Chapter 41

Bai Ying did not remember his long-forgotten phone until the next day.

The little snake picked up the phone with its mouth and placed it in Liu Qingzhang’s palm, gazing eagerly at the great demon who seemed rather unwilling. The little snake’s tail still hurt, so it could not type. It had no choice but to ask the big snake to use his phone to let all their acquaintances know they were safe.

As for visitors, he naturally refused them all.

Except for Lu Changjun.

There was no special reason. Bai Ying thought simply: to heal better, he would stay in snake form for this period, so no one else could see. But Xiao Lu was fine—he already knew Bai Ying was a snake!

With a cold face, under the little snake’s expectant and innocent gaze, Liu Qingzhang reluctantly agreed to let Lu Changjun visit.

Having received permission, Lu Changjun jumped straight off his hospital bed, brushed off the Lu family members trying to keep him there without a word, and took off. He did not head directly to Bai Ying’s room. Instead, he snatched a car key from the Lu family bodyguards, drove into the city, changed into a sharp, stylish outfit, bought some desserts and fruit, and finally stopped at a flower shop to pick up a huge bouquet of vibrant, passionate red roses before heading to see Bai Ying in high spirits.

Zhong Qian, who let him in, stared at the massive bouquet of dozens of red roses in his arms and wondered what the hell he was planning.

Was he really not worried about Mr. Liu throwing him out?

If he did not want to maintain his image as a refined and amiable elder in front of the little snake, Liu Qingzhang would have indeed tossed out this foolish dog who started grinning like an idiot the moment he saw the little snake.

He swatted away Lu Changjun’s hand reaching for the little snake with his rolled-up newspaper and said coldly, “Keep your hands to yourself.”

But Bai Ying was biased toward outsiders. The tip of his tail quietly slipped into Lu Changjun’s palm, and he sent a mental message to Liu Qingzhang: [Mr. Liu, Xiao Lu is fine!]

They were good friends!

A vein throbbed at Liu Qingzhang’s temple. No matter how he looked at it, this kid had impure intentions. But the little snake wanted to play with him—what could he do? Liu Qingzhang saw himself as the little snake’s elder, or rounded up, its guardian. A parent who meddled too much would only annoy the child. In the end, he sat silently to the side, using the newspaper to shield his face, pretending not to care.

In truth, he was not reading the blocky characters at all. His attention was entirely on the little snake.

Then he saw that punk scoop the little snake into his palm right in front of him, cooing repeatedly about how cute it was. The little snake’s eyes sparkled with joy at the human praise, though it also felt a bit shy. Bai Ying lifted his tail, using the pretty bow on it to cover the little snake’s head.

Lu Changjun pinched the little snake’s soft tail tip, and Liu Qingzhang rustled the newspaper loudly.

Lu Changjun fed the little snake, and its flickering tongue brushed his finger. Liu Qingzhang wanted to chop that finger off.

Lu Changjun asked if the little snake was bored staying in the hospital room and if it wanted to go out and play with him—just nod if yes…

Liu Qingzhang could not take it anymore!

Trying to take the little snake out right in front of him? Did this punk think he was dead?

The little snake had barely nodded when Liu Qingzhang grabbed Lu Changjun by the collar and dragged him out of the room. His voice was icy enough to form icicles: “Visiting time is over. You can go.”

Lu Changjun struggled a bit: “Senior just agreed to let us go out!”

Liu Qingzhang: “I don’t agree.”

Lu Changjun thought this man was being unreasonable: “Even if you’re Bai Ying’s elder, he’s an adult and can make his own decisions.”

Yes, Liu Qingzhang presented himself to the outside world as Bai Ying’s elder.

Though he did not care about others’ opinions, he had to consider Bai Ying’s reputation. Hogging the little snake without explanation would invite gossip. Fortunately, Bai Ying’s orphan status was easy to leverage. Liu Qingzhang claimed publicly that Bai Ying was the son of an old friend, whom he had recognized at the Willow Mansion banquet. This gave him a perfectly reasonable excuse to block other visitors, care for the little snake alone, and bring it under his protection.

Things like Bai Ying being bullied at work or the banquet would never happen again.

Though Liu Qingzhang was a great demon of eight or nine hundred years, his human form looked young—like a mature man in his thirties. Anyone who saw his face would doubt the “son of an old friend” story, but Lu Changjun never questioned it. After all, he had seen the senior turn into a snake and back, so he knew demons existed—and clearly, Mr. Liu was one too.

In Lu Changjun’s eyes, Liu Qingzhang was Bai Ying’s uncle or something similar. Even if the man was not friendly toward him, Lu Changjun always treated him with the respect due to his own elder. After all, Bai Ying’s uncle was, rounded up, his own!

But now, an odd feeling rose in Lu Changjun’s heart. Wasn’t Mr. Liu overstepping? Controlling whether the senior could go out with someone?

A rigid father might do that, but he was not the senior’s real dad…

Liu Qingzhang had no patience for this kid’s nonsense. When Lu Changjun tried to take Bai Ying out, he was already on the verge of exploding. Without waiting for more words, he threw the man out of the room and slammed the door shut.

Turning back, he saw the little snake curled up on the bed, nibbling its own slender tail tip. Liu Qingzhang’s irritation was instantly overtaken by guilt—he felt he had scared the little snake.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to control you,” Liu Qingzhang said as he picked up the little snake and explained, “He’s just a regular human, and you two can’t even talk. I was worried he couldn’t take good care of you.”

No, that was not the reason.

Liu Qingzhang admitted to himself.

He wanted to use that excuse to convince Bai Ying—and himself. But he could not fool himself so easily. Liu Qingzhang knew Lu Changjun came from a prominent family; even without language, he could care for the little snake just fine.

It was an inexplicable possessiveness toward Bai Ying that he refused to acknowledge, making him unwilling to let the little snake be alone with anyone else.

Why did he feel this way?

Not long ago, he had thought to give the little snake privacy and freedom—as long as it was not harmful, it could associate with anyone. When had his mindset quietly changed?

Was it the Wenxiang Mountain disaster, where he nearly lost the little snake? Or their reunion in the Capital City after parting? Or in the steamy hot spring, where the little snake overcame its fear of the big snake and clung to him dependently…

The change might have happened in more ordinary moments: sharing a cup of orange soda, sitting on a bus in the small city feeling the breeze, or when flower petals adorned the little snake’s head, frozen in that frame.

He seemed to have crossed the boundary an elder should maintain.

“Sorry,” Liu Qingzhang apologized again. “If you want to go out with him, I’ll have someone call him back.”

The little snake shook its head.

It considerately accepted Liu Qingzhang’s explanation and even added its own reasoning. The great demon was too powerful; humans seemed so weak in comparison, so of course he was worried about Xiao Lu.

The little white snake lifted its head, and Liu Qingzhang cradled it against his chest. The little snake strained upward and successfully nuzzled his chin.

He still had plenty of time to spend with Xiao Lu, but time with Liu Qingzhang was rare. With that thought, Bai Ying said to him: [Mr. Liu, let’s go sunbathe in the garden!]

The little snake loved sunbathing.

Perhaps because snakes were ectothermic, lacking their own thermoregulation, they had to bask in the sun when it was not warm enough or seek water and shade when it was too hot. Even in human form, the habit persisted—on cooler days, Bai Ying would nap in the sunlight whenever he had time.

All snakes must love sunbathing like him!

Bai Ying assumed for all snakes and urged Liu Qingzhang to shift back to his original form too. The hospital garden was guarded airtight by the Zhong family—no one would see.

Liu Qingzhang could never refuse him.

This time, he made himself a bit smaller, only four meters long. But to the little white snake, it was still huge. By the poolside, on a patch of smooth pebbles, the little white snake shivered once before bravely approaching the big snake it was no longer so afraid of.

The big snake lowered its head docilely and gently touched the little white snake that had lifted its head.

Bai Ying thought that staring into Mr. Liu’s vertical pupils no longer seemed so scary—they were like a massive emerald green gem, mysterious and beautiful.

The little snake, which had never dared approach a big snake before, was now full of curiosity toward this one that would never hurt it. That night in the misty hot spring, he had been drowsy and his memory fuzzy. Now under the sun, he could see everything clearly!

Dragging its bow-tied tail, the little white snake laboriously circled the coiled big snake.

At the big snake’s tail tip, the little white snake eyed the still-thick tail for it and sneakily took a bite.

The big snake, long aware of these little antics, softened its scales and let it bite.

The little snake bit once and stopped—the big snake’s tail was too big, and opening its mouth that wide was tiring. It preferred nibbling its own tail tip. It climbed up along the big snake’s tail, hesitating to a stop just before reaching the head.

Would climbing up disrespect the big snake’s dignity?

While it hesitated, the big snake lifted its own tail and placed the little snake right on its head.

The little snake wagged its tail happily, the bow swaying along.

The outdoor temperature in the small city that day was twenty degrees—perfect for sunbathing. The sun felt warm, not hot. It was Bai Ying’s first time sunbathing with another snake. The jade-white little snake lay atop the jet-black big snake’s head, basking in the warm sunlight, and soon fell asleep.

His cozy contentment seemed contagious to Liu Qingzhang. It felt like all his bones had relaxed, and drowsiness came over him too.

Such a serene, peaceful moment was rare in his life—he wished it could last forever.

But such days only lasted another eight days. On the tenth day since Liu Qingzhang rescued Bai Ying, his injured leg had mostly healed. As long as he avoided frequent running or jumping, normal walking was no problem. Though he always thought about resigning to find a new keeper, Bai Ying took his work seriously. As long as he was employed, he would do it properly. So once his leg healed, the little snake decided to go back to work.

Liu Qingzhang did not want to let the little snake leave but had no reason to stop him from working. Unwilling to send him off personally, he had Zhong Qian take Bai Ying away.

But after just a few minutes, Liu Qingzhang could not help walking to the window, watching the little snake’s departing figure from afar.

It felt like half his heart had been hollowed out, an unprecedented emptiness washing over him—as if only devouring something could fill the void and satisfy him.