Startled, Qiao An quickly yanked her hand away from Mu Zimo's wrist, her entire body tensing up.
For some reason, his piercing gaze always left her heart pounding in terror. Afraid her little secret would be exposed, she quickly explained, "Officer Uncle, you know... I've been drifting from place to place my whole life, a victim of cruel fate. I had to learn a few things to protect myself."
The body's original owner was an orphan who never knew where her next meal was coming from. Constantly bullied at the orphanage, she had a weak and submissive personality.
But that wasn't Qiao An's personality at all. She had no choice but to keep spinning her yarn, hoping her tragic backstory would earn a shred of sympathy and stop him from digging any deeper.
Looking at the slender girl before him, her eyes rimmed with red, Mu Zimo decided not to press the issue. He turned and said, "Let's go. I'll buy you breakfast."
The girl, who had looked so pathetic just a moment ago, heard the word "food" and immediately lit up, her smile as radiant as the morning sun. Her eyes held nothing but a single-minded devotion to food and a look of pure, unadulterated foolishness.
Spotting the breakfast shop tucked away in an alley next to the police station and smelling the fragrant aroma wafting from it, Qiao An's eyes lit up and she bounced over excitedly.
For some reason, Mu Zimo felt a strange sense of awkwardness, and the tips of his ears grew warm. He cleared his throat with a hint of annoyance and said, "Don't call me 'Uncle.' I'm not that old."
Sitting on the bench, Qiao An swung her short legs as she watched steamers full of large, thin-skinned buns being placed before her, steaming hot. She started eating without a hint of reservation, cupping a meat bun in her hands and wolfing it down, completely unconcerned with her image.
Mu Zimo, on the other hand, was rather surprised. He had no idea how long she'd been hungry to be able to pack away so much food despite her small frame.
Rubbing her now-protruding belly and letting out a satisfied burp, Qiao An thought for a moment. She'd already been warned not to call him "Officer Uncle."
She frantically racked her brain for a suitable term and finally squeezed one out. "Comrade, thank you for the meal. As a token of my gratitude, I'm willing to offer you a little clue..."
At this, Mu Zimo put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth, and looked at Qiao An's small, round face with that scrutinizing gaze once more.
"A clue? What else do you know?"
Qiao An frantically shook her head and began to explain, gesticulating wildly.
"I was only there for my treasure hunt! It was just my bad luck to stumble into all this. But I've had a sensitive nose since I was a kid. As soon as I got there, I smelled something strange. Not... not the person buried underground, but another foul smell that was just lingering in the air."
'In truth, Qiao An hadn't smelled a thing. She was just faithfully reporting the clues her little mice had discovered.'
"A foul smell?"
Mu Zimo remained skeptical of her claim.
But Qiao An continued her analysis, unfazed. "Right. I don't know who left the smell, but a desolate place like that? I wouldn't have gone there if not for my treasure-hunting stream. I'm guessing the person who left the smell thought the same thing."
'Humans on Blue Star couldn't communicate with animals. Qiao An didn't dare tell anyone this little secret, terrified she'd be captured and studied like a monster if she were found out. All she could do was try her best to hint at what she knew, as a way of repaying him for the meal.'
"Thank you for the clue. As per procedure, you are not to leave the city for the time being. We may need to ask you about other details."
As Qiao An got up to leave, she gave a wave, her smile perfectly innocent.
"Don't worry. I couldn't afford to skip town even if I wanted to..."
'She wished she could just tattoo the word "POOR" on her forehead. How could she afford to settle in another city? She couldn't even pay next month's rent, let alone travel for fun.'
After retrieving her personal belongings, Qiao An walked all the way home, her little belly puffed out proudly. She'd saved on bus fare. 'What a genius,' she thought.
The moment she opened the door, she saw two giant snakes on the other side of the window, flicking their tongues. A row of tiny mice stood on the windowsill, the two sides locked in a tense standoff.
The green snake was practically drooling. "Sister, I'm hungry..."
The white snake beside it was deliberately letting out threatening hisses to scare the mice on the windowsill, its long tongue flicking out to taste the air.
"We can't eat those idiots. They're the master's useless pets."
"Isn't raising us enough for her? What's the point of keeping these useless things? She might as well let us fill our bellies."
As the two of them were bickering, Qiao An's voice rang out: "Little Bai! Little Qing!"
Hearing her voice, the two giant snakes twisted their bodies to look at Qiao An.
A white snake and a green snake. When she first met the two giant serpents, she had only just arrived on Blue Star. To cram as much knowledge about this world as possible, she had been binging all sorts of TV shows.
Qiao An, who had been holed up in her tiny rented room watching *New Legend of White Snake*, stretched lazily and glanced out the window. She saw two rain-soaked heads. Six eyes met. It was a little awkward for everyone.
"If you want to watch the show, just come inside. It's raining out, and the temperature is dropping."
Snakes are cold-blooded. They need to sunbathe to maintain their body temperature, and if it gets too cold, they even need to hibernate to survive.
The green snake tilted its head and whispered to the white snake, "Sister, this human is so dumb. She's inviting us in to watch TV. Isn't she afraid we'll swallow her whole?"
The white snake flicked its tail, wanting to leave. It warned its naive little sister.
"She must have seen how much meat is on us. She wants to eat us! Let's get out of here."
The two giant snakes had lived on the mountain for a long time. It had been raining for days on end, and out of sheer boredom, they had snuck out to watch some TV and warm up in the human world.
Having her intentions so maliciously misinterpreted, Qiao An pouted. "Don't be ridiculous," she huffed. "I don't like snake meat. If you're not coming in, I'm closing the window."
This time, it was the green and white snakes' turn to be startled. They stretched their necks and poked their heads through the window, staring at Qiao An as if *she* were the monster.
"HOLY CRAP! This human can actually understand us..."
And because of that little episode, as the late autumn air grew colder, Little Bai and Little Qing moved into Qiao An's home. Their primary job was to act as door guards.
Seeing her master return, Little Qing wagged its tail and coiled around Qiao An. With a look of mild disgust, Qiao An pinched its head and pushed it away.
"It's getting cold. Stop climbing all over me."
'In the summer, Qiao An might have enjoyed having Little Bai and Little Qing around—they were wonderfully cool to the touch. But it was almost winter now, and she was cold, too!'
Unfazed by the rejection, Little Qing continued to wag its tail, hooking it around Qiao An's calf. "Master," it asked in a fawning tone, "what's for dinner tonight?"
Looking at Little Qing, who was practically quivering with anticipation, and then at her completely empty wallet, Qiao An sighed.
'I can't afford them, I really can't,' she lamented internally. 'If I'd known it was this hard to make money on Blue Star, I never would have taken in these two high-maintenance freeloaders.'
"Eat, eat, eat! Is that all you think about? If you're that hungry, why don't you just eat me!"
Although she was broke and full of complaints, Qiao An still pulled a few warm meat buns from her coat and shoved them toward Little Qing.