A Young Woman's Heart

"Pretty much, but I might not go to other cities. We'll see. Anyway, I'll probably stay for about six months to experience the local customs and culture. I'll probably spend at least a month traveling before looking for a job. I finally got this opportunity to relax, haha!"

“An engineer’s job… is too high-end. We don’t know anyone there.” Mo Xueyao said as she poured a glass of cold water into a disposable cup and handed it to her. “Sorry, we don’t have any drinks at home.”

“It’s alright,” Nora replied, downing the glass of cold water handed to her in one gulp. “You don’t need to worry about me. My mentor recommended some companies and friends he knows, and they will help me.”

"That's good. Oh, by the way, we're about to go out. Do you want to come with us?"

"Where to go?"

"As I wrote in my previous letter, it's about my family's fruit shop."

"Oh, of course, I'd love to see it. I wonder how it differs from the fruit shops in Russia."

“Fruit shops all over the world are probably pretty much the same…” Mo Xueyao tiptoed slightly to reach Nora’s tall shoulder and patted her hard. “Well then, let’s go! But have you decided where you’ll be staying?”

"After I've seen your fruit shop, I'll look for a place to rent. My advisor recommended a real estate agency he knows."

Now that Nora had made all the preparations, Mo Xueyao no longer worried about her.

To be honest, Nora is much older than the two of them, so she should be much more mature, right?

In a country where black hair and black eyes are common, a girl like Mo Xueyao with blue eyes would already attract attention, but a woman like Nora with long red hair would draw even more attention.

The key point is that those who see her clearly know that her hair is mostly natural, not dyed. Even if it is dyed, it is a rare sight for a foreigner in this city.

"Wow, that big sister is so fair-skinned!" a child exclaimed, grabbing his mother's hand.

"Mommy, Mommy, I want red hair too..." It wasn't a little girl who said this, but a little boy. He probably thought that long, blood-red hair was very cool.

Nora wasn't shy at all. Instead, she stroked her long hair and smiled at everyone who looked at her, as if she were a model walking the runway.

"Nora, have you been drinking?" Li Wanyan, who was walking beside her, suddenly asked.

"Huh? I only had a glass of breakfast vodka, and you could smell it?" Nora was quite surprised.

"Hmm... I'm probably more sensitive to the smell of alcohol," Li Wanyan replied casually.

"Why can't I smell anything?" Mo Xueyao leaned closer to Nora and sniffed, but she couldn't smell any alcohol.

Or perhaps, the last time I saw Nora, she smelled like this?

It's just that the perfume isn't as strong.

Speaking of which, it's pretty much normal for Russians to drink alcohol every day, right?

Although this idea contains some stereotypes.

It's even more exaggerated when taking the bus. Even for Mo Xueyao, if the bus is full, she rarely encounters anyone offering her a seat.

—That is, she would only give up her seat when she encountered a young man.

After all, when the restaurant is full, there are usually no young people sitting in the seats.

With the label of "taking care of the elderly and giving up one's seat," most young people in this era are too embarrassed to continue sitting and will generally get up to give up their seats to the elderly first.

Today, however, the person who gave up their seat for her was an elderly man with white hair.

Nora spoke a few words in English to indicate that she didn't need to sit, but the other person didn't understand at all.

“Sir, Nora said you don’t need to give up your seat. She’s in good health and can stand.”

"People from your country are so hospitable," Nora said with a smile, turning her head.

"It's just that they're enthusiastic towards foreigners..." Mo Xueyao pouted and teased. Because of her mixed heritage, she occasionally enjoyed this kind of 'enthusiastic' treatment.

"Please sit down, please sit down!" But the old man didn't listen at all. Instead, he pointed even more forcefully to the seat he had given up, and he said it in Russian. Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan didn't understand at all.

Nora was taken aback: "You speak Russian?"

"Yes, yes, I was the teacher's assistant back then! The teacher's teacher was a Soviet! Thank you for your support of our country back then, thank you forever, please have a seat!"

“Then… I shouldn’t sit here. You should sit here.” Nora smiled and forcefully pressed the old man back into his seat. “You… don’t you hate my country? Actually, my country hasn’t only done good things. It has also done many bad things.”

"It's nothing, none of that matters! At least the friendship between the researchers back then was genuine!"

"Huh? Nora, what did Grandpa say?" Mo Xueyao's curiosity was like a cat scratching at her heart.

……

Are Chapters 323 a case of fellow townsmen meeting?

Despite her insistence, Nora forcefully pushed the old man back into his seat.

The journey might seem short to them, but at least the old man seemed to be having a great time.

"It's been so long since I've spoken Russian with anyone. Today was truly exhilarating!" the old man laughed heartily, giving a rather solemn salute. "Goodbye, comrade!"

"Goodbye." Nora also put away her smile and returned the greeting seriously and earnestly.

Mo Xueyao recalled something her father had told her when she was a child: when Soviet experts withdrew from China, they had intentionally left behind some important documents.

Even if nations prioritize their own interests, the bonds between people and the spirit of that time far outweigh any so-called 'interests'.

So the scene before her made her feel somewhat dazed, as if she were seeing a Soviet Union on the verge of collapse bidding farewell to its successors, hoping that she would shoulder the ideals they had not yet fulfilled.

However, contrary to reality, the young woman was a Russian girl, while the older woman was an elderly Chinese man.

"Sigh..." Nora sighed deeply, and said in fluent Chinese, "May the world be one of harmony..."

“Then we younger generations will have to work hard.” Mo Xueyao recalled what her social studies teacher, Wan Jianlei, had said: “One person’s strength is limited, but as long as countless people work together and move towards a firm belief over a long period of time, then there will eventually be a time when capitalism is overthrown and a unified world is established where people are just and equal.”

In fact, many profound philosophical principles have already been written down by the sages of the past.

For example, the saying "Don't refrain from doing good because it's small" is actually similar in meaning to what Teacher Wan said.

After two stops, Mo Xueyao and the others arrived at their destination.

Walking uphill along the sloping street, you'll soon see your own fruit shop that's open for business.

The increasingly audacious Su Tang is now perched on a pile of watermelons, using its furry paws to shoo away the annoying summer mosquitoes and flies.

"Dad!" Mo Xueyao shouted, "Look, I brought my friends!"

"What friend?" The father casually looked up and saw Nora with red hair already standing in front of the fruit shop.

She greeted Mo Xueyao's father cheerfully: "Yo ho, you, hello!"

"Hello, hello, your Chinese isn't very good?" The father had never met Nora before. "What's your name?"

"Nora".

"Oh...an American?"

“No, I’m Russian.” Nora, afraid the other person wouldn’t understand English, repeated herself in Chinese, a little awkwardly, “Russia.”

"Huh? This name doesn't sound Russian." The father laughed and scratched his neck. "Where in Russia are you from?"

Nora could understand some of the simple Chinese phrases, though she didn't speak them very well: "Moscow."

"Oh, so we're from the same hometown!" The father exclaimed in surprise, extending his hand. "Hello!"

The Chinese sentence was a bit complicated, and Nora didn't understand it, so she looked at Mo Xueyao, who acted as the translator and translated her father's words into English.

"Hello!" Nora extended her hand as she listened to Mo Xueyao's translation—a handshake, of course, didn't need translation.

Then, Nora skillfully took out a pack of Russian cigarettes from her jacket pocket, pulled one out, and handed it to Movenley.

Does your father smoke?

“Him? He’s a heavy smoker.” Mo Xueyao shrugged and subconsciously answered in Chinese, but thankfully she realized her mistake and quickly translated it back into English.

"No, no, I don't like the cigarettes there. Let me treat you to a Zhonghua." Mo Wenli, who himself was reluctant to smoke such expensive cigarettes, took out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from the cigarette cabinet, opened the packaging, and handed one to the other person. "When you come to this place, you should smoke this kind of cigarette."

"What kind of cigarette is this?" Nora couldn't understand what the words on it meant.

"Hmm... if you were to translate it, it should be... China?"

"I know it's a Chinese cigarette?"

“zhong hua …” Mo Xueyao could only use a transliteration.

"Planting flowers?"

"Yes, it's like using our country's name as the brand name for cigarettes."

"Oh, I understand." Nora nodded vigorously, took the cigarette from Morvenley, lit it skillfully, and put it in her mouth.

In this era in China, there weren't many women who smoked.

However, if a local woman smokes, she is considered promiscuous and lacking self-respect, but if a foreign woman smokes, it's different; people will think she's unrestrained and dashing.

People in most countries are strict with outsiders but lenient with their own people.

China, on the other hand, is stricter with its own people. I wonder if this is related to Confucian culture?

"Haha, are you here for fun this time?" the father asked with a loud laugh, winking at Mo Xueyao as if to translate.

"Oh dear, this is so troublesome, let Wanyan translate."

"You brat, I've raised you for nothing!" the father said irritably.

"I want to drink water." Mo Xueyao made an excuse, walked to the refrigerator, took out a bottle of cold boiled water that had been chilled in there last night, and gulped it down.

"Drinking ice water again? Be careful your stomach doesn't hurt." Her mother rolled her eyes at her.

"Pshaw, I'm perfectly healthy!"

"Have you had breakfast?"

"Ah—!" Mo Xueyao slapped her forehead, "I forgot!"

"Didn't Yan Yan call you for breakfast?"

"She... probably forgot too? After all, Nora's arrival was too sudden... cough cough."

"Honestly, Yan Yan has caught your influence and become confused too."

“Well, Wanyan makes mistakes too, it’s normal,” Mo Xueyao said, trying to defend her.

Li Wanyan was visibly stunned when she heard the conversation. It seemed that she had only just realized that she hadn't even eaten breakfast that morning.

Communication between men often begins with a cigarette. Although Nora is not a man, she smokes, so in a sense, they have some common topics to discuss.