SIATOWITF Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Manuscript Grew a Snake! A Theatrical Meeting

Chapter 4: The Manuscript Grew a Snake! A Theatrical Meeting

Another dream…

Ji Mo An lay on the bed, one hand covering his throbbing forehead, the other clutching the constantly vibrating phone.

Eyes… an eye…

This was the first time he retained any memory of a dream.

What he remembered was an eye.

Round… huge… golden…

An eye?

The memory abruptly cut off, and Ji Mo An sat up in a daze.

Eye, what eye?

Damn it, he forgot again.

His memory was like a fiercely scrubbed eraser, leaving only a faint indentation, but the content was pure white and empty.

Forget it, he was used to it anyway.

Once the pain in his forehead subsided, Ji Mo An quickly washed up.

While brushing his teeth, he leaned closer to the mirror and pushed aside the damp, hanging strands of hair.

The scar from the car accident years ago had healed well; you couldn’t see it unless you looked closely.

It was just the phantom pain that plagued him every time he woke up from that dream that was a little tormenting.

—–

After simply frying two eggs for breakfast, Ji Mo An set up his computer and prepared to go to work.

“Be good and play in your tank; someone will be here this afternoon to install your new home.” Ji Mo An tapped the terrarium, and the little snake coiled in the water bowl flicked its tongue.

The early summer morning still carried a hint of coolness, but the eight o’clock sun had already climbed high into the sky.

Due to that less-than-pleasant car accident a few years ago, Ji Mo An had resolutely chosen to live in a large apartment near the company on weekdays.

This meant that his commute to work was extremely short, just a ten-minute walk.

So, when he arrived at the company entrance, he saw his sleepy Special Assistant Bai walking inside, yawning.

“Good morning, An.” Special Assistant Bai turned his head and saw his boss walking behind him, instantly jolting him awake.

Completely awake…

“An, we have a meeting at 9:30 this morning; the [Listening to Rain Series Draft] has been completed. Tonight, the Jin Cheng clients and the Nan Hua branch manager are coming…” He subconsciously began to report today’s schedule.

“Good morning, An!”

“Good morning, Boss.”

The employees’ greetings gradually faded away as the two entered the private elevator.

“Didn’t sleep well last night?” Ji Mo An looked at the dark circles under Special Assistant Bai’s eyes, puzzled.

His assistant had been with him for three years, and he rarely looked so tired, except when pulling all-nighters on business trips.

“No…” Special Assistant Bai suppressed the urge to yawn. It wasn’t just that he didn’t sleep well; he hadn’t slept at all the entire night, not to mention searching for an imaging device late the previous night, only getting home close to dawn.

“Yesterday, I took the hamster to the pet hospital; it took me three tries to find a 24-hour one.”

“Emergency?” Ji Mo An remembered the hamster he had used as bait, but those two white balls of fur seemed lively and not at all sick.

“One was normal, but the other hadn’t eaten anything all day and just huddled in the corner. I thought it was just shy, but I didn’t expect it to suddenly scream like crazy at night and smash into the terrarium, breaking its paws and head.”

“What did the doctor say?”

“The doctor said it seemed like stress and asked if it had been stimulated or frightened during the day. But the other one is fine, so it shouldn’t be external stimulation. It’s temporarily boarding at the pet hospital now.”

“I’ll take A Zhu tonight.” Ji Mo An walked out of the elevator.

“Hey, An, I’m fine.” Special Assistant Bai was stunned, suddenly feeling a little touched.

“We’re drinking tonight, and you’re driving to the suburbs tomorrow.” Ji Mo An waved his hand, indicating that it was settled.

—–

The morning meeting went smoothly…

While listening to the report on the stage, Ji Mo An opened the file bag containing the manuscript.

“Aren’t you amazed?” As the chief designer of the high jewelry series, Saldes lazily slid his chair next to Ji Mo An, with his legs crossed.

His Chinese was excellent, without the slightest accent.

“Should you consider giving me a grander banquet next year?”

“Before thinking about next year, is this year’s draft ready?” Ji Mo An teased him and reached for the design draft.

Suddenly, his fingertip seemed to brush against something, icy cold and slightly slippery.

What was that… His movements stopped.

“Hiss…” Accompanied by a soft hiss, a “rope” instantly coiled around Ji Mo An’s finger.

“…” Ji Mo An shivered and instinctively shook his hand hard.

Bang… The bag flew far away.

“Of course, I’m prepared… Ah! Don’t treat my precious manuscript like that!” Saldes screamed and flew to the table along with the file bag.

The sudden accident interrupted the meeting, and everyone’s eyes fell on the file bag in the center of the table.

Then they quickly shifted to Ji Mo An’s hand.

For no other reason than:

A small black snake with large golden eyes was coiled around Ji Mo An’s hand, looking as innocent as could be.

How did this thing… get in there…

In that instant, the huge question marks above everyone’s heads in the conference room seemed to solidify.

Without even needing to check the surveillance, Ji Mo An immediately recognized that this little thing was his own snake.

But when he left, the snake was clearly locked up safely in its terrarium.

This was outrageous.

“The… the manuscript grew a snake…” Saldes stared blankly at the little snake and then spread out his own hand.

“An, I’m going to become your country’s magic paintbrush, Ma Liang.”

“Hiss…” The little snake relaxed its body and slowly climbed up Ji Mo An’s sleeve along his finger.

Startled by the sudden touch, it had instinctively tightened around the intruder, so that a red mark immediately appeared on that hand a few seconds after the snake’s body withdrew.

Everyone in the room looked at each other, with too many things to comment on, unsure of where to start.

[What are the odds that a snake could crawl out of its terrarium in the five minutes he was out the door, follow him to the company unnoticed, and then climb into Saldes’s file bag?]

In the midst of the silence, Ji Mo An opened his phone and pulled up the surveillance footage from before he left.

Great, the little camera that could move somehow faced the wall, and the terrarium wasn’t filmed at all.

“Could it be a snake spirit!” Saldes screamed and checked his manuscript.

Fortunately, it hadn’t been smudged by snake scales.

“No becoming spirits after the founding of the country.” Ji Mo An stuffed the snake into a pen holder and handed it to Special Assistant Bai. “Send it back.”

“Guard it, take away its water and toys, and see where it’s squeezing out from.” Ji Mo An’s tone was displeased.

Letting a snake crawl into the file bag, and so many people carrying it all the way without anyone noticing, was enough to show their inadequate protection of the manuscript.

Today it was a snake that crawled in; tomorrow, it could be a stranger’s hand.

“Alright, An.” Special Assistant Bai took the pen holder and hurried out.

“Hiss…” The little snake raised its head, opening its mouth to hiss at him.

“Oh, my ancestor, can you be quiet for a moment?” Special Assistant Bai tried to push the snake’s head back in with a pen.

He had to run before the boss lost his temper; he had bought both the terrarium and the surveillance camera, so he would inevitably be implicated.

After such a farce, the rest of the meeting felt much more restrained, with most of the attendees secretly poking at their folders to prevent anything strange from running out again.

Fortunately, nothing else strange appeared in the files.

—–

[Bai: An, the climbing tank has been installed; should I put the snake in?]

[Bai: Image]

[Bai: Image]

Ji Mo An clicked on the photos.

The first one was a huge climbing tank that took up half a wall, with lush green plants and even an artificial stream flowing with circulating water under the tree root ornaments.

The second picture was clearly much simpler.

Special Assistant Bai was obedient; he had even removed the small pendant lamp from the terrarium.

In the bare box, there was only a small black snake coiled in the corner.

Lonely, isolated, and depressed, it looked so pitiful.

Hmph…

How arrogant this little thing was this morning; now it’s so listless.

Ji Mo An leaned back in his chair, feeling a headache listening to the manager and client flattering each other.

His face felt hot; he had indeed drunk a little too much today… A Zhu’s alcohol-blocking ability was clearly not as good as Special Assistant Bai’s.

He squinted at A Zhu, who was secretly pouring wine on the floor, clearly more drunk than he was.

How annoying… The thought of them having to keep toasting each other for at least two more hours made Ji Mo An’s head ache even more.

It was always the same compliments, words that were going to make his ears grow calluses.

Finally… As the distant clock tower chimed nine times, the group of men and women in suits finally shook hands and said goodbye, still not fully satisfied.

He had made it through.

“Young Master An.” Uncle Wu opened the car door and used his hand to cushion the frame, helping him into the car.

After all, he had watched this child grow up, and even though he was in a high position, he still felt a little sorry for him.

“Just go back to 1601.” Ji Mo An lazily pressed the car window, trying to feel the natural breeze, but the unmoving car didn’t bring a trace of cool air.

The Ji family had many properties, and he was too lazy to remember the names of the neighborhoods, so he simply gave the apartment number.

1601.

That was where he stayed on weekdays.

The drive from the hotel to 1601 was half an hour, and Uncle Wu deliberately slowed down to make the car ride smoother.

With five seconds left on the green light, followed by a ninety-second red light, he thought about it and ultimately stepped on the brakes, stopping at the intersection.

But soon, Uncle Wu regretted his decision.

“Good luck charm, fortune charm, lucky charm, one hundred and eighty-eight each, three hundred and eighty-eight for two, eight hundred and eighty-eight to take them all home.”

A man wearing sunglasses squeezed into the line of cars from somewhere, knocking on car windows one by one.

He had a loud voice and wore a bunch of scattered silver ornaments that jingled incessantly as he walked.

The car owners, already annoyed after getting off work late at night, immediately started cursing irritably.

But the man was not only not annoyed but became more and more energetic, his voice extremely loud.

“What’s going on…” Ji Mo An was sleeping drowsily when he heard all sorts of chaotic sounds mixed with Uncle Wu’s low voice of dissuasion drilling into his ears.

How annoying…

“Oh, the gentleman is awake; would you like a peace… hey, hey, hey!” The man stuck the long pole in his hand into the car window to stop the glass from rising.

“Sir, you have a hex on you.” He suddenly lowered his voice, and the sunglasses slid down, revealing a pair of emerald green eyes.

Are foreigners learning this trick now… Ji Mo An was extremely annoyed, but only two-thirds of the ninety-second red light had passed.

“Sir, evil spirits are with you; this charm can resolve it.” The man suddenly threw a small, earthy yellow paper packet into the car window.

“Only one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight… hey! Give me the money! Give me the money!”

The green light came on, and Uncle Wu stepped on the gas without hesitation, leaving the man behind.

Evil spirits?

Ji Mo An didn’t take it to heart at all. He casually threw the paper packet aside and fell asleep again.