A Young Woman's Heart

She even harbored a faint hope that someone would discover her.

Of course, that's just what she thought. If she were actually discovered, she probably wouldn't be happy.

Wearing only an apron, Tian Tingchan took down the cutting board and took out the vegetables she had bought yesterday from the refrigerator.

It had been a long time since she had cooked such a formal meal at home, which made her a little nervous, afraid that she would waste the ingredients.

Although there wasn't a single piece of meat here, even vegetables that cost a few cents per pound were considered extremely 'expensive' to her.

After all, this is a consumable item.

In this era, the range hood, which is quite advanced for most households, is turned on and makes a 'whooshing' noise.

She hummed a rhythmic tune and tapped her fingers on the cutting board, making a drumbeat.

After heating the pan, she poured in the oil, lifted it with one hand, and gently swirled it to ensure the oil covered the pan more evenly. She bought the oil in bulk from a small shop, having 'filled' it herself with a Coke bottle. It was much cheaper than branded oil from the supermarket, but the downside was that it produced a lot of smoke.

Fortunately, the range hood has strong suction, so she didn't mind the noise.

"Ouch!" Holding the pot with one hand, she almost lost her grip and it tipped over. If it had, the hot oil would have splashed onto her, leaving her with several burns.

Fortunately, she reached out her other hand in time, and with both hands, she was able to barely hold the stainless steel pot.

"Has my strength decreased that much?" Tian Tingchan muttered to herself, without the slightest displeasure. Instead, she exuded a happy joy, her lips curving upwards as she looked delighted.

For her, she wanted to experience both the strengths and weaknesses of girls.

Girls are weaker, and after taking estrogen for a long time, her strength also decreased significantly, which is very similar to that of girls.

As a fake girl, what she admires most is the delicate beauty of girls.

If she were to choose her favorite classical beauty, she would definitely choose Lin Daiyu.

Perhaps, deep down, she longed to be cared for and loved...

If no one treats her like that, she sometimes even pities herself.

For example, when I look in the mirror, I feel so fragile, and I just want to hug myself...

In a sense, it's actually quite tragic.

But life is full of cruelty, and occasionally numbing herself is actually one of the important reasons why she can keep going!

She imagined herself as a sickly girl who would still insist on cooking lunch for her husband to express her love.

—Does she love that virtual husband, or that illusory version of herself?

"Ugh!" Tian Tingchan suddenly came to her senses and found that the garlic had been fried into 'flowers' in the hot oil. She quickly poured in the prepared bok choy.

The vegetables weren't completely drained, and when they came into contact with the hot oil, a violent reaction occurred. She panicked and dodged to the side, but still inevitably got splashed with a few drops of hot oil.

Several more red marks appeared on the arms that already had many scars.

On a sudden inspiration, she grabbed the pot lid and used it as a shield, carefully hiding behind it while stir-frying the vegetables in the pot.

This is her lunch.

A plate of green vegetables, a bowl of rice, and a cup of seaweed soup made by soaking seaweed in salt.

The food was light and simple, something she was already used to—or rather, she rarely ate this well when she was alone.

Before, when she lived in a cramped apartment and had to pay rent, her daily meals consisted mainly of steamed buns and pickled vegetables.

Today is Sunday, the sun is shining brightly, and there's still plenty of time.

After finishing her lunch, she squinted and enjoyed the afternoon for a while before slowly starting to clean.

The kitchen definitely needs to be cleaned, otherwise grease will remain, making it even harder to clean later.

In addition, every other floor needs to be cleaned—even though there is almost no dust.

For some people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, cleaning is less about removing dust and dirt from the environment and more about giving themselves peace of mind.

After finishing all that, she took off her apron, took a shower, wrapped the bath towel that Zuo Ziya had given her around her body, and sat in the study on the third floor.

There is a floor-to-ceiling window here, which provides excellent natural light. If she gets tired of reading, she can look up and admire the scenery in the distance.

Sometimes when her bath towel slips off, she'll give herself a shy smile, as if someone is watching her.

However, in reality, she was the only person in the entire room.

"Ding-dong~" The doorbell suddenly rang.

Tian Tingchan stood up in a bit of a panic, looked around, and almost forgot where she had put her clothes.

Then, she put on her clothes and, pretending to be in no hurry, went downstairs.

"Xiao Chan~" Zuo Ziya came to the door alone. She tilted her head and greeted her, then pushed a small flatbed cart over. "Ta-da! I need to change my computer. I'll give you this old one. It should be fine for you. The apartment has free landline phone and internet access, right? Since you have internet, don't waste it."

"Hmm."

"Wow, it's so clean inside~ Whoever marries my Xiao Chan will be very lucky."

Tian Tingchan was a little embarrassed. She subconsciously touched her Adam's apple and stepped aside, saying, "There's only one pair of slippers at home."

"It's okay. I brought you some daily necessities again this time. Don't refuse them! They're all inexpensive items that you can use in your daily life."

"This is the last time," Tian Tingchan said, biting her lip, as if she were giving something away to someone else.

"Okay, okay, I know, really, Xiao Chan is always so stubborn."

"...I owe you so much, I can hardly pay it all back."

……

Chapter 327 It was Mo Xueyao's turn to have menstrual cramps.

Monday, June 12th.

Mo Xueyao, who rarely gets up earlier than Li Wanyan, habitually walks to the refrigerator, picks up the ice water inside, and gulps it down.

It was still early, and although the sun was up, it wasn't hot yet. But since it was summer, drinking a sip of ice-cold water was incredibly refreshing.

"Ha-hoo—" Mo Xueyao breathed a sigh of relief and pushed open the bathroom door with satisfaction—the door was still not fixed, and it seemed that her father had no other choice but to buy a new door. However, buying a new door would cost a lot of money, and it seemed that this broken door was not really unusable.

So let's just make do for now.

After all, they all came from that relatively poor era. Making do is a habit deeply ingrained in the hearts of many ordinary people in this era.

If it works, keep using it; if it can be repaired, never replace it with a new one.

Don't say that something is just old. Even if it's half broken, as long as it's still decent, just keep using it.

But it's often these kinds of makeshift lives that actually allow you to save money...

Mo Xueyao brushed her teeth carefully in front of the mirror for three minutes, and then washed her face with facial cleanser.

Not only every part of the face, but even the neck needs to be washed carefully.

Otherwise, wouldn't it be even more awkward if the skin tone of the neck and face were different?

"Uh... I have pimples..." Mo Xueyao lifted her bangs and looked at herself carefully in the broken mirror. Just as she was about to pinch them off with her fingernails, she was stopped by Li Wanyan's voice.

"Don't pinch it, it will leave acne scars."

"Huh? Wanyan, you're awake."

"Okay." Li Wanyan handed her the acne cream she was using. "Put some of this on. It's cheap, but it's very effective."

"Oh, okay... Ouch, it feels a little prickly."

"That's good." Li Wanyan smiled and said, "Go wash up quickly."

"Okay, I'm all done washing up. You can come now." Mo Xueyao glanced at herself in the mirror a few more times, then turned and left the bathroom.

"Are you all up?" The mother, who was hanging clothes to dry on the balcony, came into the room carrying a basin. "Breakfast is porridge and egg pancakes. Help yourselves."

“Oh—” Mo Xueyao replied, drawing out the sound.

Nora left last night. Although she wasn't completely sober, she was able to go home by herself.

Mo Xueyao was worried that something might happen to her on the way, so she personally escorted her home.

I heard she wanted to go to West Lake today, but since it's Monday, the two of them couldn't go with her.

On a sunny day, cycling is definitely more comfortable.

Especially on a morning like this, enjoying the gentle breeze, the feeling is simply wonderful.

Upon entering the classroom, the first thing to do is open all the windows and turn on all the ceiling fans—not only to provide ventilation but also to dispel the summer heat.

The chirping of cicadas and birds outside the window intertwined, creating a symphony unique to summer.

Mo Xueyao let her hair down completely, letting the wind mess it up. She was about to review her math when she suddenly felt a tingling and stinging sensation in her abdomen, as if she had been electrocuted.

This made her shudder violently.

"What's wrong?" Li Wanyan asked with concern.

"Um...it's nothing...it just feels like my stomach suddenly hurts..."

"Did you drink ice water again this morning?"

"Hehe..." Mo Xueyao scratched her cheek and chuckled awkwardly.

"Yaoyao should be on her period today."

"Huh? Is it today?"

"Didn't you count it?"

"Never mind, I'll just forget about it..."

"I've calculated it for you, it should be today." Li Wanyan frowned slightly, her tone carrying a hint of reproach, "Drinking ice water on your period."

"Oh dear... I forgot... It should just be an upset stomach..." Although the pain was still coming, Mo Xueyao tried her best to pretend that she didn't feel it, so as not to let Li Wanyan continue to lecture her.

Sometimes she's just as nagging as Mo Xueyao's mother...

It's hard to imagine that she is usually a rather quiet person.

That day she was laughing at Hua Yinyin for her poor physical condition, but she never expected that she would encounter such a thing.