A Young Woman's Heart

"Come on, I got tired of this when I was a kid. To me, it's just a cleaner fast food restaurant."

"Damn it, so what if you have money?" Zhou Yong laughed and cursed.

"Sorry, having money doesn't make you superior," Gao Yuan replied jokingly.

"Sigh, I really envy you rich people. People like me are just born supporting characters, no, I should say that most of the time, I'm just a passerby."

"No, no, no." Gao Yuan took a big gulp of cola and burped with great satisfaction. "Everyone is the protagonist of their own story. Don't be so self-conscious. It's just that some people's stories are known to more people, while others are only known to a few people around them."

"When did you start saying such philosophical things?" Zhou Yong asked, looking puzzled and surprised.

"Hey, do you think I'm just a nouveau riche? Let me tell you, I'm quite cultured."

"Oh, thirty-five in Chinese, the worst in the whole class?"

"cough!"

"If you don't work hard, you might end up repeating a year," Zhou Yong advised.

"I know, I know, it was just a small test, so I didn't pay much attention and just wrote whatever came to mind."

"Oh my, this is incredible! Let's see what your grades are like when you put your heart into it," Zhou Yong said jokingly, pulling out a napkin to wipe his mouth.

"Just you wait, kid. What if my grades are better than yours by then?"

"Then I'll kneel down right now and call you Dad!"

"You said it."

"What if you don't do as well as me on the test?"

I'll treat you to ten KFC meals!

"Damn, you're going to lose!"

"Haha, by the way, are you still going to take care of that girl?"

"No, I should go home. There's really no one I can take care of anyway. Besides, it wouldn't be good if she misunderstood me. It seems like her mental state isn't quite right." Zhou Yong shook his head.

Gao Yuan looked Zhou Yong up and down as if he were meeting him for the first time: "Oh, doing good deeds anonymously, the spirit of Lei Feng?"

"Stop teasing me, okay, I have to go home now."

"Oh, then you can take the rest of what you haven't finished eating." Gao Yuan pushed the remaining food over.

You don't want it?

"It's okay, I have a late-night snack." Gao Yuan shook his head.

The two boys said goodbye and went home.

On the way back, Zhou Yong kept thinking about what Gao Yuan had just said.

"The protagonist of my own story...?" He looked at his reflection in the window and laughed with a hint of self-deprecation.

……

When I woke up to the sound of cicadas that day, I saw bright sunshine outside the window.

There were still traces of rain on the building, but that must have happened at least in the early hours of the morning.

Today might be a nice day, as the sun was already high in the sky, its golden rays blurring her vision.

It seems like something happened, but it feels like a dream, and I don't quite remember.

On the left, there were some fever reducers and anti-inflammatory drugs neatly arranged, and on the box in the corner, there seemed to be some snacks and drinks.

She sat up in confusion, only to be tightly embraced by a pair of hands.

"...?"

"You're awake." Another voice rang out; it was Zuo Ziya, who was three or four years older than her.

"Um...you...bought the medicine?"

"Hmm? Those fever reducers? I didn't buy them. They were already there when I arrived. I thought you bought them yourself." Zuo Ziya smiled. She had recently dyed her long hair purple with a very expensive dye, so it didn't look cheap at all. Instead, it gave her a mysterious and noble air.

"No...you bought it?" Tian Tingchan felt dizzy and vaguely remembered that someone else had come by, but she couldn't remember who it was.

"Hmm, are they your other friends?"

“Friends…” she gave a bitter smile, “I have no other friends.”

"Perhaps you forgot."

"Perhaps, I don't know who it was..." Tian Tingchan's memory was still very confused, so she decided not to think about anything and just let her mind go.

"Why did you send that kind of text message? I came all the way from Nanjing because I was afraid something might have happened to you."

"I'm sorry..." Tian Tingchan lowered her head, looking at the scabbed wound on her finger.

"He didn't seem to be thinking of suicide, was he just delirious from the fever?"

Tian Tingchan didn't answer; instead, she raised her hand, put it in her mouth, and bit it hard to confirm that it was real.

"Thank you," she said again.

"Think about it carefully, isn't it better to be alive? Actually, I can offer you a lot of help, so why refuse me?" Zuo Ziya, who had been lying next to her all night, also sat up.

"……not worth."

"What's not worth it?"

“You can’t help everyone… and you certainly can’t help everyone you meet.” Tian Tingchan seemed unwilling to discuss this topic further. She tried to make her voice sound less dejected, but all she could do was raise her voice slightly. “When did Sister Zuo arrive?”

"I arrived at midnight and opened the door with the spare key," she said, looking around. "Come to think of it, I've never stayed in such a small room before. Even my storage room at home is much bigger than this."

"I think it's great." Tian Tingchan stood up shakily, slipped, and almost fell to the ground.

“Although we are the same kind of people, sometimes I really can’t understand you…” Zuo Ziya sighed helplessly, “What are you thinking?”

"I wasn't thinking anything, thank you..."

"This is the third time I've said it today."

"Because I have nothing left to repay them with."

"No need to repay me." Zuo Ziya stood up. "Go wash up, and then come have breakfast with me?"

Tian Tingchan glanced at the soft, bright sun on the horizon and shook her head: "I want to go to Shangtianzhu."

"Same here, they also have breakfast. If you miss breakfast, you can still make it to lunch." Zuo Ziya brushed a strand of hair that had fallen beside her ear.

"Thank you."

"Don't say thank you anymore!"

"……Thanks."

"You'll get angry if you say that again?"

"..." This time, Tian Tingchan opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Life goes on, and as long as you're alive, you'll always see more beautiful things.

There will always be.

Always.

Zuo Ziya looked at Tian Tingchan, wanting to say these words, but after struggling and hesitating, she ultimately did not say them.

For stubborn people, too much comfort might actually have the opposite effect.

After washing up in the public restroom, Tian Tingchan and Zuo Ziya went downstairs.

The female driver was already waiting by the car.

Last night, Zuo Ziya booked a room for her and told her to sleep in a hotel.

The main reason Zuo Ziya wanted to sleep at Tian Tingchan's place was to keep an eye on her and prevent her from doing anything foolish.

"Don't do anything stupid again." Zuo Ziya took a box of band-aids out of the car and handed it to her. "Put this on the bite wound first. Look at you, you're covered in wounds, that's not pretty."

These wounds are intricate and varied in depth, intertwined together. From a distance, they don't look like wounds at all, but rather like some kind of special tattoo.

Tian Tingchan silently took the band-aids and applied them one by one, pressing hard on the wound each time before releasing them after a while.

Perhaps this pain makes her brain feel comfortable and relaxed.

This is a consequence of that incident.

Of course, there were also reasons on her part.

"Miss Zuo, where to?" The female driver, who was a little younger than Zuo Ziya, asked respectfully. She was obviously new to the job and still a bit inexperienced.

"Let's go to Shangtianzhu." Zuo Ziya put on sunglasses to block out the overly bright morning sunlight.

"Shall we go buy breakfast first?"

“No need, let’s go to Shangtianzhu… Hmm, we’ll get there around eight o’clock, there should still be breakfast available.” Zuo Ziya glanced at the delicate women’s watch, “Let’s drive a little faster.”

"Ok."

After a moment of silence, Tian Tingchan, who had been looking down, suddenly saw a hand wearing a watch offering her a comb.

"Your hair is a mess, you should comb it quickly."

"..."

"Your wish isn't to give up on yourself, is it?"

Upon hearing this, Tian Tingchan slowly raised her head.

"As a girl, paying attention to your appearance is a must," Zuo Ziya said with a smile, shaking the comb. "Come on, comb your hair first, then I'll give you a hair tie to tie up; it'll look neater that way."

As Zuo Ziya spoke, she also used another comb to comb her hair.

Although she had combed her hair in the public restroom, it still didn't feel neat enough. To make her hair look shinier and smoother, she picked up a small bottle and sprayed some clear liquid onto her hair. It looked like water, but it probably wasn't, because it had a faint fragrance.

Everyone in the car remained silent, going about their own business.

This also made Tian Tingchan feel that the turmoil in her heart was being slowly soothed...

……