Raising My Sweet, Well-Behaved Puppy-Snake to Be My Wife - Chapter 8

The little snake’s tiny head was filled with overwhelming distress. He dragged his heavy tail and moved to his brother’s side.

He tugged gently on the corner of his brother’s clothes with his small hand, and large tears streamed down his cheeks.

“Big Brother, I am sorry, the snake did not mean it.”

His choked, sobbing voice made one’s heart ache. Shen Zhiheng had never intended to blame the little snake in the first place, and now, his heart softened completely at the sight of him crying.

He crouched down to be at eye level with Shen Zhiqi, not minding at all as he used his own clean sleeve to wipe the tears from the little snake’s face.

The little guy kept his head down, refusing to look at him, tears flowing more and more as he cried, endless and unstoppable. He only felt that he was done for; in the past, whenever he made mistakes that displeased the adults, he would be punished very severely.

At this moment, the snake simply did not know what to do.

Seeing that he could not soothe the little crying snake, Shen Zhiheng pulled the gasping, sobbing little guy into a tight embrace. He wrapped his arms around his brother’s frail shoulders, his palms gently patting the little snake’s back.

“Let me see, which little kid is such a crybaby?”

The manor staff had likely never seen the young master Shen coaxing someone with such a soft, affected voice. The servant holding a cleaning bucket stood frozen in place. It was not until Shen Zhiheng gave him a look that he realized he should grab his bucket and flee the scene.

Shen Zhiqi listened to the footsteps fading away, feeling that he and his brother were alone again. His tense nerves miraculously began to relax.

He sniffled and turned to bury his hot, tear-stained face into his brother’s neck. In the little snake’s limited understanding, making a mistake meant being severely punished, especially if one angered anyone other than “Dog Mom.” But here, with his brother, even though he had clearly made a mistake and felt wronged and uneasy, it was his brother who came to soothe him.

The little snake nervously kneaded the fabric on his brother’s shoulder with both hands, scrunching the expensive material into wrinkles.

He did not know how much time had passed before Shen Zhiheng finally coaxed the little snake until he stopped crying. It was also possible that the little guy had simply cried himself tired and was breathing deeply to rest.

When his breathing finally stabilized, a low, soft chuckle came from above.

“Done crying? The sun is about to set, and our Xiao Qi is truly hard to coax.”

The human’s hand pressed against the little snake’s burning, tear-stained cheek; the human’s body temperature was actually cooler than that of the cold-blooded creature, even in this “little crybaby” version.

Shen Zhiheng laughed, “You have cried yourself into a warm-blooded animal.”

What is a warm-blooded animal?

The little snake had cried until his head was spinning, and since his head was small to begin with, he understood the human’s words even less. He felt his brother’s hand against his face, cool and comforting, so like a friendly little dog, he rubbed his cheek against his brother’s palm.

After a long while, Shen Zhiqi no longer felt the temperature difference between his face and his brother’s palm. He bent down and slipped out of his brother’s embrace, picking up his large snake tail from the ground. He wrapped the tail around his neck; the cool, soft sensation allowed him to let out a deep, relieved breath.

The cool snake tail pressed against his cheeks, helping to lower the temperature of his flushed face.

His brother’s laughter reached his ears:

“Is the snake tail that useful?”

“It is useful.”

Shen Zhiqi answered in a muffled voice, still carrying the heavy nasal tone from his big cry.

“The snake’s tail can be coiled up to act as a chair, it can cool me down, it can be a pillow.”

Shen Zhiheng laughed aloud, “That is indeed very useful. I am starting to envy my baby for having such a useful tail.”

Shen Zhiqi tilted his head, his tear-reddened eyes shimmering with remaining tears. He tried hard to determine if his brother was teasing him. How could anyone want a snake’s tail? There is no one in this world who would want to become a snake.

Shen Zhiqi had never felt happy about being a little snake, even if he did have a very useful tail. He wanted to be a dog; he wanted to be a human. He just did not want to be a snake. But the silly little snake could not distinguish truth from lies in his brother’s gentle smile. He stared at his brother intently for a long time, looking into his eyes, but ultimately could not reach a conclusion.

“Why would Big Brother want a snake tail.”

This kind of tail, so heavy and long, like a burden that must be dragged everywhere.

“Hmm…”

Shen Zhiheng’s agile mind worked quickly, and he soon blurted out:

“Because I am the little snake’s Big Brother. If I am the Big Brother, then of course I will like the big snake tail.”

The little snake used his small, not-so-bright brain to think about this. He realized that “Big Brother” was a very special title; because he was the Big Brother, he liked the snake. Shen Zhiqi analyzed this conclusion, which made the snake’s heart swell with joy, and he nodded earnestly. I will never call anyone else “Big Brother” again. All other “Big Brothers” are not my Big Brother!

The little guy was not even sure if he had successfully reached a conclusion or if he had successfully tied himself in knots. He turned his head and saw a piece of paper stuck to the iron gate. Feeling guilty, he rested his chin on his brother’s chest and whispered with a long, drawn-out tone:

“Big Brother, the snake did not mean to stick things everywhere, please do not be angry.”

“The snake made Grandma’s iron gate dirty is the snake a very, very bad child?”

The little snake was much shorter than the human, and he even seemed to shrink down out of guilt, his little human-like belly almost touching the ground.

Shen Zhiheng scooped the little guy up and patted his head to comfort him:

“Big Brother is not angry. The little snake did nothing wrong. No one said you were a bad child.”

“But the uncle just now said that this place is very important.”

“It is not as important as our little snake. To Big Brother, there is nothing more important than my little brother Xiao Qi.”

Shen Zhiqi could not tell if this was a figure of speech or an exaggeration; he took whatever his brother said literally. He was so surprised that his jaw dropped, his little pink snake tongue flicking in and out of his open mouth. How can people in this world think a snake is important? And the most important one at that?

He held up his index finger to show a “1,” blinking in disbelief.

“Is the snake as important as this?”

In Shen Zhiqi’s limited knowledge, numbers were the most vivid memory. Every mealtime, the staff responsible for feeding would give them a number tag. Of course, popular cats and dogs would get low number tags and get hot meals. As for a snake like him, who made people’s skin crawl, he certainly only got the highest numbers.

To the little snake, the number 1 was a sacred digit, meaning he could be the first to get a hot meal. He knew he was a snake, and on the popularity ranking list of humans, snakes were way, way down the list.

Shen Zhiheng looked at the little snake’s longing expression and smiled gently. He held Shen Zhiqi’s hand and pressed down that “1” finger.

“Yes, Xiao Qi is the first in importance to Big Brother.”

“Is it true!”

The little snake’s voice rose several octaves in surprise and delight.

“It is truly, truly true.”

Shen Zhiheng held the little snake’s fisted hand, his large palm easily and completely enveloping the tiny hand. The small hand held by the human’s large palm trembled slightly; it was a physiological reaction to being overwhelmed by surprise.

Shen Zhiqi had never imagined that this day would come, the day someone would tell him that he was the most important person in their heart. Can a snake also get to eat the first bowl of food one day!

His golden vertical pupils widened, round and dark like grapes, looking just like a dog with passionate, glowing eyes. So, with Big Brother, he would never be the child pushed to the corner again.

A sense of importance he had never felt before covered all of the little snake’s past memories of being excluded and abandoned. His eyes were filled with excitement and satisfaction, and he happily flicked the tip of his slender tail. He felt incomparable satisfaction from his brother, his eyes filled with nothing but his brother.

Shen Zhiqi glanced at the iron gate, looking through a gap beside the broken paper, gazing at the desolate, unkempt path inside the gate.

“Big Brother, who lives inside? Did the snake disturb her rest?”

“No, she won’t be disturbed.”

Shen Zhiheng glanced inside indifferently.

“The one who lives inside is Big Brother’s grandmother. She was a person who loved a bustling life, yet she lived in such a quiet, desolate place. If she could see you, she would definitely be very happy.”

“Does Grandma like snakes?”

Shen Zhiqi blankly looked inside, mimicking his brother’s posture.

“Really? Will Grandma not be angry?”

“She will not be angry. Grandma will like you.”

Shen Zhiheng answered flatly, half-hugging the little snake’s shoulder as he walked step by step away from the graveyard.

Of course, she would be angry. Shen Zhiheng’s grandmother did not like him at all; she even hated him. As the only way for him to potentially gain affection from his biological kin, he had ultimately failed to receive any comfort from her either. Shen Zhiheng still did not understand why his grandmother hated him as a child just like his father did, and why she committed suicide when he was five.

He did not want to delve into it. He had never received affection from anyone in the Shen family, and because of that, he had no feelings for any of them. This truth became clearer and more distinct with the arrival of the little snake.

He had never lived so vividly; he had never truly understood the word “family.”

Ironically, Shen Zhiheng had felt this for the first time from a life form with no blood relation to him. He thought that the little snake must have given him a chance to feel and express love and care.

Shen Zhiqi moved his tail in small steps beside his brother; he always had to make his tail move in a wave-like trajectory to successfully keep up with the human’s pace. He swayed his body from left to right, and when he turned his head, he found that his brother was holding his hand, observing his walking posture with a smile.

“Do not laugh.”

The snake tapped the ground with the tip of his tail in protest.

“Big Brother has always been honest and keeps his word, so I cannot promise you things I cannot do.”

The silly little snake was led into his brother’s trap. Just as he was about to praise his brother for “always being honest,” he realized too late that his brother was laughing at him. He looked aggrieved, his eyes, still moist from crying, turning even redder.

“Big Brother!”

Shen Zhiheng laughed even louder. Before he could make the little snake cry again, he scooped him up from the ground.

“Big Brother will carry you.”

Shen Zhii rested on his shoulder, happy to be carried by his brother, yet also unhappy because his brother had teased him. The two emotions fought, and he finally decided to rest on his brother’s shoulder and enjoy it, taking the opportunity to punch his brother’s back with his fist.

“Bad guy!”

Shen Zhiheng contentedly “took the scolding,” his heart still filled with thoughts of how cute the little fool was. The cloud of gloom regarding his grandmother was once again blown away by the little snake, leaving behind only the thought: The little snake is so cute.

Humans can always find comfort in a little snake, even if the little snake has done nothing at all.