A Young Woman's Heart

"So that's just slacking off?"

"Tsk tsk, the practice of 'loafing at work' only came back later. Originally, it was because people were lazy when working for foreigners during the War of Resistance, so it was called 'loafing at work.' Back then, this kind of 'loafing at work' didn't actually exist."

"what?"

“Because there are only so many tasks each day, you just work at the set frequency until the time is up, then you can leave. There’s no need to deliberately prolong the time. If you don’t finish the assigned tasks, you’ll have to work overtime!” My father exhaled a puff of smoke and squinted as he said, “Back then, the tasks were all calculated scientifically, which was just the right amount of work. Everyone still had time to rest, and you could chat during work hours anyway. As long as you did your job well, that was enough. There weren’t so many rules and regulations. My old workplace was later converted into a private company, wasn’t it?”

"Yeah, it seems like Mom said that since then, you've been earning less money, but coming home later and later?"

"Pretty much! There's nothing we can do about it; it's a necessary path for social development." The father didn't continue. "It's better to run a shop. Although you have to spend a lot of time in the shop every day, you're free—and you don't have to work all day long. You can rest most of the time."

"Dad—don't litter cigarette butts! Those are non-recyclable waste!"

"Hey, why are you bothering with all this? It's useless. You'll still put it wherever you want, won't you?"

“It will definitely be standardized in the future. You have to get into the habit first, otherwise it will be hard to change later,” Mo Xueyao said, hands on her hips.

Li Wanyan took out her textbook from her small room and was about to start reading when she heard Wang Jiale's energetic shout from afar.

"Xiaoyao, class monitor!"

"Lele? What brings you here?"

"I made plans to hang out with Yin Yin." Wang Jiale was dressed in a Lolita outfit, while Sanhua Tongjue next to her was wearing a regular Japanese high school uniform, except that she was wearing a pink wig and pink contact lenses.

"Where's Yinyin?" Mo Xueyao looked back, feeling puzzled, because if she were there, she should have already rushed over. "Didn't she come with you?"

"Well, it should take her another ten or twenty minutes from her home—at least." Wang Jiale greeted Mo Xueyao's parents cheerfully, "Hello, Uncle and Aunt!"

"Hey, hello, hello. Take my Xiaoyao and Wanyan out to play more often. They both like staying at home and don't like going out." The father smiled, picked up a dragon fruit, cut it in half, and then handed it to the two of them with two spoons. "If you think it's not sweet enough, I can sprinkle some sugar on it, but it's better to eat this dragon fruit as is."

"Huh? No need, no need..."

"Here you go, it's all cut up, haha, don't be shy."

"Thank you, Uncle!"

"Dad, didn't Wanyan and I go out yesterday?"

"Back then it was just the two of you, and you weren't with any other classmates. I don't think you had much of a social circle."

"Does that kind of thing really need special maintenance?" Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes. "Why not just contact them when you want to go out? Who goes out together every weekend?"

"Arigato." Mika Hitomi thanked her in Japanese, and whispered to Wang Jiale beside her, "No matter how many times I come here, I still think that Chinese fruits are really cheap."

"Well, but the income is high where you are too?"

"But there are still many people who can't afford fruit."

"It couldn't possibly be you, a rich young lady, could it?"

"Hmm~ I'm just expressing my concern for the country and its people, aren't I?"

"Hey—you're not some princess, why do you care so much?" Wang Jiale chuckled and nudged her, then scooped a small spoonful of dragon fruit into his mouth.

The shop immediately became lively as soon as Wang Jiale and Sanhua Tongjue arrived.

Occasionally, vocational school students would emerge from the alley, and a few boys would call out "Young Miss" when they saw Mo Xueyao.

"Why does everyone call you Miss?" Wang Jiale asked curiously.

"Because of what happened before... that time when the boys from our school got into a fight with the boys from their school."

"Hmm—I've heard of it, but I wasn't there that time."

"Are you chatting with Xiaoxue in the band room?" Mo Xueyao nodded.

Half an hour later, Hua Yinyin finally arrived late. As soon as she arrived, she did not rush to Mo Xueyao. Instead, she tiptoed around to Li Wanyan's back and then suddenly poked her in the lower back.

"!" Li Wanyan trembled all over and turned around abruptly, while Hua Yinyin had already hid behind Mo Xueyao with a wicked smile.

"Alright, alright, stop fooling around, let's go!"

"Let's go shopping. Oh, and use my points book! I want to exchange some things." Mo Xueyao didn't forget to take out her points book.

"Little Yaoyao~ Did you miss me?"

"It's only been a day, I've missed you terribly!" Mo Xueyao flicked her forehead. "Let's go, let's go."

"Let's go! I specially got out of bed today just to see Xiaoyaoyao!"

"It's not like you're not getting out of bed..."

"I actually have the experience of spending a whole day in bed."

"You're pretty lazy too..."

Yinshan Commercial Street is not far from here. The street was cleaned up today, and some shelves that would normally be placed outside the shops were taken back, making the place look particularly clean and tidy.

But because it's too neat, it appears overly formulaic—losing a lot of charm.

There are small shops in the commercial street that specialize in selling accessories. Many of these accessories are not for people, but for backpacks, pencil cases, or even mobile phones.

For example, thick and beautiful phone cases, although they make the phone much heavier, make it very sturdy. They come in two types: full-coverage and half-coverage.

Some mobile phone manufacturers even have their own replacement phone cases, so even ordinary people can easily change the look of their phones.

"Wow, I've been wanting to get this done for ages!" Wang Jiale excitedly walked into the store. "My dad gave me this phone, and it's covered in all sorts of scratches. I want to get a new phone case."

"What kind of phone does Lele use?" Mo Xueyao asked casually.

"Motorola, look, a flip phone."

"Hmm, you want to change the shell? I'm afraid this is not easy to change."

"I wonder if you have... Boss—do you have a replacement case for my phone?" Wang Jiale said, holding up his phone.

At the very back of this narrow shop was a cash register, where the owner—a young man—was leisurely reading a newspaper under the light.

"Let me see it closer."

"Here." Wang Jiale walked over quickly and placed the phone on the counter.

"Ah... there's no replacement cover for this kind, but you can use waterproof stickers. They're all universal; you just need to cut them to your size. You can buy the more expensive ones; they won't leave any glue residue even if you peel them off."

"Hmm, then let's buy stickers..."

"I recommend buying the matte version; it feels especially good to the touch."

"Ok!"

"How much does it cost?" Mo Xueyao was more concerned about this kind of thing.

"The best kind is fifteen yuan a piece."

"Wow—it's ridiculously expensive."

"Haha, little girl, you get what you pay for! Besides, I don't make much money, it's just hard-earned money. If you buy it, I can put the stickers on for you for free."

Mo Xueyao hated hearing this phrase the most, because her father always said it to others, yet the fruit shop's profits remained high.

"It's okay, it's not very expensive. And... do you have a phone strap?"

"Of course, they're all on that shelf by the door."

"Oh~"

Wang Jiale was like he had found a treasure; he stayed in the small shop for a full twenty minutes.

Mo Xueyao, who didn't have a cell phone, felt a pang of envy and jealousy—she really wanted one too…

……

Chapter 215 Li Wanyan's Favorite Bed Sheets

"Wow, there are such pretty lollipops over there!" Wang Jiale was originally holding Sanhua Tongjue's hand, but as they strolled around, she somehow ended up holding Mo Xueyao's hand instead.

Mo Xueyao was pulled along like this and ran forward until they arrived at a beautiful candy store.

The shop is small, and it feels like it was opened in a narrow space.

However, the interior is particularly beautiful, with entire walls made of glass, mostly in warm colors, and many rotating candy shelves.

This is a newly opened store—to be honest, Mo Xueyao had never seen such an exquisitely decorated candy store before. In the past, she would usually go to a general store to buy candy. As for general stores... most of them were dark and cold, and the shelves were very old. You could not buy freshly made candy like this one.

In the shop window, the most eye-catching items are the lollipops that look like they contain a sky full of stars.

It's as if a galaxy is contained within a lollipop.

There was a small area in the shop that served as both a work surface and a counter. Behind it stood a girl with her hair tied up, wearing latex gloves and kneading a large ball of pink candy.

The sugar cubes were clearly freshly cooked, still sticky and soft. Even with gloves on, the pretty young girl still had to squeeze them for a while and then stop, but she was still burned and had to shake her hands off from time to time.

"Boss?" Mo Xueyao asked tentatively, mainly because she was so young, looking like she had just graduated from high school.

"Hmm? Do you need any candy?" The girl stopped what she was doing and flicked a few strands of hair that had fallen down her neck with her wrist.

"How much is this?!" Wang Jiale asked excitedly, pointing to the starry sky lollipops in the shop window.

Mo Xueyao didn't ask, because she always felt that a candy store with such exquisite decor must sell candies that she couldn't afford...

"That one, eight yuan."

The price was lower than Mo Xueyao had imagined, to the point that she felt it was acceptable.

After all, just looking at this starry sky lollipop, the manufacturing process must be quite complicated...

"It's so expensive." The person who said this was Wang Jiale.

"Do you still think it's expensive...?"

"Hmm...because it's only so small?"

"I want to eat!" Sanhua Tongjue always enunciated the words with great force. "Buy four!"

"Wait, wait, is this tasty?" Wang Jiale was caught in a dilemma because she had her eye on another type of lollipop that often appeared in movies and TV shows.

The young female shop owner took off her gloves and walked over shyly: "The starry sky lollipops are a little bland, while the lollipops are a little sweeter."

"Then... um, something lighter will do." Wang Jiale finally chose the kind that sounded less likely to make her gain weight.

However, in reality, the calorie content is probably not much different.

"Come again next time!" The young female owner lowered her head, her face slightly flushed. "Would you like me to wrap it up? Or would you like to eat it now?"