Chapter 70 Chapter 7 I have an extremely strong affection for him...

June 8 sunny

The first day I picked up the little snake

The thing calling itself the system said its name was Shengqing, a minor background character in the original script. Currently, it suffers from multiple ailments: bacterial, viral, and parasitic infections, as well as severe skin diseases caused by the harsh environment. It also suffers from severe nutritional deficiencies...

When I followed the system's prompts and stood in front of a stinky, fly-filled open-air garbage recycling pool, staring at the motionless black snakeskin bag at the innermost part, I was still hesitant, wondering if there was really something inside?

It wasn't until the cloth binding the snakeskin bag was untied that a foul smell hit me in the face. The little monster was curled up in a ball, motionless, with its eyes closed and its chest motionless, as if it were dead.

There was a moment,

I really thought he was dead.

The little snake-man wasn't as hideous as I'd imagined. I'd assumed that with a human body and a snake tail, his face would retain some snake-like features. Did I ever guess his mouth would be split?

But when I met him, I realized that it wasn't the case.

If you ignore the protruding snake tail on Shengqing's lower body and the faintly visible scales near his temples, he looks no different from a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy.

There were brown stains on its face from other kitchen waste, and the shocking wound on its tail attracted many flies and insects to eat and lay eggs.

How pitiful! How could it be so pitiful? I thought, clutching my chest as my heart pounded wildly.

When I bathed him, I inevitably touched his wounds. The unconscious little snake's brow furrowed, its body tense. I thought he was going to bite me, but he just stood there stiff and motionless.

After injecting the system-provided solution in the first half of the night, the fever kept coming back, and it wasn't until dawn that it stabilized. What a tenacious life.

June 9th: Cloudy with light rain

The day after I found the little snake

There are too many types of infections in my body. My temperature, which had just stabilized yesterday, started to fluctuate again at night.

I checked his story again in the system. His birth and origins were unknown. It seemed he was just the product of a world-line disorder—he came to a world that didn't belong to him as an egg, was oppressed by the humans there for years, and died in obscurity before reaching adulthood...

Such a struggling life is only the subject of a few short sentences in the protagonist's conversation with his friends.

After the protagonist finished recounting a strange incident in the past, his friend asked, "Is it really a snake man? It must be fake. I heard that they are just people pretending to be snakes." The protagonist said, "Maybe, anyway, I haven't seen it since..."

Just like that, it’s gone.

It's so unfortunate and pitiful.

Shengqing seemed not to be used to sleeping on a bed that was too soft. He would always slide under the bed unconsciously after falling asleep, and sleep curled up in the corner of the bedside table or bed in a posture that looked uncomfortable at first glance.

I was only out for a few minutes. When I came back, I saw the bed was empty. I looked at the ground skillfully and sure enough, I saw a figure curled up in the corner.

[picture]

I took a picture of him curled up. Is it because snakes naturally like to curl up in corners? Or is it because he's always slept like that and it makes him feel more secure? So cute.

I straightened him out, carried him back to bed, and stared into his closed eyes, imagining what his pupils would look like. Suddenly, a question occurred to me: Would he speak human language, or would he only hiss?

Supplement: He woke up and could speak human language. He was smarter than I thought and was completely communicative.

When I first woke up, the little snake was wary of me, its entire body tense. But it was indeed very hungry. After eating its first meal, its attitude became much better than before, and it even offered me scales...

Well, his eye color is a very light misty gray, the same color as his eyelashes, and the tails of his eyes droop slightly, making him look younger.

cute.

…

June 10 sunny

The third day after picking up the little snake

[picture]

He turned around and shrunk back into bed.

[picture]

Pull it up.

I seriously suspect that if Shengqing had been able to get under the bed, given his habit of hiding in corners, he might have actually gotten under the bed. Fortunately, the space under the bed was not empty.

After waking up, I told him to sleep on the bed instead of on the floor. He seemed completely unaware of his own behavior after falling asleep. He stared at me silently with his innocent light grey eyes, and tilted his head slightly, as if...

How do you say that internet term?

Yeah, I found it, cute.

The weather is nice today, and the sun is shining brightly outside. Some of the sunlight shines through the gaps in the blackout curtains, casting some warm orange spots on the floor and bed.

Through the system, I saw him raise his hand to touch the light on the bed sheet, which I found very interesting. Then, he started to make a series of strange movements, constantly raising his hand or touching something on his neck.

If it were before, I might have been confused, but just the evening before, I received some information about the circus that Shengqing had been to.

In those photos of him, some clear and some blurry, I saw how the scars on Shengqing's body accumulated little by little until the first time I met him, and I saw him in different states.

And no matter which photo he was in, he would have a thick iron chain around his neck, and in some photos even his wrists were tightly locked.

With this understanding, looking at his strange movements again, is it because he is not used to wearing the chains for a long time and is trying to feel what it is like without them?

I can't tell why.

I suddenly felt an inexplicable tightness in my chest.

Almost all the circuses that Shengqing had worked in in the past had various problems. Either they did not obtain the relevant qualifications, or their qualifications had expired long ago but had not been re-examined. At the same time, all the animal performances in the past were illegal activities. It was too easy to find fault with these troupes.

Even if someone with a keen sense of smell was the leader of the group that switched industries a few years ago, it wouldn't be difficult for them to do something. After all, if they were able to do such non-compliant things before, how could they be completely compliant now?

These things didn't really require me to handle them personally. I just mentioned them vaguely once or twice, and my assistant had already taken care of them for me, which was very appropriate.

While having lunch, I received the follow-up information on the handling of the animals. The circus had been traveling for days and the environment was terrible. Many animals were too sick and had died. The remaining animals that were slightly less ill were also sent to the zoo.

After sending the list, the assistant probably wanted to complain to a familiar colleague or friend, but accidentally sent the message to Yan Hao.

What's wrong with the boss lately? He's suddenly become interested in illegal circuses. I've never seen him so concerned about animal rights before.

The message appeared for a second before being immediately withdrawn.

Actually, if you really want to ask me what's wrong, I don't know why, but recently I can't stop thinking about the first time I met Shengqing. He was so lifeless, like garbage being thrown away in a sack...

I always feel like I should do something...

June 11 Sunny

The fourth day after picking up the little snake

The fever that used to occur every night finally completely disappeared, the shocking scars on the upper body began to scab over, and some of the lighter wounds lost their old scabs, and new pink flesh gradually grew.

The system said that the potion injected before was a high-concentration and powerful drug, similar to adrenaline, which was used for rescue when vital signs were weak, and it can now be stopped.

Next, focus on addressing skin diseases.

Due to the poor living environment before, the skin disease of the snaketail is more serious. After applying the medicine, some yellowish tissue fluid mixed with bacteria and necrotic cells will still flow out of the diseased tissue, and the loose scales will also begin to fall off in small parts.

Shengqing was very depressed about this.

Compared to the irritating pain when applying medicine, he seemed to be more unwilling to face the patches of baldness on his tail. Now he is less and less willing to expose his tail. Except when applying medicine, he has to cover it with something at other times.

I didn't realize that he cares so much about his image.

He had clearly been communicating with me when he just woke up, but now he started to play dumb and no longer spoke to me actively.

At night, I no longer curled up on the carpet unconsciously after falling asleep like before. I gradually began to get used to sleeping in bed.

…

Um…

Before eating, he still always looks at my expression. If his face changes a little, he will be afraid to eat. He has to wait for me to stare into his eyes and tell him that he can eat before he dares to eat.

I like to eat meat and corn...

Supplement: The little snake has really good hearing. He can feel someone passing by outside from a very long distance. Sometimes, just by looking at him slightly sideways at the door, I know that it must be a waiter passing by.

…

June 12 sunny

The fifth day after picking up the little snake

Today, Xiaoshe still didn't take the initiative to talk to me, but he continued to observe me more and more frequently, paying special attention to my every move. Not only did he eavesdrop on my phone calls, but when we had dinner together, he would also take the initiative to taste a piece of a dish after I finished it.

I am very curious. Did you eat it because you saw me eating it, so you thought the food was safe and ate it, or did you try it because you saw me eating it and you were very curious?

I really want to know what's going on in that little head.

…

June 14th, sunny

The seventh day after picking up the little snake

The appetite was about the same as before. I thought snakes only liked to eat meat and not fruit, but it still took two bites. From its expression, I couldn't tell whether it liked it or not.

Some express deliveries arrived one after another, including the electronic devices I had selected earlier, children's picture books of different styles, and some soft clothes.

The little snake is very unfamiliar with electronic devices and picture books. As for clothes, he prefers green. Is it because green is similar to the color of vegetation in its natural habitat, which helps it hide and hunt?

[picture]

[picture]

[picture]

June 15th, Sunny

The eighth day after picking up the little snake

The wound on the snake's tail finally stopped leaking tissue fluid, and the scale loss also slowed down. The weather has been hot recently, so he drank two more cups of water than yesterday.

Shengqing is still slow in learning about electronic devices. At present, he can only turn it on and off, and can only read picture books with pure pictures. Perhaps he still does not think that the things are his, but mine, and rarely touches them.

It's okay, take your time.

The largest wheelchair arrived yesterday. Little Snake likes it very much. He rides in the wheelchair to go around every room almost every day in the past two days, and especially likes to stay in the greenhouse.

The dining place has also moved from the small folding dining table on the dining car to the large table in the restaurant. Now, every time it is a fixed meal time, he will go to the dining table in advance to wait.

[picture]

Seeing him waiting obediently at the table, I suddenly had an indescribable feeling and subconsciously took out my mobile phone to take a picture.

It's strange. I didn't like taking photos that much before, but when I opened my photo album just now, I found that most of my recent photos are of Shengqing. Shengqing from all angles, sleeping Shengqing, awake Shengqing, and Shengqing chewing on it in small bites...

Is this what it's like to raise a child...? Oh no, I seem to have an extremely strong affection for him.

This is because... because...

Well, even though I still find it absurd and unreal, it really happened.

It took me several days to sort this out. I really liked Seung-kyung, from the moment we first met. I loved his light-colored eyes, his nimble white snake tail, the awkward, strange tone of his voice when he first spoke to me, the way he observed me from time to time, the way he languidly curled up in his wheelchair, basking in the sun, his scales shimmering like an iridescence in the sunlight...

Was this affection due to his inherent cuteness, his pitiful story, or perhaps his inhuman, yet inhuman qualities? This was the first time I'd felt this way, and I was a bit bewildered. I guess it'll take some time to sort things out.

Shengqing doesn't trust me very much yet. He is too quiet when he is alone in the room, which makes me always want to look at him. Yesterday, when I was applying the medicine, I couldn't help but linger for a while, and my fingertips still seem to retain the slightly cool touch of the scales that I imagined touching.

I'm going to talk to a psychiatrist when I get back.

…

June 20th, cloudy

Thirteenth day after picking up the little snake

The skin disease on Shengqing's tail has improved. The large mottled area has stopped shedding scales, and two small new scales have grown near the waist.

The new scales are a light flesh pink and extremely soft. After checking, I found that this is a normal phenomenon. New scales are indeed pink when they first grow out. It takes about a week for the color to slowly fade and become harder little by little.

The little snake still doesn't speak much on his own initiative, but when I talk to him, he finally stops staring at me silently and now he also makes a few "hmm" sounds.

Hmm… I just noticed that the scales on the side of the snake's temples are lighter and paler than I remembered. Yesterday I thought I was seeing things, but after a closer look today, they are indeed much smaller than yesterday.

…

June 21st, cloudy

The fourteenth day after picking up the little snake

He used to love going to the greenhouse, but recently he rarely goes there. He often looks at the balcony vigilantly and doesn't say anything when asked what's wrong.

He spoke to me for the second time during dinner. We had just finished dinner, and before the waiter came to collect the dishes, when he suddenly pointed to a window sill in the building opposite and said, "There's someone there, there's someone there."

At that time, I was still surprised that the little snake finally spoke to me again. I had to wait for him to speak several times before I could understand what he was saying.

I looked up and said that there was a shopping mall across the street, so it was normal for people to be there, but we were too far away and they couldn't get in. The little snake looked at one of the windows of the building across the street and nodded, not quite understanding.

happy.

He spoke to me a second time.

(Shengqing must have been practicing his speech secretly; his tone is not as obscure as it was the first time.)

We finished reading two picture books today, one with human graffiti and the other with small animals. He seemed to like the latter one more, and of course, so did I.

He reads very fast, maybe I should prepare some early childhood reading materials.

The gray bird appeared on the windowsill again. I had seen Shengqing communicating with him before, using a low-frequency voice, so low that it was almost inaudible. If the system hadn't amplified it countless times, I would hardly understand it.

So it can understand bird talk? Is it just birds, or can all animals across species understand it? I think it's the latter. Wow, what a clever little snake.

I just don't know what we're talking about...

Hmm... I remembered that this little bird has been coming to my room when I was working recently. I didn’t notice it before, so is it acting as a spy for the little snake?

At night, I found that the scales were smaller.

I asked the system, and it said this was normal. As Shengqing ages, the scales on his cheeks will gradually shrink until they are completely invisible. Once they completely disappear, it means he's nearing adulthood. At that point, he'll be able to shed his current human form and switch between different forms freely.

Suddenly I feel a little bit excited,

Looking forward to what he'll be like when he's fully healthy.

…

Light rain on June 23

The sixteenth day after I found the little snake

The injuries on the little snake's upper body are almost healed. Some of the light scars are almost invisible. As for the remaining more serious scars, they only need to be repaired with ointment every day. It is expected that they will be completely healed in two weeks.

More and more new scales grew on the tail. Originally, Shengqing's scales were white, but now they were all light pink, and the little white snake turned into a little pink snake.

[picture]

Took a photo, very cute.

Now the little snake no longer hides from the camera when I take pictures of it. Sometimes when it sees me holding up my phone and pointing it at it, it will look towards the camera and express its confusion to me with its eyes.

By the way, I have collected a whole jar of scales from the little snakes. Every time Shengqing sees me collecting the scales, he frowns and tilts his head slightly. I don’t know what he wants to express... but he is so cute and I want to touch him.

Tonight, I took him out of the hotel room for the first time. We ran into a stray kitten in the flowerbed. Its meows were so faint, I guess its mother must have left it behind when she moved. Shengqing just sniffed the air and pointed in a direction.

It was amazing. After walking along the path with him for five or six minutes, we really met a big tabby cat with the same color as the kitten.

Shengqing is afraid of cats. When the big cat sniffed close, he froze, reaching out and grabbing my skirt. Afterward, he must have felt deeply embarrassed, his silver-gray eyelashes drooping, and he let go as if nothing had happened. However, he probably forgot, and his tail was still wrapped around my ankle a little too late.

Does this mean that he trusts me a little bit?

Suddenly I felt a little inexplicable joy.

…

Light rain on June 26

The nineteenth day after I found the little snake

The wound healed well today. The new pink scales growing on the snake's tail became harder and the color was a little lighter.

The scales on the cheeks are lighter in color, almost completely transparent. You can't see the scales on the cheeks even if you get very close. Only under the sunlight, they present a beautiful glow.

Normal appetite and normal mood.

The system said that the favorability level increased by another 10 last night and is now 65, which is already a very high number, but why doesn’t he take the initiative to talk to me?

Even when I'm not around, Shengqing would imitate the tone of my voice and speak along when I taught him to recognize words. Why doesn't he communicate with me?

Sometimes it's hard to guess what little snakes are thinking.

The first time I heard him imitate me was in the system playback. I answered the phone in another room and said hello. He also whispered hello back, like a babbling child trying hard to imitate an adult.

cute.

By the way, snakes seem to shed their skin. I wonder if Shengqing will shed his skin in the future.

The weather has been gloomy and drizzling for the past two days. Shengqing used to like to bask in the sun in the evening, but recently he hasn't been able to do so.

But the rain should stop tomorrow. According to the weather forecast, there should be sunshine tomorrow.

Note: I met two strange passers-by on the road I went out last night. Although they were in wheelchairs and covered with blankets, they certainly couldn't see clearly at night, but just in case, I'll take another road next time.

…

June 27th, cloudy

The twentieth day after picking up the little snake

The wound healed well today, becoming increasingly shallow. The new scales appeared white, but in the sunlight, they were a dazzling array of colors. The system explained that these were Shengqing's scales in a healthy state. The dullness of their appearance when they first met indicated illness.

An interesting little episode occurred.

In the evening, Shengqing was building blocks in the room according to the blueprint. Suddenly, he seemed to sense something, threw away the blocks and tried to climb out of bed. In his haste, he even ignored the wheelchair beside the bed.

I walked over and asked him what was wrong.

He doesn't speak.

So I had to squat down and put him back in the wheelchair. He controlled the buttons of the wheelchair to move forward and stopped at the windowsill.

After more than ten seconds, I saw him still staring in a certain direction motionlessly, wondering what he was doing. The next second, I saw a gray bird with an injured wing staggering and landing outside the window.

I recognized it as the gray-bellied sparrow that always liked to perch on Shengqing's shoulder and communicate with him every time he went to the greenhouse outside. From its light brown belly, I could tell it was a female bird.

——The reason why I know so much about it is not because I love animals so much and understand them, but because the little bird often appears and seems to be very familiar with Shengqing, so I made a special effort to learn more about it.

The little gray bird's wings were injured by a slingshot, and both its wings and one foot were injured.

Under Shengqing's expectant gaze, I had no choice but to open the window, take out the medicine box, select a few medicine tubes recommended by the system from the full box, and apply medicine to the gray bird according to the translucent tutorial thrown in the air.

The bird was also wary of me at first, until Shengqing gently stroked the feathers on its neck twice, and its lips moved, making a sound so weak that it was almost inaudible.

I don’t know what they communicated, but the bird’s round little eyes looked at me, then at Shengqing, and finally slowly approached me.

Clean the wound, stop bleeding, and fix it.

With the experience of taking care of Shengqing before, I was much more skilled in treating the bird this time. It only took a short while to heal the graybird's injuries.

Out of caution, I also sent the medication and treatment methods, as well as pictures of the graybird's injuries, to my assistant during the process, asking him to consult a professional doctor if he had any other questions.

The assistant responded promptly and told me it was an effective treatment. After bandaging the wound and giving it some water and food, the bird chirped a few times around me, watched me for about ten minutes, and then flew away.

After the bird flew away, I asked Shengqing without any hope why he knew it was coming in advance.

He didn't say anything, but reached out and held me, looking at me with his clear eyes. I didn't move, and he didn't move either, just looking at me.

After five or six seconds, he pointed at my chest.

Note: After some research, I know why Shengqing can sense the arrival of the bird. This is because he has an exceptionally keen sense of taste and smell, and a special hearing, and can better perceive the subtle vibrations in the air.

No wonder he woke up right after I opened the door these past few days. He'd noticed it a long time ago, right? So, in those first few days, he was pretending to be asleep every time he waited for me to come in before waking up.

It's a little snake that's a little cunning, but not much.

…

July 1st: cloudy

The 23rd day after picking up the little snake

Something happened at home and plans changed.

It was originally planned to stay in Yongxing for two to three months, first to heal all of Shengqing's injuries, and then take him back to Binhai.

Now it seems that it is early...

…

Yan Hao's hands that were tapping on the keyboard suddenly stopped, and his expression at that time was clearly reflected on the computer monitor: a pair of deep eyes were filled with dark tides, like the low pressure before a storm.

I've clearly stopped thinking about those annoying people and things, so why am I so blind? I finally feel happy for a while, but some people just don't want to stop...