All My Colleagues Are Animals 109

Epilogue 6: Wu Shu’s Story (Part 1)

“Bai Zhiwan, doesn’t that little panther cub look like you?”

Amidst the sneers, Bai Zhiwan lightly lifted her eyes.

On the vintage-patterned wool carpet, a female black panther was lying exhaustedly.

In her arms, three black panther cubs, who had just opened their eyes a few days ago, were whimpering and nuzzling into her.

“Roar…”

A low growl suddenly came from the black panther’s throat. She lifted a large paw and impatiently swatted away one of the cubs that was struggling for milk.

The cub was sent tumbling, and it lay on its back on the side, a fine whimper coming from its throat.

After a long and weak struggle, the cub, following its instincts, finally and tremblingly crawled back to its mother’s side to look for milk.

But it was only a repeat of the same.

This time, the cub was pressed down by the mother panther’s large paw and could not move for a long time, and gradually, it fell silent.

“What a pitiful little panther cub. They were all born in the same litter, but how is it that she’s the only one who’s not liked?”

Someone said with a lazy laugh and sigh, their words full of implication.

“Bai Zhiwan, why don’t you just take that little panther back and raise it? I think you two, human and beast, are a good match.”

Bai Zhiwan calmly looked away.

She sat in a corner, her features as gentle as a distant mountain in spring, and her whole being exuded a gentleness that was completely non-aggressive.

And everyone also thought that she was completely non-aggressive, and they scorned her just as they had scorned that fragile black panther cub.

At dusk, the family meeting was over.

Bai Zhiwan came out of the main residence and saw the sunset in the distance, just falling to the sea level, and it burned a patch of crimson.

The west coast of A-Country was about to welcome a deep black night.

Bai Zhiwan wound her way through the ancient and magnificent villa and finally came to a long-neglected, old and broken courtyard in a corner.

The mottled courtyard gate was teetering, and there were also several cracks, as if it had been hit by a heavy force.

Creak—

She pushed the door open.

She focused on her documents until the night was deep.

At ten o’clock, she stood up and went to the kitchen to skillfully prepare a bottle of milk.

When she returned to the magnificent main hall, the mother panther had already disappeared, and she had also taken two of her cubs with her.

The one cub that had been left behind was struggling helplessly in place, so weak that it could not even make a sound.

Bai Zhiwan held the black panther cub by the scruff of its neck and gently lifted it up.

She straightened its posture and fed the bottle into its mouth.

For the past half a month, she would feed it like this four times a day.

The panther cub, who had been hungry for a long while, immediately began to suckle, and a fine and satisfied whimper escaped its throat.

After she had finished, her little black, fluffy belly was round and plump. She opened her mouth, which had not even grown teeth, and clingily gnawed on the woman’s soft, white fingertips.

“In this villa, which is surrounded by wolves, the weak cannot survive.”

Bai Zhiwan looked at the panther cub with a clear and deep gaze, and her voice was clearly gentle, but her words held a certain coolness.

“If you are just a pitiful wretch, I will not take you home.”

…

A month had passed. The little black panther cub had gradually grown a little, and the fur on her body had also become thick.

She no longer clumsily followed her two panther siblings to fight for food in her mother’s arms, but would always be a single panther, holding her own furry paws and gnawing on them on the carpet.

A solitary and fragile existence, it was hard not to become a pastime in the villa.

Just as Bai Zhiwan had been in the past.

A group of profligates would look down at the little panther and would casually laugh and tease her.

They would either kick her with the tips of their shoes to provoke her, or they would constantly flip the panther cub over and let her struggle on her back.

The panther cub would blink her pair of jade-green eyes and would look at the human faces in a daze, pitiful and helpless.

Bai Zhiwan would always sit on the sofa and watch coolly.

Only her fingers, hanging by her side, would silently clench the corner of her clothes, so hard that her fingertips would turn white.

Until that day.

Having been bullied by the mother panther and humans since she was little, the little black panther cub, who seemed to have had her wild beast nature annihilated and had never known how to resist, had actually and suddenly let out a low and hoarse roar.

She could no longer bear the teasing and opened her mouth, revealing a mouthful of newly-sprouted milk teeth.

“Roar—”

She suddenly and fiercely, her fur bristling, bit down on the hand that had pushed her over.

The profligate was caught off guard and let out a cry of pain.

“You dead panther…”

The profligate raised his hand and haphazardly pushed the panther cub.

The panther cub was pushed into a roll, but the warning roar of a wild beast in her throat grew even more dangerous.

Her once clear and dazed, jade-green eyes were now sparkling with a sharp light, and she once again and with a “awoo,” pounced over, her momentum fierce.

But she was, after all, just a little panther cub whose fur had not yet fully grown.

After a brief struggle, the profligate easily and fiercely pressed the panther cub to the ground, and she could not move.

He said with a smug and provocative tone, “Bite me again?”

The people around were all laughing.

Just then, Bai Zhiwan stood up from the sofa.

She quietly pushed aside the crowd and held the panther cub by the scruff of her neck, and held her in her hand.

Then, under the burning gazes of everyone, she turned and walked out without a word.

A mocking voice came from behind. “Aiya, our A-Wan really can’t bear it. She feels sorry for her.”

“She was bullied even worse back then. It’s probably that the scene is too familiar, and her sad memories have been poked…”

Leaving the main residence, all the way to the old and broken old courtyard.

Closing the courtyard gate, Bai Zhiwan lowered her head to look at the panther cub in her arms.

Having just fought fiercely with a person, the panther cub’s fur was messy and disheveled, and one of her paws was also bleeding, and her jade-green eyes were staring at her with a dark look.

This panther cub is very smart, and she also holds a grudge.

She knows that she feeds her every day, so she doesn’t bite or scratch her.

And she also knows that she has always watched coolly in the past, so she is not close to her.

Bai Zhiwan did not mind the panther cub’s displeased low growl in her throat.

She raised her hand and gently smoothed the little black panther’s messy fur, and said seriously:

“Remember the feeling of resisting today.”

“Only then can you survive in this place.”

Entering the house, Bai Zhiwan carefully treated the wound on the panther cub’s paw.

Perhaps the wound was irritated and painful, for the panther cub whimpered in dissatisfaction and raised a paw to scratch Bai Zhiwan.

A long red mark instantly appeared on the woman’s fair hand, and it was shocking.

Bai Zhiwan’s brow did not even furrow, and she even curled her lips into a light laugh.

After she had finished treating the wound, she held the panther cub by the scruff of her neck and placed her in the nest she had prepared a month ago.

Her fingers, not too lightly and not too heavily, touched the dark, black, fluffy head, and she was chased and bitten by the panther cub’s fingertips.

She held down the little beast and, unhurriedly, wrapped a dark leopard-print collar around her fluffy neck, like a long-planned possession.

With a click, the collar was firmly fastened.

Like a certain fate.

“You can continue to hate me… but you are mine.”

The woman’s voice was as soft as an evening breeze blowing past a branch, and she bit out the words with an underlying force.

…

Late at night, Bai Zhiwan was sleeping soundly in her bed.

The panther cub was lying in a soft nest by the bed and raised her paws to paw at the collar around her neck.

In the past, every night, she would watch her mother hold her two cubs to sleep, and she herself would turn around and find a corner to curl up in, and she would always be on guard against being caught and teased by the humans.

But tonight, the panther cub smelled the woman’s clear fragrance and actually felt an unspeakable stability.

The moonlight entered the house.

The woman on the bed turned over in her sleep, and her hand unintentionally hung over the edge of the bed, and she relaxed and hung it by the side of the bed.

The panther cub followed the sound and looked up, and saw the woman’s snow-white hand swaying slightly in front of her, and a slender red mark was eye-catching.

In the past nearly two months, this hand had fed the panther cub a bottle every day.

And tonight, she had taken the panther cub from the crowd and had brought her home to gently treat her injured paw.

But, in the past, every time she had been bullied, this hand had done nothing.

The panther cub tilted her head in a daze.

She blinked her clear, jade-green eyes and, in the end, she took two steps and raised her uninjured, furry paw and carefully touched that hand.

The fingertips, which had originally been relaxed and hanging down, suddenly and with precision held her pink paw pad and gently rubbed it.

“Curious about me?”

The woman’s gentle voice was clear and gentle, as if she had not been asleep at all.

The panther cub’s pupils immediately became vertical, and her whole body was so embarrassed and angry that her fur bristled, and with a swoosh, she pulled back her paw.

***

Bai Zhiwan was very busy with work.

Ever since she had raised a little panther, she had tried her best to arrange some of her work at home.

After typing on the computer for a long time, Bai Zhiwan unintentionally looked up and saw that the panther cub was squatting elegantly in her nest, her pair of jade-green eyes staring at her with a dark look.

The moment their eyes met, the panther cub let out a growl and proudly turned her head away.

Bai Zhiwan chuckled lightly, her dark eyes as if holding a crescent of spring water.

She stood up from her desk and bent down to pick up the panther cub.

Just as she was about to check on the recovery of her paw, she suddenly heard a heavy kicking sound at the courtyard gate.

Bang, bang—

The courtyard gate, which had already been kicked until it was teetering, was as if it were about to fall over at any moment.

Bai Zhiwan was used to this.

She gently placed the panther cub back in her nest and, with an air of composure, went out to open the door.

“Bai Zhiwan, who gave you the nerve?” the visitor asked aggressively.

Bai Zhiwan blinked her eyes composedly, her gentle face pure and innocent. “What is it?”

The visitor narrowed his eyes and raised a hand to forcefully grab her collar. “Don’t pretend! That project was originally mine. How did it end up in Second Brother’s hands?!”

“Roar—”

The panther cub, who had run out after her, saw this and immediately let out a dissatisfied growl from a wild beast.

She lifted her head fiercely and, after gathering her strength, pounced on the human. She was clearly just a tiny thing whose teeth had not yet fully grown, but her momentum was extremely strong.

The person who was holding Bai Zhiwan’s collar subconsciously let go and couldn’t help but quickly take a step back.

“…Is this that little panther you’re raising?”

Perhaps feeling that he had lost face, the visitor, coming back to his senses, raised his foot and was about to kick.

Bai Zhiwan sensed the other’s intention and, before that, quickly bent down to pick up the bristling panther cub, but her own arm was accidentally grazed.

Her expression did not change, and she held the panther cub tightly.

The panther cub, who had never been willing to be held by her, was at this moment so well-behaved that she was temporarily meek and, in cooperation, curled into a ball of dark, black fluff.

Bai Zhiwan’s features were gentle, and she said to the person in front of her, “The project is still yours. I just sent you an email.”

After repeatedly confirming, the visitor finally breathed a sigh of relief, and his expression improved a little.

“I didn’t think you would make such a mistake.”

After speaking, he gave the little panther a dark look. “Two pitiful wretches, huddling together for warmth. It’s really so pitiful to see.”

That person left in a huff.

Click.

Bai Zhiwan raised a hand and closed the door.

The next second, the panther cub in her arms began to struggle, rebelliously refusing to be held by her any longer.

And so, she took the opportunity to squat down and put the panther cub down.

She pressed down and rubbed her head.

“Do you remember what that person looked like just now?”

“At the end of next month, when he’s kneeling here, Jiejie can let you step on him with your paws.”

Bai Zhiwan’s voice was gentle, but her words held a certain certain coolness.

“Roar—”

The panther cub did not know if she had understood, and she let out a low roar, her eyes fixed on the scratch on Bai Zhiwan’s wrist.

***

The old and broken courtyard had gradually become the panther cub’s playground.

In the afternoon.

She was lying on her back in a corner, her dark, black, fluffy belly exposed, and in the sunlight, a beautiful, dark leopard print was visible.

Her teeth, which were growing sharper and sharper, were gnawing on a toy that Bai Zhiwan had given her, and her nose was repeatedly sniffing the scent left by the woman’s fingertips—

A black panther’s sense of smell is extremely keen.

Even if the scent left behind was so faint it was almost non-existent, she could still sense it.

Creak.

The door was gently pushed open.

The panther cub paused and, with a sudden, she threw the toy she had been so fond of just now to the side, as if with disdain.

She turned over and, a tiny thing, stood in a corner with a noble and elegant air, and her jade-green eyes stared at the woman who had come in.

A dangerous growl of a black panther faintly came from her throat, and it was full of a distant coolness.

This human had not come home for three consecutive days.

Bai Zhiwan unhurriedly walked to the corner and, without any fear, and with a light and practiced ease, she held the scruff of the panther cub’s neck and picked her up.

The panther cub’s four furry paws were paddling in the air, and the low growl in her throat grew more and more dissatisfied.

Click.

Bai Zhiwan bent down and, with a light toss, she put the panther cub on the ground and turned to go to the kitchen to cut some meat.

The panther cub looked up at the woman’s back without a moment’s pause.

After a moment, while the woman was engrossed in her work, she approached with a noble panther’s gait and secretly gnawed on the woman’s pant leg.

Bai Zhiwan’s peripheral vision caught the little panther nuzzling around her, and later, she sneakily left, as if she had never been there.

A smile appeared in her eyes.

The basin was filled with fresh red raw meat, and Bai Zhiwan pushed it in front of the panther cub.

The panther cub proudly turned her head away and refused to eat.

“Are you angry?”

Bai Zhiwan curled her lips slightly and, reaching out her hand, she pushed the entire panther cub down and, with a practiced ease, rubbed her.

Her fingertips also leisurely pinched the panther’s furry ears.

The panther cub lifted her head with a cool and aloof air, and her two paws extended and waved in resistance.

Her mouth was also open, and she bared her sharp beast teeth.

Fierce and rebellious, as if she could not be touched at all, as if she was resisting this woman in every way.

But Bai Zhiwan suddenly chuckled lightly.

“If you’re so amazing, then don’t purr.”

The panther cub: “…”

She was staring with a pair of sharp, jade-green eyes, and the tips of her little beast teeth were also dangerously exposed.

But when she was being petted, the contented purr of a feline was like a motorcycle engine, and it echoed throughout the entire bedroom.