A Young Woman's Heart

My parents left early; today is the first day the fruit shop reopens after the Lunar New Year, and there are still quite a few things to do.

Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan actually got up at seven o'clock, but the breakfast on the table had already gone cold.

After finishing their breakfast, the two leisurely boarded the bus to the hillside.

At this time, most people have already started going to work, and the city is once again operating as usual.

The students are the happiest, because most of them don't have to attend classes and can enjoy a few days of peace and quiet.

While those rushing to work were hurrying along, Mo Xueyao, who wasn't in a hurry at all, was in a very good mood, enjoying the scenery outside the window.

The New Year is almost over, but some people still have too many relatives and friends to visit them all and are still running around.

These are mostly business people.

For example, many people came to the hospital to visit patients after the eighth day of the Lunar New Year.

Several cars were parked in front of the newly opened fruit shop, and many customers were standing around selecting various expensive fruits. My father was making fruit baskets from the fruits and flowers that the customers had chosen, according to their requests.

A fruit basket is a basket that contains both fruit and fresh flowers, with the fruit in the front and the fresh flowers in the back.

The flowers were stuck in a piece of green floral foam. Mo Xueyao never figured out what that thing was made of, but it could be broken if you used too much force.

It arrived dry, so you have to soak it in water before you can use it. The texture is a bit like a sponge, but it's easy to dent if you press it with your finger, making it easier to 'damage' than most common sponges.

Besides skill, making a fruit basket requires excellent aesthetic sense; otherwise, putting these two things together will make people feel uncomfortable.

The fruits are arranged in the flower basket according to size and shape, and some decorative ribbons and other trinkets are added. Finally, the basket is wrapped in semi-transparent wrapping paper with various patterns, making it look more like a gift.

Fruit baskets are all about the packaging, and the buyers are mostly wealthy people who are generous. So, anyone who runs a fruit basket business is very profitable.

"You're here. You two should go to Aunt Jin's—your Grandma Jin's—and bring the candy back," the mother said to Mo Xueyao as she collected the money.

"Grandma Jin...wait, her shop isn't open yet."

"Yes, she needs to rest until the 15th before opening the door. Why don't you go to her house?"

“Okay.” Mo Xueyao readily agreed. Since she had nothing else to do anyway, there was no harm in wandering around.

I've finished all my winter break homework; now all I have to do is wait for school to start.

In an era when there weren't many entertainment options at home, staying at home wasn't really a very interesting thing.

Small shops along the street also took advantage of the winter break to display some expensive toys that they wouldn't normally show at their entrances.

Because they know that this is probably the time of year when students are at their richest.

Although most of the red envelopes are handed over to the parents, some are always kept.

With money in their pockets, most students can't resist spending it; they might just spot these toys on the street and buy them.

Don't assume that only elementary and middle school students buy toys; high school students and even college students do too.

However, the older you get, the more expensive and complex the toys you might buy.

"Whoosh—" Several junior high school students squatted at the entrance of this small shop, racing each other on the winding track that was about ten meters long. Even though they could only watch the cars race, they were having a great time.

The four-wheel drive vehicles sold at the entrance come in a pretty plastic box containing various tools that are basically not needed. The motors are probably a bit better than those of the cheaper ones, yet they can sell for as much as fifty yuan.

But the problem is that some people actually buy them, like the middle school students squatting here playing with their four-wheel drive cars, they're buying these.

Mo Xueyao's gaze casually swept across the doorway, then involuntarily stopped.

Every boy has his favorite toy, and Mo Xueyao, who is now a girl, is no exception.

Considering both economic factors and affordability, her favorite toy is still Lego bricks.

Because they can be combined into various shapes, the more you buy, the more variations you can create.

The smaller ones come in a box for one yuan, while the larger ones have varying prices.

The key is that regardless of size, they are all of the same type. If you buy a lot of them, you can make a huge pile.

Mo Xueyao's gaze fell on a box of Lego bricks that cost five yuan. The packaging of the box looked exquisite, and it could be assembled into a red sports car.

The key point is that the price is also very cheap—compared to those four-wheel drive vehicles that can actually run.

"Boss, is this box five yuan?" Li Wanyan followed Mo Xueyao's gaze and picked up the Lego brick box with the five yuan tag.

"Correct."

"I'll give it to you as a New Year's gift," Li Wanyan said, turning to Mo Xueyao. She took out a ten-yuan bill from her pocket and handed it to the shopkeeper.

"Hey, hey, that won't do. I didn't give you a New Year's present..."

"It's alright, giving you a New Year's gift doesn't mean I need you to reciprocate." Li Wanyan accepted the change from the shopkeeper and handed the Lego bricks to Mo Xueyao. "Here, your New Year's gift."

"Cough... um... thank you." Mo Xueyao scratched her head and didn't continue to be polite, but she also started looking around, thinking of buying some gifts to give to Li Wanyan in return.

However, no matter what was asked, the latter always answered that they didn't need it or didn't like it.

"Oh no, the class monitor gave me a gift, of course I have to give a gift back! I'll choose one myself, you can't refuse it!" Mo Xueyao muttered, taking a few steps forward and turning around in front of a decoration shop with her eyes closed. When she opened her eyes, she saw a large pile of hair clips of different shapes hanging on the hooks.

Her gaze fell on a strawberry hair clip that looked completely out of place with Li Wanyan's style, and she immediately decided to buy it.

"How much is this hair clip?" Mo Xueyao asked, pointing to the individually packaged and exquisitely small hair clip.

"The ones over there are one dollar each, the ones behind them are two dollars each, and the ones on the shelf are four dollars each."

"I'll buy this one." Mo Xueyao selected the more expensive hair clip, placed the one-yuan bill on the shelf, and turned to Li Wanyan. "Here, I bought this! You can't say no, it's a gift, and it's only one yuan, much cheaper than the five yuan you spent."

“The value of a gift isn’t measured by how much money it costs.” Li Wanyan shook her head, but couldn’t help but secretly smile. She quickly lowered her head to hide her smile and put the hair clip Mo Xueyao handed her into her pocket. “Let’s go.”

"Aren't you going to wear it?"

"Wear it tomorrow."

Why tomorrow?

"Because tomorrow is the Lantern Festival."

"Well……"

Mo Xueyao suddenly felt a little shy.

Although I know it's just a normal gift exchange between friends, why does it have a special kind of sweetness to it?

Friendship?

It seems like it needs to be a bit higher.

Love?

It seems there's still a long way to go.

Forget about love!

Mo Xueyao shook her head vigorously, trying to shake those dangerous and terrible thoughts out of her mind. As a girl, she no longer had the ability to pursue these things. Even if she got married, she could only be with a boy.

Perhaps being single for life is a better choice.

Anyway, she doesn't want to be with girls or boys right now.

The two remained silent throughout the journey, seemingly harboring different thoughts.

When we arrived at Grandma Jin's house, she was playing with Su Tang and Erha.

However, most of the animals that were moving were huskies, while Su Tang just lay there, too lazy to move.

"Meow~" As soon as she smelled Mo Xueyao's scent, Su Tang perked up and darted into Mo Xueyao's arms like a cannonball, then rubbed against her chest affectionately, as if she wanted to leave her scent on her forever.

"Holy crap—!" Mo Xueyao exclaimed in surprise. She hadn't spoken in a long time, and her unladylike words immediately slipped out, "It jumped so fast, it scared me."

"Looks like I've been missing you," Grandma Jin said with a smile. "Your shop should be open by now, right?"

"Ah."

“There’s a new fruit shop up there that opened earlier than yours, so it probably took away a lot of business.”

"Huh? Hmm, it should be fine. There's competition in business, it's more unusual for a hospital to only have one fruit shop. Usually there are two or three."

"Hehe~ You have a great attitude, not bad, not bad. With this kind of attitude, nothing will be too difficult." Grandma Jin smiled, went into the bedroom and took out two red envelopes. Mo Xueyao hugged the candy and ran out quickly.

"Why are you leaving so soon? Wait, take this red envelope first."

"No, no, Grandma Jin, really no need for a red envelope!" Mo Xueyao refused while quickly putting on her shoes. "Goodbye, Grandma Jin!"

"This child, why won't he accept the red envelope?"

Grandma Jin looked at Mo Xueyao, who was carrying Su Tang and running away with Li Wanyan, and couldn't help but chuckle.

Mo Xueyao doesn't like to accept red envelopes from anyone other than relatives.

Because it contains too many interpersonal relationships and social niceties.

Sometimes you have to pretend you don't want to accept it, and then say some polite things.

In short, it's too complicated, so it's better not to accept it at all.

In any case, the red envelopes I receive still have to be handed over to my parents.

It's not that the parents confiscated the red envelopes. In fact, red envelopes are just a way of exchanging favors. Parents take the red envelopes that others give to their children and then buy some gifts to give back to them. This is how ordinary families save money.

This way, you repay the favor without wasting money.

Mo Xueyao could understand completely, although actually doing so would definitely dampen one's motivation to accept other people's red envelopes...

However, there is one advantage: she knows that taking it is pointless, so she might as well not take it.

This would save parents the trouble of racking their brains to figure out how to repay the favor.

……

Chapter Sixty-Eight: The Lantern Festival by Silver Lake

West Lake.

The most famous attractions in Hangzhou are renowned throughout the world.

Throughout Chinese history, it has left behind many legends and stories, as well as inscriptions by many poets.

The most well-known of them is probably Su Shi's poem—