A Young Woman's Heart

Nora smiled, pursing her lips. "No... I wish everyone were as straightforward as him."

"Agh—!" Li Gutao, who was standing next to her, suddenly let out a miserable howl for no reason and hurriedly looked away from Nora's chest.

Mo Xueyao immediately understood what had happened, and then lay down triumphantly on Li Wanyan's lap, glancing at Nora's chest a few more times, and winking at Li Gutao as if in a provocation.

Li Gutao secretly gave the middle finger, but Lin Huihui forcibly pressed his head down and made him lean on her shoulder.

What a possessive girlfriend...

Mo Xueyao suddenly thought that love always seemed to be subtly related to control.

Isn't Lin Huihui's assertiveness a form of domination?

It's just that love is used as a nice-looking cover.

—You could tell from her expression that while there was an element of joking, she was also half serious.

Does love that arises from mutual understanding exist in this world?

There are definitely some, but not many, as rare as fish in a lake in winter.

Mo Xue gazed at the azure sky, lost in thought.

There was a thermos, disposable cups, and a box of cheap tea on the small boat.

These are all provided free of charge. People can sit on the boat, leisurely drink tea, chat, and so on.

However, if you can't stand the bumpy ride, you probably won't even be able to drink a few drops of water.

Sometimes lying down makes me feel even more uncomfortable.

The feeling of riding a boat is completely different from riding in a car. When a car stops, at least you feel stable, but a boat is different. Even when it is stationary, it sways like a leaf on the water, making you feel insecure, as if it might sink at any moment.

If you close your eyes, you will feel as if you are floating in the boundless universe, extremely far away from your home planet called Earth.

The sound of rushing water came from the side, and just listening to it made one feel a bit chilly.

Whenever Shi Haiming bent over like a clown and stuck half his body out to splash water, the entire boat would tilt slightly, giving Mo Xueyao a feeling of weightlessness and tension.

It's like lifting the front leg of a chair, rocking it, and then accidentally losing your balance and falling backward.

Lin Huihui initially frowned slightly, leaning on Li Gutao's shoulder, seemingly a little uncomfortable.

Fortunately, Shi Haiming and the others were there, keeping the atmosphere lively. Li Wanyan was no longer silent as before, and would occasionally join in the conversation.

Once they were far from the shore, the boatman switched to a paddle that resembled a duck's webbed foot and slowly rowed, stroke by stroke.

Gradually, he started sweating, so he took off his large cotton-padded coat, revealing a thin long-sleeved shirt underneath. The wind rustled through the air, but he didn't feel cold. Instead, he opened his mouth wide and breathed in the fresh air.

He seemed to enjoy rowing for the young people, and would occasionally turn his head to listen to their conversations. If he was amused, he would laugh along.

"Uncle, how many years have you been rowing this boat?" Shi Haiming asked, changing the subject after hearing the boatman's laughter.

"Haha." The boatman's laughter carried a hint of pride as he replied in Mandarin with a Hangzhou accent, "Ten years! My family has been rowing boats here for generations! My grandfather, great-grandfather... our ancestors started rowing boats here in the mid-Qing Dynasty."

"How come you're still rowing after so many generations of boats?" Shi Haiming joked.

"Haha, this boat needs someone to row it, doesn't it?" the boatman replied evasively, then diligently adjusted the direction of the boat to avoid heading towards the opposite bank instead of the center of the lake.

The scenery in the middle of the lake is completely different from that seen from the shore.

When the boat stops here, the surrounding shores seem very far away.

This is just a small lake; if it were the ocean, how magnificent and vast it would be.

Looking around in the middle of the ocean, can you see nothing but the sea?

—Although I've been to the beach and taken a boat out to sea before, my memories of those times are now a bit blurry. Without photos, human memory is really fragile.

"Nora." Mo Xueyao sat up, supporting herself on Li Wanyan's shoulders. Her long hair, which had grown to her shoulders, swayed slightly in the wind. In the sunlight, you could see that the new hair that had grown at the back of her head was light gold, while the older hair at the front was actually brown—not pure black.

Shi Haiming's hair color is also like that, perhaps because it has been dyed, which is why it is not so pure.

Li Gutao's hair was quite black, but he kept it very short with a buzz cut, so it wasn't particularly noticeable.

This made Li Wanyan's waterfall-like black hair stand out even more, like a deep black hole that could swallow up even the light.

"Hmm?" Nora tilted her head, her red hair falling to the right. "What's wrong?"

"Are you having a happy Chinese New Year over there?"

"Not really happy. I still... yearn for what my father's generation said," Nora smiled, tossing her hair and gently placing a hand on her chest, "The Soviet New Year."

"Oh, by the way," Shi Haiming interrupted before the conversation could become awkward, "How do you celebrate the Russian New Year?"

"Our New Year? It depends on whether it's for the older generation or for us younger generation; there are differences."

"Let's all talk about it."

“Yes.” Li Gutao was also very interested. Lin Huihui, who was standing next to him, simply put her small hand on his thigh, which made him tremble and made him laugh out loud.

"The older generation, you know, they would invite relatives and friends over for dinner, have parties, and eat all kinds of meat and stuff, oh dear, I forgot the specifics!" Nora slapped her thigh. "It felt like they spent most of their time drinking... um, drinking... alcohol!"

"Drinking?" Shi Haiming tapped his chest with a hint of pride. "I can hold my liquor pretty well!"

"Really? Let's go for drinks together next time!"

"Hey, Xiaoming, are you sure you want to drink with Nora?" Mo Xueyao looked at him with pity. "Don't be too confident in your drinking capacity..."

"Haha, I can hold my liquor pretty well, you know. I can drink half a jin of 52-proof baijiu!"

For people from the South, this is indeed something to be proud of.

“Not bad, very impressive,” Nora praised. “I can only drink two or three jin (1.5-1.5 kg) at most, oh… sometimes I can drink a little more.”

"He must be drunk."

"Drunk? Hmm... Sanjin shouldn't be drunk." Nora shook her head.

"Ahem!" Shi Haiming coughed awkwardly, covering his mouth. "So, Xiao Yao, you're not a heavy drinker either, are you?"

"Me? I haven't drunk much, so I don't know." Mo Xueyao frowned. "Besides, I don't like drinking."

"I like to drink, but baijiu is too awful. I prefer beer, I can drink a whole case!" Lin Huihui, like a little delinquent, raised a finger, as if to provoke Nora.

"Beer? That's fine too, let's go for drinks tonight!" Nora's eyes lit up at the mention of alcohol. "But that won't get you drunk, I prefer drinks that can make you drunk."

Lin Huihui's smug expression faltered for a moment, like a movie cassette tape stuck in time.

Listen to this, is this even human language?

……

Chapter Fifteen: Even if you add them all up, you still can't drink as much.

“Privetstvovat!” As soon as she got home, Nora took off the hair tie that bound her full head of red hair and casually tossed it onto the wooden sofa next to her.

“Not among Carter's...?” Shi Haiming was stunned, completely not understanding what she was saying, and his attention was quickly drawn to her loose red hair—for a brief moment, of course.

Mo Xueyao seriously suspected that even monks who were celibate might not have as much self-control as this guy.

After all, an old ox that has been drained of its energy probably doesn't have the strength to steal a bite, right?

"It means 'welcome'," Nora explained in Chinese.

Having not visited Nora's house for a long time, Mo Xueyao felt that it seemed much more messy than before.

Perhaps because I had just returned today, my luggage was scattered haphazardly on the floor, and a jumble of empty wine bottles, covered in a bit of dust, were piled up in the corner of the room.

An enormous bra was lying on the ground, looking as if it had been gnawed by some rat that had crawled out of nowhere.

A large pile of cardboard boxes was stacked haphazardly, with the tails of a few dried salted fish 'popping' out from inside.

"I just got back and haven't had time to unpack yet!" Nora didn't seem embarrassed at all. "Please, everyone, make yourselves at home!"

Li Gutao looked around but could only find a small empty space on the sofa; the other chairs were all piled up with random things.

"Sit down, on the floor!" Nora seemed to realize the awkwardness of having nowhere to sit. She dashed into the bedroom and then placed a somewhat rusty brazier in the center of the living room with one hand.

In her other hand she held a bag of charcoal, which she was about to pour into the dark brazier.

"Wait—let's clean up first!" Mo Xueyao quickly stopped her, while Li Wanyan, whose obsession with cleanliness was even more severe than hers, was already quite restless. Judging from her expression, it seemed like she was about to pick up a rag and start cleaning herself at any moment...

"What? We're not here to be errand boys!" Lin Huihui crossed her arms and pouted. As the daughter of the hotel owner, she was always the one being waited on. Even at school, she resolutely refused to clean.

That's right, whenever she didn't clean, the guy responsible for 'wiping her butt' was none other than the unlucky Li Gutao...

"Cough, it's alright, you can sit down, I'll help you."

"No need for help, I can manage on my own! Please have a seat!" Nora remained incredibly enthusiastic, seemingly unaffected by Lin Huihui's words.

However, the dust on the ground made it impossible to sit down. Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan exchanged a glance and, in perfect unison, rolled up their sleeves. Then, the others followed suit and got busy as well.

Lin Huihui sat diagonally in the only empty seat on the sofa, directing everyone like a foreman.

"Over there, over there, clean the windows!"

"Can't those cardboard boxes be tidied up? What's inside them?"

"Wow, what's this? It's a huge piece of skin..."

"Tao, what are you doing, spacing out?"

Of course, she wasn't always so energetic. After half an hour, she felt tired. When Mo Xueyao suddenly felt that the room had become much quieter, she had already fallen asleep leaning against the back of the sofa.

"Tao, what did you do last night? Why is she so tired?" Shi Haiming teased in a low voice as he helped wipe the window with a rag. "I didn't realize you were so capable."

"What nonsense are you talking about..." Li Gutao rolled his eyes, but the blush that was quietly spreading across his face betrayed him.

"Oh my, she's getting shy now, tsk tsk tsk."

"Alright, Xiaoming, stop teasing him." Mo Xueyao, who happened to be walking by, kicked him with her small foot, which was covered by cashmere leggings. "Get to work!"

"Is the boss not going to pay salaries?"

"Sure, if you can outdrink Nora later, I'll pay you a salary."

"Damn it!" Shi Haiming raised his middle finger without hesitation, then asked as if he had found a loophole, "Want some water?"

"What do you say?"

"Thank you all for your help!" Now that everyone had pitched in, Nora decided not to stand on ceremony.

Being polite at this point would only seem hypocritical.