A Young Woman's Heart

Chapter 180 Blacksmithing Pass

Eating on a crowded train is not a pleasant experience, especially when you're surrounded by a group of children who seem to have ADHD.

Girls seem to be born with a knack for scheming and backstabbing. Several elementary school girls were chatting about who they'd gotten along with that day, who they'd fallen out with, and even calling on everyone to stop hanging out with certain people...

The boys' happiness was much simpler and purer; they gathered together and played a simple but fun clapping game.

"Hey!" This isn't an interjection, but rather a shout they make when performing a certain action.

It means that one unit of energy has been accumulated.

"Hey!" the group shouted again, then looked at each other and smiled.

To outsiders, they probably look like a bunch of idiots.

However, Mo Xueyao could somewhat understand why they were laughing.

Because she had played similar games before, although the rules were slightly different from what they played, there were still similarities.

For example, this action is called "gathering energy." If you are attacked while gathering energy, you will die instantly. It's like rock-paper-scissors; no one knows who will attack whom in the next round.

Therefore, some people might choose to defend to block others' attacks, so that others suffer losses while they do not, and then they can launch an attack in the next round.

Some people might boldly choose to gather energy again, but this is a very dangerous thing, especially in the third round.

Because the 'energy' gathered in the first two rounds can take away half of the health of someone with 'normal defense'.

At this moment, the fact that these five boys chose to gather their energy together signifies that they are all very courageous, or one could say that they are quite 'cunning'.

This is a subtle psychological game; although there are only five people, it's like a small 'war'.

Or, to put it another way, it's a simple war sandbox game where you can directly express your strategy through actions.

After finishing her teppanyaki tofu, Mo Xueyao gripped the handrail tightly, watching with great interest as the elementary school students played with increasing excitement.

What adults find agonizing on the journey is actually what makes them reluctant to leave.

Some people even deliberately missed their stop just so they could play with their friends a little longer.

In contrast, junior high school boys don't play these kinds of games much anymore. They either play more complex games—paper games—or chat about the latest video games or current events.

However, most junior high school students have very naive political views.

"Passengers, we have arrived at Datieguan. Passengers disembarking, please use the pedestrian crossing. When crossing the road, please use the crosswalk..."

"Xiaoyao, we're here!" Wang Jiale tugged at Mo Xueyao's clothes, squeezed past the elementary school students who were blocking the exit but not getting off the train, and jumped onto the platform.

"Phew—" Mo Xueyao breathed a sigh of relief. She felt that she hadn't ridden a bus during rush hour in a long time—since junior high school, she had usually ridden a bike to and from school.

The air outside is so fresh and pleasant.

She seriously suspected that if she stayed in that strangely smelly carriage any longer, she would probably be pickled and seasoned.

"Taking the bus at this time of day is really tiring." Mo Xueyao stretched and threw the styrofoam box into the trash can next to her. "It feels like the bus only went a few steps before stopping."

“Yeah, there are more and more cars lately, but most roads only have one lane in each direction, so there are only two lanes in total. I think they’ve started widening the roads recently, right?” Wang Jiale muttered. “But it’s not going to be that fast anyway.”

“Actually, Lele, you should buy a bicycle. It’s not too far from here to school.” Mo Xueyao recognized the place; she used to pass by it often. “Does your home live nearby? It’s quite close to mine.”

"Huh? Where does Haruka live?"

"If I get off at the Hangzhou Oxygen Plant Station, it's just a short walk to my house."

"Wow, it's only one stop away!" Wang Jiale excitedly snuggled closer to Mo Xueyao. "We can hang out together more often next time!"

"Ah, but lately I usually stay at the fruit shop. It's close to the school, but it's still a bit far from here."

"It's okay, it's okay. We can hang out together during the long holiday. We don't have much time during the week anyway."

"For example, summer vacation?"

"Yeah!" Wang Jiale suddenly sighed, "It's so slow, when will summer vacation finally arrive?"

“Winter break has only just ended…” Mo Xueyao’s eyelids twitched. “I think it’s more reasonable for you to look forward to the May Day holiday.”

"Yeah, it's the end of March now, let's say April, then there's only one month until the May Day holiday! Suddenly I'm happy!"

Wang Jiale is such an easy girl to please.

Mo Xueyao said to herself.

After getting off the train, the two walked for another five minutes and entered a relatively new residential area, arriving at Wang Jiale's home.

Her house was a little bigger than Mo Xueyao's, with three bedrooms and a living room.

One of the rooms is a study, which is quite small. If a bed, even a single bed, were placed there, it would take up most of the space. At most, there would be room for a bedside table and nothing else.

However, it's not currently placed on the bed; it's just placed on a large bookshelf with seven or eight shelves.

"Huh, why is the floor here about 30 centimeters higher than the living room?" Mo Xueyao asked, puzzled, after comparing the two.

"Oh, here it is? This is a tatami room!" Wang Jiale pulled the sliding door of the study closed and then opened it again. "Look, this room is completely Japanese in style!"

The sliding door was indeed very Japanese in style, but Mo Xueyao hadn't seen it before, so she didn't recognize it.

Mo Xueyao walked barefoot down the small steps to the tatami mat, feeling its soft and warm texture, like stepping on a straw mat.

"So, all of this is storage space down here?" Mo Xueyao pointed to the ground beneath her feet and asked.

“That’s right~” Wang Jiale said, opening one and showing it to Mo Xueyao with a show of his pride, “This way we can make the most of the space!”

"But how can we sit like this? There are no chairs inside."

"Sit directly on the futon, just like the Japanese."

"...I don't think I'll be used to it," Mo Xueyao muttered, sitting cross-legged at the low round table. "Do you usually do your homework here?"

"Yeah, writing here allows you to look at the scenery outside the window, isn't that nice?"

"All right……"

"Has Xiaoyao finished her homework?"

"The copying wasn't done."

"Then, can I borrow the chemistry one for reference?"

"You didn't invite me to stay at your house just for this, did you?" Mo Xueyao joked, opening her schoolbag and taking out the chemistry homework assigned that day.

"Hey—I'm not that kind of person! But that way I can get up later tomorrow and won't have to rush to copy homework."

"So that was one of the purposes! And didn't you just say it was for reference? Now it's about copying? No way!" Mo Xueyao took back her notebook. "I can't let you copy. You have to study hard! Otherwise, you won't get into a good university!"

"Ugh, what the hell!" Wang Jiale stretched out her hand, but couldn't reach the homework book that Mo Xueyao held up high. "Xiaoyao, when did you become like the class monitor, always lecturing me?"

"Hmph, this is all for your own good!" Mo Xueyao laughed and smacked Wang Jiale on the forehead with her workbook before handing it over. "Alright, alright, you can copy it, but you'd better think about how you did it yourself, otherwise you'll really have a lot of problems you won't be able to solve in the future. I'm serious about that."

"Tch, since Xiaoyao said so, how can anyone else have the nerve to copy it..." Wang Jiale curled her lips, "Then I'll do the copying homework first, and then do the chemistry homework later."

"Okay, let's do it together. I'll help you check it after we're done. You can ask me if you don't understand anything." Sometimes teaching others can be addictive. In a sense, this is probably satisfying one's own 'vanity'?

Mo Xueyao felt a little embarrassed, but sometimes she couldn't control her vanity.

After all, she's not a saint. Any normal person would have all sorts of emotions.

"Xiaoyao, would you like a drink?" Wang Jiale suddenly stood up and asked while writing.

"It's all right."

Mo Xueyao replied indifferently.

So Wang Jiale took two cans of Coke and sat down again.

A moment later, she stood up again: "Xiaoyao, do you want some snacks?"

"It will be all right."

So Wang Jiale went to the box where the snacks were kept and rummaged around for a while. He found some dried fruit snacks that wouldn't make his hands greasy, poured them into a bowl, and sat down comfortably again.

"Oh, right, it's already 5:30, the TV series has started!" A moment later, Wang Jiale ran to turn on the TV again, then ran back, "Listening while I write, hehe."

This is a not-so-good TV series. It shows the daily life of a modern family and is a sitcom broadcast on a local channel.

Perhaps it is because I live in an ordinary daily life that I do not like ordinary daily stories?

"Pfft, hahaha—" Wang Jiale, who was doing her homework, was amused. She copied the wrong content and quickly used correction fluid to cover it up. She couldn't help but look up at the living room.

The television in Wang Jiale's home is placed on the side of the living room, which means it faces the door of the small room. If someone sitting inside is facing the door, they can clearly see the picture on the television.

"Hahaha—" Wang Jiale couldn't stop laughing. She smeared correction fluid on the table, so she quickly stood up, found a rag to wipe it clean, and sat down again.

It was time for a commercial break, so she quickly took the time to write a few more words.

Then... he stood up again.

Witnessing all this, Mo Xueyao finally couldn't help but look up and ask, "What's going on?"

"Huh?! W-what's wrong?" Wang Jiale stammered when he saw Mo Xueyao's angry face.

"I'm telling you, can't you just sit down and finish your homework before doing anything else..." Mo Xueyao sighed helplessly. "Look, I've already finished copying my homework, but you haven't even finished copying your Chinese homework. No wonder you always tell me that you have to do your homework until midnight. It's a miracle you can finish it by midnight!"

"Well……"

"Sit down and do your homework properly." Mo Xueyao looked like a stern teacher at this moment, perhaps she had been 'infected' by Li Wanyan.

"But I need to... go to the toilet."

Mo Xueyao covered her forehead in exasperation: "Fine, I'm not going to bother with you anymore..."

……

Chapter 181 A Girl's Fairy Tale

After finishing her homework, Mo Xueyao stretched and picked up a can of cola. With a click, she pulled the tab and started gulping it down.

"Ha—" She let out a comfortable sigh, lazily resting her chin on her hand while supervising Wang Jiale, "Hurry up and write, don't get distracted."

"I...I'll try my best..." Wang Jiale replied without much confidence.