A Young Woman's Heart

Leaving aside the shrimp pan-fried dumplings, the seafood porridge alone contains several kinds of seafood.

Abalone, clams, sea snails, shrimp...

Some are fresh, because fresh ones taste better, while others are dried, just like mushrooms, which are actually more fragrant when dried.

"There's too much seafood! Won't it cause a nosebleed...?"

"Pfft, no, it's not much. You can't find seafood porridge with this much seafood in Hangzhou, it's just expensive. This amount of seafood porridge is normal here." Shui Zhishi chuckled, seemingly enjoying watching others enjoy the food she made. "How is it? Is it good?"

"I feel like I've said 'delicious' way too many times lately..." Mo Xueyao said jokingly, meaning, of course, that it was delicious.

"It's raining outside today, are there any activities planned?"

"Would you like to learn to cook with me?"

"Ah, well... I guess I'll pass," Mo Xueyao said with an awkward laugh.

"Yes, I want to learn," Li Wanyan said, expressing her interest.

"Summer thunderstorms are very short, they shouldn't last too long, we should be able to go to the beach in the afternoon."

"But being wet isn't comfortable either. I want to build sandcastles on the beach when it's sunny!" Mo Xueyao exclaimed excitedly. "I'm really interested in that!"

"I want to try burying myself in the sand," Wang Jiale said, tilting his head.

"Then your face will probably get tanned and become a different color from your body," Mo Xueyao joked, taking two more sips of seafood porridge and savoring it with her eyes half-closed.

"Oh no, I'm going to gain weight from eating so well here every day..." Wang Jiale suddenly started to worry.

"Pfft, you can exercise there. There's a gym and a game room on the basement level. If you don't know the way, you can ask Qiu Yi. He spends most of his time there."

"A gym?" Mo Xueyao felt a little numb. "Is it really that exaggerated?"

“That’s nothing compared to the price of this villa,” Shui Zhishi said, covering her mouth with a laugh. “You can just treat this place like a hotel.”

"I've always considered it a luxury hotel..."

……

Chapter Twenty-Two: Two Drowning Chickens

Inside the Children's Palace in Hangzhou.

Just a moment ago the sun was shining brightly, but the next second it was covered with dark clouds.

Zhou Yong, who was maintaining order in the queue for an amusement park ride, was soaked to the bone by the torrential rain before he could even react.

People who had been queuing scattered in all directions, and the eaves of every building were instantly filled with people.

Zhou Yong was a little disoriented when he saw a figure rushing over and holding an umbrella over his head.

"What are you standing there for?"

"Hey, Chan-ge, wait, you didn't get wet?"

"With such a bright sun, of course we need a parasol. It can also be used as an umbrella when it rains." Tian Tingchan's umbrella wasn't very big, and some of the ribs were sticking out. The plastic cap that should have covered them had long since fallen off somewhere. In order to prevent either of them from getting wet, she could only squeeze closer to Zhou Yong.

"This rain came so suddenly," Zhou Yong said with a dry laugh.

"You still say that? Look, everyone else is taking shelter from the rain, and you're still standing here getting soaked. Are you enjoying yourself?" Tian Tingchan said with a teasing laugh.

"Ahem!" Zhou Yong coughed awkwardly twice. "For a moment, I didn't know whether I should continue standing at my post or take shelter from the rain."

"Then see what others do, or you can hide under the awnings of those ticket inspectors—though it's a bit small."

"It was so sudden, I didn't expect it for a moment, haha..." Zhou Yong chuckled and scratched his head.

The thunderstorm came quickly, but it didn't go away quickly either. Judging from the torrential rain, it didn't seem like it would stop anytime soon.

The eaves were already crowded with people, so Tian Tingchan led him to hide under a tree.

There was a gashapon machine next to the tree, as if it was specially prepared for this time of day.

After all, when there's nothing to do while sheltering from the rain, you're bound to observe it.

The tree wasn't very big, and even under its shade, rainwater still dripped through the gaps.

Zhou Yong leaned against the gashapon machine, looking at the pictures and words on it with some boredom.

"One yuan each, uh...want to try some..."

"What a waste of money," Tian Tingchan commented.

"But I can get a surprise!" Zhou Yong said, taking out a dollar from his pocket and putting it in. After a few swirls, a gashapon toy rolled out.

After tearing open the cheap plastic box, Zhou Yong found a cheap bouncy ball inside. He looked like he'd lost money: "Oh dear, why is it a bouncy ball!"

"Isn't it nice? There's a picture of a little cat inside, it's quite cute."

"Do you like it? I'll give it to you."

"I don't want to." Tian Tingchan covered her mouth and laughed, one hand slipping from her grasp as it was blown away by the strong wind.

Without their umbrellas, the small shade of the tree could no longer keep out the wind and rain, and the strong wind blew the rain at an angle, soaking the two of them.

Tian Tingchan frantically ran after the umbrella, but the umbrella was blown even further away by the wind.

"Brother Chan, you'll get wet like this!" Although the shade of the tree wasn't very strong, it was still somewhat effective. But if he chased after her, it would be like taking a shower while fully clothed.

"They've run far away!" But Tian Tingchan's eyes were only on the umbrella.

"I'll do it! I'll do it!" Zhou Yong rushed out. He was much faster than her and finally grabbed the umbrella just before it was blown into the sky by the gale. The umbrella had been completely flipped over, but it still seemed to be usable.

"Thank you."

"Haha, now we're both soaked." Zhou Yong stood under the umbrella that had been reopened and laughed heartily. "But it's actually quite fun."

"..." Tian Tingchan frowned slightly. The rain had completely soaked her clothes. She had taken off her work clothes, and the white shirt underneath was also soaked.

The white shirt, soaked by water, became semi-transparent, revealing glimpses of her fair skin beneath. It seemed she wasn't wearing a bra today... or perhaps she was wearing an 'invisible' bra?

Zhou Yong probably didn't know that there was something called a 'band-aid'.

It is especially suitable for girls who are not big but still have some breasts and feel uncomfortable if they don't wear a bra.

However, they are not called Band-Aids, of course; they just look similar most of the time.

Fortunately, Tian Tingchan was wearing pants today, otherwise Zhou Yong would probably have been unable to take his eyes off her again.

It's absolutely impossible for him not to have feelings for her; after all, she's the only girl he's ever met in his entire life who has been so close to him.

"Well, even though she's a college student, let's just call her a girl for now," Zhou Yong thought to himself.

Zhou Yong is not actually a slow-witted person; on the contrary, he is sometimes quite sensitive. However, he is also very self-aware, knowing that others' kindness towards him does not necessarily mean romantic love. He doesn't want to be presumptuous, lest he lose even the chance to remain friends.

So he would often pretend to be slow-witted.

As for whether he missed anything in the process, he felt that he probably didn't.

He was particularly confident about this one thing.

"What are you looking at?" Tian Tingchan covered her chest shyly.

"Hey, haha, I didn't see anything. By the way, why were you chasing after the umbrella just now? Is it that precious to you?"

"well enough."

"Uh?"

Tian Tingchan brushed her damp temples aside and glanced at him sideways: "You don't actually think that just any random thing has a profound story behind it, do you? Do you think this umbrella was given to me by someone who has passed away?"

"Hey, I saw you were still using it even though it was so worn out, I thought there was some story behind it."

"In reality, there aren't that many stories like that. It's just an ordinary umbrella. I bought it at a convenience store when it was raining after I came to Hangzhou."

"So this is the first time? Is it significant?"

"It's not the first time, and I don't even remember how many times it's happened. Before, I would walk home in the rain without an umbrella. Later, I caught a cold and spent a lot of money, so I decided to buy an umbrella."

"That's it...?"

"Hmm? What else do you want?"

"For example, developing feelings over time."

"Nonsense, I can't wait to replace it. I'm short on money, and an umbrella is quite expensive. I can buy groceries and cook for myself and eat for several days."

"Is it just because you're worried about the money?"

"Ah."

"Ah, I was overthinking it." Zhou Yong chuckled dryly, playing with the bouncy ball he had just won from the gashapon machine in his hand.

"Are you coming to my place after get off work today?"

"Where's the fun to go at your place? Oh, by the way, don't you have a new TV model? My old TV doesn't support that interface."

What interface?

"Gao Yuan lent me his game console; you need to connect it to the TV to get a picture."

"Mine should be fine."

"That's great! How about I leave the game console at your house? I didn't bring it today, how about tomorrow? That way I can play it whenever I want during summer vacation."

Are those game consoles expensive?

"It must be quite expensive."

"Instead of playing games, you should study more." Tian Tingchan pursed her lips. "Time is precious."

"I know, I know, but we need to relax sometimes, right?"

“…Relax.” Tian Tingchan’s eyes were somewhat unfocused. “You can relax when you’re taking a shower or eating.”

"Ah, I don't think that's enough time..."

Tian Tingchan poked Zhou Yong's forehead: "Then you're not ambitious enough."

"Not everyone can be like you..."

After hearing his words, Tian Tingchan gently bit her lip. If she hadn't never told Zhou Yong about her own situation, she probably would have thought he was mocking her.