A Young Woman's Heart

"Hey?"

"Xiaoyao!" A brief greeting rang out. Although the phone was slightly distorted, she could still tell who it was from the tone of the voice.

"Huh? Xiaoming? What's up?"

"Hey, it's a rare Saturday, how about we go out and have some fun?"

"What? You're off today?" Mo Xueyao deliberately emphasized the word "off," just to tease him.

"Hahaha—even women can't avoid getting tired."

"So how many days a week do you work?"

"About two or three days."

"It must be tough too..." Mo Xueyao said deliberately in a sympathetic tone, but the other person clearly knew she was being sarcastic.

"Damn, it's been a while since we last contacted each other, and you've become like a hermaphrodite!"

You're the one who's hermaphroditic!

"Hahaha—seriously, are you coming out to play or not?"

"Where should we meet?" Mo Xueyao asked lazily as she rubbed face oil onto her face with her other hand.

"old place?"

"That unfinished street hasn't been demolished yet?"

I think it's coming soon.

"Huh? Is that place going to be demolished too?" Mo Xueyao asked in surprise. "Hmm... let's meet there then!"

"Okay, see you later!"

After hanging up the phone, Mo Xueyao immediately rushed back to her room and searched for her few remaining unisex clothes in the closet.

"Are you going out?" Li Wanyan put down her pen and looked up to ask.

"Yes, I met up with an old classmate." Mo Xueyao didn't hide anything and told her the truth, "Although we haven't been in touch for a long time, we're still best friends!"

"What kind of person does Yaoyao consider a best friend?"

"Hmm... a best friend is someone you still connect with no matter how long it's been, right?" she replied, tilting her head as she put on a pair of black casual trousers and then a jacket she used to wear as a boy.

"I've finished my homework."

"Oh...so fast?" Mo Xueyao exclaimed while tying her hair. "Wanyan's efficiency is as high as ever."

"Well, I happen to have nothing to do."

"Oh, are you going out to play too? Who are you going to see?" Mo Xueyao turned her head and glanced at her a few times. "Did they invite you?"

Li Wanyan sighed helplessly and stuffed the homework on the table back into her schoolbag: "Let's go out for a walk together."

"Huh? With me?"

"Is that not allowed?"

"It's not impossible... Ah, um... Just remember to keep it a secret!" Mo Xueyao felt a little embarrassed. "But all my best friends are guys, is that okay? You and they might not have much in common."

"It's okay." Li Wanyan walked into the bathroom and combed her long hair in front of the cracked mirror—actually, she just untied her ponytail and tied it back up.

"Then let's go together." Mo Xueyao hesitated for a moment, but quickly became more relaxed. Anyway, Li Wanyan already knew her secret, so there was nothing to be ashamed of. "We have to ride bicycles there. It shouldn't rain today, right?"

The weather forecast says it will be cloudy.

"Then you don't need to bring an umbrella..."

Mo Xueyao muttered to herself as she walked outside, squatted down, put on her sneakers, stomped them on to make sure she was dressed, and then pushed open the outermost iron gate and went out.

Across the street is Yu Shu's house, but it's no longer their home; they're just renting it.

There were two bags of trash at the door, which looked like they were left there last night and hadn't been thrown away yet this morning.

Yu Shu's parents seem to be both teachers, and they probably rest on weekends. I wonder if they're up yet.

Thinking this, Mo Xueyao picked up the two bags of trash in front of her house and called out to Li Wanyan, who hadn't come out yet, "Wanyan, I'm going downstairs now!"

"it is good."

When I first came downstairs, the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, as if to prove that it was still there. But soon after, the sunlight lazily hid back behind the clouds.

Li Wanyan had just come downstairs when Mo Xueyao had already unlocked both bicycles and was leisurely waiting for her on her own.

"Where to?"

"A deserted street—hmm, Wanyan probably hasn't been there before." Mo Xueyao put one foot on the pedal and shouted energetically, "Let's go, let's go!"

The buildings and roadside trees along the roadside seemed to fall backward in a blur. Mo Xueyao rode on ahead, oblivious to everything else, until she had passed several traffic lights before suddenly remembering that Li Wanyan was still following behind her. When she turned around, she found that Li Wanyan was still close behind and hadn't fallen behind. She breathed a sigh of relief: "Cough... I was a little distracted. I thought it was like before."

"Ok?"

"Well... I used to go out alone, especially when I went to that unfinished street, so I almost forgot about you." Mo Xueyao scratched her head sheepishly. "Wanyan, can you keep up? Am I riding too fast?"

"Just right."

"That's fine."

About half an hour later, the streets around them became increasingly desolate, and the shops became fewer. Gradually, the two drove onto a dilapidated asphalt road. On the side were some half-built high-rise buildings and shops. The trees along the road were bare, and the leaves were rotting. It seemed that no one was cleaning the area.

The trash can next to it was full of garbage, but judging from its appearance, it seemed that no one had emptied it for many years.

Li Wanyan had never been here before, so she had the illusion that she had come to another city.

"Isn't this place nice?" Mo Xueyao asked smugly.

Li Wanyan looked at her, seemingly disagreeing on the word 'not bad'.

In her view, this was a dilapidated corner of the city, and no one would come here except for homeless people.

"It feels like a secret base... Aren't those superhero secret bases usually built in places like this? On the surface, it looks like an abandoned street, but in reality, there's a huge underground complex or something..." Mo Xueyao explained, but her voice gradually softened. "Well, it's normal that Wanyan doesn't understand."

"I just feel like this is a post-apocalyptic city."

"Hmm! This feeling is pretty good too!" Mo Xueyao nodded vigorously, looking at the withered ivy on the wall. "They don't seem to have arrived yet. Let's go ahead and wait for them."

The place Mo Xueyao was referring to was the end of this unfinished street.

There is a river here, and on the riverbank are several rotten wooden tables and chairs. In front of a bamboo grove that has grown onto the road, there is a stone table covered with moss and four stone benches. That was the place where Mo Xueyao and her friends liked to sit when they were in junior high school.

They used to come here often, so the stone table and chairs wouldn't be covered in moss, but now...

I guess no one has time to come.

Although she was still in high school, she inexplicably felt that she had already grown up.

As we get older, we lose touch with our old friends.

Although she always confidently says that true best friends will not lose their feelings for each other because they have not been in contact for a long time.

But who can really explain everything that happens in this world?

Time possesses boundless power and can change many people and things.

Perhaps Shi Haiming had such concerns, which is why he would occasionally call everyone together for a get-together.

Mo Xueyao took a deep breath and parked her bicycle beside the railing. Outside the railing was a tributary of the canal. Although it was winter, the green algae in the water were still growing tenaciously.

She was so engrossed in watching that she didn't turn around until Li Wanyan poked her in the back.

"These must be your friends."

"Ah! They're here."

……

Chapter 168 How have you been lately?

The man walking ahead looked like he had already shed the naivety of a high school student, exuding an air of maturity—but more so a sense of worldliness.

The first time Li Wanyan saw him, she felt that he was like the playboy from a male escort club.

Walking at the very front was, of course, Shi Haiming.

After not seeing him for several days, he had become much more fashionable than before: he was wearing two large earrings on his earlobes, his eyebrows seemed to have been trimmed, making him look more effeminate, and his hair was in a neutral style, looking somewhat fluffy and dyed dark gold, like those Japanese and Korean stars.

He was wearing ripped and faded jeans, a denim jacket without a zipper, and a black cotton long-sleeved shirt underneath.

"Yo!" Shi Haiming raised his eyebrows and winked at Mo Xueyao, his whole expression and movements as if he were seducing her. "You're here so early, Xiaoyao."

"Tsk, you're getting more and more disgusting," Mo Xueyao said bluntly. "And what's wrong with your voice? Can you please stop talking like that?"

Li Wanyan glanced at Mo Xueyao with slight surprise, realizing that she still didn't seem to understand Mo Xueyao well enough when she was male.

"Hahaha—I'm used to it."

"How disgusting." Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes, completely ignoring him. "Atao, did you two come together?"

"No, we just happened to run into each other on the way." Li Gutao smiled, looking much more energetic and mature than he did in junior high school. Perhaps it was because he had a girlfriend?

"And this is...? Your girlfriend?" Shi Haiming's gaze finally fell on Li Wanyan, and he asked with a nonchalant smile.

"...She is my classmate, and now she lives with me for some reason."

"Oh—so you've met the parents and consummated the marriage?"

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Mo Xueyao wasn't embarrassed at all, but she was a little worried that Li Wanyan would be angry. "Don't joke around like that."

"Sigh, has a pathetic, invisible wall really built between us?" Shi Haiming sighed dramatically. "We used to be able to joke around so easily..."

"Go away and play somewhere else. You're getting more and more irresponsible." Mo Xueyao flicked his forehead, then put her arm around Li Gutao's shoulder. "Right, Atao!"

"Hahaha, that kid has really been like this lately." Li Gutao laughed a few times and gently patted her hand on his shoulder. "Cough, it's a good thing Huihui isn't here today, otherwise I would be in big trouble."

"Tch, what's the big deal? Aren't we all brothers?" Mo Xueyao was very dissatisfied.

Shi Haiming, who was standing nearby, chimed in, "Yeah, we're all brothers, what's wrong with joking around?"

"Go away, I wasn't talking to you!"

"Hahaha--"

The atmosphere instantly felt like it was back in school. Li Gutao laughed and placed the paper bag he was carrying on the stone table: "Come on, I specially went to McDonald's and bought a meal set. It should be enough for the four of us."