Time flew by, and another three days passed. By a careful count, today was already the fifth day since the little snake had entered the Blindfold Period.
According to what they’d read online, she would enter the Clear Eye Phase in just one more day. That phase would likely last one to two days, followed immediately by the Shedding Period.
Ah Wan woke up early in the morning. As soon as she opened her eyes, she was already thinking it was time to weave a slightly larger snake nest. That way, the little snake could shed her skin more conveniently.
However, the biggest problem right now was how clingy the little snake had become. She wouldn’t allow them to be separated by even half a step. Even when sleeping, she had to hold onto Ah Wan’s finger tightly. There was simply no chance to go to the bamboo grove to cut bamboo and weave her a new nest.
Ah Wan let out a soft sigh. She turned her head to look at the little one sleeping in the crook of her arm, clicking her tongue with a mix of fondness and exasperation. Yet the corner of her mouth couldn’t help but lift upwards. She gently stroked the little snake’s face with her other hand, then couldn’t resist leaning closer.
Over the past two days, the little snake had become much more secure than she was at the beginning. She no longer woke up with a start while sleeping. Even when Ah Wan leaned in like this, she merely let out a soft, sleepy sound and continued to sleep.
Their hands were clasped tightly under the blanket, so much so that they were sweating, but Ah Wan still couldn’t bear to move even a little. She just used her nose to nuzzle the little snake’s chin affectionately, then gently took the little snake’s mouth in hers and planted a soft kiss.
The little snake stirred again, unconsciously rubbing her eyes with her hand. She opened them for a quick look before closing them again, not quite awake.
Ah Wan simply gazed at her quietly for a long time. Still feeling it wasn’t enough, she simply reached back with her free hand and grabbed her phone from the nightstand.
The photos she’d taken just yesterday were already set as her lock screen. It was a picture of the little snake sleeping with her eyes closed, looking very peaceful and comfortable.
Ah Wan used her fingerprint to unlock the phone and entered the desktop. The wallpaper there was also taken just yesterday. The difference was, in this one, the little snake’s eyes were open. They were a beautiful shade of blue. Leaning against Ah Wan’s shoulder with a dazed expression, she looked like a little elf who had accidentally wandered into the mortal world.
Most of the photo was dominated by the little snake’s delicate and pretty face. Only at the very edge could one faintly make out a woman’s slightly open collar, revealing a deep clavicle hollow. Imprinted there were two tiny, round tooth marks. On her long, slender neck, there were also several distinct red kiss marks—all left by the little snake the day before.
During the Blindfold Period, it wasn’t just a snake’s outer skin that grew dull. The mucous membranes inside their mouth also underwent silent changes. This caused the little snake’s mouth to feel uncomfortable frequently. She would always act spoiled towards Ah Wan, complaining of an itch and wanting kisses.
But the torment of the Shedding Period couldn’t be relieved with just a kiss. She also needed to nibble and suck.
Sometimes, Ah Wan would tease her, refusing to give kisses. Then she would get angry, grab Ah Wan’s collar, lean in, and gently bite down on her collarbone with her teeth. After that, she would suck restlessly on Ah Wan’s neck.
Ah Wan was also mischievous. She would always wait until the little snake had left red marks on her before benevolently lowering her head to kiss her, patiently tending to every sensitive spot inside the little snake’s mouth.
In the photo, the little snake was exactly like that—leaning in Ah Wan’s arms and whimpering coquettishly, nuzzling against her discontentedly after having just vented her frustration on her.
Her fair little hand was clutching a corner of Ah Wan’s collar, her fingertips lazily resting right on that pretty collarbone, touching the two tiny tooth marks there.
Ah Wan absolutely adored this photo. It was as if her collarbone had been custom-made for the little snake. She really wanted to use it as her lock screen wallpaper but was unwilling to expose her feelings too openly. After pondering for a while, she compromised and set it as her desktop wallpaper.
It wasn’t hidden too deeply, yet she could see it all the time. This was perfect.
The little snake was still sleeping. Ah Wan opened the camera app and took a few pictures of her. Then she flipped the camera lens to face herself, leaned down, and gently kissed the little snake’s forehead.
This scene was captured just in time. Only then did Ah Wan lie back down contentedly to scroll through her phone.
She didn’t play around; she just purely browsed her photo album.
There were over a thousand photos in the phone’s album, but it was impossible to find a second picture of the phone’s owner. Gazing out across the screen, it was all the same human.
Ah Wan looked at them one by one, spending a long time on each. The more she looked, the more she felt a phone was truly a wonderful thing. How had she never noticed before that the phone’s camera function was so useful?
Slowly looking through a dozen or so photos took over twenty minutes.
Ah Wan exited the photo album. Wanting to take a few more pictures of the little snake while she was still asleep, she had forgotten she’d flipped the camera lens earlier. The moment she tapped into the camera app, she saw her own cold, indifferent face.
Almost instantly, Ah Wan put on a different expression for her reflection in the camera, looking rather impatient. She moved the phone slightly to the side—
The little snake was blinking her pair of blue eyes, curiously staring at the camera lens.
When Ah Wan noticed this through the camera, she froze for a moment. Then she remembered the little one couldn’t see right now, so she felt relieved and just kept filming, aiming the phone entirely at the little snake, making sure not to appear in the shot herself, or only showing a small part.
Click! The shutter sound rang out. The little snake’s eyelashes fluttered rapidly, and she widened her eyes.
After taking one photo, Ah Wan still didn’t stop; she wanted to take another.
But just as she was holding the phone, ready to press the shutter button, she clearly saw the human in the camera view slowly shift over towards her. She snuggled up intimately, her head gently leaning on Ah Wan’s shoulder, then raised both hands, extending her index and middle fingers in a V-shape.
“Yay!”
The little snake chirped sweetly, her large blue eyes sparkling with life.
Ah Wan turned her head to look in disbelief. Before she could even open her mouth to speak, the little snake also looked up at her, puckering her lips with two little smacking sounds. “Kiss kiss.”
Then she gave Ah Wan a squinty-eyed smile and wiggled her two fingers, urging: “Human, take the picture.”
Hearing this, Ah Wan felt a tightness in her chest, as if she couldn’t catch her breath.
She hurriedly turned off her phone and tossed it aside, mumbling a casual excuse: “Not taking pictures. I was just checking the time and accidentally touched it.”
As she said this, Ah Wan prepared to get out of bed, silently praying in her heart that the little snake had only woken up during that last time she opened the camera app, and hadn’t seen anything before that.
But just as she lifted the covers and sat up, the little snake pounced onto her back. At the same time, a voice sounded right in her ear—
The little snake was sprawled on Ah Wan’s back, tilting her head to look at her. Sticking close to her ear, she said in a crisp, honeyed voice: “Human, your phone has so, so many pictures of Snakey.”
Ah Wan: …
She kind of wanted to die.
She turned her head away and replied stiffly: “No, you saw wrong.”
As soon as she finished speaking, her ear turned as red as dripping blood.
The little snake saw this. Curious, she opened her mouth and bit down, grinding her itchy teeth against it.
Ah Wan drew in a soft breath. She reached out and patted her, signaling for her to let go. Then she turned her head and smoothly changed the subject: “Can your eyes see now?”
“Mm.”
As the little snake replied, she nimbly crawled directly into Ah Wan’s lap, wrapping her arms around her neck and nodding.
Ah Wan instinctively reached out to hold her. But just as she held her tight, she suddenly reacted. She gave the little snake a smack on the bottom, straightened her face, and said coldly: “If your eyes are better, get down.”
“Nooo~”
The little snake acted spoiled, squirming and nuzzling in her arms.
“Snakey’s eyes aren’t better yet.”
Hearing this, Ah Wan pinched her chin and tilted her head up. Looking closely, she noticed that although her eyes were still blue, that misty, hazy feeling had clearly faded significantly. Now, they actually looked somewhat clear and bright.
After a moment’s thought, Ah Wan tilted slightly to the left. She let one hand drop down and pulled open the drawer, taking out a pack of Crispy Noodles without hesitation and squeezing it.
The loud crinkling sound immediately caught the little snake’s attention. She whipped her head around instantly. Seeing it, she cheered: “Crispy Noodles!”
Before she could even finish shouting, she impatiently reached out to grab it.
Naturally, Ah Wan wouldn’t give it to her that easily. She lifted it high up, watching as the little snake stretched her arms trying to grab it.
When Ah Wan moved it to the left, the little snake immediately followed to the left; when she moved it to the right, she immediately followed to the right.
Even when Ah Wan moved to circle behind her without making a sound, the little snake could still stare intently, turning her head to follow, and continued reaching out her hand to grab it.
“Eyes aren’t better yet?” Ah Wan looked down at her, her eyes full of mirth, her tone carrying a hint of teasing. “Hm?”
Only then did the little snake slowly realize. She turned her head to look at Ah Wan, her eyes wide open, her raven-feather-like eyelashes fluttering twice. She replied in a small voice: “Mm.”
Her momentum was weak.
Ah Wan let out a cold laugh. Without hesitation, she crushed the pack of Crispy Noodles with one decisive movement.
That crackling sound seemed to crush the little snake’s heart itself. She hurriedly reached out to stop her: “Don’t crush it anymore! It’s not tasty when it’s crushed.”
“Snakey only likes the big pieces.”
Ah Wan didn’t argue with her anymore. She released her grip, handing the noodles over. Then she placed both hands around the little snake’s waist, easily lifting her up, and plopped her down onto the bed. Straightening up, she looked down and said: “Little liar snake, no big pieces of Crispy Noodles for you today.”
After saying this, she turned, opened the wardrobe, and picked out a set of clothes.
The little snake turned a deaf ear to her warning. Instead, she sat on the bed and tore open the package. Seeing Ah Wan’s outfit, she asked curiously: “Human, where are you going?”
“To cut bamboo.”
As Ah Wan spoke, she casually gathered her long hair and secured it with a black elastic band.
Hearing this, the little snake was curious: “What are you cutting bamboo for?”
“Since when is that something a Working Snake like you gets to ask?” Ah Wan avoided her question. She turned around, reached out, and flicked the little snake on the forehead before heading towards the door. “No eating on the bed. Remember to fold the blanket when you get up, and also remember to make breakfast.”
“Okaaay!”
The little snake answered obediently enough. But the moment Ah Wan turned away, she pinched the opening of the package into a tiny funnel, stuffed it into her own mouth, and poured all the Crispy Noodles in.
She chewed the most delicious thing in the world blissfully. After licking her lips, she still felt she hadn’t eaten enough and licked the opening of the package again. But it still wasn’t enough.
Especially since the Human hadn’t allowed her to eat this for the past few days because of the Blindfold Period. She’d been terribly craving it.
The little snake pursed her lips. She secretly peeked towards the door, and after making sure no one was there, she flopped onto the bed and reached for the nightstand drawer.
Before the Blindfold Period, Ah Wan would place one pack in here every day. Now that the little snake could count, she clearly remembered she hadn’t eaten Crispy Noodles for five days. So, there should be four packs left here.
She carefully pulled the drawer open. But before it was fully open, she spotted Ah Wan’s phone left on the nightstand. It looked like she’d forgotten it.
The little snake blinked her bright, limpid blue eyes. Suddenly recalling all those photos she’d seen earlier, she hesitated slightly but still reached out and picked up the phone.
Ah Wan’s lock screen password was very simple: six zeros. The little snake had seen her enter it.
But just as she lifted the phone up, the lock screen displayed ‘Face Recognition Successful’ and automatically unlocked.
The little snake froze for a moment, seemingly not understanding why she was able to unlock it.
However, she was never the type to dwell on things. If she didn’t understand, she just didn’t understand. She quickly tossed the matter to the back of her mind and reached out to tap the screen gently—
She entered the photo album.
Whoosh! The phone was suddenly snatched from above her hand. The speed was astonishingly fast, almost leaving an afterimage. The little snake hadn’t even had a chance to clearly see a single photo in the album.
Unwilling to give up, she tilted her head back to look up. Ah Wan was just in the act of putting the phone into her pocket.
“Human!”
The little snake furrowed her brow as she voiced her displeasure.
Ah Wan ruffled her head, replying in a flat tone: “Play with your own things.”
After saying this, she turned around.
The little snake fumed, huffing and pounding the bed with her fists. But at least she still had the Crispy Noodles. So, she lay back down and reached out to pull the drawer open. Sure enough, there were four packs inside.
“Wahhh~”
The little snake let out her customary “Wah” first, then reached out to take them. But another hand suddenly shot in from the side, effortlessly scooping up all four packs of Crispy Noodles.
“Huh?”
The little snake let out a sound of astonishment.
Ah Wan dangled the Noodles and lightly tapped the little snake’s head with them. She said smugly: “Cut that ‘Wah’ a bit shorter, and you would have gotten to eat them.”
