All My Colleagues Are Animals 16

Chapter 16

“Not necessarily. I’ll think about it.”

In response to her invitation, the beautiful boss gave a rather proud reply.

“Alright.” Ye Qingyu nodded, appearing to take her at her word.

On Friday afternoon, she cleaned her already tidy apartment once more, then opened her notes app and typed out a menu for hosting Boss Pei.

On Saturday morning, she went to the supermarket to buy fresh ingredients and also brought back two clusters of vibrant, dew-kissed scholar tree flowers, planning to make scholar flower pancakes for Boss Pei.

At 10:30 AM, with everything ready, she sent a message to Pei Rong: 【Boss Pei, have you finished considering?】

Pei Rong replied ten minutes later: 【The security guard won’t let me into your complex.】

The tone was familiarly sullen.

Ye Qingyu’s lips curved: 【I’ll come get you.】

Worried that Pei Rong had been waiting long, she left immediately.

On her way, she belatedly began to wonder. The security at her complex wasn’t strict; visitors could enter just by registering their names. How could Boss Pei have been stopped?

Arriving at the security booth, she saw the “security guard” Pei Rong had mentioned: a little black cat.

This little black cat had once been a stray in the complex for many years. Later, it seemed to have been adopted by the security guard, so it now stood watch at the booth with its owner every day.

At this moment, Ye Qingyu saw her beautiful boss standing outside the gate, a pair of cool sunglasses perched on her high nose, her red lips opening and closing as she said something.

The little black cat, squatting on the gate: “Meow meow meow.”

Pei Rong tilted her head. “So? You were adopted by a human, and I’m already raising a human.”

The little black cat meowed again, as if cursing, and raised a paw to scratch—

—when it was suddenly grabbed by the scruff of its fated neck and lifted up, its scratch meeting only empty air.

Ye Qingyu placed the little black cat to one side and looked at her beautiful boss, who had been arguing with it, unable to hold back a smile.

“Boss Pei, so this was the ‘security guard’ who was blocking you.”

As she spoke, she swiped her face to let Pei Rong through the gate.

Pei Rong tapped her sunglasses with a fingertip and let out a soft huff.

Upon entering the apartment, Ye Qingyu placed a new pair of slippers at Pei Rong’s feet. After straightening up, she held out a hand again. “Shall I put your bag aside for you?”

“It was a gift for you in the first place.” Pei Rong stuffed the bag she was holding into Ye Qingyu’s hands.

Inside the bag was a red panda doll, which she had asked Nian Qiu to make according to her, Pei the Red Panda’s, likeness.

The fur used to sew it was even her shed fur from this spring.

Ye Qingyu liked her, the red panda, so much, and was so clingy. Pei Rong had wanted to give her a doll to prevent the human from crying out of missing the red panda when she was home alone.

What a considerate master.

Hearing that it was a gift, Ye Qingyu’s eyes shone. “Can I look at it now?”

With Pei Rong’s permission, she took the soft, fluffy red panda doll out of the bag. She stroked it, unable to put it down, and said with pleasant surprise:

“It’s a red panda, it’s so cute.”

As she stroked it, her gaze swept over the red panda doll’s belly and saw a small, heart-shaped tuft of snow-white fur amidst the black fur.

Her heart skipped a beat, and her gaze sharpened.

Seeing the human’s smitten look, Pei Rong’s peach blossom eyes curved slightly.

Tsk, getting so happy just from petting a doll.

If I really let you rub my red panda belly in the future, wouldn’t you cry from happiness?

Pei Rong changed into her slippers with great pleasure, her gaze sweeping casually around.

The human’s nest was clean and tidy. It wasn’t large, but it was exquisitely and beautifully decorated.

“Boss Pei, please have a seat in the living room first. There’s fruit on the coffee table. I’ll go make lunch,” she heard the young woman say gently.

“…Mmm.”

Pei the Red Panda actually wanted to accompany Ye Qingyu while she cooked, but hearing the word “fruit,” she temporarily changed her mind.

She went to the living room and saw at a glance a plate of cleanly peeled, white mangosteens that looked like cat paws.

There were also translucent grapes and fragrant strawberries.

What’s going on?

Pei Rong pushed aside her sunglasses. Looking at the abundant fresh fruit on the table, her eyelashes trembled.

The human’s useless hands… seem to have suddenly become useful.

Could it be that eating pig’s trotters really can supplement one’s hands?

In her shock, the human brought over another plate of freshly cut apple slices.

This truly hit the little red panda right in the heart.

Pei Rong sat down on the sofa and first tasted a piece of apple. As she crunched down, the clear, sweet juice seemed to seep into her heart, and she squinted her eyes in satisfaction.

Looking down at the woman’s expression, Ye Qingyu couldn’t help but smile.

Boss Pei is really like a red panda, satisfied just from eating a sweet apple.

It made one uncontrollably have the urge to pet her head.

She reined in her blasphemous thought and turned to go cook in the kitchen.

Today’s menu was lychee-stewed shrimp, sweet and sour pork with pineapple, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, and winter melon soup—mostly sweet dishes.

There were also scholar flower pancakes for dessert.

The scholar flowers were bought from a street vendor, freshly picked from a scholar tree this morning, their tender white petals still dotted with dew.

She didn’t need many flowers for the pancakes, so Ye Qingyu had only bought two clusters. Now, she carefully washed the flowers, set them aside to drain, and then turned to work at the other stove.

Wearing her red panda apron, she was so absorbed in her cooking that she didn’t notice a reddish-brown ball of fluff sneak silently into the kitchen.

A moment later, that fluffy, large white ear slowly perked up.

Sizzle—

With oil in the hot pan, Ye Qingyu held a spatula in one hand and a plate of raw meat in the other, waiting for the oil to reach the perfect temperature.

And at that moment, behind her, a wicked, furry paw reached for the scholar flowers.

Pei the Red Panda’s beloved scholar tree hadn’t bloomed yet, and she had been craving scholar flowers for a long time.

Therefore, she decided to make a sacrifice and do some quality control for Ye Qingyu by tasting the scholar flowers on the counter first.

The little red panda stood up on her hind legs, stretching her paw forward, straining so hard that her large tail trembled lightly in the air—

—and successfully scooped up a cluster of flowers.

So fragrant and sweet.

After finishing the flowers in her paw while leaning against the counter, she twitched her ears and looked up at the counter again.

…After eating two clusters in a row, Pei the Red Panda licked the fur on her paw, still wanting more.

Forget it, I’ll leave the rest for the human.

She thought generously, then stood up on her hind legs, gripping the edge of the counter, wanting to see if her crime scene was obvious.

The next second, her ears twitched, and she froze—

The plate was empty!

…

Ye Qingyu worked efficiently, and the several dishes were ready quickly.

Boss Pei also thoughtfully came into the kitchen to help her carry the dishes and set the chopsticks, without any of the airs of a young lady who had never done manual labor.

“Boss Pei, go have a seat in the dining room. The food is ready,” Ye Qingyu said. “I’ll just make the scholar flower pancakes, it’ll be quick.”

As she spoke, she turned to look at the counter behind her to the right, and her pupils suddenly constricted. She stood there, stunned.

“…”

Ye Qingyu’s lips moved, her eyes full of disbelief. “Where did my scholar flowers go?”

She had clearly washed the flowers and left them to drain on the plate. Now the plate was completely empty, without even a single petal left.

Pei the Red Panda’s peach blossom eyes flickered. “…Maybe a small animal got into the house?”

Ye Qingyu paused.

Her apartment had never had mice. Could it be that a small bird had gotten in?

Seeing the human frozen in place, her face suddenly a little pale, Pei Rong guessed what Ye Qingyu was thinking.

She walked a few steps closer and raised a hand to soothingly pet the human’s hair. “It couldn’t be a bird. Otherwise, it would be flying around, and we would have noticed it right away.”

…That’s true.

Ye Qingyu blinked. She caught the clear scent of bamboo leaves on Boss Pei, as well as—a faint, sweet fragrance of scholar flowers.

Her breath hitched. She subconsciously glanced over, and the woman’s stunningly gentle face came into view, looking so innocent.

Ye Qingyu felt a little self-reproach.

To think for a moment that Boss Pei was the one who ate them… what an excessive assumption.

“I can’t make the scholar flower pancakes anymore. I’ll make them for you next time,” she said. “This is so strange.”

Looking at the human’s clear eyes, Pei the Red Panda decided that once the scholar tree in the courtyard bloomed, she would personally compensate Ye Qingyu with many clusters of flowers.

After dishing out the rice, the two sat facing each other at the small, exquisite dining table.

“Would Boss Pei like some juice or wine?” Ye Qingyu asked.

Pei Rong tilted her head. “Wine?”

“I have some low-alcohol white wine here. It’s sweet.”

Hearing the word “grape,” Pei Rong’s peach blossom eyes lit up. A fruit she liked, no matter what kind of drink it was made into, should be delicious, especially since Ye Qingyu said it was “sweet.”

The translucent white wine filled the glass, and Pei Rong smelled a sweet aroma.

She squinted her eyes and took a tentative sip.

She felt a rich sweetness soak her taste buds, accompanied by a slightly tingling sensation on her tongue.

“Do you like it?” Ye Qingyu asked.

Pei the Red Panda finished the rest of the wine in a few gulps and licked the corner of her lips. “Ye Qingyu, I want more.”

Ye Qingyu observed the woman’s eyes for a moment before pouring another half glass. “Boss Pei, are you feeling dizzy? Maybe you should eat some food first?”

Pei the Red Panda didn’t listen. She first finished the half glass with relish, then leaned back comfortably. “Not dizzy.”

She blinked her peach blossom eyes, which were already starting to mist over, and her fingertips caressed the reddened skin of her chin. “It’s just, Ye Qingyu, why do you have two heads?”

She said this slowly, feeling a faint itch suddenly appear on the top of her head, as if something were sprouting out.

She raised a hand to rub it, but what she felt was a springy, soft, and fluffy touch—a pair of perked-up, furry ears.

Pei Rong’s misty peach blossom eyes sharpened.

How did my original form’s ears pop out!