A Young Woman's Heart

Is it that people's hearts are too contradictory, or is it that people always cover past memories with a beautiful filter?

After cleaning, Li Wanyan turned off the heater, and the two left the classroom.

"Phew—it's so cold." Mo Xueyao exhaled a breath of warm air and said, shivering, "It's much colder than in the classroom."

"Then let's hurry back to the fruit shop and warm ourselves by the fire," Li Wanyan said with a smile.

The snow on the ground was already quite thick, and because many people had walked on it, it felt like walking on ice, very slippery.

Li Wanyan instinctively grabbed Mo Xueyao's wrist to maintain her balance, almost pulling her down.

"Ahhh-"

"Phew... Are you alright? Sorry."

"It's alright, it's alright, the ground is indeed a bit slippery." Mo Xueyao pointed to the sidewalk near the shop entrance and said, "Let's walk along the sidewalk, the snow here has been cleared a bit."

"Yes, let's support each other so we don't fall."

"it is good……"

Because of the snow, the journey back to the fruit shop was twice as slow as usual, and even though she walked very carefully, Mo Xueyao's shoes were already soaked by the time she got there.

After all, the snow was so heavy today, and there was snow everywhere. If you walked on the snow, you would inevitably get your shoes wet.

The snowmelt will quickly melt and seep into the shoes.

Mo Xueyao's little feet were ice cold.

"Aaaaaah, I'm freezing!" Mo Xueyao rushed into the fruit shop, put down her schoolbag, and started looking around for a brazier. "Where's the brazier? Where's the brazier? Hurry up and get it out, I'm freezing!"

"What kind of manners is this for a girl to be in such a hurry?" Her father gave her a pretentious sidelong glance. "Be careful when you light the fire under the table."

Right now, a period drama is playing on the black and white TV, and my father is probably imitating the way the characters in it speak in such a refined and scholarly manner.

"Okay!" Mo Xueyao dragged out the brazier and spent a lot of effort to finally light the charcoal. Then she took off her shoes and socks and put them next to the brazier to warm them. She also put her small and delicate feet on the brazier to warm them. "Ah... comfortable."

"Meow~" When Su Tang saw a warm place, she immediately came over, and as if to please her, she even stuck out her slightly barbed little tongue and gently licked the soles and toes of her feet.

"Pfft, hahaha—Sutang, stop licking, it's so itchy—" Mo Xueyao, who was sitting in front of the brazier, picked up Sutang and said, "Why are you licking your feet? You haven't washed them, don't they smell?"

"Maybe cats, like dogs, like smelly things?" the father joked.

"Pshaw, how could that be? I've only ever heard of dogs eating poop, never cats."

"When you're starving, you'll eat anything, not just cats and dogs, but even people."

"Dad, can you stop being so disgusting?" Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes at him and called out to Li Wanyan, "Wanyan, come and warm yourself by the fire, it's very comfortable."

"Here it comes. I'll move the small table over and put the brazier under it."

"Yes, yes, it's warm like this, but be careful not to put your feet in the brazier," Mo Xueyao said, raising her legs. "Why is this winter so cold?"

"Is this still cold?" the father joked. "Russian winters are even colder! If you're so afraid of the cold, I'm starting to doubt if you're even my biological child."

"What do you mean?" The mother, who was chopping vegetables, immediately became unhappy. "You don't even want to acknowledge your own daughter? Or do you doubt me?"

"No, no, it was just a joke. Why do you always take it so seriously?" The father waved his hands repeatedly, explaining helplessly.

Mo Xueyao immediately gloated: "Hehe, serves you right, serves you right for looking down on me!"

……

Chapter Seventeen: Intervening in Injustice (Part 1)

Students in top-tier high schools are not necessarily well-behaved, just as students in ordinary high schools are not necessarily mediocre, or students in vocational high schools and technical schools are not necessarily fond of fighting all the time.

Poor academic performance does not necessarily mean someone likes to cause trouble; it's just that most of the time, school violence is caused by certain students with poor academic performance.

This is precisely why a fixed mindset has formed in people's minds.

In every high school, there are bound to be quite a few boys who smoke.

At first, the reasons for smoking were always bizarre.

Some people smoke because others do; others do it to look cool; and still others may have experienced emotional trauma and are simply smoking a cigarette to relieve their sorrow on a random day.

But whatever the initial reason, they will eventually be tempted by nicotine.

From feeling uncomfortable if you don't smoke for a few days at first, to feeling uncomfortable if you don't smoke for even one day later—that's how all long-time smokers gradually develop their habits.

Chen Cheng also likes to smoke.

In Class 2 of the first year of high school, his academic performance was among the top ten—though, of course, near the bottom.

He is tall, fair-skinned, and has well-defined features, making him very handsome and popular with many girls.

He lost his virginity in junior high school, but because of that, over time he lost interest in women.

So after he entered high school, he never had a girlfriend again.

He likes to smoke and always looks carefree and like a spoiled brat, but in reality, he doesn't like to fight and isn't good at it.

The so-called image of a scoundrel is nothing more than a disguise to protect oneself.

I started smoking back in the first year of junior high school.

His parents divorced and started their own families. He was originally arranged to stay with someone else, but he didn't want to, so he took the monthly allowance his parents gave him and rented a place outside.

Without anyone to restrain them, a person is more likely to develop bad habits.

I smoke to look cool, and I've also heard that smoking can relieve loneliness.

From then on, it was unstoppable.

Many girls also like the way he smokes, thinking it's cool and gives him a mature masculine charm.

This is part of the reason why he was able to find a girlfriend so easily.

Moreover, this even includes well-behaved girls with good grades.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile.

He remembers feeling a little apprehensive when he first met the class beauty who was both academically gifted and pretty.

But unexpectedly, it seems that the better a girl's academic performance, the deeper the rebellious streak she harbors.

When everything came to a head, she was even more thrill-seeking than those so-called "bad girls."

Chen Cheng took another deep drag of his cigarette. Sometimes he would think about quitting, but once he got addicted, it became an extremely difficult thing.

He was standing in a small alley.

This is an urban village slated for demolition. Most of the residents have already moved away, leaving only a small number who remain stubbornly rooted here, seeking only to gain more benefits.

Beside him was a dusty van with flat tires, clearly indicating it hadn't been driven in a long time.

At least since the start of the school year, Chen Cheng hasn't seen it move an inch, as if it had been abandoned by its owner.

This place became his 'secret base'; when he didn't want to go home, he would come here to smoke.

There were many cigarette butts on the ground that no one had swept up; they were all left by him.

"Hoo..." Chen Cheng exhaled a smoke ring, as if he was enjoying this wonderful life, but in fact, all that remained in his eyes was emptiness.

Actually, life without anyone to supervise you isn't that fun either.

Too much freedom became a constraint, leaving him feeling lost most of the time.

Although there were many things he could do, he didn't want to do them at all because there was no one to restrain him.

Sometimes he felt that this was compensation his parents should make for him, since they were so heartless as to divorce him and abandon their son.

Chen Cheng thought that taking all their money to eat, drink, and have fun would be the greatest revenge against them. However, in reality, the one who would be hurt the most might just be himself.

The van's doors were unlocked, and sometimes he would open them and get in to sit for a while.

Although it was dilapidated and dirty inside, it gave him a strange sense of peace.

"Snap." Chen Cheng threw the cigarette butt on the ground, stomped it out, and then opened the van door.

He froze on the spot as soon as he opened the car door.

The van had been simply cleaned, and although it still looked old, at least it wasn't dirty anymore. A young girl was lying on her side in the back seat of the van. The broken window glass had been simply taped up from the inside with old newspapers. When the north wind blew in with snowflakes, the newspapers would rustle and some cold air would leak out from the gaps.

The girl's clothes were wrinkled, but there was no odor. Her face wasn't pretty, but it could still be considered cute.

Chen Cheng had no improper thoughts, because he had been with much prettier girls before and was already immune to them.

Perhaps it's because he's slept with so many girls that he's less prone to beastly impulses?

Of course, it may just vary from person to person.

What puzzled him even more was why the girl was lying alone in an abandoned van.

Then, he noticed something else.

Inside the van, there was a prosthetic leg, and the right trouser leg was noticeably dented.

That means the girl doesn't have a right leg; she is disabled.

Seemingly sensing the approach of the uninvited guest, the girl suddenly woke up from her dream, opened her eyes wide, and looked at Chen Cheng with some fear.

"Aaaaah—" the girl screamed, covering her head in terror.

"Huh? What's wrong? Is a girl screaming?" Four boys who were gathered together not far away, smoking and playing cards, suddenly stood up.

They were wearing the uniforms of No. 14 High School.

No. 14 Middle School is a key high school in Hangzhou. Generally speaking, these people shouldn't be here, nor should they be smoking.

But every group has different people, which is actually quite normal.

At least these four boys who were smoking were quite righteous.

Perhaps they are just relatively rebellious among students in top-tier high schools.

When the four arrived at the scene, they saw a young girl lying in the open van, her face filled with terror, while Chen Cheng stood at the door, as if he were about to do something indecent.

"stop!"

"Damn it, it's someone from Yukong High School."