Only after that did Shen Yingying finally let him go.
Once the kerosene lamp was extinguished and darkness filled the room again, she immediately wrapped herself around him once more, clinging to him like an octopus.
Xie Fangzhu lay flat on the bed, but the position was far too uncomfortable. Helplessly, he turned onto his side and pulled her fully into his arms.
The clean, refreshing scent around him filled her nose, and only then did Shen Yingying finally calm down a little.
In a muffled voice, she muttered:
“Xie Fangzhu, I was really scared just now.”
Holding the soft, delicate body in his arms, Xie Fangzhu’s thoughts became somewhat chaotic.
Certain beastly ideas inevitably surfaced in his mind.
He cursed himself for lacking self-control. Thinking about that kind of thing at a moment like this—wasn’t he just an animal?
Taking a deep breath, he tried his best to calm himself while gently stroking her back.
“Mhm. I know. It’s okay now.”
Once nerves stretched to the extreme finally relaxed, exhaustion came easily.
Shen Yingying was exactly like that.
Besides, Xie Fangzhu’s embrace felt incredibly safe, and the steady rhythm of his hand patting her back quickly made her eyelids grow heavy.
Before long, she fell asleep.
Listening to her even breathing, Xie Fangzhu’s restless heart gradually settled as well.
The person was right there in his arms, yet somehow, he still felt disbelief.
Just this morning, she had seemed like an enemy.
Now she had become the person closest to him.
The change was so dramatic it felt unreal, like a dream.
He had never been this physically close to anyone before.
The feeling was strangely wonderful, bringing with it an inexplicable sense of peace.
No matter how unwilling he was to admit it, he couldn’t help sinking into it.
…
Shen Yingying woke from a nightmare.
In the dream, a giant python had wrapped around her and swallowed her whole.
Terrified, she immediately opened her eyes, only to realize it had just been a dream. She was in Xie Fangzhu’s room, not some deep forest wilderness.
But after fully waking up, she couldn’t help recalling the snake that had crawled across her body last night.
Instantly, revulsion swept over her. Goosebumps rose all over her skin.
Subconsciously, she turned to look beside her.
The bed was empty.
Xie Fangzhu was nowhere to be seen.
Remembering how she had proudly insisted on sleeping separately before bed, only to completely lose control halfway through the night and cling to him like an octopus refusing to let go—
She immediately became so embarrassed she wanted to curl into a worm under the blanket.
Slapping her own face metaphorically like this really stung.
Still, Shen Yingying’s mentality was strong.
Very quickly, she convinced herself.
Anyway, they had already slept together once. As long as they didn’t divorce, sooner or later they’d sleep together again. Separate rooms honestly didn’t mean much.
Besides, sleeping together was a two-way thing.
Men could sleep with women; by the same logic, women could sleep with men.
Xie Fangzhu was handsome, strong, and had an incredible body. And when he wasn’t going crazy, he was surprisingly pure and straightforward.
Being able to sleep with such a top-tier man?
She wasn’t losing out at all.
If anything, she’d struck gold.
Thinking that, her mood instantly brightened. She climbed out of bed.
The moment she opened the door, bright daylight flooded in.
Stretching lazily, she headed toward her old room to grab her toiletries, only to notice the door standing wide open.
Inside the room, Xie Fangzhu was crouched in front of a cabinet, kneeling low like a hunter poised to strike.
Suddenly, his hand shot beneath the cabinet.
When he pulled it back out, there was a snake in his grip.
The snake was long—at least over a meter.
Its body was patterned with black and yellow markings. Judging from the huge bulge in the middle of its thin body, it had clearly swallowed something enormous. The sight was horrifying as it writhed weakly in Xie Fangzhu’s hand.
Using his other hand to support the snake’s body, he calmly wrapped it around his arm, grabbed a black burlap sack nearby, shook it open, and tossed the snake inside.
The entire sequence was smooth and practiced.
His expression never changed in the slightest, as though tossing around a snake was no different from handling laundry.
Meanwhile, Shen Yingying, standing at the doorway, had goosebumps erupting wave after wave.
After tying the sack shut, Xie Fangzhu looked toward the terrified Shen Yingying, who didn’t even dare enter the room, and explained:
“It’s a rat snake. Nonvenomous. They’re greedy eaters. You forgot to spread realgar powder last night, so it slipped in looking for food.”
As he spoke, he looked around the room.
The place was so cluttered there was barely space to stand.
Then he glanced toward the woman standing outside in the sunlight, beautiful as though wrapped in a golden glow, and couldn’t help frowning slightly.
Shen Yingying cared deeply about her personal space.
Ever since they had started sleeping separately, she had kept her room locked and never allowed Xie Fangzhu inside.
And Xie Fangzhu had never cared enough to pry.
Last night had been the first time he entered her room since they separated rooms.
But because the kerosene lamp had been dim and all his attention had been focused on Shen Yingying, he hadn’t paid much attention to the room itself—he’d only vaguely felt that there was a lot of stuff inside.
This morning, however, after properly seeing the room—
The horrifying mess had completely broadened his horizons.
For the first time in his life, he experienced a suffocating headache from sheer chaos.
He simply couldn’t connect this disaster-zone room with the beautiful, clean-looking Shen Yingying.
As someone who always moved firmly toward his goals without hesitation, it was also the first time he had ever felt the urge to retreat.
But remembering her deathly pale face and complete breakdown from last night, he had still forced himself to start rummaging through the room anyway.
Meanwhile, Shen Yingying—still shaken and unaware of his thoughts—remembered the huge bulge in the snake’s belly and immediately felt her scalp tighten.
Unable to help herself, she asked:
“What did it eat in my room?”
Xie Fangzhu hesitated briefly before answering:
“Rats. It probably wiped out the entire rat nest in your room.”
As he spoke, he picked up a coal tong from nearby and crouched down again.
After poking beneath the cabinet a few times, he soon dragged out a dead rat.
The rat’s body was drenched in slime, grotesquely twisted as though every bone in its body had been crushed.
Xie Fangzhu said calmly:
“See? The snake ate too much. It got so full it couldn’t hold it anymore and vomited the rat back up.”
Shen Yingying hadn’t even recovered from the terror of the snake yet, and now she was forced to look at that thing.
Instantly nauseated, she blurted out:
“So disgusting! I’ve never seen such a huge rat before!”
Then she suddenly noticed Xie Fangzhu staring at her with a hesitant expression.
She paused.
“What?”
Xie Fangzhu coughed lightly.
“A snake eating so many rats inside a room that it vomits… that’s a first for me too.”
After another awkward cough, he finally said tactfully:
“Shen Yingying… you should pay more attention to hygiene.”
In other words:
Congratulations, Shen Yingying. You successfully fed eighteen generations of rat ancestors.
Shen Yingying: “……”
After dealing with the rat, Xie Fangzhu made Shen Yingying fetch water from the water vat while he washed his hands over and over again before finally stopping.
He worked the day shift, starting at eight in the morning.
But after breakfast and preparations, he usually left home before seven.
Today, catching the snake had delayed him significantly. It was already seven now, and he still needed to lead the workers’ morning meeting.
He had to leave quickly.
Picking up the black sack containing the snake and tossing it into the bicycle basket, he said:
“I’m leaving now.”
“Okay, be careful on the road.”
Shen Yingying nodded, not forgetting to add sweetly:
“And be careful down in the mines too. I’ll wait for you at home.”
As she spoke, her gaze landed on the still-wriggling black sack in the basket.
After hesitating a moment, she couldn’t help asking:
“Where are you taking it?”
Xie Fangzhu replied:
“To Uncle Chen’s place. His family eats snakes. I don’t know how to deal with this thing, so I’m giving it to him.”
Shen Yingying knew who “Uncle Chen” was.
His full name was Chen Wenxing, Xie Fangzhu’s superior and the foreman of their work team. Xie Fangzhu had been personally promoted by him.
She nodded, not wanting to continue talking about the snake.
With delicate brows furrowed pitifully, she complained softly:
“That makes sense. I wouldn’t know what to do either. Just seeing snakes nearly scares me to death. Better to let Uncle Chen make good use of it.”
Xie Fangzhu glanced at her exaggeratedly delicate act, lips pressing together slightly, his gaze turning somewhat complicated.
The look made Shen Yingying feel uneasy.
Why isn’t this guy leaving yet?
Doesn’t he have work?!
By the time her fake expression was almost stiff from holding it, Xie Fangzhu finally withdrew his gaze.
“I’m going now.”
Watching him push the bicycle down the slope, Shen Yingying finally sighed in relief.
Once he left, she could finally be herself again.
But before she fully relaxed, he suddenly stopped, turned back to look at her, and unexpectedly asked:
“Want to go eat breakfast at the cafeteria together?”