A Young Woman's Heart

"No, it won't!" the old woman waved her hand vigorously. "My cat is very well-behaved! So sensible! So obedient, so sensible!" the old woman tried her best to express herself, although the words she said were always repeated.

"But you still need to go to the toilet."

"It can go by itself! It can go anywhere that requires a squat toilet!"

"That's amazing?"

"Yes! You can also get a basin and dig some sand from the river to use as a toilet. Many people buy kittens to keep as pets, but the kittens I bought are absolutely healthy and won't cause any trouble!"

"Meow~" The kittens nuzzled each other, huddled together, and looked so cute they could melt anyone's heart.

"You said all of this. If you sell it and leave, where am I supposed to find you?"

"Sigh! I come to this market two or three times a year! If you don't believe me, go ask the other vendors if my cat is reliable!"

"Yes, her cat is really nice. It's good to have as a pet or to catch mice." The owner of the dried goods store at the entrance of the market chimed in.

Mo Wenli smiled and declined, saying, "Forget it, it's too much trouble to raise them. They'll make a mess of the house, and we won't have time to clean it up."

The old woman sighed and didn't continue speaking.

Then, a few scattered people came over to look at the cat.

Some were elders leading children, while others were clearly shop owners.

"You cat, can you even catch mice?"

"We can definitely catch it! Boss, are you raising it at home or running a shop?"

"I own a restaurant."

"The restaurant should buy this little white cat; it will bring them good fortune and catch mice—what a great thing!"

"Why is the female cat twice as expensive?"

"Of course! A mother cat can give birth to kittens, and then we can make money from it, so of course it has to be more expensive, right?"

"Can you give me a discount if I buy two?"

"Thirty yuan, not a penny less."

"twenty five."

"No, no, selling our cat for such a low price is irresponsible to the mother cat!" the old woman said logically.

The restaurant owner laughed at this, so he didn't insist and nodded, saying, "Okay, thirty it is. Pick two for me. Hmm... is this black one a female?"

"It's a female cat."

"That's perfect, one black and one white, stylish."

“How can this be considered fashionable? This black and white is the Tai Chi symbol from our ancestors. It should be called symbolic!” the old woman corrected, somewhat dissatisfied.

"Wow, I didn't realize you were so cultured. Impressive!" the restaurant owner joked with a smile. After paying, he used two thick black plastic bags meant for fish to carry the two kittens away.

Before long, several more kittens were bought, and some people even came specifically because of its reputation.

Suddenly, there were only six kittens left.

The fact that someone was willing to buy it actually made Mo Wenli a little tempted.

The remaining cats include two with traditional tabby markings, two orange tabby cats, one calico cat, and one black and white cat.

"Look, if we don't pick one now, there really won't be any left." The old woman looked at her father and said with a hint of pride, "Would you like one?"

"Okay... then." Mo Wenli checked his phone. No one had called yet. If he hadn't received a call by this time, he probably wouldn't get any orders this afternoon.

Even if there were any, there probably wouldn't be many; they'd all been taken by other people.

So he nodded, somersaulted off the tricycle, and squatted down in front of the bamboo basket to carefully select items.

"Female or male drops?"

"A male, please." Mo Wenli had no intention of letting the cat have kittens, and male cats were half the price, so it would be more convenient to keep a male cat at home.

"Except for this calico, all the others are male."

"Let me see." Mo Wenli reached out and touched the kittens, observing their reactions.

Some cats gently nibbled at his hand, while others rubbed against him. Only one tabby cat seemed calm, simply lowering its head and letting him stroke it at will.

This tabby cat has black and white stripes on its back, while the lower half of its belly and the lower half of its four paws are pure white. Only one leg is completely covered by black and white stripes, as if it has a tattoo on its arm.

Its golden-green pupils look calm, but they are not dull. On the contrary, you can see the liveliness hidden in its eyes.

"This one is good, I'll take this one." So, Mo Wenli chose it on the spot.

"Ten yuan, I'll find you a bag to put it in."

“Okay,” Mo Wenli replied, pulling out a bunch of loose bills from his pocket—one-yuan notes, fifty-cent notes, and two-yuan notes—making ten yuan in total, which he then handed to the old woman. Finally, carrying the kitten, he stood up with a hint of anticipation. “Xiaoyao should like it, right?”

……

Chapter Twenty-Three: I really like your legs.

The first class in the afternoon is physical education.

The physical education teacher's surname is Ye, and his given name is Ran.

Just like his name suggests, although he is over thirty years old, he still looks full of vigor and vitality, like a blazing flame.

Moreover, he was indeed very hot. Even when she was just close to Mo Xueyao while the team was forming up, she could feel the scorching heat coming from him.

"Attention! At ease!"

The PE teacher, holding a whistle and a stopwatch, was swinging the two ropes as if he were swinging nunchucks.

"Alright, five laps around the track!"

"Hey—five more laps—!" The students immediately protested, especially the girls, who all said they didn't want to run such a long distance.

The track at Yukong High School is 400 meters per lap, so five laps is 2,000 meters. Even if you're jogging slowly and don't care about the time, it's still exhausting to run 2,000 meters.

Mo Xueyao was slightly intimidated.

It's not that she doesn't like exercise, but it's only been a little over a month since the surgery, and she can't do strenuous exercise yet. She can ride a bicycle, but if she runs two kilometers... she might tear something.

She hesitated, unsure of what excuse she could give for skipping the warm-up exercises in PE class...

"Um... your name is Mo Xueyao, right?" At this moment, the PE teacher's gaze fell on Mo Xueyao.

“It’s me…” Mo Xueyao answered weakly.

"Your homeroom teacher told me that you have a heart problem, that you just had surgery, and that you can't do strenuous exercise, right?"

"Yes...yes." Mo Xueyao quickly nodded, inwardly expressing her gratitude to the gentle yet somewhat playful homeroom teacher.

"Okay, you can rest over there then." Ye Ran shook the rope in his hand, then picked up the whistle and blew it loudly, "Alright, start running!"

There are four teams, one for boys and one for girls. The girls run in the inner circle, while the boys run in the outer circle.

The painful warm-up exercises before physical education class thus begin.

Just then, a girl with a round face raised her hand and shouted, "Teacher—!! I can't run away either! I'm on my period!"

"Didn't you come here just last month?"

"Of course! Once a month!"

"But the timing isn't quite right, is it?" Ye Ran pinched his fingers, as if calculating the time.

Although Mo Xueyao felt that his finger-pinching gesture resembled the gesture of a Taoist priest in a TV series preparing to cast a spell.

"It came early this month, anyway, it's my period! I don't want to end up with my pants soaked in blood!"

"Teacher, I've gotten my period too!"

Many girls immediately echoed the girl's shout.

"I don't believe you unless you take your pants off and show me," Ye Ran said seriously.

"Wow—what a pervert!" The boys immediately gloated, looking like they were enjoying the show.

"Perverted teacher!" the girls shouted angrily.

"Stop arguing. You guys have your periods, right? Come here. I studied Traditional Chinese Medicine. I'll take your pulses. If you don't, you'll have to run around a bit more!"

Although there were many points of doubt, the PE teacher had already said so, so the girls couldn't lie any longer and returned to the group with embarrassed smiles.

Only the girl who raised her hand first walked confidently to the PE teacher and extended her hand.

"Hmm... your period is irregular, remember to take care of it." The PE teacher, whose muscles couldn't be hidden by his clothes, looked like an old Chinese medicine doctor, taking his pulse with his eyes closed while smacking his lips and saying, "And you're a bit hot, remember to eat more red dates and drink more honey and brown sugar water."

"Teacher, did you really study Traditional Chinese Medicine?"

"I know a little bit, I know a little bit." The PE teacher looked profound, though his smug expression was quite irritating.

The students finally started running, while only Mo Xueyao and the girl with the round face sat on the flower bed to the side.

The best thing about physical education class is undoubtedly sitting on the sidelines and leisurely watching others suffer.

Mo Xueyao and another girl sat on opposite sides of the flower bed, looking quite unfamiliar with each other.

The atmosphere became slightly awkward.

Finally, the girl with the round face spoke up and asked, "Ai'ai, your name is Mo Xueyao, right?"

“Yes… uh, what about you?” Mo Xueyao naturally took over the conversation.

"My name is Hua Yinyin," Hua Yinyin replied, moving a considerable distance closer to Mo Xueyao. Now the two were quite a few seats apart. "Tsk tsk, up close, she really is a beauty!"

"Ahem!" Mo Xueyao felt extremely embarrassed, but looking at Hua Yinyin's ordinary little face except for her round face, she didn't know how to praise her back.

But the latter seemed unconcerned, his gaze fixed on Mo Xueyao's long, slender legs, clad in black stockings.

"These legs are nice... I really want to touch them, uh, can I touch them?"

"Touch...a little?" Mo Xueyao wondered if she had misheard.

Moreover, the other party was a girl, and making such a request made her feel that the world was somewhat chaotic, to the point that she stammered for a long time, not knowing how to answer.

"Yeah, just touch me! You can touch mine too, no problem!"