Chapter 9

Yin Xiaoxiao regretfully thought that he didn’t know whether or not these snakes had arranged this. As one’s eyes opened, another would wake right after. Why couldn’t they just wake up all at the same time? Now he had back pain.

And so, at dawn, five young snakes along with Yin Dabai and Hua Xiaohua discovered Yin Xiaoxiao’s face stunk ¹ . Why wouldn’t he look grumpy?! You try being tied up in snakes until they woke up dawn!

The young snakes, together with Yin Dabai and Hua Xiaohua, were very discrete and did nothing to provoke Yin Xiaoxiao. However, Yin Xiaoyi said that, yesterday, he’d met a new friend and wanted to know if they could go over and play together. Very self-consciously, Yin Xiaoxiao retreated to the back of the group. The others laughed which only served to make Yin Xiaoxiao more anxious that he hadn’t slept enough.

“Xiaoyi, are you talking about our next door neighbor’s, San Hong’s, young snakes?” Upon hearing Yin Xiaoyi saying that he’d made new friends, Hua Xiaohua immediately thought of those four snakes next door who were three months older than his own children.

“?” Yin Xiaoyi actually forgot to ask who they were.

“Yes.” Yin Xiaosi replied, solving Yin Xiaoyi’s dilemma.

“I knew it! San Hong’s family’s young snakes are really nice.” Hua Xiaohua’s tail slapped the ground. “But our family’s young snakes are the best! The smartest! The cutest!”

Everyone all turned their heads, flicking their tails disdainfully at Hua Xiaohua.

“Isn’t that so?” Hua Xiaohua rushed up to Yin Dabai and bit down on his tail. Aggrieved, Yin Dabai turned his head while the six young snakes scattered.

“Pop , we’re going to go play with our new friends!” At last, Yin Xiaosi clearly told them where they were going. With a firm mouthful of tail, Hua Xiaohua dragged Yin Dabai into the cave.

‘Hmph, hmph! Since the children are away now I can sort you out!’ was what Hua Xiaohua thought.

‘Aw, yeah! Since the children are away, now we can do a little something,’ thought Yin Dabai, dreamily.

As for what they actually did…*cough cough*, it was not suitable for children. Not suitable for children at all. So, let us turn our lens to Yin Xiaoxiao.

Yin Xiaosi led the way, with Hua Xiaoer and Hua Xiaosan following behind. Hua Xiaowu stuck close to Yin Xiaoxiao, the two snakes between Hua Xiaoer and Hua Xiaosan. Finally, Yin Xiaoyi trailed in the rear.

If it could have been spun to sound more flattering, it would be put as thus: Yin Xiaoyi was a very competent older brother, one who was fearful that his mischievous younger brothers would run off, which was the reason why he was slithering behind everyone else. What a moving tableau!

But reality was always harsh. Rather than following in the rear voluntarily, Yin Xiaoyi was actually envious of Yin Xiaosi’s position. Look at him! Look at him crawling in front! Look at that proudly held head and puffed out chest! Look, so imposing! How unfortunate that Yin Xiaoyi had forgotten the way and so had no other choice but to reluctantly go last. At the very least, he could gain the reputation of cherishing his younger brothers.

Well, okay. I have to admit that the worst point in Yin Xiaoyi’s life had finally occurred, the event that he most mourned ² . What he’d discovered was precisely that…he had a poor sense of direction! Congratulations. Congratulations all around.

Although they were neighbors, the houses of the two families were actually very far from each other. The young snakes weren’t fast, so they didn’t arrive for a while. Yin Xiaoxiao looked up at the sun, which was growing larger and larger. He already regretted following them. Yin Xiaoxiao thought of how he could’ve remained in the cave and taken a nap, then thought of how much better off that Yin Xiaoxiao would have been than the one rushing about under the sun.

Just as Yin Xiaoxiao turned his head to head home, Yin Xiaosi’s voice sounded, “Finally we’ve arrived! I already see them!” And at that, he stopped talking and was the first to crawl to the destination.

Hua Xiaoer as well as Hua Xiaosan promptly caught up to him. Yin Xiaoxiao was dragged forward by Hua Xiaowu.

While being dragged by Hua Xiaowu, Yin Xiaoxiao reared up and looked at the area to where Yin Xiaosi had crawled. He could vaguely make out a few young snakes who appeared to be colored….red and blue?

It took another dozen or so minutes for all six snakes to reach the destination. After being dragged over by Hua Xiaowu, Yin Xiaoxiao, dizzy, vision blurring, lay on the ground to recuperate for a few minutes. After he felt better, he raised his head and saw Hua Xiaowu looking at him with a nervous and guilty face.

Yin Xiaoxiao, proud and pampered ³ , avoided Hua Xiaowu. At this rejection, Hua Xiaowu felt wronged and followed after Yin Xiaoxiao saying, “Xiaoxiao Xiaoxiao, don’t be angry.  I, I didn’t mean to! I heard Si-ge say that he wanted to go and got excited. Xiaoxiao forgive me!”

Hua Xiaowu’s voice succeeded in attracting the interest of all the young snakes present.

Yin Xiaoxiao had black lines on his face ⁴ and wished that he could slap Hua Xiaowu into outer-space with his tail.

“Xiaoxiao, Xiaoxiao you’re not saying anything. Won’t you forgive me? Are we okay, Xiaoxiao?” Hua Xiaowu followed Yin Xiaoxiao.

Yin Xiaoxiao’s face became even worse.

Hua Xiaowu wanted to continue speaking, but Yin Xiaoyi pulled him by his tail. “Xiaowu, stop talking. Can’t you see that Xiaoxiao’s face is getting worse and worse?!”

It was only then that Hua Xiaowu held his tongue.

Yin Xiaoxiao scolded Hua Xiaowu thoroughly in his mind. Really! He’d actually disgraced him in front of strangers! Good job, Hua Xiaowu!

…

Xiaoxiao was so angry because he felt as though he’d been shamed in front of strangers!

“…These four are the friends that Xiaosi and I met yesterday.” Seeing that no one was speaking, Yin Xiaoyi spoke. He crawled over to the four young snakes, pointed to them, then said, “This is Lan Yiyi, Hong Erer, Lan Sansan, and Lan Sisi.” Then he pointed to the young snakes of his own family. “You all already know me and Xiaosi. This is Hua Xiaoer, Hua Xiaosan and Hua Xiaowu.” Then he deliberately dragged Yin Xiaoxiao over to his side. “This is Yin Xiaoxiao. He’s the littlest brother ⁵ .”

Yin Xiaoxiao: “…”

WTF ⁶ vipers?! Wasn’t this way of naming…a little too on the nose?!

While Yin Xiaoxiao disapproved of vipers’ ability to name, Lan Yiyi crawled to face Yin Xiaoxiao. “You’re Yin Xiaoxiao right? I’m Lan Yiyi. I’m very happy to meet you!”

Yin Xiaoxiao looked Lan Yiyi over from head to tail. Why did he already feel as though this guy harbored malicious intentions? Still his eldest brother kept poking him with his tail, so Yin Xiaoxiao was forced to say, “Hello, I’m also very happy to meet you.”

Hua Xiaowu felt as though Yin Xiaoxiao was going to be snatched away, so he squeezed between Yin Xiaoxiao and Lan Yiyi. “Lan Yiyi right? I’m Xiaoxiao’s fifth elder brother, Hua Xiaowu.”

Upon meeting Hua Xiaowu, the corners of Lan Yiyi’s mouth reluctantly drew back. “Ah, Hua Xiaowu is…um…Xiaoxiao’s fifth elder brother, then.”

Yin Xiaoxiao stared at these two guys in front of him, unable to make heads or tails of their interaction. Was there a problem or something? These two snakes had just met for the first time, right?  So why was there a concentrated smell of □□?! Well, whatever. This was none of my business. And so, while thinking such thoughts as these, Yin Xiaoxiao slithered away.

Hey! Hey! Yin Xiaoxiao, you’re really something! How can you just declare this as none of your business?! Are you soft in the head?!

“My Pop and Dad went hunting,” Hong Erer said, following Yin Xiaosi, “so we’re the only ones home. We can play together right away!”

“Great!”

“Let’s play now!”

Hua Xiaoer and Hua Xiaosan came over after hearing Hong Erer.

Footnotes

<ol>脸臭臭: idiom meaning that someone looks grumpy 悲催: internet slang for miserable; the word itself originated from ancient documents in which it was used to describe mourning clothing and funerals 娇: aside from meaning pampered also means lovable, tender or frail. Chose ‘pampered’ for alliterative purposes and also because YXX is 100% pampered seems to be taken from anime . Here’s an explanation about the meanings Yin Xiaoyi actually described Xiaoxiao as the most ‘Xiao’ of us, where xiao means small or young. Younger siblings are sometimes referred to as little brothers/sisters, and of course little also refers to something being small in size 闹哪样: literally means the trouble/noise, but is used to contemptuously ask ‘what are you doing?’</ol>