Chapter 110

When a sharp and clear sound came from the eggs, Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao knew that the baby snakes were going to hatch. Mo Laoda moved away from the eggs. To his side, Yin Xiaoxiao rolled over with a grunt to stand, then slithered over to the eggs. Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda encircled the nine eggs, expectantly watching the nine eggs.

As they were staring, Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda found that the upper section of many eggs already had the beginnings of many densely-packed cracks. It was only a matter of time until the baby snakes hatched from the eggs. As Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao were attentively watching, two or three more tiny cracks appeared.

As Yin Xiaoxiao once more heard these sharp clear sounds again, a small, entirely pitch-black snake appeared before his eyes. Before Yin Xiaoxiao could look carefully, like the spring bamboo after rain ¹ , one after another, small snake heads appeared before Yin Xiaoxiao’s eyes.

Yin Xiaoxiao was dizzy. One hatched, then another hatched. Hatching one after another wasn’t good. Why were they all hatching at once?

Yin Xiaoxiao calmed and once again looked at the small snakes. Oh, good, had all the little snakes hatched? Yin Xiaoxiao carefully counted: four entirely pitch-black snakes, four entirely silver snakes. Huh? There was still one left?

In the pile of small snakes and the pile of broken eggshells, Yin Xiaoxiao discovered one snake egg that hadn’t hatched. Even before Yin Xiaoxiao said anything, Mo Laoda had already extended his tail, grasped it, and rolled that one egg out from the rest, carefully placing it on the ground.

“Why hasn’t this one hatched?” Yin Xiaoxiao slithered over to Mo Laoda and looked at that snake egg. It was intact with not a crack on it.

Mo Laoda: “Don’t know.”

Yin Xiaoxiao suddenly remembered that he’d also been born one day after all the other young snakes. Would this one too? Thinking of his previous incarnation as a human, Yin Xiaoxiao’s face became strange. If someone with memories of their past life as a human became his son, that would be quite uncanny.

Just as he finished thinking this, that snake egg that had been placed on the ground suddenly produced a sharp and clear sound. Yin Xiaoxiao automatically lowered his head to look and discovered that there were already a few tiny cracks on top of the snake egg. Yin Xiaoxiao internally let out a sigh of relief, now only a little anxious.

Off to the side, the eight small snakes weren’t even the slightest bit offended that their Pappy and Daddy were ignoring them, immersed as they were in concern for the youngest brother. Each and every one simply lowered their heads to the smashed eggshells and each proceeded to eat the one he’d hatched from.

During this time, the little snake finally made his way out from inside the egg.

This small snake who was the last to be born was beyond Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda’s expectations. Because this small snake was not only the thickest and most solid of the nine small snakes, his coloration was also different from his eight older brothers.

Little Nine ² wasn’t a Mo snake, or a Yin snake, or even a Hei snake. Little Nine had black and white stripes, similar to that of a zebra! The black parts were peerlessly  pitch-black, and the silver parts shone brightly.

Although Mo Laoda’s face was expressionless, it wouldn’t have been an exaggeration to say that a giant wave crashed through his heart. Since the viper clans appeared, aside from the Hua snakes, the overwhelming majority of the vipers were of unmixed coloration. All others, that was to say  Hei snakes, suffered the unanimous rejection of the Mo and common snakes. But their own Little Nine….forget never seeing any snake like him, Mo Laoda had never even heard of any snake like him.

In contrast, Yin Xiaoxiao didn’t think much of it. The child was neither a Hei snake nor a Yin snake, but seeing too much of anything could cause aesthetic fatigue ³ , and black and white stripes were also quite nice. At least he would never mistake him for anyone else!

Speaking of mistaken identities, Yin Xiaoxiao suddenly thought of a problem: “Heitan, this Little Nine, that…the other eight baby snakes’s birth order, do you remember?”

Mo Laoda froze. This was something he actually didn’t remember! However…Mo Laoda muttered irresolutely to himself for a moment before finally slithering over to the eight young snakes to look. He used his tail to pluck up a Mo snake from the other young snakes. “I only remember that this was the first one to hatch. This is the eldest ⁴ . The others, I can’t say.”

Yin Xiaoxiao let out an “ah?”. Great, so what next? Should he be grateful that Heitan remembered one?

The young snake who had been picked up by Mo Laoda hadn’t finished eating his eggshell. Also, the way in which he was being held up in midair was unpleasant. He couldn’t help but struggle.  “Dad! Put me down! Put me down!”

Yin Xiaoxiao stood and watched. He unkindly laughed and said, “Heitan, didn’t you hear the eldest? Quickly let him go.” Thinking, Yin Xiaoxiao slithered to the eight young snakes and asked, “Babies, I ask you, do you know your birth order?”

Mo Laoda: “….”

The remaining seven young snakes looked at each other. Aware that the position of eldest was already held by the Mo snake being held by their Dad, they yelled in unison, “I’m second oldest!”

Yin Xiaoxiao: “….!!”

Mo Laoda placed the eldest on the ground, allowing that Mo snake to slither back and wildly gnaw on his eggshell. With a helpless smile, he said to Yin Xiaoxiao, “Xiaoxiao, how could they know?”

Mo Laoda spoke the truth. At that time, they were doing their utmost to hatch. Was there any way they could pay attention to which brother would come out next?

Yin Xiaoxiao’s lips curled, knowing that there was nothing he could ask. “Then what’s to be done? Now, we only know who the eldest and the ninth are. What about the other baby snakes?”

Saying that, Yin Xiaoxiao’s gaze focused on the baby snakes.

The baby snakes looked at Yin Xiaoxiao looking at them. Promptly, each and every one straightened their bodies and, in unison, said, “I’m the second child!”

Yin Xiaoxiao: “….”

Mo Laoda: “This doesn’t matter. You decide.” Well, indeed it didn’t matter. Did birth order have any relevance?

Yin Xiaoxiao helplessly complied. Now, there was only one way. Yin Xiaoxiao went and looked at the pile of young snakes. Aside from the madly eating Mo snake that Mo Laoda had already identified, the other young snakes all looked at him with shiny eyes.

Yin Xiaoxiao thought. “Since the eldest is a Mo snake, then the four Mo snakes are the first four to hatch. The four Yin snakes are the fifth through eighth to hatch.” Finished speaking, he pointed to the heads of the young snakes as he randomly decided the Mo snakes and Yin snakes’ seniority.

Mo Laoda had no objections. The young snakes wanted to protest but, under Mo Laoda’s strict gaze, they didn’t dare speak.

Yin Xiaoxiao suddenly asked, “Heitan, did you notice that, other than the ninth, our other eight babies aren’t Hei snakes! Oh, that’s good.”

Mo Laoda nodded his head. This really was quite surprising. Moreover…Mo Laoda turned around and glanced at number nine, who was eating his own eggshell. This guy didn’t appear to be weaker, but instead stronger than his other eight brothers.

As he was eating his eggshell, the ninth sensed Mo Laoda’s gaze. Expressionless, he raised his head and glanced at Mo Laoda, then lowered his head to continue eating his eggshell.

A muscle on Mo Laoda’s forehead pulsed, but he didn’t say anything, just turned around so that he didn’t have to look at number nine.

“Pops, what are our names?” One of the eight snakes, a Yin snake, asked.

Yin Xiaoxiao froze, then immediately, involuntarily looked at Mo Laoda before looking at his surroundings. Ah, you know, the names of the baby snakes still hadn’  been decided. There was no helping it! He was too busy during the day – hey, hey! Everyday, when you finish eating, you sleep! When you wake up, you play and then eat! What right do you have to say that you were busy?!

Mo Laoda saw that Yin Xiaoxiao was silent and his eyes were wandering. Immediately, he knew that Yin Xiaoxiao hadn’t thought of names for their baby snakes – originally, Yin Xiaoxiao had very enthusiastically snatched naming rights for the baby snakes from Mo Laoda – and subsequently rescued Yin Xiaoxiao from embarrassment. “That’s for tomorrow. I still haven’t thought about it.”

The eight young snakes felt somewhat wronged. Really, they’d hatched and still weren’t named! However, it was their Dad who’d spoken, not their Pops. The eight young snakes knew that they shouldn’t provoke this seemingly very formidable Dad. As a result, none of them demanded to be named or anything else – it seemed that even in just a short time, the baby snakes already knew who they could provoke and who they shouldn’t.

Yin Xiaoxiao sighed in relief and also in a little guilt. Really, he was a Pops doing his best! Yin Xiaoxiao inwardly swore to himself that tonight, if he didn’t think of names for his babies, he wouldn’t sleep!

To the side, the ninth already eaten up all his eggshells. He burped and slowly slithered to Yin Xiaoxiao’s side, then tilted his head to look at Yin Xiaoxiao. “Pops, I want an extraordinary and pleasant-sounding name!”

His tone of voice was very earnest and very solemn, but his soft-sounding voice caused Yin Xiaoxiao’s heart to tremble with affection. He stretched out his head to vigorously cuddle against the ninth’s head while vowing, “No problem! Pops will definitely choose an extraordinary and pleasant-sounding name for you!”

Mo Laoda’s face was ugly and he dragged Yin Xiaoxiao back to his side, casting a warning look at number nine. Number nine’s expression didn’t change. He saw Mo Laoda’s warning look and unceremoniously returned it with a taunting expression.

Mo Laoda felt the muscles in his forehead pulse again, but he once more restrained himself. There was ample time, no need to rush.

The nine baby snakes ate all their eggshells, but, naturally, that wasn’t enough to fill them, and the baby snakes very quickly became hungry. Mo Laoda looked at the ten snakes before him, crying piteously for food – this included Yin Xiaoxiao – and his head suddenly hurt. As he went to catch food, Mo Laoda slithered silently while inwardly thinking that it would only be a few years before he could abandon these nine guys!

Because he was going to have to feed nine snakes at once, and because catching rabbits, frogs and so one wasn’t suitable, Mo Laoda thought for a bit and then went to catch a cheetah. He returned home with the cheetah, and divided it up for the snake babies. As for Yin Xiaoxiao, Mo Laoda returned with a rabbit.

After eating and drinking their fill, the sky had darkened. The family of eleven entered the cave to sleep. The baby snakes all sensed that their Pops emitted warmth from his body, but no snakes rushed over – they were all helpless before their Dad’s teeth and tail, okay!

Yin Xiaoxiao was resolute in keeping his vow to think of names for the children, or else go without sleep!

–But we all know that this kind of thing was impossible. In the end, Yin Xiaoxiao spent not even ten minutes in Mo Laoda’s embrace before he fell into slumber.

The next day, Yin Xiaoxiao got up. Unsurprisingly, he was the last snake in the household to awaken! However…Yin Xiaoxiao looked at the ten snakes in the cave, a little confused. But very quickly, Yin Xiaoxiao knew why. It was raining heavily outside.

Suddenly, an idea ran through Yin Xiaoxiao’s mind. Yin Xiaoxiao yelled, “I know what to name you ⁵ !” After a pause, Yin Xiaoxiao continued, shouting, “The eldest is Mo Jingzhe ⁶ , the second eldest is Mo Qingming ⁷ , the third is Mo Xiaoman ⁸ , the fourth is Mo Bailu ⁹ , the fifth is Yin Shuangjiang ¹⁰ , the sixth is Yin Hanlu ¹¹ , the seventh is Yin Xiaohan ¹² , the eighth is Yin Dahan ¹³ , as for the ninth – he’ll be called Bai Jiahei ¹⁴ !”

T/N:

Footnotes

<ol>雨后春笋: simile referring to the sudden, mass appearance of new things. 小九: yes fellow SVSSS fans, this is spelled with the same characters as SJ’s diminutive 审美疲劳: There isn’t really a good English translation for it, but it refers to a type of sensory habituation to beauty so that what was once considered beautiful becomes ugly for anyone interested, MLD refers to the eldest as Laoda/”老大” here, the same as in his own name plural 惊蛰: the third term in the traditional Chinese 24 term solar calendar. It’s called the Awakening of Insects because it’s when the weather warms up enough that insects start to come out of hibernation 清明: the fifth term of the traditional Chinese 24 term solar calendar. Called Clear and Bright because there’s less rain and it’s warmer 小满: eighth term of the traditional Chinese 24 term solar calendar. Called Small Full Grain, it’s when crops begin to fruit 白露: 15th of the traditional Chinese 24 term solar calendar. Called White Dew, it’s the beginning of autumn 霜降: the 18th of the  traditional Chinese 24 term solar calendar. Called Frost Descent, it’s when the weather becomes cold enough that frost begins to form 寒露: the 17th of the traditional Chinese 24 term solar calendar. Called Cold Dew, it’s when the weather starts to turn cold but not enough for frost to form instead of dew. IDK why the fourth eldest is named after the 18th month and the fifth eldest is named after the 17th month, but there it is 小寒: the 23rd of the 24 solar terms. Called Lesser Cold, it’s when the weather starts to reach the coldest part of the year 大寒: 24th of the 24 solar terms. Called the Great Cold, it’s when the weather is at its coldest 白加黑: white plus black</ol>