Chapter 1
A gentle spring breeze stirred, carrying a fine curtain of rain through the open window, swaying like willow branches. Crystalline raindrops clung to a coat of intermingled black, orange, and white fur, like a dusting of powdered sugar on a delicious pastry.
“A-Shuang.”
The moment the woman’s clear, pleasant voice sounded, the calico cat, which had been sleeping sprawled on its back by the window, flicked its ears. It raised a paw and shut the window with a crisp snap.
The spring rain was instantly shut out, its patter now a soft drumming against the glass as rivulets of water trickled down, making the room feel all the more warm and dry.
The woman turned back, a bright smile on her face. “Alright, let’s begin the interview.”
Ye Qingyu blinked slowly.
She was a little surprised by the cat’s practiced ease in closing the window, and even more captivated by the woman’s radiant peach blossom eyes. As they shifted, they held even more vibrant spring color than the glistening petals on a branch.
A cute cat, a beautiful woman—the scene was so harmonious, it didn’t look like a front for a scam at all.
That’s right.
Before coming to the interview, Ye Qingyu had suspected this company was a scam operation.
It wasn’t that she wanted to make malicious assumptions out of thin air, but the whole thing was just too bizarre.
The job was nine-to-five with no overtime, weekends off, a monthly salary of 30,000 yuan after taxes, all three meals included, and a full suite of insurance and housing fund benefits.
For such a cushy job with such amazing benefits, the hiring requirement was strangely lax, stating only: “One (1) Human.”
…I mean, who isn’t human?
It looked exactly like the kind of clumsy bait cast by a scam ring.
But Ye Qingyu, having just quit her soul-crushing, high-pressure job, was filled with a long-lost sense of fearlessness and freedom.
And so, she had come to the interview as an adventure.
“Hello, Boss Pei. I’m Ye Qingyu, 25 years old. I have both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees from T University’s Computer Science department, and I’ve received…”
As she introduced herself, Ye Qingyu could clearly feel the woman’s gaze slowly tracing the contours of her face. Under the lights, those peach blossom eyes were exceptionally bright, as if a small animal were curiously sizing up a new toy it was about to drag back to its nest to ravage.
Strangely, she didn’t find the gaze offensive.
After she finished her introduction, a brief silence fell over the room.
Seeing that the other party didn’t speak, Ye Qingyu didn’t rush. She calmly allowed herself to be observed while silently observing in return.
The woman had a mane of long, reddish-brown curls, like a brilliant, unquenchable fire framing her porcelain-white cheeks and making her peach blossom eyes appear all the more stunning.
After a moment of eye contact, the woman looked away and took a sip of tea, her eyebrows lifting in pleasure at the clear, sweet fragrance of bamboo leaves.
Then, she raised her eyes to look at Ye Qingyu again.
“I’ve generally understood what you’ve just said.” The woman’s slender, fair fingers caressed the side of the cup. Her expression suddenly turned serious. “But to be honest, I care about something more than your resume.”
Here it comes.
Ye Qingyu’s breathing slowed unconsciously, knowing that the interview was finally about to unleash a challenge worthy of its incredible benefits.
“May I ask, do you like animals?”
Huh?
Ye Qingyu’s eyelashes fluttered. A beat later, she answered from the heart. “Yes, I do. I love red pandas the most…”
The words had barely left her lips when the woman’s stern expression dissolved. A smile rippled in her peach blossom eyes, as if she were deeply pleased by the answer. The corners of her lips curled up, revealing a small row of neat, white teeth. Her two canines were a little sharper than most people’s, like some kind of small animal that needed to gnaw on its food. It was rather cute.
“In that case…” The beautiful boss raised an eyebrow, her voice leisurely. “You’re hired. Welcome to Velvet Bamboo Studio.”
Ye Qingyu: “…”
When Ye Qingyu walked out of the teahouse, she had the distinct feeling she’d just been sold.
She recalled how her mind had suddenly gone blank under those smiling peach blossom eyes, how she’d rashly shaken the slender hand offered to her, sealing their happy cooperation.
Her heart began to pound, spurred on by the alarm bells that were only now starting to ring in her head.
I’m doomed.
It’s not actually a pyramid scheme or a scam den, is it?
A job with benefits this good, and they decided to hire her on the spot just because she said she liked animals?!
Dazed, Ye Qingyu opened her umbrella and stepped into the spring rain. Her gaze drifted unfocused over the blue-green tiles where raindrops bloomed like flowers as she floated down the alley.
Whoosh—
Suddenly, something huge shot past her legs with the speed of a thunderbolt.
Startled, she instinctively stopped and looked back, catching the afterimage of a large black dog sprinting into the distance. Even as a blur, she could tell the dog was powerfully built and full of strength.
…Are you even allowed to keep large dogs within the 5th Ring Road in B-City? And without a leash, no less. That’s quite dangerous.
Ye Qingyu glanced around but saw no one who looked like the dog’s owner. She couldn’t help but knit her brows in worry.
Deep in the alley, in front of the small building housing the Velvet Bamboo Teahouse.
A black panther stood tall, her fur a deep, glossy black. The sharp glint in her jade-green eyes was impossible to hide, exuding an air of mystery and nobility.
In her mouth, she held a beige fluffball that was struggling restlessly, letting out little “jiu-ji” squeaks.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. I just ran past the new colleague at top hunting speed, and she didn’t even react?”
The moment the black panther spoke, the fluffball in her mouth tumbled out with a splat, splashing into a puddle.
“I’m going to tattle to Sister Rong!” The fluffball shook its wings, its beak opening to let out a crisp voice. “You were so focused on intimidating the new colleague, did you even consider that I almost got shaken dizzy?”
The black panther ignored the fluffball’s complaint, still stewing in her dissatisfaction that her magnificent sprint had failed to impress the new colleague. She came to a conclusion:
“The new colleague is a dull and foolish human.”
She huffed, shook the rainwater from her coat at the teahouse entrance, and, ignoring the fluffball’s squawking protests, picked it up in her mouth again and entered the teahouse with an elegant panther’s gait.
Pei Rong was still sitting where she had been during the interview, browsing something on her laptop. Her beautiful brows were now slightly furrowed, and the smile was gone from her peach blossom eyes, replaced by a floating, pained shock, as if she were facing some heartbreaking news.
【Red pandas cannot consume too much sugar, as it can lead to cavities and damage their digestive systems…】
She bit her lip, unhappily closing the informational webpage. Her fingertips tapped as she searched in the browser:
【One hundred benefits of red pandas eating sugar】
Thud. A damp, furry ball suddenly landed beside her hand. As if staging an accident, it went limp and didn’t move.
Pei Rong, completely used to this, didn’t even tear her eyes from the computer. She casually pulled out a wet wipe and began to gently clean the fluffball’s feathers.
She asked, “You two escorted her safely to the subway station, right?”
The fluffball, which had been wriggling coquettishly in her palm, suddenly froze.
A strange silence descended, leaving only the crisp sound of rain against the glass.
Pei Rong’s thick lashes fluttered. Her gaze shifted from the screen, sweeping over the little fat bird in her palm that was playing dead with its eyes squeezed shut, then glancing at the black panther who was busy pretending to be a statue beside her.
“You didn’t?” The woman’s peach blossom eyes narrowed, her pleasant voice turning dangerous.
“It was all Wu Shu’s fault!” the fluffball tattled immediately. “She said she wanted to show the new colleague the speed of a black panther, and then… and then…”
The black panther, named Wu Shu, pressed a paw down, silencing the fluffball’s bird-beak, before looking at Pei Rong.
“Sister Rong, that human is clumsy and not fluffy at all. Do we really want her in our studio?”
“Do we really even need a human in our studio?” the fluffball added, its voice muffled.
Seeing the bird and the panther ganging up, Pei Rong didn’t answer right away.
She leaned back lazily in her chair and casually picked up the sunglasses from the table. Her slender, jade-like fingers held the temple arms, slowly setting the glasses on her high, elegant nose. Her peach blossom eyes were hidden, leaving only her full, rosy lips exposed.
She crossed her arms, lifted her chin, and used the coolest pose and the most nonchalant tone to say the proudest words:
“Humans can keep cats and dogs whenever they please. So what’s wrong with me, Pei the Red Panda, wanting to keep a human of my own?”
The small animals beside her instantly fell silent.
They looked at Pei Rong with sparkling eyes, full of admiration.
“Achoo!” Ye Qingyu’s eyes instantly welled with moisture.
Someone must be thinking about her.
She nonchalantly took a sip of warm water, mulling over the message from her lawyer.
【Miss Ye, the registration for Velvet Bamboo Studio is all legal and above board. The background check showed no abnormalities, this employment contract has no issues, and the benefits are indeed excellent.】
Her slender fingers spun a pen nimbly as she hesitated before signing the contract.
She had interviewed at many companies since quitting, and Velvet Bamboo Studio had the best benefits, the most relaxed work, and the most comfortable interview atmosphere. It almost perfectly matched her vision for a new job.
Besides… the image of the beautiful boss’s peach blossom eyes floated into her mind, always making one think of a peach grove bathed in spring rain—wild, untamed, and free.
It was enough to make a person long caged yearn for it blindly.
Ye Qingyu bit her lip.
The pen tip drew a smooth, elegant line across the contract.
After signing, she leaned back on the sofa and let out a relaxed sigh.
Her mind flashed back to the nauseating numbness of her previous job, the fierce opposition she’d faced when she wanted to quit, and the dispute with her former boss who tried to cause trouble, almost ending them up in court.
She had fought tooth and nail to finally break free from that old, conventional path of burning herself out for who-knows-what.
It couldn’t get any worse, anyway.
She turned her head, looking at the delicate, dew-kissed pink rose outside her window, and suddenly couldn’t help but smile.
Spring had arrived.
…
Her phone vibrated on the table.
Ye Qingyu reached for it and saw a WeChat message from her new boss: 【Did you get home safely?】
Her eyes fell on the word “safely,” and she couldn’t help but think of the speeding black dog she’d encountered today.
After a moment’s thought, she typed a reply: 【I’m home, thank you for your concern, Boss Pei. But, may I ask if anyone in your area keeps a large black dog?】
No. 108, Fluffy Road, East District, B-City.
Velvet Bamboo Studio.
The black panther’s incredulous voice echoed through the courtyard: “She called me a large black dog?”
“Sister Wu, calm down, calm down!”
The fluffball hopped up and down, enjoying the show, its tone dripping with schadenfreude as bird feathers flew everywhere. “So what if the new colleague thought you were a large black dog!”
Pei Rong was typing on her phone, the corners of her lips curled up as she lazily took her new favorite’s side. “You can’t blame my human. Who told you to scare her?”
In the next second, Wu Shu transformed into a tall, long-legged young woman. Her body, toned from years of fitness, radiated strength, the lines of her arms sleek and firm.
She narrowed her eyes, a faint, dangerous smile playing on her lips. “The new colleague starts next Monday, right?”
…
Waiting for her new boss’s reply, Ye Qingyu suddenly felt a chill.
She grabbed a fluffy blanket printed with cartoon red pandas and wrapped herself up tightly.
