Chapter 47

After speaking, Ah Wan patted the human in her arms and coaxed her softly to get up and eat before finally looking up at the human opposite.

“You know my temper.”

As the words fell, Chi Li plopped down onto the stool with a “duang”. She pursed her lips and slowly began to speak. “I’m in a relationship.”

Ah Wan, with little patience, swept a glance at her. Chi Li only felt a chill down her spine, shrinking her neck for a long while before reacting, saying in a small voice: “I ＊&…％…＃＊”

It was all gibberish, not a single word intelligible.

“Hmm?” Ah Wan narrowed her eyes slightly, extremely intimidating.

Chi Li took a deep breath. Her hands under the table were twisted tightly, tighter. Finally, as if using all her strength, she squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth, “I’m dating a girlfriend.”

After saying this, her cheeks flushed red, a rare occurrence.

Ah Wan frowned slightly after hearing this, tilting her chin up to gesture for her to continue.

Chi Li gritted her teeth and sighed, huffed forcefully, and complained resentfully, “After Mom and Dad found out, they pointed at my nose and yelled at me, said they’d definitely beat me to death. So I ran away that very night.”

“Why?” Little Snake, who had been quietly eating, suddenly interjected, asking curiously.

“Just because I’m dating someone!” Chi Li seemed like someone who had held it in for too long and finally found a confidant. She started babbling to Little Snake, “Let me tell you, just because I got a girlfriend…”

Ah Wan immediately glared at her, scaring her into silence. Then she raised her hand and put it around Little Snake’s shoulder, her expression instantly switching. She lowered her head and coaxed tenderly, “You eat first.”

Seeing this, Chi Li, opposite, was no longer shocked. She just pursed her lips and turned aside, choosing not to look.

“What is dating?” Little Snake asked curiously, chopsticks in hand, her eyes staring straight at Ah Wan. “And what is a girlfriend?”

“Why would you get beaten to death for having a girlfriend?”

Chi Li, on the other side, simply couldn’t hold it in anymore. She turned back around and said excitedly, “Because having a girlfriend means…”

Before she could finish, Ah Wan sent a knife-like glare her way. She instantly shut up, pressed her lips together, and directly turned her back.

Ah Wan stroked Little Snake’s head, her tone light. “I will teach you little by little. No rush.”

Yet it sounded utterly doting, impossible to hide.

“Oh.”

Little Snake responded, slowly lowering her head, but her eyes swiveled around, as if plotting some mischief.

After the meal, to show some initiative, although she hadn’t eaten a bite, Chi Li immediately began clearing the table.

Ah Wan glanced at her but didn’t stop her. She turned and walked to Little Snake’s bookcase to take out a fresh stack of paper, then opened the tablet to find the unfinished literacy lesson from last night. After setting it up, she turned her head and called, “Come and write.”

“Right away.”

Little Snake answered crisply, but didn’t even turn her head.

The TV volume was turned up loud, as if to mask something, while she herself had her head lowered, sneakily playing on the phone—

The kind without teen mode.

Little Snake skillfully opened the video platform and typed in the search bar using Pinyin, wanting to find a type of movie Ah Wan normally didn’t let her watch, just to satisfy a craving. Suddenly, a huge shadow loomed over her.

Ah Wan stood beside the sofa, looking down. Her arms were crossed, a slight smile curving her lips. Her voice was soft. “What are you playing?”

Little Snake instinctively moved the phone to hide it behind her, stammering, “N-nothing, not playing.”

Ah Wan naturally didn’t believe her. She extended her hand, raising an eyebrow. “Let me see.”

“Better not.” Little Snake wriggled, shoved the phone into her pocket, stood up, and headed toward her little desk, muttering, “It’s time. Snakey should go study now.”

Ah Wan tilted her head, revealing a knowing smile. She casually reached out, caught the little one’s arm, and pulled her back, embracing her tightly. Then she extended her hand. “Phone. Give it to me.”

Little Snake struggled briefly, but found herself held too tightly to move an inch, so she gave up. Nestled against Ah Wan’s shoulder, she looked up and weakly tried to act cute. “It’s in Snakey’s pocket.”

The clothes in this season were rather thin. As soon as Ah Wan’s hand reached in, it pressed against her skin, the heat making her flinch.

Little Snake let out a soft hum, grabbing Ah Wan’s collar and pleading softly, “Please don’t touch, it tickles~”

But Ah Wan seemed to be deliberately punishing her. She bent down and nibbled her ear tip, then pressed her face close, laughing lowly as she replied, “If I can’t touch, how do I get the phone?”

“Sister, should I wash this clay pot or not?”

Chi Li came out carrying a small clay pot used for stewing meat. She was about to speak but suddenly froze, her eyes staring straight over, too shocked to close her mouth.

Ah Wan was holding Little Snake tightly, slightly stooping to shield her in her embrace. Then she impatiently looked up.

Like a predator hunting in the darkness, her eyes were fierce and cold, glaring fixedly at the human before her.

With a clatter, the clay pot fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.

Chi Li gasped sharply, slowly raising both hands to cover her own eyes, trembling as she said, “I didn’t see anything.”

Hearing the noise, Little Snake twisted around with difficulty from within Ah Wan’s arms. Upon seeing it, she pouted, her eyes reddening as she said unhappily, “My little pot.”

That was the one she had spotted at a stall the last time the two went to the market fair at the foot of the mountain. The colors and pattern were especially beautiful, and it was the last one left—truly one of a kind.

She had cherished it since buying it, using it to stew meat every day, but now it was broken.

Ah Wan’s gaze shifted from Chi Li to the floor, staring at the pile of broken porcelain pieces. Suddenly, she loosened her hold and patted the human in her arms.

“Go and write.”

Little Snake huffed somewhat unhappily, glared at Chi Li once, then turned and walked away, feeling wronged.

Ah Wan picked up Little Snake’s phone from the sofa and walked over to Chi Li. Her demeanor was clear-headed, her attitude icy as she stated:

“You used ninety-seven sheets of her paper—nine thousand seven hundred. One clay pot—thirteen thousand.” As she spoke, Ah Wan opened Little Snake’s phone and pulled up the payment QR code. “A discount. Twenty thousand. Pay up.”

“What?” Chi Li shrieked. “A few sheets of paper and one clay pot, and you’re charging me twenty thousand?”

Ah Wan lifted her eyelids and glanced at her lazily, her thin lips parting slightly. “Forty thousand.”

“Sister! I’m your biological sister! Do I look like I have forty thousand on me?”

“Eighty thousand.” Ah Wan didn’t say an extra word.

Chi Li quickly held out a hand to stop her, closing her eyes as if resigned. “Stop adding. Let me call for backup.”

With that, she ran to the doorway and crouched down to make a phone call.

Ah Wan rubbed her ear. After putting away the phone, she turned, grabbed a bag, and packed up all the broken porcelain shards.

Little Snake lay on her desk, clutching her pen, watching eagerly. She asked quietly, “Human, can the little pot be fixed?”

“Do you trust me?” Ah Wan asked in return. Little Snake, of course, nodded without hesitation.

Seeing this, a faint smile appeared on Ah Wan’s face. She replied, “Then it can be fixed.”

In a corner outside the house, Chi Li crouched on the ground, holding her phone, ready to make a call.

The top of her WeChat pinned contacts was clean, without a single red notification dot. Opening it showed a sea of outgoing green messages.

Chi Li would send a message even upon seeing an ant on the shoulder of someone ahead of her in the milk tea queue, while the other party had only replied once:

“Stay safe, keep in touch.”

Chi Li flicked her little finger and placed a video call. Then she adjusted the angle and waited miserably.

The video connected. The woman opposite was in a sharp suit, only half of her exquisitely made-up face visible. She signed a document with a pen crisply, then asked, “What is it?”

“I’ve been kidnapped to the mountains. Send me money fast to pay the ransom.” Chi Li’s voice involuntarily softened a bit.

Hearing this, the other party finally turned her head slightly to glance at the screen, revealing a pair of overly cold and detached eyes. She asked concisely, “How much?”

“Eight hundred thousand.”

Chi Li’s demand was sky-high.

The other party turned her head back around after hearing this, her tone flat and without fluctuation. “Your card has a limit. Installments then.”

“You… limit &%…”

Chi Li wasn’t on Wi-Fi, and her mobile data signal in the mountains was mediocre. The connection lagged.

“…Dismember then.”

Chi Li: ???

Shocked, Chi Li yelled into the phone, utterly enraged. “Dismember? I’ll break up with you!”

With that, she gritted her teeth and hung up the phone very resolutely.

Inside the house, Little Snake was diligently studying, clutching her pen and writing earnestly, stroke by stroke.

Ah Wan was carrying a cloth bag and holding a small hoe. She walked over and bent down to watch for a moment, thinking the writing was quite good. Then she looked up at her and said, “I’m going out for a bit. You stay at home and don’t wander off.”

After saying this, she added, still a bit worried, “Don’t talk to her.”

“Mm.” Little Snake nodded firmly. She raised her head, her eyes bright as she looked at Ah Wan and asked, “After Snakey finishes this lesson, can I play with your phone for a while?”

“You can play with it tonight when we sleep.” As Ah Wan spoke, she bent closer, holding Little Snake’s face with her right hand and said, “Give me a kiss.”

Hearing this, Little Snake proactively puckered her lips, wrapped her arms around Ah Wan’s neck, leaned in, and planted a loud, sweet “smack” on her.

Ah Wan couldn’t help but smile too. She pinched her cheek and coaxed, “Alright. Write now. I’ll be back soon.”

Little Snake: “Okay.”

After Ah Wan left, Little Snake studied quietly, her big eyes fixed firmly on the screen.

She learned slowly; 1x speed was a bit too fast, so she always set it to 0.5x speed, mouthing the words quietly while holding the pen to scribble and write.

Chi Li wandered over idly, glancing at Little Snake from time to time.

Little Snake looked over warily, and Chi Li would immediately turn away, pretending nothing had happened.

After a few rounds of this, the distance between them kept shrinking until they were barely within arm’s reach.

Little Snake watched her cautiously a couple more times. Realizing Chi Li was getting closer and closer, she quickly covered her notebook and moved aside, pressing her lips together, her little face tense with seriousness as she looked at her.

Chi Li deliberately walked toward her, tilted her head to peek, laughed awkwardly twice, and tried to make conversation. “Learning to write?”

Then she keenly spotted the notebook the little moe-girl was hiding and exclaimed in surprise, “Whoa, practicing wild cursive too!”

“Tsk tsk, look at these squiggles, even wilder than wild cursive.”

Little Snake didn’t understand, but she knew it wasn’t a compliment. She frowned on the spot and huffed in displeasure, covering her notebook even more tightly, refusing to let her see.

Chi Li’s focus wasn’t really on the notebook anyway; her mouth was just itchy, so she said a couple extra words.

Now, remembering her true objective, she quickly glanced toward the door to confirm no one was there. Then she leaned on the table, propped her cheeks in both hands, and asked curiously, “Hey, little moe-girl, you’re actually my sister-in-law, right?”

“What is ‘sister-in-law’?” Little Snake, ever curious, couldn’t resist speaking with her.

Hearing this, Chi Li didn’t suspect a thing but rather slapped her own forehead as if suddenly realizing something. “Oh my memory. Forgot you don’t understand Chinese well.”

“Sister-in-law means my sister’s girlfriend,” Chi Li said, getting more and more excited, looking at Little Snake and gossiping mysteriously, “You’re dating my sister, right?”

Little Snake now had one head and two brains from confusion, repeating dazedly, “Dating?”

“Aiya, dating is like this…”

Chi Li, lacking patience, simply brought the tips of her five fingers on both hands together and tapped them, making a sound. “Mwah mwah.”

Seeing this gesture, Little Snake’s eyes lit up bit by bit. Full of enthusiasm, she replied, “Mm, yes, we are definitely dating.”

Chi Li lowered her hands, looking like she’d known all along, but Little Snake continued, “We often do the mwah mwah.”

Then she asked curiously, “When you date, do you do the mwah mwah too?”

Chi Li, who had never received even a single kiss: …

Heart… somewhat aching.

“O-of course!” Saving face, she took a deep breath and replied through clenched teeth, “We’ve mwah-ed our lips to a pulp!”

Hearing this, Little Snake’s eyes grew even brighter. Not knowing where this competitive spirit came from, she clenched her fists and said quietly in a low voice, “Then I’m going to mwah your sister’s lips to a pulp too.”