A Young Woman's Heart

"Stop making excuses." The mother shook her head. "Then how come you were consistently in ninth place before?"

"Luck is also very important..." She stuck out her tongue shyly, then looked at her father with a sigh, "Actually, it's not so bad. The overall ranking doesn't mean too much. Look, my scores in Chinese, math, English, and then humanities... are all quite high!"

"Hmm, not bad for you." Her father had a 'I'm content' expression, which made Mo Xueyao roll her eyes.

Li Wanyan came in second place this time. She wondered who came in first. Could it still be Mr. Xue?

As Mo Xueyao was thinking, her mother had already started a fire. She immediately put down her report card and went over. The warmth of the firelight made her want to stay in front of it all day.

"Go away, don't get so close."

"What? Even Su Tang is closer than me!" Mo Xueyao complained.

"It knows its limits, you know?"

"How could I not know! Look, the candy's whiskers were all burnt before, I think it was the one who didn't know its own limits!"

"Meow—" As if she understood Mo Xueyao's words, Su Tang complained, as if she was defending herself.

The main dish for breakfast is white porridge, and the side dishes are what my mother is planning to make now.

—I still haven't finished the many flatbreads I made before. Every morning I bake them in front of the fire, and they taste much better than frying them in a pan or steaming them in a rice cooker.

They also roast some sweet potatoes and potatoes inside, and skewer rice cakes on bamboo sticks to roast them.

For winter, this is probably the most satisfying life.

Mo Xueyao squinted, stretching her hands out incessantly, wanting to feel the warmth of the campfire as closely as possible.

You could easily spend a whole day of your holiday just by staying put—provided the campfire burns all day.

"By the way, are we going back to Grandma's house this year?"

"We want it back."

When?

The day before Lunar New Year's Eve.

……

"Tongjue is gone?" Hua Yinyin asked, swinging her short legs in Wang Jiale's house. Although the air conditioner was on, the temperature didn't seem to rise much; it was better than nothing.

"Let's go, and it seems Xiaoxi is going on winter break too, didn't you know?"

"Hmm... I heard about it, but I'm actually planning to go. I can't believe you got your passport and visa so quickly. That's incredibly efficient."

Wang Jiale inserted the straw into the milk carton that had just been heated in a pot, and took a small, enjoyable sip: "Of course, she's a young lady, you know. Her father is the chairman of a big company, so she certainly has the ability."

"Is Yinyin going back to her hometown in a few days?"

"Yeah, there's heating there, it's much more comfortable than here! We can run around wearing very little then."

"Sounds like Yin Yin's style, like not wearing clothes or something?"

"Oh dear, Lele's gone astray!" Hua Yinyin playfully pinched Wang Jiale's cheek, and the two girls started chatting about other things while teasing each other.

……

"Sister, sister, what was that... is Auntie really coming?"

"Yes, she said she would come to see us around the Lunar New Year."

"Hmm—I think she's the only relative I remember." Mo Zhuyou pinched and gently rubbed 'Black Chocolate's' ear, which had turned into a round blob and looked faded, no longer as black as when it was a child, but rather looked more like a reddish-brown color.

To be precise, this should be called 'black'?

"Thump, thump!" Mr. Xue tapped the wooden planks with a hammer and pieced them together without using a single nail.

This was something Mo Zhuyou had asked him to do before—make a nest for Hei Qiao, because this winter is particularly cold, so it needs a warm nest so it won't freeze.

As for not using nails to build a nest, that was purely Mr. Xue's self-challenge project—Mo Zhuyou didn't give him that challenge.

"Xiaoxue, are you going home for the New Year this year?" Mo Xiaoxiao sat down next to her, holding a cup of hot tea. In front of her was a small iron basket filled with ashes left over from burning firewood—it wasn't very effective at keeping warm, but it was better than nothing.

Besides, this can be considered a way to make use of waste!

"No return."

"How about coming over for the New Year?" Mo Zhuyou continued her sister's question. "Hmm...it'll be more lively with more people!"

"Not many people stay in Hangzhou for the New Year, right? Even the locals seem to be going back to their hometowns." Mo Xiaoxiao asked softly, gently poking Hei Qiao's round belly next to her.

"Hmm, Cha Li is going back to Changchun, Yang Yankai is going back to T County, Xuan Anyi is going back to F City..." Mr. Xue casually rattled off a few names, as if he knew everything about it.

"Did Xiaoxue ask them all?"

"Hehe, no, I just accidentally remembered it when they mentioned it."

Mo Zhuyou looked on with envy, thinking that she wished she could have half of that memory.

Actually, she was quite wary when Mr. Xue came often, fearing that he would take her sister away.

However, as time went by and everyone became more familiar with each other, in her eyes, the outstanding Mr. Xue no longer posed a threat.

This is truly a wonderful thing.

……

At Hangzhou's newly opened Xiaoshan Airport, Huang Yuxi stood in the waiting hall, waving to her brother outside, while the whiteboard she held in her other hand swayed gently: "Brother, don't worry, take good care of yourself too."

"Don't worry, Xiaoxi, have fun! Keep in touch—uh, remember to come back before school starts!" Huang Zhengyang, with his wheat-colored skin, waved his hand forcefully, feeling a little empty inside.

Will the younger brother who has always grown up under her protection finally have a day when he leaves her wings?

He, who was both a brother and a father to them, felt somewhat lost and stared blankly as they left the waiting hall and boarded the plane before he finally came to his senses.

Standing on the high ground, Huang Yuxi turned around, wanting to call out "Brother" again, but only saw that lonely figure disappear around the corner...

……

Chapter Twelve: Daily Life at the Fruit Shop

The leaden-gray clouds looked like frozen sewage next to a drain.

The sun was slow to rise, but the clock had already struck nine.

With about ten days left until Lunar New Year's Eve, this is probably the students' favorite time of year. They don't have to go around meeting relatives or friends they know or don't know, nor do they have to worry about their bedroom door suddenly opening while they're sleeping in, and then those relatives and friends walking in on their own...

The New Year is approaching, but the fruit shop still has to keep doing business.

The renovation of the grocery store next door is still going on; the signboard has been taken down, as if they're planning to replace it with a new one.

—Speaking of which, that old, dilapidated sign really should have been replaced. Although it was made of iron, it was already rusted. Whenever you walked past the grocery store, you could see rust falling off in a few rusty pieces.

Shop renovation is not as troublesome as home renovation. After all, the area that needs to be renovated is only about the size of a room, and you don't need to rack your brains to run water pipes and electrical circuits.

The shop has been paved with gray marble, and Zhuang Lianlian is helping to clean it up. The husky came and caused trouble several times, but was finally led away by Grandma Jin.

Otherwise, Chen Cheng would probably have attacked it first.

The renovation workers came in batches, and the marble work was finished this morning, but the wall paint will have to wait until tomorrow.

The original cramped shop door has been knocked down and replaced with a transparent glass sliding door, giving this old grocery store a new lease on life and making it look exceptionally trendy.

Uncle Xiong, who manages the warehouse next door, came running out from the side, soaking wet, and shouted to Mo Wenli, who was arranging flowers, "Ali! Do you have a wrench?"

"A wrench? There should be one, you brat, go get it."

"You're the one who smells bad." Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes and took out a toolbox from under the counter—actually, this thing was originally a mooncake box, but her mother later used it to store tools.

There were all sorts of tools, but they were piled up in a somewhat messy way. Mo Xueyao rummaged through the candles, screwdrivers, and other things on top, and finally pulled out two wrenches of different sizes from the bottom: "Which one do you need?"

"The bigger one!"

"Here."

Uncle Xiong thanked him, took the wrench, and turned to leave. Dou Dou, who had just run out, followed him back.

"What's going on?!" the father shouted, tilting his head.

Uncle Xiong's voice drifted over from afar: "The water pipe burst!"

"Tsk, this winter is really something." The father clicked his tongue and went back to arranging his flowers.

He seems to be researching new flower arranging techniques lately—he wants to create a hemispherical shape.

"This winter is really cold; a lot of water pipes have frozen and burst," the mother said casually, then picked up her small handbag. "Yaoyao, want to go grocery shopping with me?"

“I’m not going!” Mo Xueyao replied quickly.

"I'll go," Li Wanyan said softly.

"It's alright, you two stay in the shop." The mother got on her electric scooter and wobbled across the road. Her terrible driving skills always made people hold their breath when they saw her.

For the past few days, Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan haven't gone home; they've been staying at the fruit shop.

Occasionally, if I get up early, I'll help open the door so my mother can come later.

However, most of the time, Mo Xueyao is the one sleeping in...

In fact, she did get up early, but only for a few days right after the holiday started.

People really do become lazy when they are not restrained.

Because I don't have to go to school, sometimes even when I'm awake, I stay snuggled in bed and don't want to get up.

If it weren't for the sheer boredom of being curled up in bed after waking up, she felt she could have stayed inside all day.

Even though I can read novels, it's still cold to stick my hands out of the covers...

With the Lunar New Year approaching, fruit shops are seeing a surge in business. Many people are taking advantage of the holiday to visit relatives and friends who are hospitalized, as many will be returning to their hometowns during the holiday and simply won't have the time to visit.

"Ah, I suddenly understand why China's big cities don't have as many slums as other countries' big cities!" Mo Xueyao suddenly exclaimed, clapping her hands.

Her father was already used to her inexplicable discoveries.

Only Li Wanyan would always ask, "Why?"

"Because China's slums are just rural areas!"

"It's nothing, everyone knows about it." The father, puffing on a Double Happiness cigarette and blowing a smoke ring, said sarcastically, "I thought it was some big discovery."

Mo Xueyao was about to retort when a business opportunity came knocking, so she had to swallow her words.