Easy to Take In a Snake, Hard to Send Him Away - Chapter 3

I froze.

A snake’s body temperature was different from a human’s, so sometimes our warmth could feel hot to them.

That was why I was always careful about how long I handled him. This had never happened before.

Was my body temperature unusually high today?

Snake: Boil, boil, boil! So hot! What did you add to your hand?

Me: Curse it! It is my hot-blooded passion!

I was so frightened that I hurriedly put him back.

Xiaohei immediately returned to his hide and coiled up.

Only after making sure he was all right did I breathe a sigh of relief.

At work, I finally received a reply from my kind online friend.

The last message in our chat was still my question from yesterday about what to do when a snake was constricting me to death.

Him: [Snakes enter mating season after waking from hibernation.

[He was probably already trying very hard to control himself. He didn’t mean to do it.

[Could you please not be angry with him?]

He even knew that?

I was about to ask for details when a message arrived from my former boss.

[I finally found you.

[Give me back the snake, you snake thief!

[If you don’t…

[My brother really will kill me, boo-hoo! I’m begging you.]

I was furious.

I, Jiang Jibai, had not stolen any snake!

Listen to this brat. He couldn’t pay our wages and offered company property instead.

Now I was the thief?

He was the wage thief!

In a fit of rage, I left him hanging and ignored the messages.

It wasn’t until I came home from work and calmed down a little that I reopened the chat.

Me: [Why would your brother kill you?]

Surely the snake wasn’t really some household guardian spirit?

Shen Zhang: [Because that’s my brother’s… snake.]

Me: [You couldn’t pay our wages and told us to take things instead. This is compensation for my labor. You’re lucky I haven’t demanded the rest of my money.

[Tell your brother that the snake is mine now.]

With that, I searched for a fire-exit meme, found a version featuring someone fleeing with a snake, and sent it.

Him: [I’ll be able to pay you once my brother comes back.]

Me: [Excuses! If you really wanted to pay, you could do it even if your brother were aboard the *Seer*. Why do you have to wait until he comes back?]

Him: [He may as well be aboard the *Seer* right now. The only thing missing is a capture capsule.]

What did that mean? Had his brother been released into the wild?

Was his brother Xiaogao and Gang?

After a while, Shen Zhang abruptly changed his tune and asked tentatively,

[Suppose—and I’m only saying suppose—your snake disappeared. What would you do?]

Me: [Call the fire department, I guess.]

If Xiaohei truly went missing, he would most likely be roaming around the residential complex.

It would be bad if he frightened the neighbors.

He asked another question. [Then what if a man suddenly appeared in your home?]

Me: [? Call the police, obviously.]

Then it hit me.

What was Shen Zhang implying?

First my snake disappeared, then a man appeared in my home.

Holy crap. This was advance notice of a crime!

He was coming to steal my snake!

I was furious. How could anyone be this brazen?

[What do you mean by that? Are you threatening me? Keep talking like this and I’ll call the police on you.

[I’m warning you, I have a chainsaw at home. I don’t care who your brother is—come over and see what happens!]

This time, a long while passed before he replied.

[That’s not what I meant…

[I just think my brother… might… never come back.]

What the hell? Why tell me something like that?

Who on earth was his brother?

Me: [Why can’t he come back?]

Him: [He might be… afraid of chainsaws.]

I understood. His brother had gone to Gou Xiong Ridge.

At last, Shen Zhang identified the central issue.

[I’ll pay you for him. Name your price. Any amount.

[I’ll have money once my brother comes back.]

I stared at the screen for a while, my feelings complicated.

Getting up, I went over to the enclosure and pressed my hand against the glass.

Xiaohei slithered over and rubbed his head against my finger, only to bump into the glass instead.

Snakes had poor eyesight, didn’t they?

I smiled softly.

“Xiaohei, your former owner says he wants to buy you back. What do you think?”

As I spoke, I traced a circle on the glass.

Xiaohei paused.

At the beginning, I would have agreed without hesitation.

But by now, I had grown rather attached to him.

I couldn’t bear to give him back to Shen Zhang.

Besides, if Shen Zhang truly loved his snake, why had he allowed Xiaohei to hibernate?

Hibernation could kill pet snakes.

With that thought, I made up my mind. I would not hand Xiaohei over.

I looked down and saw him chasing my finger.

Normally, I would already have taken him out to handle him.

But the morning’s incident still haunted me, so I resolved to cut down on our handling time.

I withdrew my hand.

Xiaohei slapped his tail anxiously.