A Young Woman's Heart

When looking at her Chinese textbook, she always liked to look for Lu Xun's articles first.

She would read Lu Xun's articles several times without ever getting tired of them, and she would also write down her own interpretations in the margins.

Learning is not something that can be accomplished by a moment of hard work; the most important thing is to persevere steadily over a long period.

Therefore, Mo Xueyao does not like to bury herself in studying; a balance between work and rest is a habit she has cultivated over the years.

She put the book aside and lay comfortably on the hospital bed, lazily squinting her eyes.

When she's bored, she likes to do this: relax her eyes and use her ears to experience the world.

"Boom—!" A thunderclap rang out, followed by the sound of rain pattering.

It was as if the heavens were cooling down this scorching earth.

There was a soft knock on the door; it was obvious it was from another nurse.

The mother would definitely just push the door open and come in, while most doctors are men, and their knocking is usually very loud, not gentle.

"Please come in," Mo Xueyao called out as she opened her eyes.

After the door opened, a young woman dressed as a nurse walked to her side. After spending almost a month together, the two had become quite familiar with each other.

"Should we change the dressing?" Mo Xueyao tried to appear as natural as possible.

In fact, she didn't mind being examined by male doctors at first, but when female nurses changed her dressings, she would blush and become stiff all over.

Even now, things aren't much better.

"Hmm, come on, little beauty~ take off your pants~" the nurse teased mischievously, then pulled off the thin blanket covering Mo Xueyao.

"Uh... it should be almost over, right?"

"Is it almost over? Let me see." The nurse chuckled and pulled down Mo Xueyao's pants, carefully tore off the bandages, and then leaned closer to examine her closely.

Whenever this happened, Mo Xueyao would feel so embarrassed that she almost stopped breathing. The nurse was especially attentive and could even feel her warm breath.

"Hmm, that's great. It's almost completely healed; you can't even see the wound anymore. As expected of an expert surgeon, the suturing technique is excellent..."

"Eh...is that so..."

"Okay, just apply some more ointment today to minimize scarring, then bandage it with a thin bandage... You can be discharged tomorrow, right?"

"Wow! So fast?"

"Wow, that's fast! It's been a month already!" The nurse picked up her phone and glanced at it. "It's already September 27th. After a month away from school, will you be able to catch up when you go back?"

"It should... be okay." Mo Xueyao wasn't quite sure, and as she said this, she couldn't help but glance at the textbooks on the bedside table.

"I'll call the doctor to come and check on you later. If everything's alright, then you can have your mother help you with the discharge procedures. You've been here for so long, you must be itching to get out and about, right?"

"Ah...yeah, I'm kind of thinking about riding a bicycle, or playing soccer on the playground or something." Mo Xueyao nodded.

The nurse smiled and gently flicked her forehead: "That won't do. You have to be careful until December. Don't do any strenuous exercise, otherwise there is still some danger."

"Hey... it's fine to just wander around, anyway, I'm so tired of living here!" Mo Xueyao shouted, and because she was a little agitated, she accidentally swore a couple of times.

"Why are you swearing? Girls should be elegant."

"I'm used to it, I'm used to it." Since she was facing outsiders, Mo Xueyao didn't act tough like she did when facing her mother. She coughed awkwardly twice and turned to look out the window.

"Alright, that's enough. I'll have the doctor come and check on you later. Once everything's okay, you can prepare to be discharged!" The nurse patted Mo Xueyao's plump thigh with a mischievous smile. "It feels so soft!"

"...Hey, have I gained weight again?" This was what Mo Xueyao was worried about.

"Hmm...this behavior is quite like a girl's," the nurse muttered. "No, it's just that she's become softer. Girls are like that, soft and fluffy. Even if a boy is thin, he's not as soft as a girl!"

"..." Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes and decided to ignore the nurse's theory.

Her main concern was that since she was so short, if she gained weight, she would become very ugly.

"Okay, ring again if you need anything, I'm off."

“Okay…” Mo Xueyao nodded, picked up a glass of water from the bedside table and took a sip.

After her mother returned at noon, the doctor also came to check on her and confirmed that Mo Xueyao was fine. He then asked her mother if she wanted to complete the discharge procedures.

After repeatedly asking if there were any problems, and considering that her mother had already spent a lot of money, she agreed to it.

That afternoon, I went to complete the formalities and paid off all medical expenses, including hospitalization fees, totaling 41,867 yuan.

As for the remaining money, her mother didn't seem to have decided whether to return it directly to her godfather. Mo Xueyao didn't ask, after all, it was an adult matter.

Of course, I'm not leaving this afternoon; I've decided to leave tomorrow morning.

Because she was leaving tomorrow, her mother didn't go to work as a part-time cleaner in the afternoon. After paying the money, she started packing her luggage.

After living here for a month, Mo Xueyao felt that this place already felt like half a home.

Many of the clothes hanging in the window were suddenly taken down, which made her feel a little uneasy.

That evening, she took a comfortable shower in the private bathroom of her hospital room and began to dream about when she could decorate her home to look like that...

The spacious bathroom allowed Mo Xueyao to look at herself in the mirror while taking a shower.

She was a girl who was both familiar and unfamiliar.

The beautiful girl in the mirror made Mo Xueyao somewhat lost in thought, as if she weren't herself.

But unfortunately, every smile and frown of hers is reflected in the mirror.

Her black hair cascaded down to her shoulder blades, and her bangs, untrimmed, looked a little messy, but had a lazy and casual beauty.

She doesn't know how to tie her hair, but she tried to gather it up and simulate what it looks like to have a single ponytail.

They seemed to become much more obedient.

She gave a slightly embarrassed yet self-deprecating smile, revealing a row of beautiful teeth as lovely as melon seeds.

"Xiaoyao, are you done yet? You've been washing for an hour."

"Alright, alright!" Mo Xueyao hurriedly came to her senses, put on her clothes and pants, and walked out with her hair still wet without drying it.

"Come here and blow-dry your hair," the mother commanded.

"Ugh... blow-drying my hair again."

"Still think it's too much trouble? You'll be all wet later, and if the wind blows on you, you'll definitely catch a cold!"

"Okay—" Mo Xueyao replied helplessly, walked over to her mother, and let her dry her hair.

The sound of the hairdryer gave her a headache.

This might be a lingering effect of the headaches I had before.

After a night, he was finally discharged from the hospital early the next morning.

She gazed at the hazy sky, following her mother hesitantly. Her small, delicate hands intertwined, and she bid farewell to the nurses, doctors, cleaning ladies, and even the gatekeepers—people she knew or had only met a few times—with a mixture of reluctance and shyness.

Dr. Wang had only been back for a few days, but today he got up very early and drove the two of them to the train station.

"This is really... I'm so sorry..." the mother said with an awkward, dry laugh. "You... you've already taken such good care of us."

"It's nothing. Anyway, there are no surgeries today, so it's nice to take a drive in the early morning," Dr. Wang said with a light laugh, looking kindly at Mo Xueyao sitting in the back seat. "Next time you come to Shanghai, you can come to my house. I have a daughter who is about your age."

"Ah...okay, okay." Mo Xueyao hurriedly replied, then looked at her mother, clearly wanting her to take over the conversation.

"Isn't Dr. Wang considered a senior expert now?"

"Haha, I haven't retired yet, so I can't be considered an 'old' expert," Dr. Wang joked.

When Mo Xueyao saw that her mother had taken over the conversation, she breathed a slight sigh of relief. Chatting with older people was not something she was good at, especially when traveling by car—because she was prone to motion sickness.

The motion sickness only subsided a little when I remained silent and looked out the window.

Shanghai is very large and very prosperous.

At six o'clock in the morning, the streets were already quite lively.

However, the drive was relatively smooth, without any traffic jams.

The car traveled at a moderate speed, carrying the mother and daughter to Shanghai South Railway Station.

Yang Xiaoyu had already bought her train ticket for 8 o'clock. She had planned to take the train there, so she had allowed extra time.

Unexpectedly, Dr. Wang brought them here, which gave them more time to wait at the station.

However, waiting at the station is better than rushing on your way.

"I'll leave you here," Dr. Wang waved from inside the car.

"Thank you, Dr. Wang!" the mother said sincerely.

"Thank you," Mo Xueyao quickly replied.

"Take good care of yourself," Dr. Wang said with a meaningful smile, before driving away.

Mo Xueyao didn't take those words to heart, but simply glanced at the rising sun one last time—

Leaving Shanghai means saying goodbye to the past sixteen years and embracing a new life...

Life as a girl.

Will she be able to adapt well?

Even Mo Xueyao herself felt uneasy about this.

But no matter what, time won't stop because of her hesitation, and life will still have to move forward.

……

Book One: The End of the Twentieth Century, Chapter One: A Tricycle

As the evening sun set, Yu Liang, unusually, didn't drive home but instead plopped down on a tricycle.

He had already made arrangements with the driver in charge of the tricycle during the day, and now that it was time to leave work, he took the keys and rode the tricycle.

This is the Hangzhou Fisheries Bureau. Aside from the rarely seen director, the highest-ranking officials are the section chiefs.

Seeing Yu Liang ride his tricycle away, the security guard at the gate felt a little strange and asked with a smile, "Section Chief Yu! Why aren't you driving today?"

“It’s not good to always drive government vehicles,” Yu Liang said with a light laugh. His plump figure didn’t quite match the tricycle. “Well, I’m borrowing this tricycle to go home and move some things today.”

"Oh, Section Chief Yu is carrying things himself, that must be really hard work."