A Young Woman's Heart

"Haha, okay, I'm on my way to visit a friend, and I brought some of this jelly with me. See you next time."

"Bye-Bye."

Mo Xueyao gave one of the two jellies to Li Wanyan and poked Su Tang's head with her finger: "For hitting other dogs, I'm not taking you out to play anymore."

"Meow." Su Tang straightened up and put her paws on the leg of her casual pants, scratching them affectionately.

"Don't stick your claws out, I barely have any good pairs of pants left." Mo Xueyao swatted its claws away impatiently, pointing to a small hole in the pant leg. "Look, this is what you tore. Do you know what you did wrong?"

"Meow." Sugar's voice grew softer. Just as it was about to do something else, a large, reckless dog swatted it to the ground with its paw.

The husky has grown quite a bit, and its pair of blue eyes always have a somewhat human-like gaze—the kind that's rather annoying.

Its mouth opened and closed with a "ba aba" sound, as if it wanted to swallow the whole head of the candy, but of course, it was just playing around.

"Meow—!" Su Tang let out an angry meow and 'whoosh' jumped onto the husky's back, which immediately collapsed to the ground and started rolling around.

"What a nimble fatso..." Mo Xueyao sighed to herself as she watched Su Tang nimbly dodge the attack. She didn't disturb the cat and dog's playful antics and continued eating frozen jelly as she and Li Wanyan headed toward the park.

Mid-Levels Park is not a well-known tourist attraction; in fact, it may only be known to local residents.

There were some pedestrians taking a walk on the uphill slope, and occasionally you could see a few small grocery stores along the way.

"Wanyan, look at that!" Mo Xueyao suddenly patted her arm excitedly, pointing to something hanging outside a general store.

It was a toy gun.

Each one is shaped like a revolver; to buy whichever one you want, simply tear them off along with their plastic bags.

Besides the toy gun, there were also about a dozen disc-shaped bullets inside.

Each one can fire six shots.

Mo Xueyao had never played with this toy before; she had only seen others play with it.

I was quite envious back then, but I don't need to be envious anymore, because—she has money in her pocket.

Her parents didn't take the scholarship money; they left her all three hundred yuan, only warning her not to squander it.

Mo Xueyao has only spent 100 yuan so far, leaving 295 yuan.

I certainly wouldn't carry that much cash with me when I go out, but I still keep some change in my pocket just in case.

"Boss, how much is one?"

"Five cents," the shopkeeper replied casually.

Without hesitation, Mo Xueyao dropped down five cents, excitedly tore off a plastic bag, and took out the revolver inside.

Out of ten boys, probably eight of them like guns.

Mo Xueyao was no exception—after all, she had once been a boy.

Holding a revolver gave her the feeling of being a cowboy in the West, and loading a revolver was much cooler than other firearms.

Mo Xueyao's mind was filled with scenes from many movies. With a 'click,' she opened the loading port and inserted a red, disc-shaped 'bullet.'

This disc corresponds to six bullets.

Then, with a deft flick of her wrist, she closed the pistol and pulled the trigger in a secluded spot.

"boom!"

The smell of gunpowder filled the air, just like a real gunshot.

"Hehe." Mo Xueyao blew on the black smoke from the muzzle of her gun and asked smugly, "How about it, Wanyan? Isn't he handsome?"

Li Wanyan glanced at her sideways but did not answer.

Well, for Li Wanyan, this kind of thing is indeed quite childish...

In the hillside park, there are some simple amusement facilities. It was probably originally intended to be developed into an amusement park, but it was abandoned for some reason. Only some relatively safe amusement facilities such as Ferris wheels and carousels are still preserved and maintained on a daily basis.

To be precise, it was sold to different people. Playing different attractions costs money, but entering the park is free.

Mo Xueyao's favorite place is the maze here.

Because it has been neglected for many years, the maze is overgrown with weeds. It is a remote corner of the bustling city. Standing in the maze, one feels as if they have traveled through an endless, distant era and arrived in a post-apocalyptic future.

When she was little, her godfather took her to play in the maze here. She could never find the exit, and every time she got anxious, she could only shout and scream. Then she would see her godfather climb over the wall to find her, tease her with a smile, and carry her out of the maze.

As they grew older, this place became a hide-and-seek playground for children, where they could play all day long.

Some quick-witted individuals can even 'cheate' by circumventing the Great Firewall.

But now, coming here again, the feeling is different.

She stopped coming back in the second and third years of junior high school because of her studies, and by the time she got to high school, she had almost forgotten about the place.

It was only recently, in the comfort of my life, that I rekindled this memory.

She quickly climbed to the top of the wall and realized that the maze walls weren't actually that high. Even though she was only 1.62 meters tall, it was easy for her to climb up.

Standing on high ground overlooking the maze, she realized for the first time how small it was.

It's hard to imagine how I used to spend an entire day playing there with seven or eight friends.

"Yaoyao, be careful," Li Wanyan called out from below. "Don't fall."

"Don't worry, I used to climb these walls all the time!" Mo Xueyao stretched her arms out to both sides, swaying slightly to maintain her balance, and walked forward step by step, feeling as if she had returned to the past.

The happiness of being a child was so simple and pure back then.

As you get older, do you feel like the world is getting smaller and smaller?

Lost in thought, Mo Xueyao squatted down in a slightly sturdier corner: "Wanyan, want to come up and play too?"

"No, thank you." Li Wanyan shook her head. "Did Yaoyao used to come here often?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"I can tell." She rubbed her cheeks, smiled, and pointed to the weed-like plants in the corner of the wall, saying, "I didn't expect so many of these wild vegetables to grow here."

Wild vegetables? Are they tasty?

"It tastes a bit bitter, but once you get used to it, you'll find it quite delicious. I usually call it bitter vegetable."

"Bitter lettuce?" As a child who grew up in the city, Mo Xueyao was not familiar with wild vegetables.

"Yes, when I lived in the countryside, there were often many wild vegetables like these growing on the mountainside, and I would pick some to take back and eat."

Deep-fry? Or stir-fry?

"You can stir-fry it or make a cold dish with it." Li Wanyan tossed her hair and pulled a crumpled plastic bag out of her pocket.

"Hey, Wanyan, why do you always carry plastic bags with you?"

"It's a habit I had from before." Li Wanyan smiled, without explaining further, and simply picked up the bitter greens one by one and put them into the bag with great skill.

"Heave-ho—" Mo Xueyao jumped down from the wall. "By the way, it must be very bitter to make this cold, right?"

"If you're used to the taste, it's best served cold," Li Wanyan smiled. "It has the most natural freshness and is also the crispest and most delicious."

"I see."

……

Chapter 188 Bitter Herbs

The hillside park actually only occupies the foot of the hill. You can reach the top of the hill by walking up the old, cracked steps.

It wasn't a high mountain, but when Mo Xueyao reached the top, she was still covered in sweat.

There was no particular reason; I simply wanted to take a look from the mountaintop.

Looking down at the city, which resembles a model, is a truly exhilarating experience.

It makes people feel like they are a god on high.

It has a transcendent feeling.

Strands of hair clung to her cheeks with sweat, and a few fine beads of sweat trickled down her forehead. Mo Xueyao opened her arms contentedly, as if embracing the entire city, or perhaps the whole world.

"Whoosh—this breeze feels so good."

"It's very refreshing." Li Wanyan took out a napkin, handed one to Mo Xueyao, and then carefully wiped the sweat off her face.

"It was worth it to climb to the top of the mountain!" Mo Xueyao grabbed a napkin and wiped her face casually before plopping down on the grass, pressing an unknown wildflower under her.

"It's almost noon." Li Wanyan also sat down on the ground, gazing into the distance. Something seemed to be on her mind, which made her look a little lonely, but then she smiled easily again.

"Hmm, Mom should be making lunch in about an hour." Mo Xueyao casually plucked a blade of grass, wiped it with her hand, and put it directly in her mouth. "Let's rest for a while and then go down the mountain."

"it is good."

The process of climbing a mountain always takes more time; the time spent at the summit may not even be half of the climbing time.

"Shall I carry the bitter herbs for you on the way down the mountain? Actually, we should pick them when we get down."

"Well, I also picked some other things on the mountain, all of which are edible." Li Wanyan rarely showed a proud expression. "Xiaoyao has probably never eaten them before, right?"

"Hmm... I don't think I've ever eaten wild vegetables before." Mo Xueyao scratched her cheek. "The most I've ever done was when I went back to the countryside during summer vacation and secretly ate sweet potatoes that someone else had grown."

"I'll make it for you later." Li Wanyan smiled gently. "But, your godmother should be able to make it too."

"Hmm, Wanyan, you can make it! Let's see what you've got!"

"Didn't we try it before?"

"It's been so long, I've long forgotten." Mo Xueyao looked up at the soft white clouds in the sky and said sincerely, "Ah... I feel that life is still very beautiful."

“But it’s not good for everyone,” Li Wanyan retorted softly.

"No, I think we should have eyes to see the beauty in life. There may be some, but there will definitely be some. The beauty that we discover is the driving force that propels us forward."

"Yaoyao has been spending more time with Hua Yinyin lately, and her Chinese has improved too," Li Wanyan said with a light laugh, covering her mouth.

Although she no longer always wears a stern face, it will still take time to completely remove that invisible mask that is almost ingrained in her flesh.

"Sigh, these are life lessons, life lessons!" Mo Xueyao sat up and threw the grass in her mouth far away. "For a while, I relied on these to keep going."

"Really?" Li Wanyan clearly didn't believe that Mo Xueyao could be like that.