Chapter 68 Cleaning a Dirty Snake "I'm back..."
"I'm back! I'm exhausted!"
"You're back, A-Qian! You haven't eaten in so long, you must be starving. Come on over..." Shen Rong'an came out of the kitchen wiping his hands. Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly noticed a dark mass lying at the door, with blood seeping in. "What's going on? What's that at the door?"
"Well, it's a bit complicated to explain. To put it simply, on my way back, I took a chance and picked someone up. That's about it." Pei Qing said as she went to the bathroom to wash her hands. Her hands were covered in blood and grime, and smelled nauseating.
"You picked up...someone?" Shen Rong'an asked hesitantly.
When Pei Qing returned after washing her hands, she found that Shen Rong'an had already dragged the person into the house and was giving basic treatment with a portable medical kit. Heliwen came out of the kitchen and brought the remaining dishes to the table. Pei Qing pulled out a chair, took a bite of braised pork, and mumbled, "Did you two make this together?"
"I only made one soup and one cold dish; the rest were made by Brother Chen." Hilliwen poured a glass of warm water and pushed it in front of Pei Qing.
"Wow, you two have already introduced yourselves, haven't you?"
"Yes, Brother Shen is a very nice person. He told me a lot about the boss's dietary restrictions, and I will pay attention to them when I cook in the future." Hillary's face was a little red, but it was not very noticeable because his skin was dark.
"Boss? Are you calling me?" Pei Qing raised the corners of her mouth. This employee was quite interesting. "My name is Pei Qing. You can just call me by my name from now on."
“No, the boss is the boss,” Hillivan said seriously. As an employee, he couldn’t be so informal as to call his boss by his first name.
"Fine, whatever you say." Pei Qing didn't care; she just said it casually.
“Boss, my name is—” Hillivan was about to speak when he was interrupted by Woman A. Pei Qing smiled and said, “You don’t need to introduce yourself. I know your name, Hillivan. I pronounced it correctly, right?”
"Yes...how did you know..."
"I saw it on the name tag of your club uniform, it's easy to remember." Pei Qing took a sip of the loofah and meatball soup. The meatballs were very bouncy, and the loofah was sweet and refreshing. It tasted great and was just right to cut through the greasiness of the braised pork.
No matter how much time has passed, this life of being waited on hand and foot still brings such immense happiness. Pei Qing placed the half-eaten bowl of soup on the table and turned to go to the storeroom to learn how to operate the machines.
After she left, Helivin, as if possessed, picked up the remaining half bowl of soup, gently pressed it against the side with the lip print, and took a sip. His pale pink tongue licked his lips, savoring every last drop of soup; it was indeed delicious. The man watched Pei Qing's departing figure, his ears burning red.
"What are you doing? You look so happy." Shen Rong'an appeared behind the man at some point, her tone gentle, but the smile in her eyes was blurry, like looking at flowers through a mist, and seemed somewhat insincere. Hilliwen was startled by the sudden thought that popped into his head. How could he think like that? Shen Rong'an was such a good person, so patient and gentle…
However, after seeing Shen Rong'an's next move, this tiny thought was like a flame that caught fire in the wind, burning brighter and brighter, spreading throughout his mind and lingering there.
Shen Rong'an picked up the remaining half bowl of soup and poured it into the trash can.
"Wait—!" Hillivan reached out to stop him, but it was too late; the entire bowl of soup was already lying quietly in the trash can.
"What's wrong?" Shen Rong'an smiled, still maintaining a gentle demeanor.
“Nothing,” Helivin forced a smile, but deep down he felt a surge of regret and a vague, inexplicable anger. “I… I just feel it’s a bit of a waste…”
“Waste? Haha, how could it be? It’s just a bowl of cold soup, something that’s destined to be thrown in the trash. It’s not a waste at all.” Shen Rong’an said gently as she got up, ladled out a bowl of soup, and pushed it in front of Hilliwen.
Those still gentle words stung Helvin's heart like a sharp knife. He clenched his fists tightly, his neatly trimmed nails digging into his flesh. He didn't understand what Shen Rong'an meant.
"Okay, thank you, Brother Chen, I understand." Hillary forced a smile, slowly sipping the hot soup. It should have tasted good, but why did he always feel a little bitter?
Shen Rong'an glanced at him casually, then stood up and went into the room.
Some disputes are unavoidable, but that doesn't mean that certain things are entitled to be contested with him.
Pei Qing entered the bedroom and was surprised to find a spreading water stain on the floor. A terrible premonition suddenly rose in her heart, and she quickly ran to the end of the water stain: the bathroom.
As soon as the door was opened, a torrent of water rushed out of the bathroom, quickly flooding the entire room, and some of it even flowed downstairs.
"..." She looked at the scene in the bathroom and fell silent, a rare occurrence for her. She really shouldn't have picked up the man on the street. She truly couldn't understand how he had inexplicably found his way here after she had entrusted him to Feng Qi.
What came into view was a familiar, enormous snake tail. Pei Qing had seen every pattern on it countless times in the dark underground, but when she saw it again, she was still amazed by the unique beauty of this combination of human and snake.
The snake's tail, as thick as a bucket and as thin as a bucket, is entirely black, with diamond-shaped patterns that shimmer with beautiful colors under the dim bathroom light.
The half of the snake connected to the waist was soaking in the bathtub, with most of it exposed, almost filling the entire bathroom. The last small, slightly pointed tail of the snake meandered to the doorway, swaying gently at an extremely slow frequency.
A strangely handsome man lay in a bathtub filled with water, his eyes closed, several small scars on the side of his face already scabbed over. However, an extremely long and narrow laceration, running from his collarbone to his abdomen, was still oozing blood.
The first thing Pei Qian did upon entering was to turn off the faucet that was running at full blast. She sighed and casually placed her hand on the man's forehead, which was so hot it could practically boil a bunch of eggs.
It was probably a high fever and coma caused by wound inflammation. There was still some residual consciousness. Before falling into a complete coma, he knew to crawl to a place with water to cool down, which is not bad compared to his previous mentally challenged behavior.
Just as she was about to remove her hand, the unconscious man suddenly raised his head and nuzzled her palm like a puppy. While Pei Qing was rummaging through the medicine box, the man automatically activated his tracking mode, his snake tail slowly approaching until it gradually wrapped around her thigh before finally becoming still and quiet.
Feeling the cool snake tail wrapped around her leg, Pei Qing couldn't help but gasp. She glanced at the man's calm face, then lowered her raised hand. Oh well, let him stay wrapped around for a while. It's finally quiet.
She picked up the disinfectant and poured it onto a sterile cotton ball, then used tweezers to carefully wipe along the narrow scar. The moment the cotton ball soaked in disinfectant touched the wound, the man's body trembled uncontrollably.
It's truly astonishing that he hasn't woken up despite being in so much pain. Pei Qing threw the blood-stained medical supplies into the trash can, then picked up the oral anti-inflammatory medication, feeling a bit of a headache.
Although the smell of the snake-man had faded considerably after being soaked in running water, it still reeked of blood. If Pei Qing hadn't been so curious, he probably wouldn't have stayed among the pile of corpses for who knows how long.
She couldn't stand the smell any longer and wanted to get up to get some shower gel to give her a proper cleaning. Just as she stood up, the snake-man seemed to think she wanted to leave, so it wrapped its large tail around her even tighter and pulled her forcefully, throwing Pei Qing and the chair into the bathtub.
With a "splash!" Pei Qing lifted her head from the water, soaking wet. She wiped herself dry, her mouth twisted with anger. She scooped the shower gel out of the water, glanced at the snake tail still tightly wrapped around her and the unconscious man, and couldn't help but wonder if he was faking it to torture her.
After standing there for a while, the man still showed no sign of waking up. Pei Qing resignedly turned on the shower, gave herself a quick wash, then squeezed shower gel onto a towel to create a rich lather, and picked up the heavy tail to scrub it repeatedly.
The large, foamy tail was slippery and impossible to hold, always slipping away from one's grasp. Even the most patient person would find it unbearable, let alone someone like Pei Qing, whose patience was exceptionally limited. Part of the tendrils extended out, coiling around the tail and suspending it in mid-air.
The other part of the tendrils climbed up along the grooves of the muscles, around the well-defined pectoral and abdominal muscles, around the delicate collarbone, and finally tied the whole snake into a sacrificial pilgrimage posture. The porcelain white bathtub reflected the brown skin, and the two bright red spots were like bright red strawberries on a chocolate cake, eye-catching.
After ensuring the snake wouldn't move again, Pei Qing could finally relax and carefully wash herself. She squeezed shower gel into her palms, rubbed and kneaded it, then placed it over the cool, soft, and supple chest. She spread the snow-white foam evenly layer by layer with her hands in an arc, piling it up like cream at the top. Pei Qing mischievously poked it twice as her hand passed over it; it felt a bit like a strawberry gummy candy, soft and chewy, with a wonderful texture.
The water in the bathtub was gradually drained, slowly running dry. Pei Qing let out a weary sigh; cleaning such a large snake was exhausting. She half-squatted down, not paying attention to her footing, and suddenly stepped on a towel full of foam that she had thrown into the bathtub earlier. She slipped and fell onto the snake-man.
The hard sternum pressed against her forehead, causing a slight stinging sensation, as it pushed against the curve of her flesh. Pei Qing rubbed her head and lifted it from the snake-man's chest, suddenly meeting a pair of dark golden vertical pupils.
He woke up, and he woke up at just the right time, at least after he had finished cleaning up, otherwise the scene here would have been even worse, Pei Qing thought.
However, just as you never know which will come first, tomorrow or an accident, Pei Qing breathed a sigh of relief too soon. The snake-man began to struggle violently, trying his best to break free from the restraints of the tentacles. If the strength of Pei Qing's tentacles hadn't increased significantly, they probably wouldn't have been able to hold him back for long.
She forcefully pulled the person in front of her and slapped her across the face without hesitation: "What are you doing now! I finally managed to get you clean!"
The snake-man's eerie face flushed slightly from the slap, tilting to one side as he stared intently at her. His dark golden eyes were too clear and harmless, and paired with his jet-black snake tail, he resembled an evil apostle from ancient mythology who lured the living into the abyss of hell, exuding a beautiful yet eerie inhuman charm.
No matter how much time passed, that stunningly beautiful face still lingered in Pei Qing's heart. She sighed and pointed to the snake-man's tail, "I can put you down, but you must stay put. If I find you've messed things up, I'll never set you free again, understand?"
The snake-man tilted his head in confusion, his bright red forked tongue licking her finger, soft and moist. Pei Qing looked into his exceptionally clear eyes, a bad premonition rising in her heart. He...couldn't possibly not understand what she was saying at all?! How much time has passed?! He can't even understand human language anymore?!
Pei Qian felt utterly powerless, regretting her boundless curiosity for the nth time. Her eyes were lifeless. Why did she ever pick him up in the first place? She was truly exasperated. She hadn't just picked up a free employee; she had picked up a free ancestor!
Ignoring the snake-man's struggles, she walked straight out of the bathroom and opened her contact list.
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Author's note: [Facepalm peeking][Facepalm peeking][Facepalm peeking] My darlings, I'm here!
It's estimated that there are still about 150,000 words left to finish, tentatively scheduled to end around mid-May. This is my first time writing a long novel, and the project has dragged on for too long. I didn't manage my time and outline well, and the overall pacing feels chaotic...
I'll probably make some minor adjustments after the main story is finished. [Pity][Pity][Pity]
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