Chapter 46
“Didn’t you say you loved red pandas the most?”
The red panda in her arms’ eyes suddenly grew misty, as if drenched by a spring rain. Her large, fluffy ears were also half-lowered, her whole being looking pitiful, fragile, and melancholic.
—All because she wanted to be petted.
Ye Qingyu stared, captivated, an itch sweeping through her chest as if filled by a spring breeze.
“I love…”
Her voice was hoarse when she spoke. She paused, then continued to coax the sullen little red panda, “I love Pei the Red Panda the most.”
“…”
One of Pei the Red Panda’s droopy ears slowly perked up.
Her pink tongue lightly licked her teeth, her gaze fixed on the human, as if seriously contemplating whether she was telling the truth.
Looking at this vivid and cute ball of a red panda, Ye Qingyu’s throat felt itchy, and she had the urge to eat her whole in one bite.
She took a deep breath, dispelling the strange thought.
She supported Pei the Red Panda securely with her left arm, freeing her right.
She had to show Pei the Red Panda her affection through her actions.
Her fingertips trembled slightly as she reached out, careful and cherishing.
Pei the Red Panda tilted her head and actively nuzzled against her hand—
—and so her palm touched that fluffy head.
The touch was extremely soft and delicate, a quality that the best plush toys in the world could not even begin to match.
The distinct, thick fur brushed between her fingers. Petting it like this was like touching a ball of warm, fluffy cotton candy, soft and sweet.
Ye Qingyu could hardly breathe, the corners of her eyes flushed crimson.
But even with such a turmoil in her heart, her hand was very steady—
She seemed to naturally know how to pet Pei the Red Panda.
Starting with that fluffy head, she gently kneaded it clockwise twice, and this Pei the Red Panda would lazily and contentedly close her eyes, her large tail lifting comfortably, a pleased “ying” sound faintly rumbling in her throat.
Her paws also stretched out in the air like an orchid.
After a few moments of such kneading, Pei the Red Panda had completely softened into a ball of fluffy soup dumpling.
Ye Qingyu’s gaze shifted slightly and landed on her large ears.
They were shaped like a fluttering bow tie, snow-white on the front.
When the red panda was being petted into a state of bliss, they would tremble and sway with her thoughts, their tips quivering slightly, as springy as milk pudding.
A fatal kind of cute.
I want to take a bite.
She swallowed lightly with restraint, and Ye Qingyu’s fingers shifted, carefully touching that pair of ears.
The fur here was exceptionally fine, unbelievably soft. After a few cherished strokes, her fingertips began to run wild uncontrollably.
Nimbly and wantonly, she kneaded and bent them into different shapes.
At first, Pei the Red Panda greatly enjoyed having her ears rubbed.
But the human’s fingertips were nimble, the pressure subtle. As they caressed and pinched, her poor, furry ears grew warm.
The sensitivity of her special time was thus gradually teased and ignited. Pei the Red Panda’s lips parted slightly, revealing the tips of a small beast’s sharp canines, and her soft, pink tongue also stuck out helplessly.
Her breathing quickened, and in her daze, she remembered that when she had woken up this morning, her body had shown faint signs of being in heat, and she had resolved to avoid the human today.
But then Ye Qingyu had started crying, and in her haste to coax her, she had forgotten all about it.
“Ying…”
A strange numbness and itch spread from her kneaded, furry ears to her limbs. It was vaguely uncomfortable, yet also seemed to be the pinnacle of comfort, making her whole body go limp, without any strength to resist.
This… this feels like the prelude to my head exploding with fireworks.
Pei the Red Panda began to tremble lightly, and her large, fluffy tail, which had been swaying contentedly, also rose high.
A tide of heat brewed and then quickly swelled into a wave, churned into layers of splashing white foam by the human’s fingertips.
Ye Qingyu’s gaze moved down and landed on the red panda’s soft belly.
But before she could begin to explore, the beautiful tail that had suddenly risen in her lower vision caught her eye, instantly stealing all her attention.
She subconsciously reached out, pinched the tip of that fluffy, large tail, and gave it a rub—
“Ying—!”
Pei the Red Panda suddenly trembled all over. Her paws clutched the fabric of the human’s clothes, and she lifted her head and, unable to bear it, bit down on the human’s shoulder.
Through the thin fabric, a fierce bite.
“Hiss…”
Ye Qingyu had been happily petting the tail when, without any warning, she was suddenly bitten by the red panda. A sharp pain instantly shot through her shoulder.
The furred boss in red panda form had even sharper teeth than the beautiful boss in human form. Even through the fabric, the bite was very painful.
Ye Qingyu couldn’t help but tilt her head back slightly, and she subconsciously released the tail in her hand.
Enduring the pain and letting her bite, she raised a hand to soothe the little beast’s fluffy head and said with self-reproach:
“Did I make you uncomfortable?”
But this comforting petting was also a crime, because her palm inadvertently brushed against a furry ear, making Pei the Red Panda tremble all over again.
Wave after wave of intense fireworks exploded in her head.
The next second, Pei the Red Panda transformed in her arms into a woman as soft as water.
Ye Qingyu looked down and saw her beautiful boss’s fair cheeks flushed with a magnificent crimson, spreading all the way down her slender neck.
The paws clutching the fabric of her clothes had become human fingers, their knuckles soaked with an unbearable pink.
Her peach blossom eyes were glistening, a dazed spring in her brow, with a post-satiation languor.
Her red lips were also parted, panting lightly.
“…”
Ye Qingyu’s pupils constricted, and her entire heart trembled.
The spring in the woman’s eyes seemed to have turned into a spring breeze, blowing into her heart and silently stirring up lingering ripples.
Her own breathing quickened, and she found herself staring, captivated.
What… what is happening?
I was just restrainedly rubbing the little red panda. How did Boss Pei end up crying…
Seeing the woman’s tears like a tide, glistening drops constantly falling from her reddened eye rims.
Ye Qingyu felt as if she were vaguely on the verge of understanding something, but her experience was a blank slate, and in the end, she still couldn’t understand.
She was flustered and panicked.
“I-I’m sorry…”
Still not understanding what had happened, she apologized first and, with practiced ease, took a tissue from her pocket to gently wipe the woman’s tears.
Pei the Red Panda bit her lip and looked at her, her damp lashes trembling slightly as they were wiped, her face like a peach blossom.
Every time the fireworks went off, besides the physical trembling, she seemed to particularly need emotional care and comfort.
Fortunately, the human always took the initiative and did a very good job.
After wiping her tears, she also gently petted her head.
Pei the Red Panda lay limply on the human’s shoulder, panting lightly, and complained with dissatisfaction from her throat:
“The fireworks went off again…”
As she spoke, her hand climbed up and sullenly pinched the human’s ear.
Ye Qingyu let the woman pinch her ear in punishment, her throat moving slightly. “What are fireworks?”
She clearly didn’t understand, but for some reason, a tingling numbness rippled through her heart.
Pei the Red Panda was about to speak but stopped.
A small beast’s alertness made her feel that this topic was a little dangerous.
And so, she changed the subject in a hoarse voice:
“After petting me, are you still sad now?”
“Do you still want to cry?”
Ye Qingyu paused for a moment.
The proud and competitive little red panda had taken the initiative to blow her cover, just to let her pet her and comfort her.
Moreover, a red panda is naturally timid. She must have been scared half to death when she had suddenly burst in just now, but she had turned around and comforted her first.
Her heart felt a little tight.
How can there be such a warm little red panda…
She said gently, “I’m not sad anymore. Thank you, Boss Pei.”
Pei the Red Panda snorted softly.
Although she had been rubbed until fireworks went off, at least Ye Qingyu had stopped crying.
She had completely forgotten how comfortable she had been, being served by the human’s fingertips throughout the entire process.
The next second, she transformed into a red panda and once again lay on Ye Qingyu’s shoulder.
This position was really very comfortable.
“No petting for now,” she commanded lazily.
She wouldn’t let the human pet her, but she still wanted to lie in the human’s arms. She was truly treating Ye Qingyu as a little tree.
Ye the Little Tree had no complaints and was conscientious in her duties.
Pei the Red Panda’s fluffy head rested on her shoulder, and its fur was constantly brushing against her ear, a little itchy.
Ye Qingyu was so itchy she couldn’t help but move her head, but Pei the Red Panda held her face with a paw.
“I said no petting.”
“I wasn’t going to pet you,” Ye the Little Tree said, blinking her eyes innocently.
She felt that the paw on her cheek was also soft, like a fluffy pastry.
Holding her breath and not moving, she secretly hoped that a certain little red panda would forget to retract her paw.
Fortunately, Pei the Red Panda really did forget to retract it.
The fluffy paw pad remained pressed against the human’s warm, delicate cheek.
Occasionally, she would nuzzle her head in the crook of her shoulder, and that pair of large, bow-tie-like ears would sway back and forth in front of the human’s eyes.
The spring breeze would occasionally blow in, caressing the tips of Ye the Little Tree’s branches.
Pei the Red Panda closed her eyes contentedly, feeling herself gradually calm down. The feeling of fireworks had completely disappeared, and her body was no longer trembling.
Rustle—
There seemed to be a faint, rustling sound from outside the door.
Pei the Red Panda’s ears twitched.
She leaped lightly from Ye the Little Tree, and the moment she landed, she transformed into her human form and walked to the door.
She turned the handle and pushed the door open.
She saw a small mountain of fluffy creatures piled up like a game of Jenga, who had been eavesdropping together. They fell to the ground with a crash, tumbling into a heap.
“…”
Pei the Red Panda was stunned for a moment.
Her peach blossom eyes were clearly still red, but she quickly resumed her usual calm and composed expression and crossed her arms leisurely.
“What are you all doing?”
The fallen little beasts stood up one after another, their eyes flickering.
Nian Qiu said, “…Um, we were, we were welcoming the king of beasts to the throne!”
Pei the Red Panda was silent for a moment, then tilted her head slightly.
“I’m not. I just blew my cover.”
Gu Yue said, “I blew my cover first, then she went to your office.”
Pei the Red Panda blinked her peach blossom eyes a beat later.
Huh, so I won?
Victory was so effortless. The king of beasts is well-deserved!
Before Pei the Red Panda could feel proud, a little beast asked sharply, “Sister Rong, how did you blow your cover? And your eyes are still red.”
“…” Pei the Red Panda’s peach blossom eyes flickered.
Belatedly, her legs felt a little weak. She leaned nonchalantly to the right, half-leaning against the doorframe.
Then she lifted her chin. “Just now, I used my paws to rub the human until fireworks went off.”
The king of beasts, when out and about, has to give herself face.
But she had to be quiet about it, lest the human hear or expose her.
“!”
The little animals’ eyes were instantly filled with admiration.
Although they didn’t know what “fireworks” meant, the smart human who had so easily seen through everyone’s original forms and had exposed them one by one could only fall at Sister Rong’s paws, at her beck and call.
As expected of Sister Rong, who had kept her cover until the very end!
And among the sparkling eyes of the little animals, one pair was particularly bright, as wide as copper bells—
Her ship had sailed!
Shui Zhu took out the pen and paper she always carried with her and recorded her new creative inspiration.
The next issue of the magazine would be about a red panda and a human watching fireworks together, and the human being coaxed and teased by the red panda…
After dealing with the small animals, the lively office doorway finally cleared.
Pei the Red Panda leaned against the doorframe for a while, then heard the half-closed door behind her open.
The human’s clear, gentle voice sounded, offering a sincere congratulations:
“King of beasts? Congratulations, Boss Pei.”
Pei the Red Panda’s back stiffened, and her lashes fluttered slightly.
The human didn’t hear what I said just now, right?
—Of course she had.
Every word that Pei the Red Panda had said so smugly had been keenly caught by Ye Qingyu.
She was amused.
But when out and about, a little beast surely needed some face, and she didn’t mind playing along.
But… what exactly did “fireworks” mean?
It felt important. She had to find a chance to figure it out.
Pei the Red Panda’s still-pink nose twitched. She suddenly smelled danger.
***
The events of the afternoon were truly unforgettable.
Even after sitting back at her desk for half an hour, Ye Qingyu was still savoring the memory, and the red flush on her ear tips was slow to fade.
Occasionally, she would be so charmed by the image in her memory that she couldn’t help but raise a hand to rub her forehead.
She had even forgotten that a pelican was sitting to her right, who could transform into its original form and clamp her at any moment.
At the same time, Pei the Red Panda entered the third-floor bathroom and took a bath to wash away the stickiness.
She decided to search online for what “fireworks” was all about.
The feeling of being rubbed by a human until fireworks went off was very comfortable, yet it also made a red panda feel uncomfortable.
Right, she would also search for why that place was always wet.
After her bath, she came to the work area, preparing to go to her office.
She unintentionally saw Ye the Little Tree’s fair and clear, beautiful profile, which perfectly hit her, a little panda’s, heartstrings, and her feet inexplicably moved in Ye Qingyu’s direction.
…
Finally, having recovered a little from her memories, Ye Qingyu searched on her phone:
【What does it mean when a red panda says ‘fireworks went off’?】
【Can red pandas set off fireworks?】
Clearly, these questions yielded no results.
She pondered for a moment, then simply clicked into a red panda science video and watched it seriously, hoping for some insight.
Unfortunately, even after the video ended, she still hadn’t seen any science related to “fireworks.”
Big data recommended a new related video, which quickly and automatically began to play.
Ye Qingyu hadn’t even had time to watch it when her ear was suddenly pinched—
“Ye Qingyu.”
Her heart jolted. She looked up and saw her beautiful boss’s sullen face.
Her red lips were parted, revealing the tips of a small beast’s sharp canines.
Her peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly, as if drenched by a sudden spring rain.
She was very unhappy.
Ye Qingyu’s heart tightened. Before she could speak, she saw Pei the Red Panda turn and leave.
Her back was cold and proud and melancholic.
She was stunned for a moment, then belatedly realized that her phone was automatically playing a video of a strange red panda, and she understood.
It’s over.
She quickly stood up and chased after her.
Ye the Little Tree was tall and slender and also exercised every day. Logically speaking, she shouldn’t have been unable to catch up.
But a certain little beast took a shortcut, transforming into a red panda and directly jumping onto the second-floor windowsill, then leaping lightly outside onto a branch of the scholar tree.
Ye Qingyu was terrified, afraid the little panda would fall.
Seeing that the ball of fluff had safely climbed onto the tree trunk, she breathed a sigh of relief, quickly went downstairs, and headed to the scholar tree in the backyard.
This tree, which had once been quite strange in her heart, with its large, fluffy tail and its ability to move on its own without any wind, had now become simple and innocent.
—The scholar tree was not sentient. It just had a little red panda on it.
Arriving under the scholar tree, Ye Qingyu looked up and tentatively called out, “Boss Pei?”
Pei the Red Panda hugged her large tail tightly, puffed up with anger, and ignored her.
Ye the Little Tree had just rubbed her until her head exploded with fireworks this afternoon, and a short while later, she was already looking at other red pandas!
A completely fickle human. Pei the Red Panda was never going to be friends with Ye the Little Tree again!
She curled into a fluffy ball, her eyes misty, looking pitiful and wronged.
Her beautiful, reddish-brown fur was limp and dejected, and her ears were even drooping into a pair of airplane ears.
I’m never going to let Ye the Little Tree set off fireworks again…
“Boss Pei, you’ve misunderstood me.”
Ye the Little Tree explained in a soft, quiet voice from under the tree, every word wrapped in the clear, gentle tone that Pei the Red Panda liked.
“I was just watching a science video about red pandas because I wanted to understand you better. After it finished, big data recommended a related video, so my phone automatically played a video of a red panda, but that wasn’t what I wanted to watch.”
“If you hadn’t come, I would have swiped it away.”
The human’s tone was very sincere, making the little panda unconsciously want to believe her.
And thinking about it, it seemed that was indeed the case. When she had passed by, that new video had just popped up and was loading.
Pei the Red Panda’s droopy ears perked up a little, but she still didn’t speak.
“Wait for me,” the human suddenly said softly.
The sound of footsteps on fallen leaves sounded, then gradually faded away.
A fluffy head peeked out from the tree.
Pei the Red Panda watched the human’s departing figure, and the little mood that had just been coaxed away returned.
Why isn’t Ye Qingyu willing to coax her a little more?
A red panda in heat is already physically and mentally fragile. After being rubbed until her head exploded with fireworks, her emotions were even more sensitive and insecure.
Although it seemed to be a misunderstanding, the sadness of that moment was real.
As she was thinking, sour bubbles were about to rise in Pei the Red Panda’s heart, when the human’s figure appeared in the backyard again.
Her eyes widened slightly, and she quickly shrank back behind a branch.
Ye Qingyu arrived under the tree, holding a fresh-keeping box of apple slices she had just cut.
“I cut you some apples. Do you want to eat them?” she asked in a soft, quiet voice.
The moment she finished, Ye Qingyu saw a pair of snow-white, fluffy ears slowly poke out from between the intertwined branches of the scholar tree, their tips also perked up.
She curled her lips into a silent smile, a light amusement in her eyes.
“Are you still angry at me?”
She said, “I’m sorry. Although I didn’t intend to look at other red pandas, I’m sorry for making you sad.”
“It will definitely not happen again next time.”
This speech hit Pei the Red Panda right in the heart and was exceptionally comforting.
Seeing the fluffy ears twitch, the smile in Ye Qingyu’s eyes deepened.
She continued, “You’re really not going to eat them? Then I’m going to take the apples and leave.”
“They’ve just been cut, and they look so sweet…”
After speaking, she deliberately let out a soft sigh.
The sound of footsteps on fallen leaves sounded again, and the human made a show of leaving with the apples—
The next second, a furry paw anxiously reached out from between the branches of the scholar tree.
“I’ll eat them.”
