A Young Woman's Heart

But after considering his family's financial situation, he had no choice but to swallow his craving.

Before long, Wang Jiale returned with her hands in her pockets. The other girl parted ways with her at the classroom door and returned to her own seat.

This seems quite unbelievable to boys...

Generally speaking, if you've gone shopping and eaten together, you'll probably chat for a while next to someone's seat when you get back to the classroom, right?

There's always this feeling among girls that they treat each other like tools.

Sitting down, Wang Jiale took out a packet of Little Raccoon instant noodles from his pocket and took out two seasoning packets.

One packet contains a seasoning powder, which is orange-yellow in color.

Just by looking at the powder, Mo Xueyao knew what flavor it was.

This flavor of Little Raccoon Crispy Noodles is slightly spicy, and also has a sweet and sour taste; it's delicious.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but salivate a little.

The other seasoning packet contained pork floss.

Although it's not much, adding it makes all the difference in taste!

Regardless of whether it's just psychological... anyway, Mo Xueyao thinks this flavor of instant noodles is the best.

It seems Wang Jiale has great taste.

Actually, she also wanted to buy a pack to eat.

But I didn't have any change in my pocket.

She dared not spend that twenty yuan, afraid that once she started spending it, she wouldn't be able to resist.

"Do you want some?" After adding the seasonings, Wang Jiale pinched the bag shut and shook it vigorously, seemingly noticing Mo Xueyao's gaze.

"I...uh..." Mo Xueyao was a little reserved. If it were a boy, she might have asked for it more readily, but the other person was a girl...

Well, asking girls for snacks always makes me feel like a gigolo...

Perhaps it's because Mo Xueyao still has some male chauvinism.

But without realizing it, she nodded slightly.

"Here you go." Wang Jiale took out another packet from his pocket and handed it to her.

"Huh? The whole bag...for me?"

"Yes, it's more convenient and cleaner to eat this way."

“But… this is a whole package…” Mo Xueyao licked her lips.

Prices weren't high back then; a bag of instant noodles that tasted good and had a generous amount of filling only cost 50 cents.

However, most high school students in that era, unless they lived on campus, were basically only given three yuan for breakfast.

If you give me five yuan, that includes my allowance.

After all, breakfast was very cheap back then.

A bowl of scallion oil noodles costs around one to one and a half dollars, and adding a poached egg only adds another fifty cents.

A sesame seed cake and fried dough sticks only cost 50 cents.

A single fried dough stick costs 25 cents, and a single sesame seed cake also costs 25 cents.

However, fewer and fewer people are using "cents" these days, so if you're not buying in pairs, you'll usually pay 30 cents per piece.

You can buy ten meat-filled pan-fried dumplings for just one yuan!

If you do the math, you'll find that 50 cents isn't actually a small amount.

"What's wrong with a whole bag?"

"..." Mo Xueyao didn't continue, afraid that continuing would make her seem too poor. "Thank you."

She thanked him very sincerely and then accepted the packet of instant noodles.

It felt like receiving a gift; I was secretly pleased, a little surprised, and a little embarrassed.

She wondered what other way she could repay the bag of instant noodles.

Then next time you have something to eat, share some with her.

Mo Xueyao thought to herself.

She poured in the seasonings just like Wang Jiale, but Wang Jiale's instant noodles weren't broken into very small pieces; they were still relatively large. Mo Xueyao, on the other hand, broke them into very small pieces.

If you eat a little bit each time, it will last a long time.

In fact, by the time the long break ended and Wang Jiale had finished a whole bag, she had only eaten one-fifth of it.

Having never been wealthy growing up, 'frugality' is deeply ingrained in her heart.

……

Chapter Twelve: The Expressionless Psychology Teacher

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six—"

During the last class of the morning, the boys sitting in the back row, who had been sitting absentmindedly, began to count down.

However, the countdowns are not very consistent; clearly, the numbers accurate to the second vary from person to person.

After all, most students can't afford those incredibly precise watches.

Their voices grew louder and louder, until finally shouting "One!" which startled the teacher standing on the podium.

This was an English class, and thankfully the teacher on stage was a young and easy-going woman, so she didn't get angry.

If it were a rigid, middle-aged teacher, no one would be able to leave get out of class right now.

"One!" It was Zhou Yong who shouted this.

His watch appeared to be exactly the same as the school clock, accurate to the second.

Just as he shouted this, the bell rang to signal the end of get out of class.

Because Yukong High School has a new rule this year that teachers cannot extend class time; they must finish when the bell rings.

So the young English teacher standing on the podium began, "Okay, next..."

Before the word "class" could even be uttered, a dark-skinned but fairly handsome boy sitting by the door opened the door and rushed out. His movements were so fluid and natural, even more skillful than writing with a pen.

Mo Xueyao was dumbfounded, because this kind of thing rarely happened in junior high school. Almost every morning's last class would go overtime, and junior high school teachers were generally very strict. Anyone who dared to run out before the teacher said get out of class was over would be practically asking for death.

Of course, there is another reason: in junior high school, we ate in the classroom, and someone would go to the cafeteria to bring the food over.

High school is completely different. You have to eat in the cafeteria, and if you go late, there might not be any good lunches left.

Thinking of this, Mo Xueyao quickly stood up, only to find that almost all the boys sitting in the back row of the class had run away.

They sprinted out at the speed of a 100-meter dash!

The entire corridor reverberated with thunderous vibrations, as if a fire had broken out and everyone was fleeing outside.

However, in reality, it was just that the cafeteria was open for lunch.

"Let's go, Mo Xueyao, let's go to the cafeteria for lunch." Wang Jiale stretched out a big yawn, casually closed her textbook, and stood up with a relaxed posture.

Although her movements were already quite alluring, it was a pity that the areas that should have been full of curves were completely flat, her chest was as flat as a flat-screen TV.

“Okay.” Mo Xueyao took out a small box from her schoolbag. Inside was a pair of wooden chopsticks and a spoon, which she had been using since elementary school and now looked rather cute.

But since it was still usable, she was too lazy to replace it.

"Wait, do you have meal tickets?" Just as he was about to walk out, Wang Jiale turned around and asked.

"Meal tickets...?" Mo Xueyao was a little confused. She thought she could just go to school to eat, so why did she need meal tickets?

“Yes, at the end of each month, they give out meal tickets for the following month, a big sheet of paper.” Wang Jiale gestured. “And you have to cut them out and keep them safe, you only need one each time you go out to eat.”

“…I didn’t.” Mo Xueyao shook her head.

"Then let's go ask the homeroom teacher for it; they probably forgot to give it to you."

"Hmm...why don't you go eat first? Or join the queue? Otherwise, if you're late, there won't be anything left." Mo Xueyao was a little anxious.

"It's okay, it's okay, we'll order more dishes later, don't worry~ just don't be too late." Wang Jiale put his arm around Mo Xueyao's shoulder, "Come on, come on~ I'll go with you~"

The thing she's most grateful for right now is having such a warm-hearted classmate as Wang Jiale.

The two of them had only known each other for a morning.

Moreover, she seems to have inexhaustible energy and is always interested in doing all sorts of other things.

With Wang Jiale accompanying them, they quickly found the homeroom teacher's office on the same floor.

However, when they pushed open the slightly ajar door, they found the office to be empty.

Not only was the homeroom teacher absent, but none of the other teachers were there either.

"Hey—they're all gone." Wang Jiale pouted. "Hmm... how about we go to the convenience store and eat instant noodles?"

Mo Xueyao hesitated because she didn't want to spend that twenty yuan on instant noodles...

But it seems like this is the only way now.

Otherwise we'll go hungry at noon.

However, school ends early on Friday afternoons, so it shouldn't be a problem to skip a meal; I can just rush home to eat.

But... it seems like no one at home cooks, and there doesn't seem to be any food available.

"Let's go downstairs and eat instant noodles." She finally made this choice, mainly because she was worried that she would be hungry in the afternoon and not be able to concentrate in class, which would cause her to fall behind in other courses.

In fact, there are no main classes on Friday afternoons.

It's mainly because it's her first day of school, so she hasn't memorized the class schedule yet.

It had only been about three minutes since get out of class ended, and the corridor was already quite empty, mostly with girls walking at a leisurely pace.

Even the boys were rushing towards the cafeteria.