A Young Woman's Heart

Looking at today's clear sky, it seems the school sports meet is unlikely to be postponed.

Mo Xueyao, who didn't want to wear a cheerleading uniform, secretly hoped for a heavy rain to delay the start of the school sports meet by a few days.

Even if that day will eventually come, it's better to delay it for a few more days.

At least it gives us a few more days to prepare mentally.

Just then, the bus stopped at the next stop, and a few more passengers boarded.

Because it was still early, most of the people boarding the bus seemed quite relaxed.

Some people found a seat and slowly started eating their breakfast; others sat down and immediately began to doze off, even if it was just for a few minutes to catch up on some sleep.

An ordinary-looking boy wearing the uniform of Yukong High School walked into the carriage while eating a fried rice dumpling.

He also seemed to be looking for a single empty seat.

Unfortunately, both adjacent seats were almost all occupied.

After looking around, he finally sat down opposite Mo Xueyao.

When he finally sat down and saw her face clearly, his eyes widened, and his whole face was filled with excitement.

He cleared his throat nervously and greeted her in what he thought was his best manner: "Mo Xueyao, good morning!"

The loud shout startled Mo Xueyao, who had been lost in thought and hadn't even noticed the other person sitting opposite her.

“…Ah…?” Mo Xueyao habitually pinched the single ponytail at the back of her head, mainly to make sure it hadn’t come undone. “Oh, it’s Zhou Yong. Good morning.”

"Haha, what a coincidence, why aren't you riding your bicycle today?"

"I didn't ride back on Friday," Mo Xueyao answered truthfully.

"So you're on this bus too." Zhou Yong's joy was overflowing. "What a coincidence."

"Hmm, what a coincidence." Since the other person had struck up a conversation with her, Mo Xueyao couldn't appear too indifferent. "Do you get up this early every day?"

When Mo Xueyao took the initiative to talk to him, Zhou Yong could hardly contain his excitement.

Ever since Mo Xueyao took the initiative to pull him into the group, he has always felt that he and she are closer than the other boys and she.

Although I always tell myself not to overthink things, my subconscious still unconsciously believes it that way.

"Hey, there's the school sports meet today, Mo Xueyao, did you sign up for any events?"

“I’m not feeling well, so I didn’t sign up for any projects. What about you?” Mo Xueyao looked calmly at Zhou Yong with her clear eyes, which made his heart beat even faster.

"Me, me... haha... I am the shot putter, that's easy," Zhou Yong said with a sheepish grin, scratching the back of his head.

"Looks like you're in luck," Mo Xueyao said with a smile.

But deep down, I felt a sense of disgust and helplessness.

Her social identity constantly reminds her of the gender of her body at that moment.

—It serves as a reminder that she is now a girl, and everyone treats her as a girl.

Even the thought of being on friendly terms with the boys like before has become a distant dream.

How can a guy possibly treat a beautiful girl like a brother?

At the very least, they would look at it with appreciation.

Moreover, the feeling between ordinary friends between men and women is completely different from that between ordinary friends between men.

Between different genders, there will always be some other feelings involved.

Just like Zhou Yong now.

He always carefully considers what he says before speaking, and always wears a smile that is both ingratiating and shows off his handsomeness.

Fortunately, Zhou Yong was only of average appearance; if he were ugly, she probably would have found him creepy.

"Where do you live?" Zhou Yong asked casually.

"Next to Tesco," Mo Xueyao replied ambiguously.

She doesn't like lying, but at this moment she didn't want to tell the other person where she actually lived, so she gave this answer.

"Oh... have you had breakfast?"

"I've already eaten." Mo Xueyao felt inexplicably irritated and couldn't help but tug at the back of her hair.

What's going on here?

It was as awkward as translating an English conversation.

"What's wrong? Is your hair uncomfortable?" Zhou Yong asked with concern, completely unaware of the situation.

"No." Mo Xueyao was already bored and didn't want to talk to this guy anymore.

At that moment, she felt like the one being pursued in a dating story, and listening to Zhou Yong's embarrassing questions made her feel extremely uncomfortable.

If every guy were like Zhou Yong, it would be much easier to chat with girls...

Seemingly realizing something was amiss, Zhou Yong scratched his head and, after a minute of silence, started a new topic: "Speaking of which, Mo Xueyao, you watch tokusatsu shows, right? You mentioned it during your self-introduction."

"correct."

"Which Ultra Brother do you like the most?" Zhou Yong switched back to a more normal topic, making it sound like the two boys were having a chat.

This relieved Mo Xueyao.

She didn't want the atmosphere to remain so awkward, and besides, this kind of topic actually piqued her interest.

"And you?" But instead of answering directly, she asked in return.

"I like Eddie the most."

"Why? Most people probably think Ultraman is ugly, right?" Mo Xueyao asked curiously. She had watched all the Ultraman DVDs at her godfather's house. In those days, China didn't quickly import a large number of Ultraman tokusatsu films, so for most people, Ultraman 80 was the newest one.

Although the legendary anime of the Heisei era, 'Ultraman Tiga,' had already finished airing a year ago...

However, so far, China only offers the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan dubbed version on disc.

And they're not easy to buy.

The topic has strayed from the main point. The reason Mo Xueyao was curious was that very few people around her had seen the Ultraman series "Ace," and those who had never said they liked it...

While this is mainly because most people can't watch it from beginning to end, Eddie's design does indeed look somewhat ugly.

"She just has a unique look. She's not really ugly."

"...He just looks like Pan Jiang." Mo Xueyao muttered softly.

"Well, it's mainly about the core message. It's because Mr. Takeshi Ya is so charismatic, and he always manages to spout a lot of life philosophies." Zhou Yong stroked his chin. "Also, I don't like following trends and liking what most people like."

This sentence sounded like a tongue twister, and it took Mo Xueyao a while to sort out her thoughts before she understood it.

"Moreover, Eddie has never lost a battle, that's how strong he is," Zhou Yong added. "Just like our Chinese weapons, the more rustic they are, the more effective they are in combat."

"Come to think of it, he really has never lost. Hmm, I like Leo."

"Huh? You actually like that horror movie?"

"Because that movie was very tragic. I couldn't bear to watch it, but after watching the whole thing, I felt like I had a lot to say about it."

"So, tragedies really are more memorable?" Zhou Yong scratched his chin. "Actually, I think that one was poorly made. There were a lot of plot points that weren't logically sound, and the production quality dropped considerably in the later parts—they were basically just trying to save on costumes in the latter part!"

Mo Xueyao couldn't find any words to refute it.

She was also puzzled as to why the production quality dropped so much in the later episodes.

And so many people died at once.

While war is indeed brutal, and it's possible for everyone to die at once, it feels somewhat forced when placed in the storyline.

In this era when information wasn't so readily available, she had no idea that Tsuburaya Productions almost went bankrupt because of this film...

Their conversation gradually became more in-depth.

When they got really into the conversation, Zhou Yong even forgot that Mo Xueyao was a girl.

At this moment, the relationship between the two became incredibly pure.

In this day and age, it's incredibly rare to find someone your age who can share stories about tokusatsu (special effects) films.

"Ah, we're here!" Zhou Yong suddenly stood up. When he saw Mo Xueyao's delicate collarbone and pretty face, he realized that she was a girl. He couldn't help but sigh, "If you weren't a girl, I would have wanted to be your brother."

“We can still be brothers now,” Mo Xueyao laughed. “No need to be so polite, just call me brother.”

"You're taking advantage of me... Uh, Mo Xueyao, you really are a generous girl."

"Don't always dwell on the fact that I'm a girl." Mo Xueyao frowned. "Since we had a pleasant chat, we can be friends from now on."

"Ah!" Zhou Yong looked flattered.

Mo Xueyao stretched out her hand in dissatisfaction: "Why are you doing this again? Can't we just put aside gender and chat like we did before? Come on, after we shake hands, we're brothers!"

By the time Zhou Yong realized what was happening, Mo Xueyao had already gotten out of the car, leaving only the lingering warmth of her in his palm.

Today... I'm not washing my hands.

Zhou Yong thought to himself.

……

Chapter Seventy-Eight: Cheerleader's Bodysuit

The class monitor arrived at the classroom earlier than Mo Xueyao.

Right now, I'm eating breakfast in small bites.

"Class monitor! How did you sleep last night?" Mo Xueyao asked as she entered the classroom first.

"Good."

"Won't you feel very oppressed?"

"It's alright." The class monitor shook his head, as if he had completely forgotten his dream from last night.

But that's obviously impossible.