A Young Woman's Heart

"I just can't do anything with you." Wang Jiale pouted, pushed open the door to the master bedroom, took out the quilt, and covered her father with it.

The latter seemed to feel much more comfortable, unconsciously rolling himself up in the bedding, wrapping himself up in a ball, and then snoring began.

She shook her head, reached out and turned off the television, plunging the living room into boundless darkness.

"Hmm?" But the father suddenly woke up. He opened his eyes blankly, looked at the bedding on his body, and then at the sofa beneath him.

"You woke up after I turned off the TV?" Wang Jiale said helplessly. "Dad, you should go to bed and sleep. Be careful not to catch a cold."

"You carry... me?" The father slumped back onto the sofa, seemingly unwilling to get up.

"...I'd be a fool to carry you!" Wang Jiale muttered irritably. "Whatever, I'm going to sleep."

"Oh...remember to wake me up tomorrow morning..."

"Okay." It seems that fathers always act more childish in front of their daughters, or perhaps only Wang Jiale's father is like this.

She returned to her bedroom, closed the door, and saw that the clock showed 11:59.

It's almost midnight. Even if I fall asleep right now and wake up at 7 o'clock, I'll only have seven hours of sleep left.

She grumbled as she glanced at the heavy books on the table, feeling that she shouldn't have stayed up so late.

Those were urban legends lent to her by her senior. Some were about this city, some were about other cities, and some were from different eras and countries, which is why they were so thick.

One classic story is that if you stare at a mirror for one minute at midnight, you will be replaced by your reflection.

This is probably the least visually terrifying of all the urban legends.

But at that moment, something suddenly made her heart tremble.

I thought of the details of this story.

Because there just happened to be a full-length mirror in her room.

Although it's not directly facing the bed, it's at an angle, so you can see yourself in the mirror if you turn your head.

I didn't think there was anything wrong with the story before, but tonight I felt that the mirror was like an abyss, as if looking into it for too long would suck her in.

The moonlight was exceptionally bright tonight, its cool rays spilling into the room and casting an eerie silver glow on the full-length mirror.

People are sometimes contradictory; the more you tell yourself not to think about it, the more your mind wanders.

The more I tell myself not to look, the more I can't help but look.

Shivering, Wang Jiale quickly burrowed into the covers, as if the protection of "Mr. Blanket" would keep all the mysterious and frightening presences outside the bed.

But she couldn't help turning her head to look in the mirror, and then her gaze was like an iron block being attracted by a magnet, unable to look away.

In the mirror, a round-faced girl lay with her hair down. Because the blankets covered her from the neck down just right, it looked like a lonely head.

This means that it is like a head without a body.

She swallowed instinctively and turned her head in a panic, but out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly caught a glimpse of herself smiling in the mirror.

Her heart clenched violently, and she curled up in bed like a cat.

Because she didn't realize she had just laughed.

The reflection in the mirror...was smiling?

Could there really be something eerie about a mirror at midnight?

The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became. Even though moonlight was shining into the room, she still felt that something terrifying was lurking in places she couldn't see.

She couldn't help but glance at the mirror again.

The reflection in the mirror looked the same as usual, with nothing unusual about it.

Was the laughter just now merely an illusion caused by the dim lighting?

She comforted herself, telling herself not to overthink things.

But I still couldn't help but imagine a whole bunch of terrifying legends about mirrors.

In that story, she would climb out of the mirror and drag Wang Jiale into the mirror, causing their worlds to switch places.

To determine if someone is the person reflected in the mirror, you should see if they are left-handed.

After all, mirrors and reality are opposites—these are all things mentioned in the book. To put it scientifically, the person who made up this story was simply maliciously slandering left-handed people.

At that moment, Wang Jiale's eyes widened suddenly, because this time she saw her reflection in the mirror with perfect clarity—a strange smile on her face. And the reflection in the mirror began to pull back the covers...

"Ahhhhhh—" Wang Jiale covered her head with the blanket and screamed in terror.

At that moment, she lost even the ability to organize her thoughts and could only scream in a panic.

"What are you yelling about?" A large, warm hand lifted Wang Jiale's blanket. She saw that the golden sunlight outside the window filled the entire room, and a warm and peaceful atmosphere permeated the surroundings.

"Huh?"

"Did you have a nightmare?" Wang Jiale's father looked at her helplessly. "I asked you to wake me up, why aren't you getting up yet? It's already 7:30."

"Hey! It's 7:30!!!" Wang Jiale sat up abruptly. The latest time to arrive at Yukong High School is 7:50, which means she only has 20 minutes left.

"Hurry up and wash up and change your clothes. Buy breakfast on the way, and I'll drive you to school."

"I'm going to wash up right away!" Wang Jiale hurriedly got up and spent eight minutes quickly washing up. Then she saw her father already standing at the door.

"Why is it taking so long? I've already gone downstairs to buy breakfast."

"That's fast enough!" Wang Jiale protested, waving her little fist. Then she bent down to put on her black leather shoes, stomped on the ground a few times to make sure she was in them, and then rushed out of the house with her schoolbag on her back.

"Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!" the father urged, and ran downstairs first.

By the time we got on the bus, we only had ten minutes left.

Wang Jiale seemed to foresee the inevitable end.

She was never late even once in high school.

Is this time going to be an exception?

Even if the road is clear, it will still take ten minutes to get to school.

It seems that this time, we can't arrive on time.

The thought that she was destined to be late actually made her feel relieved.

With a sense of resignation, I leisurely ate my breakfast.

"Hold on tight! We're taking a shortcut!" Wang Jiale's father turned the steering wheel and drove the van into the side road. Normally, it would be slower than the main road, but now that the main road was relatively congested, the side road seemed much faster.

"Dad, don't worry, we're going to be late anyway."

"You're giving up just like that?"

"Yes, so let's not take the side roads. They're bad and bumpy. Let's take the main roads."

"Alright then." So, Wang Jiale's father straightened the steering wheel and continued driving along the main road.

But the roads were surprisingly clear today.

Looking at the golden sun in the sky, Wang Jiale instinctively felt that something was wrong.

She glanced at her watch, then slammed her hand on the chair in anger: "Dad—!! It's only seven o'clock!"

"Huh? My watch is fast?" The father was taken aback, then glanced at the time on the car's digital clock.

That's right, it was just past seven o'clock.

The sun is shining so brightly because it gets light earlier in the day now.

Therefore, Wang Jiale will not be late.

"If I'd known we had so much time, I should have washed up properly! You idiot dad!" Wang Jiale puffed out her cheeks angrily. "I don't even know if you washed your face properly! I was wondering why I didn't hear the alarm!"

"Ha, ha ha—" the father chuckled dryly, pretending that nothing had happened.

……

Chapter 116 The bicycle is broken

Riding bicycles to and from school is a daily routine for sisters Mo Xiaoxiao and Mo Zhuyou.

The difference is that others usually come in one car per person, while they come in two cars per person.

The older sister usually rides the bike, since it's tiring to carry someone for such a long distance.

My younger sister sat sideways on the back of the bicycle, taking small bites of a fried rice dumpling in her hand.

Because I live in the suburbs, even though the school itself is on the edge of the city, it still takes a lot of time to get there.

Even after finding some shortcuts using Mr. Xue's map, it would still take 35 minutes to get to school. In addition, to prevent any unexpected situations, the two sisters had to leave an hour earlier.

That means I have to leave home around 6:50, which means I have to get up at 6:30.

Although in reality, the two of them usually get up at six o'clock and leave home at six-thirty.

This is Mo Xiaoxiao's habit; she always likes to leave more time for most things rather than making everything rush.

The zongzi was about the size of a hand, with no filling inside; it was the cheapest kind of deep-fried zongzi.

This type of zongzi is best fried, because if you eat it directly after steaming, the taste is too monotonous.

Instead of buying soy milk, she saved the 50 cents and bought a vegetable bun. As for water, she could just use the cup she brought from home.

"Eat slowly, don't choke," the older sister said with a smile as she turned around while waiting at the traffic light.

"Mmm~ I've already taken very small bites." Mo Zhuyou squinted as she chewed on the golden, crispy outer layer of the fried rice dumpling. "I'm really enjoying the food!"

"Who was it that almost choked to death yesterday morning?"

"It's so dry! Did you bring any water today?" Mo Zhuyou took out the water bottle that was stuffed outside her backpack and took a small sip. "Speaking of which, now that we don't have to pay rent, can we eat a little better?"

"It's always good to be prepared, and besides, living conditions are much better now than before, aren't they?"

"It's alright... Yeah, you can't expect to eat big meals every day." Mo Zhuyou said, swallowing hard. "But, I do crave KFC sometimes..."

Her voice grew softer and softer until it was almost inaudible.

Mo Zhuyou paused for a moment, then pinched the ends of her dry, yellow hair: "If Youyou wants to eat this, go have some during your break."