Chapter 29: Song Puppy Is Terrified

Song Jingyao was startled awake by the unblinking stare of a pair of cold snake eyes.

He shot upright, gasping for breath.

Fragments of long-forgotten memories surfaced in his mind.

Shen Xiuzhu was a snake.

His entire body was covered in scales, sharp ridges protruding from his skin, and his pitch-black vertical pupils carried a chilling, oppressive aura.

Now that Song Jingyao had fully woken up, however, he wasn’t actually that scared anymore.

That was probably because Shen Xiuzhu’s snake form was ridiculously good-looking.

It wasn’t horrifying at all.

Yes.

As a hopeless face-con, he had absolutely no principles.

As long as someone was handsome enough, everything else could be discussed.

He even found himself sighing in admiration.

As expected of the male lead.

Even as a snake monster, he had to be extraordinary.

A bush viper.

The handsome heartthrob of the snake world.

The coolest kind imaginable.

But then…

What exactly was Shen Xiuzhu?

A demon that could transform into a human?

Or only half-demon?

None of that had ever been mentioned in the novel.

Song Jingyao seriously suspected he’d received an incomplete script.

As cannon fodder, he’d been written out too early.

The truth about the male lead’s identity was probably revealed much later.

Then again, there were countless CEO novels out there.

If one wanted to stand out, it needed something unique.

Thinking back to those bizarre CEO stories where the protagonist could summon wind and rain…

A CEO who could turn into a snake suddenly didn’t seem all that unbelievable.

That was what he thought.

But that didn’t stop him from nearly jumping out of his skin when he woke up and found Shen Xiuzhu sitting calmly on the living room sofa.

“Holy shit! Why are you here?!”

Song Jingyao’s eyes widened.

The moment he saw Shen Xiuzhu, he immediately pictured that enormous snake covered in scales.

Come to think of it…

After all these years, had his snake form grown even bigger?

As thick as a python?

Big enough to coil around someone and swallow them whole?!

Song Jingyao’s legs immediately started trembling again.

He didn’t want them to.

He really didn’t.

But he couldn’t control them!

QAQ

Shen Xiuzhu smiled faintly.

“I came to pick you up so we can go to the company together.”

“Otherwise, you’d probably make another excuse not to go.”

The way he said it made Song Jingyao sound like a little kid pretending to be sick just to avoid school.

Normally, Song Jingyao would’ve snapped back immediately.

But today…

He chickened out.

Every time he looked at Shen Xiuzhu, his brain automatically replaced that handsome face with the head of a giant python.

Boss Snake!

Everything you say is right!

As long as you don’t eat me, everything is negotiable!

When Song Jingyao imagined things by himself, he felt incredibly brave and carefree.

But seeing Shen Xiuzhu in person…

He almost wanted to kneel.

That was one huge snake.

He wanted to cry.

The one who had actually let the snake into the house was Uncle Chen, the family butler who had worked for them for decades.

Could Song Jingyao possibly tell him—

“That’s a venomous snake! Throw him out!”

Could he?

Of course not!

Everyone else would just think he’d gotten into another fight with Shen Xiuzhu and was throwing a childish tantrum.

At that moment, Song Jingyao felt painfully alone and utterly helpless.

He took a deep breath.

Don’t panic.

It’s just a snake.

You’re a mighty human.

Even sharks and tigers don’t scare you.

If you’re brave enough, you could even stew him into snake soup!

Charge!

“Hic!”

Before he could even say a word, just as he’d finally built up some momentum, he let out an uncontrollable hiccup.

In an instant, all his imposing aura vanished.

How embarrassing!

Song Jingyao froze.

A second later—

“Hic!”

Another hiccup escaped.

Shen Xiuzhu looked at him with mild surprise, making Song Jingyao even more mortified.

His face turned bright red.

Without thinking, he spun around and fled.

“Hic… Hic!”

Forget fear.

Forget giant snake monsters.

His dignity was far more important!

He’d intended to heroically throw Shen Xiuzhu out of the house.

Instead, he’d been scared into hiccupping!

He wasn’t some five-year-old child anymore.

He was twenty-two!

This was humiliating beyond belief!

Keeping his head lowered, Song Jingyao hurried away.

Every hiccup made his whole body jerk.

He could feel Shen Xiuzhu’s gaze burning into his back.

He wished a crack would open in the ground so he could crawl inside.

Shen Xiuzhu quickly caught up.

Resting a hand on Song Jingyao’s shoulder, he handed him a glass of water.

“Drink some.”

“It’ll help.”

Song Jingyao was dying of embarrassment.

All he wanted was to run back to his room.

But the hand on his shoulder wasn’t weak at all.

It was cool against his skin, unnaturally cold.

He couldn’t shake it off.

That inhuman body temperature made him shiver unconsciously.

In the end, he obediently accepted the glass and lowered his head, gulping down the water.

After finishing over half the glass in one go, he suddenly remembered something.

He turned around suspiciously and glared at Shen Xiuzhu.

“This isn’t another glass you’ve already drunk from… is it?”

“Hic!”

The hiccups had stopped briefly after drinking the water.

He’d thought they were gone.

But as soon as he finished asking, another hiccup escaped.

Shen Xiuzhu’s hand remained on his shoulder.

Even through the thin fabric of his clothes, Song Jingyao’s trembling was unmistakable.

His face grew even redder.

He covered his mouth for a second, then lowered his hand and tilted his head back, draining the rest of the water in one go.

“Do you want more?”

Shen Xiuzhu asked.

Song Jingyao nodded vigorously.

He didn’t dare speak again.

First he had to get rid of these damned hiccups.

After chugging another two full glasses of water, the hiccups finally stopped.

Song Jingyao let out a relieved sigh.

Only then did Shen Xiuzhu seem to remember the earlier question.

“Yes.”

“It was the glass I was using just now.”

“I was in a hurry, so I handed it to you without thinking.”

Well…

What was he supposed to do now?

Spit all the water back out?

Compared to the horrifying revelation that Shen Xiuzhu was a snake monster…

Indirectly sharing a cup was practically nothing.

Maybe because the hiccups had embarrassed him so badly, most of his fear had faded away.

Then he looked at Shen Xiuzhu’s flawless, breathtakingly handsome face again.

Every feature fit his tastes perfectly.

The last traces of fear disappeared with a biu.

He was just…

Too handsome.

Damn it.

Now that he knew Shen Xiuzhu was a snake demon, he somehow looked even more alluring.

There was an icy sense of restraint about him.

Just one glance made Song Jingyao’s scalp tingle and half his body go numb.

Was this some kind of spell that bewitched people’s minds?!

Lost in thought, Song Jingyao couldn’t help stealing glance after glance at Shen Xiuzhu.

Shen Xiuzhu noticed.

Although he had no idea why Song Jingyao kept looking at him, he thoroughly enjoyed having all of Song Jingyao’s attention focused on himself.

The feeling excited him so much that he couldn’t stop the faint trembling running through his body.

Lowering his eyes, he concealed the frightening, almost obsessive look within them.

At the company that day, Song Jingyao was surprisingly well-behaved.

He barely argued with Shen Xiuzhu at all.

Instead, he quietly sat at a desk in the corner of the CEO’s office, handling his own work.

Every now and then he’d slack off and play a game, stretch his neck, or take a nap on the desk.

Even entertaining himself alone, he seemed perfectly content.

For once, he wasn’t making trouble or deliberately opposing Shen Xiuzhu.

Yet strangely…

That only made Shen Xiuzhu more unhappy.

From time to time, his gaze drifted toward Song Jingyao.

He stared blankly at his back.

The documents in his hands remained untouched.

His thoughts spiraled endlessly.

What’s wrong with him?

Why isn’t he talking to me?

Is he upset because I’ve been too strict?

Or…

Is he thinking about that woman again?

Shen Xiuzhu’s face darkened.

His fingers tightened around the fountain pen until—

Crack.

The barrel split under the pressure.

The pen tip gouged heavily across the paper, cutting deep enough to leave an imprint through several sheets.

Normally, Song Jingyao spent most of his time talking back and arguing with him.

But now that he wasn’t…

Shen Xiuzhu felt uncomfortable all over.

He really was a hopeless masochist.

If Song Jingyao didn’t torment him, he wasn’t satisfied.

Restless and irritable, Shen Xiuzhu couldn’t focus on his work at all.

His burning gaze stayed fixed on Song Jingyao’s back as though trying to bore a hole through it.

Meanwhile, the oblivious Song Jingyao was reading funny posts online, laughing so hard his shoulders shook.

He nearly laughed himself breathless.

Completely carefree.

Completely unaware of any danger.

A phone call suddenly came in.

Shen Xiuzhu’s expression turned serious.

He immediately instructed his assistant to book a flight.

The slacking Song Jingyao was summoned over.

Sitting face-to-face with the domineering CEO, he instinctively felt his heart skip a beat the moment he saw Shen Xiuzhu’s unsmiling expression.

Had he been caught doing something wrong?

The problem was…

There were simply too many possibilities.

He had no idea which one it was.

He instantly entered the familiar state of guilty panic disguised as calm confidence.

Rule Number One of Shifting the Blame:

Never panic.

Stay cool.

Carry yourself with absolute confidence so people instinctively assume you aren’t the one at fault.

Song Jingyao curled his lips.

“What do you want?”

Rule Number Two:

Quickly figure out whether you actually did anything wrong.

If you did…

Find a way to pin the blame on someone else.

Without hesitation, Song Jingyao blamed Shen Xiuzhu first.

“I was looking at reports just now.”

“You interrupted me.”

“Now I won’t even know where to continue.”

This time, however, Shen Xiuzhu wasn’t calling him over to settle scores.

“I’m going to the Imperial Capital on a business trip.”

“Something urgent happened there.”

“I’ll be gone for several days.”

The moment Song Jingyao heard that, his eyes lit up.

He slapped his thigh excitedly.

“Great!”

His delight couldn’t have been more obvious.

Shen Xiuzhu looked at him coldly.

“You’re that happy I’m leaving?”

The stare made Song Jingyao’s scalp go numb.

He caved instantly.

Putting on a pitiful expression, he hurriedly said,

“Of course not.”

“I was just surprised.”

“You’ll be gone for days.”

“I’ll miss you.”

“Really?”

Shen Xiuzhu asked.

“Then come with me.”

Song Jingyao jerked his head up.

“…!!!”

N-No thanks?!

He nearly jumped out of his seat.

What if Shen Xiuzhu really decided to drag him along?

A business trip wasn’t a vacation.

What exactly was he supposed to do there?

Tag along as a decorative little mascot?

Even by lunchtime, Song Jingyao hadn’t given up trying to convince Shen Xiuzhu to withdraw this utterly irrational decision.

He chattered endlessly beside him, determined to make him change his mind.

Rather than finding it annoying, Shen Xiuzhu was actually in a much better mood than he’d been that morning when Song Jingyao ignored him.

A faint smile lingered at the corners of his lips.

Song Jingyao said earnestly,

“If you’re not at the company, I should stay behind and keep watch.”

“What if someone with bad intentions tries something?”

After swallowing a mouthful of food, Shen Xiuzhu answered leisurely,

“The company isn’t going to stop functioning just because I’m gone.”

“What did I hire all those employees for?”

“Why would you need to guard the place?”

“Don’t you spend work hours secretly playing games and napping?”

“If I really needed someone to keep bad people out…”

“Wouldn’t getting a guard dog be more useful?”

Song Jingyao: “…”

Holy crap.

The male lead’s mouth was vicious.

He was so furious he wanted to perform a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree corkscrew launch on the spot.

Grinding his teeth, he cursed silently.

You damn turtle bastard.

You’re insulting me in circles.

Believe it or not, I’ll find a dog to bite you.

You’ll get rabies.

Then all you’ll be able to do is bark—

Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!

Shen Xiuzhu looked at Song Jingyao’s sparkling eyes.

Two tiny flames seemed to dance within them.

Bright.

Lively.

Overflowing with reckless vitality.

Irresistibly captivating.

His lips curved upward.

In an unusually good mood, he asked,

“Why’d you suddenly stop talking?”

Song Jingyao was still imagining Shen Xiuzhu running around barking after catching rabies.

The sudden question caught him completely off guard.

His brain short-circuited.

Instinctively, he glared at Shen Xiuzhu and let out a fierce little growl.

“Woof!”

“…”

Song Puppy’s official statement:

I choose immediate death.

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