Beauty Snake - Chapter 57

Chapter 57: The Little Girl Purses Her Lips into a Straight Line, Wearing a Floral Dress and a Sky-High Ponytail—She Really Is…

“……” Xie Yin fell silent. She lowered her head, her fingers interlaced on the tabletop, fidgeting incessantly. After a long moment, she slowly looked up, her eyes filled with an indisputable resolve: “Aside from her, I want no one else.”

“From the day she saved me, my world was destined to revolve around her.”

“It didn’t work the first few times, but there’s still this time. If this time doesn’t work, there will be many, many more times in the future. I have a very long life, long enough to wait for her time and time again…”

“I will wait until the end of my life, and then I will leave alongside her…”

“Then when do you plan to tell her that you are a snake demon who has cultivated for over a thousand years?” Xie Chu interrupted her, pointing out the most critical issue.

“……” Xie Yin was at a loss for words. She hesitated for a moment, took a deep breath, and spoke slowly: “This time, I don’t plan to take the initiative to explain.”

“I really don’t want to lose her because of this again.”

“It’s actually quite nice to accompany her through this life simply in the capacity of a human.”

“She said I am her Polaris…” Xie Yin caressed the ring on her hand, a small arc involuntarily rising at the corner of her mouth. The eyes fixed intently upon it were filled with a love that could not be dissolved.

Witnessing her starstruck expression, Xie Chu sighed helplessly and massaged her temples. “I truly don’t know who you inherited this stubborn streak from…”

“I inherited it from whoever said those words! Back in the day, didn’t you also chase my Ma for—mmph mmph!” Halfway through her sentence, Xie Yin’s mouth was firmly covered by a seemingly defensive Xie Chu.

“Xie… Yin! If you want to go meet the Snake Ancestors, I wouldn’t mind sending you on your way.” Xie Chu spoke through gritted teeth, her half-smiling, half-frowning expression looking rather intimidating.

“Forget it, I won’t bicker with a child like you,” Xie Chu released her hand and spoke to herself.

Before Xie Yin could say anything, Xie Chu had already turned around, leaving only the back of the executive chair facing her. The surroundings fell into a strange silence, but before long, a nearly imperceptible sigh drifted through the air.

“A-Yin, don’t let the tragedy repeat itself.”

“Concealment is not a long-term solution. Take care of yourself.”

“I know, Mother.”

Meanwhile, on the other side, Ji Yunfei had been enthusiastically pulled into Xie Yin’s bedroom by Yin Qing.

Following Yin Qing’s lead, Ji Yunfei sat on the large bed placed by the bay window. Yin Qing herself went over to a cabinet on one side and started rummaging for photo albums.

In her boredom, Ji Yunfei scanned the surroundings.

The bedroom wasn’t large. Unlike the classic cold, black-white-gray minimalist style of Xie Yin’s own home, the color scheme here was a mix of brown and off-white, which felt more like a “living person’s” space. The furniture showed no signs of wear, but there wasn’t a speck of dust in the room, likely due to regular cleaning.

Suddenly, her gaze was drawn to a hanging painting on the wall, suspended directly above the small television. The painting depicted a forest; at the end of the forest was a bottomless abyss. That mass of black symbolizing mist seemed to possess some magical power, drawing people closer.

By the time Ji Yunfei snapped back to reality, she was already standing before the painting, her hand resting upon it. Getting closer, she could smell a faint fragrance—was it the scent of the pigment? She wasn’t sure.

“The content of this painting… it’s so familiar. Have I seen it somewhere before?”

“I can’t remember…” Ji Yunfei frowned, trying to extract useful information from her memory bank. Yet, that particular block of data seemed shrouded in a layer of mist. She had only a blurred impression and no other useful information.

“Little A-Fei, why are you standing there like a statue? Come here, quickly, I found it!”

Hearing the voice, Ji Yunfei turned her head. She saw Yin Qing sitting by the bed, holding a slightly yellowed photo album, tilting her head and smiling at her.

Seeing this, she couldn’t continue investigating the painting. She nodded, “Coming!” and sat down beside Yin Qing.

Once Ji Yunfei was settled, Yin Qing flipped open the album. The first thing that met her eyes was a large group photo. Yin Qing’s eyes crinkled: “This is a photo of the last few generations of our family. Does Little A-Fei want to try and find our A-Yin?”

Ji Yunfei cast her gaze onto the group photo. Seated in the very front were several elderly people with graying hair. Behind them, it seemed everyone was arranged in rows by age. Before long, she spotted Xie Chu and Yin Qing. However, when it came to finding Xie Yin, she couldn’t find her no matter how hard she looked.

“Looking at your confused face, I assume you haven’t found her? Let me give you a little hint.” Yin Qing’s voice contained irrepressible amusement. Seeing Ji Yunfei look up at her with an exploding sense of curiosity, she continued: “I never said this was taken in recent years…”

Guided by Yin Qing, Ji Yunfei looked at the two women in the photo again. She realized that while they looked largely the same as they did now, they couldn’t hide an air of youthful greenness.

The realization dawned on her, and she turned her attention to the row of children to search for Xie Yin. This time, it was smooth. Within a few glances, she found that little girl among the crowd of children who had a faint, emotionless expression… and a “sky-high” ponytail.

The little girl in the picture had her lips pursed into a straight line, wearing a small floral dress and a single ponytail pointing straight up. It was truly a comical sight. Ji Yunfei almost suspected she had found the wrong person; she couldn’t believe Xie Yin looked like this as a child.

“Pfft—” After failing to stifle her laughter, Ji Yunfei simply let it go and laughed out loud. She covered her mouth, trying not to laugh too wildly.

“Well? Don’t let her usual ‘dead-person’ face fool you; A-Yin has quite a different vibe when paired with a little dress.” Seeing Ji Yunfei like this, Yin Qing raised an eyebrow and started “dissing” her own daughter.

“A-choo!” Upstairs, Xie Yin sneezed for no reason. She shook her head and thought: Could it be that A-Fei is thinking of me?

Once the joking was over, Ji Yunfei followed Yin Qing through the album, looking from Xie Yin’s childhood all the way to the present. She saw many different versions of Xie Yin. As the person in the photos matured, that silhouette gradually began to overlap with the current Xie Yin.

“Eh, this place…?” Ji Yunfei noticed a solo photo of Xie Yin in the corner. The background seemed to be a village in the mountains. Driven by a strange impulse, she asked for Yin Qing’s permission, took the photo out, and brought it close to examine it carefully.

In the photo, Xie Yin was dressed simply, with some soot smeared on her face as if she had just come from under a stove. The house behind her looked more and more familiar. It seemed to be taken in… Jizi Village?

“Auntie Yin… when was this taken?” Ji Yunfei held up the photo and asked Yin Qing.

Hearing this, Yin Qing frowned slightly as if thinking. She flipped further through the album and found that the subsequent pages were blank. She spoke: “There are no more photos after that, so it was probably taken by her this year. A-Yin has the habit of keeping a photographic record.”

“This year…” Ji Yunfei thought about it and decided it was better to ask Xie Yin herself. She held the photo and said: “Can I take this photo? The Xie Yin in here is very cute… I want to keep it.”

“If Little A-Fei likes it, take it. A-Yin would certainly be happy for you to keep it.” Yin Qing nodded readily and even picked out a few more solo photos of Xie Yin to stuff into Ji Yunfei’s hand, smiling meaningfully.

Having several photos of Xie Yin suddenly shoved into her hand, Ji Yunfei didn’t react at first. When it finally registered, she felt the photos were almost too hot to hold.

If that jerk Xie Yin found out she said she wanted to keep her photos, her tail would surely wag right up to the sky.

“Knock, knock, knock—” A measured knock came from outside the door, followed by Auntie Ming’s voice: “Madam, Miss Ji, lunch is ready.”

“Okay, we’re coming right now—” Yin Qing called back to the door, then looked at Ji Yunfei, who was hurriedly stuffing the photos into her pocket, and laughed softly: “Let’s go, why don’t you try the skill of our family chef?”

“Okay.” Ji Yunfei nodded, and the two left Xie Yin’s bedroom side-by-side, heading toward the dining room.

By the time they reached the living room, Xie Chu and Xie Yin were already seated at the dining table. The table was filled with a sumptuous spread of dishes, and the aroma of meat wafted through the air to Ji Yunfei’s nose.

“You’re here? Sit down, Xiao Ji. Don’t be formal, come try the skill of our family chef.” Seeing the two arrive, Xie Chu spoke first, inviting Ji Yunfei to sit.

Ji Yunfei obediently sat next to Xie Yin. Under the influence of Xie Yin’s “shadowless hands,” the food in her bowl soon piled up into a small mountain.

“A-Fei, try this Dongpo pork. You’ll definitely like it.”

“Xie Yin… just eat your own… you don’t need to serve me, I can’t finish all this…”

“Moreover, in front of two elders, this is a bit… too embarrassing…” Ji Yunfei was preoccupied, so she hadn’t touched the food in her bowl much, yet Xie Yin kept piling more on…

“Okay, I’ll eat mine. You eat quickly too, stop daydreaming.” Seeing Ji Yunfei’s discomfort, Xie Yin stopped pushing and started eating her own meal.

Still harboring questions about the photo, Ji Yunfei didn’t eat her meal peacefully. She silently calculated how best to ask Xie Yin…

Soon, the meal finished in a harmonious atmosphere. Xie Chu went upstairs for official business, while Yin Qing had to go out for a shoot. Only Ji Yunfei and Xie Yin were left in the living room.

“A-Fei…”

“Xie Yin…” Their voices rang out almost simultaneously.

“You go first.” Interrupted like this, Ji Yunfei felt she needed to organize her words further, so she let Xie Yin speak first.

“I’m going on a business trip for a week next week. Lin Qing will act as my proxy for work then; if anything comes up, you can go directly to her.”

“I might be very busy and unable to reply to messages promptly.” Xie Yin paused, then stood up and took several tickets from her bag: “A new amusement park opened in City C. When I come back from the trip, shall we go together on the weekend?”

“The extra tickets can be given to your friends.”

Ji Yunfei took the tickets and found they were VIP early-access passes. She hadn’t expected Xie Yin would want to go to an amusement park with her, so she was quite surprised.

“I didn’t expect CEO Xie to still be so young at heart…?”

“But I like it… go on your trip with peace of mind. I’ll wait for you to come back.” She lightly stroked the crown of Xie Yin’s head and smiled.

Xie Yin, who had been a bit anxious, was instantly happy after being smoothed over. Just as she was about to speak again, she heard Ji Yunfei change the subject:

“Now it’s time to talk about my business…”

“This photo…”

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