A Young Woman's Heart

"Yes, surgery!"

Next, they would take a toy knife and make a few pretend cuts on its belly, then wrap it up with a napkin, and that would be considered the surgery complete.

Mo Xueyao felt awkward the whole time. It was clear that playing house was completely unsuitable for her.

Children love playing house, perhaps because they crave the feeling of being adults?

Time flew by and it was already ten o'clock. Although she wanted to continue playing, Yu Jinyu was already feeling sleepy. Her body began to sway uncontrollably, and her upper and lower eyelids started to droop.

"Xiaoyu, it's time for a bath."

"Hmm...let's play a little longer..."

"Still playing? Look at you, you're so sleepy." Her godmother chuckled and picked her up. "I'll give you a bath, then you can go to sleep."

"Humm..."

“Then we should go home.” Mo Xueyao stood up. “Hmm—how fast, another day has passed.”

"Study at home tomorrow," Li Wanyan said, standing beside her.

"Huh? Hmm... okay, I really have been playing all day, although it feels like I haven't done anything." Mo Xueyao twisted her waist and said goodbye to her godfather, who was still playing games in the study. "Godfather, let's go!"

"Oh? Okay, be careful on the road, and remember to take the main road at night."

"I know."

Night has fallen, and the city has fallen asleep again.

Many shops along the roadside were already closed, with only the faint glow of streetlights illuminating the road in the distance.

The rain had stopped sometime earlier, but the ground was still a little wet. Mo Xueyao walked leisurely with her hands behind her back, while Li Wanyan carried both umbrellas.

Winter is coming soon.

"Yes, the winter solstice is coming soon."

"Next Tuesday."

"Her hair has grown quite a bit."

"Ah."

"But I still haven't grown taller..."

"Ah."

"But a lot has changed at home too."

"Ah."

"Wanyan has changed a lot too."

"……Um."

"A polite remark!"

"Ok?"

"Wanyan!!"

"Ah."

"A tactful way of speaking"

"Um……"

"Wanyan~?"

"Hmm~?"

Chapter 131 Walking the Rabbit

"Sizzle—" Mo Zhuyou tore off a page from the calendar hanging on the wall, revealing the date printed with the number '5' on the back.

"sister--!"

"what's wrong?"

"Nothing, just calling you~" Mo Zhuyou smiled mischievously and pushed open the door.

Today is an exceptionally sunny day, and the air outside is very fresh.

This place is far from the city, and even the nearest village is a long walk along a country road to reach.

So you can't hear any human noise: there are no car roars, no people arguing, only the sound of nature's wind, the babbling of the river in the distance, and all kinds of insect chirps and bird calls.

Speaking of insect chirping...

Mo Zhuyou frowned, picked up the rain boots placed by the door, and slammed them hard against the wall, making a 'thud' sound.

"Snapped."

"Be gentle, don't break the wall." Mo Xiaoxiao glanced over here.

"Ugh, so annoying—why are there these bugs everywhere?"

"They'll hide away when winter comes."

"But it's still so annoying, and they'll crawl into my clothes." Mo Zhuyou muttered as she closed the door to prevent any bugs from flying in.

This is a flying beetle called a stink bug.

Its defining characteristic is that it releases an extremely foul-smelling gas when threatened, hence its nickname "stink bug"...

Living in the mountains is certainly nice, but you also have to suffer from all kinds of mosquitoes and other insects.

In summer, there are more flies and mosquitoes than in the city; in autumn, there are more stink bugs; and in spring, there are more moths...

It's only quiet in winter, but even then it's much colder than in the city.

Everything in the world has two sides, positive and negative.

While enjoying the tranquility of the countryside, one cannot avoid other troubles.

"Black Chocolate, come out." Mo Zhuyou took the rabbit, which had grown quite large, out of the cage and placed it on the grass by the river.

Everyone says rabbits are stupid, but Black Chocolate seems to be quite intelligent. At least it doesn't run away. When I take it out to play, it will come with its two sisters. However, it is often attracted by wildflowers and weeds by the roadside, so I have to stop and wait for it for a while.

It's now as fat as a big cat, or even rounder.

It feels all fleshy and furry to the touch, which is especially comfortable.

If it weren't for the fact that it couldn't control itself like cats and dogs and not go to the toilet anywhere, Mo Zhuyou would have wanted to sleep with it.

However, rabbits are such waste-producing machines that you can only cuddle them occasionally...

The big black rabbit ate a few mouthfuls of grass, then lay down by the river and started licking the water. As soon as it left, a puddle of water appeared on the riverbank.

She's so straightforward...

“Youyou—”

"Here I am!" Mo Zhuyou stood up and waved vigorously at her sister who was standing at the door in the distance.

“Let’s go up the mountain—” the older sister called out from behind the fence.

"Here I am!" The younger sister quickly picked up the big black rabbit and ran to her older sister's side.

Today was a day off, and the weather was perfect, so the two sisters decided to go up the mountain to pick some wild vegetables. Winter is coming soon, and if they didn't pick them now, the vegetables would wither.

My older sister was smoothing out the quilts that were drying on the clothesline by the door, and then she picked up a bamboo basket.

The younger sister glanced into the bamboo basket: "Did you bring all the tools?"

"Yes, I brought them all."

The basket contained a small hoe, a machete, a small shovel, and a snakeskin bag in case the basket couldn't hold any more items.

"Snake skin bag" is a local term; in standard Mandarin, it's called a woven bag.

"Wait, wait, there's a rope too—" This rope was bought from a pet store. It was originally used to tether cats, but it seems like it could also be used on rabbits. Sometimes when she had to take it up the mountain, Mo Zhuyou would use the rope to tether it and lead it around.

People walking dogs are common, but you probably rarely see people walking rabbits.

"Let's go." The younger sister tugged at the rope, and the latter followed without hesitation.

It was quite used to being tied up and didn't seem to feel uncomfortable at all.

The road leading up the mountain is the same road that tea farmers use. Recently, this road has been widened considerably, and it is said that steps will be added next year to make it easier for tea farmers to go up and down the mountain.

Along the roadside were some flowers that were almost withered. Walking in the mountains and forests, you could see a few yellowish-brown pine needles falling from the trees from time to time. Even evergreen trees shed their leaves, but they don't shed all their leaves at once. In fact, new buds sprout as they shed their leaves, and this is true all year round.

My sister didn't recognize many wild vegetables at first, but after wandering around the mountains a few times with an encyclopedia, she could roughly recognize their names.

Her younger sister had come with her several times, and had learned a few things from watching; she recognized most of the most common types.

For example, the wild onions that love to grow on hillsides, or the fruit of a small shrub, which, according to the locals, is wild strawberry.

She would sometimes pick some to eat, but that time was over, and the last bit had been eaten by birds—speaking of which, birds really waste fruit, always pecking at this and that, even the least wasteful ones only eat half and then stop...

"Sister, is this a wild chili pepper?" Mo Zhuyou asked, pointing to a low shrub nearby.

"um, yes."

"It looks like it was eaten by birds... Aren't they afraid of spicy food?"

"Perhaps they actually like spicy food?"

"Hmm—it seems birds are stronger than most people..."

The two walked and looked around, and when they found any that could be picked, they put them in their bamboo basket.

Some are herbs, some are wild vegetables, but they are all useful things.

In the nearby villages, some people collect medicinal herbs. If you have enough, you can sell them for some money, at least earn some pocket money, and you can also enjoy the fun of picking them.

"If only we could pick some Ganoderma lucidum."

"Pfft, you won't find that kind of thing in the mountains near a city like this." Mo Xiao laughed, covering her mouth. "Youyou, come help clean up the dirt on here."

"Here you are."

Mo Zhuyou led Hei Qiao to the stream and helped her sister wash the mud off the rocks.