But, Sister, You're a Snake-How Are You Going to Repay Him?

"Crack."

"Crack."

"Crack."

In the courtyard, Xiao Mo kept chopping firewood.

Beneath the eaves of the dilapidated wooden house, a little white snake watched the eleven-year-old boy intently.

This was already her third day here.

Over the past three days, the boy named Xiao Mo had caught mice for her to eat every day.

He had changed her bandages every day, too.

Little White Snake didn't know why he was being so kind to her.

She was only a snake, after all.

And he was human.

Another half month passed.

Little White Snake felt that her injuries had nearly healed.

She bit through the cloth wrapped around her body. The flesh had all grown back, though her scales hadn't fully grown in yet, leaving her looking a little unsightly.

But it didn't matter.

Little White Snake climbed up to the rafters and looked toward She Mountain. "I should go back. Otherwise, Xiao Qing will worry about me."

But Little White Snake felt that she couldn't leave without saying goodbye.

She would wait for him to come back and bid him farewell.

At dusk, the setting sun sank toward the horizon, and the evening glow dyed everything in the world red.

A young cowherd rode Big Black Ox home at an unhurried pace.

After tying Big Black Ox up outside, the boy walked into the courtyard and called, "Xiao Bai, I'm back!"

Little White Snake came down from the rafters and slithered over to Xiao Mo. She flicked her tongue, then turned around to show him her wound.

"Eh? You're healed?" Xiao Mo saw that Xiao Bai's scales hadn't completely grown back, but her wound was more or less healed.

Little White Snake nodded, turning her head toward the distant mountain.

"You want to leave?" Xiao Mo felt he understood what Xiao Bai meant.

Little White Snake nodded again.

"All right." A trace of disappointment flickered in Xiao Mo's eyes, but he spoke with the innocent sincerity of an eleven-year-old. "Then go. Be careful from now on, okay? Don't get hurt again."

"Hiss, hiss, hiss~"

Little White Snake flicked her tongue, as if agreeing with Xiao Mo, then slithered out of the courtyard.

Outside, Little White Snake turned around and looked at the boy.

When the boy saw Xiao Bai turn back, he waved and called, "Xiao Bai, don't get hurt again!"

"Hiss."

Little White Snake swished her tail, waving goodbye to him like a human hand, then slipped into the grass and disappeared.

"Haah."

After Little White Snake left, Xiao Mo sighed.

How could he help her transform into a dragon?

After parting this time, they might not see each other again for a long while.

As for forcing her to stay, that was even more out of the question.

Even setting aside what opportunities she could possibly find by staying with an ordinary person like him, she wanted to leave, and if he insisted on keeping her, all he would do was turn a good bond into a bad one.

"I've done all I can. The rest is up to fate. There's nothing else to do."

Xiao Mo put those thoughts aside and went back inside.

Since things had come to this, he might as well study first.

The Village Chief was an old Talented Scholar who taught the village children to read and write.

Xiao Mo planned to go see him tomorrow.

"Big Sister!"

After Little White Snake returned to her cave in the mountains, a little green snake spotted her and happily slithered over, winding around her.

"Big Sister, where have you been this past month?" Little Qing flicked her tongue, gazing at her sister anxiously. "I've been looking everywhere for you. I was worried something had happened to you."

"I went out to catch mice the other day, but an eagle spotted me. I barely escaped, and I was injured. A human saved me," Little White said briefly. "He even gave your big sister a name."

"A name?" Little Qing tilted her head.

"That's right." Little White Snake nodded. "He said I was as white as snow, so he named me Bai Ruxue. What do you think? Isn't it pretty? Someday, I'll take you to meet him and have him give you a name, too."

"Big Sister..." Little Qing said helplessly. "Humans are all rotten. They're always coming up the mountain to catch snakes. Have you forgotten?"

"But, Xiao Qing, I don't think we can paint everyone with the same brush. Snakes aren't all alike, for example. You're green, and I'm white. And humans are even more complicated. There are bad people in this world, but there are good ones, too."

"Hmph!" Little Qing turned her head away. "Humans are all bad!"

"But he saved me."

"He's still bad!"

"But he saved me."

"Big Sister!" Little Qing smacked her tail against the stone in anger.

"All right." Little White stroked the tip of Little Qing's tail with her own. "Xiao Qing, trust your big sister. He really is a good person, and he saved my life. I still have to repay him."

"But, Big Sister, you're a snake. How are you going to repay him?"

"Hmm..." Little White Snake thought it over carefully.

Suddenly, Little White Snake's eyes lit up. "I've got it!"

"You've got it?"

"That's right." Little White Snake raised her little tail and waggled it like a little girl's finger. "From today on, your big sister will devote herself to cultivation and try to transform into human form as soon as possible. Then I can repay my benefactor."

"You want to study?"

In the little courtyard, the old Village Chief, Wang Can, looked at Xiao Mo.

On the stone table in the courtyard lay the medicinal herbs Wang Can had gathered in the mountains that day.

"Yes, Village Chief." Xiao Mo lifted his head, his eyes full of longing for knowledge. "I want to study!"

"What's the point of a little brat like you studying?"

Just then, the Village Chief's wife came out.

"What good is studying? Look at my old man. He studied his whole life, and he's still just a Talented Scholar. Does he have any money? My younger brother works as a blacksmith in town. Next year, I'll send you there as an apprentice. Learn a good trade, and you'll never go hungry."

"Mother, I want to study too~" the nine-year-old girl chimed in beside her mother.

"Shoo, shoo. Girls have even less need to study. Finding a good family to marry into is what matters. You must never end up like your mother, marrying a useless sour-faced scholar. Understand?"

"Oh." The little girl nodded, only half understanding.

Xiao Mo and the Village Chief: "..."

From the memories of the Xiao Mo of this world, Xiao Mo knew the situation in the Village Chief's family.

The Village Chief was fifty-three, and his wife, Chen Hong, was ten years younger.

They had been blessed with a child in their later years: a daughter named Wang Yan, who was now nine.

Although Aunt Chen was always complaining about the Village Chief, she had never left him, and she kept their household in perfect order.

"You can study if you like. If you can't make much of it, at least you'll learn a few characters."

The Village Chief sighed and spoke to Xiao Mo.

"Mo'er, don't listen to your Aunt Chen's nonsense. Starting tomorrow, come to the village schoolhouse for lessons. The children from our village and the two neighboring villages have all paid their fees in meat, so I can't let you sit inside. You can listen from outside instead. How does that sound?"

Xiao Mo was delighted and hurriedly said, "Thank you, Village Chief."

"Hmph. Studying, studying. Studying will starve you to death."

Aunt Chen curled her lip and led her daughter inside.

"Don't listen to your Aunt Chen's nonsense," the Village Chief whispered. "Look, your Village Chief here hasn't starved to death, has he?"

"..." Xiao Mo's brow twitched. He really wanted to say, "If it weren't for Aunt Chen, you'd have starved to death long ago."

But Xiao Mo still nodded earnestly. "The Village Chief is right!"