A Young Woman's Heart

"Is it his birthday?" Li Wanyan glanced at her sideways.

"Yes, that's right. Wanyan didn't know? Didn't he tell you?"

"No."

"Oh—he probably planned to talk about it after school." Mo Xueyao gently scratched her cheek.

"Don't know what to buy?"

"Actually, I know a little..." Mo Xueyao left the rest of her sentence unsaid. After all, she had been a boy for so many years and had a good understanding of boys' preferences. But even among boys, everyone has their own different interests.

Duanmu Ji seems to be different from ordinary boys. After all, he is rather gloomy and silent, making it difficult for people to get to his heart, and naturally, they don't know much about what he likes the most.

I don't know what your favorite is, but giving you something you generally like should be fine.

Mo Xueyao stepped onto the stairs and walked to the small table placed at the door.

There was a large pile of cheap toys on the table.

The expensive items are all inside, while the items on the outside are mostly cheap ones.

The main concern is that someone might steal something when business is good.

If it's something cheap, losing a little bit is fine—of course, not losing anything is the best, but there are always some people in the world who like to steal and pickpocket.

These small packages of toys each cost five cents.

There are also some lucky bag gift packs for one yuan.

Mo Xueyao had bought from them before, but... to be honest, there wasn't anything good. There were a lot of things, but they didn't seem to be very useful. They were just odds and ends that couldn't be sold.

"Bamboo dragonflies... I played with them in elementary school. Duanmu Ji probably wouldn't be interested in them," Mo Xueyao muttered, then looked away.

Lately, when I come to the convenience store, I go directly to the other side to buy snacks, and I hardly ever look at the side where the toys are displayed.

After all, they've grown up, and they probably don't have much interest in these cheap toys anymore.

I remember when I was in elementary school, I would often linger at the toy section, torn between buying food or toys, since I only had enough money in my pocket for one.

"Ah... I miss it so much. It's amazing that they're still selling them now, and there are even more new varieties." Mo Xueyao seemed to be lost in memories of the past. She used to be unable to afford these toys—even though they were so cheap.

Back then, we were really short of money, but now it's different. Even without spending my parents' money, I have school scholarships, so buying some toys for five cents is no problem at all.

"Hmm! It's a series of action figures!" Mo Xueyao's eyes were suddenly drawn to a whole shelf of toys.

Some of the toys on the top shelf have already been sold, but the bottom shelf is still intact and none of them have been bought.

"There are still more for sale..." Mo Xueyao approached it with surprise. Each individually wrapped piece cost 50 cents, and the theme of this board of action figures was World War II.

You can see that some of the action figures in the packaging are the same, but some are different.

For example, some of them contained a tank, while others contained a fighter jet.

The colors were chosen according to different countries: China was rust red, the Soviet Union was dark green, Britain was purple, the United States was black, and Japan was yellow.

These individually packaged action figures were pasted onto the cardboard posters at the back; there were a total of fifty packs on the board.

It includes about seven or eight countries, and the content is quite extensive.

Mo Xueyao bought them a few times when she was a child, but she never managed to collect them all.

At that moment, a bold idea popped into her mind...

How about... we buy everything here?

But it costs twenty-five in total! That's enough for a long breakfast, or a long time to rent DVDs...

Whether Duanmu Ji liked her or not is unknown, but she definitely liked her.

Sometimes, giving someone a gift is also about giving them something you like.

Next to the toy soldiers are colorful glass beads, in all sorts of colors, and some are even gradient-colored. If you had one of those in elementary school, you would definitely be the most dazzling one among the children.

Mo Xueyao took a closer look and found that the workmanship was still as rough as it had been back then, but the things like action figures are all about children's imagination.

Moreover, all the necessary details are included, and it is obvious that the Chinese army is somewhat outdated, with the weapons they are carrying even showing signs of battle damage.

No man can resist the allure of weapons, and naturally, no man can resist the allure of a soldier.

Such a large board is enough to form several armies to fight against each other.

Even just looking at it in the cupboard is pleasing to the eye.

At least that's what Mo Xueyao thinks.

What she hesitated about most was whether it was necessary to give such an 'expensive' gift, since her relationship with Duanmu Ji was good but not to the point of being close friends.

But if I just buy a few packs and give them to him, that would seem too stingy.

Mo Xueyao rubbed her long hair with a headache and turned her gaze to other things.

Meanwhile, Li Wanyan had already chosen a birthday gift for Duanmu Ji.

After all, they were classmates in the same club, so it was only right to give her a gift—even though he hadn't invited her.

But it seems that Li Wanyan has already tacitly agreed that Mo Xueyao will definitely take her with her when she goes...

Li Wanyan bought a box of mixed flavor bubble gum. It wasn't very big, but the box was quite pretty, and the price was about right for a gift—five yuan.

After all, they are just students, and there is no need to buy something particularly expensive.

"Hmm..." In the end, Mo Xueyao did not buy a whole tray of action figures, but instead bought all the Chinese action figures, a total of ten packs, which cost her five yuan. "I should be able to repackage them when I get back."

The fruit shop has a lot of wrapping paper, which is used to wrap flowers.

But it's perfectly fine for wrapping gift boxes too—you can cut cardboard and glue the boxes together yourself, and then wrap them in plastic or kraft paper.

Most importantly, it's the process of doing it yourself that truly expresses your feelings.

After buying the gifts, the two walked toward the fruit shop. Along the way, some primary school students were playing on the sidewalk. They spun the bamboo dragonflies in their hands and watched them fly into the sky.

One of them fell onto the roof of the car, causing the owner to curse loudly.

But the elementary school students seemed very happy, running around and making faces at the car owner.

When Mo Xueyao returned to the fruit shop, she saw a middle-aged woman riding a tricycle selling crickets under the clouds not far from the shop entrance.

Yes, summer is here, and it's also the season for selling crickets.

These crickets were all kept in small bamboo cages, about the size of a fist. Some were spherical, and some were square. The crickets inside were all about the same size, only slightly different in color.

There were also some larger cages behind them, filled with larger crickets.

The prices are all different—Mo Xueyao guessed.

After all, she never asked about the price. Although she saw it every summer, she would only go over to take a look out of curiosity and would never choose to buy it.

If you really want to play with crickets, then go catch them yourself.

Moreover, she rarely sees anyone buying crickets, and she wonders if these people selling crickets from tricycles can really make money.

"Little girl, want to buy a cricket? It's very cheap, only 50 cents each!"

"Uh, no thanks." She didn't want to spend five cents on something she could catch herself.

Mo Xueyao shook her head as she walked into the fruit shop.

My mother is preparing dinner. Judging from the ingredients, it will definitely be another simple and light summer meal.

"I bought some mung bean cakes, they're in the fridge. You can grab some to eat if you get hungry," her mother said casually to Mo Xueyao.

"Oh! Mung bean cakes!" Mo Xueyao excitedly opened the refrigerator and took out the mung bean cakes from the ceramic bowl. These mung bean cakes were still unopened, and each one was wrapped in a thin piece of oil paper.

After being frozen in the refrigerator, it has a slightly cool taste, which is quite refreshing in the summer.

"Won't you eat, Wanyan?"

"Yes, it's time for dinner soon."

"It's okay, have a piece! It's delicious! Mom, did you buy it from the same store as before?"

"Ah."

"Oh, that old lady is still making it."

"Now it's all done by her grandson."

"Ah—it's been this long already."

"What do you think?" The mother smiled and shook her head, gesturing. "I remember when you were just that little, I took you to her to buy mung bean cakes, didn't I?"

"It seems so... she should be around three or four years old?"

……

Chapter 332 Raising Dolls?

Saturday morning.

Mo Xueyao sat up in bed in a daze and was pleasantly surprised to find that her stomach cramps had stopped.

"Is the menstrual cramp finally over?" She breathed a sigh of relief and jumped off the bed lightly.

Logically speaking, Li Wanyan should have already gotten up. Although it was a weekend, she rarely slept in.

But she wasn't in the bed, nor in the room.

Mo Xueyao curiously wandered around the house and found it empty.

"Strange...where did everyone go?" Mo Xueyao muttered as she returned to her room. "Mom should have gone to the shop. Where's Wanyan? Did she go to take out the trash?"

Her home, where she lived alone, was rather lonely. But when she looked at the bookshelf, her eyes suddenly lit up.

"Ah, I've got it! Let's take her out for some fresh air too."

Mo Xueyao took out a coffin-shaped box, which was a gift from her English teacher, Wang Qianyu. Inside was a vampire girl whom she named 'Nancy'.

Although it is a doll, it is made to be very realistic.

Just as Mo Xueyao opened the lid engraved with a cross, a soft little hand suddenly reached out and gently patted the back of her hand.

These are truly tiny hands, probably only the size of her little fingernail.