A Young Woman's Heart

"Let's eat later."

"Can I go out to eat with Wanyan?"

The mother glanced at the mess on the floor, not knowing how long it would take to clean up, and waved her hand impatiently: "Go on, go on, and bring some for me and your dad while you're at it."

"Okay!" Mo Xueyao nodded excitedly—it was nice to eat out occasionally.

Although what she called "going out to eat" was nothing more than eating noodles or rice bowls.

But happiness is always very simple; even the most exquisite delicacies cannot compare to the beauty of this simple life.

The area around Tesco supermarket was unusually lively, with most of the nearby shops already open or having never closed at all.

It's not usually this noisy; everyone has gathered here because other shops haven't opened yet.

The elderly people who usually go to the market to buy groceries are now choosing to buy more affordable ingredients at the supermarket.

It may not be that new, but it's the Lunar New Year, so it's fine to make do with what you have.

Next to KFC is Yonghe Soy Milk. If you don't look closely, you'll find that the two signs look very similar. Some adults like to trick their children into going to the soy milk shop next door and coax them to eat something—it's cheaper than going to the shop next door, after all.

No matter how many people are in the countryside, it feels completely different from the lively atmosphere of the city.

Because the liveliness of the mountain village is concentrated in the village itself, while the surrounding mountains and wilderness remain empty and desolate.

Cities, on the other hand, are bustling with people everywhere—unless you venture into some remote suburbs, you might feel a bit deserted.

Humans are social animals after all. Even if you don't interact with other people, just listening to the ubiquitous noise can make you feel exceptionally at ease.

After all, there are so many people like him and so many ordinary people like him around here!

The sun finally set completely, but the streetlights turned on ahead of time.

Mo Xueyao was actually very curious about how they worked. Did they have a light sensor that would automatically turn on when it got dark?

Or is it that someone has set a timer so that it lights up at the designated time?

Or perhaps, these are all purely manually operated?

In the small square in front of the supermarket, children were playing with glowing toys, which were particularly eye-catching in the night.

"Let's not cross the street, how about we eat at this noodle shop?" Mo Xueyao asked, pointing to the noodle shop next to the fruit shop that was already bustling with activity.

Li Wanyan shook her head, a rare occurrence for her: "Let's eat something else."

"Hmm, what would Wanyan like to eat today?"

"……do not know."

"Pfft, cough cough, let's stroll over and take a look!"

"it is good."

Mo Xueyao turned her head and stared at the shops next to her with her sky-blue eyes, looking at them one by one.

Fruit shop, noodle shop, pharmacy, restaurant, snack shop, noodle shop, and more noodle shop, bank, and more bank...

After exploring this area, the two crossed the street to take another look at the other side.

There were clearly more restaurants next to the supermarket than across the street, but Li Wanyan still didn't seem to have a good opinion of them.

So, what should we eat?

"Where's Yao Yao?"

"Whatever."

"Anything but noodle shops is fine."

"Ah, how about this place?" Mo Xueyao tilted her head and pointed to a small restaurant next door. Although it also served home-style dishes, most people came here to eat rice bowls.

Mo Xueyao hadn't eaten it many times, but she remembered that it tasted pretty good.

Li Wanyan remained silent for a few seconds, then gently shook her head.

When they finally got back to the supermarket entrance, neither of them had decided where to eat.

"Ah, how about we eat at a roadside stall? I don't know if they're even open yet!"

"It's not clean."

“At least you can see the roadside stalls, so how are they unclean? Actually, restaurants and roadside stalls are pretty much the same, and that roadside stall has been open for longer than many of the restaurants here!” Mo Xueyao grabbed Li Wanyan’s wrist, pulled her to the back, and then turned right into a small alley.

In the alley, all the shops had their roller shutters tightly closed, with only a few low folding tables and some plastic chairs placed at the back.

A tricycle that was clearly quite old was piled high with all sorts of ingredients and seasonings, and pots, pans and other utensils were hanging on it.

The tattered plastic bag next to it was stuffed with a bunch of disposable foam bowls and disposable chopsticks that looked much worse.

Perhaps it was still early, or perhaps few people had come looking for it; in any case, there was only one small table next to the tricycle where three strong men were sitting, drinking and chatting.

From scandals involving the president of a neighboring country to the village chief of the next village embezzling half of the road construction funds, it's as if there's nothing in the world they don't know.

How is it here?

"This is fine." Li Wanyan found a seat on the far side, the one furthest away from the men, and sat down.

This alley is usually very lively, but today it's unusually quiet.

The closed shop doors added to the desolation and bleakness of the place, while the distant noise gave Mo Xueyao the illusion of enjoying dinner at home.

Because it's probably only at home that it gets this quiet.

—The men at the next table were talking loudly, but compared to the open space, their voices were negligible.

There were no pots or pans on the tricycle; whether it was fried rice, fried noodles, or any kind of barbecue, they used that shiny black iron plate.

"Hmm... I'll have a skewer of grilled tofu, a skewer of cauliflower, and a skewer of pork tenderloin... and then stir-fry them with rice." Mo Xueyao recalled how her father used to order late-night snacks, and placed three of her favorite items on the grill. "Oh, right, isn't this a bit too much tofu? Wanyan, do you want some?"

"it is good."

"What else do you want, Wanyan?"

"Stir-fried rice cakes."

"Stir-fried rice cakes," Mo Xueyao repeated—actually, the boss could hear her even without repeating, but she felt it would be more polite to do so.

"So you add half a portion of sizzling tofu to the stir-fried rice cakes?"

"Wanyan?" Mo Xueyao tilted her head to look at her, the strands of hair at her temples gently blowing in the wind that had entered the alley.

"What is this?" she asked, pointing to a large, pinkish-white piece of meat.

"Steak, or pork chop?"

"Steak, steak," the owner quickly replied.

"Ah, then put this one."

"How much?" Li Wanyan asked the price seriously.

"This costs three yuan and fifty cents."

"Don't hesitate, just eat. It's not like we eat out all the time."

Li Wanyan only frowned slightly, then quickly relaxed and nodded slowly.

Then I just waited on the side.

Although it's winter, if there's no wind blowing into the alley, you won't feel cold at all; in fact, you might even feel a bit warm.

Fortunately, there was a small shop nearby, so Mo Xueyao ran over and bought two bottles of Coke.

"It's a rare treat, let's splurge a little!" she shouted before Li Wanyan could.

The fried rice and fried rice cakes were ready quickly, and the two sat down at the low table and ate at a leisurely pace.

The bright, clear moon had risen high in the sky. Although there weren't as many stars as in the countryside, there were still a few scattered across the sky.

Mo Xueyao was so hot that she rolled up her sleeves: "Spring has arrived, hasn't it? The wind feels so warm."

"Yes, spring has arrived."

"This spring seems much more comfortable than last year."

"Yeah."

"Huh, isn't that right?"

"Perhaps."

"That's right! When we came here, the peach blossoms were already in bloom, weren't they? At this time last year, none of the peach blossoms had even bloomed yet!"

"Ah."

Mo Xueyao stretched out her chopsticks, picked up two pieces of rice cake from Li Wanyan's styrofoam box, and savored them for a few bites before swallowing: "The rice cake is not bad either, Wanyan. Would you like to try my fried rice?"

"Hmm." So Li Wanyan picked up a few grains with her chopsticks.

"Pfft, how can you taste anything with so little?" She picked up the styrofoam box and shoveled a few mouthfuls into the latter's bowl. "This is more like it."

Li Wanyan smiled, looked at the cola next to her, hesitated for a moment, and finally unscrewed the cap and took a sip.

The cola tastes extra sweet today.

……

Chapter 49 The Abandoned School

Zhoushan City is a prefecture-level city spread across an archipelago.

Although it is located on the coast, the economic conditions are not very good, especially for the residents living on the island. They are only a dozen or several dozen kilometers away from the city, but it feels like they are in a completely different world.

Deep within the archipelago, several larger islands combine to form a small town, where most of the inhabitants are elderly people and children, with few young adults.

Although it's not yet the eighth day of the lunar new year, many of the young people who returned to their hometowns have already left. These islands, far from the city, seem to have suddenly lost their vitality and appear gloomy.

"Hmm, Kong, is this the place?" Su Yuqing asked, both excited and nervous. She held onto Mo Kong's arm tightly as they stepped off the boat and onto the wooden planks of the simple little dock.

"Hmm." Mo Kong nodded slightly, took off his sunglasses and put them in his breast pocket, with one temple still hanging out.

The boatman smiled at the two of them, seemingly not intending to go ashore.

There isn't even a cement road on the island, let alone an asphalt road; there's only a small path paved with gravel extending inwards.