Lou Yuzhu was stunned, then let out a laugh in disbelief: "School sure teaches a lot, huh? You even know how to write IOUs now?"
Since the day she brought Tao Tao home, she had made sure to rush back after work every day just to spend more time with her.
She couldn't accept the fact that the little parrot she had loved and spoiled with all her heart now wanted to settle debts and leave her, as if living with her had been nothing but misery.
Lou Yuzhu's nose stung with bitterness—she felt genuinely heartbroken. Her expression turned cold: "Fine. From now on, I won't ask about anything concerning you. I won't ask how you're doing at school, who you've met, or what you do. You don't have to tell me anything either. Is that what you want?"
Without waiting for the girl's response, she picked up her laptop and went straight to the living room.
It was as if Lou Yuzhu had made up her mind to ignore Tao Tao. She sat alone on the couch, watching TV. Tao Tao walked back and forth between the bedroom and the kitchen, passing through the living room multiple times, but Lou Yuzhu acted as if she didn't see her—she didn't even lift her eyes.
Midnight came and went, and the bedroom light was still on. Lou Yuzhu remained in the living room, not checking if Tao Tao was asleep, simply watching TV on her own.
If Tao Tao had never existed, this was exactly how Lou Yuzhu would have spent her nights—coming home from work, watching TV, playing games, and climbing into bed whenever she got sleepy. She had gotten a parrot because she was afraid of loneliness, because she didn't want to be alone.
But now Tao Tao wanted to leave her. Maybe one day, she would just fly away and never come back. Lou Yuzhu figured she might as well start adjusting to being alone again.
That night, Lou Yuzhu slept on the couch and didn't step foot into the bedroom until morning.
She also didn't style Tao Tao's hair like she had the past two days—Tao Tao went to school with her hair loose.
From the moment she woke up to when she dropped Tao Tao off at the school gates, Lou Yuzhu didn't say a single word. Her coldness made Tao Tao too afraid to speak either. Several times, she hesitated as if wanting to say something, but in the end, she held back, her eyes turning red.
The new work assignment was challenging for Lou Yuzhu. She was so busy that she only noticed the teacher's WeChat messages when the sun was about to set—
Teacher Wang:
[Tao Tao's Mom, Tao Tao isn't doing well today. She didn't eat at lunch. Parrot-people are highly sensitive emotionally—do you want to pick her up for a meal?]
[She seems lethargic in class and isn't talking to us. She looks very down.]
[Are you there, Tao Tao's Mom?]
Along with the messages, there were two missed calls.
The photos the teacher sent didn't even show Tao Tao's face—she was slumped over her desk. There were four photos in total, taken at different times: in the morning, before lunch, after lunch, and later in the afternoon. In every single one, she was lying down.
She looked just like someone who was sick—completely drained.
Lou Yuzhu felt awful but couldn't help getting furious again at the thought of Tao Tao wanting to write her an IOU.
Without explaining anything, she politely replied: [Thank you, teacher. I'll pick her up after school.]
Teacher Wang: [Would you like to send her a voice message to encourage her?]
[I'm at work, I can't.] Lou Yuzhu found an excuse to refuse.
The teacher couldn't force anything—she had done her duty.
At dismissal, Lou Yuzhu went to school as usual. From a distance, she saw Tao Tao standing by the gate with her backpack, scanning the road anxiously, as if afraid she wouldn't come to pick her up. That expression made Lou Yuzhu's heart ache.
Even though she felt a little guilty, she still refused to speak first. She stopped the car at the gate, waited for Tao Tao to get in and buckle up, then drove home in silence.
The atmosphere in the car was unbearably quiet.
Tao Tao's eyes were swollen and red. Who knew how long she had cried last night? On top of skipping lunch and drinking no water, her face was completely pale.
She lowered her head and fiddled with her hair, twisting the strands aimlessly, trying to braid it—but she didn't know how. Her already messy hair became even more tangled.
"We learned how to write essays..." She murmured, taking the initiative to talk about her day at school, her voice barely above a whisper. "Describing scenery, colors, sounds, smells... We visited the botanical garden, saw butterflies, moss, flowers..."
Lou Yuzhu cut her off: "You don't need to tell me. I don't want to know."
The girl's soft rambling came to an abrupt stop. She rested her forehead against the car window, falling silent.
Tears dripped down onto the back of her hands—she was crying soundlessly, just letting the tears fall.
Her already swollen eyes, now soaked in tears, hurt even more. They stung so badly she didn't dare rub them, and her blurred vision made everything look hazy.
The car was engulfed in suffocating silence.
Even after they arrived home, Tao Tao didn't stop crying. She didn't stay in human form—she transformed into a small parrot and went straight into her cage.
Her food bowl remained untouched. She didn't come out all evening.
Lou Yuzhu tried adding strawberries, a spoonful of pomegranate, and different fruits, but Tao Tao never showed up.
Finally, unable to hold back anymore, she poked the coconut shell hideout with her finger: "Eat."
She waited several seconds—still no movement.
Lou Yuzhu reached in to grab her. But the moment her hand got close, she was viciously bitten. Tao Tao bit down hard, sinking her beak deep into Lou Yuzhu's finger. Blood immediately dripped down her palm.
The pain was so sharp that Lou Yuzhu thought she had lost a chunk of flesh.
"Didn't you tell me not to ask about your business? I listened to you, I gave you space—so why are you still throwing a fit? Am I the one in the wrong here? You might as well just fly away!" Furious, she ripped off the mesh covering the windows.
She placed the cage on the windowsill and opened the door. But Tao Tao still refused to come out. So Lou Yuzhu reached in again.
This time, she was bitten several times, but she refused to pull back. She grabbed the bird and pulled her out by force.
Just as she was about to scold her, her words got stuck in her throat when she finally got a clear look at Tao Tao.
For a brief moment, Lou Yuzhu's anger froze—neither rising nor falling, just lodged painfully in her chest.
The soft feathers on Tao Tao's chest were completely plucked bare.
Her exposed skin was covered in inflamed wounds, oozing pus, with specks of dried blood staining the feathers near her claws.
Her light pink beak was full of shredded down feathers.
Lou Yuzhu held her in her hands—last night, she had been a fluffy little ball, but now, she was sticky and damp from the infection.
Her hands trembled as she slowly loosened her grip, afraid to squeeze too hard. She could only let the tiny bird rest in her palm.
She couldn't say a single word.
She rushed downstairs, hailed a cab, and took Tao Tao to the nearest pet hospital that treated parrots.
After a quick examination, the vet immediately started an IV drip with anti-inflammatory fluids. Tao Tao was placed in an incubator, her small body carefully wrapped in sterile cloth to keep the needle in place.
Lou Yuzhu was on the verge of heartbreak. She sat right by the incubator, staring intently through the transparent cover, not daring to look away from Tao Tao.
"Doctor, is her condition serious?"
Having large feathers forcefully plucked out from the skin was like having human fingernails ripped off—it tore the flesh along with it.
"Let's monitor how she responds to the IV first," the vet said after reviewing the test results. "Has she not eaten all day? Without energy intake, she'll weaken even more. Try feeding her something later, and she'll need a medicinal bath tonight."
Hearing that Tao Tao needed two entire bottles of IV fluids made Lou Yuzhu feel even worse. The guilt was crushing.
The vet asked, "Are you new to raising parrots? To her, you're not just an owner—you're a large companion. She doesn't have the concept of a master pet relationship. You need to spend time with her and not neglect her. These little creatures are very emotional, and when they get depressed, they self harm."
Fu Ye had told Lou Yuzhu this at least dozens of times—don't hold grudges against a parrot, don't use cold treatment as punishment.
Parrots could truly die of heartbreak. If they didn't feel loved, they would lose the will to live.
Even if a parrot was naturally cheerful, loneliness could push them to self-harm.
Lou Yuzhu knew all this better than most first-time bird owners, yet she still made the mistake. Now, nothing else mattered—guilt overwhelmed her.
She followed the vet's instructions and prepared a medicinal bath. Carefully, she touched Tao Tao's ear, the only area she dared to make contact with. She was afraid of hurting her, afraid of disturbing her wounds.
"Were you trying to scare me to death?" Lou Yuzhu's voice cracked with emotion.
Tao Tao wasn't in great shape—she was drowsy even while soaking in the bath. Using a syringe, Lou Yuzhu tried feeding her some millet. Tao Tao barely managed two bites before refusing to eat more.
After returning to the incubator, she immediately fell asleep.
Lou Yuzhu took the next day off work. The IV drip lasted until 10 p.m., just before the pet hospital closed. If they had arrived any later, Tao Tao would've had to stay overnight.
Before leaving, the vet instructed: "Give her a medicinal bath once a day and apply the ointment three times daily. Make sure her skin is completely dry before applying the ointment."
Back home, Lou Yuzhu busied herself setting up a heating pad and adjusting the birdcage's insulation. Just as she was about to place Tao Tao inside, she turned around—
And there she was.
The beautiful girl lay on the bed, staring straight at her.
She was probably in a lot of pain. Even in human form, she didn't dare to lie on her stomach like usual. Instead, she lay flat on her back, limbs stretched out.
Lou Yuzhu suddenly held her breath.
From her angle, she could clearly see Tao Tao's neck—
The countless wounds hadn't even scabbed over yet. They stretched all the way down her chest.
That thin, translucent layer of skin—if pulled, it would tear open, and infected fluids would seep out.
Taking the ointment, Lou Yuzhu sat on the edge of the bed and reached out to touch Tao Tao's forehead. "Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something first? I'll apply the medicine afterward."
The vet had given Tao Tao a pain-relieving injection, but Lou Yuzhu wasn't sure if it would still be effective in her human form.
Tao Tao's eyes were still swollen. She gazed at her owner pitifully, her voice hoarse: "I can't eat..."
Lou Yuzhu nodded, not forcing it. "The ointment will help—it might sting at first."
Her tone was noticeably softer now, even cautious.
As the fabric of Tao Tao's shirt lifted, she instinctively crossed her arms over her chest. This movement—she had learned it from Lou Yuzhu.
"I need to apply the medicine," Lou Yuzhu said with a helpless chuckle, pulling her arms away. But soon, her smile faded, and she became visibly uncomfortable. "Tao Tao… you've developed really well."
She went to the fridge and grabbed some ice cubes, instructing Tao Tao to close her eyes. "This is to reduce the swelling around your eyes. You need to keep them shut while I apply the ointment."
If she didn't do this, she wasn't sure if she could handle applying the medicine.
With such a stunning body, even as a fellow woman, Lou Yuzhu found it hard to look directly at her.
She spread the ointment in her palms, warming it up before dabbing it onto the inflamed skin.
The moment she touched a wound, Tao Tao shivered, gasping from the pain.
"Hurts now, doesn't it?" Lou Yuzhu scolded. "Who told you to pluck your feathers? Were you planning to pull them all out?"
Tao Tao still had the ice packs over her eyes, obediently icing them. "Lou Yuzhu… does your hand hurt?"
Her voice was gentle, carrying just as much guilt as Lou Yuzhu.
"Of course it hurts," Lou Yuzhu blurted without hesitation. "It hurts like hell. Were you trying to bite my whole finger off? I wouldn't even bite you, but you went straight for my flesh. You bad bird."
Tao Tao put down the ice packs and lay on the bed, gazing at Lou Yuzhu. When she focused, she had a habit of tilting her head slightly, a sign that she was listening carefully.
"Then… Lou Yuzhu should bite me back," she murmured.
Droplets of melted ice water clung to her lashes, making her eyes look even more translucent.
But with her shirt still pushed up high, an indescribable tension filled the air—like an unspoken invitation.
Lou Yuzhu quickly averted her gaze. She refused to look at Tao Tao and hastily changed the subject. "Are you still sad?"
The girl nodded seriously—of course she was. She couldn't eat, she wanted to cry whenever she was asked. She had thought Lou Yuzhu would never want to talk to her again. She had thought she was abandoned.
"Would a kiss make you feel better?" Lou Yuzhu asked. After applying the ointment, she pulled Tao Tao's shirt back down.
Since the wounds were all over her chest and neck, Tao Tao didn't dare move recklessly. She shook her head. "No kissing. You're upset."
She sounded stuffy, her eyes red again.
Lou Yuzhu hadn't been that mad because of last night's kiss. Sure, she had been a little embarrassed, but it wasn't like she hated it.
What had truly frustrated her was realizing that Tao Tao was slipping out of her grasp.
She was no longer just her pet. She was becoming independent, forming her own thoughts, having her own secrets. The gap between them felt unbearable.
And then Tao Tao had talked about paying her back, as if they were cutting ties forever—that had pushed her over the edge.
Slowly, Lou Yuzhu leaned in.
She kissed Tao Tao—not just on the cheek this time, but directly on the lips.
Not once, but multiple times.
Each kiss lingered, pressing and rubbing against the soft lips beneath hers.
"Feel better?" she asked.
Tao Tao stared at her, utterly flustered. "No… I think… it only works if it's… the other kind of kiss…"