Dense snake scales.
Perhaps in Xing Yue’s perception, Bu Yao was still that demanding Eldest Miss who liked to boss people around and needed to be waited on hand and foot. She had never imagined that if a request was brought up, Bu Yao would actually agree to correct it, to learn to change for the better.
This made Bu Yao sulk a little. It meant that in Xing Yue’s heart, her image was very bad. Very poor.
Her little finger was hooked by Xing Yue’s. The warm body heat soothed her skin. She tightened her fingertip around it. “Mm…”
Having never been loved deeply by anyone, Xing Yue couldn’t quite fathom why Bu Yao was so fixated on her and no one else.
Did people in this world truly enjoy suffering? Back then, when her father fled his home, part of the reason was a desire to go a little crazy, to escape a life ruled by strict conventions. Her mother’s appearance had been like a sudden dash of spice thrown into a bland, tedious existence. The young master was just tasting novelty.
Bu Yao wasn’t restrained by her family. She studied whatever she wanted; she did whatever she wanted. What was she hoping to gain by leaving the Bu family? Was it truly just because her mother had said two unfavorable things about her and she was throwing a fit…?
Xing Yue was still lost in thought when Bu Yao tugged her hand and said, “Don’t worry. Once my mom apologizes to me, I’ll go back. If I really cut ties with my family, who’s going to spend all this money?”
“…” Xing Yue’s mouth twitched. “I’m very reassured.”
Bu Yao wasn’t throwing a brainless tantrum. Actions like abandoning her parents, giving up the family fortune, and running away from home—those were simply too brainless.
Besides, her parents weren’t even opposed to her being with Xing Yue. It was just that her mother had been a bit sharp-tongued. Ten years ago, when her emotional recognition disorder was still present, she hadn’t sensed it. Only in the past couple of days had she realized that her mother had been consistently belittling Xing Yue.
In that case, she absolutely had to take a stand, to let her family know just how much she cared about Xing Yue. She had to shield and protect her.
The two of them went to the market and bought some meatballs and carrots. They decided to start simple. Today’s breakfast would be meatball rice noodles.
Xing Yue stood behind Bu Yao. With one hand holding the woman’s hand steady around the carrot, and the other holding the peeler, she guided her hand to peel the skin. “After washing it clean, you peel the skin off. You use this julienne peeler. A small knife can easily cut your hand. This peeler can also be used for potato skins and potato strips.”
This posture meant Bu Yao was practically nestled completely within Xing Yue’s embrace.
She studied with earnest focus. After finishing one side of the carrot, she could peel the rest by herself without Xing Yue guiding her hand. Maybe her pressure was off, so the peel came off unevenly. She went back over the missed spots and scraped those areas again.
By the time they reached the chopping stage, Xing Yue was afraid she might cut herself and didn’t dare let her guard down. “Careful.”
Warm, steady breaths filled the space near her ear. The right side of Bu Yao’s ear quietly heated up. Looking at the carrot cut into rectangular batons, a budding sense of achievement sprouted in her heart. “Xing Yue, when you cook for me, what do you think about?”
Bu Yao was far better at learning than expected. She didn’t seem to reject the kitchen at all. Xing Yue’s full attention was on her hands, so she didn’t quite catch it. “Hm?”
“Do you think, like I do, ‘Will the wife like this dish? Should it be boiled or stir-fried? Is the flavor too bland?'” Bu Yao placed the chopped carrot batons into a bowl and turned her head back to ask. “Do you?”
Xing Yue scored cross-shaped cuts into the remaining meatballs. The tail of her eye curved with amusement. She simmered the broth and answered offhandedly, “No. When I used to cook for you before, my brain was full of: The Eldest Miss is so hard to serve. She won’t eat this, won’t eat that, and she loves to scold me. Might as well just poison her mute.“
Bu Yao’s pink, bubbly fantasy was popped one bubble at a time by Xing Yue. She pouted, her tone playful-anger. “Then why didn’t you succeed? Who messed up your plan?”
The woman picked up two lettuce leaves and, treating these vegetable leaves as a certain scoundrel, tore them to shreds and threw them into the pot.
Seeing her little tantrum, a laugh spilled from Xing Yue’s lips. “I couldn’t bring myself to. The couple of sounds the Eldest Miss makes in bed are something I quite enjoy. Poisoning you mute would be a shame.”
The Eldest Miss’s temper was like a little chili pepper. Even in bed, she wanted to give Xing Yue a hard time. Her body might submit, but her mouth certainly didn’t.
“Mm… Don’t… Who taught you to do this, Xing Yue! Stop…”
“Little wild snake taught me. The flashy, colorful kind with lots of moves.”
“Get off me… Mm, ah… Xing Yue…”
Her body softer than clouds, yet her mouth was still clamoring to fetch scissors and snip the flashy little wild snake in half.
Clearly events from ten years ago, but when Xing Yue brought it up like this, a revolving lantern of images cascaded through Bu Yao’s mind. Those scenes replayed on a loop. Forget the dialogue; even the dripping, honeyed, tender tone of voice was recalled with perfect clarity—as if it had all happened just last night.
Her face exploded with heat. Unconsciously, her snake tail slipped out, trailing down to the floor. Stealthily, it sought out Xing Yue, expertly twining around her ankle. The tip of the tail madly released its scent, domineeringly wanting Xing Yue’s entire body to be drenched in the smell of her snake form.
Almost wishing that the moment Xing Yue stepped outside, everyone would know she’d been tangled into a knot with a fire snake.
“What are you thinking about? In broad daylight.” Xing Yue picked up the red snake tail, gripped it tightly in her palm, and weighed it lightly, as if disciplining a naughty little snake. Then she casually tossed it to the floor.
For a snake tail, this height was nothing. There was only a faint ache. It wasn’t even as impactful as the sharp “smack” sound, which brought a stronger sense of humiliation.
“Who’s thinking about anything!” Bu Yao quickly denied it, nearly biting her tongue.
Her face burning, she silently brooded: It was that bad woman Xing Yue who brought it up first! She’d always suspected Xing Yue had been hiding past romantic and intimate history from her, saying she was her first—her technique didn’t seem like a novice’s at all. Not only were her methods so practiced and skillful, but even the way she said those kinds of dirty words…
Bu Yao suddenly shot a fierce glare at Xing Yue, put down the ladle she was about to use to serve the soup, and abandoned her cold expression. She walked out toward the living room with empty hands, putting on the airs of waiting for Xing Yue to bring her soup and noodles—the posture of demanding to be waited on.
Watching her retreating figure, a magnificently beautiful and dazzling snake tail swaying behind her heels, every inch of the apartment saturated with Bu Yao’s soft, unique scent—Xing Yue sighed. This woman was mad again. And the key issue was, Xing Yue had absolutely no idea what Bu Yao was angry about.
She never could have imagined, not in a million years, that a tragedy born from “great technique” would lead to her ex-wife suspecting her of falsifying her relationship history…
Bu Yao was an extremely picky eater, but she never picked at Xing Yue’s cooking. She polished off a big bowl of rice noodles and drank the soup down to the last drop. She ate four meatballs and picked at a few mouthfuls of carrot.
Honestly, it was just ordinary homestyle cooking. The culinary skills weren’t particularly remarkable. But the chef determined Bu Yao’s appetite.
Xing Yue had rehearsals tomorrow. She wouldn’t have much free time for anything else. Before that, she needed to go find that doctor she’d run into at the hospital last time.
“I need to step out for a bit. You stay home and watch TV?” Her eyes silently inquired of Bu Yao.
It wasn’t that she deliberately wanted to leave Bu Yao alone in the apartment. She was afraid of repeating what happened after being hypnotized last time. That version of herself… she didn’t particularly want anyone else to see it.
Although Bu Yao was unhappy, she restrained herself, forcing down whatever she felt, and answered reluctantly, “Oh.”
Just before leaving, Xing Yue patted Bu Yao’s head. She crouched down and gave the snake tail a pat too. The tail arched its python body enthusiastically, rubbing against her palm. After successfully receiving its pats, the next second it coiled up shyly, hiding the very tip of its tail underneath.
Suddenly feeling playful, she lightly scratched the scales. With her index finger, she hooked the little tail tip out and pinned it against the floor, not letting it move.
Mortified beyond belief, Bu Yao reached out and scooped up her own snake tail, turning her back to Xing Yue.
Xing Yue chuckled softly and didn’t tease her anymore. A stray thought surfaced, and the corners of her mouth remained frozen in the same arc… So cute. If I had a tail, would it act like this too? It had been almost thirty years since she’d seen it. By now, she could barely even remember what pattern her own snake scales had, or the feel of their ridges.
She had booked an appointment with Tan Xiang’e online in advance. Driving to the hospital, the timing matched up almost perfectly.
When she saw the name on the registration, Tan Xiang’e had wondered if it was just a coincidence of the same name. She never expected it was actually her. After all, the day Xing Yue left the hospital, her mood regarding having her childhood memories pried into had seemed… not very pleasant.
“You came alone today?” She teased. “Miss Bu didn’t come along?”
From the moment she’d entered until she sat down, Xing Yue had kept her sunglasses on. There was warm water on the table, and she drank it all in one go. “Doctor Tan, you seem to have some level of understanding regarding my condition.”
An ordinary doctor, faced with an unfamiliar illness, wouldn’t likely be able to communicate so relaxed and easily with a patient.
Even if Xing Yue hadn’t sought her out today, in Tan Xiang’e’s plan, there had already been the step of proactively reaching out and trying to contact Xing Yue. This was the first time she had ever encountered a condition that only existed in medical texts—she had never personally dealt with it. Xing Yue was the first. This discovery made her extremely excited.
“Don’t be nervous,” she said. The instant Xing Yue had entered, she had precisely gauged the state of Xing Yue’s current condition from her movements. Her nerves were strung far too tight, which was hardly a healthy thing. “Since our last meeting, Miss Xing, I’ve looked through many medical texts and consulted numerous professors. I’ve reaped considerable findings. I dare not claim one hundred percent confidence, but I can say with certainty: once treatment begins, there will definitely be results.”
In this world, there was no shortage of disabled snakes—missing tails, missing limbs. Even for a tail severed after birth, instruments could still detect the nerves of the snake tail.
But for Xing Yue, nothing could be detected. The difference between Xing Yue and those other disabled snakes was that theirs was a physical injury. Xing Yue’s was psychological. Strictly speaking, in terms of physical anatomy, Xing Yue’s snake tail was still there. Yet due to psychological obstacles, not having revealed her tail for decades, her nervous system had been fed erroneous feedback. Even her own body believed she had no tail anymore.
In reality, this was not the case.
“Alright… Thank you,” Xing Yue nodded slightly. Her tone was deep, restrained, and mild. But the subtle, trembling shake of her shoulders betrayed the fact that she was not nearly as calm as she appeared on the surface. “What do I need to do?”
When the treatment method was brought up, Tan Xiang’e’s expression grew considerably more solemn. “Different snake species have different molting periods depending on the season. Every individual must molt at least twice a year. You haven’t shed your tail’s skin in all these years. The growth cells have long halted. The currently most effective plan is to make scale incisions on your legs and stimulate the growth nerves. Once snake scales start growing on your legs, you’ll already be halfway healed.”
She gave Xing Yue a precautionary warning. “You also know that healthy snakes are covered in dense snake scales. So making scale incisions isn’t a matter of one or two cuts. The process will be… not so easy.”
They would have to carve thousands upon thousands of cuts, using the blade to engrave the curved edges of snake scales again and again, until scales finally grew.
Tan Xiang’e had even considered a mitigation plan. “After one course of treatment ends, you can use your snake tongue to lick the wounds. This effectively cleans them and can slightly relieve the intense pain that follows after the anesthetic wears off. Self-licking might be a little inconvenient operationally, so you can ask Miss Bu to assist. It works better than any painkiller.”
As long as there was a method, Xing Yue would try it. She no longer had the luxury to worry about whether the treatment process was easy or painful. “Doctor Tan, I have to return to the company for training tomorrow. Do you think I should pause my work and focus solely on treatment?”
Tan Xiang’e liked surfing the internet and had a little bit of understanding about Xing Yue’s career. At Xing Yue’s age, she was on the verge of a major career transformation. Giving up now would truly be a pity. “No need, no need. Continue your work as usual. You can pay to contract me as your short-term private physician.”
As she spoke, she even brought out her rate sheet. “Don’t assume my specialty is just hypnotherapy. I’m a first-rate surgeon with a scalpel; you won’t lose out by hiring me. I’ll follow you to your company. Besides the medical fees and surgery costs, the nursing fees and home-visit fees, you’ll also cover room and board. Oh, right—can I write your case into my academic thesis?”
