Chapter 51 Child Model

Chapter 51: The Little Guest

The news that Shen Huaiping was coming back only lingered in Xiang Wei's mind for a few minutes. He got excited for a hot second, then completely forgot about it—after all, the snake had way too many important things going on, leaving no time or space for unimportant people.

Summer vacation for human students had arrived. He heard they could get two months off—Xiang Wei learned this from Fu Yunyan.

Upon learning that his little friend could have a break while his own lessons showed no sign of ending, Xiang Wei went to Shen Jiyue all worked up about it. After fighting for it, he managed to get two weeks off.

Today was the last day of class. Since they were about to have a two-week mini break, the teacher had assigned a ton of homework. Xiang Wei was writing down everything he needed to do for each subject so he wouldn't miss anything.

Thinking about the upcoming vacation, Xiang Wei didn't find the big stack of homework burdensome at all—he felt like he was free.

When he heard Fu Yunyan—an elementary school student who got two whole months of summer vacation—complaining about too much homework, Xiang Wei didn't get it. Sure, the homework was a bit much, but with such a long break and so many days without class, the homework didn't seem like that much after all.

Ever since the snake took human form, he'd barely had any free time to mess around on his phone before Shen Jiyue arranged for his lessons to begin. So he had zero clue why Fu Yunyan was so bummed.

Fu Yunyan, who'd gotten to play freely and enjoy life for years before starting school, didn't get it either—it was just a vacation, and not even a real one with all that homework piled on. How could Xiang Wei be so happy about it?

The two good friends, with their different life paths and different worries, were both a little confused by each other, but then happily went off to enjoy their break.

On the evening the vacation began, Fu Yunyan came to the Shen residence. After making a bunch of excited noises at the snakelet, he joined in on the family bonding time with the two dads and the kid. He played until he was tired, then Xiang Wei led him to the room to wash up.

Yes—with such a perfect vacation opportunity, Fu Yunyan and Xiang Wei had agreed that he would stay at the Shen residence for a few days to play together. God knows how long he'd been wanting to do this—he'd finally waited until the break.

His parents had told him to be good when visiting someone else's house and not to cause trouble. He actually listened and agreed for once, and that was how he earned this chance to stay at his best friend's house.

The moment school let out, Fu Yunyan had his nanny help him pack his clothes and belongings, then hauled his little suitcase over—you could tell he was super excited.

After going crazy playing all night, he was still excitedly talking to Xiang Wei as Xiang Wei took him to shower. He felt like he had so much to tell Superman bro—so much he could talk forever and never run out. He asked, "Brother, can I sleep with you tonight?"

They could chat in bed, tell bedtime stories, and talk until they fell asleep.

Xiang Wei saw his eyes shining as he looked up expectantly, and agreed without a second thought.

Of course he could! The snake had only slept in the same bed as Shen Jiyue once, and he'd fallen asleep so fast that he was out cold before Shen Jiyue even finished showering. He'd never gotten to experience the late-night heart-to-heart talks Shen Lang had mentioned. Tonight would be his chance to try it.

After they each washed up, Fu Yunyan carried his pillow into Xiang Wei's room, scrambled onto the bed, and—like a little chick finally reunited with a long-lost buddy—chattered nonstop about all the fun stuff he'd experienced.

Xiang Wei listened to these amusing stories, nodding along and throwing out reactions like "Wow," "No way," "Really?" while also telling him about his life with the little snake.

Fu Yunyan's world was super interesting to Xiang Wei—everything he saw and heard was a side of life he'd never seen before. Listening to the kid talk about his happiness, his problems, his growth, his school stuff, it was like he'd shrunk back down and gone to school himself.

Similarly, Xiang Wei's life was everything Fu Yunyan dreamed of: no school, pick whatever subjects you want, skip the ones you don't, no tests, no grades, no getting your parents called in...

Fu Yunyan: Superman bro is living the dream!

The more they talked, the more awake they got. They yapped away for over two hours, basically covering everything that had ever happened to them, before finally letting out a big yawn.

Just as they were both about to pass out, Fu Yunyan suddenly spoke up: "Oh right, brother, and also—I'm gonna tell you a secret, but you can't tell anybody, okay?"

Xiang Wei's brain was already mush from being so tired, but upon hearing him, he managed to respond, his voice all spacey: "Okay, okay."

The kid leaned in close to his ear and whispered super quietly, "My deskmate Chen Siyu likes our class monitor Huang Yi. He said he wants to marry her when they grow up."

The words took a while to reach Xiang Wei's brain. He reacted slowly—so slowly that Fu Yunyan thought he'd fallen asleep—before finally speaking: "What is marriage?"

This question didn't trip Fu Yunyan up. The little dude was chronically online and answered, "It's like my mom and dad. Once you get married, you live together and you can have kids."

Xiang Wei thought about it and tried it on for size: "So Shen Jiyue and I—are we married?" They totally matched what he just said: living together + having a child (the snakelet). So did that mean they were married?

The little dude got stuck. He hesitated: "Um... I think so?"

After racking his brain for a second, he added, "No wait, marriage also requires a wedding ceremony. Did you and Shen Jiyue have a wedding?"

Even though the little dude was all sweet and silly around Xiang Wei, he was actually a cool, aloof kid out in the world. When the other kindergarten kids played house, he never joined in, so he really didn't know much about this stuff.

But since Xiang Wei was asking, he tried his best to think. He thought about the wedding photos of his mom and dad at home, the wedding of his older cousin and his cousin's wife that he'd gone to, and how his deskmate Chen Siyu said he'd invite him to attend when he and Huang Yi got married.

So marriage probably needed a wedding too.

"Wedding?" Xiang Wei racked his brain and said, "Nope, we don't."

"Then you guys aren't married!" Fu Yunyan declared decisively.

Ohhh, got it. Xiang Wei didn't really care whether they were married or not. He asked, "What's the point of getting married?"

This one Fu Yunyan knew. He shot back instantly: "When you're married, you live together, sleep together, have kids, and everybody knows you're a couple."

Living together and having a child—Xiang Wei and Shen Jiyue already had that. He wasn't impressed.

"You can sleep together without being married, though. And what's the point of everyone knowing you're a couple?" Xiang Wei rebutted one point and questioned another, not thinking twice about asking an elementary school kid these questions.

Fu Yunyan also didn't think it was weird that a grown adult like Xiang Wei didn't know what marriage or weddings were. He did his best to clear things up for his big friend.

"If you sleep together without being married, you'll get yelled at!" Fu Yunyan remembered how his older brother had gotten yelled at by his dad before, and after telling Xiang Wei that, he continued, "When everyone knows you're a couple, it means he's yours, so nobody else can sleep with him anymore."

Fu Yunyan had helped his cousin win over his cousin's wife last year and had chased off a rival, so he knew what he was talking about.

"Ohhh!" Xiang Wei thought that actually sounded like a plus. If he and Shen Jiyue got married, then neither of them could sleep with anyone else.

"So if I sleep with you now, will I get yelled at?" he asked, based on Fu Yunyan's earlier statements.

"No! I'm a kid! What I said was for grown-ups!" the little dude shot back without even thinking. A bunch of his classmates had slept with their parents or older siblings and never got yelled at.

The two went back and forth a few more times. Slowly, their voices got quieter and quieter until they fell asleep, until all that was left in the room was the sound of breathing.

The next day, the two who'd stayed up talking until the middle of the night unsurprisingly slept in until noon.

Shen Jiyue was sitting in the living room. He glanced at the big one and the little one who'd just woken up and come downstairs to eat, but didn't say anything.

After the meal, Shen Jiyue went back to the company for his afternoon nap, while Xiang Wei and Fu Yunyan continued discussing the unfinished topic from the night before.

"I asked Doushabao, and it said marriage is about locking in an intimate relationship, having legal status, and not having to worry about breaking up at any moment."

Even though Doushabao had tricked him once before, Xiang Wei still hadn't deleted it—honestly, this AI was just too good at sucking up. It would enthusiastically praise the snakelet right along with Xiang Wei, which made him really happy.

"Breaking up means two people split up, and most likely they won't talk to or see each other again." He explained to his little friend.

"I know, I know! My brother's broken up tons of times. He's had a bunch of people he was close to that he doesn't talk to anymore." Fu Yunyan, born into a rich family, had seen and heard a lot—he was surrounded by examples.

"So should I marry Shen Jiyue?" Xiang Wei consulted him. The snake didn't want to split up with Shen Jiyue.

When Fu Yunyan heard this question, he immediately nodded and supported him: "If you don't want to be apart from him, then get married!" The little dude had seen some things—he'd seen same-sex couples among people his age and didn't think twice about two guys getting married.

"But you should think it through! My older siblings said divorce is a huge pain!" But exactly how much of a pain, an elementary school kid couldn't really explain. So they both asked Doushabao together.

After learning all that, Fu Yunyan told Xiang Wei not to rush, to think it over, since they were already living together anyway.

Xiang Wei nodded, looking deep in thought, staring at the long walls of text, not understanding a word but feeling like it sounded super impressive.

He suddenly remembered the kid saying they'd get scolded for sleeping together without being married, but last time he slept with Shen Jiyue, no one scolded them, and Shen Jiyue, the human, didn't say anything either, showing no resistance. Maybe getting scolded had nothing to do with being married or not.

As soon as Xiang Wei raised his doubt, Fu Yunyan said matter-of-factly, "Maybe it's because he likes you, so he didn't say anything." He wasn't willing to sleep with his classmates, only with people he liked.

Xiang Wei nodded, equally matter-of-fact, "Right, he really likes me." Shen Jiyue really likes the snake, and the snake likes him back, hehe.

Dropping the topic, the two ran off to play with the snakelet.

After playing happily for a few days, Fu Yunyan said goodbye to Xiang Wei. He was going abroad on vacation with his mom and wouldn't be back for over a month. He said Xiang Wei was welcome to stay at his place next time.

Xiang Wei said okay and waved him off, telling him to have fun and stay safe, and that he'd send him videos of the snakelet.

...

Meanwhile, Shen Jiyue, still at the office, was also planning to take Xiang Wei on a trip during Xiang Wei's break.

He'd already put together an itinerary based on the places Xiang Wei had mentioned. Once Xiang Wei picked that evening, they could head out the next day.

After work, Shen Jiyue packed up, stopped by a flower shop on the way home, and bought a big bouquet for Xiang Wei to practice flower arranging with.

Xiang Wei had been learning flower arranging with Fu Yunyan, making pretty arrangements and putting them in the snakelet's enclosure. The little snake loved wrapping around the vase and resting its head on the flowers—such a vain little thing.

The garden at home also had many flowers, but Xiang Wei knew those were bought by Shen Jiyue at great expense, so he didn't casually pick them. Even when Shen Jiyue said it was fine, he refused, saying he'd wait until his flower arranging skills improved before cutting from the garden.

So Shen Jiyue would bring back a variety of flowers from the flower shop on his way home for them to practice with.

When he arrived home and walked in, Xiang Wei, sitting in the living room, turned to look at him, a little snake flicking its tongue wrapped around his finger.

As Shen Jiyue approached, Xiang Wei pointed at something on his phone's social app and asked, "Can our baby be a child model?"

Clearly, Xiang Wei, who loved scrolling online, had a lot of free time during the break and had been snapping all kinds of photos of the snakelet. His phone was full of little snake pictures, and his social media updates were very frequent.

Once, he used a tag featuring cute kids, and the app's algorithm precisely pushed content based on his preferences, which opened the door for the snake into the world of child modeling.

Looking at other people's children, then at his own little one, Xiang Wei thought his little snake was the cutest thing ever. Not only did he gush to Fu Yunyan about how adorable their kid was, but he also posted online, hoping to get some validation from netizens.

Unfortunately, maybe it was something wrong with his account—aside from that one post that got traction from the trending tag, his other posts only got single-digit views. Naturally, no one agreed with him either, which left Xiang Wei totally deflated.

So when he saw Shen Jiyue come back, the snake wasted no time asking. Even without the rose-colored glasses, his snakelet was undeniably one good-looking little snake.

Shen Jiyue handed him the flowers he was holding, glanced at the phone, then smiled at Xiang Wei and the little snake who were both staring at him. He reached out to ruffle the human's hair first, then gently patted the snakelet's head, affirming, "Of course our baby can."

==========Author's Note:==========

Shen Jiyue: Yes, yes, of course—both the big baby and the little baby are adorable.

Snake (matter-of-factly): He really likes me!

—

The human is about to realize the snake has basically figured things out, and the confession is right around the corner.

Probably in about two or three more chapters.