Playing Hard to Get Now That She Had a Woman

Now that she had a woman, she was playing hard to get.

Bo Wuxue was happy to stir the pot. She hooked her arm through Xing Yue's. "A Yue, were you being catty to me just now? I didn't even notice. No wonder people say it's nasty when you do it to someone else, but when you do it to yourself, you're a sweet, thoughtful woman. I want green tea milk tea. Order me one."

Strange, really. The Bo and Bu families had been close for generations, so the two of them should have gotten along. Instead, they had clashed since childhood, like kids constantly compared to each other. They were always competing in secret.

Madam Bu's disdain for Xing Yue, and the way Bu Yao had bossed her around ten years ago—Bo Wuxue had seen it all. It only made her dislike the Bu Family more.

Bu Yao couldn't hold it in anymore. Her anger at Xing Yue flared, and whether from frustration or something else, her eyes glistened. "When you're with me, you say a five-thousand-yuan breakfast is too expensive. You say we should spend according to what we actually earn. But when you eat with another woman, you don't blink at a fifty-thousand-yuan Western meal. So this is how you spend money! This is how you treat me!"

She had even taken Xing Yue's words seriously and thought about finding a stable job. If she wanted to build a home with Xing Yue, she needed to stop relying on her family's money and still be able to live with her.

Despite her impressive record, she had only handled divorce cases and had no other experience. Her background didn't help, either. Big firms assumed she was only looking for something to do and wouldn't hire her, so she had to apply to smaller law offices.

A pampered heiress looking for work, too qualified for some positions and not qualified enough for others—she had hit wall after wall. Then she came to a restaurant and found Xing Yue flirting with another woman!

These two were going to be the death of Xing Yue. She lowered her voice. "Could you both keep it down? Are we eating or not?"

Seeing how furious Bu Yao was, she leaned close to her ear, her forehead barely brushing her soft hair. "You're jealous over this? Once I go into training, I won't see Bo Wuxue for almost half a year. I just wanted to treat her to a nice meal. You and I are together every day. Could we spend like this all the time?"

Xing Yue spoke softly. She didn't want Bo Wuxue to hear her coaxing this woman.

She had complained about Bu Yao plenty of times in front of Bo Wuxue, who always told her to stand up for herself. It would be embarrassing if Bo Wuxue caught her waiting on Bu Yao like a doting wife.

Bu Yao remembered Bo Wuxue asking for green tea milk tea, and her anger shot through the roof. A few words weren't going to calm her down.

"Treat her to dinner if you want, but why are you getting involved in her engagement? You don't even know her fiancée. Do you want them to call it off so you can take her place?"

Xing Yue tugged at Bu Yao's hand, but Bu Yao shook her off. She caught it again. "Now you're getting ridiculous. Calm down first, okay? I'll explain when we get home."

The whole scene made Xing Yue want to eat somewhere else. She was terrified someone would overhear.

In the past, Bu Yao would never have let it go. This time, she bit her lower lip. She didn't want Xing Yue to lose face in public, so she forced down her anger, however fierce it was.

But she still felt wronged. She gave Xing Yue a cold look. "Go tell Bo Wuxue you were with me last night, and that we've slept in each other's arms for days! Then I'll let it go for now."

Xing Yue almost laughed. Afraid it would make Bu Yao angrier if she saw, she held it in.

Nothing was going on between her and Bo Wuxue. Even if she told Bo Wuxue, it wouldn't matter to her. She might even start asking nosy, suggestive questions.

Bu Yao wouldn't stop sulking, so Xing Yue looked at her best friend again, unable to hide the disdain in her eyes.

Hadn't Doctor Tan said that most people with obsessive-compulsive perfectionist snake personalities were biologists, artists, or scientists? Bo Wuxue looked nothing like one!

"Forget the green tea milk tea. Look how angry you've made her." Xing Yue didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Bu Yao had always had a temper.

"Isn't this your type?" Bo Wuxue mercilessly called her out. In a voice only the two of them could hear, she teased, "Hurry up and put her on your lap. Stroke her tail. Kiss her face."

At her age, Xing Yue still blushed at that kind of teasing. "What do you think I've been doing? I've held her for days. We've been sleeping in each other's arms."

At that, envy showed in Bo Wuxue's eyes. Fire Snakes ran hotter than ordinary people, a delight for snake species that loved warmth. She remembered Xing Yue saying that holding Bu Yao was like holding a little stove.

Bo Wuxue preferred cool places, so she couldn't understand the feeling herself. But she knew Xing Yue loved it.

"You've held her for days and still haven't... done it?" Bo Wuxue asked hesitantly. Before Xing Yue could answer, she shook her head. "You're such a closet pervert. Before you had a woman, you were lonely and miserable every day. Now that you do, you're playing hard to get."

Others might not know why Xing Yue acted this way, but Bo Wuxue did. Xing Yue's sense of right and wrong was too strong. She felt that until things were stable with Miss Bu, it wouldn't be right to do anything intimate. Otherwise, she would feel guilty, as if she had deceived Bu Yao.

As far as Bo Wuxue was concerned, Xing Yue didn't need to restrain herself so much. Bu Yao was twenty-eight, not an eighteen-year-old girl. If they both wanted it, no one was deceiving anyone.

She didn't agree with Xing Yue, but she wouldn't dismiss her views, either.

Bo Wuxue suddenly looked mysterious. "I'll send you something good later."

Xing Yue could guess what she meant from her tone. "Don't bother. Keep your 'something good' for yourself."

"Tsk, tsk... A Yue, you've changed. Now you even turn your nose up at my gifts." She was going to send it no matter what.

Remembering something serious, Bo Wuxue nudged Xing Yue with her elbow. "By the way, be careful when you go into training. I heard from someone on the inside that your ex-girlfriend's current girlfriend just signed with New Shadow Entertainment."

They hadn't even started recording the show, and she had already signed a contract? And of all places, it was with a Bu Family company.

Bo Wuxue's instincts told her Madam Bu was bound to cause trouble.

Xing Yue frowned. It wasn't for any other reason; she simply didn't want to deal with irritating people or problems. "Whatever. I don't care."

The three of them ate at the restaurant. One talked nonstop, while another sat in stony silence, her glare sharp enough to cut.

Caught between them, Xing Yue forced herself to chat with Bo Wuxue while softly asking Bu Yao what she wanted to eat or drink. She served her fruit, cut her steak, and saw to everything.

By the time the meal finally ended, Xing Yue was exhausted. It had been more tiring than working overtime.

Xing Yue took Bu Yao home. Seeing that she still wore a stern expression, she told her a little about what had happened at the hospital.

"That's how Wuxue's condition works. She has no sexual feelings for anyone but herself. She still doesn't realize how serious it is. I'm worried she won't be able to develop feelings for that woman after they marry."

Besides, Bo Wuxue didn't even know her fiancée. They had no emotional foundation, and marriage wouldn't make them happy. If they discovered the problem only after the wedding, it would be too late.

Bu Yao found the condition hard to believe, but she didn't doubt a word Xing Yue said.

Still full of resentment, she imitated Bo Wuxue's tone. "A Yue, I want green tea milk tea. Order me one."

"..."

The pointed remarks continued into the evening.

At dusk.

Xing Yue recorded a video in her home studio to tell her fans about her upcoming plans. She set up the lighting and, as usual, kept her face out of the shot.

Light fell across her, casting her silhouette on the wall. She briefly explained that she had signed up for a show, would do her best in the selection process, and would be training, so she might not post as often for a while.

After that, she sang part of an old song.

Once Xing Yue finished recording, she sent the video to her studio, where someone would edit and upload it.

Bu Yao watched Xing Yue work the whole time. Fans heard her covers with accompaniment added afterward; Bu Yao got to hear her sing with nothing behind her voice.

Her voice had always been distinctive. Age hadn't dulled it. If anything, it was more stunning now, powerful enough to strike a chord.

"Did you like it?" Xing Yue asked softly when she noticed Bu Yao staring.

She turned off the equipment, took out her pajamas, and prepared to shower.

Bu Yao wanted to say yes. How could she not like it? She had been listening to Xing Yue sing since high school.

But she wouldn't say it. Instead, she said coyly, "I want green tea milk tea."

Xing Yue had heard that line all day. She caught Bu Yao by the waist, lowered her eyes to those stubborn lips, and bent to give them a bite. "There's no green tea milk tea. There's green-tea-flavored water. Want some?"

How much there was depended on Miss Bu.

The woman who had been so bold a moment ago was thrown into a panic by that one sentence. Her ears turned redder than the Red Camellia growing in the courtyard and burned just as hot. She pushed Xing Yue away and fled...

All bark and no bite.

Xing Yue felt a little disappointed. She gave a husky laugh and went into the bathroom.

Only when Bu Yao heard the bathroom door close did she emerge from under the covers. If she didn't cool down soon, she would be cooked through.

The doorbell suddenly rang downstairs. Bu Yao went down alone and checked the security monitor. A servant in a Bo Family uniform stood outside.

He looked familiar. She had seen him at the Bo Family palace during Bo Wuxue's engagement banquet.

It was late, and Bu Yao thought something might be wrong, so she opened the door.

The servant showed no surprise at seeing her. Holding a box, he said, "Good evening, Miss Bu. Our lady sent this gift for you and Miss Xing."

He didn't know what it was, either. Bo Wuxue often sent someone to deliver things to Xing Yue. Sometimes it was delicious pastries; sometimes it was beautiful flowers.

Bu Yao took the box upstairs and examined it.

Since it was for both her and Xing Yue, she could open it first, couldn't she?

Bu Yao quietly convinced herself and opened the package. Inside was a small, delicate pink-and-white object. She had never seen anything like it and had no idea what it was. She was completely out of her depth.

She picked up the instructions. After reading for less than a few seconds, she flung them aside. The object in her hand dropped back into the box. She threw herself onto the bed, clutched the quilt tight, and retreated into the corner against the wall like a frightened rabbit, looking utterly helpless.

So Xing Yue really had lost her stamina. She didn't have the strength to top without a little help from a toy.

Bu Yao fell into thought. Then she remembered the one time they had done it since their reunion. The finger cot Xing Yue had bought back then had a texture to it... It hadn't been an ordinary one.

So Xing Yue actually liked using these little sex toys? Bu Yao never would have guessed from how restrained she usually seemed.

Fresh from the shower, Xing Yue found Bu Yao hiding in the corner of the bed with the quilt in her arms. She stopped drying her hair. "What's wrong?"

Bu Yao didn't answer. Her face red, she burrowed under the covers, but her tail slipped out. Its scales rippled as it hurriedly climbed back onto the bed and disappeared beneath the quilt, which she tucked tightly around herself.

Xing Yue lifted a corner of the quilt. That little movement startled Little Fire Snake badly. Her tail coiled around the quilt and yanked it down hard so Xing Yue couldn't look. Then even the tip of her tail withdrew and hid inside.

She had suddenly grown so shy, but hiding her tail was as good as showing it. Xing Yue's heart itched...