The stray cat I’d been feeding brought me a half-dead white snake. I nearly fainted from shock, but then, a series of pop-up comments appeared before my eyes: [OMG, the snake-man protagonist was supposed to meet the kind-hearted main female lead, but a stray cat just snatched him up as a gift for its human. I can't.] [This cat is a menace! Bad kitty! Poor snake!] [The ultimate prize just fell into the lap of a side character. Our snake-man hero is loaded; whoever saves him gets showered with gold later!] My eyes lit up. Gold? I immediately scooped up the snake and rushed inside. A snake that was basically a living, breathing money tree? Finders keepers! 1 After cleaning and bandaging the white snake’s wounds as best I could, I placed him in a large glass terrarium. Staring at the nearly seven-foot-long serpent, a wave of fear washed over me. This was a pet snake? Someone had a very skewed definition of "pet." I thought they were supposed to be, like, the thickness of a few fingers. I rummaged through my apartment and found a few pieces of frozen meat in the fridge, tossing them into the tank. The snake flicked its tongue, glanced at the frozen offering, and coiled up in the opposite corner with an air of pure disdain. "Yeah, I know it's not much," I sighed, "but I can't afford fancy steak right now. And since you're my pet—" Before I could finish, the snake’s head shot up. [LMAO, the shock in his golden snake eyes! Did I hear that right? Who did you just call a pet?!] [Protagonist: I was brought here against my will! Against! My! Will! Do you understand?!] [Ugh, where's that feline culprit?] The culprit, a fat orange tabby, was pointedly ignoring the drama, noisily crunching on his kibble. Crunch, crunch, munch, munch. He seemed to be enjoying it immensely. [Protagonist: I will never stoop to eating cheap garbage like that fat furball!] [I would rather starve!] [What is the point of this pathetic existence!] This snake was a picky little thing. Not a great habit to have. I ignored him and went back to the kitchen to make a bowl of instant ramen, dropping in an egg and a couple of lettuce leaves. A gourmet meal, perfectly balanced! I had just finished slurping the last noodle when the doorbell rang. I shuffled over and opened it a crack to find several of my neighbors, armed with brooms and knives, looking ready for war. "Tanya! Where's the snake?" "Don't hide it from us! Someone saw the orange cat drag a snake into your apartment. We were worried about you living all alone, so we came to help." Their eyes immediately locked onto the long, pale creature in the terrarium. "That's the one! Don't be scared, Tanya, we'll kill it for you!" As they raised their makeshift weapons, the white snake shot up in alarm, slammed the lid off the tank, and slithered across the floor with a dry, rustling sound, heading straight for my bedroom. Not my bedroom! Mr. Henderson and the others charged in after it. "Where'd it go?" Mr. Henderson rubbed his eyes. I pretended not to see the white coil clinging to the ceiling fan. "It must have gotten away," I said quickly. "It doesn't bite, and you know how much I love animals. I was actually thinking of getting a pet anyway." The can of bug spray in Mr. Henderson's hand clattered to the floor. "A young woman like you, keeping a snake that long? Aren't you afraid it'll crawl into your bed at night?" I forced a tight smile, my fingers digging into the doorframe. "It's just for fun. And, you know… for self-defense." Mr. Henderson gave me a helpless look. "Well, if you're sure, then—" CRASH! The ceiling lamp, along with the snake, came crashing down. Before anyone could react, the snake had wrapped itself around my body, its head rubbing affectionately against my cheek. "See?" I said, my voice trembling only slightly. "I told you he'd make a great pet." 2 The pop-up comments flew across my vision, a cascade of mockery aimed at the hero: [So much for his pride. That lasted all of one second.] [LMAO, the whiplash! One second he's all 'I will never be a pet,' the next he's like, 'You know, pet life doesn't sound so bad!'] [Look how tightly he's clinging to her. He's terrified of getting bludgeoned by the neighbors!] [I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little jealous of the snake right now. Tanya's figure is… wow.] [Am I the only one focused on her body? That's my dream physique right there. Drop the workout routine, girl!] … My neighbors left, shaking their heads. I tugged on the snake's tail, trying to peel him off me, but he wouldn't budge. He blinked his curious golden eyes at me as if he'd discovered a new continent. His tail gave my skin a tentative little rub. His forked tongue flicked out, tasting the air near my neck. He stared at me for a moment, then nuzzled into the curve of my neck. When his golden, slitted pupils met mine, I could have sworn I saw a faint blush cross his scales. "Um," I said, my voice strained. "Could you maybe get off now? I'm having a little trouble breathing." The snake finally unwound himself. On his way back to the terrarium, he bumped into the wall three times and hit the corner of the coffee table twice. [HELP! Our snake hero is so blissed out his brain has short-circuited!] [This poor, innocent snake has never known such pleasure in his twenty-plus years of life.] [Red alert! He was so bold wrapping himself around her, and now he can't even slither in a straight line. LMAO.] [Is he that pure? I bet when he was pressed up against her, he was already planning out names for their future snake-babies.] [EMERGENCY! I think my snake has brain damage!] 3 I don't know if it was my "self-defense" comment that did it. But from that day on, things changed. When I left in the morning, the white snake would be coiled by my front door. When I came home at night, he would follow me around like a shadow. He'd join me at the dinner table. He'd climb onto my bed at night. My already small apartment felt even more cramped. Maybe my phone was listening, because ever since I got the snake, my social media feed was flooded with snake content. Snake behavior, different snake species, even diagrams of snake reproductive organs… But I wasn't interested in snakes. I was interested in money. I kept scrolling. Suddenly, a video of a man with chiseled abs, tagged "#BlackSnake," filled my screen. "Hey, girl. You like a black snake like me?" a ridiculously seductive voice purred from my phone's speaker. I jumped. Okay, so I wasn't just interested in money. I was also interested in men. My morals were directly proportional to my bank account balance. I quickly hit the like button and started typing a comment: "The algorithm gets me." Just then, the white snake, who had slithered over without me noticing, swiped his tail across my screen. He hit: Reduce recommendations for this type of content. Then, looking thoroughly pleased with himself, he slithered over to the other side of my bed. I pondered his motives. Hmm. It was probably the same reason Ginger the cat got upset when I fed other strays. Basic biological possessiveness. 4 The news that I was keeping a snake spread through the neighborhood like wildfire. The local seniors held a meeting and decided that a snake was not a sustainable long-term solution for my security. They concluded that I was only feeling unsafe because I was a single woman living alone. So, the next day, they showed up at my door armed with a stack of photos of eligible bachelors. "This one has a great income, but he's a little short. His parents are locals, though, and he's not bad-looking," one of the ladies, Mrs. Gable, said, pointing. "This one is tall and handsome, but his job isn't very stable." Mrs. Gable turned to me. "Tanya, honey, what's your type? You have a steady job, and even if you don't have savings, you're a beautiful girl. You don't have parents to worry about these things for you, so let us be your family and help you out. Don't be shy, tell us what you want!" I'm a simple woman. Life is hard enough; if my husband was ugly too, how could I go on? I scanned the photos, and my eyes landed on a handsome guy named Sean who was even a little younger than me. "Him," I said. "I like the handsome ones." Mrs. Gable beamed. "I get it, I get it! We'll set it up!" They left, happily planning the logistics of our first date. I closed the door and turned around, only to be met by a pair of intense golden eyes. For a second, I felt a pang of guilt, as if I'd just cheated on him. Mrs. Gable was efficient. A date was set for the next evening. As I was about to leave, the white snake suddenly wrapped himself around my waist. "No, I can't take you with me." This snake was a temporary arrangement. I had a future to think about, and I was serious about finding someone to date and marry. Bringing a snake was absolutely out of the question. But he only tightened his grip, his eyes conveying a silent, stubborn refusal. I tugged at his tail, trying to uncoil him. "Stop messing around." A few seconds later, he was wrapped around me again. Defeated, I had no choice but to cancel the date. 5 That night, the snake made himself right at home on my bed, wiggling and twisting around as if he'd won the lottery. When I came back from my shower, I found him coiled up on my bra, fast asleep. I gasped and lunged to grab it. But he held on tight, refusing to let go. [The protagonist's mating season is hitting hard, he can't control it. Only the scent from her clothes can get him through it.] [Look how content he is. He doesn't need money. He needs this.] [You can't blame him. Our boy has awakened.] I was no match for his strength. So I grabbed a laundry pole and aimed it at the most vulnerable spot on his neck. "If you don't let go right now, I'm going to poke you!" He understood. He glanced at the pole, then reluctantly slithered off the bra. Just as I lowered the pole, he darted forward and dove right inside my pajama top. He wrapped himself around my torso several times, then poked his head out of the collar. We stared at each other, eye to eye. [What a genius. Who needs the bra when the real thing is right here?] [Ahem, just asking for a friend, are they… impressive? I'm in a hurry.] [It's just two of them, Tanya honey, you can handle it!] "Get. Down." I pointed at his head, my voice firm. He shook his little head. No. Sigh. Whatever. The comments made it sound like this was a temporary phase. If I let him cling for a little while, maybe he'd calm down. 6 That night, I fell into a deep sleep and had a strange dream. In the dream, a colossal white serpent was wrapped around my body, its coils tightening until I felt like I was going to be torn apart. I gasped for air, tried to scream for help, but nothing worked. I woke with a start, my forehead beaded with cold sweat. There was something cool and smooth in my hand. I looked down and sucked in a sharp breath. The white snake was coiled around my hand, sleeping peacefully. The pop-up comments went into overdrive: [What just happened? Why is my screen all blurry?] [You can't see? Hehe, I saw everything. I'm a premium member.] [Where do I subscribe?! Tell me! I'll pay extra!] [Look at Tanya, all dazed and confused. She thinks it was just a dream!] [Our snake hero is super sensitive to smells. When his mating season hit tonight, all he could think about was her scent. He couldn't help but sneak over for a few secret kisses.] **[I saw it! First, he ******, and then he just passed out from exhaustion.] My eyes widened in horror. I flung the snake off me. He opened his golden eyes, looking at me with pure, bewildered innocence. [Oh no, she found out.] [He's so hurt. She thinks he's dirty.] [He tried so hard to resist, but she just smells too good.] [He's just a baby snake! How could he possibly resist the temptation of cuddling? It's just snake nature.] [Don't say any more. He's so ashamed he can't even face her.] … The white snake lowered his head and quickly slithered out the open window.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "385384", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel