Chapter 16

After getting on the bus, Ah Wan paid the fare and handed the buns to Little Snake.

“Go find a seat at the very back and sit down.”

“Oh.”

Little Snake obeyed, obediently walking towards the back of the bus.

She claimed a window seat, glanced out the window once, and then, unable to wait, waved excitedly at Ah Wan.

“Human!”

Everyone in the bus turned their heads.

Ah Wan glanced at her, didn’t answer, and instead quickly walked over to sit beside her.

“Human,” Little Snake looked at her, poking the window with her finger, and said excitedly, “So many people outside, and so many people in this box too.”

Because she had to curl her tongue inside her mouth to hide it, she had to slurp back her saliva every couple of words.

Ah Wan turned her head, pulled up her own sleeve to wipe Little Snake’s mouth clean, then opened the tied bag and took out a cold bun. Without any softness, she shoved it into Little Snake’s mouth.

“Eat.”

Just as Little Snake was about to take it out, Ah Wan immediately added, “No wasting food.”

Hearing the word “food,” Little Snake subconsciously shoved the whole bun into her mouth, finishing it without leaving a crumb.

The doors closed, and the bus slowly started moving.

Ah Wan leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes to rest, but her arm was suddenly shaken violently by the human next to her.

“Human!” Little Snake pointed at the front of the bus, her face full of terror. “The box moved.”

“It’s called a vehicle,” Ah Wan replied lazily, tilting her head to the other side and ignoring her.

It was Little Snake’s first time on a bus. Everything was novel to her. Seeing Ah Wan wouldn’t talk, she lay against the window and looked outside.

The bus’s speed increased. Someone in the front opened their window to feel the wind.

Little Snake saw this, studied the window curiously for a moment, and quickly managed to open hers too.

But just as she started to stick her head out, she felt a tightness on the back of her scalp. Immediately, a slender hand reached past her and slammed her window shut.

Ah Wan grabbed her hair, leaned in close, looked into her eyes, and said with a stern voice, “When riding in a vehicle, you must not stick anything out the window.”

Little Snake tilted her head back to meet her gaze. Her cheeks suddenly flushed, and she asked curiously, “What happens if you stick something out?”

“You’ll become two snakes,” Ah Wan threatened with a cold smile, making a slicing motion horizontally across Little Snake’s waist area. “One half on top, one half on the bottom.”

“Wah!” Little Snake’s eyes widened, full of pure terror.

Even looking outside the window now frightened her. She tried hard to inch closer to Ah Wan, but it wasn’t enough. She turned and buried her face in Ah Wan’s chest, saying in a muffled voice, “Human, hug.”

Ah Wan ignored her, pulled her back out, and flicked her forehead with a finger.

Little Snake covered her forehead, looking blankly at her, and asked softly, “Why did you hit Snakey?”

“We’re getting off.”

Ah Wan had returned to her usual icy demeanor.

No sooner had she spoken than the bus stopped.

Ah Wan got up and walked over first. Little Snake, carrying the bag of cold buns, hurried to follow.

The town didn’t have a market today, so it was rather deserted, with not many shops open.

And even among the open ones, there wasn’t much to choose from, just a little better than the village.

The village had no clothing stores. Ah Wan usually bought her clothes and pants from the stalls at the market entrance during market days when she went down the mountain.

A cheap ten-yuan T-shirt could last her a whole summer.

She’d never been interested in food, clothing, or material things. The only thing she’d found somewhat interesting was Gu cultivation.

But in the last couple of years, she’d gradually lost her passion even for that. If she hadn’t accidentally picked up this little one, she wouldn’t know what to do for the second half of this year.

Standing at the entrance of the town’s largest clothing store, Ah Wan glanced at the naive Little Snake beside her, her gaze sweeping over the girl’s snow-white skin, then turned to look at the clothes inside.

They seemed… unsuitable, all of them.

The owner was a town resident who ran her own shop at home. Since the town had relatively few young people, the colors and styles of the goods she stocked were rather dated.

When she saw two delicate and pretty girls hesitating at her doorstep, she already understood the situation in her heart.

But since they were customers, she couldn’t shoo them away. She walked over and greeted them with a smile, “Young ladies here to buy clothes? Come in and take a look, there’s more inside.”

Ah Wan stood still, lost in thought.

Little Snake looked at her, then at the owner, and nudged Ah Wan with her shoulder.

“Human, someone’s calling you.”

Hearing this, Ah Wan snapped out of it. She glanced at Little Snake and walked in anyway.

“Feel free to browse.” The owner warmly greeted, “If anything catches your eye, just let me know, I’ll hook it down for you.”

Ah Wan’s eyes quickly swept the bottom row of dusty-colored clothes, not pausing.

She looked upwards. There were more colors, but the styles were all from many years ago.

She’d often seen others wear them in those years.

After searching for a while, Ah Wan reluctantly picked out a peach-pink one and asked the owner to hook it down.

But the moment the garment was held up to Little Snake, it instantly lost all its luster. In Ah Wan’s eyes, it was no different from those dusty gray clothes.

It really didn’t complement Little Snake.

“Should I wear this?” Little Snake saw Ah Wan holding the clothes up against her and grabbed her own hem, ready to strip.

Ah Wan raised a hand to stop her. She returned the clothes to the owner and asked, “Do you have underwear?”

“Yes, I just restocked yesterday, haven’t put it out yet. Take a look.” The owner was quite happy now and hurried to get them.

In her mind, underwear didn’t need any particular style or color. There were only so few shades to choose from anyway.

No matter how much you picked, could you even find a flower pattern?

The owner quickly came back with a few new pieces of underwear, each sealed in its own packet. She casually tore one open and handed it to Ah Wan to inspect.

“Your sister’s chest is big and beautiful, this style looks best on her. It’s the most popular model in the county this year, so popular people are clearing out the stock.”

The owner spoke very bluntly. “I sell it to others for thirty-five per piece, you can take it for thirty-two.”

Ah Wan took the underwear, feeling it in her hands. She turned again to look at the little one, so fair and clean, skin as smooth and delicate as freshly scooped tofu.

Without the slightest hesitation, Ah Wan put the underwear down and, with rare apology in her voice, said, “Thank you. We’ll look around a bit more.”

“Aiyo, no need to look further. My shop sells the best in town, others don’t even have it.” The owner still wanted them to stay. “If you think it’s expensive, we can negotiate.”

“No, thank you.”

Ah Wan finished speaking, grabbed Little Snake’s slender wrist, and walked out.

Going to the county meant taking a long-distance bus. But the town had no station, so they could only wait by the roadside for a vehicle heading to the city.

Ah Wan led Little Snake towards the intersection. The little one got tired from walking, refused to move, squatted down by the roadside hugging her bag of buns, and wouldn’t budge.

Ah Wan looked down at her. Sunlight fell on Little Snake’s face, her thick and long black eyelashes fluttering. Even the fine, soft hairs on her slightly puffed-up, angry face were clearly visible.

She gazed for a moment, silently averted her eyes, then casually stepped over and stood there.

Her shadow fell over Little Snake, casting a patch of cool shade.

A horn sounded, and a vehicle emitting plumes of black exhaust stopped in front of them.

Ah Wan lightly kicked Little Snake’s shoe, then walked forward.

Covering her mouth, Little Snake coughed twice with a frown and immediately picked up her buns to follow.

There were plenty of empty seats on the bus. Little Snake deliberately chose a seat far from the window. Ah Wan had no choice but to step over her and sit on the inside.

“Where to?”

The ticket seller asked.

Ah Wan glanced at the human beside her, pressed her lips together, and suddenly changed her mind. “To the city.”

This bus took a full two hours to reach the city. Even getting on midway as they did, they’d still ride for an hour and a half, so most people on the bus were sleeping.

At first, Little Snake found it novel, happily touching the large leather seat. But soon after the bus started, she lost her energy and groggily slumped into Ah Wan’s arms.

“Human, this bus is not nice to ride.”

She felt terribly dizzy.

“Mhm,” Ah Wan responded flatly, looking down at her. She reached out and gently kneaded Little Snake’s earlobe, murmuring softly, “It’ll be fine soon.”

As her words fell, Little Snake’s tightly furrowed brows suddenly relaxed. A small, cute seven-spotted ladybug appeared on her thin earlobe, looking just like a delicate, playful earring.

Ah Wan sat up straight, letting the girl lean on her shoulder, and gazed quietly out the window.

The country roads weren’t very smooth; occasional bumps made the sleeping Little Snake slip from her shoulder.

Ah Wan silently pulled her back, her eyes on the scene outside.

The bus entered a tunnel. On the transparent glass, a well-behaved, pretty face was reflected, sleeping peacefully.

A faint ripple stirred in Ah Wan’s calm, unruffled eyes.

By the time they reached the city, it was already noon. The streets were crowded.

Ah Wan walked ahead. Little Snake followed half a step behind, holding the hem of her shirt. She timidly glanced around, then leaned in and whispered, “Human, so many people.”

Hearing this, a rare smile flickered across Ah Wan’s face, quickly suppressed.

“What did we come here to buy?”

Little Snake tilted her head to look at Ah Wan. “Is it something very important?”

In her understanding, coming so far to buy something meant it had to be especially important.

Ah Wan cleared her throat lightly, her expression a bit unnatural as she replied, “Mhm.”

“Buy what?” Little Snake had every intention of getting to the bottom of it.

Ah Wan didn’t answer. Instead, she hurriedly led her into a lingerie store.

The shop was decorated in pink, playing soft, soothing music. Little Snake was captivated the moment she entered.

A shop assistant saw them and quickly came over, smiling as she asked, “What kind of underwear are you looking for? I can help recommend some.”

Ah Wan placed her hand on Little Snake’s lower back, gently giving her a push forward. “Pick a few comfortable sets for her.”

“Of course, no problem.” The assistant enthusiastically led Little Snake to browse.

Clutching her buns, the little one followed a couple of steps, then turned back uneasily, calling out, “Human?”

Ah Wan’s foot moved slightly. She sighed and followed after all.

“Your sister is young, so this set would suit her. Simple style, light color.” The assistant recommended, holding up a light green underwear set.

But Little Snake shook her head. Her big eyes glanced around, and then she stretched out her hand and pointed. “I want that one.”

What she pointed at was a set of transparent white lace lingerie, fully openwork, with a tiny bow at the center connection.

And the panty was an entire lace butterfly, with a string of pearls at the bottom and lace-style ribbon ties on the sides of the waist—undo those gently and it would completely open.