A Young Woman's Heart

"Yeah, so why are you thinking so much about it?"

"But it'll be quick too," Hua Yinyin added, finishing what she hadn't finished saying earlier.

Then came a long silence.

Mo Xueyao watched the Milky Way spin, rubbing her already full belly.

It wasn't until it was getting late that everyone packed up and returned to the villa.

But unlike the first day, where you can just shower and go straight to sleep, today you still have to pack your luggage to avoid being in a rush tomorrow.

Back at the villa, Hua Yinyin and Mo Xueyao started packing together. Mo Xueyao had taken many things from Li Wanyan's suitcase, so after packing, she had to hand them over to Li Wanyan in the next room so she could put them in her suitcase.

"I won't wash the clothes I take off later," Mo Xueyao muttered, finding a plastic bag to put them in after her shower.

Since the clothes won't dry even after washing, it would be troublesome to pack them in a backpack tomorrow while they're still wet.

"Little Yaoyao, is this your own toothbrush?" Hua Yinyin's voice came from the bathroom.

"Okay, I'll put it away tomorrow morning. I still need to brush my teeth when I get up!"

"I was just asking."

The last day of a trip often leaves people feeling extremely tired.

It was as if all the fatigue of the past few days had been accumulated in this one day.

However, in reality, it was probably just a kind of emotional attachment that led to mental exhaustion.

"I won't have such a big house to stay in tomorrow. After staying in such a big house, my house will seem so small." Hua Yinyin held her panties above her head, then folded them into a small roll and stuffed them into her bag.

"Why are you holding that up so high... are you going to wear it on your head?" Mo Xueyao teased.

"What, it's not allowed?" Hua Yinyin deliberately held it to her nose and sniffed it. "Mmm, it smells so good!"

"Alas--"

No matter how you look at it, that stuff couldn't possibly smell good.

Ah, no, after washing, it does have a fresh scent of laundry detergent.

But it's physiologically unacceptable.

In any case, Mo Xueyao would never put that thing that close to her face.

After packing all her luggage, Mo Xueyao rummaged through the drawers several times to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything.

"Finally, I can take a shower..." It was already midnight, and Mo Xueyao felt extremely tired. She had originally wanted to take a bath, but now she just wanted to rinse off quickly with water and then go back to bed for a good night's sleep.

"Is Xiaoyao taking a bath today?"

"No more."

"Huh—? It's the last day after all, shouldn't we try it one last time?"

Hua Yinyin's words made her hesitate.

Indeed, after today, it won't be so easy to experience this again.

So, after she finished her bath, she still took a bath with Hua Yinyin.

This time, it was she who fell asleep in the bathtub.

“Hehehe—Little Yaoyao—” Hua Yinyin’s devilish murmurs rang in Mo Xueyao’s ears.

She instinctively tried to open her eyes, but she was so sleepy that she couldn't even lift her eyelids, let alone move a finger.

In a daze, she could only let Hua Yinyin do as she pleased.

However, apart from feeling a little tingly and numb, there wasn't much else unusual.

"Huff... Am I too weak..." Hua Yinyin muttered to herself as she carried Mo Xueyao to the bed. "Little Yaoyao, you should lose weight."

Mo Xueyao shouted in her mind, "I'm not fat!"

However, it cannot respond with its voice.

"Does Xiaoyao like to sleep in clothes at night, or not?" Hua Yinyin began to struggle with this question.

Mo Xueyao wanted to roll her eyes at her, but she didn't actually do anything about it.

"Getting dressed is such a hassle, it's probably better to just wrap yourself in a bath towel..." Hua Yinyin grinned mischievously, taking advantage of the moment while wrapping her in the bath towel to deliberately grope her.

Fortunately, they didn't go too far, otherwise Mo Xueyao might have really woken up from this dazed state.

Then, I felt that everything calmed down.

Hua Yinyin also lay down on the bed.

She seemed quite energetic, but she was actually just as tired as Mo Xueyao. She had forced herself to get settled in, and now that she was lying on the bed, her breathing became very even, as if she had fallen asleep instantly.

This is the last night at the beach.

In her dream, Mo Xueyao also arrived at the seaside.

However, it wasn't the bustling beach with many students, but rather a very deserted beach.

The moonlight itself seemed to grow cold and desolate.

In her dream, she stood on the beach, quietly watching the moon. The moon grew larger and larger until it obscured the edge of the distant ocean.

But she was not afraid.

Instead, I found the deep, enormous moon to be incredibly captivating.

As if suddenly sensing something instinctively, Mo Xueyao turned her head and saw a little girl... or rather a little boy, swinging on a swing behind her.

In short, the gender cannot be distinguished.

"It's you again."

"it's me."

"I met you in my first dream here." Mo Xueyao chuckled. "Strange, is this dream a series?"

"The world of dreams is continuous, it's just that the entrance to each dream is different."

"Well……"

"The dream world is also a world that corresponds to the real world."

"Then what are you? A bound spirit?"

"Huh? I... of course not, I'm just... a shadow."

Mo Xueyao did not ask what a shadow was.

Or rather, it was as if they were controlled by a dream, and no sense of curiosity arose.

She simply nodded slightly.

Has the person you're waiting for arrived yet?

"not yet."

Are you going to wait any longer?

“Perhaps not,” the little boy laughed. “Well…because she’s already gotten rid of me.”

"Oh……"

"Everyone has their own shadow."

Is shedding one's own shadow a good thing or a bad thing?

"Is it good or bad to shed your past self and embrace a new one?"

"I don't know..." Mo Xueyao hesitated for a moment, then said, "However, I still don't like to completely abandon my past self. No matter what, it's a very important mark in my life."

"Your shadow will be very happy."

"It's not a shadow... I think the past me is a part of my complete life, an integral part, not something that can be separated. I probably won't completely become a person I don't recognize from the past. In any case, there are many things that are hard to change, and there's no need to change them, right?"

As Mo Xueyao was speaking, she suddenly realized that the little boy who was swinging on the swing in front of her had disappeared.

Her words just now sounded like she was talking to herself.

She scratched her head and chuckled to herself, then sat on the swing that was no longer rusty but instead covered with flower wreaths, and began to sway gently in the sea breeze.

……

Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Return Journey and the Photo Booth

The students were drowsy in the bumpy RV.

The journey home after it ended was anything but exciting.

Mo Xueyao lay on the table, one finger idly pressing the button on the game console that wasn't turned on.

The sun was scorching the earth like a furnace, so Qiu Yi turned the air conditioner down very low. When the sunlight shone through the window onto her body, she felt that the temperature was just right.

It's like a sunny autumn day.

Li Wanyan, who was originally reviewing her second-year high school courses, buried her head in her arms, lost in a dream.

Wang Jiale and Lü Bolun, sitting in the passenger seat, were whispering intimately to each other. Only Qiu Yi, who was driving, could hear them. Sometimes, when the young couple amused him, he would break the silence in the car with a hearty laugh.

"Tap tap, tap tap..." Mo Xueyao kept pressing the buttons on the game console, finally prompting Lu Chengyuan, who was sitting opposite her, to ask a question—

"Xiaoyao, what are you pressing?"

"It's so boring on the bus."

"Why don't you play some games?"

"I'm already tired of playing on this." Mo Xueyao muttered, resting her chin on her hand, and gently poked Hua Yinyin, who was leaning against the window with her eyes closed, looking uncomfortable due to motion sickness. "Hey, hey? Motion sickness again? Didn't you take motion sickness medicine?"

"It's...useless...to me..." Hua Yinyin mumbled weakly.

"How pitiful," Mo Xueyao said with schadenfreude. "But it's good this way, at least it'll be quieter when we're in the car."

Hua Yinyin's face was extremely pale. She didn't even have the strength to refute. She just pursed her lips and closed her eyes again, trying to calm her churning stomach acid.