The bus was filled with the rich aroma of chocolate baked milk.
Evening rush hour traffic was always a nightmare, and the hungry office workers and students couldn’t help but take deep sniffs.
—Smells amazing!
The teenager had been squeezed over to the door, one earbud in as he listened to music.
His black hair fell softly around his face, and his smile was bright and innocent. Girls from a nearby school were stealing glances at him from not too far away.
So cute. If only he were a little taller.
Oblivious to the fleeting spark of romance, he tossed a meme into the family group chat.
【Happy Family (3)】
[Xi]: If I turned into a bread dog, would you still love me?
It wasn’t long before his parents replied one after another.
[World Peace]: How about mixing some meat floss into one for your dad as breakfast?
[Lotus Beauty]: Baby, no matter what you turn into, Mom will always love you!
[Lotus Beauty]: #Raging Fury
[Lotus Beauty]: Shang Heping, you’re just one bite short of eating him, aren’t you? Even your own son? #FlippingTheTable
[World Peace]: Hey, just joking. With his little size, how much meat could there even be?
By the time Shang Xi got home, Luo Suhe was still twisting her husband’s ear.
“I’m back—I’m starving! What’s for dinner?”
“Pizza. Pizza Hut’s new combo deal.” Shang Heping grinned through the pain. “Too lazy to do dishes. Something easy.”
The family ate and chatted, savoring a simple, relaxed evening together.
The TV droned on with the leads’ heartbreaking romance. Luo Suhe watched intently, muttering about who had wronged whom, while Shang Heping gnawed on a chicken bone and boasted, “I was even more handsome than that male lead back in my day.”
It went on until their son draped a little blanket over himself. Full and drowsy, he began to nod off.
Suddenly, the blanket and his clothes slipped to the floor. A sharp, crisp birdsong pierced the air.
Luo Suhe, still glued to the TV, took a bite of pizza. “Whose electric scooter got kicked? So noisy.”
Shang Heping jolted upright. “What scooter? Son! Son!!”
The couple whipped their heads toward the tiny sparrow flapping desperately to escape his school uniform. It hit them like a thunderbolt.
“Xi Xi?! Xi Xi!!”
“Isn’t that our son?! Did he turn into a sparrow?!”
“What kind of joke is this? Hurry up and find him—he was right here!”
Little Nightingale struggled free from the sleeve, still clumsy with his new tiny wings.
Shang Heping lunged to grab him on instinct, only for his wife to shove him aside.
“What are you doing?!”
“Grab it quick! What if it’s really our son turned into a bird?”
“It’s only the size of your palm—you’ll squash it! Close the windows first!”
Shang Heping realized she was right. Panicked and bewildered, he rushed to check that all the doors and windows were shut tight.
The couple watched in stunned horror as Little Nightingale flapped around on the sofa. Their son was gone, but his school uniform, pants, and socks lay right there.
The father took a deep breath.
“Maybe… our son’s study stress got to him, and he ran away from home.”
Luo Suhe smacked the back of his head. “He was eating pizza and chugging Coke one second, and poof—vanished the next?”
“Call the police? No, we can’t.” Shang Heping was frantic. “What if they take him to some lab? Besides, the cops might not even believe us.”
Luo Suhe double-checked the house inside and out for any clues, then called property management to pull the elevator footage—maybe he’d slipped out unnoticed.
Shang Heping scrolled desperately on his phone. All he found were web novels and short videos.
His thumb slipped, and he accidentally clicked one.
“Watch this—the guy’s name is Little Handsome. He turned into a bird and flew right out of his company—”
Right then, someone knocked on the door.
“Hello, we’re professionals from the Snake Bird Affairs Department, here to handle your son’s special situation.”
Shang Heping immediately stepped in front of his wife, soothing her not to panic while glancing at the little sparrow.
“Who are you people? Have you been spying on our house?” Anger flared in his voice. “Did you do something to my son?!”
“I’m calling the police right now,” Luo Suhe said, fighting back tears. “Wait… do they have an antidote or something…”
The Snake-Bird Division staff were unfazed, sighing from the doorway.
“We can show you our credentials. We can also call in the local police for on-site supervision.”
“Please don’t panic. We don’t monitor private citizens. All public areas have infrared surveillance, and your son just had an abnormal body temperature shift.”
Shang Heping shot his wife a doubtful look.
The couple quickly called for police assistance and set out a saucer of water and some millet for the sparrow.
The police arrived later than expected.
The 110 dispatcher had already looped in the local station, but it was city-level specialists who showed up.
When they opened the door, the two officers and two Snake-Bird Division staff all flashed their badges, with body cameras recording everything.
Luo Suhe, her eyes red, demanded, “What’s really going on here?”
“Hello, I’m A519. I’m here to handle your emergency.”
The tall man produced the relevant documents and explained the situation.
Ever since Comet Night in 2012, genetic awakenings had been cropping up around the world. Under unknown triggers, people’s latent bloodlines would activate, transforming them into snakes or birds.
But in an age of rampant short-form videos, rumors of lizard people and moth men had long gone viral overseas, while AI-generated transformation clips flooded domestic feeds. No one in their right mind would buy into something like that.
Luo Suhe felt as if she had plunged into an ice cellar.
“Can Xi Xi change back?”
“Of course. Please, try not to panic.” A519 gestured for her to take a seat before continuing his explanation. “If you’ll permit it, we’ll examine your son and verify his DNA profile. The whole process should only take five to ten minutes.”
Shang Heping poured hot water for his wife and the staff members. He seemed relatively composed, all things considered.
“Will we mutate too? Why doesn’t the news ever report on this?”
“It’s still an extremely rare phenomenon for now, though the numbers are steadily climbing,” A519 replied. “To avoid sparking mass panic, we’re disclosing the information gradually.”
Luo Suhe cradled the paper cup in both hands. After a long moment, she said, “Fine, do the check. But I’m staying right here the whole time.”
“Of course.”
She quickly noticed the police officer’s expression—surprised and complicated in equal measure.
“Officer, how many cases like this have there been in our city?”
The officer couldn’t answer. “I’m sorry, I can’t disclose that information.”
Little Bird was secured to the sofa with a mesh net. A519 gently scooped it into his palm while his colleague assisted with the blood draw.
“Breed code A3253, nightingale.”
“Diet: primarily insects. Normal body temperature: 41 to 43 degrees Celsius. Preferred ambient temperature: 15 to 25 degrees Celsius.”
“Primary natural enemies: hawks, falcons, snakes, squirrels, and human activities such as bird traps and pesticides.”
Once the examination was complete, he handed the nightingale back to its mother.
He preferred the familiar scent of his parents over strangers, and the hatching-like imprint on his shell only deepened that instinctive trust.
The moment he was passed over, Little Nightingale hopped onto his mother’s shoulder and let out two soft chirps.
The sound was tender and lively. Tears spilled from Luo Suhe’s eyes as she stared in stunned silence.
“At the earliest tonight, at the latest by the day after tomorrow, he’ll turn human again,” A519 assured her. “No shots or medications required—it’s all part of the natural process.”
It was then that the other staff member finally spoke up.
“We should note that adults, with their stable hormone levels, typically enter the stabilization period within a week.”
“But your son is still in puberty. His bones and organs are still developing, so he’ll require ongoing observation and guidance.”
He handed a slim booklet to the couple.
“This is an invitation to visit Dawn Star Experimental Middle School. Take your time considering it.”
“On one hand, awakened teens receive comprehensive dual-track education there: standard academics on par with their peers, plus training for social adaptation.”
“On the other, the school evaluates their aptitudes and talents, then fast-tracks the best into elite positions across various fields through special channels.”
Shang Heping reached out with a fingertip, brushing Little Nightingale’s fluffy down as if afraid he’d wake from a dream.
“You mean, like special ed for the hearing impaired?”
A519 shook his head calmly.
“Snakes have heat pits for sensing infrared and true night vision. Birds possess geomagnetic navigation and innate flight prowess.”
“Refined by breed, their potentials run even deeper.”
With the right tailored guidance from the start, these adolescents could evolve into exceptional pilots, aerospace engineers, narcotics agents, artists, scientists…
“They must learn to cope with predators and their own kind—and grasp that this destiny cuts both ways. Opportunity or catastrophe? It all hinges on the choices they make.”
~~~
Shang Xi felt like he’d slept for ages.
When he woke, his parents were seated by the bed, and he still wasn’t in his pajamas.
Luo Suhe handed him a cup of hot water. “Here, drink this first. How are you feeling?”
“Great,” Shang Xi said. He snatched up his clothes and wriggled into them under the covers. “I’m not sick or anything—just caught up on some sleep.”
“I’ve still got homework to finish. I’ll grab a quick bite and get to it.”
“Hold off on that,” Shang Heping said. “I called the school and got you a week off. We’ll chill at home for a couple days, then head out for some fun.”
Shang Xi clutched the cup, frozen for a beat. His expression turned guarded.
“Do I have some terminal disease?”
“Not exactly.”
“What’s going on, then?” the boy demanded. “I got drowsy after dinner, took a nap, and now you two look wrecked.”
Luo Suhe hesitated before speaking. “Honey… last night, you… you turned into a bird.”
“You’re actually… a little nightingale.”
Shang Xi: “…”
“Dad, say something.”
Shang Heping spoke in a numb tone. “You really are Little Nightingale.”
Shang Xi: “…”
“Do you remember? About two months ago, you started feeling like the weather was unbearably hot. You even turned the air conditioning on in your bedroom back in May.”
“And you kept complaining that the neighborhood was so noisy, like someone had turned on a floor-shaking machine somewhere. But your mom and I never heard a thing.”
“Your sense of smell has been fading away bit by bit. When your dad was baking bread and burnt it, filling the whole house with that scorched stench, you didn’t notice it at all.”
“And…”
Luo Suhe took the phone and showed him the surveillance footage playing in reverse.
A little yellow sparrow burrowed into the covers. A long while later, the youth sat up, rubbing his eyes.
Shang Xi watched it like it was some amateur editing disaster—he found it hilarious. But then he realized his parents were staring right at him.
His dear dad desperately wanted a cigarette to steady his nerves just then.
After racking his brain, he simply cracked his knuckles and handed the invitation to his son.
“Little Bread Dog, want to go take a look this weekend?”
“Mom and Dad will always love you.”
