A Young Woman's Heart

"Oh—" Mo Xueyao drawled out, her left eye blinking briefly, not intentionally, but rather a strange reflex.

When Hua Yinyin gets serious, she always seems unlike herself.

Or perhaps, is this earnest spending of money the real her?

Mo Xueyao stood behind the door for a moment. Although it was open, the rooftop and the corridor behind the door still felt like two separate worlds.

Hua Yinyin gently stretched out her left foot, as if afraid of disturbing something, and slowly stepped onto the ground.

"Yinyin, Yinyin?" Mo Xueyao stood on tiptoe and called her a few times, but the latter did not respond. "Aren't you cold...?"

Hua Yinyin didn't hear Mo Xueyao's mutterings; she was playing the role of someone who had lost their soul.

But she eventually turned her head away, her gaze towards Mo Xueyao unfocused and lifeless, as if no one was standing in that spot at all, as if she could see through other people's bodies to the wall behind them.

"Then I'll go first? Go back to the classroom to enjoy the warmth...?" Mo Xueyao asked tentatively, taking a half-step forward hesitantly, but then retreating.

She felt that Hua Yinyin must have captured some inspiration, and it was best not to disturb her at this time.

So she turned around, quietly closed the very heavy safety door on the rooftop, and walked down while looking at the mottled walls.

Both the walls and the ceiling showed signs of peeling paint. Mo Xueyao casually reached out and touched it, and felt that the paint on it had many cracks, like thin, crisp potato chips. It seemed that if she touched it again, the whole thing would fall off.

Only during the weekly deep cleaning will someone come to clean this place, but since the people in charge of cleaning are all students, the work is mostly done very roughly. All the fine dust on the walls is swept into the gaps in the steps, and if your shoes get wet and you step here, you will leave one white footprint after another.

It was so cold that the band room was empty. Although you could start a fire with a metal bucket, it was nothing compared to a radiator.

Mo Xueyao walked down the stairs, occasionally glancing curiously at the classrooms on the side, but almost without exception, the doors to the classrooms were locked, and there was no one behind the transparent glass windows.

Only the band room of Class 5 still emitted melodious music.

Their class band consisted of recorders, flutes, and harmonicas—all small, portable instruments.

"Playing such a lonely tune in winter, isn't it cold?" Mo Xueyao muttered softly, but still couldn't help but glance at it a few more times.

Although they were in the classroom, their hands turned red from the cold because there was no heating, and to make matters worse, they couldn't play these kinds of instruments with gloves on...

The band in Class 5 is very ordinary; it seems that every time I pass by, I hear them playing the school song.

They were also exceptionally diligent, and they played the school song even better than the one played on the tape at the beginning of each school year.

However, the chill of winter eventually drove her away, and the allure of the warmth in the classroom made her quicken her pace.

"Whoosh—Ugh—" As soon as Mo Xueyao pushed open the door, Wang Jiale, who was sitting next to the door, shivered and huddled up in her clothes. She quickly closed the door, keeping the cold wind that kept trying to get into the room out.

"Xiaoyao? Did you run into Yinyin?"

"Yeah, I ran into her. She went up to the rooftop, and she seemed a bit strange today."

“Yes, she was especially serious today…” Wang Jiale blinked her almond-shaped eyes a few times, bit her thumb with her cute teeth, leaving a few drops of glistening saliva on it, “She said she was going to… rehearse a play?”

"There's no one here, who is she going to rehearse with?" Mo Xueyao patted Wang Jiale on the back, gesturing for her to move so she could go in.

Wang Jiale gripped the back of the chair with both hands, moved a little further inside, tilted her head to look at her, and said, "I also said that no one is going today, but she said it's okay."

"Strange, is she really okay? Normally, even if she's being coquettish or throwing a tantrum, she'd call someone to come with her, right?" There was an air vent next to Mo Xueyao's seat. She took off her coat and hung it on the back of her chair, then turned towards the air vent and stretched out her hands, looking quite content.

"Who knows... But since the whole story is a one-woman show, she'll be fine on her own, right? We extras can just walk around and chat." Wang Jiale cupped Mo Xueyao's face in his hands, his eyes crinkling with joy. "Oh, so cool!"

"Then why are you still touching it?"

“I’m really hot right now, I can use Xiaoyao to cool down,” Wang Jiale said, gently rubbing it a couple of times. “It’s like an ice cube.”

"Is it that hot...? Then you might as well just buy some ice cream."

"The shop is out of stock! The owner said they don't sell ice cream in winter." Wang Jiale then put his warm hands on Mo Xueyao's neck. "How is it? Are you warm?"

“Yes, it’s as warm as a hand warmer.” Mo Xueyao nodded. “Oh, right, let’s buy a hand warmer so we can use it in the band room.”

"It's been super cold these past few days, let's practice when the sun comes out... or we can practice right here in the classroom after school."

"Oh right? That's a good idea." Mo Xueyao unzipped her pencil case with a 'rip' and took out a pen. There was a test paper yesterday that needed her parents' signature, but she forgot to get them to sign it, so she planned to write her name on it herself.

Anyway, my father doesn't usually look at them; he just signs them and that's it.

Mo Xueyao tried to imitate her father's handwriting on the draft paper, but found that she couldn't quite get it right. In the end, she decided to sign her mother's name instead, since her mother was not highly educated and her handwriting was easier to imitate—she could just simulate the handwriting of an elementary school student.

It was probably only when she was sitting that Wang Jiale could see the top of Mo Xueyao's head. Half of her hand was tucked into the sleeve of her school uniform, and she was gently 'picking' Mo Xueyao's hair with the two or three fingers that were sticking out. It was a bit like a monkey in a zoo picking lice off its own kind...

"What are you doing?" Mo Xueyao signed the paper, shook it with satisfaction, and placed it on the desk. "You've messed up my hair."

"Xiaoyao, your hair is a bit yellowish."

"Hair?" Mo Xueyao was taken aback. "Maybe it's due to malnutrition...?"

"It's not the tip, it's the part that's growing out and it's a bit yellowish."

"Has my nutrition been this bad lately?" Mo Xueyao touched herself, but of course she couldn't see it, not even when she looked in a small mirror.

"I don't know, your hair still seems very smooth to me."

"Hmm... I also think there aren't any split ends, and it's not too rough." Mo Xueyao smoothed her long, flowing hair. "It seems like your hair has been growing faster lately?"

"Yes, a little."

"Go home and ask your mom..." Mo Xueyao yawned, squinting as she watched the students shivering as they walked down the corridor. Only when she was in the warmth of the classroom could she so gleefully enjoy the misery of others.

……

Chapter 218 The Silent Flower Silver

The classroom is always lively, but today it feels like something is missing.

Mo Xueyao lay on her desk, Gao Yuan's loud laughter ringing in her ears—his laughter was always so distinctive, sounding like he was about to run out of breath, yet he could laugh for a long time.

She secretly tried to hold her breath again, but she ran out of breath halfway through, while Gao Yuan continued to laugh.

If Gao Yuan's laughter were absent from the classroom on weekdays, it would certainly be much less fun.

Besides these, there was the noise of Zhou Yong and Liu Xiaowei arguing, Li Hongran's deep and magnetic voice, and Chen Cheng's slightly disdainful sarcasm...

Mo Xueyao rested her chin on her hand and tapped the tabletop lightly with her fingernails, making a 'tap-tap' sound.

Mr. Snow, with his red lips and white teeth, seemed to appear even paler in winter; to be precise, he was somewhat sickly pale.

He caught a cold today, and to avoid infecting others, he wore a face mask with a yellow bear pattern on it, which didn't look like he bought it himself.

Hua Yinyin, sitting next to him, was neither reading nor taking a nap during the break. She was just resting her chin on her hand, gently swaying her braid with her other hand, seemingly lost in thought.

Mo Xueyao finally understood why she felt something was wrong; it turned out that Hua Yinyin was unusually silent today.

Quiet Hua Yinyin is like a very elegant literary girl; even the slight sadness in her eyes can leave a lasting impression.

She makes you want to protect her, and ask her—what's wrong, why are you so silent.

However, Mo Xueyao, who knew what she was usually like, only felt a strong sense of incongruity.

Some even think it's her performance art...

Time, of course, doesn't stop for anyone. Even though Hua Yinyin remained silent all day, time still passed.

As soon as the bell rang for the end of the fourth period, Liu Xiaowei, who was sitting next to the trash can, jumped off the table and, in the blink of an eye, blended into the students running towards the cafeteria in the corridor.

So much so that even the geography teacher, Yinling, standing on the podium, didn't realize who had just run away.

After a full three seconds of pause, she pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses, her right brow furrowing as she stared at the seating chart again and again: "Class monitor, please take note, Liu Xiaowei has three points deducted from his grades."

"Hmm." Li Wanyan opened her discipline notebook and, with her right hand, which was trembling slightly from writing all morning, wrote 'Geography get out of class ended early, -3' after Liu Xiaowei's name.

The deducted credits will be settled when you earn credits again. If your credits are always negative, you will never receive a slip of paper to redeem credits.

"Ding-ding-dang-dang—" Mo Xueyao stood up with a large movement, causing the bells on her ankles to ring.

The bell on her ankle has now become Mo Xueyao's trademark. Many people who have never met her know that the most beautiful Russian-American girl in the school wears a bell on her ankle.

"Yinyin, Yinyin?" Wang Jiale rarely greeted Hua Yinyin, but the latter simply nodded quietly and came over with her cutlery.

Although her small face was expressionless, one could sense a loneliness that made it impossible for her to fit in with others.

So much so that Mo Xueyao didn't know whether she was still performing or if this was truly her mood today.

But everyone has bad days.

Perhaps it's normal for Hua Yinyin to act this way—in a sense.

Usually, Hua Yinyin would be the one talking to everyone, but today she didn't say anything, so there were fewer topics to discuss. Of course, the atmosphere was still quite lively—after all, Wang Jiale was there too.

Lunch today was pretty average, so the line wasn't very long.

Mo Xueyao sat down at an empty table with her tray, and the others followed suit.

Hua Yinyin waited until everyone was seated before sitting down at a table one seat away from the others, as if she had already detached herself from the group.

"What happened to Yinyin? Who 'bullied' her again?" Wang Jiale asked jokingly.

Mo Xueyao smiled and nodded in agreement. She hesitated to put the spoon down until Hua Yinyin spoke, and then finally scooped up a spoonful of soup.

"I am fine."

That sounds like a somewhat irrelevant answer.

Even the slow-witted Mo Xueyao could sense that something was amiss.

When a girl says she's fine, she's definitely not fine... quite the opposite, she's definitely 'in trouble'!

Although the cafeteria was heated, someone had opened a window, and a cold draft blew in from outside, making Mo Xueyao shiver and sneeze to the side.

"Ah chirp!"

"Whoosh—" Li Wanyan stood up and closed the window behind her.

Everyone stared intently at the food in front of them, but they still glanced at Hua Yinyin, intentionally or unintentionally.

"Tell everyone if you're feeling down, Yin Yin? Don't be stubborn, or everyone will worry." Mo Xiaoxiao brushed the strands of hair that were almost hanging on her plate behind her back. There were hardly any dry or yellow parts left in her hair; it was almost as black and thick as Mo Zhuyou's.

"It's really nothing, I was just thinking about something." Hua Yinyin picked up a piece of food with a nonchalant expression, chewed slowly, and only continued after swallowing, "It's about the play."

"Oh--"

The girls nodded in unison, as if they had agreed beforehand, including Li Wanyan.

However, people obviously wouldn't believe it.

That's definitely just an excuse.