The young woman's first attempt at cooking ended in utter failure.
She had nearly burned down the kitchen, too.
Luckily, Xiao Mo reacted in time and put out the fire.
Even if nothing had caught fire, Xiao Mo thought the food Bai Ruxue had made this time was inedible.
Because in Bai Ruxue's mind, "cooked" simply meant cooked through.
Bai Ruxue's original plan had been to boil some water, then toss the rabbit and pheasant straight into the pot.
But even fish boiled in water wasn't made by simply throwing a live fish into a pot.
Still, when Xiao Mo saw Bai Ruxue hanging her head in self-reproach, he didn't scold her. Instead, he encouraged her. "It's all right. I'll make dinner today."
"Xiao Mo, I'm sorry. I'll definitely learn how to cook properly." Bai Ruxue raised her delicate face, her eyes veiled in mist, as if one more scolding from Xiao Mo would make her burst into tears.
Xiao Mo nodded. "There's no rush. Take it slowly."
He fished the rabbit and pheasant out of the pot and began preparing the ingredients.
Bai Ruxue watched from the side as Xiao Mo cooked, looking for anything she could help with.
She saw Xiao Mo gut the rabbit and pheasant, wash them clean, then chop them into small pieces and stir-fry them with scallions, ginger, and garlic.
Only then did she understand how much care went into human cooking.
After that, Bai Ruxue began learning how to cook the human way.
And Bai Ruxue's teacher was the Village Chief's wife, Aunt Chen.
As for how Bai Ruxue came to know Aunt Chen—
It was all because of the Village Chief's second daughter, Wang Ying.
Wang Ying had heard that a fairy-like big sister had come to live with Brother Xiao, and that she was incredibly beautiful, so she came to take a look.
Bai Ruxue was simple-minded to begin with, so she and the little girl Wang Ying quickly hit it off.
When Wang Ying heard the fairy-like big sister say she wanted to learn how to cook, she immediately led Bai Ruxue to her mother.
Faced with a request from such a beautiful girl, Aunt Chen naturally couldn't bring herself to refuse.
And so Bai Ruxue became Aunt Chen's "disciple."
Aunt Chen was very enthusiastic, too. Every day, she came to Xiao Mo's courtyard to teach Bai Ruxue how to prepare food.
At first, Aunt Chen was quite patient.
After all, looking at Bai Ruxue's soft, delicate hands, Aunt Chen could tell she must have been a pampered young lady who had never lifted a finger to do housework.
So Aunt Chen had prepared herself, knowing this Eldest Miss surely wouldn't know how to do anything.
But little by little, Aunt Chen began to lose her temper.
"No, no! You have to scale the fish first! And take out the guts! You can't just throw it straight into the pot!"
"S-sorry."
"Why are you adding so many chilies? Are you trying to burn Xiao Mo to death?"
"Sorry!"
"Stop adding salt! Do you think salt grows on trees? Are you trying to make Xiao Mo choke on it?"
"I didn't mean to."
"All right, all right. Now add the cilantro. Xiao Mo likes cilantro."
"That's enough! Cilantro is a seasoning, not a vegetable for you to stir-fry like cabbage!"
Every day at noon, while Xiao Mo read in the courtyard, he could hear Aunt Chen scolding Bai Ruxue.
Every time, Aunt Chen would leave muttering, "You're hopelessly stupid. I'm never teaching you again."
Every time, Bai Ruxue would be scolded to tears.
But the next day, Aunt Chen would come back, and Bai Ruxue would wipe her tears and keep earnestly learning how to cook.
There was no other reason. Bai Ruxue might have been a little slow, but she was beautiful and studied hard.
Besides, Aunt Chen was all bark and no bite. Once her anger faded, she would think of that lovely young girl again.
As the days passed,
Aunt Chen scolded Bai Ruxue less and less.
At noon three months later, Aunt Chen didn't scold Bai Ruxue even once.
That very noon, as they watched Xiao Mo pick up his chopsticks, both women looked terribly nervous.
"Delicious." Xiao Mo took a bite of rabbit meat and nodded.
"Wonderful!" Bai Ruxue jumped up in delight.
Aunt Chen couldn't help wiping away a tear, either.
At last, her disciple had graduated. It hadn't been easy.
Besides cooking, Bai Ruxue also washed Xiao Mo's clothes.
Every morning, she carried her own clothes and Xiao Mo's to the river to wash them.
The village aunties and older women were very friendly, teaching Bai Ruxue how to get the clothes clean.
Before long, the women had all gotten to know Bai Ruxue.
They even occasionally told her a few dirty jokes.
But Bai Ruxue couldn't understand them at all.
Seeing her innocent, bewildered expression, the women didn't explain. They just laughed.
Bai Ruxue was confused, so she came home and asked Xiao Mo.
"Xiao Mo, why did Auntie Wang say men have three legs? But you only have two. Where's your third leg? Let me see."
"Xiao Mo, why did Auntie Chen say I'm good at having babies, and that once I'm pregnant, our whole family won't go hungry?"
"Xiao Mo, Auntie Sun asked whether you sneak into my room at night and do bad things to me. What are bad things? Are you coming into my room tonight?"
Faced with Bai Ruxue's questions, Xiao Mo didn't know how to answer, so he could only keep quiet.
Sometimes Bai Ruxue would return to the mountain to visit her younger sister, bringing her some of the village's delicious persimmon cakes and telling her about the interesting things she'd experienced.
When it was hot, Bai Ruxue would fan Xiao Mo with a hand fan. Even when sweat drenched her, she would just wipe herself off a little and keep fanning him.
When it was cold, Bai Ruxue would slip into Xiao Mo's bed and warm it for him.
Though Xiao Mo told her there was no need, Bai Ruxue insisted every time.
Buying brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, and books cost a lot, so Bai Ruxue would go hunting and give the game to Aunt Chen to sell.
Or she would learn from Aunt Chen how to raise silkworms and weave silk.
As Bai Ruxue fed the silkworms, she would always murmur, "Silkworm babies, you have to spin lots and lots of silk~"
The Village Chief had already taught Xiao Mo all he could.
So Xiao Mo often had to travel elsewhere to study and listen to other teachers' lectures.
Studying cost money, but luckily, the magistrate of Qingshan County wanted to win the local scholars' favor.
So Xiao Mo could ask him to cover the costs of apprenticeship gifts and travel.
When Xiao Mo traveled to other places to study, Bai Ruxue went with him, too.
As they walked through the mountains and forests, Bai Ruxue hunted for him, roasted his food, and fetched him water.
All Xiao Mo had to do was keep walking and focus on his studies.
Winter arrived, and Bai Ruxue started getting sleepy.
Every night, Bai Ruxue went to bed early. She slept until the sun was high, then scrambled out of bed and complained to Xiao Mo, "Why didn't you wake me? I haven't even washed the clothes!"
Without realizing it, Bai Ruxue had become more and more skilled at washing clothes, cooking, and keeping house, just like a virtuous wife.
Deep winter arrived.
One morning, Bai Ruxue woke to find her skin covered in a layer of translucent snake scales.
The young woman jumped in fright and hurried to look in the mirror. Her face was covered in a layer of white scales, too, and her eyes had turned cloudy gray.
"Oh no! I'm about to shed my skin! What do I do? What do I do?"
Bai Ruxue paced back and forth in the room, her little hands clutching her sleeves.
At last, Bai Ruxue stopped, determination in her eyes. "Looks like I can only run away!"
Bai Ruxue picked up pen and paper and left Xiao Mo a letter. It basically said, "There's something going on at home. My younger sister is sick, so I have to go back and look after her. I'll be back in spring."
Then Bai Ruxue turned into a snake, hurried out through the window, and slithered up the mountain.
"Ruxue. Time to get up. Ruxue."
It was already past noon, and Bai Ruxue still hadn't gotten up, so Xiao Mo knocked on her door. But the room was empty. He saw only a letter on the table and the glistening white skin she had shed on the floor.
Back on the mountain, Bai Ruxue darted into the cave.
Her younger sister had already gone into hibernation. Bai Ruxue lay down beside her, gazing at the heavy snow outside the cave, and began to worry.
"Without me cooking for him, will he go hungry?"
"Who'll wash his clothes?"
"And no one will warm his bed. Will he have trouble sleeping?"
As she thought and thought, Bai Ruxue's head grew heavier and heavier, until she finally fell into hibernation.
When spring came, Bai Ruxue opened her eyes and shed her skin once more.
When she saw her body, Bai Ruxue jumped in fright.
By now, Bai Ruxue was fifteen feet long and a foot thick.
The knowledge engraved in her blood told her she was no longer a snake, but a python.
With a flash, she transformed into human form. Bai Ruxue looked down and realized she couldn't see her toes.
She walked to the pool and looked at her reflection.
The woman's figure was graceful and alluring. Beneath her delicate shoulders, her breasts were full and rounded. The silken sash around her waist accentuated their startling curves; through the thin gauze, her lush contours were faintly visible, rising and falling with each breath like warm jade giving off fragrance.
Her waist was slender, just right to fit in one hand, like a willow bending in the breeze.
Beneath her skirt, her legs were long and straight. Even hidden beneath the pomegranate-red hem, their graceful, upright form could still be glimpsed.
Her peach-blossom eyes held a tender gaze, like newly opened petals. The corners tilted up slightly, giving her a natural, captivating allure, as if rouge had stained them with an enticing blush.
"Is that me?"
Bai Ruxue gazed at her reflection in astonishment.
She turned and looked at herself from the side. In the water, the woman's curves rose and fell like a range of mountains.
"It's pretty, but my shoulders feel so sore."
Bai Ruxue frowned and hefted the two peaks before her.
"Never mind. I'd better hurry down the mountain. It's been half a year. I wonder if Xiao Mo has been eating properly."
When she reached the entrance to Xiao Mo's courtyard, Xiao Mo was reading there as usual.
"Xiao Mo."
Bai Ruxue called to the man in the courtyard.
Xiao Mo raised his head. When he saw the white-dressed woman outside, he froze, only coming to his senses after a long moment. "Miss Bai?"
"Who else would I be?"
Bai Ruxue walked into the courtyard.
But wherever Bai Ruxue went, Xiao Mo's eyes followed.
"W-why do you keep looking at me? D-do I look strange?" Bai Ruxue felt a little embarrassed under his gaze, her whole body burning.
"No. It's just that we haven't seen each other for half a year, and Miss Bai has changed so much. I haven't gotten used to it yet," Xiao Mo said, lowering his eyes. "Forgive me. I was discourteous."
"Compared to before, do I look prettier or uglier?" Bai Ruxue asked playfully, as she always did.
"Prettier," Xiao Mo answered honestly.
Before, Ruxue had been as pure and innocent as a young girl.
Now, she had fully blossomed, retaining her innocence while carrying a hint of seduction.
"If I'm pretty, then look all you want." Bai Ruxue's eyes curved into crescents. "If it's you, Xiao Mo, I don't mind~"
"That wouldn't be appropriate." Xiao Mo smiled and shook his head.
"Why not?" Bai Ruxue tilted her head. "I'm pretty so you can look at me."
"..." Xiao Mo was at a loss for words.
"Miss Bai..." Xiao Mo tried to explain. "Men and women should keep their distance."
"I don't understand."
Bai Ruxue didn't get it.
If it were someone else, she would naturally mind keeping her distance from a man.
But she didn't dislike Xiao Mo, so was there really any need to mind?
Xiao Mo always had such strange principles.
Before they knew it,
Another two years had passed.
Every winter, Bai Ruxue went up the mountain to hibernate.
Every time she woke up, Bai Ruxue grew thicker and longer, but her human appearance had stopped changing.
One day, Bai Ruxue went to the river to wash clothes.
She had no idea what the village's aunties and older women had said to her.
But when Bai Ruxue came home, she kept staring at Xiao Mo.
She stared at him while they ate and stole glances at him while hanging up the laundry.
Whenever she had nothing to do, she sat in front of Xiao Mo and watched him.
"Miss Bai, is something the matter?" Xiao Mo set down his book and took a sip of tea from the table.
"Mmm." Bai Ruxue nodded. "Xiao Mo, when are you going to marry me?"
"Cough, cough, cough!" Xiao Mo choked badly. "Miss Bai, what did you say?"
"I said, when are you going to marry me?" Bai Ruxue asked.
"Why are you asking me that, Miss Bai?"
"Because Auntie Li told me to~"
Bai Ruxue straightened her slender waist, her snowy peaks casting a shadow across the stone table.
"Auntie Li said that I was unmarried and you weren't married, and that we lived together every day. Since we were both grown-ups, why weren't we getting married? She said that by the time her son was your age, his grandson could already toddle around."
"This..." Xiao Mo thought for a moment, then explained, "Miss Bai, two people can only get married if they like each other."
"But I like you?" Bai Ruxue blinked. "Don't you like me?"
Xiao Mo smiled. "Then, Miss Bai, what are we to each other?"
"Friends," Bai Ruxue blurted out.
Xiao Mo shook his head. "But, Miss Bai, liking someone as a friend isn't enough."
"Then what kind of liking is enough?"
Bai Ruxue was all muddled. So there were different kinds of liking?
"Well..." Xiao Mo thought it over. "It's hard to say. But when the day comes that Miss Bai understands, you'll know whether you want to marry me."
"Then when I understand one day, if I still want you to marry me, will you?"
Xiao Mo paused, gazing tenderly into the young woman's peach-blossom eyes.
"Alright."
Before you continue