Raising My Sweet, Well-Behaved Puppy-Snake to Be My Wife - Chapter 3

Shen Zhiheng’s water glass trembled slightly, and the veins on his forehead pulsed. When he spoke, his voice was filled with utter disbelief:

“What are you going to catch for me? Pinky mice?”

He had been waiting in anticipation for the little snake to come up with a satisfactory answer, perhaps something like, “I have nothing to offer, so may I offer myself to you?” Instead, he received a sincere request from the little snake to catch pinky mice for him. He realized that he could not communicate with the little snake using human logic at all.

“Yes, pinky mice!”

Xiao Qi nodded vigorously, getting so excited that he tried to jump up from the hospital bed. He pulled on his intravenous needle, wincing as he let out a soft hiss of pain. Shen Zhiheng quickly and skillfully pressed him back down onto the bed. Xiao Qi suppressed his discomfort and continued in a cheerful tone:

“That is the most delicious thing I have ever eaten. Since I could not get meat at the hospital, I had to catch the pinky mice myself.”

“I know how to catch them, so I will not go hungry. I can catch plenty more for you, Brother. I am very fast at catching them.”

Whenever Xiao Qi talked about food, his eyes would light up. He chattered on endlessly, and the black pupils within his golden eyes unconsciously narrowed into thin slits, a natural hunting stance. Only his sweet voice and beaming smile told Shen Zhiheng that the child was not actually in a state of serpentine vigilance.

However, Shen Zhiheng captured more information from the child’s description. The child had been born in a place nominally called a hospital, a dark and damp place teeming with rodents, where he was never given enough food, forcing him to scavenge. He had lived a hard life, but from his childish voice, Shen Zhiheng heard only pride in his own hunting skills.

But if the little snake were truly so skilled at hunting, how could he have ended up so starving and covered in wounds that he was forced to seek help from a human on a rainy night, something dangerous for his kind? If it had not been him, but someone else who found the little snake, what would have happened? A strange look flashed across Shen Zhiheng’s eyes.

“Xiao Qi, humans do not eat pinky mice.” Shen Zhiheng interrupted him.

Xiao Qi shrank his neck back, a flash of grievance crossing his golden eyes as he pursed his lips unhappily. In his mind, sharing prey was the highest form of respect; he had only ever caught pinky mice for his dog-mommy before. Unfortunately, this sweet-smelling big brother did not appreciate it.

“O-okay!” Xiao Qi muttered in disappointment, pulling the quilt up until only half his face remained visible.

Shen Zhiheng tugged at the quilt gently, but found it pressed down tightly by Xiao Qi, refusing to budge. He sighed in resignation and changed the subject: “Xiao Qi, between the burger I gave you and the pinky mice you catch, which one is better?”

Xiao Qi snapped out of his dejection, his eyes widening and his black pupils becoming perfectly round. He remembered that taste there had been delicious, thick slices of meat inside!

“The one Brother gave me is better.” He recalled, then mumbled a small addition: “But the green leaves inside did not taste good.”

Recalling the adorable sight of the child biting into a lettuce leaf only to spit it out on the floor, Shen Zhiheng could not help but chuckle.

“Brother’s island does not have pinky mice, but it has many things much tastier than burgers.” He watched with satisfaction as the child’s expression shifted, his eyes now blinking in anticipation. “So, would you like to come live on Brother’s island?”

Xiao Qi poked his head out from the quilt and let out a soft “Wow.” His eyes were filled with pure, childish worship, the kind of adoration a child might feel upon meeting Superman. This really is my big reserve-food-source Brother!

The child grabbed one of Shen Zhiheng’s hands with both of his, struggling to stick his injured snake tail out from under the quilt and wiggling the thin tip back and forth. It was still difficult for him to control his tail, but he tried his very best.

“B-Brother, can I really? Brother is not afraid of me?”

The little snake gritted his teeth, determined to keep waving his tail tip, even though the movement which went against his natural serpentine instincts made his entire lower body ache. He remembered that his dog-mommy often waved her big, fluffy tail, and almost all the Omega children would crowd around her happily. The little snake had hidden in a corner for a long time practicing, just to learn this movement that defied his biology.

After waving his tail for a while, he finally ran out of strength and let it drop, hitting the side of the bed with a dull thud. The effort alone left him panting, his heart rate climbing. The strain made his lower abdomen ache, causing it to quiver slightly, a reaction hidden beneath the quilt, leaving Shen Zhiheng unaware.

He tilted his head to check the elevated heart rate, frowning as he observed for a long moment. Fortunately, it remained within a normal range, so there was no need to worry too much.

“Brother, you are not afraid of me, right?” The little snake held Shen Zhiheng’s hand tight, his bright golden eyes locked onto him. Because of his nervousness, he gripped the hand so hard that it turned red.

“Me? Of course not,” Shen Zhiheng said with a straight face. He made no mention of the fear he felt when they first met, and he assumed the little snake’s small brain could not possibly remember it anyway.

“Really? Brother is really not afraid of me!”

The little snake moved excitedly toward the edge of the bed, only to tug at all the wires and needles again. The pain made his body tremble, and his eyes welled up with tears. He reached out to touch the needle near his forehead, his lashes wet with tears of grievance.

“Do not move around. Stay still.” Shen Zhiheng lectured the restless little fellow sternly, nervously pressing the nurse call button, terrified that the needle might shift and cause blood to backflow.

Seeing the little one looking at him with teary eyes, he instantly softened, gently wiping the tears from the child’s face. “Alright, do not cry. I have called the doctor. Where else does it hurt? Tell Brother.”

Having never coaxed a child before, Shen Zhiheng found the skill came naturally. He lowered his voice, speaking softly and patting the quilt to comfort him. The little snake obediently wiped away his own tears and earnestly replied that he was not in pain. He gently massaged his own aching waist under the covers, then asked in a nasal, careful voice:

“Brother, why are you not afraid of me? I… I am a little snake, and little snakes can bite people.”

Shen Zhiheng did not take the child’s milky threat to heart. He replied casually, “You have not even grown your teeth fully yet, how could you bite anyone?”

“I can! Everyone says snakes bite.”

Shen Zhiheng held out his hand, tilting his head. “Try it? Let me see how your dull little baby teeth bite.”

“Then, I am really going to bite you now.” The child’s threat was stumbling and stuttering.

“Mm.” Shen Zhiheng laughed softly.

Xiao Qi cradled his brother’s hand, nervously sticking his tongue out. He only looked fierce; usually, one glance from his narrow, slit-like pupils was enough to send other children and staff running away in fear. No human had ever not been afraid of him in the past, only his dog-mommy Omega had not been scared. But in reality, the little snake had never actually bitten anyone; people were just terrified of him because he was a snake.

Unskilled in the art of biting, Xiao Qi held Shen Zhiheng’s hand and opened his mouth symbolically, placing it against the webbing of his brother’s thumb. Naturally, his baby teeth could not break the skin; he could only gently grind them against the hand. Xiao Qi looked up, his round, beady eyes bright and fixed on his brother.

Because he was biting the hand, his voice came out muffled: “I am really going to bite you now.”

“Mm.”

“Wuu! I really, really will bite you.”

Xiao Qi lowered his eyes, his voice muffled as tears began to fall. Everyone said snakes were evil sinister, cunning, cold-blooded creatures but Xiao Qi had never bitten a soul. His little baby teeth lacked the capacity to hurt, and his small mind could not possibly be cunning.

“I am not afraid of you biting me at all, little one. Even if you do bite me, it does not matter. I am your Brother.”

Xiao Qi’s eyes turned red, and his tear-filled, beady eyes looked even brighter. “Why are you not afraid of me?

Everyone is afraid of me. They are all afraid of snakes.”

He let go of Shen Zhiheng’s hand and threw his head back, sobbing. “All humans are afraid of me. They will not get close to me, and even when they do, it is only to drive me away. Why, why is Brother not afraid of me.”

In Xiao Qi’s world, Shen Zhiheng was the first human who was not afraid of him. The simple little snake did not understand the complex thoughts of a wealthy young master like Shen Zhiheng; he only knew that everyone in the world feared him, and only his big reserve-food Brother was not afraid of snakes.

Shen Zhiheng’s hand paused. He scrambled to wipe Xiao Qi’s tears, his mind racing to find a reason. His gaze landed on the snake tail peeking out from under the white quilt.

“Because you are not scary. In Brother’s eyes, you are just a well-behaved little snake who knows how to wag his tail.”

He did not know how this statement hit the child’s heart so perfectly; the child seemed so moved he began to cry even harder. Shen Zhiheng, having no idea what was going through the laughing-and-crying child’s head, panicked and grabbed a soft tissue from the nightstand to wipe his face. At only eighteen, he had suddenly found himself playing the roles of both father and mother.

“Why are you crying again? Little one, do not cry. Tell Brother why you are crying, okay?” Shen Zhiheng tried his best to soothe him, though his own voice trembled with inexperience.

“Wuu because, because it took me so long to learn how to wag my tail. Brother said he was not afraid of me because I know how to wag my tail, right?”

“Wuuu! Mommy, my dog-mommy did not lie to me. Wuwuwu, I am a puppy. Brother, I am a puppy.”

The little snake opened his mouth and wailed, tears falling uncontrollably. His pale, sickly face flushed red from crying. It seemed he had not wailed like this in a long time, venting all the grievances he had kept hidden in his heart. The little snake was not used to it; he choked on a sob and started coughing hard.

Shen Zhiheng did not know why the more he comforted the snake, the more the snake cried. The usually quiet young master had likely used up his entire week’s worth of conversational quota today. He became even more flustered, muttering meaningless comforting words as he wiped the snake’s tears and patted his back to help him breathe.

He was too anxious to ponder the deeper meaning behind the little snake’s words, continuing to repeat, “Alright, alright, you are a well-behaved puppy,” to soothe Xiao Qi.

When the nurse walked in with the medical chart, she saw the patient crying his heart out and Shen Zhiheng in a state of chaotic panic beside him. She quickly put the chart aside and joined in to coax Xiao Qi. Together, they finally managed to calm the little snake down or perhaps the little snake had simply run out of energy and cried himself into a dizzy haze, lying sideways against the pillow while panting with his tongue out.

The nurse let out a sigh of relief and adjusted the bed so Xiao Qi could sit up halfway. Shen Zhiheng was exhausted, a layer of cold sweat breaking out on his back.

“B-Brother.” the little snake called out in a hoarse, tear-stricken voice, reaching out to grab Shen Zhiheng’s arm, treating it like a pillow.

“Alright, alright, Brother is here. Stop crying now, you have messed up your face.”