A Young Woman's Heart

"It's okay, it's okay, she didn't hit me at all. She tried to bite me just now, but Cookie stopped her. What a powerful cat!" Mo Xueyao bent down and stroked Cookie's head. "I wish my Sutang was as powerful as you."

Cookie glanced indifferently at Mo Xueyao, then jumped back onto the wall.

……

Chapter Ninety-Nine is unclear

Once again, they arrived at the medical office, where Su Yuqing was carefully treating the bruises and wounds on Li Gutao's body.

Fortunately, the beating didn't last long, so most of the injuries were superficial, and many of the abrasions were from cuts made by sharp pebbles while he was rolling on the ground.

After the crisis was over, Mo Xueyao's mood gradually calmed down. She wanted to say some jokes like before, but she was afraid of revealing something, so she could only remain silent and pretend to be a complete stranger to him.

"Thank you, teacher." Li Gutao touched the bandages and plasters on his body and thanked him somewhat embarrassedly.

"How could you get beaten up by a group of girls?" Su Yuqing asked, voicing Mo Xueyao's question. "What did you do to offend them?"

"Hey, the ringleader was a good-for-nothing girl. The other girls didn't want to cause trouble, so they had no choice but to join her. Otherwise, it would be considered being an outsider. They wanted me to join them, but I didn't want to do something so childish, so I got beaten up." Li Gutao sighed, revealing a helpless smile. "Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?"

"Tsk...what a boring thing," Mo Xueyao commented from the side.

Su Yuqing nodded in understanding: "Children at this age do indeed show great differentiation."

It sounded strange coming from her, because she looked like a child her age.

"Anyway, he should be alright now, right?" Mo Xueyao asked Su Yuqing.

"Okay, you can go home now. But even though they are just superficial injuries, you still need to take care of yourself recently. Otherwise, if the wounds are damaged before they have healed, they will fester and may even rot to the bone."

"I understand, thank you, teacher." Ever since Li Gutao learned that Su Yuqing was a teacher, his curious gaze had never left her. Now he finally shifted his gaze to the side and landed on Mo Xueyao. "Mo Xueyao, thank you very much this time."

Li Wanyan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, but she refrained from asking any questions.

Su Yuqing didn't know Mo Xueyao's name, so she remained calm and simply waved to the three of them, saying, "Alright, alright, everyone go home. I'll wait for Ling'er to come out of the principal's office before we go home together."

"Ling'er" seems to be Teacher Su's nickname for the head of the teaching department.

Mo Xueyao and Li Gutao didn't go the same way, and they parted ways at a fork in the road not far from the school.

Although he had a lot of curiosity about 'Mo Xueyao's sister', he was in no mood to pay attention to anything else right now. He was still worried about how to handle things tomorrow.

After all, they're classmates, and they'll run into each other all the time. It would be easy for me to mess with him.

Moreover, vocational schools don't manage girls very strictly at all. Those teachers seem unaware that the trouble is actually caused by the boys!

After all, there weren't many boys in that school.

Should I tell the teacher about this?

Isn't that a bit too embarrassing?

And even if we did say it, I doubt any teacher would consider it bullying.

At most, they'd think you're such a useless guy, a grown man like you getting bullied by a woman?

When a man is hit by a woman, some people will always assume that the man must have done something wrong. In a sense, this is also a form of gender discrimination.

"Damn it, what should I do!" Li Gutao rubbed his hair hard, wondering if he should also get ruthless and give those stupid women a good beating.

At that moment, before he had gone far, Mo Xueyao shouted from behind, "Li Gutao—if they attack first, fight back! Being a nice guy will only get you bullied!"

That's very much in Mo Xueyao's style. No wonder she's her younger sister.

Hmm, she's supposed to be my younger sister, but why does she always feel like the same person, just a different gender?

Li Gutao recalled how Mo Xueyao had responded to those who tried to ridicule and bully her back in school.

Actually, she has a good temper and doesn't mind joking around, but if someone tries to take advantage of her, she won't be polite.

Mo Xueyao had said this to Li Gutao many times, but that was just his nature; he was a complete nice guy.

His family life was relatively uneventful, and he was happy and content compared to most people. He was rarely bullied growing up, which probably contributed to his unique personality.

I've mentioned it occasionally before, but it was always in jest.

But this time, it seems like they're serious.

Ok.

Li Gutao made a decision.

He touched his spiky hair, which hadn't been styled with gel but still stood on end, and muttered to himself, "If these guys come again, I won't be polite..."

As Li Gutao walked further away, Mo Xueyao finally felt the increasingly intense gaze that Li Wanyan was casting on her, as if trying to see through her heart.

"What happened?" Li Wanyan asked casually.

"Huh? What... what happened?" Mo Xueyao chuckled awkwardly and scratched her head, trying to brush the matter off.

"Sister Mo Xueyao?"

"Huh? Hahaha... Ha, haha..."

"Is it a secret?" Li Wanyan quickened her pace, passing Mo Xueyao, her voice carried by the wind. "If you don't want to talk about it, then forget it."

“Eh…? Hmm…” Mo Xueyao kept her head down and didn’t respond the whole way.

Indeed, it's a secret.

And it's a big secret.

If I told Li Wanyan, she might despise me, and our friendship might even break down.

There's also the possibility that she'll be told to others. At that point, no matter how much she explains that her original biological sex is female, others will still treat her as a 'pervert'.

But Li Wanyan had lived in her own home for so long, and among so many classmates, she was probably the one she was closest to.

And since we see each other every day, shouldn't I tell her the truth?

but……

Mo Xueyao gripped the handlebars tightly, but ultimately said nothing.

When they arrived at the fruit shop, Li Wanyan locked the car with her back to Mo Xueyao, as if asking herself, "Is this the secret you can tell me?"

"what……"

Mo Xueyao scratched her head, unsure of how to explain. For a moment, she couldn't organize her thoughts. She opened her mouth to say something, but only uttered some meaningless syllables, like a mute who couldn't speak.

"Everyone has things they don't want to talk about, that's okay, I have things I don't want to talk about too."

"Cough...I..." Mo Xueyao felt like a child who had made a mistake, stammering for a long time, not knowing how to explain herself.

"Hello, godfather and godmother." Back at the fruit shop, Li Wanyan greeted them as usual.

On the contrary, Mo Xueyao was listless and didn't say a few words to her father.

"What's wrong, Xiaoyao? Are you in a bad mood today?"

"without……"

"What's going on?" The father flicked a cigarette into a flowerpot, which immediately drew a scolding from the mother.

"Smoking, smoking, smoking all day long, and you even flick cigarette ash into the flowerpot. You've killed my orchids, you know?"

"Ahem, haha, I'll go buy an ashtray tomorrow."

"How old are you? You still have no self-control. Can't you quit smoking?"

Pretending not to hear, her father reached out and pinched Mo Xueyao's cheek: "Hey—silly girl—smile?"

"What are you doing?" Mo Xueyao said weakly, brushing her father's hand away. "You're so noisy."

"What's wrong? You rarely seem to be in a bad mood. Did you do poorly on a test, or were you bullied at school? Hmm, wait a minute, could it be that a boy confessed to you?"

"Confess your feelings my foot." Mo Xueyao pushed her father's rough face away with droopy eyelids, sat down at the table with a worried look on her face, propped up her chin with her hands, and didn't even take off her schoolbag.

She was worried that this incident would create a rift between her and Li Wanyan.

No matter what, they are very good friends.

"Yaoyao, it'll be a while before we eat. Why don't you do some homework first?" Li Wanyan acted as if nothing had happened, which made Mo Xueyao feel even more uneasy.

She was distracted all evening, and her homework contained many mistakes. Li Wanyan thought she hadn't been paying attention in class, so she patiently explained it to her, only to find that her attention wasn't on the homework at all.

After returning home, Li Wanyan took a shower and crawled into bed, while Mo Xueyao sat on a chair with her knees drawn up, staring blankly into space.

"Yaoyao, aren't you going to sleep yet?"

"I'll sleep later... Class monitor, you go to sleep first." Mo Xueyao buried her head low, making it impossible to tell what she was thinking.

Li Wanyan hesitated for a moment, but swallowed back what she wanted to say. She squeezed in a little to make room for Mo Xueyao.

However, she didn't climb into bed at all that night.

Before Li Wanyan knew, she was able to gradually adapt and then feel at ease.

But once the other party noticed something amiss, they became uneasy again.

She thought about it all night, and it could be said that this was the first time she had faced it head-on.

Can such a secret really be kept hidden forever?

Surely some close friends will discover something?

And there will always be times when they slip up.

Living with loved ones in such a secretive way makes life even more exhausting.

She took Nancy out of the dollhouse, stared into her eyes, and asked to herself, "Nancy... do you think... I... should I tell her?"

As dawn approached, Mo Xueyao finally succumbed to sleepiness and fell asleep on the table. However, less than two hours later, she was gently woken up by Li Wanyan.

"Yaoyao, why are you asleep here again?" Li Wanyan looked at her reproachfully. "Today is not the weekend, you still have to go to class. You won't have any energy later."

"Hmm...it's nothing..." Mo Xueyao took a deep breath, stood up from the chair, and was about to say something when she was interrupted by her mother's voice.

"Girls, come out and wash up and have breakfast!"

"Coming, coming!" Mo Xueyao responded loudly. Since she hadn't even taken off her clothes yesterday, she could just walk out today, which was much more convenient.

Of course, when I walk, I feel dizzy and lightheaded, like someone who is drunk.