A Young Woman's Heart

"Ah, time to sleep." Mo Xueyao quickly finished reading the last two pages, finally breathed a sigh of relief, tossed the book onto the bedside table, stretched out her arm and pulled the rope to turn off the incandescent light that was swaying in the wind above her head.

Speaking of which, reading under an incandescent light when it's windy can be quite dizzying, because the light keeps flickering, like a candle burning unpredictably.

Across from Mo Xueyao's door, Yu Shu was lying on the cleaned floor, not asleep.

A straw mat was laid on the ground, and a plush bear about half the height of a person was placed next to it.

The incandescent light overhead swayed gently, while she rested her head on the teddy bear's lap, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Returning to this familiar home, lying in this familiar room, her thoughts drifted far away, and what she thought of most were, of course, her childhood.

When she was in kindergarten, she was diagnosed with leukemia. Her parents sold their house to pay for her treatment at the best hospital. Just when she thought she was about to leave this world, she finally received a matching bone marrow transplant.

However, the family's financial situation also plummeted, and it was only in recent years that things began to improve again.

If she hadn't moved out, she and Xiaoyao would probably be best friends now, and maybe, just maybe, they'd be boyfriend and girlfriend...

She thought to herself, blushing slightly.

……

Chapter 340 This time, it was really said.

On Monday morning, although the sun hadn't yet peeked out from behind the clouds, it was already quite bright.

"Looks like today will be a cool, overcast day~" Mo Xueyao jumped out of bed. Although she went to bed late yesterday, she got up with Li Wanyan.

Part of the reason was that Li Wanyan woke her up, but the main reason was that she hadn't slept well all night because she had been reading a somewhat scary suspense novel.

Horrible images from my imagination always keep popping into my mind.

I really shouldn't read scary or suspenseful novels before bed...

Next time, I should borrow some heartwarming novels to read as bedtime stories.

My mother was busy in the bathroom, but just by listening to the sounds, it felt like there were people in the living room, kitchen, and bathroom as well.

"Mom, are you doing laundry?" Mo Xueyao slipped on her slippers and shuffled to the bathroom door, rubbing her sleepy eyes. "I wanted to go to the bathroom."

"Why are you going to the toilet? Wait a minute, go check if the porridge in the kitchen has overflowed."

"Can't I just unplug the rice cooker?"

"It was cooked in a pot today."

"Why do we need to use a pot?" Mo Xueyao grumbled as she walked towards the kitchen.

The mother's voice came from the back door, accompanied by the swishing sound of a scrubbing brush: "I'm making shrimp porridge for you today, you heartless brat."

"What? Shrimp congee?" Mo Xueyao, who was usually not hungry in the morning, couldn't help but swallow. She opened the pot lid and found that the congee was already boiling. "Mom, the congee is boiling!"

"Open the lid, then turn the heat to low!"

"Oh—" Mo Xueyao wiped her mouth, already smelling the rich fragrance.

The porridge was pale yellow, and it seemed that eggs had been added. There were also many peeled shrimp in it, bobbing up and down as the porridge boiled.

Mo Xueyao picked up her chopsticks and couldn't resist eating a piece, but her mother, who had just finished washing clothes and was standing up to wring them out, caught a glimpse of her: "You glutton, you're eating before you've even brushed your teeth?"

"Hehe...it smells so good..." Mo Xueyao said, squeezing her legs together. "Mom, when is it going to be ready? I need to go to the bathroom."

"What's the rush?"

"Forget it, I can't take it anymore. Anyway, I'm standing, so I don't take up any space..." Mo Xueyao blurted out. By the time she realized what she meant, it was too late, because Li Wanyan had already cast a questioning look at her.

"Still half asleep so early in the morning?" the mother said, trying to smooth things over. "What are you talking about in your sleep?"

"Hehe..." Mo Xueyao could only chuckle awkwardly, pretending that she hadn't said anything.

And so the busy morning began.

Li Wanyan quickly put her slight doubts aside.

Given Mo Xueyao's frequent absent-mindedness, it's not surprising that she would say something like that.

After finishing the delicious shrimp porridge, Mo Xueyao, still feeling a bit unsatisfied, put on her school uniform and pushed open the door.

I saw a girl with her hair in a bun across the street squatting on the ground tying her shoelaces.

Mo Xueyao had never seen her before. Although she didn't see the people in the house across the street very often, she remembered that it should be a couple and their two sons.

She couldn't help but peek inside through the open door and found that there was very little furniture, making the space seem somewhat empty.

It can't just be a simple matter of selling old furniture, can it?

Or did they vacate the house and rent or sell it to someone else?

Mo Xueyao stared at her blankly for a few more moments, until the latter tied her shoelaces and looked up, at which point she quickly looked away.

Although it's okay since we're all girls, it's always a little embarrassing to be caught staring at someone.

Afterwards, Li Wanyan came out after putting on her shoes, and gently put one hand on Mo Xueyao's shoulder: "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Mo Xueyao shook her head.

But the girl who had tied her shoelaces stared at their faces with a strange look.

"What's wrong?" Mo Xueyao couldn't help but ask, with a slight smile, "I don't have anything on my face, do I?"

"Um...no, no." The girl, who looked about their age, hurriedly shook her head, her face slightly flushed. "Um...that...you two live here together?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Hmm...is there no one else?"

"Yes," Mo Xueyao said, and the corners of the girl with her hair in a bun seemed to turn up slightly. "My parents."

"Is that all?"

“Yes,” Mo Xueyao replied matter-of-factly.

"I'm so sorry..."

"Uh, what's there to apologize for?"

The girl forced a smile, lowered her head, and muttered softly, "They moved away..."

"Uh, what? We've always lived here."

"Wait, no, that can't be right?"

Mo Xueyao frowned as she looked at the expression on her face, instinctively sensing that something was amiss.

"I...I remember, there was...a boy who lived here..."

"Huh!?" Mo Xueyao was completely surprised and couldn't hide it at all.

Mo Xueyao seemed to understand something from her words.

She remembered what that meant.

Does that mean she lived here?

Across the street, there was indeed a little girl who used to live, but her family later sold the house and moved away.

And that little girl, I heard from the adults, died of leukemia...

"Impossible!" Mo Xueyao's eyes widened, as if she were seeing someone who had come back to life.

"Eh? W-what's wrong?" The other person was startled and took a few steps back in fear. "Did I...did I say something wrong...?"

Childhood memories kept flooding Mo Xueyao's mind, making it almost impossible for her to think about anything else. At this moment, she finally remembered the other person's name and blurted out without hesitation, "Yu Shu?!"

"Huh!?" The other person was also surprised. "You...how...how did you know..."

Mo Xueyao suddenly realized what was happening. She glanced at Li Wanyan beside her and realized that she didn't know how to explain herself anymore.

"Ah, I...I heard...I heard it!" Mo Xueyao stammered, quickly pulling Li Wanyan's hand and walking downstairs, fleeing the scene.

Li Wanyan remained silent throughout, quietly following Mo Xueyao out of the residential area, to the bus stop, and onto the empty bus.

They even forgot to take the milk they were sure to get in the morning.

"Ahem..." Mo Xueyao coughed lightly, not daring to turn her head to look at Li Wanyan.

"What do you want to say to me?" Li Wanyan glanced at her sideways.

"Ahem, I... uh..." Mo Xueyao didn't know where to begin.

As the closest 'outsider' to him, it was perhaps unavoidable that Li Wanyan would find out his secret.

Her fingers gripped the hem of her skirt tightly, and time passed silently, second by second.

Mo Xueyao couldn't help but intertwine her legs together, her ten toes clenching and unclenching repeatedly.

A ray of golden sunlight peeked out from the gray sky, but was quickly obscured by the clouds.

Li Wanyan simply watched her quietly, a half-smile playing on her lips.

"Wanyan, um... never mind, I... I'll tell you anyway."

"Ah."

“Actually…” Mo Xueyao took a deep breath, “Actually, there were some things I lied to you about before. Apart from my parents, even my best friends don’t know the truth.”

"Ah."

"I..." Her voice became softer than a mosquito's buzz, "Actually, actually I used to be a boy, not some tomboy... Later... later I had surgery and became a girl..."

"Hmm." Li Wanyan nodded with a half-smile. "Why do you need surgery?"

Mo Xueyao didn't realize that her questioning tone was much more pronounced than usual today.

"Uh...it's because, physiologically speaking, I'm not a boy at all. I just look similar on the outside...but on the inside I'm completely a girl...so the only option is surgery."

"So, it's just a matter of correcting the original mistakes in her life and returning to the life she should have had as a girl."

"Um……"

"I see."

"Uh... Wanyan, are you... really not angry?" Mo Xueyao felt like she was dreaming, but this time, it was much more real than the last dream.