A Young Woman's Heart

"We'll clean this bed later, then put it against the wall, and stick some newspaper on the wall so we don't have to worry about it getting covered in dust at night."

"Okay, good." Li Wanyan looked around, seemingly quite satisfied with the small room.

“Anyway, it’s a fruit shop, so there’s not much to stock up on. If it doesn’t sell, it won’t be fresh for long and will rot. You can arrange this room however you like,” the father said casually. “You can sleep with Xiaoyao tonight. I’ll buy some small furniture tomorrow, otherwise you won’t even have a desk to do your homework.”

"No need... I can write it anywhere."

“That won’t do. We’ll buy what we need. Don’t be polite with me. Our family doesn’t like these formalities.” The father waved his hand. “Just make do with whatever you want.”

"Okay... thank you."

"You can leave your luggage here for now," the father said. "It's too much trouble to move it around."

"Ok."

"This room is just missing a bigger window," Mo Xueyao said, stroking her chin. "It feels a bit stuffy."

"At least there's a vent, otherwise it would be really stuffy." The father walked to the shop entrance and lit a cigarette. "Mainly because this wasn't originally intended to be a room, but a warehouse, so it wasn't built with much care."

“It’s okay, I don’t mind.” Li Wanyan shook her head. “Actually, I’ve always wanted to have my own room.”

“But a small, enclosed space does make one feel safer—maybe.” Mo Xueyao pressed on the wire bed, which made a creaking sound that made one feel uneasy. “Is this bed sturdy?”

"It should be fine, this kind of bed is like this." Li Wanyan seemed to have a lot of experience with this. "Besides, I'm not that heavy..."

"I hope there won't be any problems." With so many expenses already at home, Mo Xueyao couldn't bring herself to suggest buying a new bed, so she could only pray, "By the way, class monitor, if you're not going to live at school anymore, shouldn't you tell the teacher?"

"Yes, I'll talk to the homeroom teacher on Monday."

"Oh... I guess you'll be the one opening the door then. It's much closer to school from here than from my house."

“Yes, I don’t have to get up early to catch the first bus anymore.” Li Wanyan nodded. “I can just walk there, it’s about a ten-minute walk.”

"If I ever want to sleep in, I'll just sleep here," Mo Xueyao muttered. "It's even closer to school from here..."

"Sure, you can sleep wherever you want." The father started arranging the fruit on the shelf. "Bring in some more apples or something this afternoon, so we won't be in a rush tomorrow."

"Then the class monitor and I will head back first?" Mo Xueyao couldn't stand staying here. There were no books to read and no candy to eat, she was incredibly bored.

“Okay, you can take the bus back. You can take the 312 bus directly from the bus stop over there.” The father pointed to the other side of the road.

So Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan embarked on their journey home once again.

While waiting for the bus at the station, Li Wanyan suddenly said out of the blue, "Mo Xueyao, can I call you Xiaoyao from now on?"

"Ah, either way is fine."

"Then you can call me Wanyan from now on."

"Uh... okay."

……

Chapter 73 Men's Clothing More

Buses are not as crowded on weekends as they are on weekdays.

Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan sat side by side.

“Your parents are very easy to talk to,” Li Wanyan said softly.

"Yes, my family is all easy to talk to."

"Don't you think I came too suddenly?"

"It's alright. Actually, I had heard before that something might have happened in your family, so it's not too surprising."

I really envy your family.

"It's okay, just treat this place as your own home from now on."

Li Wanyan didn't answer. It was obvious that she knew it was just a polite remark. Did she really mean to treat it as her own home?

That's a very difficult thing.

After all, she was just an outsider.

Being accepted and treated so gently by Mo Xueyao's parents so quickly was already beyond her expectations.

When I got home, it was still early, and Sutang was already waiting at the door.

When Mo Xueyao stepped into the house, it jumped up immediately, looking very affectionate.

She picked it up and hugged it, then turned on the TV in the living room: "Class monitor... Wanyan, want to watch TV?"

"Hmm, what kind of TV shows does Xiaoyao like to watch?"

"I... like watching anime and stuff, but there's usually no channel broadcasting it at this time of day." Mo Xueyao muttered as she pulled up a chair and sat in front of the TV. "If only there were DVDs, then I could just go to a video rental store and rent discs to watch."

"But DVDs are expensive, aren't they?"

"Anyway, it's not cheap..." Mo Xueyao gently scratched Su Tang's chin and handed the remote control to Li Wanyan, "You can change the channel."

"Ah."

The class monitor didn't stand on ceremony and checked each channel one by one, finally stopping at a channel that was playing a romance drama.

Mo Xueyao has no interest in these kinds of urban romance dramas because she finds them pretentious as they progress.

In these kinds of TV dramas, love always trumps everything.

In her opinion, there are things in the world that are far more important than love.

In any case, she couldn't bring herself to give up so many other things for love.

Perhaps it's because she's never been in a relationship and doesn't yet truly understand what love is.

There's a saying that goes, "The onlooker sees more of the game than the player."

When you're deeply immersed in it, you might really feel that love is something you must pursue in your life.

Li Wanyan gradually became engrossed in the plot, while Mo Xueyao took out a cat toy she made from shuttlecock feathers and started teasing Sutang.

Only at this time will it appear as lively and active as a young cat.

"You only lost a leg, but she lost her love!!" The plot on TV seemed to be reaching its climax, but to Mo Xueyao, the lines were utterly speechless.

But Li Wanyan watched it very attentively.

Mo Xueyao had absolutely no idea what was so appealing about it...

I always felt it was superficial and one-sided, or rather, a bit too extreme.

That would seem very unreal.

As time went by, it soon reached noon.

The clouds in the sky briefly dispersed, allowing the bright sunshine to shine on the city and through the window onto the balcony of Mo Xueyao's home.

Mo Xueyao didn't have a good appetite when she woke up in the morning, so she didn't eat much. It was only eleven o'clock, but her stomach was already growling with hunger.

It seems that her father forgot to prepare ingredients for lunch; there were only some meat dishes in the refrigerator that she didn't know how to cook.

She dared not use the meat to cook, in case she messed it up, it would be a waste.

Let's save it for Mom to make a better dish.

For a family of average means, life isn't exactly impoverished, but there aren't many lavish meals available either. The only thing that's always available is instant noodles.

In this day and age, instant noodles are still considered a very nutritious food!

So her mother would often buy some and leave it for Mo Xueyao to soak and eat when she didn't have time to prepare meals.

Of course, you can also boil it. Adding some bok choy and eggs will make it taste even better.

"Class monitor," Mo Xueyao still wasn't used to addressing Li Wanyan so affectionately, and habitually called out, "Are you hungry? Do you want lunch?"

"A little bit," the class monitor said, standing up from his stool. "Shall I help?"

"No need, no need, it's just instant noodles, I can manage by myself," Mo Xueyao said apologetically. "Um... I'm sorry to treat you to instant noodles."

"It's nothing. Instant noodles are fine too. I don't usually get to eat them at home."

"Is that so... Speaking of which, what is the class monitor like at home?"

"At home, I'll help my mom cook. If she's too busy sometimes, I'll do it."

"Hey, the class monitor's cooking skills are pretty good, huh?"

"Um...it's alright," Li Wanyan replied modestly.

Mo Xueyao didn't continue the conversation. Instead, she busied herself washing the vegetables, boiling water, and then putting in two packets of instant noodles and the seasoning packet.

Then peel the ham sausage, which is mostly starch, cut it into sections, and put it into the pot.

Su Tang was meowing with envy, practically ready to jump up and snatch the sausage.

"No." Mo Xueyao frowned and slapped Su Tang, who was trying to climb up her leg, back down. "Don't come up."

"Meow meow--"

"Is it very hungry?" Li Wanyan asked with concern.

"It shouldn't be that bad, I just had fried dumplings this morning..." Mo Xueyao could only helplessly tear open another sausage and hold it to its mouth.

"Meow meow meow." Su Tang immediately started chewing heartily, looking like she hadn't eaten for days and nights.

A sausage was quickly swallowed up by it. The latter seemed a little unsatisfied, licking its paws and looking at Mo Xueyao longingly, wanting another one.

"Eat it later." Mo Xueyao rubbed Su Tang's head and then carried it out of the kitchen. "Okay, don't run back in."

Bubbling started to rise from the pot.

Mo Xueyao poured the ham sausage in and added two eggs.

However, her technique wasn't very good, and she broke the eggs.

I originally planned to make two boiled egg dishes, but now I can only cook them as egg noodles...

Finally, add the greens and cook for a little while longer.

Mo Xueyao prefers noodles with a chewier texture, so she didn't cook them for too long.