Disability

Was she supposed to hurt another woman, too?

What Bo Wuxue didn't know was that Xing Yue had already promised the eldest daughter that morning she would consider remarrying her. She had set a few conditions, but she was still considering it.

Bo Wuxue was making a fierce racket on the sofa when Madam Bu caught her off guard, grabbed the end of her tail, and dragged her out.

"Miss Wuxue is just as mischievous as ever." Madam Bu gently stroked the dark blue-green python's head with the fondness of an elder toward a child. "You're engaged and still so childish. Brother Bo is lucky to have such an adorable daughter."

The Bo and Bu families went back a long way. Their fathers were close friends, and the parents' generation had naturally remained very close.

But Bo Wuxue had never gotten along with the Bu Family. And since Madam Bu often bullied Xing Yue, she disliked this aunt even more. She had been fierce a moment ago, but now she wilted, desperately burrowing against Xing Yue without daring to make a sound.

Xing Yue gathered Bo Wuxue's python body into her arms. It took considerable effort to calm her down even a little. Then Xing Yue stacked the plates of breakfast on the table into one pile and pushed them aside.

She made room for Little Bluestone, snubbing Madam Bu in the process.

"I'm not young anymore. You can tell Bu Yao to find a younger woman." Xing Yue's face was expressionless, but the color had quietly drained from her lips.

Ji Wenyan had known Xing Yue long enough to understand that she had her pride and wouldn't be swayed. Her reply was firm. "Yao came back for you not because you're so exceptional, but because the Bu Family loves deeply. Unlike you. You had a new girlfriend less than a year after the divorce."

Bu Yao herself hadn't even brought up the matter, but Ji Wenyan had used it to mock Xing Yue.

Every word was a jab at how quickly Xing Yue had found a new girlfriend, while her own daughter had spent years struggling through treatment just to get back together with her.

The thought pained Ji Wenyan every time. Xing Yue would never feel that kind of hurt. This woman simply didn't love her daughter enough.

"Madam Bu." Xing Yue was growing tired of dealing with her. She sank back onto the sofa, her exhaustion plain to see, and spoke coldly, one word at a time. "If you're furious because I told Bu Yao to learn to do laundry and things like that, don't waste your effort on me. You can't intimidate me. Your daughter volunteered. If I'm in a bad mood, maybe next time we get intimate, I'll have her wash my feet, too."

Given how Bu Yao felt about Xing Yue now, if Xing Yue asked, she might actually wash her feet.

The words failed to provoke Ji Wenyan. She smiled gently and methodically packed away the insulated food containers. "Having power over a woman who loves you doesn't make you impressive."

She left that light remark behind and rose from the lounge. Her steps were graceful, yet her arrival had been like a sudden storm.

Ji Wenyan was clever. With those words hanging over Xing Yue, she was certain Xing Yue wouldn't do such a thing. Arguing further might only drive Xing Yue to take her anger out on Bu Yao in the heat of the moment.

But Xing Yue wasn't cruel enough or indifferent enough. She even had a strong sense of right and wrong, along with a backbone. That was why she suffered so much.

The moment Madam Bu left, Bo Wuxue changed back into human form and launched into a set of military boxing moves at the empty air. She gritted her teeth. "That rotten witch has gone too far! A Yue, get your revenge! Sleep with her daughter, take her family fortune, make Bu Yao lay seven or eight little Snake Eggs for you, and split up the Bu Family's assets! Keep a dozen lovers on the side, swap them out every quarter, kick everyone named Bu out, and move your lovers into the Bu Residence!"

She was mad enough to hiss! She declared Madam Bu a hundred times more hateful than the eldest daughter of the Bu family. A hundred times!

Xing Yue let out a heavy breath. Seeing Bo Wuxue so riled up eased the gloom in her heart, if only a little.

After that, Xing Yue was in no state to work. She left the company before half the day was over.

When the tardy collaborator finally arrived, Qiao Rui stared at the ceiling without so much as looking her in the eye. "Who's Jiang Li? Our Xing Yue doesn't like waiting. Miss Jiang can go right back where she came from. We're not playing along."

Jiang Li and Xing Yue hadn't been in the same field to begin with. One worked in voice acting, the other in cover songs. Neither had any business looking down on the other.

Qiao Rui had a fiery temper. She promptly called security and had everyone who didn't belong there cleared out.

The largest lesbian bar in Silent City was buzzing when night fell.

Xing Yue opened a tab and drank alone. When she was in a bad mood before, she would spend time with Little Bluestone. But Little Bluestone had a fiancée now, and Xing Yue knew better than to invite her out again.

Xing Yue had often been grateful she had no tear glands. Otherwise, all the suffering she had endured in her life might have made her cry herself blind.

Madam Bu's words from earlier still echoed in her ears. She had four years left on her contract with the company. Unless she paid the penalty to terminate it, she could only follow their arrangements: show her face on all kinds of programs and become a so-called singer and celebrity...

Xing Yue kept drinking, with nowhere to let out her frustration.

Her phone suddenly rang. When she saw who was calling, her nose stung. She stumbled out to the path behind the Bar, where it was quieter. "Mom..."

Her voice was low, her breathing uneven.

Xing Yingnuan didn't hear that anything was wrong. As usual, she busied herself arranging matches for Xing Yue. "Sweetheart, come home this weekend. I've found a few girls for you with pretty good prospects."

Hearing those all-too-familiar words, Xing Yue finally broke. She leaned against a streetlamp and sank to the ground, desolation filling her voice. "Blind dates, blind dates, blind dates. Is that the only reason you ever call? What happens if I don't get married?"

She had known what her mother would say when she called, yet she had answered anyway. She had hoped her mother might show a little concern, even just ask whether she had eaten or gotten off work. Those two questions alone would have been enough.

Every time, it was marriage, marriage, marriage. As if not getting married were some unforgivable crime. She was being driven to the brink.

"What do you mean, what happens if you don't get married?" Xing Yingnuan's voice rose sharply over the phone. "Do you think you're still a young girl? You're thirty-five! Other people your age have children old enough to run errands. If you don't want to come home for a blind date, then find yourself a girlfriend and bring her home."

Xing Yingnuan said things like this often, and Xing Yue usually laughed them off with a few noncommittal words.

But after everything that had happened during the day, Xing Yue was painfully sensitive about her age. At the mention of that number, the alcohol rushed to her head and blood surged into her face. Her voice came out ragged. "Do you know why it's so hard for me to find a girlfriend, Mom? I'm disabled! I don't have a tail. I haven't shown a snake tail since I was seven. I'm thirty-five now, an old woman who's never mated with another snake. You know why my ex-girlfriend and I broke up, don't you? Why should I go and hurt another woman?!"

Without even ending the call, Xing Yue hurled the phone onto the ground, smashing it to pieces.

She wrapped her arms around her knees, her whole body shaking like a sieve. A bitter wind left her lips pale. She couldn't stop sobbing, but her empty eyes shed no tears. They were so red they looked ready to bleed.

A healthy snake had both legs and a tail. During heat, mating was the only way to ease it. Xing Yue had no tail. She could only have sex with her legs; she couldn't mate or relieve a partner's heat.

For a snake, that was an agonizing thing.

Bu Yao was the exception. Her body had always been different from an ordinary person's. Xing Yue knew exactly how to handle her snake tail. When Bu Yao went into heat, Xing Yue could bring her to climax however she touched her, without mating at all.

Their family backgrounds were worlds apart, a mountain too vast and high for Xing Yue to cross. But she had to admit that her body was most compatible with Bu Yao's.

A fine rain began to fall through the endless night, and the air turned chilly. Xing Yue picked up her phone, its screen completely black. She removed the SIM card and put it in her bag, then packed away the ruined phone too.

She wandered the rain-soaked streets, chilled to the bone. At her age, she was facing a major upheaval in her career while still being pressured to marry.

The pressure on Xing Yue was too much, especially with her legs in poor condition. She was only an ordinary person. She was afraid of paralysis, afraid of ending up in a wheelchair...

Because the rain had come on suddenly, there were few people on the road, and every taxi that passed already had a fare. Xing Yue couldn't get a ride, so she walked home.

She had drunk a lot and staggered as she walked. It was past three in the morning by the time she reached home. Just as she was about to reach the door, her body suddenly gave way and she pitched headfirst onto the grass, covering herself in mud and dirt.

Cold rain poured over her face, and thunder boomed in her ears. Xing Yue was so sleepy. She didn't want to get up. As her eyelids drooped, a figure in red suddenly appeared before her, and the rain stopped striking her face.

She struggled to open her eyes and finally saw who it was...

Bu Yao was crouched beside her with an umbrella. She wore no shoes, letting the filthy mud splash over her delicate feet. Whether angry or heartsick, she demanded, "Where did you go? I looked everywhere for you."

The alcohol had slowed Xing Yue's reactions. She stared blankly for several seconds without managing a word.

Fortunately, Xing Yue wasn't so drunk that she had lost all awareness. Bu Yao helped her up, and they shared the umbrella on their way back to the little duplex.

The lightning had knocked out the power. A single candle was the only light in the house.

Xing Yue hugged Bu Yao from behind, pressing her chest against that soft, naturally warm back. She sighed in relief. "Let me hold you for a while."

She closed her aching eyes, her breathing gradually steadying. Curled against her Little Fire Snake, her cold skin slowly warmed.

Bu Yao could tell Xing Yue was in a terrible mood tonight and seemed utterly exhausted. For once, she quieted down and obediently let Xing Yue hold her.

"What were you looking for me for?" Xing Yue's voice was rough and hoarse. Her Snake Tongue brushed Bu Yao's cheek. "Were you worried about me?"

Bu Yao could smell the alcohol on her breath. Her ears flushed red as she nodded in a fluster.

Xing Yue tightened her arms, drawing Bu Yao closer as though she could fill the emptiness in her heart. "I want to hear you say it."