A Young Woman's Heart

Zhuang Lianlian chased away a cat and a dog that were squatting next to her suitcase, picked up her suitcase, and glanced at the fruit shop next to her—it didn't seem to have any job postings.

So she looked away and limped forward.

"Ali, look at that child...?"

"He probably just got out of school and slipped and fell in the snow. Looks like he hurt himself badly."

"She looks malnourished, and her hair is all white."

"Maybe she's just naturally prone to gray hair." The father looked down and rummaged through a few fruits that weren't very good but weren't spoiled, putting them into a fruit basket beside him. "Why don't you go ask her what's wrong?"

"Okay, I'll go ask."

That's right, this is right in front of Mo Xueyao's fruit shop.

The person who said this was her mother, Yang Xiaoyu.

Yang Xiaoyu put down her tools, stepped out of the snow, and walked to Zhuang Lianlian's side.

"Little girl, are you alright?"

Zhuang Lianlian stared ahead expressionlessly, offering no reply.

Yang Xiaoyu then noticed that her pupils were completely devoid of any spirit, appearing unfocused and undetermined.

"Are you alright? Where do you live?" Yang Xiaoyu asked again with concern.

"What's wrong?" Aunt Jin, who was in the grocery store downstairs, came out and called the husky that was running around everywhere back to her side.

"I don't know. I saw her fall just now, and she won't say anything when I ask her now." Yang Xiaoyu shook her head.

Zhuang Lianlian frowned and gently bit her lip.

She doesn't need anyone's charity, much less 'hypocritical' concern.

hypocritical……

She suddenly paused, stunned.

Is it really hypocrisy?

Perhaps they genuinely care?

But after all, everyone's abilities are limited, so what seems like hypocritical behavior is actually just the greatest kindness people can show her within the scope of what they can do.

"Child," Aunt Jin smiled kindly, walked over to her, and gently stroked her forehead, "What happened? Where did you fall? Does it hurt?"

Zhuang Lianlian was startled and stopped involuntarily.

The person in front of me looked just like an old man I remembered.

Her nose stung with tears, and she hurriedly lowered her head.

"Are you going home? Where do you live? Do you need me to take you home?"

Zhuang Lianlian lowered her head and did not answer.

Yang Xiaoyu noticed something amiss, but Aunt Jin understood.

After all, she's so old, her eyelashes are almost gone, what kind of human relationships and social interactions hasn't she seen in this world?

"Child, what happened to your right leg?"

"It's nothing..." Zhuang Lianlian replied softly.

"Where are your parents? Should I call them and have them come pick you up? You don't look well, and you have a slight fever."

Zhuang Lianlian bit her lip tightly and lowered her head.

Aunt Jin smiled kindly, squatted down slowly while holding the husky, and looked up at Zhuang Lianlian's little face: "I think... you should need a job, right?"

Zhuang Lianlian's expression turned somewhat surprised.

“Perfect timing. I need a helper to occasionally watch the shop for me, and the job includes room and board, with a monthly salary of... five hundred.”

Yang Xiaoyu, who was standing nearby, was somewhat surprised to hear about such a high salary.

In this day and age, jobs that include room and board generally only pay around 300 yuan.

In comparison, Aunt Jin was clearly very generous.

“I…have a place to stay,” Zhuang Lianlian said stubbornly.

“Okay~ You can live here, or somewhere else is fine. How about it, are you interested? How about coming to work for me?” Grandma Jin asked with a smile.

Zhuang Lianlian slowly looked into her two cloudy but sincere eyes, and nodded while suppressing a sob.

"Okay~ Come on in then, your clothes are all wet, you should change them~"

……

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Leisurely Days (Part 1)

Perhaps because they went to bed too late, both boys and girls woke up very late.

However, because it was a cloudy day, the sun was not visible overhead even at noon.

Lead-gray clouds covered the sky, dark and heavy, making people sleepy and unable to tell the time.

For example, Mo Xueyao opened her eyes, glanced at the skylight, turned over, and went back to sleep.

That's how I accidentally slept until noon.

"Oh no! This is bad!" Just then, Mo Zhuyou suddenly sat up. "Sister, we didn't go to work yesterday, and we didn't ask for leave!"

"What~?" Mo Xiaoxiao sat up, still half asleep, holding Mo Zhuyou, but then suddenly lost all her strength and pushed her back down onto the floor. Like a dragonfly skimming the water, she lightly pecked her cheek.

"Chu mi!" Mo Zhuyou returned the kiss.

"Stop fooling around..." Mo Xiaoxiao pinched her little face and pouted, "It's okay~ Didn't we already... resign?"

"Huh? Oh...right...I found a restaurant near the school for convenience." Mo Zhuyou yawned widely. "If it were before, I definitely wouldn't have chosen a job in such a conspicuous place...Speaking of which, we're moving here in a few days, right?"

"Yes." Mo Xiaoxiao stretched out her arm, which was noticeably more yellow than Mo Xueyao's, and grabbed the phone beside her. "Huh, it's ten o'clock?"

"Hey, it's ten o'clock!?" Mo Zhuyou suddenly threw off the covers. Because she was in the heating, she didn't feel cold at all, so she was able to get up immediately.

The main reason why most people don't want to get out of bed in winter is that they can't stand the cold air outside.

"Ten o'clock...?" Mo Xueyao slowly opened her eyes, her sky-blue pupils gradually regaining focus from their unfocused state, then she hurriedly closed them again, "Youyou! You, you, you..."

"What's wrong?" Mo Zhuyou looked down at her naked body. Her skin was fairer than her older sister Mo Xiaoxiao's. "We're both girls, so don't worry about it."

"You should put these on," Li Wanyan said, turning over and getting up. "Otherwise you'll catch a cold."

"Since the class monitor has spoken, I can only listen to her." Mo Zhuyou put her bathrobe back on, ran downstairs barefoot, and brought up the girls' clothes.

After everyone got dressed, they opened all the curtains in the house. The snow outside had not melted, and the gloomy sky gave people a sense of inexplicable sadness.

"In this kind of weather, sitting at home drinking tea while reading the newspaper or a book, preferably with some soothing music playing, would feel wonderful," Mo Xue said softly, gazing at the snow stretching from the window into the distance.

"Well, anyway, wake the boys up and then go home."

So the girls went down to the basement level, quietly pushed open the iron door of the passage, and saw the boys lying haphazardly on the ground, sleeping.

Surprisingly, Gao Yuan, who is usually the most mischievous, has the best sleeping posture. He is lying on his back, sleeping soundly.

Mr. Xue's sleeping posture was the worst, on the contrary. He had one hand on Gao Yuan's face and the other foot on Zhou Yong's leg. But don't misunderstand, he wasn't sleeping in a starfish position. In fact, he was almost twisted into a pretzel.

What's most impressive is that even in this state, he can still snore loudly.

This is completely different from the Mr. Xue that everyone is familiar with.

"I never expected Mr. Xue to be so unrestrained..." Mo Zhuyou didn't know what expression to make at this moment.

Mo Xueyao found it quite amusing: "This is the first time I've seen Xiaoxue like this."

As she spoke, she bent down and pinched Mr. Xue's nose: "Little Xue, Little Xue, wake up, the sun is shining on your bottom!"

"Hmm?" Mr. Xue was still asleep, but Duanmu Ji, who had been curled up, woke up. He sat up expressionlessly, glanced at the girls standing there watching them, and was about to lift the covers when he suddenly remembered that he was not wearing anything, so he quickly shrank back.

"Xiaoxue—the sun exploded!" Mo Xueyao shouted exaggeratedly.

Finally, Mr. Xue was awakened from his 'slumber'.

He suddenly opened his eyes. While others are still sleepy when they first wake up, he became very awake and his eyes were crystal clear.

"If it explodes, there are two options: one is to pilot a spaceship with a small ecological cycle system to other planets, and the other is to equip Earth with a large number of planetary engines to propel Earth out of the solar system."

"Pfft." The girls couldn't help but cover their mouths and laugh.

Mr. Xue greeted them cheerfully: "Good morning! But, ladies, could you please step outside for a moment? We need to get dressed."

“It’s not like a boy will lose a piece of flesh if he’s looked at…” Mo Zhuyou was saying this when her older sister dragged her away.

"Alright, alright, Youyou, stop fooling around."

"Bye-bye, I'll wait for you outside." Mo Xueyao waved her hand.

“Okay, I’ll wake the others up.” Mr. Xue turned his head and pinched Gao Yuan’s philtrum. “Wake up, Gao Yuan, your money has been stolen.”

"What?!?!" Gao Yuan, who hadn't been woken up by all the commotion just now, immediately sat up.

"Haha—" Everyone couldn't help but laugh, they never expected Gao Yuan to be such a miser.

Isn't he usually quite generous?

Why would someone get so agitated upon hearing that their money was stolen?

"Alright, let's go up." Li Wanyan said, walking into the connecting passage.

"Only Zhou Yong hasn't woken up yet," Mo Zhuyou muttered softly.

“I will call him,” Mr. Xue said with a smile.

The girls nodded and left.

Before leaving, Mo Xueyao glanced casually at Zhou Yong and noticed that there seemed to be a small tent pitched under his blanket...

She couldn't help but raise her eyebrows, but ultimately said nothing and turned to leave with the other girls.

An hour later, all the boys and girls had finished washing up and were ready to leave.