A Young Woman's Heart

"Oh, my daughter is so kind and gentle."

Upon hearing this, the young delinquent rolled her eyes.

Li Gutao... Hmph, I'll fight back next time.

……

Chapter 105 Ye Banxia's Invitation

Students who are close friends will exchange phone numbers. However, in this era when even brick-like mobile phones were not yet common, high school students rarely had their own mobile phones. Therefore, most of them exchanged their family numbers, that is, their parents' numbers or landlines.

The number Mo Xueyao left for her other close classmates was the landline number of the fruit shop.

This way, even if she's not at the fruit shop, she can easily contact her parents.

The landline in the fruit shop isn't just for business conversations; it's also available for anyone who needs to make a phone call.

Fifty cents a minute.

That means you can earn about two cents.

Making this little bit of money isn't the main point; the main point is to attract customers through this method.

Someone might make a phone call here and buy some fruit. If they find it affordable and delicious, they might come back next time, thus creating a positive cycle.

A young man, having just finished a phone call, put away his small phone book and asked, "How much?"

Sitting next to the landline, Mo Xueyao lazily looked up and said, "Two minutes, one yuan."

"Here you go." The young man tossed down a one-yuan coin and hurried away.

Not long after he left, the phone rang again.

"Hello?" Mo Xueyao answered the phone lazily while rubbing Su Tang's cheek. The sunshine today was so comfortable that she couldn't help but want to spend the whole day with her eyes half-closed.

She initially thought it might be the person who made the call from the young man calling back, but to her surprise, she heard a somewhat familiar voice on the other end.

It is a leaf of Pinellia ternata.

After all, she would wait for me every day after school to clean up. Even though we didn't interact much, we became familiar with each other over time.

Their relationship is fairly good, but not to the extent that of Wang Jiale and Hua Yinyin.

"Hello? Is this Xiaoyao?" Ye Banxia asked nervously.

"Yes, it's me. What's up?" Mo Xueyao rested her chin on the glass shelf, as if even sitting up straight was a struggle. "Um... is the class monitor here?"

"Not looking for me?" Mo Xueyao was a little disappointed, then turned her head and shouted with a hint of teasing, "Class monitor~ someone's looking for you!"

"Hmm, hello? Xiaxia, is something wrong?" Li Wanyan answered the phone and asked gently.

Things have really changed a lot lately.

Mo Xueyao rested her hands behind her head and thought—not only her, but also the people around her had changed a lot.

"Um... Class monitor, it's like this... Our club is the Rain Sky Charity Association, which is basically a volunteer organization... cough um, and we have to participate in volunteer activities from time to time. There's an activity tomorrow, but because everyone else has something to do, only Cha Li, Xuan An Yi, and I will be participating..."

"Okay, then you guys go and participate."

"The main problem is, it's just the three of us, but the principal and the dean of students are both going... it's a bit... a bit..."

Li Wanyan immediately understood what was going on. Ye Banxia was probably the 'contact person' pushed out by the other two people who were too embarrassed to contact her directly.

"Okay, what time tomorrow?"

Ye Banxia was stunned for a few seconds by the overly quick answer, then hurriedly said excitedly, "We'll meet at the school gate at eight in the morning. Um, you can bring Xiaoyao too, the more people there are, the less pressure there will be..."

"Okay." Li Wanyan hung up the phone and told Mo Xueyao about it.

"Whatever, I finished my homework a long time ago anyway." Mo Xueyao yawned. The warm spring weather made her sleepy. She squinted her eyes, and half a day passed by like that.

Time flew by and it was already the next day.

March 5th, Sunday, was an even clearer day than yesterday.

The warm sunlight shone on the earth, and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky to obscure it. The blue of the sky was almost exactly the same as the color of Mo Xueyao's eyes, which gave Li Wanyan, who was watching from the side, a sense of pleasant comfort.

The two of them had arrived at the school gate ahead of time, and soon Ye Banxia and the others also arrived.

Since it was a day off and there was no need to wear school uniforms, the girls would try their best to dress up before going out.

"Huh, Xiaxia's pimples are gone?" Mo Xueyao asked in surprise from a distance.

"N-no, it's still there..." Ye Banxia clasped her hands together a little embarrassedly, "I just put on some concealer..."

Is this what makeup is?

"To be precise, it can only be considered light makeup!" Ye Banxia explained softly, seemingly a little embarrassed.

Springtime, a season of warm weather and blooming flowers, a sunny day.

Today's temperature will reach a high of 22 degrees Celsius, which is quite warm, so everyone is dressed relatively lightly.

Ye Banxia wore a golden yellow dress with few decorations, looking pure and simple. She still wore her signature double ponytails, but the hair accessories she wore today were cuter and more playful than usual for school.

"You two are here so early!" Cha Li greeted cheerfully. She was wearing tight jeans and a denim jacket, and her medium-length hair was tied into a simple and neat single ponytail, swaying with her steps.

Underneath the denim jacket was a white shirt. Mo Xueyao keenly noticed that she was wearing a red gemstone necklace, which she didn't know was expensive, but it certainly looked quite nice.

Xuan Anyi and Cha Li are about the same height, but she is slightly taller overall. She didn't tie her hair up; her long hair was neatly combed and she wore a bright red hoodie, a pure black short skirt, and black tights, giving her a mature and sophisticated look.

She wore a signature, kind smile, as if she were looking at a child, which is why she was always called "Auntie." Besides the homonym of her name, the main reason was that she herself acted far too mature...

"Auntie, you're here!" Mo Xueyao greeted cheerfully.

Xuan Anyi was already used to being addressed that way, and she smiled slightly, unconcerned: "Good morning, Xiaoyao."

The agreed time was 8:00, and it's now a little past 7:40, and everyone has already arrived.

Cha Li, who was a discipline committee member, seemed to have a lot in common with Li Wanyan. The two stood close together and started chatting.

Mo Xueyao then looked at Ye Banxia and asked, "Xiaxia, where are you going for this volunteer activity?"

"I heard it's a trip to an orphanage," Ye Banxia replied uncertainly.

Are you in Hangzhou?

"Yes, in the suburbs."

Before Mo Xueyao could say anything more, a black seven-seater minivan pulled up and came to a steady stop at the school gate.

"Is there exactly five people here?" The car window was slowly rolled down, revealing a pretty young girl's face. It was Teacher Su from the medical department.

"Huh? Teacher Su, does that mean there's no room left?" Ye Banxia asked nervously.

“There’s room, there are five seats left.” Su Yuqing paused for a moment, then smiled and said, “Oh~ the head of the teaching department can’t come because of something.”

"Oh, I see." Ye Banxia smiled awkwardly.

"Everyone, get on the bus~" Su Yuqing patted the principal next to her, the two seemed to have a close relationship, "Kong, unlock the door."

The commercial vehicle was long and narrow, and to Mo Xueyao, who didn't know much about cars, it seemed no different from a minivan.

The only differences are probably the more upscale color and the absence of a sliding door.

Although there are three rows of seats, the last two rows are accessed through only one door.

The second-row seats each have two armrests, just like two sofa chairs placed together.

The third row is more ordinary, with a row of seats like in a sedan, accommodating up to three people.

So they were going to ride in the principal's car together. No wonder Ye Banxia and the others were nervous.

Although the principal was approachable, he was still the principal, and even Mo Xueyao felt uneasy about such close contact.

Fortunately, the person sitting in front of her was a teacher from the medical department, whose age seemed to be close to that of the students, which made her feel much more at ease.

The other seat in the second row was occupied by Li Wanyan; she was probably the only one who could ignore the principal's 'aura'.

Ye Banxia and the others sat in the third row, whispering to each other.

The third row was still some distance from the principal, but even though they were all in the same car, it allowed them to relax a little.

"Are you all seated?" The principal's sunglasses had slipped down a bit as he glanced at the girls in the back row through the rearview mirror and asked in his slightly hoarse voice.

After the girls were silent for two seconds, Li Wanyan answered on their behalf, "Okay."

"Hmm." The principal pushed his sunglasses up again, gently pressed the accelerator, and started the car.

Contrary to Mo Xueyao's expectations, he drove quite gently, slowly making his way onto the relatively empty highway.

The surrounding scenery was rushing past us. We got back on the highway once more, and the car finally came to a slow stop about fifty minutes later.

This is already on the edge of the city, or to put it more simply, it's already in the small town on the outskirts of Hangzhou.

Perhaps it's because of its location, but there aren't many people here, making it quite quiet.

"It's so big—" Mo Xueyao exclaimed in amazement as she looked up at the orphanage.

In such a remote place, there is such a large orphanage.

Moreover, it looks neat and orderly, indicating that there are quite a few staff members working here.

It looks a bit bigger than Yukong High School.

However, the layout is completely different. There is no playground here, but instead there are many small gardens arranged in a staggered manner. Even before you go in, just looking at it from the outside, you feel that it is like a maze.

"Get off the bus." The principal gently patted Teacher Su's head. She had been sleeping the whole way and was hurriedly woken up, making the students hold back their laughter, but they dared not laugh out loud.

In front of the principal, Teacher Su is like a younger sister.

Although she herself doesn't look very old, she still gives off a bit of an older sister vibe in front of the students.

Mo Xueyao was the first to open the car door and jump out. Looking at the large sign hanging at the entrance, she read it aloud in a low voice: "Su's Kongqing Children's Welfare Home".

……

Chapter 106 Su Family Kongqing Children's Welfare Home