Stay with me tonight, please?
Xing Yue had been gone about four hours from leaving for work to coming home. That was more than enough time for digestion, yet the Little Fire Snake’s belly was still round and bulging. It clearly hadn’t spit up the bones.
Although eating bones in snake form wasn’t harmful, poor digestion could easily lead to regurgitation. Plus, the snake couldn’t move around much. Normally, no snake would eat solid food in snake form unless in an absolutely safe environment. Bu Yao really was…
Completely without any sense of caution.
This kind of place had poor security. If the person who walked in at this late hour had been a criminal, Bu Yao wouldn’t have even been able to run.
Xing Yue hung her bag on the wall hook, changed out of her high heels, and bent down. She touched the warm snake belly with the back of her hand, her fingertip tapping gently on the slightly swollen area. The Little Fire Snake was sleeping soundly, not even reacting to her closeness.
After just a few seconds of touching, Xing Yue pulled her hand back. She went into the bathroom to remove her makeup. After washing her face, she adjusted the faucet of the sink to the coldest setting and rinsed for at least three minutes, making her face red and numb from the cold.
Only then did Xing Yue come out. She picked up her phone, and with her other hand, supported the orange-red python head. The hot, snake-heat-sensitive pit pressed into her palm, making her want to stroke it.
With her free hand, she opened the camera and took a picture of Eldest Miss Bu’s sleeping face.
She opened WeChat and sent the photo directly to Ji Wenyan——
“Madam Bu, Eldest Miss is asleep at my place. Please come pick her up. My room is very small; two people can’t move around comfortably.”
As soon as she sent that message, Xing Yue instantly felt her mood improve significantly.
It had probably been over a decade since Ji Wenyan had last seen Bu Yao in her snake form. At eighteen, Bu Yao no longer liked turning into a snake. Madam Bu had lamented several times, wanting to hold the little snake Bu Yao, but Bu Yao was unwilling.
After all, she was grown up now. She certainly wasn’t like when she was little.
She also sent her current location.
It was past four in the morning. Naturally, there was no response from the other side.
Xing Yue called her. She waited nearly a full minute before the other party picked up. Although the voice was gentle and kind, the words held a trace of displeasure. “Xiao Yue, do you know what time it is?”
In the past, Xing Yue had been very respectful to Ji Wenyan and had never done something like calling in the dead of night to disturb her sleep.
Now, she no longer wanted to respect this madam.
“I don’t know what time it is. I only know that your precious daughter is refusing to leave my house. Out of consideration for our past relationship, I haven’t called the police yet. Come now and take your beloved precious back. You have twenty minutes at most. At the twenty-first minute, we meet at the police station.” Xing Yue went to the balcony to make the call, deliberately closing the balcony doors and windows.
After saying that, without waiting for Ji Wenyan to respond, she hung up the call.
Xing Yue understood Madam Bu to some extent. If it was Bu Yao going back of her own accord, the person picking her up would be Butler Li. But since she had made this call, meaning Bu Yao was unwilling to go home, then the person coming would definitely be Madam Bu.
She gripped her phone, her eyes dark and unreadable. She stood on the balcony for a while, letting the wind blow on her before going back inside.
Seeing the time was about right, Xing Yue picked up the fire snake and placed it on the bed. The moment she set it down, Bu Yao transformed back into human form, kneeling on the bed. Naked, she clutched the bedding to her chest, her sleepy, hazy eyes looking at Xing Yue.
“You’re off work…” Bu Yao murmured.
A very ordinary sentence, commonly heard in the process of waiting for a partner to come home.
It was something Xing Yue had yearned for, for a very long time.
She dazed slightly, but quickly her eyes became clear again. She picked up the tube of ointment from the nightstand. “Come here.”
When Xing Yue had gone out to work, she had changed her clothes. The outfit she had on now when she returned was the same.
A V-neck, hip-hugging dress, with ruffled, cutout long sleeves—a subtly sexy style. Her legs were wrapped in semi-transparent black stockings. Sitting on the edge of the bed, the hem of her dress tightened slightly upward. It was an ordinary posture, yet inexplicably alluring.
Bu Yao’s ears burned hot just looking. She buried her face in the blanket, rubbing it, only her bright, radiant eyes peeking out. Seeing the ointment in Xing Yue’s hand, her cheeks instantly fired up. She shook her head.
Xing Yue asked her, “Doesn’t it hurt anymore?”
Bu Yao nodded slowly.
The air in the room was thin, even the scent of last night’s frenzied activity still thick.
Bu Yao was thinking: if the injury healed, would Xing Yue chase her away? So she didn’t want to apply the medicine, even if she was in pain.
Xing Yue repeated herself, still those two short words: “Come here.”
Tonight, Xing Yue hadn’t spoken much, as if she simply wanted to apply the medicine for her…
Bu Yao couldn’t gauge whether Xing Yue was in a good or bad mood. After hesitating a moment, she still crawled over.
Her knees pressed into the bedding, leaving faint deep marks. She had no cover on her body, not even her hair was down. Porcelain-white, dewy skin filled Xing Yue’s vision. It was too delicate—just the act of coming over had made even her knees flush pink.
She crawled into Xing Yue’s embrace, finding a soft spot to settle.
Xing Yue steadied her lotus-root-like arm, her throat dry. “Sit straddling me. Easier to apply the medicine.”
Bu Yao moved, wanting to face Xing Yue as she straddled her. But that hand guided her to turn around, putting her back against Xing Yue. Her shoulders were enveloped, the breath in her ear searing hot.
She watched Xing Yue squeeze ointment onto her fingers right before her eyes, watched those full, pale hand bones applying medicine to her wound, moving in circles…
Bu Yao suddenly jolted like a startled animal, her back arching. She pressed down on Xing Yue’s hand, stopping her from applying more.
“Xing Yue…” she called out lowly, her face flushing deeply.
“What is it?” The woman’s face held no extra expression, her tone calm, as if she hadn’t realized how embarrassing her way of applying medicine was.
It was exactly that deliberately casual tone, so refined and gentle, yet the movement of her fingertips was anything but.
Xing Yue didn’t pull Bu Yao’s hand away. Instead, she guided her. “Did I hurt you? Then guide me to apply it yourself.”
At this, Bu Yao’s hand recoiled as if touching a furnace. She hid both hands behind her back.
Thank goodness she was facing away from Xing Yue; otherwise, she wouldn’t know where to put her eyes either…
Just then, Bu Yao’s phone suddenly rang.
She quickly got off the bed, fished her phone out from her formal dress. Seeing who was calling, her heart lurched in surprise. So late… why would her mother be looking for her at this hour?
They usually kept in close contact, but rarely did anyone look for her in the middle of the night.
Bu Yao answered the call. After a couple of exchanges, she realized her mother had driven over and was currently waiting for her downstairs.
She hung up. Xing Yue was sipping ice water and asked leisurely, “What’s wrong?”
Worried about making her mother wait too long, Bu Yao began putting her clothes on, saying as she did, “I’ll go home first. I’ll come find you tomorrow.”
If it were a servant, Bu Yao wouldn’t want to go back and could simply refuse. But the person picking her up was Ji Wenyan. She knew her mother was too worried about her, coming out in the middle of the night, so she naturally needed to go back home.
Although Bu Yao was domineering, when it came to her mother, she was an obedient daughter most of the time.
Xing Yue set down her water glass, strolled over to stand behind Bu Yao, and hooked a finger around the soft, pale pink lace bra. Her slightly cold lips pressed against the warm, fragrant nape. “Stay with me tonight, please?”
She suddenly hugged the woman in front of her and continued, “Tell your mom you’re staying overnight at my place. Go home tomorrow.”
Xing Yue rarely initiated asking her to stay. Bu Yao’s face was flushed pink. The ice-cold lips kissing her made her flinch, her body shrinking. Even though the shift in Xing Yue’s attitude felt strange, being coaxed and kissed had her mind fuzzy and her heart pounding wildly. There was no calm left to think about anything.
She did as Xing Yue said, nestled in her embrace, and called her mother back. With some embarrassment, she said she would go back tomorrow…
Madam Bu, who had driven all the way over in the dead of night, hung up the phone. Her face, always so proper and gentle, was on the verge of twisting in fury.
