A Young Woman's Heart

Moreover, even the water used for brushing teeth had to be mixed with some heat. Mo Xueyao once brushed her teeth with cold water in winter, which resulted in her having a toothache all day.

The girl in the mirror carefully washed the face wash off with a sponge, dried it with a towel, and then carefully combed her hair in front of the mirror—from top to bottom, with a few stray hairs falling out in the middle.

But don't worry, although you lose a lot of hair, it grows back very quickly.

"Hmm... I can tie my hair in a single ponytail now." Mo Xueyao turned halfway around in front of the mirror, glancing at her reflection, and had the illusion that she wasn't looking at herself.

She grabbed a large handful of hair, gathered the loose strands together, and then quickly tied it with a black hair tie, wrapping it around a few times to create a simple ponytail.

Normally she shows her forehead, but it's too cold in winter, so she leaves some bangs in front.

"Are you done?"

"Hmm." Mo Xueyao smiled at Li Wanyan, who was walking over with her coat in her arms. "Wanyan... are you alright?"

"It's alright." Li Wanyan handed her the neatly folded coat. "Put it on quickly."

When Mo Xueyao took the coat, she was surprised to find that it wasn't cold, but warm, and it still had Li Wanyan's scent on it.

Actually, she couldn't quite put her finger on what smelled like on Li Wanyan, but if she could smell it, she could easily tell the difference.

Mo Xueyao put on her cotton-padded coat, while Li Wanyan went into the washroom.

The tap water gushed out rapidly, splashing onto the sink with a "whoosh".

Li Wanyan scooped up a handful of icy water and poured it all over her face—this was a face-washing method that Mo Xueyao would use.

"Wanyan...? There's hot water."

"No need," Li Wanyan refused calmly. She washed herself with cold water for a full three minutes before taking a clean towel to dry herself.

She pinched the corner of her eye; her fingernails were still somewhat white, especially when she pressed hard with her fingertips, the white part on her fingernails would spread.

"Wanyan? Has she left?" Mo Xueyao, wearing a warm down jacket, leaned against the door with her legs crossed and her left heel resting unconsciously on the shoe rack next to her.

"Let's go." Li Wanyan seemed to have returned to normal. Her crying just now came and went quickly, unlike ordinary people.

Perhaps it's because she always suppresses her emotions until she can't take it anymore before releasing them, and after releasing them, she tries hard to control her emotions again, which is why her crying just now seemed so sudden.

Mo Xueyao thought to herself, and when she saw her walk over, she used her right hand to straighten her body so that she would not lean against the door frame any longer, and patted the back of her down jacket with her left hand, saying lightly, "It's all dusty."

It seems everything is alright now—Mo Xueyao thought.

……

Chapter 221 The Snowstorm Was Like a Knife

Outside, snow was falling heavily.

Snow scenes only seem beautiful when you're inside a warm room.

Standing outdoors, one cannot appreciate the beauty of heavy snow at all.

The wind and snow intertwined, cutting into her body like knives, and soon Mo Xueyao's head was covered with white snowflakes.

"Huff, huff—" She shivered and shook off the snowflakes. "It's colder than I expected..."

Li Wanyan, standing to the side, rubbed her hands together and stomped her feet. Snowflakes clung to her eyelashes, making her look like she was wearing special makeup.

"It was sleet this morning." Li Wanyan exhaled a breath of white mist, which seemed to almost freeze into ice in the air and took several seconds to slowly dissipate.

A child wrapped up like a rice dumpling staggered past, unable to even put his hands on his thighs, walking sideways in a starfish-like position, like a fat starfish that had come ashore.

The sky in the distance was as white as snow, and the sky and the earth seemed to be connected, making it difficult to distinguish directions for a moment.

Fortunately, this is a city, not a wilderness. The buildings serve as the best landmarks, and the trails of footprints prevent one from feeling so lonely.

"It's snowing this heavily by noon...? It seems even heavier than last year!" Mo Xueyao glanced at the car parked on the side of the road in the community. The car roof was already covered with a thick layer of snow. The freshly fallen snow was still very soft and looked as delicious as ice cream.

The two of them ran through the snow to the bus stop. They felt hot while running, but felt even colder after they stopped—the sweat on their backs cooled down rapidly, making the clothes clinging to their backs as hard and cold as if they had been frozen in a refrigerator.

The bus always arrives very slowly when needed, and everyone on the platform is shivering with their necks hunched over.

Li Wanyan put her right hand into Mo Xueyao's pocket, gently squeezed Yi's small hand, and put her right shoe together with Yi's.

Mo Xueyao turned her head slightly to look at her, pouted and blew hard, trying to blow the snowflakes off her hair, but they seemed to be stuck to her hair and she couldn't blow them away no matter what she did.

So Yi reached out her other hand and patted her head left and right to knock the snowflakes off. Then she patted her own head, leaned closer, and asked, "Is there any more?"

There's still a little bit on the left.

"now what?"

"It's gone."

Mo Xueyao nodded, shivering, and exhaled a breath of hot air as she saw a bus approaching in the distance.

The snowflakes made the bus number sign in the distance very blurry. Mo Xueyao stood on tiptoe and craned her neck until it passed the traffic light on the other side before she could see it clearly.

"Three, one, two, we can get on the bus now!" Yi said excitedly, grabbing her hand from her pocket and pulling her onto the bus.

It was Friday noon, and there weren't many people on the bus. Although many seats were empty, it felt particularly cold.

It doesn't have central heating; in winter, it relies on the number of people to keep warm. Once there are fewer people, it feels like stepping into a giant freezer.

Mo Xueyao felt that even entering an ice cream freezer in the summer wasn't as cold as entering the train carriage now.

"Click-clack—" Mo Xueyao inserted two coins into the coin slot, and then she and Li Wanyan passed through the connection between the two carriages and arrived at the back of the carriage.

There wasn't a single passenger in this carriage, and sitting here gave me an unusual sense of emptiness.

Yi sat down by the window, and Li Wanyan followed closely behind.

The seats were very cold, and the two of them couldn't help but shiver slightly when they sat down.

Mo Xueyao raised her hands, made a cupping motion, and then blew hot air into them. When Yi noticed that Li Wanyan was doing the same thing, she pursed her lips and finally couldn't help but laugh.

"……distant."

"Uh-huh……?"

"I am very anxious and sad right now."

Mo Xueyao immediately stopped laughing, stretched out a slender finger, and wrote on the fogged windowpane: "Don't be afraid."

The atmosphere, which had just become a little lively, fell silent again.

Li Wanyan looked out the window calmly through the window that Mo Xueyao had just wiped open while writing.

Yi suddenly realized that when she was expressionless and seemed unaffected by any emotions, her inner emotions were actually surging like ocean waves.

"Why did Wanyan become like this?" Yi suddenly asked, but she still pretended to look at the scenery outside the window. Her voice was very soft, more like talking to herself. Only her hand, which was nervously clutching the hem of her clothes, betrayed her.

She remained silent for a long time, then suddenly placed her hand gently on the back of Mo Xueyao's hand, which was clutching the hem of her clothes. Mo Xueyao's hand was very cold, while Yi's hand was very warm—it felt like a burning stove.

She nervously crossed her legs and tapped the base of the chair in front of her lightly with her toes.

"Among people of the same age, Wanyan is the one I've met who hides his emotions the best... Well, Xiaoxue doesn't count. It seems like he doesn't get angry, rather than just holding it in."

“Because I have to put my mother at ease, I can’t act so childish and willful. When I was little, if I acted more mature, she wouldn’t always have to stay home to take care of me.” Li Wanyan rested her forehead on Mo Xueyao’s arm and murmured in a soft, slightly hoarse voice.

Yi drew circles on the windowpane, then gently nudged her left leg with her right leg: "It must be tiring."

She didn't speak, but just shook her head—Yi couldn't see it, but she could feel the shaking on her arm.

“I started helping with cleaning when I was three, I learned to wash dishes when I was five, and I started cooking when I was seven… On weekends, I would spend my daytime collecting Coke bottles or cardboard to sell for money.”

Mo Xueyao swallowed hard, finding it hard to believe that such a difficult life could exist—she had seen it in movies and TV shows, but she never thought it would happen to her.

Her family wasn't well-off when she was young, so we have to start counting from when she has memories.

I was probably four or five years old then, which was when my father was most addicted to gambling. He squandered all the family's wealth, leaving the family destitute.

But even in the worst times, there are always hot meals to eat.

Although the rice was the worst kind of old rice, and the vegetables were dried plums that were even covered in white mold...

But my mother still took on all the responsibilities herself. Although my father was addicted to gambling, at least he didn't vent his anger at home. In fact, when he came home, he had to tuck his tail between his legs, afraid of being scolded.

If Mo Xueyao's father was like a child who never grew up and was always playing around, then Li Wanyan's father was definitely a social scumbag.

The former at least has a pure heart and still has the possibility of correcting their mistakes, while the latter can only go to a darker corner, and it is almost impossible for them to change back.

Even so, Li Wanyan's mother still held hope for her husband at that time.

The circles drawn on the windowpane grew larger and larger, almost erasing all the fog from the entire window.

Behind the bright glass, there are still many pedestrians walking along the white streets.

There were a few scattered vegetable vendors by the roadside, each holding a small umbrella and huddled on a small stool, looking like mushrooms of different colors.

An elderly man with a wrinkled face took the cabbage from the customer, placed it on the rough earthen scale, and stared at the weights with his eyes, which had been shrunk by the wind, until it stopped at a relatively balanced position before telling the person in front of him the price.

"No matter how heavy the snowstorm, life still goes on," Mo Xueyao suddenly said, but there was no response.

Yi turned around and saw that Li Wanyan had fallen asleep on her arm.

A few seconds later, she suddenly woke up, her eyes scanning her surroundings blankly before she sat up straight in her seat.

"We're almost there, Wanyan." Mo Xueyao pretended not to have seen anything and continued to draw circles on the window, tapping the base of the front seat with her crossed feet.

"Hmm." Li Wanyan nodded and turned her head to look out the window on the other side.

The bus, which stretched like a long snake, stopped briefly at the bus stop. The doors opened, but no one got on or off. Then the doors closed again, and the bus continued on its way.

The total pause time probably doesn't exceed three seconds.

The next stop is the station near the school.

The two stood up early and waited at the door. Li Wanyan put her left hand into Mo Xueyao's arm, turned it around, and then put it back into her pocket.

It looks like two brass locks that are stuck together.

When they got off the bus, the wind and snow were very strong. The two of them hunched their necks and ran for a while before pushing open the slightly ajar small door at the school gate and running inside.

The office lights were all on, and a few students could be seen walking around in the lobby—perhaps they had been called in by the teacher to help out today.

Li Wanyan tried her best to suppress the expression on her face, but she still tightened her grip on Mo Xueyao's hand noticeably.

The steps were quiet, with the occasional sound of teachers chatting coming from the offices.

Upon reaching the fourth floor, Li Wanyan hesitated in front of her homeroom teacher's office.

Mo Xueyao scratched her palm and knocked on the door for her.