A Young Woman's Heart

"Meow—" Su Tang walked over with great momentum, like a general who had just won a battle.

Mo Xueyao rubbed its head vigorously, only to find that the silly cat was filthy and had no idea where it had been.

After I threatened to give it a bath, it struggled to escape.

"Tch—that lazy cat who doesn't care about cleanliness." Mo Xueyao watched Su Tang hide in the cardboard box, gently pursed her lips, and stretched out a big yawn. "Hmph—it's getting dark later and later..."

"Yaoyao, you got up very early today."

"Hehe, because I made plans with Xiaoxiao today."

"What did you agree to?"

"She said she brought breakfast today and told me to go early, otherwise it wouldn't taste good if it was left out for too long—I think it was called vegetable glutinous rice balls? Not the kind of glutinous rice balls with fillings that you buy outside."

"I've never had it." Li Wanyan shook her head, turned on the tap and filled her toothbrush cup with water. "Yaoyao, where's the toothpaste?"

"Huh? Toothpaste? Hmm? Wait, where did it go?"

"How did you brush your teeth just now?"

"I just... um..." Mo Xueyao suddenly slapped her forehead, "Ah, I forgot to put in toothpaste!"

"Refresh it again." Li Wanyan shook her head helplessly.

"Uh, I guess I was still a bit groggy when I woke up this morning..." Mo Xueyao scratched her cheek sheepishly. "I just saw a whole bunch of cats and dogs outside. Did I not sleep well today? But that doesn't make sense, I went to bed pretty early yesterday."

"A large group of cats and dogs?" Li Wanyan asked with suspicion. "How many?"

"Seventy or eighty?" Mo Xueyao felt like she couldn't quite remember.

“Impossible.” Li Wanyan shook her head. “Has Yaoyao been under too much pressure lately?”

"Pressure? How could that be... Do you think I'm the kind of person who can't sleep because of pressure?" Mo Xueyao scoffed. "Unlike Wanyan, who has nightmares—"

As soon as she finished speaking, she realized she shouldn't have said that, so she quickly stopped talking and pretended she hadn't said anything.

Li Wanyan remained noncommittal. A few coughs could be heard from afar in the early morning as sanitation workers swept the streets with large brooms.

Plastic bags were piled up all over the ground, along with many styrofoam boxes and disposable chopsticks—this was the trash left over from yesterday's night market.

Mo Xueyao leisurely watched the busy sanitation workers while combing her hair. In half a year, it had grown a lot longer. In a while, she would probably have to tie her hair up to go to school again.

"Whoosh—" Li Wanyan pulled down the roller shutter and handed Mo Xueyao's schoolbag to her. "Let's go."

"Ugh, ouch—it's so cold." Mo Xueyao touched the metal zipper on her backpack and immediately pulled her hand back, feeling the cold. "This backpack feels like it was taken out of a freezer..."

Are your legs cold?

"It's alright, as long as there's no wind." Mo Xueyao shivered and sneezed loudly, "Achoo!"

"Don't catch a cold."

"No, no, I rarely catch a cold in winter!"

The roadside trees seemed listless because of winter, and on the way to school, you could still see a few stray dogs and cats that were truly homeless.

What was rather unusual was that she saw a litter of cats and a litter of dogs putting their kittens together, and then the cats and dogs raising them together.

The dog was rummaging through the trash in the nearby bin when it was chased away by a sanitation worker. Meanwhile, the cat took the opportunity to jump onto the sanitation truck, where it found a few leftover chicken leg bones and meowed as it moved them around.

"Go away!" The sanitation worker waved them away, and they scattered only when they finally got to use the broom.

The cubs in the grass were moved away—with the food they found in the garbage.

Mo Xueyao felt sorry for them, but there were people in this world who were even more miserable than animals.

Even though she felt pity, there was nothing she could do, so she could only put this sudden surge of emotion aside.

This morning, there were two security guards at the guard booth. It was rare for them to be there in the morning. They were chatting casually while reading newspapers.

"Hey, look at these foreign capitalists, look at them, tsk tsk tsk." An uncle clicked his tongue and patted his colleague's shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

"Look at this news."

"Oh... isn't this just one of those shell companies?"

"Yeah, look at this, tsk tsk, don't foreign governments care about their own companies?"

"Tsk, foreign countries are all controlled by capitalists, okay? Whatever they say goes, understand?" The scarred security guard showed off his half-baked knowledge. "Capitalists are just like the robbers of the past, only they look a little more civilized on the surface."

"Tsk tsk, this is outrageous! They promise the supplier 500 yuan per item, but only sell it to the buyer for 300 yuan... Even a fool can see there's something fishy going on!"

"That's called information asymmetry." The security guard with the scar sneered. "How would those suppliers and buyers know about this situation? And most people are probably short-sighted; if there's a bargain in the short term, they'll definitely grab it as quickly as possible."

"Uncle, what are you talking about?" Mo Xueyao curiously approached, as she had a natural interest in national affairs.

"Hey, they're looking down on those stupid capitalists!"

"But from what you're saying, it sounds like this company is doing something good."

"Even good things require funding, so how can he keep losing money? How is he going to make a profit?"

"Perhaps there are government subsidies?"

"Hahaha—countries need to make money too! Modern foreign countries are probably like super-large corporations!"

"Then why would they do this unprofitable business?"

“Hey, those buyers are basically long-term customers who need this kind of product, so the company requires them to pay a year's worth of money upfront and guarantees that the price won't increase during the contract period. But the money paid to the supplier is paid month by month, which means that you can get a large sum of money all at once.”

"So it was used for investment? That's not bad, at least it can stimulate the economy." Mo Xueyao knew a little bit about it.

"Ha, it's not that simple, little girl. Didn't you take any political classes?"

"I have studied it... uh, but they haven't taught this kind of thing much... um, I think I'll understand if you tell me, it's probably just that the adjectives are different from those in the book."

"They use this money to keep expanding, and as long as they keep expanding, the company can keep going." The security guard with the scar on his face touched it and chuckled smugly. "Hey, back in school, I was the class representative for politics, you know. Cough, go on—"

Mo Xueyao wasn't stupid, and she immediately understood: "I know, once it expands to its limit, this fake business operation will collapse directly, right? And then the company will go bankrupt."

"Yes, and you can't even find anyone, because the company's designated legal representative might just be someone used as a scapegoat! Once the capitalists behind the scenes have made enough money, they'll start to close the company and transfer the assets out, turning it into an empty shell."

"What can we do then? Don't foreign governments care?"

"Manage? What's the use? The law can't touch him. Everything he does is legal. He's just exploiting loopholes in the law. At most, we can only fill the loopholes, but we can't hold him accountable later. Besides, aren't those foreign leaders just in cahoots with the capitalists?" The security guard with the scar spoke passionately, "Capitalism has been flowing with black blood since its inception!"

"Which is better, capitalism or feudalism?" The uncle next to her was clearly less educated, and he asked a question that even Mo Xueyao found childish.

"That's nonsense. No matter what, capitalism is a modern thing. What is feudal society? There's no comparison."

"Well, thankfully our country isn't capitalist."

"Of course." The security guard had a strong sense of patriotism. "Look, do you think an economic crisis created by capitalists would happen in our country? Let me tell you, it's absolutely impossible for such a thing to happen in our country. Although the economy has been opened up now, capitalists wouldn't dare to show up."

Why wouldn't you dare?

"Ha, unless they want to experience the sixties again?"

"That's true. Although that era slowed down our country's economic development, it also had its advantages. At the very least, it served as a warning to potential capitalists, telling them that this is a place where the people are the masters." The uncle next to me agreed wholeheartedly.

Mo Xueyao is a young person, and one who should be considered to be in her rebellious phase.

She would subconsciously question what adults said.

It's said that history is cyclical, and those same things might very well happen on this land...

"Wanyan, do you think that kind of thing will happen?"

"will not."

"Huh, why?"

"Because we can learn from history."

“But history has repeated many mistakes.” Mo Xueyao still refused to agree with her point of view.

"So what do you think?" Now it was Li Wanyan's turn to ask in return.

"Hmm... I...? I'm not really sure either, I can't give you an answer."

Li Wanyan was about to say something when she was interrupted by Mo Zhuyou's loud shout from behind: "Hey—we're here already! Hurry up and come down to the band room for some vegetable glutinous rice balls!"

"Okay, okay, I'll put my bag away and go!" Mo Xueyao replied loudly. As for the social issues they had just discussed?

It's long been forgotten.

……

Chapter 176 Paying Off the Debt

"Aunt Jin, going to play croquet again?" Mo Wenli was doing calisthenics in front of the shop. He asked while stretching his legs, "Do you go every day?"

"Well, I'll go when I'm in the mood, and I'll just mind the shop when I'm not."

You look great today!

"Hehe, I've put on a face mask!"

"Ha, you even use a face mask? Haha—" Mo Wenli burst out laughing, "Pretty trendy, huh?"

"You still have to look beautiful even when you're old," Grandma Jin joked. "How about it? Don't you have fewer wrinkles now?"

"There are some."

"Hehe! Ali, you're lying again. I counted them this morning, and not a single one is missing!"

"Hahaha—at least the wrinkles have faded."

"Yeah, that's right. I'm leaving."

"Okay, do you want to bring some fruit?"

"No need. I recently went to the hospital for a checkup and my blood sugar was a bit high, so I have to eat less fruit and stuff."

"Okay, drive carefully then."

"Come on, do you think I'm that old? Can't I walk anymore?" Grandma Jin said with a laugh, crossing the road with a fashionable handbag that was different from yesterday.

Mo Wenli suppressed his smile, yawned several times, placed the armchair in a sunny spot, and lay down comfortably. However, because the chair was too cold, he had to sit upright again.

"I'll wait until the sun warms the chair up a bit before I lie down," he muttered to himself. He reached into his pocket, found his cigarette pack was gone, and after looking at it for a while, he didn't want to get up anymore. So he simply picked a clean grapevine, wiped it on his clothes, and put it in his mouth to chew.