A Young Woman's Heart

This also means that they are finally about to leave Chinese territory and enter Russian territory.

The cassette player sat on the windowsill, its speakers blasting rich Russian music that resonated throughout the room, perfectly complementing the falling snow outside.

Even with the heavy snow covering everything, one can still imagine the raging war of yesteryear.

Perhaps people living in this era have a kind of inexplicable Soviet sentiment.

Even the girls couldn't help but be moved by the music.

“I read a sentence in a memoir,” Mr. Xue, who had come to play with us during the day, said while sitting next to Mo Xueyao and looking out the window, “'We help you defend your motherland, and we only hope that when you are strong, you will not invade our motherland.'”

“It sounds like a made-up story.” Mo Xueyao was very rational. “Although I like the Soviet Union very much, there are only permanent interests, not permanent friends, between countries.”

“The country may be like that, but the people are different. In that era, there were many experts and professors who were truly sincere.” Mr. Xue smiled. “However, although we miss the Soviet Union, none of us want it to return to what it was back then.”

“Nostalgia is one thing, longing for its return is another.” Mo Xueyao nodded in agreement.

Rather than reminiscing about a vast country called the Soviet Union, it's more accurate to say that we miss a certain spirit and belief of that era.

"Hey, you two, have you finished chatting? Hurry up and play your cards!" Hua Yinyin shouted with a hint of jealousy. "Hmph, Xiaoxue sitting next to Xiaoyaoyao will only affect her. I should be the one sitting next to her!"

"It'll be more of a nuisance if you sit down..." Mo Xueyao muttered, her eyelids drooping.

During the day, the four of them would gather together to play cards and chat.

We brought a fairly large amount of snacks; if we eat them sparingly, they will last us a long time.

Sometimes adults come over to sit for a while, since it's more spacious and comfortable here.

Of course, sometimes I would sit in Mr. Xue's soft sleeper compartment.

Although Mr. Xue came alone, the adults treated him as no outsider because of their kinship.

The soft sleeper compartments are also private, but they are much more crowded than here.

Perhaps because it was her first time taking such a long train ride, Mo Xueyao still hasn't gotten tired of it.

The main reason is that the deluxe sleeper is spacious and comfortable. If it were a hard sleeper carriage that's like a large dormitory, she probably wouldn't have been able to stand it.

Fortunately, after entering Russia, the temporary carriage was replaced with a regular hard sleeper carriage; otherwise, even adults would have found it unbearable.

The three-hour stop is for changing carriages.

In the afternoon, the train officially entered Russian territory.

We arrived in Bergars.

After playing games until they were tired, the children sat facing each other and chatted freely.

However, in the afternoon, Mr. Xue was finally pulled away by the jealous Hua Yinyin, and she sat next to Mo Xueyao instead—of course, she took advantage of her and groped her quite a bit.

Well, you might get used to it and not care anymore.

As long as Hua Yinyin doesn't go too far, let her touch your thigh or shoulder as she pleases. Just treat her like a mischievous puppy that insists on running around you...

Mo Xueyao said to herself.

However, Hua Yinyin didn't actually do anything bad all the time, because she started getting carsick again after the train started moving.

"I didn't get carsick at all in the country...it was the same train..." Hua Yinyin muttered, leaning on Mo Xueyao's lap, drool uncontrollably dripping from the corner of her mouth. "Ugh...it feels so bad..."

"You're probably just carsick from the change in environment," Mo Xueyao sighed helplessly. "Just lie down and stop moving around. Who told you to be so restless earlier?"

"Damn it... As long as these long, white legs are still here, I... can keep going..."

"Where did those long, white legs come from? I'm wearing thick cotton pants right now..."

"In my heart..."

"Alright, alright." Mo Xueyao tapped her forehead helplessly. "Lie down properly and don't move around. If you throw up all over me, I'll never forgive you!"

"Don't worry, I'll definitely... vomit on Xiaoxue..."

Mr. Xue silently moved a little further away from her.

Li Wanyan was eating spicy strips in small bites, her lips were bright red, as if she had applied lipstick, which was quite different from her usual slightly cold temperament.

Although Hua Yinyin couldn't sleep, she could only lie there and listen to others chat.

However, people are very adaptable. As time went by, she gradually got used to the trains traveling in Russia and became lively and energetic again.

And it has already been four days.

It was like a frozen wasteland, everything in sight was white, and in the distance there was a huge blue lake.

That is the world-famous Lake Baikal.

"Wow, the color of the lake is almost the same as the color of Xiaoyao's eyes!" Hua Yinyin, who had returned to normal, exclaimed exaggeratedly.

"Yes, it's very pretty." Li Wanyan nodded, holding the last bag of spicy strips in her hand.

Over the past few days, it seems she's been eating all the spicy snacks by herself.

"I'm so envious of Yao Yao~ I want blue eyes too!"

"I think the black one looks better," Mo Xueyao said softly, resting her chin on her hand and looking out the window at Lake Baikal, which blends seamlessly with the sky.

"That's what they call having everything and being complacent, while always yearning for what you can't have," Hua Yinyin said jealously.

"If you want it so badly, just gouge out your eyes and stuff two blue glass beads in them." Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes at her.

"Wow, what a cruel and bloody statement! I never imagined that Yaoyao would have sadistic tendencies!"

"Hey, how did this escalate to sadism?" Mo Xueyao muttered, her eyelids drooping.

"But if it were really possible to change eye color, what color would you all want?" Hua Yinyin continued the topic.

"I'd like to try out the colorful ones." Mr. Xue, who looked very scholarly, said something that only a kindergarten girl would say.

Hua Yinyin almost spat out her tea: "Pfft, no way, Xiaoxue is so girly?"

"It's just that it doesn't exist in reality, so I find it very interesting," Mr. Xue replied quite frankly.

"Where is the class monitor?" Hua Yinyin asked.

Calling someone that doesn't actually mean you're not familiar with them; on the contrary, it's a way of teasing someone you know well.

The title "class monitor" is basically just a nickname for Li Wanyan.

"Golden."

“Golden? Hmm…” Hua Yinyin scratched her hair until it was a mess. “I can’t seem to imagine what golden eyes would look like.”

"That might be it." Mo Xueyao picked up a multi-colored pen and started drawing on the white paper she had just used to play the game.

"She seems quite majestic, like a lion? Hmm... a lioness?" Hua Yinyin joked, then saw Li Wanyan's gaze fall on her, as if she were about to roar like a lion. "Ahem~ that's a compliment."

"Hmm, that's like a tigress's praise," Mo Xueyao said, deliberately stirring things up.

"No, that's not what I meant! If you're going to beat someone up, beat up Xiao Yaoyao!" Hua Yinyin immediately hid behind Mo Xueyao, it seemed she was still very afraid of Li Wanyan.

Of course, there was also a playful element to it.

Li Wanyan raised her eyebrows but said nothing.

"And what about you, Hua Yinyin?" Mr. Xue asked.

"Me? Of course I want the same color as Yao Yao! That way, if we stand out together, people might mistake us for twin sisters!"

"No...you have a round face, while Xiaoyao has a slightly chubby oval face, much prettier than you," Mr. Xue retorted mercilessly.

"Waaah! Xiaoxue actually bullied me!" Hua Yinyin pretended to cry and punched Mr. Xue in the chest.

"Cough...!" Mr. Xue clutched his chest, almost unable to breathe. "Have you practiced... Taekwondo...?"

"No, I've only practiced self-defense techniques for women."

"Amazing..." Speechless, Mr. Xue could only give a thumbs up.

The train continued its journey, and the deeper they went, the fewer sunny days they encountered.

It seems like it's snowing everywhere in Russia this season.

Even through the window, you can feel the cold outside.

Thankfully, the room had the heating on, otherwise people from the south definitely wouldn't have been able to stand it.

Russia possesses the world's largest territory, yet most of it is a cold, uninhabitable region.

Along the way, almost all we saw were deserted wilderness. Even when we drove into towns, we felt that there were very few people.

"There seem to be very few people in Russia," Mo Xueyao muttered, resting her chin on her hand.

“Yes, there aren’t many people and cars in the city. It feels like many cities can’t even compare to the prosperity of Hangzhou.” Hua Yinyin nodded.

"It is said that Russia's total population is only over 140 million, most of whom are concentrated in relatively large cities, and many places are uninhabited," Mr. Xue explained. "However, Russia's territory is nearly twice the size of ours."

“Our country seems to have 12 billion people, but the population is almost eight or nine times that,” Mo Xueyao said, stroking her chin. “However, the environment here in Russia seems so harsh. I definitely couldn’t stand living in such a cold place.”

"It's alright, actually all of them have heating, right?" Hua Yinyin waved her hand. "It might even be warmer than the South in winter."

"But it gets very cold outside." Mr. Xue glanced at his watch; he had already adjusted the hands to Moscow time.

"So we can stay home openly and legitimately, right? By the way, does the place we're going to have heating...?" Hua Yinyin suddenly started to worry.

"Although it's in the suburbs or rural areas, it should be... well... who knows? It's my great-grandfather's hometown, and none of us have ever been there."

"Hopefully, otherwise we'll just have to squat in front of the fireplace to warm ourselves."

"That's not bad either." Mr. Xue was quite optimistic.

"The key is, with such a large family, there probably won't be enough room in front of the fireplace!" Hua Yinyin rested her chin on Mo Xueyao's shoulder. "Xiaoyao, I want to eat spicy strips."

"No, Wanyan ate them all."

"Hey! Then I'll eat Little Yaoyao!"

"If you move again, I'll throw you out the window."

"Hmph, I don't believe it~"

"Well--!"

"Boom."

It was the sound of Mo Xueyao being pushed onto the sofa bed.

……