A Young Woman's Heart

Although the window was open, the smell of smoke still drifted into the car. Mo Xueyao frowned slightly, but ultimately said nothing.

"The weather is different in the city and the countryside."

"Haha, judging by the weather, it might snow!"

Did you check the weather forecast?

"No, can't you smell that scent in the air?"

Mo Xueyao's delicate nose twitched slightly, but she felt that the air here was as refreshing as if she were breathing with a mint in her mouth.

"I don't feel anything special?"

"Hey, inexperienced, aren't you?" The father shook his head smugly, flicking the cigarette holder between his fingers on the car window. A car sped towards them from the opposite direction, and he lazily turned the steering wheel to the right. The two cars barely slowed down and quickly passed each other.

To be honest, sometimes when Mo Xueyao sees her father driving like that, she gets a little scared.

Her father's composure did little to make her feel safe...

Because when it comes to driving, just because you don't have an accident once doesn't mean you won't have one every time.

The trees on the mountain, the clouds in the sky... all slowly receded into the distance. Occasionally, a car would drive by from the opposite direction, and sometimes a car would speed up and overtake Mo Xueyao's van because it was too slow.

Looking back, the road behind me looked like a long, winding snake, with no end in sight.

Instead of darkening further, the clouds in the sky began to brighten slightly.

Mo Xueyao, who was eating snacks by the window, suddenly felt a coolness on her forehead. Looking down, she saw that, just as her father had said, a few snowflakes were falling.

At first it wasn't very clear, but then it rained harder and harder, and you could even see the crystalline patterns on the snowflakes.

Such large snowflakes are a rare sight in the south.

When the wind blows, they twirl and dance in the sky, landing one by one on the car window with a 'plop plop' sound, and immediately melting into snow water and disappearing.

"What a heavy snow!" Mo Xueyao excitedly poured the last bit of spicy strips into her mouth, and the packaging bag flew out of her hand in the wind.

She held her hands in her lap, as if trying to catch the snowflakes.

Perhaps because it had just snowed, the air still didn't feel cold. Mo Xueyao's hair was blown by the wind like colorful ribbons, but she only felt incredibly cool.

"Silly girl, aren't you cold?" The father threw away his cigarette butt, pulled the window up a little, and asked helplessly.

"It's alright, not cold!" Mo Xueyao replied loudly with a smile. "How long will it snow at Grandma's house this year?"

"Then we'll have to see the weather forecast." The father patted his pocket, this time without a cigarette, and took out a piece of peanut candy, peeled it with his teeth, and put it in his mouth.

"We can build a snowman then!"

"Hmm," the father replied lazily, seemingly uninterested.

Unlike Mo Xueyao, he spent his childhood in the north.

So I'm not really interested in building snowmen anymore.

At most, it's just a bit of nostalgia, right?

Clumps and clusters of snowflakes fell down, like countless torn cotton balls rolling down from the sky.

"Sigh, if only we had a camera, we could have taken pictures of this snow!" Mo Xueyao said with some regret.

"Try writing it down," Li Wanyan said, taking out a palm-sized notebook from her schoolbag, opening it, and handing it to Mo Xueyao.

"Wait, wasn't it supposed to be written by Wanyan?"

"Okay, you write first, then I'll write."

"Okay, let me think... uh... the snowflakes in the mountains are like dandruff..."

Mo Xueyao couldn't help but use her favorite description again.

The van was not deterred by the wind and snow and continued to drive forward.

……

Chapter 30 Assembly

Snowflakes fluttered down from the sky.

A slightly yellowish silver van drove along this somewhat lonely road.

In the distance, one could begin to faintly hear human voices.

The sound gradually grew louder and became increasingly noisy.

Mo Xueyao craned her neck to look into the distance and saw one simple red lantern after another hanging on the trees along the roadside.

The lanterns were covered in ash and snow, yet they still emitted a faint orange glow.

I don't know if it's heated by fire or powered by electricity.

But judging from how stable the light is, it's probably powered by electricity.

From afar, the aroma of roasted lamb skewers, mixed with other various foods, could be smelled as they entered the carriage.

First, I saw rows of tricycles covered in mud, and then I saw people setting up stalls right next to the narrow dirt road.

The further in you go, the bigger the stalls become, and naturally, the more crowded it gets.

This is a gathering held before the New Year, where people from the nearby villages come together.

Some people sell their own local specialties, while others specifically purchase goods to sell.

Items related to the Lunar New Year are selling exceptionally well here.

After all, not everyone has a car to carry New Year's goods. Most people come back by bus, and they can't bring too much stuff, so they buy all sorts of New Year's goods near their destination.

Even if they really don't have any money, they will at least buy a few couplets to hang on their doors.

"Should we buy some firecrackers to take home, Dad?" Mo Xueyao looked excitedly at the tall pile of fireworks and firecrackers, her blue eyes practically glowing.

"What a waste of money..." the father muttered, but still hesitated before shifting his gaze to the pile of fireworks and firecrackers. "But if we don't buy them, it doesn't feel like the New Year. What New Year doesn't have fireworks?"

“That’s right!” Mo Xueyao nodded vigorously. “Let’s also buy some small firecrackers!”

"All you ever do is play with firecrackers." Her father glanced at her sideways. "Fine, let's see where we can park."

But in this crowded market, where could they possibly park this van?

Even after driving to the fireworks, my father couldn't find a place to park temporarily. He could only barely manage to drive onto the ground next to the cement road and pull over slightly to allow pedestrians and vehicles to pass—the car could barely pass and had to move slowly, bit by bit.

Fireworks and firecrackers in the countryside may not have as many varieties as those in the city, but they are cheaper and louder, and just as dangerous...

Some daring people like to hold the firecrackers in their hands for a while before throwing them, but some firecrackers explode faster than the others, so they end up exploding directly in their hands.

So the safest and most convenient is still the kind of 'snap pop' – it makes a 'bang' sound when you throw it on the ground. Although it doesn't make the sound of a lit firecracker, it's more exciting if you want to experience the feeling of throwing firecrackers one after another.

The father had a great talent for languages ​​and could speak the dialect of Mo Xueyao's maternal grandmother's house, while Mo Xueyao could only understand about half of it...

Using the local language to buy local items, while it might not be cheaper, at least you wouldn't be ripped off. The other party's price was reasonable, and after some simple bargaining, my father bought three small fireworks and two large fireworks—as for Mo Xueyao's few boxes of small firecrackers, consider them free gifts.

The van got back on the road and drove a while before finally finding a small open space where it could park. The father turned the steering wheel to the right and stopped the van once again.

“Since we’re already passing by this gathering, why don’t we get out and take a look?” the father said, jumping out of the car and stretching his limbs.

Sitting in a car for a long time can indeed make you sleepy, so it seems he wanted to get some fresh air to wake himself up.

My mother was already awake, looking at the lively place with some drowsiness, and sat in her chair for a long time without moving.

"Yaoyao, your mother and your grandmother used to come here to buy fabric to make clothes at home because the fabric is cheap here..."

"Xiaoyao and Wanyan went to the market a long time ago." The father had just thrown away a cigarette butt when he lit another one. Standing by the car door, he leaned against the window and asked with a smile, "Oh, the pretty girl's awake? Want to go for a stroll?"

"Go." The mother seemed a little shy, giving him a sidelong glance, though it was unclear what she meant. In any case, she got out of the car and strolled with her husband through the sea of ​​people.

Even shopping is difficult, and it's not uncommon to be bumped into occasionally.

For areas far from the city, such gatherings are a rare opportunity to shop; in reality, it's no different from going to a large shopping mall in the city.

But most things here are very cheap. Sometimes, you can buy a rare item for very little money. Even if it's not very useful, it's still nice to satisfy your curiosity and collecting habit.

The way to find happiness suddenly becomes very simple here.

Mo Xueyao clutched the ten yuan her father had given her, pulled Li Wanyan through the crowd, and seemed to be searching for something.

"What does Yaoyao want to buy?" Li Wanyan finally couldn't help but ask, but her voice sounded very muffled here, like an alarm clock ringing from the real world while she was dreaming.

"Huh? What—?" Mo Xueyao tilted her head towards her and asked loudly.

So Li Wanyan could only raise her voice: "What—do—you—want—to—buy—?"

"Gun!!" Mo Xueyao shouted, her face flushed.

And she finally found the stall that sold toy guns.

This stall sells all sorts of military toys, from tiny soldier figures that cost only 50 cents a bag to replica sniper rifles taller than elementary school students—you name it, they have it.

However, there's no need to have high expectations for that so-called 'sniper rifle,' because its power isn't much greater than a small handgun, and both use BBs.

"Boss!!" Mo Xueyao pushed aside the group of children surrounding the stall—they were at most junior high school students, and even with her petite figure, she seemed to be the leader of the kids here.

"What would you like?" The shopkeeper looked at her curiously, because there weren't many girls who came here to buy toys, let alone someone as pretty as her.

"Pistols! What kinds are there?"

"They're all over there," the boss said, pointing to the seats next to him.

There are plastic pistols of all shapes and sizes here, even a 'Desert Eagle' painted in silver.

But just like the cheap four-wheel drive vehicles sold in small shops, the appearance doesn't have much impact on the actual usability...

"Do you want to buy iron? We sell iron too," the shopkeeper asked in Mandarin with a local accent.

"How much is the iron one?"

“Forty-five.” He gestured a number.

"Tsk, so expensive... What about this regular kind?"

"Two dollars and fifty cents, those below are five dollars, and those below that are ten dollars. Buy the ten-dollar one and I'll give you a bottle of bullets for free!"

The father gave Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan ten yuan each, and the former seemed to intend to spend all ten yuan at once.

"The ten-dollar ones are indeed a bit heavier..." In cheap toys, heavier usually means better quality.