Chapter 11
The air fell silent for a moment.
Outside the window, the sun was clearly warm and gentle, but inside the room, it was as if a sudden storm had hit. The woman’s beautiful peach blossom eyes were instantly drenched, the shimmering light within them shattering.
Ye Qingyu’s heart trembled at the sight, and she subconsciously took a step forward.
“Ye Qingyu!”
Pei the Red Panda’s hands were still held high beside her reddened ears in a gesture of surrender. She staggered back another step, pleading pitifully with her human, “The lightning, get the lightning away from me…”
Ye Qingyu’s pupils constricted. Only then did she belatedly realize that the culprit was the electric bug zapper in her hand.
“…” She immediately rushed out the door, casually tossing the bug zapper against the wall outside the office, then returned with light, slow steps.
She also raised her hands toward Pei Rong in a gesture of surrender, showing that her hands were empty, her eyes filled with sincere reassurance.
“Don’t be afraid, Boss Pei. I’ve already thrown it out.”
Pei Rong’s chest heaved rapidly. She stared, unblinking, into the human’s warm and gentle eyes, as if drawing something from them.
After a moment, her emotions slowly calmed a little, and her surrendered hands belatedly dropped to her sides.
Her legs felt a little weak as she leaned against the desk. She bit her red lip, not speaking for a moment, a beautiful crimson flush spreading from her cheeks to her neck.
Ye Qingyu felt that she must have unintentionally touched upon a hidden wound of Boss Pei’s, and she couldn’t help but feel guilty.
Seeing the woman, who was usually all smiles, now leaning weakly and dazed against the desk, her heart ached with a faint pain.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose.”
She said in the gentlest voice possible, “Boss Pei, let me help you sit down first.”
The woman still didn’t speak, her peach blossom eyes misty as she looked at her, but she didn’t stop her slow approach.
Ye Qingyu tentatively placed a hand on Pei Rong’s slender shoulder. After a few seconds’ pause, her other hand went to support the woman’s other arm.
She could feel that Boss Pei’s entire body was limp. With just a gentle nudge, the woman leaned weakly into her embrace.
Along with the soft touch of her body, the sweet and delectable scent of bamboo leaves filled her nose.
Ye Qingyu paid no mind to the chaotic thumping in her own chest as she carefully helped the woman to her office chair.
Once seated, Boss Pei was like a small animal that had returned to its nest. She gripped the armrests, her body curling up slightly, having found a measure of security.
Her still-misty peach blossom eyes looked over, her lovely brows knitted together. Then she spoke in a sullen, almost accusatory tone, “Ye Qingyu, I’m not playing with you anymore.”
Ye Qingyu felt a distinct hollowness in her heart.
She didn’t respond immediately but pulled two tissues from the desk nearby, trying to hand them to Pei Rong.
But Pei Rong’s hand shrank back uncooperatively, clearly not wanting to take them, just staring at her intently.
In the blink of an eye, a moist tear trickled down from her thick lashes.
It was like a crystalline dewdrop falling from a glistening spring flower at dawn, possessing a kind of shattered beauty.
Ye Qingyu stared at the woman, feeling a rare sense of helplessness.
She inexplicably wanted to wipe Boss Pei’s tears, but reason told her it would be too forward.
As she struggled, she saw Boss Pei lift her chin, where tears had gathered. Even her voice was wet, her tone full of dissatisfaction. “Ye Qingyu, it’s already at my chin.”
The blatant urgency in her words made Ye Qingyu’s heart skip a beat. The tears seemed to have flowed into her own chest, leaving an itchy, numb feeling.
“Oh.”
She fumbled with the tissue and moved closer, gently dabbing at Boss Pei’s jade-like, warm and delicate chin. She followed the trail of tears up her cheek, wiping the woman’s flushed eye corners and damp lashes.
Boss Pei’s words said she didn’t want to play with her anymore, but now she was cooperatively tilting her head up, lazily letting herself be served.
Sometimes she would squint her eyes in comfort, her lashes trembling slightly.
Watching this pampered, young-lady-like demeanor, Ye Qingyu felt as if a small animal’s fluffy tail were tickling her heart.
And… she seemed to be a little too practiced at this.
She had clearly never served anyone before.
After carefully wiping her dry, Ye Qingyu crumpled the tear-soaked tissue in her palm and apologized earnestly.
“I’m sorry, Boss Pei. I didn’t know you were scared. Please don’t be angry.”
“I’ll throw the bug zapper into a faraway street trash can in a little while.”
Pei Rong frowned and immediately stressed, “I was not scared.”
“…” A hint of a smile accidentally spilled from Ye Qingyu’s eyes.
She verbally agreed, indicating that she understood.
Only then did Pei Rong let out a slightly satisfied, soft huff.
“So, will you still play with me?” Ye Qingyu asked, her eyes lowered.
She felt that she cared a great deal about this question—
It wasn’t that she was worried about losing this relaxed, 40k-a-month job, but simply that she was worried Pei Rong really wouldn’t want to talk to her anymore.
…
“Honey, tell Mommy, are you being isolated?”
“No, I’m the one who doesn’t want to talk to them.”
“Sweetie, why do you never make friends?”
“I just want to play by myself.”
…
Her past, which could be described as reclusive, floated into her mind. Ye Qingyu belatedly realized that her current reaction was a bit sudden and abnormal.
After all, she had only just met Boss Pei a few days ago and hadn’t had much contact with her.
How could she be rushing forward like this, her emotions so easily hooked by the other woman’s every word and action, as if she were her dog?
No. I’m not, I’m not being her dog.
She shook her head, trying to clear the messy thoughts from her mind, and saw the woman raise a hand to rub her ear, slowly turning her head away.
“I’m not playing with you.”
“…Oh.”
Ye Qingyu’s ears drooped.
If she were to look in a mirror, she would discover that her expression right now was almost identical to Jin Can’s sad puppy-dog eyes when she was pining for her master.
“Then, Boss Pei, I’ll head back to my desk.”
She still had her usual gentle and calm demeanor, even a habitual bright smile on her lips, but the gaze hidden by her lowered lashes was a little dim.
Pei Rong watched as the young woman left, still as straight and tall as a small tree. But the leaves of the little tree didn’t seem as perky as before; they looked a little wilted.
Her peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly.
“Ye Qingyu.”
The young woman immediately stopped and looked back.
“…I’m only not playing with you today.”
The moment Pei Rong finished, she immediately corrected herself:
“I’m only not playing with you this afternoon.”
She saw the human’s eyes suddenly brighten.
After the human left, Pei Rong transformed into a red panda and climbed onto the office windowsill.
She lifted a paw to pull open the screen, then, after gathering her strength, leaped nimbly onto a branch of the scholar tree.
Climbing skillfully down the branches, she reached her favorite spot among the intersecting limbs and slowly lay down. She hugged her large tail with her paws, curling herself into a fluffy ball.
She curled tighter, and tighter still, as if to completely hide herself from the world. That way, the little red panda would no longer be found by any danger.
A low “whimper” escaped. The brilliant sunlight shone on Pei the Red Panda’s reddish-brown fur, but the warmth couldn’t dispel the uncontrollable trembling that shook her.
