Chapter 3: Snake on the Bed

Though I had explained it this way, Su Mo always believed my departure was because I still couldn’t let go of Fang Qinnian’s betrayal. These tangled matters that couldn’t be cut clean or sorted out were something I no longer wanted to dwell on or explain.

The approval notice came quickly, and my name was on the selected list. A month later, I packed my luggage, took the painting with me, and went to the train station alone.

In the final half hour, Su Mo actually brought Fang Qinnian chasing after me.

She pushed Fang Qinnian toward me and glared at him fiercely: “Say it already! No matter what, you need to take responsibility for keeping my Mi Mi here, or I’ll never forgive you!”

Fang Qinnian looked grave, took two steps forward, pressed his lips together and finally spoke.

“Lin Mi, I wronged you. I was drunk that night…”

“Don’t explain, I don’t need it.” I cut him off: “I just want to ask you if I demanded you break off completely with her right now, would you be willing?”

This was my final chance for him, and for myself too. After all, we had three years of feelings.

He just looked at me, sinking into helpless silence.

I smiled, already at peace: “Alright, you can go back. I’ll be boarding the train soon.”

He took a sharp breath and said: “Lin Mi, even if we can never go back to how we were, you don’t need to torment yourself like this.”

“Fang Qinnian!” I interrupted him again. Though quite rude, I really didn’t want to hear his nonsense.

“Fang Qinnian, you’ve known me long enough. Since we’ve broken up, I’ll cut ties with you completely. And don’t flatter yourself you don’t hold that much weight in my heart to make me give up anything. My decision to join the teaching program in the west really has nothing to do with you!”

I glanced at the large clock on the wall and smiled at Su Mo: “Don’t worry about me. It’s not forever I’ll be back.”

Su Mo’s eyes were red as she came forward and gave me a big hug, sobbing unwilling to let me go.

It was almost time to enter the station. After bidding farewell to Su Mo, I ultimately didn’t spare another glance at Fang Qinnian, finally embarking on this thrilling journey.

The long distance train ride was boring and lengthy. When I had nothing to do, I would take out the painting and look at it, my fingertips tracing the man in the painting as I whispered: “I’m coming to find you. Will you really be there?”

After more than thirty hours of bumpy train travel, I finally arrived at the local city station. The village had sent cadres to pick people up. Carrying my luggage, I followed Village Secretary Li and two half grown children back to the village.

The village roads were difficult to traverse ordinary vehicles couldn’t get through. The village sent a roaring tractor to the village entrance to pick us up. It was my first time riding a tractor, and the shaking was intense, but the scenery along the way captured my attention, making it more bearable.

The environment here was indeed quite harsh. The village cadres arranged for me to stay at Grandma Zhao’s house, whose situation was the same as other families in the village.

The young son and daughter in law had both gone out to work, leaving behind the elderly and children. Grandma Zhao’s household only had a ten year old granddaughter named Zhao Xinger, who was very sensible and well behaved.

On my first day here, I struggled to adapt. They suffered from water shortages here, and coincidentally there had been a landslide recently that blocked the only path to the water spring.

Perhaps due to the long journey and not being accustomed to the climate, I felt particularly exhausted that day and went to bed before seven o’clock.

In my half asleep state, something was winding around my body, slowly crawling upward cool and soft. Then it slipped beneath my clothes and began to squirm.

I started to feel a burning restlessness all over, unable to find relief, I could only twist my body incessantly, low gasps escaping my lips unintentionally. Suddenly, I felt a weight press down on me as something settled over my body.

A pair of icy cold hands roamed across my entire form, and my breathing grew even more ragged, until my lips were sealed, and something wet and slippery slipped into my mouth, tangling with my tongue.

Only then did a chill run through my heart, and a single thought flashed through my mind: I’ve encountered a pervert!

I snapped my eyes open, and in the darkness, I vaguely saw the silhouette of a man pressing down on me, recklessly taking what he wanted.

Who could be so bold? No! Let me go!!

I tried to struggle, but my body felt as heavy as if filled with lead, utterly devoid of strength. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out.

When my legs were lifted high, and I felt the man’s intensely aroused member pressing against me, my body was forcibly stretched open and entered. Amid the pain, there was an indescribable pleasure. I opened my mouth to scream, but it was still futile.

Tears of shame rolled down my cheeks not because of the humiliation, but because… I had found pleasure in this very humiliation!

“No, let me go…” I tried desperately to struggle, but my body remained leaden and immobile.

The man’s face was blurry; no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make it out clearly, yet I felt a strange sense of familiarity.

His rough thrusts softened, and suddenly he leaned down, speaking into my ear. I only knew his voice was warm, as if comforting me, telling me not to be afraid.

Gradually, I relaxed my body. He took my hand and guided it to touch that place it was soaked, and the pleasure grew even more intense. I prayed this was just a dream, but this ‘terrifying’ dream felt unreal.

Then his movements grew fiercer, releasing everything inside me, and I, too, reached the peak of ecstasy, as if my body were floating on clouds, utterly drained of strength. A wave of exhaustion washed over me, and as I gazed at the blurry figure before me, I fell into a deep sleep.
Amid the pain, there was an indescribable pleasure. I opened my mouth to scream, but it was still futile.

Tears of shame rolled down my cheeks not because of the humiliation, but because… I had found pleasure in this very humiliation.

At some point, I regained control of my body and wanted to push this man away fiercely, but in the end, the terrifying desire shattered all reason. I clung to him with all my might, welcoming wave after wave of intense pleasure.

Dawn broke faintly, the first rays of morning light filtering through the mottled wooden window. My body was utterly exhausted, and the shameful scenes from the night began to surface in my mind. I couldn’t tell whether it had been real or just a dream?

Lazily turning over, when I saw the thing coiled beside me, I screamed in terror, clutching the blankets and scrambling to the corner of the room.

My hysterical screams drew Xing’er and Grandma Zhao. Grandma couldn’t speak Mandarin, but Xing’er, who had some schooling, urgently asked me in broken Mandarin what was wrong?

Trembling all over, I pointed at the bed: “There… there’s a snake! A snake!!”

The thought of sharing my bed with a snake last night still makes my scalp tingle and my whole body shudder.

It was a rare dark red snake with black patterns, strikingly vibrant in color and about the size of a small python. I’ve heard that the more colorful a snake is, the more venomous it tends to be.

Lazily, it slithered off the bed. The snake must have been about two meters long. Xing’er turned around, picked up a broken brick from near the window, and aimed it at the snake’s head, ready to strike. In that instant, a wave of pity washed over me, and I rushed forward to stop Xing’er.

“Don’t kill it just drive it away. It’s a living creature too.”

Before Xing’er could even shoo it, the snake slipped into a hole in the corner of the wall and quickly disappeared.

Afterward, Xing’er found some old newspapers and stuffed the hole in the wall. For the rest of the morning, I was still shaken. Xing’er and the Village Chief took me to visit their school, helping me get familiar with the environment before my official duties began in a couple of days.

The school was quite run down, reminiscent of the kind of school environment we had in small towns back in the nineties. During recess, the children played jump rope and tossed sandbags games rarely seen among city kids these days. It brought back many childhood memories.

Soon enough, Xing’er came running over and called me for lunch. The Village Chief and the others had prepared a meal to welcome me.

I got up and followed Xing’er to the small school canteen. A few dishes were laid out on a simple wooden table, cooked in a way that made it hard to tell what they were. I didn’t have much of an appetite, but since it was their heartfelt gesture, I forced myself to eat a little.

The pancakes, however, were quite good. Maybe it was because I hadn’t eaten much since yesterday, but I ended up having three of them in one go.

Strangely enough, ever since arriving here, I haven’t had that dream again. One day, I took the cut out photo and went to find Xing’er.