After Ah Wan finished speaking, she slowly pulled back, her gaze like water, silently, gently hooking her in.
The Little Snake was young in age and had seen very little of the world. How could she withstand such temptation? She parted her lips slightly and chased after her in a daze, only to have Ah Wan pat her head instead.
“Oof.”
The Little Snake touched her forehead and looked curiously at the human before her, hungry and restless, licking her two little fangs. She asked pitifully, “Why won’t you let me kiss you?”
Ah Wan didn’t speak. She just silently put her hands in her pockets and stood up straight, her gaze slowly lowering. A faint, barely perceptible smile played on her face as she watched with great interest.
The Little Snake snorted and threw herself at Ah Wan with open arms, hugging her waist tightly and resting her chin on her chest, whining and cajoling, “Give me a kiss, give me a kiss.”
As she spoke, she bounced up and down, rubbing against her.
Ah Wan deliberately toyed with her, tilting her chin upward. The little one was anxious and jumped very high, bumping headlong into her.
The impact wasn’t light. Ah Wan grunted in pain but laughed out loud. She reached out and pulled her into her arms, patting her.
“Okay.”
She then bent down and secretly kissed her soft crown, coaxing, “Be good.”
The Little Snake was soothed into instant quiet, no longer fussing. She rested obediently against Ah Wan’s chest, her pale fingers slowly clutching tighter at her clothes. She breathed in quick, small gasps, yet still felt like she couldn’t catch her breath.
Her heart was beating so fast, as if it was about to leap out.
“Alright,” Ah Wan patted her gently. “Let’s look around a bit more, then head home.”
Hearing this, the Little Snake slowly emerged from her embrace and glanced at her shyly. After thinking for a moment, she lowered her head and proactively slipped her own hand into Ah Wan’s palm.
Ah Wan paused for a brief moment, then immediately closed her fingers tightly around it.
On the way back, they ran into someone selling lanterns. The balloon seller was gone, so Ah Wan bought her a little rabbit lantern.
The Little Snake pinched the stick handle and lifted the little rabbit lantern up, inspecting it over and over. She absolutely adored it. She even raised it high to show Ah Wan, showing off gleefully, “Look, little rabbit lantern.”
Ah Wan looked down, saying nothing. She smiled, then slipped their tightly clasped hands into her coat pocket, squeezing gently twice, and continued strolling leisurely forward.
In a place the Little Snake couldn’t see, the corner of her lips stayed upturned, impossible to press down.
The two of them went up the mountain under the moonlight, the entire path silent. After arriving home, the little one excitedly placed the little rabbit lantern on the bed, then turned and walked toward the bathroom, ready to wash up.
Ah Wan stepped inside, watching her hum a tune and patter inside, looking as if flowers were about to bloom on top of her head.
The sight melted Ah Wan’s heart. She folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the doorframe, watching her. She deliberately cleared her throat twice to get her attention.
The Little Snake, hugging her bath towel, turned around and looked at Ah Wan curiously. “Human, what’s wrong?”
Ah Wan walked up and stood before her, keeping her distance with restraint. Yet her eyes were unguarded, landing brazenly on her lips, as if trying to sear a hole there.
Only after a long while did she lower her head, reel in her expression, and reply flatly, “Nothing.”
“Oh.” The Little Snake found it a bit strange but scratched her head. “Then Snakey’s going to wash up.”
She finished speaking, draped her towel over her head, and reached to push the door open to go in.
As the door lock clicked into place, Ah Wan’s heart sank with it. She paced irritably around the room twice.
Who on earth taught her to close the door when showering?
The splashing sound of water disrupted Ah Wan’s heart. With nothing to do inside, she could only go out for a spin.
Tonight’s moon was exceptionally round. The clear, cold moonlight poured onto the small courtyard, coating it with a layer of silver frost.
Ah Wan blew off some steam in the cold wind for a while. Once she felt enough time had passed, she turned around and went back inside.
I should lay out the electric blanket first, so the little one can sleep more comfortably.
Thinking this, she walked toward the bed. But just as she lifted the blanket, she froze. Then, a string of numbers gradually surfaced in her mind.
It was the parcel pickup code.
Her electric blanket was still down at the base of the mountain.
Ah Wan let her hand drop in some frustration, sighing helplessly.
Although she normally did everything very casually and didn’t care much about anything, at the very least, she hadn’t made these kinds of forgetful mistakes before.
But ever since this little snake came along, it had happened several times in this short period.
Ah Wan took a deep breath. It seemed she would have to go down the mountain again tomorrow.
“Human?”
Just as she was thinking this, a voice suddenly appeared beside her.
Ah Wan turned her head to look. The Little Snake had come out at some point, wearing her large towel and looking at her curiously.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
Ah Wan replied casually at first. But then, after a moment of thought, for some reason, she added, “I forgot to pick up the electric blanket when I went down the mountain today.”
“What blanket?” The Little Snake didn’t understand. She blinked, then simply climbed onto the bed, bent over, and dragged over her own little blanket. She turned around and offered it to Ah Wan. “Here.”
Ah Wan looked down and suddenly let out a relaxed laugh. She reached out and ruffled her head, her tone doting as she replied, “Keep it for yourself. I don’t need it.”
She finished speaking, turned around, grabbed her own change of clothes, and entered the bathroom.
The washing machine lid was wide open. The muddle-headed snake had forgotten to close it again, after doing laundry.
Skilfully, Ah Wan fished out her little underwear and top from inside, put them in a basin, meticulously scrubbed them clean by hand, and hung them up. Only after that did she undress and prepare to shower.
When she finished showering and came out, the Little Snake was lying flat on her back on the bed, playing by herself with the little rabbit lantern, behaving very well.
Ah Wan opened the cabinet, took out the hair dryer, and went out to dry her hair. When she pushed the door open to come back in, she saw the Little Snake already asleep, sprawled on the bed.
The little one was wrapped tightly in the blanket, only a fuzzy top of her head peeking out, the tips of her hair scattered casually on the pillow, looking a little damp.
Ah Wan moved gently, walking over to take the little rabbit lantern from her hand and hanging it aside. Then she slowly lifted the blanket and sat on the edge of the bed, bit by bit coaxing her out so her head rested on her lap.
She then plugged in the hair dryer, set it to medium heat, and slipped her fingers into her hair, gently smoothing it out. Tenderly, she dried it.
The warm breeze was very comfortable. The Little Snake clenched her fists and stretched, then rolled over on Ah Wan’s lap again, turning to face her belly and naturally snuggling up to hold her.
But this movement nearly bumped into the hair dryer. Fortunately, Ah Wan reacted quickly and moved it aside in time.
After that, for fear of scalding her, she never dared turn it on again. She waited quietly for a good while, then cautiously turned it on the lowest setting to dry the tips of her hair briefly before preparing to get up.
But the Little Snake was holding her so tightly. The moment Ah Wan moved, she immediately whimpered in distress.
Ah Wan had no choice but to gently brush aside the hair covering her face and explain, “I’m just going to put the hair dryer away.”
“No.” The Little Snake refused without hesitation, holding her even tighter.
Left with no other option, Ah Wan had to set the hair dryer casually on the nightstand, then pull her into her arms as she lay down on the bed, covering them both properly again.
Once in bed, the Little Snake rolled out of her embrace with a gurgle and laid down on her own pillow, sleeping obediently, her chubby cheek squished against it, making one’s heart melt.
Ah Wan turned off the light and moved closer, gently draping her arm over her shoulder and affectionately nuzzling her nose before preparing to sleep.
But just as she closed her eyes, she suddenly remembered something. She carefully turned over, moving slowly and quietly, and opened the nightstand drawer. She took out the phone that had been left forgotten inside and unlocked it. A WeChat message popped up.
It was the friend request verification.
Ah Wan accepted it. After thinking for a moment, she typed two words over.
【Hello】
After sending the message, there was no response from the other side for a long time. Ah Wan stared at it intently for a while longer. Seeing there was indeed no reaction, she was about to put her phone down and sleep.
But the moment she pressed the screen off, the phone immediately vibrated twice. Opening it, she saw it was indeed the other party replying.
【Hello, I’m so sorry, I was just washing up】
Sent along with this message were two photos—
In one photo, both of them stood perfectly straight and stiff, looking extremely serious and earnest.
And in the other, the Little Snake was looking up at her, while she had looked down to respond, the two of them talking and meeting each other’s eyes.
The background had been slightly blurred, only a few scattered beams of light visible. This gave it an extra layer of hazy ambiance.
Ah Wan saved the photos and politely thanked the girl. She then opened her photo album and stared at the two pictures for a while.
She zoomed in and out repeatedly, swiping back and forth to look. In the end, as if it still wasn’t enough, she set the serious, solemn one as her phone’s lock screen, and the one of them looking at each other as her wallpaper.
Only after doing all this did she turn off the phone. But instead of putting it down, she turned it back on to admire the new lock screen for a while.
And that still wasn’t enough. After looking at the lock screen, she unlocked it to the home screen and gazed at the smiling young girl on it for a long time. Only then did she reluctantly turn the phone off—
And two seconds later, she turned it back on.
Ah Wan found a phone this fun for the first time.
Half an hour later, she finally put the phone down, ready to sleep. But just as she carefully turned over, she was caught off guard, meeting a pair of big, glistening eyes.
“Human!” The Little Snake was lying on her side looking at her, her face full of curiosity and a beaming smile, her little fangs poking her bottom lip. Very excited and full of energy, she asked, “What were you playing with just now?”
Ah Wan paused, only then realizing what she was asking. She replied, “My phone.”
She then asked, “What’s up?”
“Human, can you let Snakey play with the phone?”
The Little Snake took the initiative to lean over and hug her shoulder, rubbing affectionately against her. Then she tilted her head up, her bright, moist eyes staring at her.
A silent act of coaxing.
“No more playing with the little rabbit lantern? Wants to play with the phone?” As Ah Wan spoke, she pointed at the softly glowing rabbit lantern hanging at the head of the bed.
Hearing this, the Little Snake also looked up at it. Her face showed no hesitation whatsoever. She hugged Ah Wan and sweetly coaxed, “Don’t want the little rabbit lantern anymore, want the phone. Human, let Snakey play with it for a bit.”
“So fickle,” Ah Wan murmured to herself. Twisting a strand of the Little Snake’s hair between her fingers and gently rubbing it, her tone suddenly became a bit heavy. “When you meet other people in the future, will you be like this too?”
“Hm?”
“What?”
The Little Snake hadn’t heard clearly and asked curiously.
“Nothing,” Ah Wan smiled, reaching out to turn on the light. She sat up, leaning against the headboard, and then patted the spot next to her. “Come here.”
The Little Snake also scrambled up and sat over, leaning against her embrace, waiting obediently.
Ah Wan held her with one arm, took the phone, unlocked it, and handed it to her. She subtly pulled her closer into her arms.
“Human! This is Snakey and Human!”
The Little Snake cupped the phone and exclaimed in surprise at the wallpaper. Then she flipped it around, looking at it from front to back, left to right, and asked curiously, “How did Human and Snakey get put inside here?”
“Here,” Ah Wan took hold of her hand, opened the camera app on the phone, and taught her. “This is how you get put in.”
Her words fell as she raised the phone, aiming it at herself and the Little Snake.
With a click, it snapped a photo of the two of them snuggled together, the little rabbit lantern hanging on the headboard beside them.
“Wow!”
The Little Snake exclaimed in wonder, quickly taking the phone and studying it curiously.
Ah Wan lowered her head, hooked a fingertip around the tips of the Little Snake’s hair and sniffed them lightly. Holding her close, she suddenly said, “I’ll buy you a phone.”
