Although Xiao Mo said it wasn't necessary, Bai Ruxue always insisted.
The cost of ink, brushes, paper, inkstones, and books was high, so Bai Ruxue would go hunting and give her quarry to Aunt Chen to help sell.
Or she would learn how to raise silkworms and weave silk like Aunt Chen.
When Bai Ruxue fed the silkworms, she would always mutter, "Little silkworms, you have to spin lots and lots of silk~"
The village chief had nothing left to teach Xiao Mo.
So, Xiao Mo often had to travel to other places to study and listen to lectures from other teachers.
Studying required money. Fortunately, the County Magistrate of Qingshan County was eager to win the favor of the local scholars.
So, he could be approached for funding for some of the tuition fees and travel expenses.
Whenever Xiao Mo traveled to study, Bai Ruxue would go with him.
As the two of them walked through the mountain forests, Bai Ruxue would hunt for Xiao Mo, roast food for him, and fetch water for him.
All Xiao Mo had to do was keep moving forward and focus on his studies.
As winter approached, Bai Ruxue started to feel drowsy.
Every night, Bai Ruxue would go to bed early and sleep until the sun was high in the sky. Only then would she get up in a fluster, complaining to Xiao Mo, "Why didn't you wake me up? I haven't even done the laundry."
Without realizing it, Bai Ruxue became more and more skilled at everything, from laundry and cooking to cleaning the house, just like a virtuous wife.
By midwinter.
One morning, Bai Ruxue woke up to find her skin covered in a layer of translucent snakeskin.
The young woman was startled and quickly looked in the mirror. Her face was also covered in a layer of white snakeskin, and her eyes were a hazy gray.
'Oh no! I'm about to shed! What do I do, what do I do...'
Bai Ruxue paced back and forth in her room, her small hands clutching her sleeves tightly.
Finally, Bai Ruxue stopped, her eyes filled with determination. 'Looks like I have no choice but to run!'
Bai Ruxue picked up a brush and paper and left a letter for Xiao Mo. It roughly said, "There's a family matter. My younger sister is sick, so I have to go back and take care of her. I will be back in the spring."
Then, Bai Ruxue transformed into a snake, quickly slithered out the window, and crawled 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. All he saw was the letter on the table and the translucent white snakeskin on the floor.
After returning to the mountain, Bai Ruxue zipped into a cave.
Her sister was already hibernating. Bai Ruxue lay down beside her, looking out at the heavy snow outside the cave, and started to worry.
'Without me there to cook for him, will he go hungry?'
'What will he do without anyone to wash his clothes?'
'And there's no one to warm his bed. Will he be able to get used to it?'
As she thought about it, Bai Ruxue's head grew heavier and heavier, and she finally fell into hibernation.
When spring came, Bai Ruxue opened her eyes and shed her skin once again.
When she saw her own form, Bai Ruxue was startled.
Bai Ruxue was now sixteen feet long and over a foot thick.
The knowledge etched into her bloodline told her she was no longer a snake, but a python.
With a shake, she transformed into her human form. Bai Ruxue looked down, only to find she couldn't see her toes.
Walking to the edge of a pool, Bai Ruxue looked at her reflection in the water.
The woman in the reflection had a graceful and enchanting figure. Below her slender shoulders, her jade-like peaks were full and round, their breathtaking curves accentuated by the silk ribbon tied at her waist. Beneath the thin gauze, her voluptuous silhouette was faintly visible, rising and falling gently with each breath, as if warm jade was emitting a sweet fragrance.
Her waist was slender, just right for a hand to encircle, like a delicate willow swaying in the wind.
Beneath her skirts, her two jade-like legs were slender and long. Even hidden by the pomegranate-red skirt, one could glimpse her elegant, statuesque grace.
Her pair of peach-blossom eyes gazed affectionately, like newly opened peach petals. The corners of her eyes tilted up slightly, giving her a natural charm, as if they were tinged with rouge that bloomed into an alluring, faint red.
'Is that me?'
Bai Ruxue stared at her reflection in astonishment.
She turned and looked at her profile. In the water, the woman's curves rose and fell like a mountain range.
'It's beautiful, but my shoulders feel so sore...'
Bai Ruxue frowned and tried to support the two mountains on her chest.
'Oh, whatever. I should hurry down the mountain. Half a year has passed already. I wonder if Xiao Mo has been eating properly.'
When she descended the mountain and arrived at the entrance to Xiao Mo's courtyard, she found him reading a book, just as he always was.
"Xiao Mo."
Bai Ruxue called out to the man in the courtyard.
Xiao Mo looked up and saw the woman in the white dress outside the courtyard. He was completely stunned and only came to his senses after a long moment. "Miss Bai?"
"Who else would it be?"
Bai Ruxue walked into the courtyard.
But wherever Bai Ruxue went, Xiao Mo's gaze followed.
"You... why do you keep staring at me? D-do I look strange?" Bai Ruxue felt a little embarrassed under Xiao Mo's gaze, her body flushing with heat.
"No, it's just that I haven't seen you in half a year, and it feels like you've changed a great deal, Miss Bai. I was taken aback," Xiao Mo said, averting his gaze. "My apologies, I was being rude."
"So, compared to before, have I become prettier or uglier?" Bai Ruxue asked playfully, just as she always did.
"More beautiful," Xiao Mo answered honestly.
The Ruxue of the past had the innocence of a young girl.
But the Ruxue of today had completely blossomed, her innocence now tinged with a hint of allure.
"If I'm beautiful, then you can look your fill," Bai Ruxue said, her eyes curving into crescents. "If it's you, Xiao Mo, I don't mind at all~"
"That's still not very proper," Xiao Mo said with a smile, shaking his head.
"What's not proper about it?" Bai Ruxue tilted her head. "The reason I'm beautiful is so you can look at me."
"..." Xiao Mo was momentarily speechless.
"Miss..." Xiao Mo wondered how to explain. "There should be a proper distance between men and women."
"I don't get it."
Bai Ruxue didn't understand.
'If it were anyone else, of course I'd have to mind the propriety between men and women.'
'But I don't dislike Xiao Mo, so is it still necessary?'
'Xiao Mo always has such strange principles.'
Before she knew it...
Another two years passed.
Every winter, Bai Ruxue would go up the mountain to hibernate.
Each time she awoke from hibernation, Bai Ruxue would become thicker and longer, but her human appearance had now stopped changing.
One day, Bai Ruxue went to the river to do laundry.
Who knows what the village busybodies said to Bai Ruxue.
When Bai Ruxue returned, she just kept staring at Xiao Mo.
She stared at him while eating and snuck glances at him while hanging the laundry.
When she had nothing else to do, she would just sit in front of Xiao Mo and watch him.
"Is something the matter, Miss Bai?" Xiao Mo put down his book and took a sip of tea from the cup on the table.
"Mhmm," Bai Ruxue nodded. "Xiao Mo, when are you going to marry me?"
"COUGH COUGH COUGH..." Xiao Mo choked violently. "What did you say, Miss Bai?"
"I said, when are you going to marry me?" Bai Ruxue asked again.
"Miss Bai... why do you ask?"
"Because Aunt Li told me to ask~"
Bai Ruxue straightened her willowy waist, and her magnificent chest cast a shadow on the stone table.
"Aunt Li said that since I'm unmarried and you're unmarried, we live together every day, and we're both adults, why aren't we getting married? Aunt Li said that when her son was your age, her grandson was already old enough to run errands!"
"Well..." Xiao Mo thought for a moment and explained, "Miss Bai, people can only get married if they like each other."
"But I like you, don't I?" Bai Ruxue blinked. "Don't you like me?"
Xiao Mo smiled. "Then in your eyes, Miss Bai, what is our relationship?"
"Friends," Bai Ruxue blurted out.
Xiao Mo shook his head. "But Miss Bai, a friend's 'like' is not enough."
"Then what kind of 'like' is enough?"
Bai Ruxue was dizzy with confusion. 'So there are different kinds of 'like'?'
"Well..." Xiao Mo pondered for a moment. "It's hard to say. But if one day you understand, Miss Bai, you'll know whether you want to marry me or not."
"Then if I understand one day, and I still want you to marry me, will you marry me then?"
Xiao Mo was stunned for a second, then looked gently into the young woman's peach-blossom eyes.
"Alright."