CRACK.
CRACK.
CRACK.
In the courtyard, Xiao Mo was chopping firewood relentlessly.
Under the eaves of a dilapidated wooden cabin, a small white snake watched the eleven-year-old boy intently.
This was already her third day here.
During these three days, the young boy named Xiao Mo had caught mice for her to eat every day.
He changed her medicine every day.
The little White Snake didn't know why he was so good to her.
'I'm just a snake, after all.'
'And he's a human...'
「Another half a month passed.」
The little White Snake felt her injuries were almost healed.
She bit through the cloth wrapped around her body. The flesh beneath had already regrown, but her scales hadn't come in properly yet, which looked a little ugly.
'But it doesn't matter.'
The little White Snake slithered up to a roof beam and looked toward She Mountain. 'It's time to go back, or Xiao Qing will worry about me.'
However, the little White Snake felt she couldn't just leave without saying goodbye.
'I should wait for him to come back and bid him farewell.'
In the evening, the sun set on the horizon, dyeing the world in the crimson hues of dusk.
A young cowherd, riding a large black ox, ambled slowly home.
After tying the black ox up outside the gate, the boy walked into the courtyard and shouted, "Xiao Bai, I'm back!"
The little White Snake came down from the roof beam, slithered to Xiao Mo's side, and flicked her tongue. Then, she turned around to show him her wound.
"Huh? Your wound is healed?" Xiao Mo saw that although Xiao Bai's scales hadn't fully grown back, the wound was more or less closed.
The little White Snake nodded, her head turning toward the distant mountain.
"You want to leave?" Xiao Mo sensed he understood what Xiao Bai meant.
The little White Snake nodded again.
"Alright, then." A flicker of disappointment crossed Xiao Mo's eyes, but he spoke with the innocent tone of an eleven-year-old. "You can go. But be careful from now on, okay? Don't get hurt again."
"HISS~"
The little White Snake flicked her tongue, as if agreeing with Xiao Mo, and slithered out of the courtyard.
Outside the courtyard, the little White Snake turned and gave the young boy one last look.
Seeing Xiao Bai turn around, the boy waved and shouted, "Xiao Bai, don't get hurt again!"
"HISSS..."
The little White Snake wagged her tail, waving goodbye to him like a human hand, then disappeared into the tall grass.
"Sigh..."
After the little White Snake left, Xiao Mo sighed.
'How am I supposed to help her transform into a dragon?'
'Now that we've parted, we might not see each other again for a long time.'
'As for forcing her to stay, that's even more impossible.'
'Putting aside what kind of opportunities she could possibly find by staying with an ordinary person like me... '
'If she wants to leave and I force her to stay, I'd only be turning this good karma between us into bad karma.'
"Do one's best and leave the rest to fate. That's all I can do."
Xiao Mo collected his thoughts and went back into the house.
'Since things have come to this, I should focus on studying for now.'
The village chief was an old Scholar who taught the village children how to read and write.
Xiao Mo planned to go and check it out tomorrow.
...
"Sister!"
When the White Snake returned to her mountain cave, a small green snake saw her and joyfully slithered over, coiling around her sister.
"Sister, where have you been for the past month?" Xiao Qing flicked her tongue, looking at her sister with concern. "I've been searching for you for so long. I was worried something had happened to you."
"I went to catch mice to eat a while ago and ended up being targeted by an eagle. I was lucky to escape, but I was injured. A human saved me," the White Snake said succinctly. "He even gave me a name."
"A name?" Xiao Qing tilted her head.
"Yes." The White Snake nodded. "He said I was as white as snow, so he named me Bai Ruxue. What do you think? Is it pretty? I'll take you to meet him another day so he can give you a name, too."
"Oh, Sister..." Xiao Qing said, exasperated. "There's not a single good one among humans. People often come up the mountain to catch snakes, have you forgotten?"
"But Xiao Qing, I don't think you can generalize like that. For example, not all snakes are the same. You're green, and I'm white. It's even more so for people, isn't it? There are bad people in this world, but there are good people, too."
"Hmph!" Xiao Qing turned her head away. "Humans are all bad!"
"But he saved me."
"He's still bad!"
"But he saved me."
"Sister..." Xiao Qing was so angry she started smacking her tail against a rock.
"Alright, alright." The White Snake's tail gently stroked the tip of Xiao Qing's. "Xiao Qing, believe me, he's really a good person. Besides, he saved my life, and I have to repay his kindness."
"But Sister, you're a snake. How are you going to repay him?"
"Ermm..." The little White Snake thought hard about it.
Suddenly, the little White Snake's eyes lit up. "I've got it."
"You've got it?"
"Yes..." The little White Snake raised her small tail, wagging it like a little girl's finger. "From today on, I will cultivate diligently, strive to achieve human form as soon as possible, and then repay my benefactor..."
...
"You want to study?"
In the small courtyard, the old village chief, Wang Can, looked at Xiao Mo.
On the stone table in the courtyard lay the medicinal herbs Wang Can had gathered from the mountain that day.
"Yes, Village Chief." Xiao Mo looked up, his eyes filled with a thirst for knowledge. "I want to study!"
"You're just a little kid. What's the point of studying?"
Just then, the village chief's wife came out.
"What's the use of studying? Look at my old man. He's studied his whole life and is still just a Scholar. How much money does he have? My uncle is a blacksmith in town. Next year, I'll send you over to be his apprentice. If you learn a good trade, you'll never starve."
"Mama, I want to study too~" the nine-year-old girl chimed in beside her mother.
"Go on, shoo! A girl has even less need to study. Finding a good family to marry into is what's important. In the future, you must never be like your mother and marry a useless, pedantic scholar, understand?"
"Oh...kay," the little girl said, nodding as if she only half-understood.
Xiao Mo and the Village Chief: "..."
From the memories of this world's "Xiao Mo," Xiao Mo knew about the village chief's family situation.
The village chief was fifty-three, and his wife, Chen Hong, was ten years his junior.
The two had a child late in life, a daughter named Wang Yan, who was now nine.
Although Aunt Chen always seemed to look down on the village chief, she had never left him and kept their home in perfect order.
"Study if you can. Even if you don't get far, it's good to at least recognize a few words."
The village chief sighed and said to Xiao Mo.
"Mo'er, don't listen to your Aunt Chen's nonsense. Starting tomorrow, you can come to the village's thatched schoolhouse for lessons. However, the children from our village and the two neighboring ones have all paid tuition with money and meat, so I can't very well let you inside. You can listen from the outside, though. How does that sound?"
Xiao Mo's heart leaped with joy. He quickly said, "Thank you, Village Chief."
"Hmph. Study, study, study. All that studying will just starve you to death."
Aunt Chen pursed her lips, took her daughter's hand, and walked back into the house.
"Don't listen to your Aunt Chen's nonsense," the village chief said in a low voice. "Look at me. I haven't starved to death, have I?"
"..." Xiao Mo's brow twitched. He really wanted to say, 'If it weren't for Aunt Chen, you would have starved to death long ago.'
But Xiao Mo still nodded earnestly. "The Village Chief is right!"