A Young Woman's Heart

Mo Xueyao was afraid that turning on the light would alert her mother, so she had no choice but to search slowly in the dark.

Unfortunately, the living room didn't even have windows, so we could only barely find our way by the moonlight shining from the kitchen.

At this moment, Mo Xueyao wished she could have night vision like a cat...

Just then, she felt something furry appear at her feet.

Looking down, she saw the brittle she was looking for.

Sugar's long tail swayed slightly as it tilted its head back and gently brushed its whiskers against her ankle.

"Shh—" Mo Xueyao put her index finger to her lips, making a gesture that it probably couldn't understand, and then quietly retreated back into the bedroom.

Su Tang followed closely behind her, squeezing through the crack in the door and entering Mo Xueyao's bedroom.

"Hehe~ Crispy Candy~" After closing the door, Mo Xueyao finally relaxed, picked up Crispy Candy, rubbed it against her for a good ten minutes, and then reluctantly crawled back into the quilt when she finally felt too cold to stand outside any longer.

The candy seemed to be deliberately keeping quiet at night, not uttering a sound from the moment it left.

As Mo Xueyao crawled into bed, it lightly leaped onto the bedside table.

"Candy~?" Mo Xueyao wanted to reach out from under the covers to touch it, but quickly withdrew her hand after touching the cold air.

Su Tang gently fiddled with the alarm clock, seemingly uninterested, and then turned around and jumped onto Mo Xueyao's bed. The vibrations from her small body stepping onto the bedding were so clear.

It walked all the way to Mo Xueyao's feet and then gently licked the soles of her feet with its tongue.

"Pfft—!" Mo Xueyao quickly covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing too loudly. "Stop it, stop it, it tickles—"

As if it understood her words, Su Tang stopped what it was doing and instead struggled to crawl into the blankets from her ankles.

Because Mo Xueyao was afraid of the cold, she wrapped herself up tightly, leaving very little room for it to get in.

It's embarrassing to admit, considering I have some Russian ancestry.

Logically speaking, they should not be afraid of the cold, right?

Moreover, Mo Xueyao's father was not afraid of the cold—even though he was born in the south.

My mother, whose ancestors were all from the South, was much more sensitive to the cold.

Perhaps Mo Xueyao inherited her mother's "fear of cold" gene.

"Huh? Want to come in?" Mo Xueyao felt a little itchy from the fluffy cat fur, so she slightly opened the gap to let Sutang slip in.

As soon as it got into bed, it started climbing up Mo Xueyao's thigh.

Perhaps because it was still small, it didn't extend its claws, so the soft cat paws on her body gave Mo Xueyao a strange feeling.

It is said that humans like cute animals because of the maternal instinct hidden in their hearts.

Therefore, women tend to prefer cute things more than men.

"It couldn't possibly be some kind of maternal overload..." she muttered to herself, waiting for the sugar to slowly climb up, until it reached her chest.

It seemed to be a little tired, so it lay down here and stopped moving.

"Hmm...?" Mo Xueyao reached out and touched Su Tang, who then licked her palm with his tongue.

Well, although there's something pressing on my chest, it's quite warm, and it's nice to sleep with it in my arms.

So Mo Xueyao closed her eyes in peace.

She had a funny dream today. She dreamt that she was sleeping while hugging a piece of candy, and then she dreamt that she was sleeping while hugging a piece of candy again.

It's just like a Russian nesting doll.

When I was asleep, there weren't many lights on in the whole neighborhood. When I woke up, the sky was just beginning to lighten, and apart from the streetlights, there weren't many lights on in the other houses either.

"Ugh—" I feel really tired after this sleep.

Even though I dream about sleeping, I feel exhausted when I wake up.

Mo Xueyao yawned as she put the sugar candy aside, then pushed open the door and came out.

It seemed to be quite early; even her mother hadn't gotten up yet.

All I could see was my father washing up in the bathroom.

"Hey, are you getting up to use the toilet?" the father asked, his mouth full of foam.

"No..." Mo Xueyao rubbed her eyes, "Although I'm very sleepy, I can't fall asleep. I feel so tired all over."

"What's wrong? Are you feeling stressed? Can't keep up or what?"

"No... the school courses aren't actually that difficult..." Mo Xueyao yawned again, "I don't know why I'm so tired... um... maybe it's because I was sleeping with the cat..."

"I was wondering why I hadn't seen it this morning. Turns out you took it."

"Ahem! It climbed up here by itself."

"It can walk through the wall and get in if you don't open the door?" the father said cheerfully. "It's okay, just pay attention to hygiene. Both you and it need to be careful."

"Okay—Dad, what time is it?"

"Four o'clock in the morning."

"So early!"

"Shh—keep your voice down, don't wake your mother," the father said with a smile. "We definitely need to get there early to help haul the goods, or we'll lose our jobs. It'll take about twenty minutes to get to the wholesale market now."

"Does he get up this early every day?" Mo Xueyao asked, looking at the few strands of white hair on her father's head.

"of course."

"Today I also want to... go to school early."

"Huh? Why are you going to school so early? It's not even dawn yet."

"It's already lit up."

"This is only a little bright; the sun hasn't fully risen yet."

"It's a rare treat, so it's nice to experience it once in a while."

"Don't fall asleep in class if you don't get enough sleep."

"It's okay, I can sleep in if I go to school early," Mo Xueyao replied easily.

"Okay, then, will you come out with me later?"

"Okay, um... but what about breakfast?"

"Ha, it's a rare occasion after all, so of course your old man is treating you to breakfast."

"Okay~" Mo Xueyao's eyes began to light up. Compared to the almost identical breakfast at home every day, any breakfast sold at the breakfast shop outside seemed so tempting.

"Then hurry up and wash up, I'll wait for you."

"Okay, three minutes."

"That won't do. Wash yourself clean before you come out." The father asserted his authority as a father.

"Didn't it always last three minutes before...?"

"You should at least wash for five minutes, you're a girl now."

"Tsk." Mo Xueyao clicked her tongue and silently went into the bathroom to wash up.

After washing up, I ran back to my room and put on my school uniform.

I hesitated for a moment when choosing my school uniform, but in the end I chose the new uniform that was just issued yesterday.

The winter school uniform has a thick skirt and a thick coat.

Since I have an outer jacket, I can wear whatever clothes I want underneath.

So, quite naturally, she chose a plain black cotton short-sleeved shirt.

Then, put on some clean, slightly reflective black stockings, and finally sling on your backpack. That's it, you're ready to go.

The stockings I wore yesterday were taken to be washed by my mother. My mother, who is a clean freak, absolutely does not allow anyone in the family to wear stockings for more than a day...

"Hmm...not bad, new school uniform?" The father looked Mo Xueyao up and down and smiled with satisfaction.

"Yes... wear this, it'll keep you warm."

"Wearing a skirt in winter too?"

"seems like it."

"That's too cold." The father frowned. "When winter really gets cold, you don't need to worry about school, just wear your own pants."

"Okay!" Mo Xueyao nodded happily; she really didn't want to wear a dress. "Then, if they need to call our parents, will you go?"

"Of course, no problem! Alright, let's go!"

……

Chapter Thirty: Hangzhou at 4:30 AM

It was not even 4:30 a.m. on the street.

The dim streetlights seemed only interested in illuminating the road beneath them.

The areas not illuminated by streetlights are like a pitch-black abyss, as if they could swallow anyone who enters them.

Mo Xueyao rode her bicycle shakily alongside her father's tricycle.

Looking up, you can still see the slightly dim stars in the sky.

Even the occasional noise on a quiet street can travel far.

"Will there be breakfast this early?" Mo Xueyao was very skeptical.

Although she knew that breakfast shops opened very early, that still included preparation time; it would take at least an hour before breakfast was available.

"Don't worry, there will definitely be something to eat. How about fried noodles?"

Would you like to sit down and eat?

"No, you take the fried noodles to school to eat, I'll just have a glutinous rice ball."