A Young Woman's Heart

"Just answer a few questions and interact with me a bit, there's no need to be nervous," Shen Kelin said very easily.

"I... I'll think about it."

"Uh—okay, I'll think about it. Anyway, it shouldn't rain for the next few days." Shen Kelin suddenly moved closer to Mo Xueyao. "By the way, can I take a closer look at your eyes?"

"Sure...but what do you want to do?" Mo Xueyao gave an awkward yet polite smile. Although the other person was an acquaintance from junior high school, their enthusiasm made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Time can indeed change many things.

Now I feel estranged from people I used to know.

If time goes by, will I feel distant from my former best friends?

Mo Xueyao suddenly felt a pang of emotion.

"Hmm—nothing, just looking." Shen Kelin stared at her with wide eyes and said, "Wow, not colored contacts, real blue eyes...such beautiful eye color, I'm so envious!"

"It's...it's alright..." Mo Xueyao said with an embarrassed smile, scratching her cheek.

"Actually, I knew about you not long after we enrolled. Well... it must have been during military training. I heard there was a girl in Class 2 who was mixed-race and had deep blue eyes."

"Uh... well, it's turned sky blue now."

"Hmm! After I learned your name was Mo Xueyao and saw your photos, I was pretty sure it was the 'Mo Xueyao' I knew. It wasn't until I secretly observed you recently that I finally confirmed it." Shen Kelin patted Mo Xueyao's shoulder. "You're a big star in the whole school now, more famous than all the other school beauties combined!"

"Is it really that exaggerated...? And as for being a school beauty, I don't think I qualify, do I?"

"Excessive modesty is just arrogance," Shen Kelin said, narrowing her eyes. "If you're not even considered a school beauty, what are we supposed to do with girls like me who are just average-looking!"

"Shen Kelin, you're not bad looking, are you...?"

"Does it mean it's alright?"

"I didn't say..." Mo Xueyao, as always, couldn't handle her.

Back in school, it was usually she who took the initiative to chat with Mo Xueyao.

For the entire three years of junior high school, she was either Mo Xueyao's deskmate in front of her, her deskmate behind her, or sometimes even her deskmate.

Thinking about it carefully, they really are classmates I know very well.

When she first met her, Mo Xueyao was filled with both trepidation and anticipation.

The reason we've become estranged is probably because of what she said at the beginning.

She always felt there was danger, which made her instinctively want to avoid it.

Because her intuition was so sharp, or rather, she actually knew such obscure knowledge, which meant she could guess Mo Xueyao's secret, which was truly terrifying.

"Phew..." Shen Kelin, who was talking enthusiastically, suddenly fell silent. After a few seconds, she smiled again and said, "Alright, I'm leaving now. I originally thought that our relationship was closer than I imagined."

She didn't mention being a guest again, but calmly got up and left.

Mo Xue stared blankly at her departing figure, lost in thought.

He took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

……

Chapter 154 Off-Campus Disputes

Two thousand years of Chinese history have not been a particularly peaceful era.

Although it is moving in a more civilized and peaceful direction, there are still many things that have not yet been changed.

There are still quite a few hooligans and thugs.

Although many knives are now regulated, this doesn't stop these thugs from using other things as weapons, such as nunchucks or crowbars.

They always think of themselves as carefree and unrestrained heroes, but in reality, they are not even bandits; they are merely a cancer.

On his way home from school, Chen Cheng and several other first-year high school students were stopped on the road.

To be precise, they were stopped in the alley.

In fact, if they had taken the main road, they wouldn't have easily run into this group of thugs.

However, in order to avoid the teachers patrolling the school gate while smoking, they disregarded their own safety as they entered this dark alley.

"Brothers!" Just as Chen Cheng and his smoking buddies were smoking and bragging, several burly men leaned back and walked over arrogantly. When they saw the tall but not strong Chen Cheng, they reached out and patted him on the shoulder, saying rudely, "Lend me some money to buy cigarettes!"

"...Do I know you?" Chen Cheng's face showed a puzzled expression. Although he had already realized what was going on, he instinctively restrained himself and did not want to break off relations.

"Hey, that's not quite right." The leader grinned, revealing a few yellowed teeth. "Meeting is fate, meeting means we know each other, and once we know each other, we're brothers. Lending a brother some money is no big deal, is it?"

This blatant fallacy made Chen Cheng want to refute it.

But he gritted his teeth and managed to suppress his impulse.

He still vividly remembers the time he was pinned to the ground and beaten by a group of people.

Moreover, these thugs are different from the students we've encountered before.

These guys have knives; they could actually stab someone to death.

Even if they don't kill them, they'll all be seriously injured one by one.

As for the police? The law?

Excuse me, but if these things were so useful in this day and age, these social scum wouldn't be so arrogant.

It is precisely this inaction that has emboldened them.

"Uh, I don't have much money on me. How much do you need to borrow?"

"Lend me a hundred." The gang leader looked Chen Cheng up and down, asking with a smile like a tiger.

He was certain that if he refused, that fist would definitely hit him in the face.

"Only fifty..."

"Let me see your wallets." The man opposite raised an eyebrow, and the other five men looked up at them with their noses in their noses. "And you guys! Let me see your wallets. Brothers, lend me some money, just a hundred each, no more, okay? I'll definitely pay you back next time we meet."

A short boy behind him asked timidly, "What if that's not enough...?"

"If it's not enough, I'll borrow it all. Don't worry, my brother Tiger definitely won't hit you just because you didn't bring much money." The man who called himself Brother Tiger put his hand on the shoulder of the skinny boy behind Chen Cheng and gave him a 'kind' smile. "We're brothers, brothers can't make things difficult for each other, right?"

The skinny boy nodded vigorously, oblivious to the fact that the cigarette he was holding fell to the ground and burned his shoes.

The others took out the money from their pockets; they didn't have much money, only about ten yuan.

But Chen Cheng had more than fifty in his wallet.

He gave an awkward laugh, and after some hesitation, took out his wallet.

"Hmm, let me see. Oh, it's more than fifty? I know, you must have forgotten, right?" Tiger patted Chen Cheng's chest and laughed loudly.

“Yes…” Chen Cheng revealed a slightly sinister smile.

"Haha, here's two hundred yuan. We agreed I'd only lend you one hundred, I'll pay you back the rest." Tiger tossed the wallet back to Chen Cheng. "Brother, I'm very trustworthy."

"Thank you..." Chen Cheng managed to squeeze out a single word, but he couldn't bring himself to say the next one.

The others didn't think much of it. After taking the money, they handed it over to Brother Tiger. Then, Brother Tiger distributed the money in front of them—a total of over 160 yuan. He took 100 yuan for himself and gave the remaining 60 yuan to each of the others, about 10 yuan each.

"Thanks, brothers." Tiger waved to them with a 'friendly' smile, "See you next time!"

The others breathed a sigh of relief after they had walked away.

As for seeing each other again, it's best not to.

Even if you see them, you can't return the money; they might even take it away, or 'borrow' more money.

"Damn it, these bastards!" Chen Cheng gritted his teeth and punched the wall. "They said they were borrowing, but they're just robbing us!"

"That's right!" the skinny boy chimed in indignation. "A bunch of human scum and degenerates!"

The other four or five people chimed in.

"We should have made a move just now!" someone said. "Next time we see them, we should fight them. We're about the same number anyway, why should we be afraid of them?"

That's exactly what I meant!

"These scumbags..." Chen Cheng put his wallet back in his pocket. "Let's go, don't come here again, damn it! They talked so nicely, even asking for money, it's disgusting!"

After saying this, everyone turned and left.

Chen Cheng was the one who regretted it the most. He should have just gone to the place near his house to smoke. Since his parents weren't home, why did he have to smoke with these smoking buddies?

Just to relieve loneliness, so that someone can chat with me while I'm smoking?

Everyone else would love to be as free as him.

They came here to smoke because they didn't dare to smoke near the school or their homes.

Smoking is harmful to your health.

He sighed in his heart.

They had only taken a few steps when they heard Tiger's voice coming from behind.

"Hey—someone just told me you guys are saying I'm a robber, what's going on?"

Chen Cheng's steps suddenly faltered. Instinct told him he should run, but his male pride made him turn back.

The others performed much the same way, except some seemed a bit more stiff.

Were we betrayed?

There were indeed other people passing by just now...

Did he happen to run into 'Tiger Brother' when he walked ahead, and that's why he told everyone?

Chen Cheng was seething with hatred, but he didn't know who it was.

"Hey, who said that?" Tiger slowly walked over, seemingly very satisfied with everyone's performance, which gave him a strange sense of pleasure, a sense of control over others. "I already said, it was money borrowed from the brothers, not stolen."

"No, no... We just meant... we're out of money ourselves..."

"We didn't insist that everyone lend us a hundred, right? We didn't yell at you or hit you, did we?" Tiger said 'gently'. "This won't do. If there's something to say, you can say it to our faces. Who was it that said those things just now? Why are you smearing us behind our backs?"

Chen Cheng looked at the others, but they all turned to look at him.