A Young Woman's Heart

"perhaps."

……

Chapter 89 Wasabi and Sushi

It was drizzling on Monday morning.

The temperature, which had just started to rise, has dropped again.

In the classroom, Li Wanyan sat next to Mo Xueyao, unusually clingy, as she previewed the text; Mr. Xue had bought a four-wheel drive car from the school gate early in the morning, and now his desk was piled high with parts, which he was leisurely assembling.

"Come on, everyone, try this!" Mo Xiaoxiao, who had just put down her schoolbag, placed a box of food in a lunchbox on Mo Xueyao's desk.

"My sister and I made it together!" Mo Zhuyou boasted, leaning closer. "It's sushi!"

Sushi, a food that doesn't sound difficult, is simply rice stuffed with ingredients, rolled into a cylinder, wrapped in seaweed, and cut into pieces.

However, it's not easy to actually do it; even the most basic rice is quite particular.

If the rice is of poor quality, or if the cooking time or the amount of water is incorrect, it will easily fall apart or become very sticky.

The best sushi is, of course, the kind with just the right amount of stickiness and plump, fluffy pieces.

It's clear that Mo Xiaoxiao has excellent control over the cooking temperature; every piece of sushi looks beautiful.

The ingredients used weren't very expensive; they were just carrots, diced bamboo shoots, and some ham.

It's said that sushi tastes better when it's cold. Mo Xueyao wasn't sure, but it did taste quite good.

"How was it?" Mo Xiao asked expectantly.

"Mmm, it's delicious!" Mo Xueyao picked up another one and stuffed it whole into her mouth. "Huh, why is this a little sour?"

"It tastes like cherry tomatoes, doesn't it?" Mo Xiao smiled and said.

"Hmm, it seems so. Come to think of it, this is my first time eating sushi." Mo Xueyao said, taking another one and then leaning back so she wouldn't eat it all by herself. "I always thought sushi tasted the same as glutinous rice balls, but it turns out the taste is quite different."

"This is my first time eating it too." Li Wanyan hadn't even finished her first sushi yet. She held the sushi in her hand and ate it in small bites, as if she was savoring the taste.

"Hehe, I made some to try first. If it's good, I'll bring more next time so we can eat it as a snack. It's healthier and more economical than regular snacks." Mo Zhuyou looked expectant. "Everyone, eat as much as you like! My sister and I still have a box to eat as snacks!"

"Isn't Xiaoxue going to eat?" Mo Xueyao asked Mr. Xue, who was putting stickers on the car body while looking at the sushi box.

"My hands are dirty, I can't eat." What Mr. Xue meant was that he still wanted to eat.

"Go wash your hands and eat, it'll be quick~" Mo Xiao smiled and took out a tube of wasabi from her bag, squeezing a little into the lunchbox. "Anyone want to try some wasabi?"

"Wasabi?" Mr. Xue's Adam's apple bobbed. "I like to eat this."

"Really? Isn't wasabi supposed to be very spicy?" Mo Xueyao said suspiciously, picked up a piece of sushi, dipped it in a lot of wasabi sauce, and then held it to Mr. Xue's mouth. "Here, Xueyao, let me feed you one."

"His wicked smile is practically overflowing," Mo Zhuyou muttered, resting her chin on her hand.

However, Mr. Xue didn't care, or rather, he didn't notice. He was now carefully assembling the motor and then pressing it onto the chassis.

"Xiaoxue, Xiaoxue, open your mouth." Mo Xueyao nudged his arm.

"Oh, oh." Mr. Xue obediently opened his mouth and swallowed the sushi while Mo Xiaoxiao smiled like an aunt behind him.

"You really ate it?" Mo Zhuyou said in surprise, but her expression seemed to indicate that she was not only surprised that he had eaten the sushi with so much wasabi on it.

"Hmm—" Li Wanyan squinted, pondering the relationship between Mo Xueyao and Mr. Xue.

"Isn't it spicy?" Mo Xueyao asked curiously.

"It's alright, just a little bit." Mr. Xue licked his lips. "A little less would be just right."

"Hey, Xiaoxiao, looks like you bought a fake." Mo Xueyao muttered, dipped the sushi in wasabi and stuffed it into her mouth, the next second she opened her mouth wide with tears streaming down her face.

The spiciness of wasabi is completely different from that of chili peppers.

Even the spiciest chili peppers can still be used to talk, but the spiciness of wasabi can make you feel suffocated.

Mo Xueyao couldn't chew anymore; she just kept trying to breathe and it took her a long time to recover.

You should know that the amount she applied herself was less than a quarter of what she applied to Mr. Xue.

"Pfft, you got what you deserved," Mo Xiaoxiao chuckled. "This wasabi is still pretty spicy."

"Phew... I can't eat this sushi..." Mo Xueyao said, but not wanting to waste it, she still managed to eat it with difficulty, and then slumped into the chair, not wanting to move at all.

"Xiaoxue is really amazing," Mo Zhuyou exclaimed, cupping her cheeks. "She can eat so much without even breaking a sweat."

"Because my family eats a lot of seafood since I was little, we often dip it in wasabi." Mr. Xue attached the motor with a 'click'. "You get used to it after eating it a lot. But authentic wasabi isn't too spicy. Did Mo Xiaoxiao buy horseradish?"

"Hmm, I don't know. I bought it because it looked like wasabi and was the cheapest one." Mo Xiaoxiao looked at the wasabi sauce and saw that the ingredients on the back were indeed 'horseradish'. "Xiaoxue knows a lot about these things."

"I've only dabbled in it a little." Mr. Xue wiped the engine oil on his hands onto a napkin, his eyes unconsciously glancing at the sushi.

"Do you still want to eat?" Mo Xueyao noticed his gaze and asked weakly.

"Hmph, this time I'll feed him!" Mo Zhuyou shouted, picking up a piece of sushi and stuffing it into Mr. Xue's mouth.

"Um, could you be a little gentler?" Mr. Xue said with a wry smile, his words somewhat indistinct.

So, eating sushi turned into a competition to feed Mr. Xue sushi. Except for Li Wanyan, the other three rushed to stuff sushi into his mouth, almost causing him to choke.

For the girls, Mr. Xue was a very approachable classmate because he seemed to have no temper, but he had his own independent thinking ability, and unlike other boys, he wouldn't always tell dirty jokes when chatting with girls.

Or rather, he didn't treat girls and boys according to gender; in his eyes, men and women were the same.

It is precisely because of this fair and just treatment that he is welcomed by various groups.

Even actions that are normally considered ambiguous with boys become perfectly normal when he does them.

"I say, wouldn't you say this counts as school bullying?" Mr. Xue swallowed the sushi with difficulty, then drank several mouthfuls of water before jokingly asking.

"This is clearly just showing you care, it's not bullying at all~" Mo Zhuyou tilted her head and replied innocently.

"Roar, roar, roar—!" Hua Yinyin's signature laughter rang out at the classroom door, just like Wang Xifeng in Dream of the Red Chamber, her voice arriving before she did.

That was a thought that popped into Li Wanyan's mind; she suddenly wanted to borrow a complete copy of Dream of the Red Chamber to read.

Although she loves reading, she has never read all four classic Chinese novels in their entirety.

Having no money at home is one thing, but having no other time or energy is another.

To be precise, only a harmonious and happy family can give a person more energy to do more things.

"Little Yaoyao~"

"Youyou, stop her for me!" Mo Xueyao immediately stood up from her seat.

"Little Yaoyao, don't run away~ I specially wore milk candy-flavored lip balm today, do you want to try it?"

“Absolutely no interest.” Mo Xueyao replied coldly, her eyelids drooping.

"Hey, you bought a milk candy-flavored lip balm too? Let me try it!"

"Ah, if it's Youyou, well, that would be alright, I guess." Hua Yinyin said, then closed her eyes.

"Hey, what are you thinking? I said, let me see your lipstick!" Mo Zhuyou said helplessly.

"Tch, what a waste of my mood." Hua Yinyin handed over the lipstick with a disappointed look.

Mo Zhuyou didn't shy away from the situation; she picked it up, put some on her lips, and then handed it to her older sister.

"Indeed, it tastes like milk candy when you put it on your lips, it's a pity we can't eat it~" Mo Xiaoxiao handed the lipstick to Mo Xueyao, "Xiaoyao, would you like to try it?"

"I don't want it, it's all your saliva."

"What does it matter if a girl drools? It's sweet and delicious!" Hua Yinyin made a perverted remark that almost made the two Mo sisters, who didn't mind at first, choke.

"That's perverted!" the two sisters exclaimed in unison.

"I agree." Mo Xueyao nodded vigorously, though she was actually the biggest victim every day.

"Little Yaoyao~ Hmph, how annoying, all my good intentions were wasted, didn't you notice that your lips are actually a bit dry?"

"Really?" Mo Xueyao unconsciously licked her lips.

"Here you go." Hua Yinyin pulled an unopened lipstick from her pocket. "Here, it's for you."

"what?"

"Hmph, even though tomorrow is my birthday and you didn't give me a birthday present, I'll still give you one."

Mo Xueyao's eyelids drooped, and she felt that Mo Xueyao was using this as an excuse to tell others that tomorrow was her birthday.

"I don't want it, I don't have a birthday present for you."

"Waaaaah—Little Yaoyao is so heartless!"

"You cry so cutely, a punch would probably make you cry even longer, right?" Mo Xueyao asked with ill intent.

Hua Yinyin was startled and shrank behind Mo Zhuyou: "Wow, Xiao Yaoyao's expression was so scary just now!"

"Just kidding," Mo Xiaoxiao chuckled. "Speaking of which, is tomorrow really Yinyin's birthday?"

"Of course, why would I lie to you?" Hua Yinyin said, placing the lipstick on Mo Xueyao's table. "Little Yaoyao, take this, it's really for you."

"Tsk... Fine." Mo Xueyao frowned and reluctantly accepted it, because she always felt that lipstick was something only girls wore, so she never had the habit of wearing lipstick.

"So, it only happens once every four years," Li Wanyan said, looking at Hua Yinyin.

“Yes!” Hua Yinyin had a relieved expression on her face, as if she had finally been noticed.

"It only happens once every four years, we should celebrate properly."

"So, come to my house for my birthday tomorrow! Don't worry, my house is huge! And the bed is huge too!"

……

Chapter Ninety: Huang Yuxi and Huang Zhengyang's Morning

A drizzly morning is the easiest time to lose track of time.