All My Colleagues Are Animals 24p1

Chapter 24 p1

“You know, right? We’re into BDSM.”

The moment those words fell, Ye Qingyu’s brain instantly crashed.

Her thoughts scattered like willow catkins in April, drifting all the way from the meaning of life to the origin of the universe.

“Ye Qingyu?”

After a long while, the woman’s call seemed to come from a distant place, trembling as it gently touched her eardrums.

Ye Qingyu’s eyes slowly moved, and she managed to come back to her senses.

At this moment, the elegant private room of the teahouse was filled with the clear fragrance of bamboo leaves.

Her beautiful boss with the long, reddish-brown curls had a hand grabbing her by the collar, forcing her to lean forward and lower her head slightly, like a gesture of meek submission.

The woman had just said something absolutely world-shattering, yet her peach blossom eyes, so full of spring, showed a contradictory purity and innocence.

“Ye Qingyu, why aren’t you answering me?” she asked, tilting her head unhappily.

“Answer what?” Ye Qingyu’s throat moved, her voice a little hoarse when she spoke.

“Answer whether you know or not.”

Pei Rong blinked and, with great reluctance, repeated herself. “We’re into BDSM.”

“…” Ye Qingyu’s heart stuttered.

So I didn’t mishear her!

“I… I didn’t know.”

The tips of Ye Qingyu’s ears flushed crimson. Her heart pounded against her ribs, and her breathing became a little difficult. “When did that start?”

Wait!

How could I answer like that?

Ye Qingyu realized what nonsense she had just spouted. Her chest tightened, and she quickly shook her head.

“No, what I mean is…”

She took a deep breath, finally managing to wrestle some reason and clarity from the chaos. Then she raised a hand to grip the woman’s slender, white wrist, gently pulling it away to rescue her collar from Boss Pei’s grasp.

The unrestrained posture finally allowed her to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Boss Pei, we are not in that kind of relationship.”

The young woman pushed her hand away, breaking free from her control, her beautiful face showing a righteous and solemn expression.

And so, those words of denial, upon reaching Pei the Red Panda’s ears, sounded like this—

“You don’t have to raise me anymore. I’ve taken a liking to that fox, Tu Shanyue. I’ll be packing my things and leaving in a bit. From now on, I’ll only peel mangosteens and cut apples for the fox, and I’ll also dry her fur and paws, and rub her ears and belly. I’ll even change my phone wallpaper to a picture of a cute fox’s back…”

Pei the Red Panda’s usually lazy peach blossom eyes instantly widened. The tips of her sharp canines were unconsciously exposed, and she looked utterly incredulous.

Is this how Ye Qingyu “loves red pandas the most”?

To have her soul stolen by a single glance at a fox, and to be unwilling to even peel mangosteens for a red panda anymore.

She was stunned for a moment, then her lashes trembled, and a misty haze gradually filled her peach blossom eyes, a hint of moisture seeping from the crimson corners.

She pursed her lips, took a soft breath, and turned her head away. “Go on, then. I won’t stop you.”

Pei the Red Panda is a very proud red panda.

To have fallen for a fickle human, for a red panda to have misplaced her sincere feelings—I will not beg her to stay!

I’ll go and raise eighteen humans just to show Ye Qingyu. One to peel mangosteens, one to cut apples, one to…

Seeing the corners of the woman’s eyes suddenly turn red, her thick lashes glistening with moisture, Ye Qingyu’s heart felt as if it had been struck by something, a sharp pain shooting through it.

And yet, it also felt so soft that she could agree to anything.

For a moment, she had no time to dwell on Boss Pei’s shocking words. She unconsciously held her breath, reached for a tissue from the table, and gently pressed it into Pei Rong’s hand.

At the same time, she observed the woman’s expression and asked in a soft, quiet voice, “Go where? Stop what?”

Pei the Red Panda, having been betrayed by the bad woman, refused to cooperate and pushed the tissue away.

Her throat caught, and then she said with an unsteady breath, “Aren’t you going to peel mangosteens for Tu Shanyue?”

“!”

Ye Qingyu’s eyes flew open.

How did she come to that conclusion! Her beautiful boss seems to have a truly unique train of thought.

But, she had finally understood what the woman was upset about. She explained seriously:

“Boss Pei, I truly have never had any thoughts of job-hopping. The reason I didn’t reject Miss Tu right away was because I was trying to phrase my words carefully. After all, you two are going to be partners, and I was worried that if my answer wasn’t tactful enough, it would affect the atmosphere of the conversation.”

Pei the Red Panda listened without a word, her ears twitching slightly.

The glistening tears that had gathered earlier spilled from her eyes, trickling down her flushed cheeks. She looked very pitiful, like a delicate spring flower wilted by a sudden downpour.

Ye Qingyu watched her, feeling an indescribable emotion wash over her heart, leaving a trail of itching and numbness wherever it went.

She was completely helpless against the young miss.

She let out a soft sigh, gently placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder, and turned her body a little.

With the other hand, she held the tissue that had just been rejected and carefully dabbed at the woman’s wet cheeks and her chin, which was dotted with crystalline teardrops.

It was a service performed with more peace of mind and practiced ease than the last time in the office.

“These past few weeks, I’ve had a very pleasant time with you and our colleagues. I really hope to continue working at Velvet Bamboo Studio for a long time.”

She said softly as she dabbed.

Pei the Red Panda remained aloof and silent, but she obediently tilted her chin up to have her tears wiped, closing her eyes like a small animal being soothed.

In her line of sight was the young woman’s lovely, delectable face, just inches away. On her cheek was the earnest and gentle touch of her fingertips. Pei the Red Panda’s melancholic heart felt as if it were being caressed by a gentle spring breeze, gradually relaxing.

It seemed she had misunderstood. The human hadn’t transferred her affections to the fox.

After a moment of silence, Pei the Red Panda finally spoke, her tone a little awkward. “Then you’ll still peel mangosteens for me?”

The human, without a second thought: “I will.”

Pei the Red Panda asked again, “And cut apples?”

The human nodded seriously. “I will.”

Pei the Red Panda also asked, “Then will you change your phone wallpaper?”

The human said with great sincerity, “I really like the wallpaper Boss Pei sent me. It’s very cute.”

Pei the Red Panda’s ears twitched. She felt her mood gradually being filled to the brim.

It seemed the human was still her, one single red panda’s, human.

She crossed her arms. Her eyes and the tip of her nose were clearly still red, but her expression had changed from her previous dejection back to her usual proud nonchalance.

“Then aren’t we into BDSM?”

One-on-one, a master training a puppy, the puppy obeying the master’s commands.

That’s what a snippet she had hastily browsed online had said.

Ye Qingyu’s eyelashes trembled.

How did the topic return to that R-rated word!

Could it be that her beautiful boss, surfing a 2G internet speed with a 5G signal, has misunderstood the meaning of BDSM?

She crumpled the tear-soaked tissue in her palm and, after a few seconds of hesitation, said cautiously:

“We are indeed not in that kind of relationship. You… you have never abused me.”

Pei the Red Panda blinked her peach blossom eyes, the confusion within them looking very clear. “What abuse? I pay you a salary to raise you, I’m good to you, and you’re only good to me…”

Ye Qingyu’s brow lifted slightly. “This is your understanding of BDSM?”

Pei the Red Panda said with certainty, “That’s what the internet said.”

Someone on the internet had said that eating sugar wasn’t entirely bad for red pandas either.

Therefore, Pei the Red Panda felt that there were many good people on the internet, and what they said was true.

Ye Qingyu couldn’t help but laugh.

The anxiety that had been clutching at her heart for so long suddenly eased.

Boss Pei’s terrifying internet surfing skills… how is she like a little animal that’s not quite familiar with human society?

“That’s not how it’s used,” Ye Qingyu corrected tactfully. “BDSM is… well, a relationship that in some ways involves abuse. The content on the internet is a mix of true and false. Boss Pei can’t believe everything.”

Pei the Red Panda pondered for a moment, then, with her strength, grasped the main point. “So when you denied me just now, it was because you think I’m good to you?”

Meeting the woman’s glistening peach blossom eyes, Ye Qingyu curved her lips and said in a soft voice, “You could understand it that way.”

This time, Pei the Red Panda was completely at ease.

The misunderstanding resolved, a hint of pleasure appeared in her brow, and she lazily licked the tip of her teeth.

Human good, internet bad.

Her beautiful boss’s long, reddish-brown curls were still like a shedding little animal’s—curly, fluffy, and not quite tamed. A bristling cowlick, which had been standing straight up, now gradually went limp along with its owner’s relaxed mood.

Ye Qingyu felt an inexplicable itch in her heart watching this.

Boss Pei is really like a red panda—baring her teeth and claws when angry, putting on a big show, but actually very easy to coax… She had the blasphemous urge to pet her head.

Her fingers, hanging by her side, twitched slightly, but in the end, she reined in the unreasonable impulse.

***

Ever since finishing her discussion with Tu Shanyue, Pei the Red Panda’s life had become busy.

Just as now, during a time when she should have been sleeping sweetly on the scholar tree, Pei the Red Panda was still diligently working in her office—

—eating the mangosteens her human had peeled for her while on the phone with her animal friends.

“Don’t worry, our animal hospital will definitely support you. Just as you said, we’ll open a special column in the magazine, with each issue providing common knowledge about small animals’ physiology, as well as a rescue hotline…”

Pei the Red Panda first slowly swallowed a piece of sweet mangosteen before replying with pleasure, “Then it’s a deal.”

“What are you eating?” the animal doctor on the other end of the line asked, doing a spot check.

Pei the Red Panda paused. She looked at the white mangosteen in her paw and blinked guiltily. “…Bamboo leaves.”

“You’d better be,” the doctor said earnestly. “Red pandas can’t consume too much sugar. It’s bad for their stomachs. Don’t come to me for another shot next time you have a tummy ache…”

Pei the Red Panda hesitated for a few seconds, but this was what Ye Qingyu had carefully peeled for her.

So, the last piece of mangosteen still went into her mouth. She ate it with satisfaction and rubbed her belly. “Mhm, mhm.”

“Also, it’s spring now. You should be approaching your mating season soon. Remember to be careful and have less contact with other small animals…”

“Oh, right, didn’t you raise a human? You should avoid contact with her starting from today as well.”

“A red panda nearing its mating season is too fragile, and humans are especially dangerous. You should just obediently sleep on that precious scholar tree of yours and avoid going out…”

Having eaten and drunk her fill, Pei the Red Panda was drowsy. She lay on her office chair, her large tail swaying listlessly, her fluffy head nodding.

In the end, she fell asleep in the warm sunlight, a small sliver of her pink tongue unconsciously sticking out. She hadn’t heard a single word of the doctor’s nagging instructions and reminders.

“Hello? Little Capable One, are you listening?”

“…”

Beep— The person on the other end hung up helplessly.

***

Saturday.

Ye Qingyu woke up early out of habit.

She went for a slow run for a few kilometers in the gentle morning spring breeze, then came home to shower and change, feeling completely refreshed.

She made herself a whole-wheat sandwich and paired it with a glass of milk, then carried the plate to the living room to watch TV.

The local morning news was playing on the screen:

“It is reported that a sea otter has gone missing without reason from the aquarium at B-City Wildlife Park. The zoo is currently taking this matter very seriously and is conducting a full-scale search…”

She finished her sandwich while watching. By the time she tilted her head back to drink her milk, the channel had already moved on to the next news story:

“A young woman, soaking wet, single-handedly broke into a movie press conference. As she was being carried away by security, she was shouting for her mother…”

After finishing breakfast, Ye Qingyu got up, took her plate to the kitchen, and washed it carefully.

The sound of running water covered the sound from the TV:

“And now for the weather report. B-City will experience its first heavy rainstorm since the beginning of spring today. The meteorological observatory has already issued an orange warning for thunderstorms…”

…

When Pei the Red Panda woke up on the scholar tree, the tip of her nose was covered by something soft, carrying a hint of sweetness.

She twitched her nose, groggily raised a paw to brush it away, and, upon closer inspection, found that it was a scholar flower petal.

The red panda paused, immediately released her large tail, scrambled up, and looked up—

The spring breeze was blowing, and strings of flawless white scholar flowers were dancing lightly on the branches like fluttering butterflies. The crystalline morning dew reflected the sunlight, sparkling like tiny diamonds.

Pei the Red Panda’s precious scholar tree had bloomed overnight.

The refreshing fragrance filled the air. She sniffed it contentedly, then suddenly remembered the two clusters of scholar flowers that she had eaten last time, preventing Ye Qingyu from making the scholar flower pancakes.

Her large, furry, scholar-flower-white ears immediately and slowly perked up.

She climbed down from the tree, took out her phone, and called Ye Qingyu.

The other end picked up instantly. The young woman’s clear, gentle voice, accompanied by the fragrance of scholar flowers, was particularly pleasant. “Boss Pei? Good morning.”

Pei Rong looked up at the scholar flowers. “Ye Qingyu, my scholar flowers have bloomed.”

Ye Qingyu said, not understanding, “Mhm?”

Pei the Red Panda licked her teeth. “I grant you permission to invite me to your place now.”

It wasn’t that she was craving scholar flower pancakes, but that it was a red panda’s nature not to like being indebted. They always returned what they borrowed.

Ye Qingyu paused slightly, then suddenly recalled their last visit, which had ended so ambiguously.

As long as we don’t drink, there shouldn’t be any problems this time…

She chuckled softly. “Perfect timing. I bought some very sweet grapes this morning. I cordially invite Boss Pei to my place to try them.”

“Permission granted,” Pei the Red Panda said with pleasure.

After hanging up, the red panda nimbly climbed up the tree. Her furry paws scrambled on the branches, her large tail held high behind her.

It took a while, but she earnestly picked many clusters of beautiful scholar flowers for her human.

She was tempted while picking but managed to resist eating them.

She had to save room for the scholar flower pancakes.

…