right hand, then from her right hand to her left hand, and finally placed them on Hua Yinyin's cutting board. "Cut them quickly."

"It's so hot, you want me to cut it? Am I a tool?!"

"Pretty much, that's about all you're good for," Mo Xueyao replied bluntly.

The roasted potatoes were cut in half; the outer layer was crispy, while the inside was powdery and tasted pretty good, especially for someone who was a little hungry.

"I heard that during famines, people ate potatoes and sweet potatoes."

"Back then, it was good enough to have this much to eat." Mo Xueyao wiped the potato crumbs from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, then casually wiped them on the stove, only to find that the back of her hand was even dirtier.

Because the stove was all black...

Luckily, there was a washbasin nearby; otherwise, having such a dark mess on the back of my hand would have been unpleasant to look at.

Mo Xueyao is a person with a special kind of germaphobia.

What's unusual is that she feels very upset when places she can see or frequently notice get dirty, but she doesn't feel anything when other hidden places get dirty.

This is why her mother always tells her that she only cleans the surface of the house.

Because once she cleaned the surface, she felt it was clean enough...

As for the dust under the bed or in the crevices, since it's invisible and not used often, it doesn't bother me at all.

It's like she used to think it was perfectly fine to wipe her washed hands on her skirt to dry them.

But if her hands are wet or dirty, she must dry or clean them immediately.

They even went so far as to wash their hands with saliva...

These habits have gradually been changed over time, but I still do them unconsciously.

After all, it's a deeply ingrained habit that has been formed over many years. Without changing the way of thinking in one's bones, it's very difficult to completely correct it—at least it's impossible to do so in just one year.

When a person undergoes significant changes within a year, those are called major transformations.

Many people's changes are often laid out over the long river of time.

Maybe five years, maybe ten years...

Or perhaps even longer.

"Little Yaoyao, why are you touching that dark place?" Hua Yinyin asked, blinking her eyes. She instinctively realized that this girl was about to say something inappropriate again.

She often tells dirty jokes, sometimes quite subtly, and it takes a while to realize what she's saying.

After a while, Mo Xueyao subconsciously began to feel that every word Hua Yinyin said was a lewd joke with a hidden meaning.

"Hurry up and chop the vegetables."

"Is the second portion of vegetables ready?" Li Wanyan, who was cooking, had already finished the first portion and was plating it.

"Alright, alright, here, the second one!"

"Hmm." After taking the ingredients, Li Wanyan used a brush made from an old loofah to wipe the pot with water. It wasn't so much to clean it, but mainly to wash away the residual smell.

The flavors of different dishes mixed together can become unpalatable, but this simple cleaning obviously cannot completely remove the flavors; it's better than nothing—better than not cleaning at all.

"Flip the wok." After stir-frying for a while, Li Wanyan said to Duanmu Ji, who was helping her. His job was to flip the wok. No matter how strong Li Wanyan was, she couldn't do it. This kind of work had to be done by a boy.

"Whoosh—" The aroma of the food whetted Mo Xueyao's appetite, and her mouth was already watering uncontrollably.

……

Chapter 83 Mr. Xue, who occasionally slacks off

Thursday, June 2000, 10.

Every day was so fulfilling that many people were still in a daze when the second-to-last day of the agricultural learning activity arrived.

For example, Mo Xueyao even felt that this was only her second day here.

Last night, the girls actually wanted to sleep together again, but Ye Wen found out. Since they had already done it once, she refused to let them sleep together last night, and they could only return to their own rooms with some disappointment.

But everything has two sides. Sleeping alone means I won't steal someone else's blanket, and because I won't chat or joke around too much, I can go to bed early. When I wake up in the morning, I feel much more awake than yesterday.

I've grown accustomed to the morning breeze in the mountains.

Although I got up very early, some people were already busy.

It's no joke that many farmers get up as early as chickens.

Breakfast was as simple and plain as it had been the previous few days. Some students couldn't stand it after eating it for a few days, so they simply went to buy instant noodles instead.

Mo Xueyao didn't mind; such simple meals had been her family's daily routine for a long time.

Don't forget, it's only been a year since our family started to have better financial conditions.

"distant."

"Hmm? What's wrong, Wanyan?"

"The beef jerky Yinyin brought." Li Wanyan handed her the freshly opened beef jerky, which contained many large pieces, but she only took the smallest one for herself.

"Huh, she's up?"

"She's in the back." Li Wanyan turned slightly to the side so that Mo Xueyao could see Hua Yinyin walking out of the stairwell.

"Hoo-ha—you guys are all up so early." Hua Yinyin covered her mouth and yawned, listlessly resting her chin on Mo Xueyao's shoulder. "When I was rummaging through my bag this morning, I found a bag of beef jerky, so I used it for breakfast... I'm so sleepy..."

"Yinyin, your head is so heavy," Mo Xueyao said helplessly, feeling her breath.

"Who said that? It's very light, okay?"

"Like a shot put...not light at all."

Li Wanyan tore off a small piece of beef jerky with her teeth and chewed it slowly with her steamed bun. About half an hour later, the other students who hadn't gotten up yet were also woken up by their homeroom teacher.

Another day of agricultural learning activities is about to begin.

Today we learned about sowing.

But it's not enough to just scatter the seeds; the soil still needs to be turned over before sowing. The boys take the big hoes, and the girls take the small hoes.

Chatting while working may not be very efficient, but it makes time seem to fly by.

"Drink—ah!" Gao Yuan was unusually diligent during this agricultural training, always doing the hardest work and hardly ever slacking off.

Perhaps he also wanted to take this opportunity to lose weight?