A Young Woman's Heart

"Knock knock knock." Just as I hung up the phone, there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Mo Xueyao shouted as she turned around.

“It’s me!” Nora replied in Chinese.

"Hey, Nora?" Mo Xueyao pushed open the wooden door, then the iron door outside, and saw Nora standing at the door with two bags, smiling brightly at her.

"Nora, you're here so early? But I have homework to do today."

“It’s okay, I’ll wait until you’re done writing.” Nora held up the bag in her hand. “I bought vodka and some homemade food.”

"What is it?"

“Potatoes and corn!” Nora held up another bag. “This one is full of snacks.”

"What a feast..." Mo Xueyao felt that her lunch problem was solved.

"Hello, Li Wanyan," Nora greeted Li Wanyan in slightly off-key Chinese.

“Hello, Nora.” It was a textbook conversation—Li Wanyan replied calmly.

"These are boiled potatoes and corn. You can eat them directly after peeling them. I don't know what kind of corn you like, so I bought both sweet corn and glutinous corn and cooked them."

"Wow, so many snacks..." Mo Xueyao opened another bag, which was full of puffed foods such as potato chips and biscuits.

"Yeah, there's bound to be lots of food at the party!" Nora tilted her head slightly. "You guys do your homework, can I watch TV while you're here?"

"Huh, isn't it at home over there?"

"Yes, I do, but I like being around people!" Nora replied matter-of-factly. "It's lonely staying at home alone, isn't that what Xiaoyao feels?"

"Huh? Me? No... I used to stay home alone a lot..."

"Huh? Don't you feel lonely? Or do you feel uncomfortable?"

"No way... right?"

Nora's arrival made the house much livelier, and Mo Xueyao sped up her homework, finally finishing all her assignments before noon.

Nora was lying on the ground, her clothes disheveled, with an anti-Japanese war drama playing on the television. Her red hair was scattered messily on the ground, and saliva was unconsciously drooling from her mouth. There were two empty wine bottles next to her.

Did he drink two bottles of vodka in one go?

It's already quite impressive that they weren't completely drunk and passed out.

"Nora? Nora?"

"Ah...?" Nora mumbled a string of Russian words, which Mo Xueyao couldn't understand at all.

"Speak in English... How did you get drunk?"

"Well, it's alright... I'm not too drunk." Nora wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth and sat up unsteadily. "Haruka, are you done writing?"

"Ah."

What time is it now?

"12 o'clock..."

"Is it evening?"

"No, it's only noon."

"Oh...I've finished my homework, let's play cards!"

"Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"It's okay, it's just two bottles, it's my favorite amount~ It's so comfortable to feel dizzy~ Hehe... Xiaoyao..." Nora said a few more words in Russian, then suddenly grabbed Mo Xueyao's chin and kissed her lips.

"Ahhh?" Mo Xueyao was startled and hurriedly dodged, allowing the latter to kiss her collarbone. After a "pop" sound, a lip print was left behind.

"Nora? Wake up!"

"Xiaoyao, I like you~ Li Wanyan, I like you too~" Nora said, then hugged Li Wanyan who was standing aside watching. The latter was caught off guard and kissed on the cheek.

Even Li Wanyan's face started to turn red.

"You're all my good friends~ Come on, let's drink and play cards~! *burp*"

……

Chapter 325 The Punishment for Losing

Nora did seem a bit dizzy, but she still seemed to have some sense left; at least she wouldn't smash a bottle over her head...

"Come on—!" Nora struggled to sit up, leaning against the wall. "Um...sorry...the playing cards are in the plastic bag, could you get them for me..."

The fact that she can still communicate in English means she's not too drunk.

Otherwise, they would definitely only speak their native language.

"Are you sure it's okay?" Mo Xueyao touched her burning face and glanced at Li Wanyan, noticing that the latter's cheeks were also slightly flushed.

"It's okay, let's play cards~ Do you know how to play? Texas Hold'em? The rules of this card game... are universal."

"Texas Hold'em?" Mo Xueyao had heard of it before, after all, she had watched the God of Gamblers, and the cards played in it seemed to be Texas Hold'em.

But she didn't understand the rules. If she had to name a game she usually played, the one that was similar to it was probably Texas Hold'em.

Are there any rules?

“No, no…” Nora stammered out several “no”s before finally managing to form a coherent sentence, “No, I mean, yes, it’s on the deck of cards, it’s in English, you can take a look for yourselves… hiccup.”

Li Wanyan shook her head, took the playing cards out of the plastic bag, and then sighed softly. The blush on her face had disappeared, and a hint of disgust gradually appeared between her brows.

"What's wrong, Wanyan?" Mo Xueyao noticed the change in Li Wanyan's expression and asked in confusion.

"fine."

"Thinking about the past?"

"Ah."

Fortunately, although Nora was drunk, she still maintained a relatively good demeanor when drunk—she was just more unrestrained than usual.

Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan held the playing cards and studied the rules of Texas Hold'em written on them.

Overall, it seems similar to Texas Hold'em, with only minor differences in details.

Because some technical terms were used, Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan had to discuss them to understand the meaning of certain words.

Nora was stuffing corn into her mouth, but she seemed to have forgotten how to eat corn properly; instead of holding it by one side and biting into it, she was stuffing it into her mouth like a popsicle...

"Nora, how can you eat corn like this..." Mo Xueyao asked helplessly.

"Huh? Corn?" Nora was taken aback. "Is this corn?"

"Huh? What else?"

"Hmm... I knew it was hard, I thought I was holding a potato..."

The corn was in a plastic bag, and the boiled potatoes were in a metal lunchbox; for Nora, these seemed like pretty good snacks to go with her drinks.

If it were Mo Xueyao, she would prefer boiled peanuts or fennel beans as appetizers with drinks.

It's mainly those things that don't fill you up easily.

Potatoes and corn can both be considered staple foods...

However, upon closer reflection, it seems to make sense. For Nora, alcohol is like a thirst-quenching beverage during meals, so she drinks more alcohol and eats less food, rather than eating more food and drinking less alcohol like the Chinese do.

Honestly, alcohol can't quench thirst at all...

Mo Xueyao muttered, pulling a packet of gummy candies from Nora's plastic bag: "Nora, I'm going to open it and eat them?"

"No problem—!" Nora replied, drawing out her words. "Let's deal the cards! Winning or losing... um, shall we bet something?"

Li Wanyan frowned: "Don't gamble."

"Well, friends certainly wouldn't... gamble!" Nora giggled, clutching the corn in her hand. "Um, yes... ah... a punishment game! The loser has to be punished!"

"So, how should we punish them...?"

“The winner decides, but we can’t go too far,” Nora replied simply.

Mo Xueyao got up and poured her a glass of water: "Nora, drink some water and wake up first."

"Oh... there's a smell of alcohol in the water too."

"You drank too much..."

Although Mo Xueyao would rather connect her Little Tyrant learning machine to the TV and play games during her break, she had to consider that the other party was a guest.

"Fullhouse!" Nora slammed her cards down on the floor, her eyes red and her breath coming in ragged gasps. "Hey, who's better than me!?"

Mo Xueyao, full of confidence, followed the cards, only to find that her hand was slightly weaker than Nora's. Nora had three three-of-a-kind with two fives, while Nora only had a flush, consisting of the hearts '6', '9', '10', 'K', and 'A'.

As for Li Wanyan, she had actually wanted to give up a long time ago, but since she didn't gamble, she thought she would just try her luck with the cards and see if she could win.

If no one has formed a fixed hand, then it's just a matter of comparing the size of the hands.

However, when the cards were fully revealed, it proved that Li Wanyan's hand was indeed the smallest.

"Haha, you two lost!" Nora stared at their cards for a while before finally figuring out who had the better hand. After drinking, her thinking seemed to have slowed down considerably. "Hmm... punishment..."

"Do we both count?"

"Um...no, the one with the lowest card...that one, is...is..." She couldn't remember Li Wanyan's name for a moment.

“Me,” Li Wanyan pointed to herself, “you should get some sleep.”

"It's okay, playing cards when you're dizzy is more fun," Nora grinned. "Well, you'll have to accept the punishment."

"……Um."

"Water...I've finished my water, could you pour me a glass?" Nora's request was surprisingly simple.

This made Li Wanyan subconsciously breathe a sigh of relief, and the expression on her face softened considerably.

It seems that not everyone becomes bad after drinking alcohol.

It should be said that a person with a good character would not become insane simply because they have been drinking.