Jade Saliva, Pearls Held Close

A free little short story Song Huaiyu is practically perfect in every way. In public, he manages the family’s vast business with impeccable order as its head. At home, he raised his three younger brothers all by himself, earning their deep respect. No one knows that he has been harboring a secret for years. Then one day, a young master of the Song family who had been living away from home showed up at the door. He looked exactly like the late former family head. The Song family is wealthy and influential. They could easily afford to raise one more person. Only Song Huaiyu, usually so composed and levelheaded, looked stricken, his fingertips turning white as he clenched them. “Eldest Brother, or should I say... should I call you Mother, like they do?” The man wrapped his arms around Song Huaiyu’s waist. His body was cold, and his voice was chilling. “A-Yu, have you been lonely all these years since I died?” * A seemingly aloof, proper family patriarch who is, in truth, a nurturing mother and wicked wife; an intersex bottom, with tattoos and a husband-killing plotline. Short story. Read for the thrill, then move on. Theme: Cherish the people in your life while you still can.