A Young Woman's Heart

Mo Xueyao wasn't very skilled to begin with, and now she was even less able to compete for the 'protagonist' position, and towards the end she couldn't even keep up.

But the father played the suona so loudly it sounded like a funeral being held in a storm.

However, towards the end, the father seemed to have forgotten the score and went off-key.

One moment it's blowing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," the next it's blowing "Wild Bees Flying," then it takes a turn and becomes "A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix," and finally it even turns into the Yellow River Cantata...

Mo Xueyao stared in disbelief, rubbing her forehead in exasperation. She had completely given up, utterly unable to keep up with her father's wildly imaginative playing style.

Finally, the small competition ended with a general's seal.

"How about that? Pretty impressive, huh?" The father raised his eyebrows proudly. "Back in my day, your dad was a jack-of-all-trades, you know. I was a famous scholar in the surrounding villages!"

"Come on," Mo Xueyao said sourly. "It's so grating, it sounds awful."

"Hey, you call this not knowing how to appreciate things, Wanyan?"

Li Wanyan suppressed a laugh and did not answer.

"Wanyan, what do you think?" the father asked again, like a kindergarten child waiting for someone to praise him.

"Not bad, just not very skilled yet," Li Wanyan commented honestly.

"Ha, it's been a while since I played. I'm a bit rusty, but I'll get used to it with more practice." The father put the suona aside because guests had arrived. "What would you like to buy?"

"I haven't decided yet, just browsing. I didn't expect you to be able to play the suona, boss! And your daughter can play the piano too. Wow, you're so lucky!"

"Oh, not at all. My daughter's skill level is very low; she can only play a few notes." As her father spoke, he deliberately winked at Mo Xueyao.

The latter glared at her irritably. Since the electronic keyboard had already been taken out, there was no rush to put it back. She then casually began to play the etude that Zuo Ziya had taught her.

After playing for a while, she moved aside to let Li Wanyan practice as well. Li Wanyan did not refuse, after all, she really liked the electronic keyboard, which is a relatively easy instrument to learn.

The two learned and taught each other at the same time, occasionally switching places to try it out, and time flew by.

Eleven o'clock is the time for the fruit shop to close.

The father took back the makeshift shelves made of various boxes that had been placed outside the roller shutter door, while the mother mopped the floor again.

"Alright, you two can get ready for bed now. You're probably not going home tonight, right?"

"Hmm, going back is too much trouble. Staying here overnight means I can get an extra half hour of sleep." Mo Xueyao stretched out a big yawn. She had been engrossed in her research just now, but her mother's words made her feel sleepy.

"Then hurry up and go to sleep. Lack of sleep is bad for your health. You still need seven or eight hours of sleep." The mother said, pulling down the side roller shutter door. "Your father and I are going back."

“Okay.” Mo Xueyao put the electronic keyboard back in the small room, while Li Wanyan put the chairs and other items she had brought out back in their original places.

"Su Tang?" Li Wanyan called softly, and a faint meow came from an empty cardboard box, sounding very lazy.

For a cat, a fruit shop with lots of cardboard boxes to squeeze into every day must be the happiest place, right?

"Whoosh—" The father pulled down the last roller shutter door halfway, stuffed the crowbar used to pull the door back into the shop, and then reached out and pulled them down completely.

The lights in the store were still on, but the air seemed to have become a bit stuffy.

"Go to bed early!" The father's voice came from outside the door, sounding somewhat muffled, followed by the sound of the door being locked.

There are two keys in total. One is for the father, and the other is kept in the shop for Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan to use to open the door from the inside.

"Click, click, click." One by one, the lights went out. Mo Xueyao pulled a thin rope and turned off the last light that used a rope as a switch. She and Li Wanyan then went into the small room of the fruit shop.

"Turn off the light, sir!" Mo Xueyao quickly burrowed into the covers, unwilling to get into bed in the dark.

Li Wanyan nodded, turned off the light, and walked to the bedside using the little moonlight shining through the high window, then crawled in.

The wire bed in the fruit shop is so narrow that two people have to stand close together to avoid falling off.

If it weren't for the wall on one side, it probably wouldn't be able to accommodate two people sleeping there.

Mo Xueyao squeezed in as much as possible to leave enough space for Li Wanyan.

"Ah, time flies. Today is Wednesday, tomorrow is Thursday, and the day after tomorrow is Friday with no main classes," she said with a sigh.

Li Wanyan nodded in agreement: "That's why we should cherish our time."

"However, we still have plenty of time to squander, after all, we're still young!"

"I feel like I'll have more time to waste after I retire."

"Eh—we'll be too old then, and even if we had the time, we wouldn't have the energy to squander it." Mo Xueyao hid half her face under the covers. "Ugh—the blanket smells bad."

"...It smells musty."

"Didn't Mom take the blankets out to air them today? I need to tell her tomorrow that the blankets need washing." Mo Xueyao said, closing her eyes, and soon her even breathing could be heard.

She falls asleep incredibly fast, almost like Nobita from Doraemon.

Li Wanyan smiled in the darkness and closed her eyes.

……

Chapter 121 Spring Rain is as Precious as Oil

"Today is March 9th, 2000, a Thursday. If we don't count today, there's only one day left until the holiday. I wonder how everyone spent International Women's Day yesterday? Spring has arrived, and there will be frequent showers and fluctuating temperatures in the coming days. Please take precautions to keep warm and bring an umbrella when you go out..."

The tape recorder, which had been left on all night, emitted the morning broadcast.

The tape drive is quite energy-efficient; two AA batteries can power it for three or four nights.

Size 5 batteries are sold in Grandma Jin's grocery store, and because they are sold to them at cost price, they are not considered expensive.

"Click." Li Wanyan, who was lying on the bedside table, reached out and turned off the tape player in a daze. She took a deep breath and sat up abruptly.

Immediately afterwards, the alarm clock rang, which she skillfully turned off as well.

Mo Xueyao rolled over in bed and covered her head with the blanket.

"Yaoyao, wake up." Li Wanyan gently nudged her body, picked up Sutang who was lying on her lower abdomen through the blankets, and placed her on the ground. She then slowly put on her school uniform and pantyhose.

Strictly speaking, Yukong High School has a total of three sets of school uniforms.

They are spring and autumn, summer and winter, respectively.

Winter skirts and clothes are the thickest and largest, making it easy to wear a sweater underneath.

The spring and autumn versions consist of slightly thinner long-sleeved school uniforms and thinner skirts.

Winter school uniform skirts cover the knees, while spring and autumn skirts cover slightly above the knees.

The summer ones are the shortest, revealing most of the legs.

Li Wanyan carefully buttoned up her clothes before climbing off the bed.

After she finished washing up, Mo Xueyao also strolled out in her school uniform, yawning as she went to get the washbasin, toothbrush, and cup that were placed in the store.

Spring showers come suddenly. Just as the sun is slowly rising above the horizon, about to break through the clouds and shine its light, it is blocked by drifting dark clouds, and then a torrential downpour begins.

The rain was so heavy that a misty fog filled the air.

"It's just like a waterfall." Mo Xueyao was jolted awake by the cool wind.

"Yaoyao, your clothes aren't on properly again." Li Wanyan sighed, walked to her side, straightened her skirt, and smoothed out the wrinkles on her clothes. "You've buttoned all the buttons wrong."

"Cough, haha... I wasn't fully awake this morning." Mo Xueyao explained, scratching her head, and buried her face in warm water mixed with hot and cold water to thoroughly wash off the face wash.

Sometimes she likes to put her little face in the water and play a game of holding her breath. This is a habit she has had since she was little, so her lung capacity is quite good. She can hold her breath for up to two minutes.

"Glug glug—" Bubbles began to rise from the water, making her look like a fish absorbing oxygen from the water.

"Alright, stop playing around, you've got your hair all wet." Li Wanyan shook her head and smiled helplessly, looking at her like she was looking at a child.

"Phew—it's raining so hard, should we wait a while before setting off?" Mo Xueyao asked, looking at the gray street outside the half-open side shutter door.

"Let's wait five minutes. If it's just a shower, it should stop soon."

"Okay." Mo Xueyao took out her schoolbag and put it on the cardboard box so she could carry it away later. Then she leisurely squatted down and rubbed her hands together with Su Tang. The latter immediately walked over with cat-like steps and rubbed her little face against her fingers.

Spring rain makes the flowers bloom more brightly and lays the foundation for the autumn harvest...

The rain selflessly nourished all things. Whether it was an illusion or not, Mo Xueyao clearly felt that the wildflowers by the roadside had fully unfurled, and some buds seemed to be preparing to bloom in the spring rain.

The rain stopped in less than five minutes. The dark clouds were broken up and blown away by the wind, and the sky brightened up a lot. However, the sun did not appear immediately, but hid shyly behind the clouds.

Taking advantage of the time when the rain stopped, Li Wanyan and Mo Xueyao quickly put on their backpacks and set off.

Mo Xueyao held the umbrella in her hand, just in case it started raining unexpectedly again.

This umbrella had been repaired by Duanmu Ji before. He seemed to have carefully cleaned the stains on it and applied lubricant to the retractable part of the handle. Now it works just like new.

Repairing is indeed the most economical way, but times have changed. As the economy has improved, an umbrella is no longer a big deal for most people, and they naturally become too lazy to repair it once it breaks.

Just like mending bowls, she remembers that when she was a child, there were often bowl menders carrying their wares on shoulder poles around the city, sometimes sitting at the entrance of the community, waiting for people to come to them.

Bowls with chips, leaky bottoms, or cracked in two can be repaired by such people. After the repair, they will look brand new, and you can't even tell the repair marks unless you look closely.

In the past, it was always like this: whatever it was, we would repair and patch it up, and keep using it as long as it was usable.

Three years of new clothes, three years of old clothes, and three more years of repairs and patching – this perfectly encapsulates the lives of people in that era.

The two were walking along the road when suddenly another clap of thunder sounded in the sky, followed by a torrential downpour without warning.

Although they were holding umbrellas, the two of them inevitably got a little wet and quickly ran into the school and into the classroom.

Although I tried to avoid puddles, my shoes still got quite wet.

Upon entering the classroom, Li Wanyan used her "privilege" as class monitor to turn on the heater.

Logically speaking, there's no need to turn on the heating in spring...

But right now, the main reason isn't to keep warm, but to dry my shoes and socks as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, wearing this all day would be really uncomfortable.

Warm air quickly blew from the electric heater, and Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan casually found two seats against the wall, since the only place with a radiator was against the wall.

The canvas shoes were placed near the lower air vent, and Mo Xueyao's shoes looked a little smaller.

"Hmph... Even though it's spring, it's still quite cold after the rain and the wind..." Mo Xueyao muttered, shrinking her neck.

She saw a few students emerging from the dormitory. Because of the rain, they were finally able to avoid their morning exercise. They were all holding umbrellas and walking towards the school gate like walking mushrooms.

These are for buying breakfast.