A Young Woman's Heart

He didn't even glance back at the little match girl; he simply swirled the wine in his glass and chatted leisurely with the people around him.

There were also many extras from Class 7 of Grade 11, making the whole stage exceptionally lively, like being in a real market.

All the students in the class should have participated.

Mo Xueyao was somewhat puzzled, even wondering if time had gone awry and she had returned to a previous time.

When another well-dressed but tired gentleman walked past the little girl with a stoop, she felt a jolt of electricity run through her tailbone, and goosebumps rose all over her body.

The gentleman stood before the little girl and sighed, "Alas, we don't need matches; we need food more..."

The play ended abruptly here, all the lights went out, and the curtain slowly closed again.

The students looked at each other, feeling as if they understood something, yet also as if they understood nothing at all.

After the play ends, the host always takes a little longer to come on stage, seemingly to give the audience some time to think.

"That's strange, is the performance not finished?" Wang Jiale asked suspiciously, seemingly seeking an answer from Mo Xueyao.

Mo Xueyao opened her mouth, wanting to explain something, but found that she didn't seem to know how to explain it. In the end, she could only give a dry reply: "It can only be understood, not explained... That's probably the feeling. I thought our class's play would be the most wonderful, but I didn't expect Class 7's to be so good. In fact, the more I think about it, the more charming it becomes."

"Really?" Wang Jiale frowned blankly, her innocent little brain probably couldn't understand what was so exciting about it.

"It's not bad, but it feels a bit forced," the vice principal commented. "While it doesn't have the same emotional impact as the previous Class 2 of Grade 11, it's more memorable. As a student, it's not bad, but it's still immature. It's not as good as the pure and simple stories from before."

Mo Kong, who was standing to the side, smiled and seemed to agree with his opinion.

The principal and vice-principal, who used to be at odds, seem to have recently reached a 'reconciliation'.

This is probably what is meant by 'seeking common ground while reserving differences'.

"Can't this cycle be broken?" Mo Xueyao muttered as she asked. Of course, no one answered her, and she couldn't answer herself either.

Society is progressing and moving forward, but its core and essence seem to have remained unchanged.

Just then, Li Wanyan and Shen Kelin finally went up on stage and began announcing the next program.

After the play came a dance performance to help everyone relax. This time it was ballet. The stimulation of young bodies made many of the boys forget the profound impact of what had just happened. They were all shouting like lecherous boys, excitedly discussing the eternal topic of which girl was prettier.

The dance was followed by a stand-up comedy routine.

However, this crosstalk performance was somewhat superficial.

Mo Xueyao lost interest after reading half of it, feeling that his sarcasm was like scratching an itch through a boot—completely ineffective.

"Lunch is coming soon, and we won't stop eating lunch today." Ye Wen, who was sitting in the girls' row, stood up, waved to Li Hongran, and whispered, "Li Hongran, take a few boys to the cafeteria to bring over some fast food. Be careful not to spill the soup."

“OK.” Li Hongran gestured, then without hesitation called out to Chen Cheng and Gao Yuan, who in turn dragged Zhou Yong along, and Zhou Yong then called out to Liu Xiaowei…

What was originally a task that would have been enough for two people has now become a task for a whole group.

But this is good too, at least it makes the journey of carrying food lively enough, so the round trip won't be boring.

"What's for fast food today?" Mo Xueyao didn't dare turn around, afraid of waking Hua Yinyin, so she looked at Ye Wen with her eyes wide open and asked softly.

"Fast food? I don't know either, I heard it's fast food—" Ye Wen suddenly saw that students from other classes had brought their lunches over first, so she went over to take a look. "Hmm... it's probably fried rice for convenience."

"Ugh, what a perfunctory response."

"It contains pork tenderloin and shrimp..."

"Hmm, this is good!"

Mo Xueyao's attention had just shifted from the stage to the lunch when Li Wanyan's announcement drew her back.

"Everything in the world is endlessly in this cycle of life and death. To break free from this cycle, one must pay a price. Please watch the play by Class 4 of Senior Three – 'Death Punishment'."

……

Chapter 249 Death Punishment

"How dare you!!"

The play began with a deafening shout that jolted Mo Xueyao, who was still somewhat absent-minded, awakening her and energizing her.

A man sitting on a high platform, dressed in the Jade Emperor's yellow robe, threw down a wooden plaque and rebuked, "You have violated the Heavenly Laws by having an affair with a mortal. According to the law, you will be cast into the mortal realm, your memories preserved, and you will be reincarnated and die tragically ten times before you can return to the Heavenly Court!"

It must be said that the props for Class 4 of Senior Three were very well made, and it even felt like they were actually filming a TV series.

It's simply incomparable to those cardboard props.

Originally, only one beam of light shone on the 'Jade Emperor', but as soon as he finished speaking, a second, slightly weaker beam of light shone down, and the audience then noticed that there was another person kneeling on the ground.

"Who exactly made the laws of Heaven? I refuse to accept them! I only fell in love with a mortal, what crime have I committed!"

"This is ordained by Heaven!"

"Is what God ordained right?!" he cried out, but he was still unable to resist being dragged away by the heavenly soldiers and generals.

Then the stage went dark, and when it lit up again, he was already standing in the mortal world.

"Oh, isn't this the Grand Steward of the Heavenly Armory?" A woman dressed in a Hanfu with auspicious cloud patterns circled around him and asked teasingly.

"Who the hell are you?" The armory's chief steward rolled his eyes. "Where did this little devil come from? Seeing that I, Wang Ding, am down on my luck, you come here to mock me?"

"I'm not some little demon, I'm a little fairy specially appointed by the Heavenly Court, okay!"

"What are you doing? I don't remember you before."

"Hmph, of course you don't remember me. To you back then, I was just a nobody. But this time I have a special mission, which is to keep an eye on you."

"Supervise me? Why would you supervise me?"

"We'll report your situation to the Heavenly Court regularly, and then, incidentally, we'll act as your guide?"

"What would I need this thing for?" Wang Ding glanced at her sideways with displeasure. "What's your name?"

"My name is Qingqing, no, you should call me Lady Qingqing now!"

"Oh ho, not much official rank, but quite the airs, huh?" Wang Ding walked around Qingqing with his hands on his hips. "I've just regained my memories and am planning to end this life."

"Hmph, I'm here to keep an eye on you so you don't cheat. Let me tell you, suicide doesn't count!"

"Damn, what counts? A gruesome death means at least being hacked to death by someone, right?"

"And then after death, you still have to go through reincarnation?"

"Hmm..." Qingqing pulled a piece of paper out of her clothes. "Wait, wait, let me read the instructions..."

At this point in the play, Mo Xueyao couldn't help but laugh out loud.

It seems this is a comedy, unlike the previous ones which were quite heavy.

Wang Jiale, sitting on the left, handed her a box of fried rice and whispered, "Xiaoyao, pass it to the back, to the person in the middle—"

"Oh, I still need to save a portion for Yin Yin later."

"Hmm." Wang Jiale covered her mouth and chuckled, "Isn't it tiring to be leaned against like this?"

"Thankfully... it hasn't turned sour yet."

"It seems that Xiaoyao really likes Yinyin."

"This is just taking care of a friend, okay..."

"I didn't say I liked it, did I?"

"Tsk, Lele, when did you become so naughty?" Mo Xueyao reached out and pinched her cheek. After everyone else had gotten their fried rice, she saved one for Hua Yinyin before opening her own portion. She held it with difficulty in her right hand and then scooped up a spoonful with her left.

As soon as he looked up, he saw the protagonist kneeling down in front of a bandit-like man, crying and begging, "Please, kill me!"

"What...what are you doing? We only rob people, we don't kill them!"

"Fine!" Wang Ding immediately stood up, drew a knife, and held it to the robber's body. "If you don't kill me, I'll kill you!"

"What do you want?!"

"Stop talking nonsense and kill me!"

The more serious the character being portrayed, the more hilarious it became. Mo Xueyao almost spat out the fried rice she had just chewed.

Wang Jiale, who was standing next to her, was also amused. It seemed like the rice was stuck in her throat, making her cough.

Wang Ding died for the first time in this way.

Qingqing, who was supervising him, was very unhappy with his cheating, but Wang Ding said that the instructions did not say that he could not die like that, it only said that he could not commit suicide.

Having someone else kill you obviously doesn't count as suicide.

Wang Ding lay on the ground and woke up after a while. One of the marks on his neck was gone, which meant that he had 'died tragically' once.

"Hey, shouldn't you be reincarnating?"

“Lately, people are suffering, too many people are dying, and my reincarnation process is too complicated, so that brat Yama sent me back.” Wang Ding rubbed his neck and looked at the bandit. “Quick, quick, a few more cuts, and this miserable life of ours will be over soon!”

As a result, the robber dared not kill him. Instead, he knelt on the ground, kowtowing and shouting things like "Immortal."

No matter what Wang Ding said, they refused to take any action.

"No, I have to be the supervisor. You can't do this again! It has to be the kind of death that someone really wants to kill you for, otherwise I'll use my authority to add another death penalty to your punishment!"

"Damn it." Wang Ding gave him the middle finger without any politeness. "Just you wait, once I'm back in office, I'll make you wash my feet every day!"

"You, you dare!" Qingqing stared with wide eyes, looking somewhat adorable—though it was a bit hard to see from the audience.

Anyway, from a distance, the girl playing Qingqing looks to have a pretty good figure.

Eating while watching a performance on stage is indeed quite pleasant.

This play doesn't seem suitable to watch while eating, because it's just too easy to make people laugh...

The bandit later said that he was actually forced to become a bandit because the government's taxes were too heavy and he was bullied by foreign officials. He had no money to eat, so he thought of robbing people, and even wanted to rob the government's supply wagons.

When they met Wang Ding, this "immortal," they wanted to beg him to save the dead people in the village.

However, Wang Ding is just a mortal and has no magical powers, so he can only turn to Qingqing for help.

"Should we help or not?"

"No, I can't bear the blame if the King of Hell finds out!"

"Can't you just use your pathetic authority? Just say it's an imperial decree authorizing you, who would dare to interfere?"

"...I didn't realize you had any kindness in you. Fine, but...saving one person means you'll die once more. Are you in or not?"