A Young Woman's Heart

"Right here."

Mo Xueyao helplessly covered her forehead, feeling that asking was pointless.

Having no other choice, she could only scream at the top of her lungs: "Nora—Nora—!"

"As expected of Yao Yao," Li Wanyan said softly.

"Huh? Is there a problem with this?"

"Girls of this age are usually more reserved and won't shout or scream."

"Really... I know someone who's pretty much like me." Mo Xueyao thought of Shen Kelin, who, in some ways, was even more outgoing than her.

"Whoosh—" It sounded like a sliding door being pushed open forcefully, followed by a slightly rough female voice shouting in English, "Here! Here!"

"Hi~" Mo Xueyao waved happily, then went around in a circle and passed through the other door.

Nora had already opened the door and was waiting.

"Welcome!" Nora called out in broken Chinese.

"Hey, not bad, you've learned some Chinese?" Mo Xueyao said with a smile.

“Yes, I’ve been learning it before. Actually, I can understand some Chinese characters, but I’m still not very good at communicating.” Nora continued in Chinese, “Using Chinese makes it easier to communicate.”

"Eh—but it sounds even harder to understand." Mo Xueyao touched her cheek sheepishly.

"It takes practice!" Nora switched back to English, which was much better than before, almost like her second native language.

Although it still carries the typical Russian rolled and trilled sounds.

"Please sit down, please sit down," Nora gestured for the two to sit. "Vodka or beer?"

Mo Xueyao didn't immediately realize that the English word meant beer until she saw Nora take a bottle of beer and a bottle of vodka out of the refrigerator.

"Hey—why is it all alcohol?" Mo Xueyao glanced at Li Wanyan beside her. She remembered that Li Wanyan didn't like others drinking.

"What else would you drink if not alcohol?" Nora asked, puzzled.

"Any other drinks? Or water will do."

"Hmm, let's have beer then."

"Is beer water?!" Mo Xueyao shouted, both amused and exasperated.

"Well, I guess so?" Nora replied seriously.

As a result, Nora drank vodka, while Mo Xueyao drank beer.

Li Wanyan poured herself a glass of cold water.

The TV was turned on. The screen wasn't very big, but fortunately, neither of them were nearsighted. The only one who was nearsighted, Li Wanyan, also had glasses and could see clearly from a distance—although she had a bit more difficulty than the other two, perhaps because her prescription had increased again.

The 87 version of Dream of the Red Chamber is playing right now.

"Why is every channel showing Dream of the Red Chamber lately?" Mo Xueyao muttered under her breath. "Even if they don't show Romance of the Three Kingdoms or Water Margin, Journey to the West would be nice..."

"Oh, by the way, a white cat has come to my yard." Nora stood up, walked to the balcony, opened the door and said, "Look, over there in the corner of the yard, that's the one eating the food I put there."

"Are you staying here?" Mo Xueyao asked.

“No.” Nora shook her red hair. “I just came here to freeload.”

"Ah, what a clever cat! Can I pet it?"

"It won't let you touch it; it will run away if you walk past it."

"It will probably get better in a while." Mo Xueyao rubbed her hands together with the white cat, which looked up at her and then darted over to rub against the back of her hand.

"Huh?" Nora looked surprised.

"Hehe, it seems the cats all like me." Mo Xueyao laughed smugly. "Nora, look, I can pet it whenever I want."

“Impossible, it must have gotten used to living in my house.” Nora said, reaching out her hand, but the white cat nimbly dodged it and then darted to a corner of the yard, watching her warily, as if ready to run away at any moment.

"This cat eats and drinks for free, yet it's so afraid of me. What a thankless ingrate!"

"Pfft, haha—it might be from Nora's... um... um... how do I say it again?" Mo Xueyao didn't know how to say it in English for a moment, so she turned to Li Wanyan, "Wanyan, how do you say 'killing intent' again?"

"……I don't know either."

"Exactly, the aura of ferocity is too strong." Mo Xueyao could only use other English words to explain, "After all, even bears are afraid of you."

"Well, don't joke around. It's only people who are afraid of bears, not bears who are afraid of people, unless you have a deterrent weapon."

"Nora's words are not convincing at all," Mo Xueyao thought of their first meeting.

……

Chapter Two: West Lake Vinegar Fish

"By the way, it's almost noon, how about we cook for ourselves?" Nora was afraid that her English wasn't fluent enough, so she even made a chopping motion.

"Sure," Mo Xueyao said nonchalantly. "But I'm not a very good cook. Does Nora know how to cook?"

"I'm pretty good at grilling and stuff like that."

"I'll do it." Li Wanyan brushed her bangs aside. "Since we're here, let's make some Hangzhou specialties."

"Specialty dishes... um? Like, Dongpo pork or something?"

"And there's Longjing shrimp, West Lake fish in vinegar sauce, and the like," Li Wanyan replied. "Do you have any vegetables at home?"

"No, but the market is nearby, I'll go buy it. What do you need?"

"Uh, let's go together." Mo Xueyao stood up, even though she was so hot that she just wanted to stay home and enjoy the electric fan.

"It's alright, you're guests. Just wait for me at home. Just tell me what ingredients you want to buy," Nora said firmly.

"Uh... Wanyan?" Mo Xueyao looked at Li Wanyan, who was about to cook.

“Either is fine.” Not wanting to dampen Nora’s enthusiasm, Li Wanyan wrote down the names of the ingredients she needed to buy on a piece of paper, with both Chinese and English versions for reference. The Chinese version was for the vendors, and the English version was for Nora herself, so she wouldn’t have to go to each shop to ask where the ingredients were.

Without an English translation, you might end up at a tofu shop instead of buying fish.

"Oh, by the way, do you guys feel hot?"

"It's alright." Mo Xueyao rubbed her arm. Although there was no obvious sweat, it felt sticky.

If there's an electric fan blowing, it's not too bad.

"If it's too hot, we can turn on the air conditioner," Nora said, pointing to the window air conditioner in the room.

This is considered the cheapest air conditioner, but even with an air conditioner like this, Mo Xueyao's family couldn't afford it.

It's not that we can't raise the money, it's just that the money needs to be spent on more important things.

"Okay," Mo Xueyao agreed, though she probably wouldn't actually drive it.

Although air conditioning is more comfortable, it's someone else's home after all, so I should still think about saving them some money.

Unless you're going to your godfather's house, then it's just like being at home. There's no need to be polite. You can turn on the air conditioning if you want, and you can just grab any snacks you want.

"Ugh, Dream of the Red Chamber is so boring, let's change the channel?"

"Hmm... I think I'm fine."

"Does Wanyan like watching it?"

"Ah."

"Then let's look at this one." Mo Xueyao leaned back lazily in the rattan chair, not arguing with Li Wanyan.

"Oh dear, I've come at an inopportune time." In the TV series, Lin Daiyu, as delicate as a willow in the breeze, gracefully entered the room and said in a soft voice with a hint of bitterness.

"What do you mean?" Xue Baochai went up to her.

"If I had known she was coming, I wouldn't have come."

"Eh—So Lin Daiyu can be this jealous?" Mo Xueyao found it strange. Perhaps she had just watched a short while of Dream of the Red Chamber, because even her speech had a bit of the flavor from the drama. "I originally thought Daiyu was the kind of pure and innocent fairy who was untouched by worldly affairs. I never expected that she would have such a time."

"That's what you'd think if you hadn't seen it." Li Wanyan took a sip of cool water.

"But looking at it that way seems harsh."

“Didn’t Yu Shu from next door borrow a copy of Dream of the Red Chamber from you?” Li Wanyan placed her hand on the back of Mo Xueyao’s hand. “Go and see for yourself.”

"Ugh—never mind, I'm really not interested in what girls watch." Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes. "Romance and stuff is boring. I prefer war movies or science fiction."

Li Wanyan glanced at her helplessly.

Mo Xueyao quickly added, "Oh dear, and I heard that the later parts of Dream of the Red Chamber weren't written by the original author, so it's like the book wasn't finished. I hate reading unfinished stories..."

“That’s precisely what makes it so captivating.” Li Wanyan didn’t elaborate further. After all, Redology has become a specialized field of study, and it’s not something two young kids could easily explain. The two continued watching the TV series, and soon Nora returned from grocery shopping.

"I'm back! Haha, it's so hot." Nora, panting like a big dog, waddled in. "Why isn't the air conditioning on? I'll turn it on!"

Mo Xueyao didn't mind that her owner had turned on the air conditioner. She happily swayed back and forth in the recliner, and while Li Wanyan was cooking, she secretly changed the channel.

"distant."

"what happened?"

"Come and cook."

"Ah—Wanyan can manage on her own, can't she?" Mo Xueyao was somewhat reluctant.

"I'll teach you how to cook."

"Hey—I don't want to learn..." Mo Xueyao grumbled coquettishly. Just as she looked up, she saw Li Wanyan standing beside her, whispering in her ear, "Cooking is also about learning how to be a good girl. You're not a boy anymore."

"Hey—why is that unfair? Does that mean girls can't not know how to cook?!"

Even though she was shouting like that, Mo Xueyao was still dragged into the kitchen by Li Wanyan.

"Do you need any help?" Nora asked.

"No need, Yaoyao can help me." Li Wanyan said, closing the kitchen door to prevent the cooking fumes from blowing into the living room.

The house is nicely decorated, but because it's quite old, many things are outdated or cheap.

For example, the house doesn't have a range hood; it uses an exhaust fan instead, just like Mo Xueyao's house.