Under Mo Laodaâs âoppressiveâ gaze, Yin Xiaoxiao found it difficult to finish eating the bird eggs with which Mo Laoda had returned. While he ate, Yin Xiaoxiao engaged in profound self-reflection. It was like this: Yin Xiaoxiaoâs terrible problem was that, while moving from frugality to extravagance was easy, it was going to hard to become frugal after becoming accustomed to luxury! It had been ten years, only ten years! After just ten years he had actually become unaccustomed to eating bird eggs raw! Reality was such a letdown, right!
Mo Laoda was not particularly fond of eating bird eggs. Bird eggs and the like really just didnât pique his interest, especially after all these years wandering the mountain. But, Yin Xiaoxiao had asked for bird eggs to eat, and he was obliged to reluctantly go and look for them. Unfortunately, he only found eleven or twelve of them. Looking at Yin Xiaoxiao who, after eating the eleven or twelve eggs, was collapsed on the ground, full to bursting and unable to move, Mo Laoda was dissatisfied. The Little Idiot was ten years of age, hadnât he eaten too little? No wonder he only appeared seven or eight years old even though he was ten years old.
âLittle Idiot, itâs alright this time but next time you have to eat more, understood?â
Yin Xiaoxiao rolled over a few times on the ground. âSo full ah, so full.â Please, before he had definitely said that he wasnât hungry! This Heitan was too hateful! Even after having asked him and in spite of him answering that he couldnât eat, in spite of everything, he forced him to eat! Even worse, he didnât like that heâd eaten so little! What heâd eaten <sup>1</sup> was a lot, alright!
Everyone knew that snakes didnât have to eat everyday. Unfortunately, after Mo Laoda saw Yin Xiaoxiaoâs small physique, he insisted on just this point. Yin Xiaoxiaoâs resistance was fruitless, and later on he intensely demanded to only eat bird eggs. Thus, the next day Mo Laoda again looked for bird eggs. Yin Xiaoxiao endured and ate. The third day Mo Laoda again looked for eggs, Yin Xiaoxiao again endured and ate. By the fourth day, Mo Laoda again again looked for eggs, and Yin Xiaoxiao couldnât endure anymore! Not only was he painfully stuffed full until bursting everyday, he also suffering from not being used to eating raw food! The only reason why he hadnât had diarrhea these past few days was only because the bodies of these snakes were very strong!
âI wonât eat, I wonât eat!â Yin Xiaoxiao had completely reached his limit and was rolling around in protest. âIâm so sick, Iâm going to burst to death soon!â
With a dark face, Mo Laoda dragged Yin Xiaoxiao to face him, firmly restrained Yin Xiaoxiaoâs still writhing body and said with some anger, âThat wonât do! You have to clean your plate <sup>2</sup> !â
âI wonât! I wonât!â Even though he was pushed down and immobilized by Mo Laoda, Yin Xiaoxiao still decided that he wouldnât compromise. He was determined that he would not become the snake who had burst to death! That would be too humiliating!
âYou going to eat or not?â Mo Laodaâs voice was so low it was practically submerged.
Immediately, Yin Xiaoxiao shrank back, clearly, very scared. But three seconds later, Yin Xiaoxiao, with great effort, extended his neck and yelled, âI wonât eat! I said I wonât eat so I wonât eat!â
Mo Laoda was completely furious. This Little Idiot really was entirely unable to differentiate good from bad <sup>3</sup> ! It was completely for his own good! If he ate more then he would grow faster. Otherwise, if the Little Idiot was like this, wouldnât every snake bully him?! Perhaps even the least toxic Lu snake would dare to bite him!
âYin Xiaoxiao! You dare be disobedient!â
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But to tell the truth, if Yin Xiaoxiao wouldnât eat there was nothing Mo Laoda could do about it. In any case, he could hardly stuff food <sup>4</sup> into Yin Xiaoxiaoâs mouth, thus Mo Laodaâs attempts to intimidate Yin Xiaoxiao.
so Mo Laoda was trying to scare Yin Xiaoxiao. Mo Laoda hated being so angry. If this were another snake, such as a Yin <sup>5</sup> snake, Hong <sup>6</sup> snake, Lan <sup>7</sup> snake or whatever, even a Mo <sup>8</sup> snake, Mo Laoda would have bitten that snake to death! But the snake under him wasnât any other snake! What? You ask why this snake under him wasnât any other snake? How should I know?! Anyway, he just wasnât any other snake! Mo Laoda really couldnât do anything about the snake under him, so he settled for nibbling on Yin Xiaoxiaoâs face a few times to dissolve the resentment in his heart.When he saw that Yin Xiaoxiaoâs face was now entirely covered in his saliva, Mo Laodaâs mood, for some reason he couldnât make heads or tails of, improved, and he released Yin Xiaoxiao.
Even before Mo Laoda completely removed himself from Yin Xiaoxiaoâs body, Yin Xiaoxiao began to utter âouch, ouchâ.
âI already released you. What are you âouchâing about?â asked Mo Laoda, not happy.
âMyâŠmy belly hurts.â Yin Xiaoxiao began to roll around all over the ground. This time it wasnât because he didnât want to eat bird eggs but because he had a bellyache.
How could his belly not hurt? He ate without waiting to digest, then ate without stopping, then continued to eat for three days until he was full to bursting. Then, just a moment ago, he rolled all over in some high-intensity exercise. And then he was crushed underneath Mo Laodaâs body, which was twice as heavy as his own. If Yin Xiaoxiaoâs belly didnât ache, even God wouldnât stand idly by and watch <sup>9</sup> .
As soon as he heard that Yin Xiaoxiaoâs belly hurt, an anxious Mo Laoda rushed to restrain Yin Xiaoxiao, who was rolling around. âWhat happened? Why did your belly suddenly start to hurt?â
Aching, Yin Xiaoxiao raised his head with difficulty to look at Mo Laoda. With grief in his eyes, he shouted, âWasnât it because of you?! I ate until full to bursting!â
Mo Laoda also believed that it was like this, and he blamed himself for being too impatient. He was immediately, endlessly remorseful. âIt wonât happen again, Xiaoxiao. Is it terribly painful?â
Yin Xiaoxiao saw that Mo Laoda had an exceptionally anxious expression on his face. The grievances of these lonely days suddenly burst out. This Heitan was always bullying him. Yin Xiaoxiao loudly cried, âYouâre a bastard! I said that I couldnât eat anymore and you still forced me to eat! I donât like to eat raw eggs! I donât like to eat uncooked food! Youâre still calling me Little Idiot! Iâm not a little idiot!â
Mo Laoda, this is called regret. After Yin Xiaoxiao cried, Mo Laoda naturally asked what they were. Yin Xiaoxiao said that they were tears. It was then that Mo Laoda knew that he couldnât bear to see Yin Xiaoxiao crying. Now he again saw Yin Xiaoxiao crying. Mo Laoda regretted this. How could he have forced Xiaoxiao to eat so much?
âIs massage alright? Itâll stop hurting if itâs rubbed.â Mo Laoda stretched his head towards Yin XIaoxiaoâs belly then used his head to lighty massage Yin Xiaoxiaoâs belly.
Being massaged like this, Yin Xiaoxiao felt much better. His original wailing gave way to sobbing. Still aggrieved, he muttered, âYour headâs too cold.â
Mo Laodaâs head stiffened for a moment, then he continued massaging his belly.
Yin Xiaoxiaoâs stomach felt much better, but he was also tired from crying. He rested his head on Mo Laodaâs body and fell asleep. Tears were still pooled in the corners of his eyes. Poor Mo Laoda. Seeing that Yin Xiaoxiao had fallen asleep, he of course wanted to let up massaging his belly, wind around Yin Xiaoxiao and then fall asleep. Unfortunately, everytime he stopped and pulled away from Yin Xiaoxiaoâs belly, Yin Xiaoxiao would appear to awaken as though to say âdonât stop, continueâ God horses <sup>10</sup> . And so that night, Mo Laoda didnât sleep so he could continue to massage Yin Xiaoxiaoâs belly.
Early the next morning, Yin Xiaoxiao was what could be called refreshed, in contrast to Mo Laoda who was yawning incessantly. In Mo Laodaâs life, had he ever encountered this kind of situation? In the past, Mo Laoda had always slept the most in the evening. But, I fear that in the future, Mo Laoda will discover that, no matter whether it was day or night, the whole of the sky and earth were inferior to the Little Idiot.
Yin Xiaoxiao felt some rare guilt about Mo Laoda. Knowing that he was the reason Mo Laoda was now yawning incessantly, Yin Xiaoxiao kindly said to Mo Laoda, âHeitan, how about you take a nap?â
Mo Laoda goggled. âNap? You want a strong, mighty, handsome and charming Mo snake like me to take a nap? Dear God! This is simply an insult to me!â
Yin Xiaoxiao: ââŠâ
Yin Xiaoxiao refused to talk to Mo Laoda again. Heitan really was black charcoal <sup>11</sup> ! All that came out of his mouth were black words <sup>12</sup> ! What was wrong with Mo snakes? Who said that Mo snakes couldnât nap? And strong, mighty, handsome and charming, he was actually nothing more than black charcoal through and through!
Mo Laoda saw Yin Xiaoxiao was indeed ignoring him and he immediately moved over to face Yin Xiaoxiao, pulling a smile onto his face. âLittle Idiot, Iâm worried that after I fall asleep, you wonât be able to endure the loneliness. Iâm doing this for you.â
The corner of Yin Xiaoxiaoâs mouth twitched. Unable to endure the loneliness were the words being used? Looking at Mo Laodaâs âIâm doing this for you so praise meâ face in front of him, Yin Xiaoxiao again turned his head. As expected, this Heitan really was too terribly shameless!
Seeing that Yin Xiaoxiao once again refused to acknowledge him, Mo Laoda tactfully changed the subject, âLittle Idiot, itâs not good if you eat bird eggs all the time. That kind of thing is usually regarded as snacks. They shouldnât be eaten in place of a meal otherwise later you will definitely be undernourished. What else do you like to eat? Next time Iâll get some for you, okay?â
Yin Xiaoxiao âah?âed . What Mo Laoda said was actually correct. Even though heâd eaten until he was more than full everyday these past few days, on the whole he felt that his body had become weaker. Perhaps it was because he hadnât eaten anything else. Even though in the recent past he had always eaten cooked food, if it was raw food he certainly wouldnât have been able to stand it. Yin Xiaoxiao hesitated. Could he tell Heitan about this? With this thought in mind, Yin Xiaoxiao probingly asked, âHeitan, Iâve stayed here already for several days. I think itâs time for me to leave.â
At Yin Xiaoxiaoâs words, an unpleasant and fierce expression quickly overcame Mo Laodaâs originally very delighted mood. âWhat? Youâre going to leave? Did I say you have to leave? I wasnât going to throw you out because of dislike, Little Idiot, and you still dare to turn away from me out of dislike? Going to leave? No way <sup>13</sup> !â
Frightened, Yin Xiaoxiao retreated several paces. âPlease! I was only saying that I was going to leave. When did I say that I was avoiding you out of dislike? No way? Then thereâs a window?â Naturally, Yin Xiaoxiao could only think this. Yin Xiaoxiao looked at Mo Laoda in front of him. Just because heâd said that he was going to leave, his expression became so unpleasant and fierce and heâd shouted himself hoarse. Suddenly, he felt that staying together with this Heitan for a lifetime would be pretty nice â but of course, this thought flashed by so quickly that Yin Xiaoxiao forgot about it between breaths.
âOkay, okay, so I said that. Why on earth are you so excited?â Yin Xiaoxiao comforted Mo Laoda, âBut Heitan, I have many eccentricities. Are you sure that youâll be able to bear me?â
Slowly, Mo Laodaâs unpleasant and fierce facial expression faded, his head full of questions. âEccentricities? What eccentricities?â
âThereâs a lot.â Yin Xiaoxiao thought a bit and immediately felt embarrassed. âFor example, I bath at least every other day. For example, I canât sunbathe in the noon sun. For example, I wonât eat rats and will only eat birds, bird eggs and frogs. For example, if I eat birds, bird eggs and frogs, then I also want to eat them cooked.â
Bath, okay. Cannot sunbath, okay. Wonât eat rats, okay. Only eat birds, bird eggs and frogs, okay. All this Mo Laoda could understand. But that last one, eat them cooked? Mo Laoda suddenly recalled that when Yin Xiaoxiao complained last night, it seemed as though heâd demanded cooked bird eggs. âCooked? What do you mean?â
Yin Xiaoxiao hesitated for a moment. âItâ-we make a fire, then put the food in the fire, wait until itâs cooked and then eat it.â
âMake fire? Youâre saying you know how to make fire?â
Yin Xiaoxiao hesitated again, then nodded.
Mo Laoda was silent for a while. Finally, he said, amidst Yin Xiaoxiaoâs apprehension, âAll of this is nothing, so teach me to make fire so that we can eat cooked food later.â
Actually Mo Laodaâs silence was not because Yin Xiaoxiao could make fire, but rather because this Little Idiot was actually going to teach him, this strong, mighty, handsome and charming Mo snake, how to make fire. Heâd really lost snake face <sup>14</sup> !
In his heart, Yin Xiaoxiao secretly sighed with relief and he felt a sweetness grow in his heart. But he also didnât think much about it and only went to teach Mo Laoda how to make a fire.
Later, Mo Laoda left the cave to look for and return with the things Yin Xiaoxiao said were essential to light a fire. He followed Yin Xiaoxiaoâs instructions and, on his own, succeeded in his assigned duty of making a fire, which made Yin Xiaoxiao very excited! Mo Laodaâs speed really was very, undeniably awesome <sup>15</sup> ! Originally, starting the fire required two snakes to hold the thin branch and rub it to create friction, but Mo Laoda wound his tail in two loops around the twig and was able to turn it on his own! And his speed was faster than his Pop and Dadâs speed!
Seeing the adoration twinkling in Yin Xiaoxiaoâs eyes, Mo Laoda smiled, pleased with himself. Mmhmm, he really was a strong, mighty, handsome and charming Mo snake!