A Young Woman's Heart

"But you usually eat the most meat, don't you?" Mo Xiao smiled and patted Mo Zhuyou's head.

"But all my flesh has grown to other places, ugh... Hey, Haruka's is even smaller than mine."

"..." Mo Xueyao rolled her eyes and decided to close them and play dead.

"Xiaoyao~ Let me rub it for you, they say rubbing it a lot can make it bigger."

When Mo Xueyao heard this, she almost thought that Hua Yinyin had appeared, but the voice was clearly Mo Xiaoxiao's.

Does this mean that every girl actually harbors a soul even more lewd than a boy's?

Under the combined 'harassment' of the two sisters, Mo Xueyao finally managed to finish her shower.

Because she was going to eat barbecue later, she put on her clean winter school uniform and was sitting on the sofa, slowly pulling up her black stockings.

The main reason for being so careful is that I'm afraid of tearing it if I use too much force.

"Wow, Mo Xueyao in black stockings!" Hua Yinyin appeared out of nowhere and hugged Mo Xueyao's leg, interrupting her process of putting on black stockings.

Mo Xueyao, exasperated, pushed her away: "Stop messing around, okay? At least let me get dressed..."

"Hehehe~ Shall I help Xiaoyao get dressed?"

Mo Xueyao felt as if she had stumbled into a den of female predators.

And it wasn't just Mo Xueyao; other girls would also pat her while walking by.

Even Wang Jiale came to join in the fun.

Fortunately, other people came out after taking a shower, which diverted Hua Yinyin's attention and finally made Mo Xueyao breathe a sigh of relief.

"Smack~ Wow, the class monitor's butt is so perky~" She even teased Li Wanyan's head, no, it should be her butt.

"Hua Yinyin—are you itching for a beating?" Li Wanyan wasn't angry at all. Instead, she smiled and grabbed Hua Yinyin, who was shorter than her, went behind her, put her right arm around her neck, and then used her other hand to tickle her armpits.

"Pfft, hahaha—help—no, no—it tickles—haha—" Hua Yinyin immediately struggled violently from the tickling, but after a short while she was laughing so hard she couldn't breathe, and finally had to give in, saying, "I was wrong..."

Hua Yinyin's weakness is that she is ticklish.

Mo Xueyao stroked her chin, thinking that she could use this to her advantage next time—when Mo Xueyao did something bad.

By the time the students had all finished showering, it was almost 7:30.

Since it wasn't training, the team seemed quite relaxed.

Or perhaps it's more accurate to describe it as a large group of people going out shopping.

The barbecue was held at the same spot where we had military training on a rainy day, but instead of under a canopy, it was an open-air barbecue with a babbling brook flowing nearby, the sound of which was particularly soothing.

The barbecue party involved each class having a large barbecue grill, with both boys and girls participating together. Everyone would go to the front to get all the meat and grill it themselves.

The large grill is big enough for more than a dozen people to grill around at the same time. Don't think that it's not big enough; in fact, most people prefer to wait on the side until it's cooked and then start eating.

Ye Wen helped coordinate the order to ensure that everyone could get some barbecue.

"Everyone, enjoy your meal!" Ye Wen said with a smile. "This time, the principal is paying for it himself! We'd be doing him a disservice if we didn't eat as much as possible!"

"Speaking of which, I think I just saw the principal?" Wang Jiale stood on tiptoe and looked around.

However, because she is too short, she cannot see people in the distance even when she stands on tiptoe.

Although Mo Xueyao wasn't much taller, she was still about six or seven centimeters taller than her.

A large speaker was placed at the front, and Huang Gou, holding a microphone, started singing without even eating.

It was quite unexpected that he sang the most popular love songs of the moment.

Or rather, in everyone's impression, instructors usually sing military songs.

I never expected them to be able to sing pop songs, and to sing them so well.

In this era of relatively limited information, this is already considered very trendy.

"Wenwen, go up and sing a song too!" the students egged their homeroom teacher.

"Yeah, Wen's voice is so beautiful, hurry up and sing a Teresa Teng song!" Gao Yuan was the loudest one to cheer.

"I think it's good!" Zhou Yong gave a thumbs up.

"Okay, then who wants to come up and sing with me? Like a duet?"

"I'll do it! I'll do it!" Gao Yuan volunteered, raising her hand. "I'm pretty confident when it comes to singing, you know."

"Holy crap, you fatso can sing?" Zhou Yong exclaimed in shock.

Gao Yuan stroked his chin smugly, as if he were stroking a beard—even though he didn't have one: "I know a little, I know a little."

Soon enough, the students heard Ye Wen and Gao Yuan singing a love song together.

This made them even more heckled.

"Can Xiaoyao sing?" Wang Jiale asked while taking small bites of grilled pork tenderloin.

Not really.

"Why don't you try singing one?"

"No need, I really can't..." Mo Xueyao quickly shook her head, afraid of being forced into it, "I sing off-key."

"No way, Xiaoyao's voice is perfect for singing!" Mo Xiaoxiao said in surprise from the side. "Maybe she's just being modest?"

"I'm really not being modest... You won't believe me, just listen." Mo Xueyao decided to prove it with practice. It's better to lose face in front of a few people than to be dragged up and lose face in front of a whole bunch of people later, right?

So she immediately recited "Two Tigers".

Yes, even if she sings "Two Tigers," she'll still sing off-key.

And it seems to have even started playing the tune of other songs.

Wang Jiale and the others laughed so hard they were clutching their stomachs and could barely breathe.

But at least they let Mo Xueyao go and didn't plan to drag her onto the stage to sing.

Mo Xueyao could finally relax and enjoy her meal.

We don't eat meat very often at home, so today we're going to eat our fill.

Pork tenderloin, pork chops, beef steak, chicken cutlet, duck gizzards, chicken gizzards, cartilage...

Eat them all.

Later on, some of the boys even bought beer from the convenience store and started drinking it.

It's as if drinking alcohol transforms a child into an adult.

Amidst this joyful atmosphere, the barbecue party finally came to an end.

All good things must come to an end.

……

Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Day I Returned Home

Friday, July 22, 1999.

partly cloudy.

After the morning review ceremony, the students were finally freed.

On a pickup truck used for collecting camouflage uniforms, the clothes were piled up almost like a small mountain.

The students put their own clothes or Yukong High School uniforms back on and lined up to leave.

Five days felt like a long time during military training.

But when the military training ended, it felt too short.

Five days of seclusion made Mo Xueyao feel as if she had undergone a kind of sublimation.

I don't know if this is just my imagination.

But at least without the distractions of the outside world, she has more quiet time to contemplate life.

While standing at attention, the brain constantly revisits the past to make the tedious time more bearable.

I wouldn't say I had any sudden enlightenment, but at least I've gained some insights.

When she got back on the same bus, even though it had only been five days, she felt a sense of loss and change.

The number of bare trees increased, and the fallen leaves on the ground were like a year's worth of accumulated sorrows, drifting away with the wind as time flowed by.

"Goodbye, instructors!" The students on the bus waved goodbye to their instructors with great enthusiasm, each one looking reluctant to part.

This gave Mo Xueyao a strange feeling, like a soldier saying goodbye to a police dog after retiring.

Sitting next to her, Hua Yinyin took a napkin and wiped her eyes, but tears still glistened in her eyes.

This surprised her. Could the carefree Hua Yinyin also have such sentimental moments?

"Uh, I just felt quite happy these past few nights of staying together, and I'm a little reluctant to leave," Hua Yinyin said, looking out the window at the sky, trying to cover up her misunderstanding.

Mo Xueyao remained silent and did not answer, but she felt that everyone on the bus seemed closer than when they arrived.

The boys became very close friends, and the girls started talking about everything.

Sitting in the back, Cha Li was even discussing with Wang Jiale what the shape of a certain male organ actually looked like...

She blushed deeply at the awful topic and could only look out the window, pretending she hadn't heard anything.

Amid the students' farewells, the bus slowly started moving.

We drove down the winding mountain road, bidding farewell to the mountain.

Whether the rest of my life will come again is a question.

Perhaps this departure will be a final farewell.

Mo Xueyao suddenly felt inexplicably sad. Thinking carefully about her life, she realized how many places she had been to once and might never go back to in her life.

How many people meet once and then never see each other again in their lives?

"Do you need some tissues?" Hua Yinyin's voice rang out from behind her.