A Young Woman's Heart

"Liu Xiaowei, sixty push-ups! Didn't you say you wouldn't lose?" Mo Xueyao shouted triumphantly.

“Yes, yes.” Sanhua Tongjue also looked like she was going to supervise him until he finished.

On Friday afternoon, they didn't get any free time during the two physical education classes; instead, they played basketball for almost the entire period.

Just as the boys finished their punishments under the girls' supervision, the bell rang to signal the end of get out of class.

Despite it being the dead of winter, Mo Xueyao was covered in sweat. Now that she had stopped, the sweat began to cool, and the wind blowing over her made her feel even colder.

"Phew..." She stomped her feet to warm herself up again. "It wouldn't be bad to have a basketball game once in a while..."

"Damn, my hands are about to break!" Under Ye Ran's supervision, Liu Xiaowei, who had done sixty standard push-ups, shook his hands vigorously and plopped down on the bench next to him.

Normally, he would have grabbed his schoolbag and run out of the school by this time, but today he probably doesn't have the strength for that.

"Alright, Class Two, you can dismiss yourselves. Those who want to continue playing on the playground can do so, and those who want to go home can go home!" Ye Ran shouted to the students on the playground, then twirled the ropes of the stopwatch and whistle in his hands and walked gracefully toward the office.

"I'm covered in sweat... sticky and uncomfortable." Mo Xueyao grumbled as she turned on the faucet in front of the toilet, then flinched as the cold tap water froze her hands.

"Haruka~!"

"What? You scared me."

You can tell it's Wang Jiale just by his voice.

"How was it? Did you have fun playing basketball?"

"It's alright, I'm exhausted." Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes. "I feel like I don't have the energy to practice the piano anymore."

"Pfft, hurry up, let's go to the band room."

"You've been here for quite a while, haven't you?"

"No, we didn't go up there today. We just played badminton on the badminton court next door."

"Ah, playing badminton is still better, at least you don't bump into each other..." Mo Xueyao touched her back, as if it was still a little sore.

"Let's go, let's go, and while we're at it, let's check out the script Yin Yin wrote~"

"Ah, right, I need to check if it meets the standards. I really hope this guy doesn't add anything weird to it..."

"Xiao~ Yao~ Yao~" Hua Yinyin ran over from a distance, and Mo Xueyao quickly dodged, stopping with a practiced 'foot brake'.

"Don't get so close, you're all sweaty and smelly."

"Who said that? Even if Xiaoyaoyao sweats, she'll still smell good!" Hua Yinyin snuggled close to Mo Xueyao's neck, took a deep breath, then turned her head to the other side and took a deep breath, "Hoo hoo..."

"I already said you stink! Do you think this is some kind of literary work? You're supposed to stink, okay?" she said, both annoyed and amused. "Alright, alright, I'll go get my bag and then go to the band room to rest for a bit. I really want to sit down..."

"Let's go, let's go! Oh, right, we can let Youyou have some roasted rice cakes today!"

"Roasted! Rice! Cake!" Wang Jiale exclaimed with anticipation.

When the three arrived at the band room, a fire had already been lit in the iron barrel. Mo Zhuyou, who was prepared in advance, placed a wire rack on the iron barrel and then started grilling rice cakes on it.

The fire wasn't very big, so the roasting process wasn't fast.

"Hoo hoo, let me warm up a bit~" Wang Jiale quickly moved over, skillfully took off her shoes, and slightly raised her feet to feel the warmth of the firelight.

"Hey, hey, you're still grilling something to eat!" Mo Zhuyou shouted.

"It's okay, my feet smell good!"

“Then I’ll do it too!” Mo Zhuyou said, taking off her shoes as well.

Everyone else followed suit, and even Yu Shu, who came to film the band's daily life, took off her shoes.

Only Mr. Xue watched from the side, smiling faintly.

“Okay—then I’ll do it too—!” Mo Xueyao said, taking off her leather shoes, and her toes on her small black-stockinged feet twitched slightly.

"Ahem... Xiaoyao, you should put your shoes on." Mo Zhuyou coughed lightly.

"What do you mean? Are you disgusted by my smelly feet?"

"After all, I just played basketball... um... can't you smell it?"

"Really?" Mo Xueyao curiously lifted her foot and brought it close to her delicate nose, then her whole face immediately scrunched up. "Eek—"

"Pfft, hahaha—"

"Little Yaoyao, it's okay, I can bear it!" Hua Yinyin patted her shoulder, but then turned around dramatically, panting heavily, sticking out her tongue like a dog.

Mo Xueyao silently put on the shoes.

The idea that feet in leather shoes won't smell after strenuous exercise and heavy sweating is something that only exists in works of art.

In reality, probably no one could do that without smelling bad.

Just like even the prettiest girl's poop will still smell bad...

"Xiaoyao's leather shoes are a bit dirty." Wang Jiale handed her a wet wipe. "Would you like me to wipe them?"

"They probably got dirty while playing ball," Mo Xueyao sighed, taking a wet wipe and carefully cleaning the leather shoes.

She usually doesn't wear leather shoes to school when there's a PE class. She only wore them because she thought there wouldn't be a PE class on Friday.

It's hard to say about regular PE classes, but Friday's PE class is free time beforehand.

"I feel that although leather shoes go well with our school uniforms, canvas shoes are better. At least they won't smell," Mo Zhuyou suddenly said seriously.

"Hmm, it seems that even though Xiaoyao always acts like she doesn't care about her image, she actually really wants to be pretty!" Hua Yinyin teased playfully.

"What is all this... My mom made me wear it!" Mo Xueyao shouted in protest.

However, nowadays, mothers usually leave the little leather shoes and canvas shoes aside and let her choose for herself.

Unless there is something special, her mother would dictate what shoes or clothes she could wear.

"Hehe, an explanation is just a cover-up~"

"Mmm! Black stockings with black leather shoes do look really nice." Wang Jiale nodded. "But I still prefer the class monitor's outfit."

"What's the class monitor's lineup again?" Mo Zhuyou asked.

"Wanyan? White stockings and white leather shoes, huh?"

"Wouldn't white be better paired with black?" Mo Zhuyou didn't quite agree with what Wang Jiale had just said.

So the girls' conversation turned to 'how to better match colors'...

……

Chapter 207 Weekend in the Urban Village

Smooth asphalt roads, towering buildings and skyscrapers, clean and presentable commercial streets...

These things have little to do with urban villages.

Some urban villages are surrounded by high walls and high-rise buildings, while others are located on the edge of the city, surrounded by farmland and buildings. Although they are dilapidated and backward, they are not enclosed by high walls.

Ma Jia lives in an urban village near Yukong High School. The houses next door have been demolished, but there is no sign of demolition here.

He emerged from the narrow, steep staircase, leaving muddy yellow footprints on the steps, whether from mud or dog poop, it was unclear.

The stairwell was littered with all sorts of small pieces of trash, most commonly milk cartons and cigarette boxes, some of which were already moldy and rotten.

The landlord's room is on the first floor, so you have to be quiet when you go downstairs to avoid upsetting them.

Once outside, Vest finally breathed out a sigh of relief from the stale air. There was still a lot of trash on the alleyways of the urban village, but at least it was more comfortable than the narrow stairwells.

"Hey, Vest!" Liu Xiaowei waved to him from the grocery store across from the farmer's house. It was he who had shouted Vest's name from downstairs earlier.

"What's up? Why are you suddenly hanging out here?" Vest scratched his slightly reddish-brown skin, yawning as he walked up to Liu Xiaowei.

Why are you so slow?

"You're fucking early, of course you're slow."

"What time is it? You still think it's early? It's already nine o'clock!"

“I sleep until 11 o’clock every weekend…” Vest said, then yawned and sat down in front of the slot machine.

Every time he went to this grocery store, he would take out some money to play a couple of rounds. Sometimes he would lose and sometimes he would win. It was a way to find a little fun in his otherwise mundane life.

"Want a smoke?" Liu Xiaowei handed him a cigarette. His cigarettes were in a small tin box that originally contained candy. It had all kinds of cigarettes, but most of them were the cheap kind.

In these small shops in urban villages, the owners would sell cigarettes individually, one by one, to make it easier to serve students.

Sometimes, when there are only a few cigarettes left in a pack, or when they've been stored for a long time, the price will be a little cheaper. That's how Liu Xiaowei accumulated the cigarettes in his tin box.

In fact, he doesn't smoke at all. Every time he seems to be puffing out smoke, he actually doesn't inhale it.

Smoking seems to have become fashionable among boys, especially students from average-income families, who are more likely to pick up these habits.

Sometimes, even just to make it easier to make friends, you have to carry cigarettes with you.

"Give me one." The man in the vest didn't stand on ceremony. He casually picked up a cigarette, lit it without even looking at what kind it was, and put it in his mouth.

He felt the change in his pocket again and put two dollars into the slot machine.

"Watermelon, watermelon, watermelon..." the man in the vest chanted as if casting a spell, while forcefully pressing the button.

After the slot machine finished spinning, it stopped in front of a symbol.

Then comes the 'whoosh' of coins being dispensed.

"Holy crap! This is awesome!" The man in the vest laughed and took out all the money, a full twenty coins.

"Damn, you're lucky, kid!" Liu Xiaowei was also stunned for a moment, then punched him hard on the back. "I tried here just now, and there was nothing."

"Tsk tsk, that's what you call good character, see?" the person in the vest said, tossing in two more coins, but this time nothing came out.

"Alright, alright, luck can't last forever!"

"Hmm." The man in the vest knew when to stop, mainly because he had once lost a hundred yuan here because he thought he was lucky…

I almost got beaten up when I went back that time because I used the money meant for buying books to play games.

Since that incident, he has never gambled so many times in a row again.

"What do you want from me today?" The man in the vest pulled a few coins from his pocket and tossed them on the counter. "Boss, two bottles of Coke, please!"

"Oh my, you're rich."