Chapter 50 Language

Chapter 50: Language

Ever since meeting other snakes and learning how to hunt, the "human-edition" snakelet had finally become a "snake-edition" snake, learning the normal behaviors, life, and language of snakes, entering a period of rapid learning.

"Hiss~" The snakelet stared intently at the pinky mouse in its parent's hand, earnestly hissing that it was ready. The next moment, the mouse was moved by the fingers, and the little snake seized the moment, lunging forward with its mouth wide open to bite down firmly.

Its miniature death-constriction began—it coiled around the prey and slowly swallowed it down. After finishing, the snakelet crawled onto Xiang Wei's hand, listening to him praise its performance, happily rubbing against his fingers.

"Hiss!" Big bro!

The little snake called him.

Xiang Wei was shocked—the family tree was all messed up. He sternly corrected: "No, you should call me Dad, or Father."

He taught it based on the human terms he'd seen in TV dramas. Sure, the snake had also heard terms like "Yeye" or "Aweng," but those were from ancient settings—a modern snake should use modern terms.

Oh my god, the snakelet's first word to him, and it said "big bro"? Had Snake Friend taught the little guy this behind his back? What the heck?!

After several attempts, the little snake still seemed not to understand and didn't change its address, turning Xiang Wei's cheeks red with frustration. It finally hit him that what he was speaking was human language—the snakelet could understand it, but couldn't mimic it.

No wonder—no wonder the little snake had never talked since hatching, only managing to say something today! Xiang Wei smacked his forehead.

The snakelet looked at him adorably, and upon hearing its parent say it couldn't call him that, it stayed put obediently. Seeing him hit himself, it even coiled around his hand to comfort him—a sweet, well-behaved little snake.

Xiang Wei looked at the human-edition snakelet, feeling chagrined, thinking that the hunting videos he'd shown it before had no snakes speaking in snake language, so the little snake had gone this long without ever hearing its own species' language. And he'd never even realized it—what a failure of a parent.

A few days ago when he felt something was off, he'd asked Doushabao, who told him it was "a late talker." He'd simply believed it without a second thought. Damn it, the AI had played the snake!

Realizing the snakelet needed to learn snake language, Xiang Wei began quietly collecting snake documentaries, adding the ones with lots of speaking, suitable for teaching the little snake, to his favorites. He'd show it a bit each day, letting it learn gradually.

Wait—could Snake Friend have noticed today that the snakelet couldn't speak snake language, and used the snake's brief absence to give the little snake a special lesson? And it kindly avoided calling out his failure, letting the little snake learn so the big snake would naturally figure it out later.

Xiang Wei got all emotional over his own theory—what a considerate Snake Friend.

In reality, Snake Friend wasn't that perceptive, nor had it noticed that this big snake, now in human form, had lost its snake language. Because they communicated smoothly, the equally oblivious Snake Friend never realized Xiang Wei had been speaking human language all along.

The little snake, a natural linguist, the moment it encountered a language its body could actually learn, quickly picked it up and started mimicking it, showing way more talent for this than for the hunting it'd been drilled on.

Sure enough, over the next few days when Xiang Wei played snake language teaching videos for the snakelet, the little snake quickly learned to voice its needs and feelings, chatting fluently with Xiang Wei.

"Yes, you should call me Dad!" Xiang Wei beamed at the snakelet's new title for him.

Shen Jiyue watched Xiang Wei and the snakelet chattering away. Adorable.

"This is your other dad!" Xiang Wei didn't forget the child's other caretaker, holding the snakelet up to Shen Jiyue to teach it.

"Hiss~" The little snake, playing no favorites, obediently called out and nuzzled against him.

Shen Jiyue froze for a second, clearly not expecting him to teach it that. Though they'd raised the snakelet together, he'd figured that given their current relationship and who owned the egg, he'd be the little snake's uncle—Xiang Wei's buddy, a relative one step removed. He never expected Xiang Wei to see him as the snakelet's other parent.

A warm feeling spread through his chest. Shen Jiyue's gaze softened as he raised a hand to gently tap the little snake's head. Going from uncle to dad, he felt that much closer to breaking through that last barrier between them.

"Good evening, little one, you did great today too."

Taking over from Xiang Wei, Shen Jiyue received the little snake and began their daily playtime. The tiny snakelet had just learned to constrict and kill, so he took a small toy and dangled it in front of the little snake, playing with it to reinforce its hunting steps.

From the initial clumsiness to now, the little snake could already aim at its prey, launch attacks faster, and coil with more force.

Having no particular obsession with turning the snakelet into a cold-blooded prey killer, Shen Jiyue scooped up the little snake after two rounds of play and put it in water for a bath.

With that much activity, the little snake had easily met its exercise quota. The moment he placed it in the water, it relaxed into a comfortable position and enjoyed itself without moving.

This was a little snake that loved bathing and playing in water.

Shen Jiyue watched from the side, occasionally cupping water to pour over parts of the snakelet not submerged, stroking its body. The scales in water were colder and slicker, pleasant to the touch.

The little snake flicked its tongue happily, its tail tip curling to wrap around the hand that was petting it.

Shen Jiyue couldn't understand snake language, unaware that the hisses expressed affection. The new dad played with the little one for a bit before saying goodnight.

After tucking the little one in, Shen Jiyue turned to see Xiang Wei standing there with his arms crossed, smiling as he watched. The two left the living room one after another before Xiang Wei spoke up.

"Do you know what the baby was just saying?" He had a smug "ask me, ask me!" look on his face, showing off and looking at Shen Jiyue expectantly.

After realizing that his everyday Mandarin couldn't teach the snakelet snake language, Xiang Wei also understood that Shen Jiyue, as a human, definitely couldn't understand snake language either and had no idea what the snakelet was saying. He was the only translator between the one person and one snake!

Ah, maybe the snake was the world's only bilingual—fluent in both snake and human languages! A double degree!

Haha, the snake was a learned one!

Puffing up with pride inside, a snake with this much self-worth obviously wasn't about to keep that pride to itself—it had to let Shen Jiyue know and get praised together.

So while the human and the little snake played, Xiang Wei stood nearby, ears perked, catching every word the little snake said, determined to memorize it all, translate it perfectly, and show Shen Jiyue his skills.

Secretly working hard, the moment the human turned around, the snake straightened up, acting as if it were effortless. Ha, translation—as easy for the snake as eating and drinking.

Shen Jiyue didn't know how much effort lay behind Xiang Wei's casual demeanor, but with a glance, seeing the pupils brightening with patterns like scales glinting in light, he knew what his beloved wanted to hear.

With a smile, he played along, looking curious and puzzled, asking: "I don't know—what did the snakelet say?"

Xiang Wei immediately rattled off everything he'd jotted down, word for word, then waited with a reserved expression for the praise.

A wave of compliments came immediately. Shen Jiyue praised his knowledge, calling him a wonderful father for understanding the little snake's words and remembering them so clearly—truly learned.

Xiang Wei kept his composure, restraining his tail from curling up too obviously, and only after all the praise did he reveal a small smile, promising with all his might:

"I'll tell you what the little one says from now on too. It really likes us, it's been so happy."

Shen Jiyue nodded, thanking him, saying that without him, he and the snakelet couldn't communicate or understand its preferences and moods—this home owed so much to him.

Shen Jiyue spoke sincerely, not just to flatter. He truly believed it—Xiang Wei's presence was what made it feel like home, the most important part.

And having seen Xiang Wei command snakes so many times, he didn't find it impossible that he could communicate with them.

Yes, while real-world snakes had low intelligence and he'd never seen one follow human commands or cooperate obediently, he'd also never heard of anyone teaching a snake to hunt its own prey species step by step—and yet here they were.

The world was vast, full of wonders and extraordinary skills.

Xiang Wei could feel his sincerity, and his joy multiplied. The snake was so, so important—without it, this family would fall apart.

The snake would surely be the glue between them, working hard to keep the family harmonious, ensuring no member was kept from another's heart by a language barrier.

The responsibility weighed on his shoulders, but Xiang Wei loved the feeling of being needed by someone he cared about. He went to his room full of energy, washed up, and slept, recharging for the translation work ahead.

Lessons, relaying Shen Jiyue's affection and praise to the snakelet, conveying the snakelet's fondness and new interests to Shen Jiyue, shopping with Shen Jiyue for earrings, watching snake language teaching videos with the snakelet, the family's daily recreational activities...

The snake is so, so, so busy, but fortunately, everything he does is something he's interested in and more than willing to do, so he only feels the fullness of life, not a hint of fatigue.

When Shen Lang, who had been abroad and out of touch for a long time, finally sent him a message, the snake took a hot minute to react before remembering who this was.

"Wow, I haven't checked my feed in ages—I just saw that you and Cousin Jiyue's snake egg hatched. Hey, congratulations! What a beautiful little snake, with scales that are absolutely dazzling."

He sends you a compliment.

Xiang Wei smiles happily and gets chatty with him, sending him a bunch of adorable videos of the snakelet, and the two hit it off splendidly.

Shen Lang is the type who loves snakes in theory but would run for the hills if he saw one in real life—he enjoys admiring cute snakes online, but in person, he'd bolt a mile away.

Seeing the snakelet in Xiang Wei's feed, he finds it adorable, asks for tons of photos and videos to admire, and talks the snakelet up like it's the only one of its kind, putting Xiang Wei over the moon.

The two, who have plenty to talk about, quickly shake off the rust from not having chatted in a while, covering everything under the sun—hobbies, love lives, funny life stories, and more—for quite a while.

"Oh, by the way, man, I just heard that Cousin Jiyue's second uncle is coming back to the country in a few days, apparently specifically about you and Cousin's matter. Watch out for him, and if something doesn't sit right, tell Cousin—he'll handle it."

At the end of the chat, Shen Lang suddenly remembers something and gives Xiang Wei a heads-up.

He trusts Xiang Wei's character deeply, which is why he warns him so explicitly, hinting that if he encounters someone who makes him uncomfortable, he shouldn't tough it out alone—just let Shen Jiyue step in.

Oh, oh, oh! Xiang Wei's eyes light up, thanking him for the info, his heart brimming with excitement. Isn't Shen Jiyue's second uncle the Shen Huaiping who sent him several hefty sums of money? He's coming back, so that snake's cash...