Chapter 44 Dream

Chapter 44: Dream

Xiang Wei had started learning to draw early on, and his curiosity about dreams drove a strong desire to capture the people and things he saw in them. Since he was first exposed to animated films, he was very interested in the 2D style, and that was what he learned.

Perhaps it was natural talent—his hobby of drawing was actually better than his main courses—but it wasn't until a few days ago that he finally produced the picture he showed to Shen Jiyue.

Whether it was because the plum blossom dreams, which had been absent for days, had been coming back frequently, or because inspiration was especially abundant, he finished it in one go.

He felt quite satisfied with it himself, but the 2D art style was inherently different from real people, and especially after being made into perler bead art, it looked even less like him.

So the fact that Shen Jiyue recognized it as him with just one glance made Xiang Wei particularly happy. After all, he had never worn such clothes or styled himself that way, yet Shen Jiyue still recognized him—a huge surprise for Xiang Wei.

Was the snake's art really that good? Maybe he'd captured the essence. He had spent so much time with Shen Jiyue, they knew each other so well, and that hint of expression made up for everything else.

Having drawn the person as Shen Jiyue, the little snake companion in the picture was, of course, himself. Xiang Wei studied his self-portrait, growing more satisfied the more he looked—the snake was handsome and badass.

Unlike Xiang Wei, who was admiring his own drawing, Shen Jiyue didn't pick up on any predatory vibe from the yellow chibi snake. He looked closely and instead spotted the shape of Xiang Wei's pupils in the snake's pale yellow scales.

So this snake really was his snake form, Shen Jiyue thought, and couldn't help wondering what the snake egg at home would look like once it hatched. Remembering that the egg was also raised by Xiang Wei, even though he had never expressed expectations about the little snake's color or pattern, it was hard to say if he wouldn't like the look in the drawing.

He quietly filed that thought away. If the hatched snake didn't come out this color, it didn't matter—he would keep an eye out and find a snake that perfectly matched Xiang Wei's preference. He could buy one to keep the little snake company, making it a multi-kid household.

"How did you recognize it?" Xiang Wei was still asking, whether it was the eyes, the lips, or maybe the face shape. He held up his phone next to Shen Jiyue's face, comparing them directly.

Shen Jiyue let him do whatever he wanted, showing the same expression as in the drawing, his gaze soft.

He couldn't make out the 2D facial features, but he spotted the most important detail: the small mole where his ear met his jaw, and the gaze. He'd never really noticed that mole before—it was only last time, when Xiang Wei pinched his earlobe and let go, that he saw it, and Xiang Wei had even taken a photo to show him. That was when he remembered it.

As for the gaze—to say something a little obsessive—when Shen Jiyue thought Xiang Wei was a spy, he'd often check the home security cameras. After finding out he wasn't a spy, the habit stuck, and of course he would see their daily interactions.

That was exactly the look he gave Xiang Wei. At first, he almost thought he was seeing things, but after seeing it enough, he got used to it. Because he was so familiar with it, he recognized it at first glance.

He rubbed his brow, though—so from Xiang Wei's perspective, his feelings were that obvious. Yet even when it was this obvious, Xiang Wei still couldn't see the affection behind it.

"How did you recognize it?" he asked again.

"Your expression." Shen Jiyue sighed softly and pointed out that in the 2D art style, Xiang Wei had amplified that expression. Even pixelated, you could still see the man in the picture smiling gently at the little snake, with a look full of affection and indulgence.

Xiang Wei studied it for a while, half getting it, and nodded: "Mm, the expression really is like you."

As they talked, their perler bead pieces were ironed. The two walked over together to pick them up, and the finished pieces looked surprisingly good. Xiang Wei took the one Shen Jiyue had made, let out a wow, and praised him.

"You made me look so good!" The figure in it looked like it had a soft, glowing filter, and Xiang Wei thought it looked even better than he did.

The staff member packing up their work nearby overheard and couldn't help adding a compliment: "They really are beautiful. You two are handsome, and the photos you take of each other and the drawings you make are great too—even such complex portraits turned out this well. If I hadn't seen a camera crew come in, I'd think you were celebrities."

The staff member had noticed them when they walked in—there was no way not to, with looks like that attracting attention wherever they went. Watching them bead for so long was like getting paid to admire handsome men; today's shift didn't feel so exhausting anymore.

Shen Jiyue knew he was good-looking, and Xiang Wei was a snake oozing confidence, thinking both his snake and human forms were perfect. Hearing the praise, he smiled generously, taking it in stride.

"Thank you, you're good-looking too." Returning the favor, the snake complimented her back.

The two went back and forth with polite compliments. The staff member, who'd thought they seemed cold and unapproachable, found them actually super friendly and even took a photo with them.

After packing everything up and handing the items to them, the words just slipped out: "You two are truly the most well-matched couple I've ever seen!"

The two turned to look at her: ?

The staff member, who'd accidentally blurted out what she was thinking: ...〣( Δ )〣

Before she could figure out how to recover, she heard the tall, yellow-eyed handsome man say thank you.

Staff member: Oh~ ^ω^

Shen Jiyue felt his earlobe start to burn again. He took the bag, nodded to the staff member, and pulled Xiang Wei away, who still wanted to say something.

Two equally tall figures walked away hand in hand, disappearing around the corner. The staff member silently savored the moment and got back to work.

Meanwhile, Xiang Wei sat in the car, happily snapping photos of their perler bead creations. He barely paid attention even when Shen Jiyue asked what he'd been about to say.

"What?" The snake snapped pics of the two bead pieces, about to repeat what he hadn't finished saying when he got pulled away, then realized something was wrong.

He had been about to say they really were well-matched, but now he remembered that Shen Jiyue had once told him "well-matched" was for couples and couldn't be used lightly.

So he slowly put the bead pieces away and said innocently, "I forgot, can't remember."

Shen Jiyue didn't push it. He asked Xiang Wei to send him the photos he took, then touched the version of himself in ancient costume on the bead piece and asked how he had come up with that outfit.

None of the films or shows he'd watched in the past few months seemed to be xianxia—how had he suddenly thought to draw him like that?

Xiang Wei didn't think there was anything secret about his dreams, so he honestly told him he'd dreamed it. Whether Shen Jiyue believed it or not, his fingers, resting on the bead piece, tightened slightly.

"...Mm, what did you dream about?" Shen Jiyue asked calmly.

That was a lot. Xiang Wei thought for a second and told him about the dreams from the past couple of days, in a light tone: "On a very, very tall mountain, there was a plum grove, and it was just the two of us. You sat under the tree, sometimes playing the guqin, sometimes practicing sword moves—super impressive."

As for himself, the snake had been with the little snake companion the whole time, wandering around and taking in the sights. He couldn't speak and couldn't shift back to human form.

Come to think of it, in all the dreams he'd had since shifting, he had never once been human in them. How strange.

The snake scratched his face. He had never thought about this before, mainly because he was always in human form when awake. In dreams, turning back into a snake felt way more comfortable.

Shen Jiyue didn't know about his confusion. He thought that taking him out so much lately might've tired him out—introverts didn't seem to like going out a lot or meeting strangers.

So what you think about during the day, you dream about at night; his subconscious projected into the dream that they were in a secluded place with no need for social interaction.

He almost laughed, but also secretly scolded himself for not noticing how he felt. Shen Jiyue discussed with him: "Let's not go out tomorrow or the day after. We'll stay home and rest for two days."

Xiang Wei looked up and gave a half-hearted response. Okay—if they weren't going out, the snake would take the egg out to the garden at night to enjoy the breeze. He suspected the egg hadn't hatched because he'd been spending too little time with it lately. The little one was throwing a tantrum.

Guilty, guilty. The snake had been too playful. The snake repents.

Feeling a tiny bit guilty, Xiang Wei promptly scheduled parent-child activities for the next two days to make up for his recent neglect.

The snake didn't just do it alone—he dragged Shen Jiyue into it too. Parent-child activities required both of them; Shen Jiyue was also one of the snakelet's caretakers.

After taking turns reading a few fairy tales, Xiang Wei solemnly announced that today's activities were done. Everyone went back to their rooms to wash up and sleep.

Shen Jiyue was the first to stand up and heed the call. The little snake inside the egg also wriggled in agreement. And so, the first parent-child conference officially came to an end.

Back in his room, after showering, playing on his phone for a bit, and lying in bed almost asleep, Xiang Wei suddenly remembered something and his eyes snapped open.

"Wait! The long-haired Shen Jiyue in my dream could fly—I forgot to mention it." He recalled that once in a dream, the little snake got injured, and Shen Jiyue healed it with a touch—he had magic—and even flew down from the mountaintop with it. So freaking cool.

With that, he closed his eyes again. He was so sleepy. Tomorrow the snake would definitely remember to tell him. Let him sleep first—if he dreamed of it again tonight, he could tell him everything tomorrow.

Half-asleep, the snake opened his eyes in the dream and looked down. Sure enough, he was back in his snake form. He was on a table, and the long-haired Shen Jiyue was sitting beside him.

Ever since Xiang Wei realized the person in his dreams looked just like Shen Jiyue, the man's features had become clear to the snake. The long-haired Shen Jiyue saw him staring straight at him and lowered his gaze and smiled at him.

"Ssss~" came from Shen Jiyue.

The snake couldn't talk like a human again.

But that was fine—the person in front of him reached out a hand, and Xiang Wei crawled onto it. This Shen Jiyue was a good one, letting the snake climb all over him. The other Shen Jiyue kept the snake locked up.

"Ssss..." The snake egg still hadn't hatched for some reason—was it angry? The snake was keeping it company and saying sorry to it.

Maybe it was because there hadn't been anyone he knew in his dreams before, and once Shen Jiyue's face became clear, the snake started chattering away at him. He didn't expect a reply—just talking at him one-sidedly.

He even complained to the long-haired Shen Jiyue in the dream, saying that the Shen Jiyue outside hadn't let the snake have any drinks tonight, hadn't let the snake say "I like you" last time, and had dragged the snake away today when he tried to say they were a perfect match...

After rambling on and on, the scenery in front of him began to blur again. The snake, being experienced, knew he was about to wake up.

He'd never felt this way before. In the past, he'd wake up from dreams without knowing when, sometimes remembering what happened, sometimes not—he was always confused.

Later, as his "skill" grew, he gradually became more immersed in dreams, able to sense when he was about to wake, and his memories of them got stronger too.

"...Indeed..." Xiang Wei saw the long-haired Shen Jiyue's lips move, but couldn't make out what he was saying. The snake shook his head, leaned closer, trying to hear.

"...Study hard."

The snake collapsed. The snake woke up. The snake didn't want to hear anymore.