A Little Snake with a Naughty Streak — Chapter 4

The old man wore the confidence of someone sure he’d already won.

“Hand her over to me, and I’ll seal her inside Leifeng Pagoda.”

How cruel!

Don’t treat me like that!

I’m not the White Snake! I’m just a greedy little snake!

Xie Qingye remained silent.

My heart sank with his. Was he actually considering it?

Good heavens, this man really was cold-hearted!

While I was silently cursing Xie Qingye, he suddenly gave a cold laugh.

“I’ll seal your grandma.”

?

The capital’s young heir had been perfectly normal a second ago. Now he’d turned into a modern-day Xu Xian, upright to the point of being wicked.

“You’re kind of disgusting.”

“What makes you think she’s a demon? What’s wrong with you?”

“She’s a spirit, and you’re a lunatic. Have you eaten so many red beans you’ve started pining after someone?”

The old man was stunned. When he recovered, he pointed at Xie Qingye and tried to curse him out.

But Xie Qingye had lost patience.

His gaze turned cold.

“Jiang Cong sent you, didn’t he?”

What?

The old man immediately lost his composure. He snorted.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

Xie Qingye irritably bit down on his cigarette and flicked his lighter.

“Old man, go tell Jiang Cong that he can’t take my snake. If he’s got the nerve, he can try to lure her away himself.”

Lure me?

As if I were that lustful.

The man glanced at me.

I guiltily fell silent.

After kicking the old man out, Xie Qingye’s displeasure was written all over his face.

I lay on the passenger seat and immediately had a bad feeling. Guiltily, I burrowed into the blanket.

The man called his assistant. He’d barely said a word when I cautiously spoke up.

“Xie… Qingye.”

He froze.

His assistant waited a long time without hearing anything.

“President Xie, are you still there? I’ll come over right away.”

The blanket was small and slippery. I wanted to get up and crawl over to him, but if it covered my lower half, it exposed my upper half.

The man put a hand on my shoulder and pressed me down.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Then he tossed the coat beside him over my head.

Calmly, he said, “It’s fine. You don’t need to come anymore.”

After I saw him hang up, I apologized quietly.

“I’m sorry I startled you, but I couldn’t control it.”

It was really his fault.

But I’d been born a snake, so I could act shamelessly.

Now that I’d been born a human… I’d let him be the shameless one.

Xie Qingye turned off all the lights in the car. His eyes disappeared in the dark.

The man took out his cigarettes, then seemed to think better of it and quietly put them away.

I was uneasy.

Why wasn’t he saying anything?

And why wasn’t he scared?

Could it be…

Could he be a snake demon too?

I leaned closer, trying to smell whether he was one of my kind.

The man pressed a finger to my forehead.

His voice was tense.

“What are you doing?”

I answered weakly, “You’re not saying anything. Are you thinking of throwing me out?”

He pulled the blanket back over me and calmly looked away.

“No.”

“Really?”

Xie Qingye gave a quiet hum and nodded.

I sat up and kissed his cheek.

“Then it’s settled.”

The man took my hand, astonished.

“Do you know what you’re doing?”

I didn’t understand the meaning in his eyes.

So I repeated Jiang Cong’s words exactly.

Xie Qingye listened. His grip tightened.

I sensed something was off.

“What’s wrong? Did he say it wrong?”

The man stared at me.

“No. He didn’t say it wrong.”

His gaze passed over my lips.

“But you kissed too quickly just now.”

That was easy to fix.

I knelt on the seat and leaned toward him again.

Xie Qingye suddenly turned his face and caught my lips in his.

He tilted his head slightly, his palm tightening against my back.

After a while, he said, “From now on, you’re not allowed to kiss him again.”

“That rule only applies to me.”

Xie Qingye had suddenly changed his ways, and I couldn’t understand him at all.

For example:

When he bathed, he brought me into the bathroom with him.

He took off all his clothes in front of me without the slightest hesitation.

He said, “Experts have studied this. It’s the best way to bond with a pet snake.”

I was in agony.

Hadn’t the experts said I could only look and not touch? That touching him would be bad for my health?

When Xie Qingye fed me, he stopped using a spoon.

He washed his fingers clean and coaxed me in a gentle voice.

“This will bring us closer.”

Oh, so he wasn’t playing Xu Xian anymore?

Xie Qingye even had a tattoo of my shape inked on his arm.

He said it would let everyone know he already had a snake.

I understood. When I disappeared last time, it had scarred him. He’d realized he couldn’t live without me.

He was reminding me to give him more reassurance.

Now that I’d deciphered his hint, I threw myself at Xie Qingye while he was off guard.

But the jerk pulled the push-and-pull routine again.

He pushed my hand away with a stern face.

“I’m not that kind of man.”

So I was that kind of woman?

Oh.

I suppose I was.

I had to make sure Xie Qingye understood who was in charge!

While he was on a video call, I deliberately coiled around his neck.

Tightly!

I’d learned that move from a television drama. Every snake that killed someone knew it. If you squeezed, it was dead on target.

People on the other end of the call gasped.

The man didn’t even blink. He patted my back.

“Sorry. My snake is being naughty.”

That idiot Xie Qingye!

Maybe one day my fangs would pierce his neck, and he’d still think I was just asking to be petted.

I was bored. Xie Qingye was boring, too.

All he did was work out, take care with his clothes, and learn to cook.

And occasionally tease me.

“Do I look good?”

“Am I tasty?”

“Want to touch me?”

Just like that showy peacock next door—the one I hated most.

All flash and feathers, strutting around and seducing everyone. Never staying in his lane!

When Ha Qing saw how completely he’d changed, he guessed right away.

“You’ve got someone you like, don’t you?”

Someone?

I saw a flush appear on the man’s face.

So that was it.

No wonder he wouldn’t let me bite his chest anymore, or sleep sprawled on it.

Was he reminding me to keep a proper distance?

Then I knew what to do.

After scaring Ha Qing into a corner again, he squeezed his eyes shut and dropped to his knees.

“I’m sorry! My mother’s calling me home for dinner! Great Snake Lady, please spare me!”

I was barefoot on the floor, wrapping a towel around myself.

Xie Qingye had taught me. He’d said over and over:

“Protect yourself. Men are all bad news.”

I’d innocently asked, “Does that mean you’re no good, either?”

He was silent for a few seconds.

“That depends. But Jiang Cong definitely isn’t.”

My instincts told me that sentence was full of personal grievances.

By then, Ha Qing had started chanting.

I curiously leaned my face close to his.

“What are you saying?”

“Oh my god!”

The man jumped in fright.

His eyes were terrified. He swallowed hard.

“Who are you?”

“Damn it, Xie Qingye’s been hiding a woman in his house! I have to tell his mother!”

I knocked his phone out of his hand.

“It’s me, Xiao Xie.”

That didn’t help. The moment I spoke, Ha Qing’s face turned pale.

He gave a bitter smile.

“Don’t joke like that.”

He didn’t believe me?

I immediately turned into a snake and swayed my tail in front of him.

The man went rigid.

“What’s wrong with you?”

My tail curled under his chin.

“Why are you reacting so dramatically?”