Long Tail

Camellia Tree Flower Courtyard

The accusation over the phone was full of resentment and hurt. Xing Yue had lost patience with Bu Yao before, but the more impatient she got, the more Bu Yao pushed, ordering her around as if she owned her.

It was different now. When Bu Yao sensed Xing Yue's irritation, something else came through too.

Xing Yue's brow eased. She walked to the window in the lounge, her voice gentler. "I never said you couldn't wait for me or call me. I'm working, aren't I? I'll come home when I'm done."

Usually, if someone called and she declined the first call immediately, they could guess she was busy and wouldn't call again right away.

But Bu Yao didn't seem to have a middle ground. Her thinking had changed, but her actions hadn't. If Xing Yue didn't answer, she called a second time, then a third, without considering whether it was convenient, until Xing Yue picked up.

"Then why didn't you tell me?" Bu Yao deliberately softened her touch as her hand brushed a camellia. "When my dad's busy working and won't be home until ten, he calls my mom at eight. You didn't tell me you'd be working late, and when I called to ask, you snapped at me."

Bu Yao had simply described the way things worked in her family. It was what she had grown up seeing, so naturally she thought Xing Yue should tell her in advance when she had to work late, rather than wait for her to call and ask.

But she had forgotten that Xing Yue wasn't her wife, and they weren't dating. That unspoken expectation of checking in belonged between lovers.

Xing Yue's parents had divorced when she was young. Her father often didn't come home, and she had never heard him call to say where he was. He had only used cold silence to drive her mother into hysterics.

No matter how she tried to picture what Bu Yao had described, Xing Yue couldn't. She didn't know what loving parents looked like.

"My voice wasn't even as loud as yours. Who snapped at whom?" Realizing Bu Yao only wanted to know when she was coming home, not to command or control her, Xing Yue softened her tone. "Let's meet halfway. Next time I work late, I'll tell you two hours ahead of time. And you stop making a fuss."

Once again, Xing Yue was the one giving in. She had said plainly that they were only flirting. Who in that kind of relationship kept insisting the other person answer the phone? They ought to respect each other's boundaries.

Bu Yao, though, treated Xing Yue as her woman. She was a little overbearing, but the hurt behind her complaint was real, and Xing Yue was too softhearted to ignore it.

"Mm-hmm." Bu Yao's voice dropped shyly. At last, she left the leaves in the courtyard alone. The evening breeze stirred her dark hair against the red camellias. "Do you want something to eat? Or drink?"

Xing Yue loved red. She had once attended a flower-viewing party, and while most people favored the white camellias, the vivid red ones had caught her eye at once.

She had even called in a favor with Little Green Stone Snake to buy these expensive varieties. She planted them all in the courtyard and, afraid they wouldn't survive, invited a plant expert to inspect the soil first.

Xing Yue glanced at the clock on the wall. "I'll be back at eleven. Just take a shower and wait for me. I don't want anything else to eat. I want a little tail."

She hung up before Bu Yao could answer, flirting and fleeing with wicked satisfaction. She'd left Little Fire Snake to suffer. Those legs probably wouldn't come back for another two hours. Bu Yao would be dragging her tail around the bed, whimpering and squirming. What a thought.

When Xing Yue returned to the recording studio, Jiang Li tried desperately to find a topic that would bring them closer. "Teacher Xing, do you have someone at home? A little woman, I bet. Just like my sister's wife—if she can't see my sister for a moment, she goes looking for her. So clingy."

From the little other people had said, Xing Yue could tell He Zhiwen had a happy marriage and seemed to get along well with her wife.

She sipped her warm water. She didn't particularly want to hear about it, but she didn't interrupt Jiang Li either.

"Actually, my sister's wife has a lot going for her. She teaches at S University and gives piano lessons on the side. She's gorgeous, too—sweet and pretty. Her admirers could line up from the gates of S University all the way to Silent City, yet that little troublemaker of a sister of mine somehow won her over."

Jiang Li was unwittingly showing off her sister. She took pride in the fact that her sister had won over a woman no one else could, without even realizing it.

"But..." Jiang Li's expression turned peculiar, almost disdainful. "Everything about her is great, except she had a girlfriend for seven years. How is that any different from a second marriage? My sister had never even dated anyone. She was going into it fresh, so it feels a little unfair."

Xing Yue's expression cooled. The air seemed to freeze. Her fingertips went white around her cup. "Why did they break up?"

Xing Yue hadn't said much until then. Hearing her suddenly ask, Jiang Li took her for another gossip lover and grew more animated. "Oh, apparently her mother wanted her to find someone local, so they split up. Isn't that awful? After seven years, she finally said she wouldn't marry someone from out of town. She wasted all those years of that woman's life. The woman she dated is well into her thirties now. How miserable."

Xing Yue's grip on the cup slowly loosened. She lowered her eyes and took a few more sips of warm water. "Is that what He Zhiwen said...?"

She wouldn't marry someone from out of town, so they broke up after seven years.

That explanation laid all the blame on He Zhiwen. Who could hear it and not call her cruel?

Jiang Li was certain. "There's no mistake. Zhiwen told my sister herself. Honestly, my sister..."

Whatever Jiang Li complained about after that, Xing Yue no longer heard. Her thoughts drifted away as a wave of loneliness washed over her.

She had thought she would never hear about He Zhiwen again. Even learning that she was married hadn't affected Xing Yue much. But hearing the lie He Zhiwen had made up to spare her dignity moved her deeply.

The phone on the table suddenly vibrated. Xing Yue's attention shifted to a video Bu Yao had sent her.

The thumbnail showed the camellia tree in the courtyard. She opened it. The flowers flashed past before the camera turned toward Bu Yao's Hepburn-Style Little Black Dress.

As the camera moved, Xing Yue clearly saw Bu Yao kneeling on the lawn, her pale knees pressed into the grass and soil, her upper body leaning forward. A red snake tail emerged from beneath her skirt, thick and full at the base, tapering to a slender tip. Its matte scales were cool and striking. It curled and writhed restlessly over the lawn with a soft rustle.

It added a touch of allure to Camellia Tree Flower Courtyard.

Bu Yao: "What do I do... My tail came out..."

Xing Yue couldn't take her eyes off it. Her heart pounded faster, and her face flushed. She looked down and pretended to flip through the script, turning off her phone screen before anyone in the recording studio could see.

The young lady still hadn't gotten her legs back. She was kneeling on the lawn and might even climb a tree, winding her tail freely around the camellias Xing Yue had planted.

At the thought, Xing Yue felt all her blood rush to her head. Her breathing grew heavier despite herself. What was Bu Yao doing? She was going to give me a nosebleed.