A Young Woman's Heart

"It's okay, it's okay... The things inside are so expensive..." Mo Xueyao stuck out her tongue and said softly.

"Little Yaoyao, look, there's an earring shop up ahead." Hua Yinyin was more interested in other things. "Let's go take a look!"

"Earrings?" Mo Xueyao had absolutely no interest in these things. "They must be heavy to wear on your ears. What's so interesting about them?"

"What? You're only allowed to look at what you like, but not allowed to keep us company?" Hua Yinyin pinched Mo Xueyao's cheek in dissatisfaction. "Little Yaoyao is so selfish!"

"Ahem..." Mo Xueyao was speechless for a moment, and could only awkwardly touch her cheek before following them toward the shop.

The shop is not big, and the interior is filled with all kinds of earrings. There is also a poster on the door that says "5 yuan for punching".

"You can even get your ears pierced while you're at it!" Hua Yinyin excitedly patted Mo Xueyao's shoulder. "I've always wanted to get my ears pierced!"

“It violates school rules,” Li Wanyan said calmly.

"Ugh, don't say such discouraging things at a time like this! Besides, I can just not wear it at school." However, Li Wanyan's cold gaze still made her hesitate for a moment, and finally she muttered softly, "What, then can't I just wear one...?"

"Boring...right, Xiaoxi?" Mo Xueyao nudged Huang Yuxi. He was, after all, a boy, and she felt that they should have something in common at this moment.

"Hmm..." Huang Yuxi bit her lip, seemingly not hearing Mo Xueyao's words, because she was staring at a pink spherical earring in the store, completely absorbed.

It's hard to tell whether the material is gemstone or plastic, but the price tag next to it is 50 cents each, so it's most likely plastic.

"Xiao Xi...you...uh...like it?" Mo Xueyao asked uncertainly.

Huang Yuxi nodded shyly, then quickly lowered her head and wrote, "I just think it looks really good!"

"Ah... a boy actually likes earrings..." Mo Xueyao looked at him with drooping eyelids, "Although Xiaoxi isn't really like a boy to begin with..."

"What? Little Yaoyao, don't be so prejudiced. Earrings are a fashion statement, and they're suitable for both men and women!" Hua Yinyin said, hands on her hips, clearly displeased.

Even Li Wanyan agreed with this.

"Boss! Is it five yuan for both ears to get pierced?"

"Correct."

"Can you just shoot one side?"

"Sure, two yuan and fifty cents for one side." The owner, a woman in her thirties, answered with a smile as she tidied up the scattered earrings on the cash register.

Li Wanyan frowned, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping herself.

"Maybe we shouldn't?" Mo Xueyao tugged at Hua Yinyin's wrist. "The school doesn't allow it."

"Tch, what's the big deal? It's just an ear piercing, as long as you don't wear a mask, no one will notice! There are even people who get piercings on their lips or even here!" Hua Yinyin pointed to her body. "Mine is nothing! School is too rigid!"

“I think our school is already open enough…” Mo Xueyao said helplessly.

“If you don’t want to get your ears pierced, you can still wear earrings, which are clip-on, but some people are more sensitive and may feel a little pain at first.”

"Hmm...that's not bad..." Hua Yinyin seemed to be willing to compromise.

Huang Yuxi blushed slightly and touched her earlobe, her gaze falling on the poster that read "Five Yuan for Punching".

……

Chapter Thirty-Five: Huang Yuxi's Little Willfulness

"Let's go, let's go—" Mo Xueyao pushed Hua Yinyin away from the earring shop, "Why do you keep thinking about getting your ears pierced? Don't you feel any pain?"

"This is an essential accessory for girls, a must-have!" Hua Yinyin exclaimed.

“I don’t think there’s anything attractive about having two heavy things hanging from your earlobes.” Mo Xueyao saw Li Wanyan following her out and continued pushing Hua Yinyin forward. “You should buy a pendant instead of earrings.”

Seeing that the two of them were trying to stop her, Hua Yinyin had no choice but to give up: "Then Xiao Yaoyao has to give me some compensation, right?"

"What kind of compensation?"

"Like a kiss or something? To soothe my wounded heart?"

"Stop it..." Mo Xueyao grabbed her braid and tugged at it. "Let's go, let's go. What does that shop up ahead sell? It looks like I've never seen it before."

"Shadow puppetry...? Hmm? It feels like something that often appears in war movies."

"And it seems like this kind of thing appears more often in movies filmed in Shanghai," Mo Xueyao muttered, pushing Hua Yinyin along as they quickly walked to the deserted shop.

The glass door was ajar. Mo Xueyao tried to push it open a crack and saw that it was dark inside, with only a desk lamp lit.

A man who looked to be in his forties or fifties, with half of his hair dyed white, turned around and looked at them. The wrinkles on his face immediately gathered together, revealing a smile that looked like the bark of an old tree: "Want to watch a show? Two yuan per person, ten minutes each time."

Mo Xueyao craned her neck to look at the things on his table. There were stacks of shadow puppets, one after another. These puppets were very thin, like photographs, not three-dimensional.

And this middle-aged man was just making a new shadow puppet...

"It seems a bit expensive." Hua Yinyin wasn't interested, so she wanted to find an excuse to leave.

"Haha... It's not expensive, we need to eat."

"Is this the place where people watch shadow puppet shows?" Li Wanyan's gaze fell on the shadow puppets.

"Yes, we also sell some trinkets—but young people these days probably don't like them anymore, right? These shadow puppets, made of genuine leather, are very expensive, and most of them aren't for sale. If you like, you can buy some made of colored cardboard."

"How much is one?" These traditional cultural practices are becoming increasingly rare, and Mo Xueyao felt that she should perhaps buy some to keep as souvenirs.

"Five yuan each."

This price is really not cheap.

After all, to outsiders, it's just some paper.

No wonder business here is so bad.

It's not just that these traditional things are going to be phased out, but also because they are too expensive, making them unattractive to the poor and unworthy of the attention of the rich.

Two yuan is enough for a student to have breakfast. If they want to buy meat buns, they can buy four, which are all fist-sized buns.

But you can only watch a ten-minute shadow puppet show here.

Why not just add another three or five dollars and go to the cinema to watch a two-hour movie?

In those days, the cheapest movie tickets—such as those for state-produced revolutionary films—could cost as little as two yuan each.

Why spend five dollars on a paper doll when you could buy a plush toy or a four-wheel drive car?

The assembled four-wheel drive vehicle, which also comes with two batteries, only costs five yuan.

Mo Xueyao glanced at Li Wanyan and noticed that the latter seemed somewhat hesitant.

"Would Wanyan like to see it?"

"No." Li Wanyan shook her head, then suddenly felt as if something was missing, and frowned as she looked around, "Where's Huang Yuxi?"

"Xiao Xi? Huh? Oh right, where's Xiao Xi?" Mo Xueyao then realized that someone was missing.

"Did you get lost?" Hua Yinyin walked towards the door.

"Hey, wait a minute, if you want to watch it, I'll let you see it for free: Sun Wukong vs. the White Bone Demon," the middle-aged man said, his face full of helplessness and exhaustion.

"Can one person really manage this?" Hua Yinyin asked curiously.

"Of course, it's just two roles, no problem at all." The boss's face showed a hint of pride as he said this.

"Then Wanyan, you and Yinyin stay here. I'll go find Xiaoxi." Mo Xueyao placed her hand on the glass door and turned to the two of them.

"Hurry up and come back quickly~ Otherwise, Xiaoxi might wander off somewhere." Hua Yinyin found a stool and sat down. Since it was free to watch, she became a little interested.

"Okay." Li Wanyan hesitated slightly, then nodded.

So, Mo Xueyao pushed open the door and went out.

The clouds in the sky had just drifted away, and the scorching sun shone down on her without any mercy.

Mo Xueyao walked quickly back the way she came and found Huang Yuxi standing in the earring shop picking out earrings without much effort.

"Hey, Xiaoxi? What are you still doing here?" Mo Xueyao walked into the shop. "What are you doing?"

Huang Yuxi was startled by her. She nervously bit her lip, pointed to the various earrings hanging on the wall, and then pointed to her own ears.

"You don't... want to buy earrings, do you?"

"Hmm..." He nodded, his face flushed, his hands unconsciously clenching the hem of his clothes.

"But you're a boy. Do you want to be a girl?" Mo Xueyao asked curiously.

Even the shop owner cast an inquiring glance his way.

But what surprised her was that the child was actually a boy?

"Hmm." Huang Yuxi shook her head vigorously, biting her lip as she wrote on the whiteboard, "I don't want to be a girl."

"Then... uh?" Mo Xueyao was a little confused.

"I just think they look nice." He showed Mo Xueyao the words on the whiteboard, then lowered his head to erase them and rewrote other words. "Can't boys wear earrings?"

“Ah…this would seem effeminate, wouldn’t it? Although you are effeminate to begin with, Xiaoxi…uh…” Mo Xueyao scratched her cheek and changed her words, “Although you do look like a girl.”

"Many men abroad wear earrings too," Huang Yuxi wrote, pouting, her bright eyes wide open. "Women can wear jewelry, why can't men?"

Before Mo Xueyao could reply, he continued writing, "Doesn't everyone have the right to pursue beauty?"

"Ah... I don't know how to answer you." Mo Xueyao scratched her head. "It's like saying, 'I don't want to be a girl, but I want to wear a skirt...' I just can't understand it."

"Ugh..." Huang Yuxi wiped her eyes, puffed out her cheeks, and stared at Mo Xueyao with an expression that seemed to say, 'I just want to wear earrings.'

"what……"

"Ugh—" Huang Yuxi shook his whole body and stomped his feet hard, like a child who wanted his parents to buy him a toy but was not allowed to—although he did look like a child.

Mo Xueyao looked at his puffed-out cheeks and sighed helplessly, "I didn't say you couldn't wear it, I just thought it looked weird, I was just giving you a suggestion... If you really want to do it, then do it..."

Huang Yuxi couldn't contain her expression and burst into laughter again. She wrote two big characters on the whiteboard: "Thank you."

"It's okay, it's not like I'm the one paying..."

This is just a little bit of his whims. Everyone has moments like this, and it's rare anyway, so let him be.

Mo Xueyao thought to herself, "Anyway, it won't cause any harm to my body. It's just two more holes on my earlobes."

"So, are you sure you want to get your ears pierced?" the shop owner finally spoke.

"Okay!" Huang Yuxi sat down in a chair and handed a five-yuan bill to the shopkeeper.