Chapter 69 Chapter 6 Yan Hao hates people, even though he himself is a human...
On the fifth day after the little snake was picked up from the trash can, bags of clothes, various building blocks, children's enlightenment picture books, smartphones, tablets and other things selected by the assistant according to Yan Hao's requirements arrived one after another.
The custom wheelchair arrived at the hotel in the evening.
When the items were delivered to the door, Yan Hao was the one who signed for them. Perhaps because there were too many items, the hotel waiter, acting responsibly, asked a few more questions.
When Yan Hao signed, the waiter looked into the room curiously.
"What are you looking at?"
Yan Hao asked vigilantly.
"Nothing, nothing..." The waiter quickly lowered his head and put on a professional smile on his face.
It must have only taken three or four minutes longer than usual, right? But when Yan Hao pushed the big box back into the bedroom, the shy little snake curled up into a small ball, shivering under the quilt.
From Yan Hao's perspective, it seemed as if there was a round...dumpling hidden in the quilt.
After a while, probably because the footsteps of the waiter outside disappeared, a furry head slowly emerged from the quilt.
"He's gone."
Yan Hao said.
Shengqing stuck his head out and began to look at the new things in the room curiously, watching without blinking as the outer packaging was removed bit by bit by humans, gradually revealing what was inside.
It was an object with two large wheels.
Sheng Qing didn't know that this was something for him. Even when Yan Hao held him and put him on the chair, he still stood stiffly and straight, not even daring to lean his back completely against the chair.
"Don't worry..." Noticing his stiffness, Yan Hao reached out and gently stroked the bony joints on Sheng Qing's back, softly telling him, "It's okay. This is my gift for you, just like the things that arrived this morning. How is it? Do you remember what I told you?"
“………”
"Come, let me teach you."
Just like teaching him how to touch picture books and building blocks during the day, the human named Yan Hao once again patiently held Sheng Qing's hand and guided him to press the raised buttons, allowing him to understand the actual use of these buttons little by little.
When the forward button was pressed and the wheelchair slowly slid, those beautiful light pupils dilated slightly, like a child who had discovered a new toy.
"You've been staying in your room these past few days. You must be bored, right? Now that you have this, you can go out and play."
Seeing the little snake happy, Yan Hao unconsciously raised a faint smile on his lips. Thinking of this little thing that he always overthinks, he immediately added a special sentence.
"Don't worry, I'm definitely not going to abandon you, nor am I asking you to do anything. This is a gift for you, you know what a gift is? You don't have to return it..."
“………”
Shengqing's lips moved hesitantly, as if he wanted to say something, but he finally closed them again. His long, light-colored eyelashes cast a small, obedient shadow on his eyelids.
Yan Hao suddenly felt the urge to reach out and touch it, but he curled his fingers and finally didn't reach out. Better to wait, so as not to scare him.
He, who was usually very serious, forced a gentle smile towards Shengqing: "Come, I'll teach you how to turn."
The little snake was really smart. With Yan Hao's patient teaching, it learned how to control the wheelchair forward, backward, turn, stop and other operations in less than one night.
This was probably the first time that he moved so easily without having to crawl on the ground, so he liked this new means of transportation very much. He liked it so much that he didn't even want to go back to bed at bedtime and had to curl up in the wheelchair to sleep.
"This is so uncomfortable, go to bed and sleep, then we can play tomorrow, okay?"
The snake boy didn't respond.
Yan Hao patiently coaxed Sheng Qing gently. The two men and the snake remained in a stalemate for about ten minutes. With Yan Hao's constant reassurance, Sheng Qing's grip on the wheelchair finally relaxed a little.
From then on, the snake's range of activities gradually spread from the bedroom to the living room, dining room, bathroom, study, and even the small indoor garden.
However, as the scope of activities expanded, the little snake's strange behavior became more and more. For example, every time he entered a new room, he would control his wheelchair and carefully look at every corner of the room.
It's like he's patrolling his own territory.
"What are you doing?" Yan Hao asked in confusion, "Are you looking for something? Tell me and I'll help you find it, okay?"
Shengqing believed that confirming the safety of the environment was a very normal behavior, and he really didn't understand why the human looked at him with such a strange look.
But in the eyes of Yan Hao, a human, he only saw the little snake sniffing here and touching there. Although he didn't understand, he followed Sheng Qing closely.
One, two, three...
Arriving at the fourth room, Shengqing continued to repeat the movements from the previous room. He didn't know which movement was wrong, but suddenly heard laughter from behind him: "Why are you so cute? Do you like these rooms very much?"
Um? ? ?
At that time, Shengqing was concentrating on sniffing the unfamiliar smell in the air in order to read the information about the previous occupant of this room.
At that time, he sincerely believed that he would live in this place day after day, year after year. To this end, in the process of ensuring the safety of the environment, he also secretly left a little smell and mark of his own in the corner of the room.
This is a common territorial marking behavior.
There are countless invisible tiny glands hidden under Shengqing's skin, and he can leave his own mark with just an unintentional movement.
He did it secretly, after all, he was occupying someone else's territory, so he even felt guilty and secretly checked the expressions of the humans next to him from time to time.
Of course Yan Hao didn't know.
One of them didn't understand what the little snake was doing, but still thought his actions were so cute. The other one thought this place was really nice, big and clean, so he quietly left a mark and it would be his from now on!
"Do you like it very much?"
Seeing the little snake touching here and there reluctantly, Yan Hao asked as a matter of course.
like?
Of course, this place is much better than the stuffy, cramped, and smelly containers he had lived in before. There are all kinds of beautiful furniture, soft beds, and even a faint fragrance in the air. It is obvious that someone must clean this place regularly.
Shengqing was already particularly sensitive to scent, so he nodded seriously. Reflecting on the fact that humans didn't seem to have the ability to mark their territory, he quietly added another piece of information to the existing scent.
Yan Hao didn't know what was going on in the little snake's mind, but he could tell from the system that the little snake was in a good mood. He thought that the little snake really liked this wheelchair that could move freely.
Sheng Qing carefully checked the human's expression again. He had just robbed his territory, but the human didn't seem to say anything. Could it be that he was going to give it to him?
The two sights met in mid-air.
"Um?"
Yan Hao watched the little snake expertly control the wheelchair to the next room. Its back gave off a strange feeling of fleeing in panic...
It's really hard to guess what a snake is thinking.
＊
As the "patrol" ended, the timid snake boy seemed to have finally adapted to the environment and no longer hid in fear at the slightest noise like when he first arrived.
He would choose his favorite color from a pile of skins and start to take an interest in sketchbooks, phones, tablets, and scattered puzzle graffiti. Like a dry sponge, he greedily absorbed everything new around him.
In addition, the little snake will imitate the words and deeds of another human in the room, imitate his accent, and even learn the little movements he usually makes when making a phone call.
Yan Hao naturally couldn't be unaware of all this. He even felt indescribably happy the first time he noticed Sheng Qing imitating his own thoughts by tapping the table.
At the online meeting that day, the management of Yan Group was surprised to find that the big boss, who usually had a sullen face, seemed to be in a particularly good mood today.
During the reporting phase, which was usually the most prone to nitpicking, his tone was noticeably better. He even approved a proposal that would have been unacceptable under normal standards after only a brief consideration and a few minutes of careful review.
Taking advantage of the boss's good mood, an executive bravely asked after reporting on his work: "Boss Yan, I'd like to ask when your matter will be resolved. You haven't shown up for several days, and there have been some rumors recently, so..."
The man on the screen was dressed casually, his glasses reflecting the cold light of the screen. He was about to answer when a subtle noise came from outside the screen. He looked up, and without knowing what he saw, a smile almost doting suddenly played at the corners of his lips, and his eyes became tender and gentle.
The man shook his head at the screen, then spoke to the person outside, his voice uncharacteristically gentle: "Are you going out? ... No, the sun is too strong outside now. Wait... another twenty minutes, okay?"
It's incredible.
Is this still the boss who always had a stern face, as if someone owed him millions? The boss who was known as the walking robot?
Just the tone of voice and expression he used just now were completely different from his usual self. Especially those senior executives who knew Yan Hao well, their expressions were even more ridiculous, their eyes looking as if they had seen a ghost, while they tried their best to keep a straight face in front of the camera.
The expressions of two newly promoted department managers were the most obvious, and it took them three or four seconds to come to their senses.
This strangely gentle conversation lasted for two minutes. The person outside the screen seemed to have left, and the man slowly withdrew his gaze. The tenderness in his eyes that was enough to dote on people before now disappeared completely.
He said, "As for when I can go back, I have some things to deal with here, and it will take some time to finish... still..." He paused for two seconds, and scanned the surroundings with a deep gaze, and said in an unclear tone, "I can trust you to hand over the company to you. Could it be that..."
There was a moment of silence in the online conference room. An elderly executive in the camera wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "No, no, everything is fine at the company."
The reporting work continued in an orderly manner.
By the time the meeting was over, more than half an hour had passed. Yan Hao walked out of the study, through the living room, and straight to the sunroom. The moment he pushed open the glass door, warm air filled with the sweet fragrance of flowers hit him in the face.
He saw a snake-man boy sitting in a wheelchair, his long black hair casually draped behind him, a thin beige satin blanket covering his waist, and a small piece of his snake tail hanging obediently on the wheelchair pedal.
He was staring blankly at the fiery clouds in the sky. Behind him were rows of flower stands with flowers of various colors on them. A gray bird was perched on a platform not far away.
Looks familiar, seems like he was there yesterday?
Unlike air-conditioned rooms that are a bit chilly, the temperature in a sunroom is obviously higher than that indoors.
The little snake likes coming here very much recently.
I always wanted to go out at noon when the sun was the hottest, but Yan Hao didn't agree at that time because he was afraid that I would get sunburned like a wrinkled snake.
During the previous meeting, Xiaoshe once again controlled the wheelchair to find him, but seeing that he was busy working, he coaxed him a few words and then left obediently.
Now, after waiting for a long time, the sun had finally set and the temperature was no longer as scorching as it was during the day, so he could finally go out.
Yan Hao walked over to Sheng Qing's side and followed his gaze toward the horizon. It was the first time he had ever so carefully observed the white clouds on the horizon. As he watched, he actually spotted a small snake-shaped cloud among them.
So cute.
By the time Yan Hao realized it, the curve on his lips had been there for who knows how long.
The employees were buzzing with discussion about Yan Hao's recent, uncharacteristic changes. Everyone was wondering what had happened to this stoic figure, wondering if he'd finally gotten over his gloomy expression. Some thought it unlikely, wondering what kind of person could handle a temper like his. Perhaps it had something to do with the company.
In short, there are many different opinions.
Yan Hao was not aware of all this, but he was somewhat aware of the recent changes in himself: since he focused all his attention on this little snake that suddenly broke into his life, he had not thought about those messy things for a long time.
He had a not-so-good childhood.
His mother died early due to illness, his father was not very responsible, and he was cheating on his wife when she was still alive. After his wife died, he naturally became even more unscrupulous.
Yan Hao spent his childhood in an extremely complicated environment. He had a mother whose appearance he could no longer remember, a father who was no different from a stranger, a "new mother" who was replaced less than two years on average, and "brothers and sisters" who appeared from time to time.
It seems that every "new mother" who wants to get ahead will try to please him at the beginning, but after a short period of success, she will regard him as a competitor of her own children and always use some inferior means on him.
Regarding his father's frequent changes of partners, the outside world's opinions are very lenient. Men are romantic after all.
Yan Hao was very disgusted by this.
Before he even reached adulthood, he was extremely resistant to all the adults around him. While others were communicating with their peers, he would sit alone in the corner.
Even as an adult, Yan Hao remained extremely wary of everyone around him. He couldn't muster the slightest bit of emotion towards anyone, male or female, young or old, and this rejection sometimes even extended to the entire human race.
Children are noisy, adults are complicated, and other humans are either stupid or vicious. Humans at every stage have different things that annoy Yan Hao.
Yan Hao hates people, even though he is a human himself. At the same time, he doesn't like animals or plants very much. He has always hated all breathing and moving creatures in the world.
Until Shengqing appeared.
The young man with a human head and a snake body had a pair of beautiful eyes that were so clear that one could see into someone's heart, and his light-colored pupils were like glass soaked in morning dew.
Almost everything on his face was written about him. If he was happy, he was happy; if he was sad, he was sad. He was not like other humans who were sweet-mouthed but had ulterior motives, smiling on the outside but plotting something in their mind.
Yan Hao could always relax unconsciously when he was around him. Sometimes, even if he didn't do anything, just looking at him would make him feel much better.
The little snake's thoughts are hard to guess, yet not hard to guess.
He was afraid of people, yet curious about them, so he often observed himself secretly. Or perhaps because of something he had been told before, he always liked to hide that beautiful snake tail, thinking that exposing it would scare himself?
Actually, no, not at all.
Quite the opposite. When Yan Hao untied the cloth tied around the snake bag and saw the curled-up snake-man boy, his brain suddenly buzzed, as if a long-dormant nerve had been suddenly plucked, and his heart began to beat uncontrollably, pounding against his chest like a drum.
He suddenly thought of a very small thing that happened many years ago. He could not remember what class it was, what the teacher on the stage looked like, or who his deskmate was. His face was blurry.
Yan Hao only remembers it was an unusually hot afternoon. The teacher asked everyone on stage what was most important. Some answered their parents, others their toys or their pets. Amidst the myriad responses, Yan Hao remained silent.
Important people? Important things? Are they something that makes you happy just by mentioning them, something you're willing to devote time, energy, and effort to, but sad and painful when you lose them?
At the time, the young Yan Hao stared at the chattering of the people around him, feeling his mind go blank and his chest empty. He didn't understand what this emotion was, so he just scoffed. What if there was one? What if there wasn't one?
Years later, it was still the same scorching summer afternoon, and even the heat waves in the air seemed no different.
Yan Hao, wearing a black custom-made suit and a pair of expensive leather shoes, was standing in a pile of garbage that looked out of place. He stared at the snake-man boy curled up in a ball in the sack, and his gaze gradually moved from the snake-man's pale face to the snake's tail that was obviously different from that of an ordinary person.
Time seemed to be paused, and the man's senses were suddenly magnified countless times. A flock of unknown birds flew over his head, a cleaning truck drove past the intersection behind him, buzzing mosquitoes kept circling over the garbage dump, and his heart was beating deafeningly in his chest.
He suddenly became nervous for no reason, and his fingertips felt slightly numb - he had finally found something important.
Of course, he wouldn't tell Shengqing these words.
＊
A gust of wind blew by, and the strong aroma of medicine lingered in Yan Hao's nose. His eyes inevitably lingered on Sheng Qing's waist, which was covered by the thin satin.
The little snake has been losing scales badly recently, and the small box used to collect scales is almost full. Yan Hao feels distressed just looking at it, and the little snake itself is even more concerned. It always likes to find something to cover its tail, and now it wraps itself in a thin blanket all the time to cover its mottled tail tightly.
"Are the medicines you gave me effective? Why did they make the wound more red and swollen, and why did they cause more scales to fall off? How long will it take for it to heal? Will the scales grow back?"
Like every worried parent, he mentally urged the system. The strange voice responded quickly, giving a response similar to the previous few days.
Please don't worry...
[What's happening now is a normal reaction of the body as the medication prompts it to remove the damaged tissue.]
The recovery phase is divided into several stages: initial exacerbation, detoxification and descaling, new scale formation, regeneration, and complete healing. Each stage presents different symptoms. I'm currently entering the detoxification and descaling phase. While it may seem serious, if I persist for about five days, the condition will gradually improve, and new scales will gradually grow...
The cold electronic sound was still reciting the symptoms of different stages in a mechanical manner, but Yan Hao's gaze unconsciously stayed in a certain direction.
…
people…
That strange person...
He... is looking at himself again!
Sheng Qing, who was extremely sensitive to gazes, felt Yan Hao's gaze almost the moment he looked over. He didn't turn around, still gazing at the clouds in the sky with an expression of complete ignorance.
He thought, why hasn't this person sold me yet? Is it because my tail has become much balder recently and it doesn't look good, so I can't sell it?
He thought, that’s not right, people said they would not sell him, and they would never sell him in the future.
Although the animals he had met in the circus had told him the most that he must never trust humans, saying that humans were very bad creatures who were good at disguising themselves, that humans would eat him, and that they would use snakes to make wine, which was very scary!
Even though everyone he met before always lied to him, like when they said they would give him a good performance and then there would be a meal, but all they got was the sticky leftovers...
Although... Although...
But this person seems to be different.
For so many days, this person had never spoken a word to him loudly, let alone hit him. He prepared so many delicious foods for him every day, let him live in such a clean and bright house, and told him stories every night before bed...
This person is so good to him.
Why?
Shengqing glanced to the side secretly with the corner of his eyes, and when he turned his head, he happened to meet the gaze of the human looking at him.
Before Shengqing could quickly look away, the latter subconsciously gave Shengqing a gentle and friendly smile: "What's wrong, Xiaoqing? Are you hungry? It's okay, dinner will be ready soon. Do you want some fruit?"
Shengqing shook his head.
Warm orange light poured down from the transparent glass roof above his head, covering the boy's body with a hazy color. Even his skin, which was usually bloodless, now had a bit more color.
So warm.
Except for the time when he lived alone in the mountains during his childhood, Shengqing had not been basking in the sun like this for a long time after coming down the mountain.
No need to endure stomach cramps from excessive hunger, the air is fragrant, the belly is warm, and there is nothing to do...
It would be great if it could last forever. But if that's too much of a wish, then just a few days would be fine.
Shengqing thought seriously.
When he lowered his head, his eyes caught a spot, and he immediately and quickly retracted the part of his tail that was accidentally exposed outside the blanket back into the blanket.
People probably don't like his tail, right? Especially since it's now bumpy and bald in a few spots, and feels really rough to the touch. It's best not to scare people.
*
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