A Young Woman's Heart

"She's quite a pretty girl."

"Not as pretty as Mom was when she was young." These words weren't spoken by Chen Cheng, but by Zhuang Lianlian. She seemed a little embarrassed herself, but still straightened her back—though she couldn't hide the blush on her face.

"Your daughter-in-law has such a sweet tongue." Chen's mother pinched Zhuang Lianlian's little face. "I've already heard about your situation from his father. I think, why don't we just live like this from now on, and when we're old enough to get a marriage certificate, we can go and get it."

"I've long considered her my daughter-in-law! Lianlian is very sensible!" Old Chen came out with a bowl of noodles, placed it in front of the guests, and praised with a smile, "Chen Cheng, this kid, is so lucky to have such a good wife. He's been blessed for eight lifetimes."

Mo Xueyao winked at Li Wanyan, seemingly amused by what was happening before her eyes.

The latter smiled slightly and touched her short hair, which had grown a bit longer—both girls were happy for Zhuang Lianlian.

After all, some parents simply cannot accept a disabled person, regardless of their own circumstances.

The guests cast curious glances, but in this day and age, no one found it strange.

Children this age are about the right age to get married. Some children from rural areas don't continue their studies after junior high school. They work outside for a year or two and then get married. That's quite common.

This is actually a remnant of feudal society, and it will only improve when society develops in all aspects.

A hallmark of a civilized and developed society is that people are getting married at increasingly later ages.

Whether it's a good thing or not is another matter.

Zhuang Lianlian leaned against Chen Cheng, resting her head on his shoulder. She looked incredibly sweet, but upon closer inspection, wasn't she just declaring her ownership?

"Chen Cheng, how's your studies lately?"

"well enough."

"He studies hard."

“I didn’t try very hard,” Li Wanyan added from the side.

"Ahem!" Mo Xueyao nudged her arm, telling her not to meddle in other people's business.

Li Wanyan is good in every way, except that she is sometimes too serious, or perhaps she is too 'upright'.

"By the way, who are these two little girls?"

"The daughter of the fruit shop owner next door," Chen Cheng replied dryly. He glanced at Li Wanyan, wanting to say something, but ultimately kept quiet.

"I wasn't wrong," Chen's mother said with a smile. "Hello everyone? What are your names?"

“Mo Xueyao…” As she looked at Li Wanyan, a mischievous thought suddenly came to her mind. “Her name is Mo Wanyan.”

"Pfft." Zhuang Lianlian quickly covered her mouth.

Chen's mother was completely unaware of the problem and cheerfully said, "Oh, two sisters? They're not twins, are they?"

"No, it's not."

"But it still looks quite similar."

"Ahem!" This time, even Mo Xueyao herself couldn't help but cough.

“My name is Li Wanyan.” This time, it was Li Wanyan herself who answered seriously, “I am her goddaughter.”

"You little rascal~" Chen's mother pinched Mo Xueyao's little face, then suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Oh, your eyes are blue, aren't they?"

"Yes, I am of mixed race," Mo Xueyao explained quite habitually—ever since her eyes turned blue, she had to explain this frequently.

"So beautiful, like porcelain dolls." Chen's mother looked at the other two girls. "Of course, everyone is very cute and beautiful."

"Honey, why don't you go and say hello to them later? We owe our current life to them."

"I know I'll definitely go over and say hello later, but I didn't bring a gift. How about tomorrow?"

"Hey, bringing gifts between brothers makes it seem like we're not close. I'll just take you to say hello to them."

Mo Xueyao winked at Li Wanyan: "Let's go, Mo Wanyan, shall we go back?"

Li Wanyan pinched her delicate nose helplessly, saying nothing, but just smiling.

It was already quite late. Although it was only a little past nine o'clock, the darkness meant there wouldn't be many customers coming in.

After the customers left, Old Chen closed the shop and, along with his family, Mo Xueyao, and Li Wanyan who were going home, went to the entrance of the fruit shop.

Mo Wenli and Yang Xiaoyu were also busy packing up their stall at the moment.

Clearly, seeing there was no business, they planned to go home and rest early.

"Oh, sister-in-law's back?" Mo Wenli greeted him with a smile, and skillfully handed Old Chen a Double Happiness cigarette—he seemed to have been smoking this kind of cigarette lately, and kept Liqun cigarettes in his pocket, only using them to share with other people he wasn't so familiar with.

"It's been so many years, you haven't changed a bit... Your name is Ali, right?"

"Ha, you remember? Yes, ha." The father whistled when he saw Mo Xueyao and the other girl. "Girls, are you sleeping at the shop or going home tonight?"

"Of course we're going home. There's no electricity, why would we sleep in the shop?" Mo Xueyao said, picking up Su Tang, who was lying next to the kerosene lamp. "I'll take Su Tang home with me. It's been a long time since I've taken it home."

"Who'll catch the mice tonight?" the father joked.

"It'll be fine if we don't catch him for one night." Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes. "Sweetie, I'll give you a bath when we get back."

"Meow—" As if it understood, Su Tang suddenly started to struggle.

"Don't move! Or I'll give you two baths!" Mo Xueyao warned.

"Meow..." It immediately quieted down again, which made people chuckle, especially its pitiful appearance, which made Mo Xueyao really want to take a picture of it, but unfortunately there was nothing around her at the moment.

The adults greeted each other, and Chen's mother made some polite small talk, but Mo Xueyao had no interest in listening and started packing her schoolbag with Li Wanyan.

If I leave something at the store, I won't be able to take the bus directly to the school gate tomorrow. I'll have to take a detour to get it, which is inconvenient even though it's not far.

"Oh, sister-in-law, you're too kind. You're too kind to ask for such a great favor!" A louder voice came from the adults' side. Mo Wenli smiled but said seriously, "I'll be happy if your lives get better in the future! Besides, I'm making money doing this, it's not like I'm doing charity."

“This is what you should earn,” Chen’s mother said, though she seemed somewhat apprehensive.

“Sister-in-law, you’re not the same as you were back then,” Mo Wenli said with a wry smile.

"Yes, life has changed so much, of course it's different now," Chen's mother said with a bitter smile. "Look at me, I'm so old now, sigh..."

"Don't think too much. In my eyes, you're still as beautiful as you were when you were young." Old Chen hugged his mother and kissed her on the cheek.

On the latter's wrinkled face, a shy smile bloomed like a flower.

"Hey, you two, stop being so mushy." Mo Wenli laughed and waved his hand. "Alright, alright, we're going home now, you and your family should go home too!"

"Yes, it's close by here, we can just walk back."

"I'll take Lianlian back on my electric scooter," Chen Cheng said with a smile, his arm around Zhuang Lianlian, his face full of happiness and sweetness.

"Your family is so kind," Yang Xiaoyu said with emotion.

"Yeah, that's great. There are elderly couples and young couples. Tsk tsk, will it be noisy at night?"

"Hahaha—Ali, you little rascal!"

"What are you saying..." Chen's mother said somewhat embarrassedly, "The children are all here."

"What are you afraid of? Do you really think these two kids haven't done anything wrong? Right, Chen Cheng?" Mo Wenli raised an eyebrow at Chen Cheng.

Chen Cheng gave an awkward laugh, while Zhuang Lianlian moved even closer to him.

"You should buy another electric scooter when you have time—a second-hand one will do. That way it will be more convenient to get around, and the whole family can work together when you open the shop. Wouldn't that be great?"

"Yes, it's great, it's great." Old Chen nodded with emotion, hugged his wife and son, and patted Zhuang Lianlian's little head next to him. "Let's go, we have to go home too."

"A family of four, hey."

"Aren't you the same?"

"Ha ha--"

Old Chen and his mother walked slowly, seemingly having endless things to talk about. Chen Cheng, however, was not in a hurry to go home. Instead, he had Zhuang Lianlian sit on the electric scooter while he slowly pushed it along.

Hmm... of course, it's also possible that the car battery is dead.

"Whoosh—" The father pulled down several roller shutters, carefully locked each one, and only after making sure they wouldn't be pulled up did he lead the others into the van.

"Boom boom boom—" The old engine of the van roared, adding a touch of wildness to the gentle and tranquil night. Exhaust fumes filled the night. The van nimbly turned around and drove off along the main road into the distance.

There weren't many cars at night, and the streets were deserted with hardly any pedestrians in sight.

After driving for quite some time, Mo Xueyao was surprised to find that all the streetlights around her were on.

Looking back, you can see that the area near the mountainside is completely dark, as if it has been swallowed up by darkness.

However... upon closer inspection, there were still some faint lights and candlelight in the darkness.

It's just that the lights in other parts of the city are too bright, obscuring them.

……

Chapter 125 Another Year of Sports Meet

Looking back now, it feels like the sports meet was just yesterday.

However, the sports meet has arrived once again this year.

The date is May 2, 2000.

A light drizzle fell intermittently.

It was more like fog than rain, as if a giant watering can was hanging in the sky, sprinkling fine, dense water droplets onto the earth.

The sports meet was not stopped because of the light rain; it's just that the spectator seats were moved from the playground to the classrooms.

Students can comfortably stay in the classroom and watch the game below from the window.

Of course, you can also choose to stand in the lobby on the first floor, where you might have a clearer view.

"Hey, luckily I was prepared." Gao Yuan grabbed a pair of binoculars and leaned against the window, drooling. "Wow... what a great figure..."

"What? Let me see!" Liu Xiaowei couldn't contain himself any longer.

"Don't worry, don't worry, I'll show you in a bit!"

They were like a group of celestial marshals descended to earth, each one more lewd than the last.

However, this is also one of the fun things for the boys; otherwise, the sports meet wouldn't be very interesting.

Because of the sports meet, no one sat in their assigned seats; they just sat wherever they wanted.

The back row of the classroom was a favorite spot for couples, while Lu Bolun mingled with the other boys, looking happy but actually somewhat envious of the couples.