The blizzard howled; between heaven and earth, there was only a single leaping campfire left, and two figures pressed tightly together.
Because his features were always hidden beneath his long hair, Jiang Ze didn’t really know how to make human expressions. He looked as if he carried a kind of inhuman coldness, but when those dangerous vertical pupils looked at her, they always rounded out, turning gentle and warm.
Jiang Xiaoya panicked and turned her face away. She heard her own heartbeat, loud and clear, and was startled by that sudden realization of liking. The little dog immediately began complaining incoherently: it shouldn’t treat her this well, shouldn’t come looking for her in weather like this; it should be like Xiao Chan’s mom, scolding her every day and forcing her to do her homework.
What she didn’t say was that it shouldn’t look so good—if Jiang Ze were a big, ferocious monster with a blue face and fangs, she would probably still love her dear big monster mama, but at least it wouldn’t be like this now, where the moment she saw the boy’s jawline, her heart started acting like a frog, thump-thump hopping straight into the snowdrift.
She covered her reddening, burning face. Luckily, the firelight was as intense as the blizzard, so a flushed face was perfectly reasonable.
What are you babbling about? I didn’t understand a single word.
Jiang Ze felt that, in her mouth, tonight he had turned into a heinous criminal.
But it was really unfair—coming through the snow to see the child, how did that make him a sinner? The little dog’s complaining tone carried a nasal sound; the tip of her nose was red, pitiful and cute. Clearly she was worried about its hands, yet her tone was still complaining. If she was angry, then so be it—he was guilty.
So the boy smiled.
Sharp little teeth showed.
That roguish, inhuman smile was a bit strange, but so beautiful.
“Baby, it’s all Mama’s fault.”
A wisp of green smoke slowly rose from above her head.
Dawn came, the snow grew lighter, and Jiang Ze took her home, stepping through the snow.
There was only one scarf. Jiang Xiaoya didn’t want Jiang Ze to catch cold, so she scooted and climbed into Jiang Ze’s arms, letting it hold her. One scarf wrapped both of their faces together—this way, neither of them would get cold!
The blizzard had brought tree branches crashing down, and carrying Jiang Xiaoya was much faster than walking together. He climbed over the huge fallen tree and stepped through the snow pits. She complained that the snow was so cold, her cheeks red as she hid beneath the big monster’s hair. The wind was too strong; she worried that Jiang Ze would freeze stiff, so she wrapped the scarf around and around, their faces pressing closer and closer.
She was like a little mouse that had stolen some oil. Her cheeks were red, her eyes bright and sparkling.
However, the scarf tied together started to catch at the big monster’s throat.
It struggled a bit. Breathing became difficult.
Jiang Ze poked her. “Ya, Jiang Ze is about to be strangled by you.”
But fortunately, home was not far anymore.
It escaped a calamity.
───♡───
Letting school out early for winter break is the most joyful thing in a student’s life. After the heavy snow ended, Jiang Xiaoya and Xiao Chan made plans to go ice-skating at the base’s plaza.
But halfway through skating, Xiao Chan’s mom arrived, scolded Xiao Chan for not going to cram classes, and dragged her back home.
Jiang Xiaoya skated in circles by herself on the ice.
She realized that other people’s parents were completely different from what she had imagined. They placed too much hope on their children; beneath those heavy, expectant gazes, it was as if happiness itself were a kind of sin. But Jiang Ze wasn’t like that. It never asked her to rank first, never forced her to attend cram classes, and never even scolded her for being greedy for play—it would even squat at home for an entire afternoon to braid things for her just because she liked it.
So the little dog had been happy from childhood to now.
She skated alone for a while, and in the light snowfall saw Jiang Ze waiting in the distance to take her home.
Wearing her skates, she flew toward Jiang Ze. She clearly saw the boy frown, looking as if he was about to scold her.
But when she opened her arms toward it and shouted that Mama, she wanted to fly—
Jiang Ze still reached out and caught her.
She wanted to fly, wanted to spin in circles.
Jiang Ze followed behind her, lifting her up whenever she was about to fall. She wanted to fly toward it like the heroines in those movies, letting it hold her and spin her around. After hearing this, Jiang Ze didn’t think it was romantic or fun at all.
It only felt that it might get rammed to death by a calf-like little beagle.
But it still caught her, cooperatively lifting its arms higher.
And amid the flying snowflakes and the spinning, she felt a dizzy kind of happiness.
She bumped her head against the big monster’s forehead, her nose brushing against it.
Jiang Ze, how can you be so good.
They went to the supermarket and bought a huge pile of things to stock up on supplies for winter, preparing to spend a reunited New Year together. After being apart from the little dog for so long since starting high school, during winter break they would stay together, clinging to each other for a long time. Thinking this, the big monster bought the little dog one more strawberry cake.
It was New Year’s—window paper-cuts should be pasted on the windows.
But the little dog lay against the window glass and drew a little little monster and a big big monster.
The little little monster sent a heart to the big big monster.
Is it liking? It is liking.
The little little monster had grown up listening to scary fairy tales about Swamp Monsters, and really couldn’t come up with any better metaphors.
Mm, it was probably like mice liking oil, and weasels liking chickens!
During winter break, Xiao Chan recommended a melodramatic hit drama and often called to chat endlessly with Xiaoya. All of Jiang Xiaoya’s understanding of love came from television dramas. Lovesick men and resentful women always had to go through hardships and suffering before they could be together. So the little dog had never realized that she liked Jiang Ze.
Because her liking for Jiang Ze was like a mouse stealing oil, like a weasel carrying off a chicken.
Jiang Ze really liked misusing human words.
She used to say she was a little person.
A tiny little person.
Recently, seeing how especially happy she had been, it started calling her “a little person who has succeeded.”
She asked Xiao Chan, could liking someone mean not having to suffer? Could it also be as happy as stealing oil?
Xiao Chan said: That’s childhood sweethearts with mutual affection—love like that has no conflicts, no melodrama to splash around, no one likes watching it. That’s why TV never shows it!
So it was just that TV didn’t show it—reality still had it.
The little dog hid away the oil she had stolen while being a mouse, and the chicken she had carried off while being a weasel. There wasn’t even a trace left in her diary.
Jiang Xiaoya didn’t plan to tell Jiang Ze about this.
In elementary school she loved Ultraman Zero; in middle school she fell in love with Hanazawa Rui. The moment she entered the first year of high school, she felt Hanazawa Rui wasn’t handsome enough and immediately abandoned her childhood idol. The little dog had always had three-minute passions and poor concentration—often she’d be playing with building blocks and then suddenly run off to chase butterflies.
She wasn’t even sure she would still like Jiang Ze next year!
If she rashly told Mama that she had fallen in love with Jiang Ze, and then didn’t love him next year, wouldn’t it break his heart!
He would definitely say: Jiang Xiaoya has abandoned Jiang Ze.
Jiang Xiaoya decided to show great mercy to her dear Jiang Ze.
She looked at the snow roses in the fridge and giggled foolishly. She looked at Jiang Ze’s profile and giggled foolishly.
Jiang Ze walked over and lowered his head, suspecting that the child had caught a high fever from running around in the snow.
As a result, when he touched her head, she became even happier.
The little dog had a faint dimple. When she smiled, it was as if she brewed sweet grape wine.
Jiang Ze didn’t understand why, but was also infected by this inexplicable atmosphere—like catching it from the little dog—and showed its sharp little teeth as well.
Jiang Ze thought: Maybe the stove at home was burning too hot in winter, and it had smoked them all silly.
───♡───
After the New Year passed, Xiaoya had to go back to school. The high school teacher called, saying a parents’ group chat would be created. Jiang Ze, of course, didn’t have its own account. It didn’t understand many of the twists and turns of the human world, but when it came to Jiang Xiaoya, it was always very patient about learning.
It fumbled with Jiang Xiaoya’s learning device, poking at it for a long time, and registered an account. It carefully studied the list of members in the parents’ group and found that the group was full of names like “aa so-and-so wholesale” and “aa so-and-so hotel manager.” Maybe humans used professions as code names.
The Swamp Monster thought for a long time about its own profession.
