Chapter 15
At five o’clock in the afternoon, Ye Qingyu finally woke up smoothly.
When she opened her eyes, her mind felt heavy and muddled, as if she had a hangover, with no sense of what year it was.
Her mood was also one of melancholy loss.
“Ye Qingyu, you’re awake!”
“Are you still dizzy?”
“Do you want some water?!”
A sudden bustle touched her ears.
She blinked, and her vision gradually cleared. Several colorful, fluffy heads came into view.
Her colleagues, whom she had only just met, were gathered around her hospital bed. The moment she woke up, they cheered and busied themselves. Several stray cowlicks popped up excitedly from their heads, and for a moment, the ward looked like a field of colorful reeds.
Ye Qingyu stared at the scene, a little stunned. A strange emotional tide slowly rose within her, rippling outwards, finally overflowing into a gentle curve at the corners of her lips.
“Thank you.”
She took the warm water handed to her by Jin Can and took a few sips to moisten her throat.
Squeak— The ward door was pushed open.
Ye Qingyu looked up and saw Boss Pei walk in with a doctor in a white coat.
Her heart suddenly trembled.
She stared at Pei Rong’s face without blinking. What she had lost in her dream seemed to be recovered in this instant, and the hollow feeling in her heart was completely filled.
However, when Pei Rong looked over at her, her gaze paused for a moment, then slowly moved away.
Judging by those misty peach blossom eyes and her slightly pursed red lips, the woman was clearly in another one of her moods.
Ye Qingyu felt rather innocent in all this.
I’ve been unconscious in bed this whole time. How did I manage to make the young miss unhappy?
“How are you feeling?”
The doctor came over for a consultation, and Ye Qingyu had to temporarily pull her attention back.
After a few words, the doctor said, “Your fever has gone down, and there’s nothing seriously wrong with your body. You can be discharged directly and go home to rest.”
Ye Qingyu nodded. “Thank you, doctor.”
She thought that was the end of it, but then the doctor suddenly had a strange expression. She lowered her voice and reminded her earnestly:
“Don’t take advantage of your youth to engage in activities your body can’t handle. It’s okay to say no to your partner’s excessive demands.”
Ye Qingyu suspected the little bird had scared her silly. She actually couldn’t quite understand the doctor’s orders.
After completing the discharge procedures, everyone rode the tricycle back to the studio together.
It was dusk, and the tricycle sped along under a sky full of pink and purple sunset clouds. The cool evening breeze was becoming more and more refreshing and pleasant.
The slowly descending night softened everyone’s facial features and seemed to silently dissolve the farce of the morning.
Ye Qingyu looked up and met the gaze of the black-haired colleague directly across from her. The young woman’s face was still deep-set, but it lacked the morning’s aggression.
Her jade-green eyes flickered, sometimes looking at her, sometimes looking away, as if wanting to say something but hesitating.
Next to the black-haired colleague was the colleague with beige hair. Ye Qingyu remembered her name was Nian Qiu.
Nian Qiu was often not at her desk, so they hadn’t had much contact over the past few days.
Now, as her gaze inadvertently swept past, her heart suddenly lurched—Nian Qiu’s hair color was identical to the feathers of the little bird that had scared her into fainting today.
The moment this thought arose, a thin layer of sweat broke out on her back, feeling cool in the evening breeze.
…
“Don’t leave work just yet. Sister Rong said you should have a nourishing dinner first, then take the tricycle back.”
After saying that, Luo Bian turned and went into the kitchen.
“…Got it,” Ye Qingyu replied a beat later.
Someone is outwardly ignoring me, but in reality, has carefully arranged everything.
A warmth spread through her chest. She took a few steps into the small building’s living room and looked up to see the deep night outside the French windows, the purple sandalwood swing moving gently with the breeze, and the delicate spring flowers rustling.
Her gaze moved further inside, and she saw the warm, bright light of the room softly illuminating the beautiful, sulking boss on the sofa.
All of this seemed to vaguely form a kind of tangible stability, making it impossible for her to look away.
Crunch. Pei the Red Panda bit into a piece of apple with a crisp sound.
She was not happy.
Today, she, a little red panda, had been held and pushed around like a plush toy by Ye Qingyu. Her fur had even been used to wipe away tears, forcing her to spend half the day licking her fur alone until her tongue was tired.
And the result? Ye Qingyu was pining for her former master in her dreams.
Then, the doctor had tactfully reprimanded her, saying she had done this and that to the unconscious Ye Qingyu, only caring about her own pleasure.
She, Pei the Red Panda, had never, ever, been wronged like this!
At this thought, Pei the Red Panda’s fur was on the verge of puffing up again.
Crunch. She took a fierce bite of the apple, as if biting into the human’s neck.
I will never pay any attention to that unforgivable human again.
“Boss Pei.”
The sofa sank a little as the human sat down beside her.
Pei Rong’s apple-eating movements paused, then she continued to chew, giving her the cold shoulder.
There was no way she was going to look at Ye Qingyu.
Those features that perfectly hit her, a red panda’s, aesthetic standards, that face as delectable as fresh, tender bamboo leaves—they could easily make a red panda lose her head.
“Boss Pei, are you angry at me?” the human asked softly.
The young woman’s clear, gentle voice was as soft as ever, and even held a hint of caution, which was quite pleasant to the little red panda’s ears.
Pei Rong still didn’t speak, slowly swallowing the sweet apple in her mouth.
Don’t fall for it. This is how the fickle human coaxed her previous master too.
“Is it because I fainted for a day and held up everyone’s work?” Ye Qingyu began to earnestly reflect on her actions, saying softly, “You can give me all the tasks that were supposed to be assigned today. I’ll work on them tonight.”
Pei the Red Panda’s eyelashes trembled.
This foolish human’s train of thought is completely off track. She hasn’t said a single thing I want to hear.
Seeing the woman remain silent, Ye Qingyu began to feel a little uneasy.
In her bewilderment, she heard Boss Pei finally deign to speak. “Ye Qingyu, have you been raised before?”
What a strange question.
Ye Qingyu froze, then subconsciously replied, “I have.”
Pei the Red Panda’s peach blossom eyes narrowed. Suddenly, the apple in her mouth didn’t taste sweet anymore.
If she were in her original form right now, her large, snow-white, furry ears would be drooping.
“My mother raised me. After I graduated and started working, I began to raise myself.”
Although she didn’t know why this question was important, Ye Qingyu still answered seriously.
Pei the Red Panda paused.
Her lips parted slightly, the corners stained with apple juice, revealing a sliver of her sharp, white canines. She looked unusually dazed.
Ye Qingyu saw that the corners of the woman’s lips seemed to be stained with juice. She casually grabbed a tissue from the table, her hand subconsciously moving to wipe it—
Her movement froze mid-air.
Where on earth did this instinct to serve the other person come from?
She changed the direction of her hand and gently placed the tissue in Pei Rong’s palm, then asked with great patience, “Is there anything else Boss Pei would like to know?”
Pei the Red Panda licked the corner of her lips, once again tasting the clear sweetness of the apple.
It was still her favorite flavor.
She leaned back against the sofa and, feigning indifference, continued to confirm, “So when you were unconscious this afternoon, you were dreaming of your mother?”
“Was I talking in my sleep?” Ye Qingyu pondered for a few seconds. “Then it must have been my mother.”
After all, in her life so far, there had been no other important presence.
Pei the Red Panda discreetly curled her lips, feeling a faint sense of pleasure bubbling up inside her.
“So that’s how it is.”
So Ye Qingyu is only her, a single red panda’s, human.
Ye Qingyu’s gaze swept over the woman’s subtly curved lips, and a smile appeared in her own eyes as she answered seriously, “Mhm.”
Pei Rong liked basking in Ye Qingyu’s focused gaze. It made her feel lazy all over, like she was lying on the scholar tree on a spring day, the sun warming every inch of her fur, dry and warm.
She was a really easy-to-please red panda.
After finishing the last piece of apple, Pei Rong said casually, “The doctor said you need to rest. You can take a paid vacation for the next two days. It connects with the weekend, so you can come back to work next Monday.”
“Ah,” Ye Qingyu said, slightly surprised. “A four-day vacation?”
Her beautiful boss was admirably generous and considerate.
Hearing Ye Qingyu’s surprised question, Pei Rong let out a satisfied hum in her heart.
I knew it. Ye Qingyu likes red pandas so much, she definitely can’t bear not seeing me for four consecutive days.
Is she about to cry from anxiety?
So, she turned her head to look at Ye Qingyu, tilted her head slightly, and said nobly, as if bestowing a gift:
“I grant you permission to invite me to your place on Sunday.”
Ye Qingyu paused slightly. Boss Pei’s tone was so familiar.
Just like “peel me some mangosteens” and “not unless you let me pet you,” it carried a hint of spoiled imperiousness.
Seeing that Ye Qingyu didn’t answer immediately, Pei Rong blinked her peach blossom eyes, a little confused.
Could it be that Ye Qingyu thinks Sunday is too far away?
What a clingy human.
Forget it. She’s the only human I’m raising. It’s fine to spoil her a little.
“Then you can invite me over on Saturday.”
Pei the Red Panda generously amended her offer.
Under the woman’s direct gaze from her peach blossom eyes, Ye Qingyu smiled. Finally, she went with the flow and invited, “Boss Pei, would you like to come over to my place on Saturday?”
Pei the Red Panda’s eyes crinkled with pleasure, but she played hard to get.
“Not necessarily. I’ll think about it.”
Ye Qingyu: “…”
