A Young Woman's Heart

"It's alright, just call us if you need anything," Mo Xueyao said, before crawling into the newly set-up, preheated kotatsu (heated table stove).

Half an hour later, she decided to take back what she had just said.

It's almost impossible to get out; it's just too warm inside...

There was also a plate of oranges on the table. According to Mo Zhuyou, it was given to her by the enthusiastic villagers nearby. Because the harvest was plentiful and not all of them could be sold, they simply gave them a large basket of oranges.

In the countryside, these are not very valuable items, but in the city, they are not cheap at all.

"What are we having for lunch?" Mo Xueyao asked softly while peeling an orange.

"I'm not hungry yet, let's eat tonight?" Hua Yinyin said, squeezing next to her.

"Let's have instant noodles then! Wanyan, can you make me a bowl of instant noodles?"

"You two lazybones, are you just going to sit here all day like this?" Wang Jiale complained, hands on her hips, while helping to prepare the ingredients.

Only Sanhua Tongjue and the two of them were lying on the kotatsu, and even Huang Yuxi was helping to peel chestnuts.

"Hey, it's so warm inside, I don't want to move..."

“Me too—” Mo Xueyao echoed.

As a result, no one had lunch and they were busy until evening.

The sky had already darkened early, and all the lights in the room were on. The warm orange glow made people feel especially cozy. In such a cold winter, staying indoors was definitely the most wonderful thing.

"It's snowing!"

Suddenly, someone shouted something, and Mo Xueyao saw snowflakes, like goose feathers, fluttering down outside the window where the light shone...

……

Chapter 232 Setting off Firecrackers

The snow wasn't falling heavily; it drifted down slowly, looking like people, with a sense of leisure.

The city lights shone dimly in the distance, while darkness surged like a tide.

Mo Xueyao counted the snowflakes falling one by one until her eyes were blurry, and she collapsed onto the table by the kotatsu.

"Dinner's ready!" Mo Xiaoxiao's voice rang out, and Mo Xueyao's stomach rumbled twice in time with her laughter.

Huang Yuxi helped carry the prepared food from the kitchen to the table.

Although it's Christmas today, dinner was still very Chinese.

There was no roasted turkey as I had imagined, nor any desserts like milk pudding.

The chicken is just a regular free-range chicken. It is wrapped in tin foil and then roasted directly in a traditional earthen stove, just like roasting sweet potatoes. The skin on the surface is crispy, making it look very appetizing.

"Gurgle—" Everyone's stomachs growled, and they looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Even Li Wanyan pursed her lips and smiled gently with great restraint.

"Wow, Wanyan can smile!"

"It's rare to see the class monitor smile..."

"Very few?" Mo Xueyao asked in return.

In her memory, Li Wanyan has become much more cheerful recently, and she often smiles even during ordinary conversations.

Things are not the same as before. She should have moved on from the shadows of the past, right?

However, what Mo Xueyao didn't know was that, for Li Wanyan, she was the ray of light that guided her out of the shadows.

Although the others were also shining brightly beside Li Wanyan, she was definitely the brightest one.

Having been hungry all day, everyone's attention quickly returned to the dining table.

The table was laden with food—thankfully, the kotatsu that Sanhua Tongjue brought was big enough, otherwise there probably wouldn't have been enough room for all those dozen or so dishes.

The other dishes are all characteristic of Hangzhou, featuring a sweet and sour flavor.

Dishes like West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce, Dongpo Pork, and Lamb Spine Hot Pot.

"It doesn't feel like Christmas," Mo Xueyao muttered, looking at the dishes on the table. "It feels more like... having dinner at Lou Wai Lou?"

"Wow, it's great to feel like you're in a hotel at home! You have to try it, your sister's cooking is amazing!"

"Little Yaoyao, ah—I'll feed you—"

"I can use it myself!"

The snow was still falling.

The girls' faces were flushed as they chatted and laughed while eating their dinner.

"Merry Christmas!" Huang Yuxi held up the whiteboard. Although he couldn't speak, his expression and body language showed that he was happy and excited today. Then he pointed to a line of small print below the whiteboard, "Let's go play with firecrackers after dinner!"

"Yeah, burying firecrackers in snowballs and then having them explode with a 'bang' is so much fun!" Mo Xueyao nodded excitedly.

"Little Yaoyao really is just like a boy—"

"I'm a boy, after all!"

"Pfft!" The other girls all burst into laughter.

Mo Xueyao winked at Li Wanyan, because only she knew that what she said was true.

In fact, after living as a girl for a long time, she increasingly realized how ridiculous it was that she had initially worried about being exposed.

As long as you look completely like a girl, even if you tell others that you are a man, they won't believe you. They'll just think you're joking or being difficult.

This is not surprising. In fact, many girls occasionally make such jokes or express that they envy boys and wish they could be boys.

—These kinds of things are usually said when you're on your period.

Dinner was so lavish, with so many delicious dishes that Mo Xueyao's stomach was full, but her tongue was still not satisfied. After forcing herself to eat a few more bites, she felt like a fattened sea lion, lying on the ground unable to move.

"Go outside?" Huang Yuxi's whiteboard appeared in front of Mo Xueyao. She looked up at him, then struggled to get up.

"Let's go play with firecrackers!"

"Me too—" Sanhua Tongjue hurriedly followed, as if afraid that Mo Xueyao would snatch Huang Yuxi away.

Perhaps because it was too warm inside, Mo Xueyao didn't feel cold at all after coming out. On the contrary, she felt that the slight coolness brought by the snowflakes was just right—as refreshing as eating ice cream in summer.

However, Mo Xueyao's wish was not fulfilled, because the snow was not heavy enough and could not accumulate in such a short time.

So they could only go to the river to play.

When you throw firecrackers into the river, they will cause the river water to splash high into the air with a "bang".

Of course, there is also a certain chance that it will become a dud.

Mo Xueyao found an empty bottle by the river, stuffed the firecrackers inside, quickly screwed on the cap, and tossed it aside.

White steam filled the plastic bottle, and then suddenly, with a 'pop,' the loosely closed cap was pushed out.

"Xiaoyao, aren't you scared?"

"It's nothing. Back in the day, some people in the countryside even dared to hold firecrackers and let them explode in their hands!"

"Won't you get hurt?" Sanhua Tongjue blinked her big pink eyes. "It's very dangerous."

"Hmm, there's a trick to this." Mo Xueyao looked over at Huang Yuxi and saw him stuffing firecrackers into the dug soil before running quickly toward her.

Firecrackers exploded right behind him, sending dirt flying and blasting an unfortunate earthworm out of the shell, breaking it into several pieces.

"Pfft, hahaha—Xiao Xi, you've blown up an earthworm!"

Huang Yuxi, holding a flashlight, squatted down and looked at the still-wriggling earthworm. Far from being afraid, she excitedly wrote on the whiteboard, "I'm amazing, aren't I!"

"Great! Oh, right, there's an abandoned paint bucket over there, let's blow that up!"

"Ok!"

Sanhua Tongjue had never played such a "commoner's" game before. Curious and nervous, she followed behind the two of them, while also wondering why simply throwing firecrackers and making a "bang" sound could make them so happy.

"Tongjue, would you like to give it a try?"

"Huh? I... um..."

"Try it, try it!" Mo Xueyao laughed heartily and stuffed a box of Eagle Brand firecrackers into her hand. "Take out a firecracker, then rub the red strip on the side, just like a match, and then with a 'sizzle,' it will light up. Then you just need to quickly throw the firecracker out."

Suddenly, Huang Yuxi patted Mo Xueyao, then proudly waved the three firecrackers she was holding in her hand, lit them at the same time, and threw them out together.

"Tch, only three? I can have five at once!" Mo Xueyao snorted, took out five firecrackers, pinched them between her fingers, and with a 'whoosh', lit three of them. The other two were quickly ignited by the flames.

She deliberately delayed for two seconds before forcefully throwing it out.

The firecracker traced a high parabola before exploding in mid-air.

"Impressive, right!"

Huang Yuxi nodded and gave a thumbs up.

Although Sanhua Tongjue was a little scared, she was also somewhat eager to try.

She removed a firecracker from inside and gently wiped it.

"Put more force into it, just like a matchstick!"

"Um……"

"Throw it out now!"

"Ah!" The firecracker was thrown out, but it didn't fly far, which startled Sanhua Tongjue so much that she hurriedly ran backward.

However, this was still a substandard firecracker. Although it exploded, it only made a "pop" sound. Even a popped balloon made a much louder noise!

"Pfft, don't panic, firecrackers aren't that powerful." Mo Xueyao finally found something she could use against this young lady. "Haven't you seen anyone play with them before?"

"Hmm... I've never seen any boys around me play this before, not even when I was a kid."

“In a sense, it’s quite pitiful…” Mo Xueyao muttered, but then she realized that she had never experienced that kind of upper-class life, and suddenly felt that she was the one who was pitiful.

That makes sense. After all, children from wealthy families have more entertainment options, so there's no need for them to play with firecrackers.

Sanhua Tongjue, who was playing with firecrackers for the first time, gradually became more skilled and seemed to slowly begin to experience the joy of setting off firecrackers.

The liking for watching explosions is probably a kind of destructive desire hidden in our hearts.