All My Colleagues Are Animals 6

Chapter 6

“Ye Qingyu, are you angry?”

After the young woman who had asked for her WeChat left, Pei Rong lifted a finger and, with a sense of novelty, poked at Ye Qingyu’s crimson earlobe from a distance.

She knew that mantis shrimp turned red when they were angry, but she hadn’t known that a human’s earlobes would also change color.

But, Ye Qingyu said she likes red pandas the most, so how could she possibly be angry at me?

Ye Qingyu’s ear twitched uncomfortably, but she didn’t dodge the woman’s approaching fingertip. She just said, “I’m not angry.”

Just as I thought.

Pei Rong’s lips curled into a pleased smile.

“Then why did you turn red?”

Ye Qingyu’s heart skipped a beat.

Is she playing dumb?

She lowered her gaze to look at Boss Pei. The woman had just said something so shocking while rejecting the other girl on her behalf, yet now her peach blossom eyes were pure and innocent, completely frank and at ease. Her question about the earlobe’s color change didn’t seem like she was playing dumb, but rather born of simple curiosity.

On that stunningly beautiful face, there was an almost primal and vivid innocence.

Ye Qingyu felt as if her heart had been tickled by soft fur, a faint itch spreading through her.

Her breathing hitched. With a sense of indulgence she herself didn’t recognize, she let go of the “being kept” incident and changed the subject. “Is Boss Pei also here to shop?”

“Mhm.” Pei Rong didn’t press the matter. She held up the box of freshly cut sweet apples she was carrying for Ye Qingyu to see, a small hint of grievance rising in her eyes.

If Ye Qingyu’s nice-looking hands were also useful and could cut apples for her, she wouldn’t have to buy the pre-cut ones from the market.

“Huh, Sister Rong is at the market too?”

Luo Bian, returning with vegetables, feigned surprise as if it were a real chance encounter. “Want to head back with us?”

Pei Rong thought for a moment, then shook her head. “You two go back first. Everyone must be hungry.”

She said that, but…

Unsurprisingly, after starting the tricycle, Luo Bian saw the little red panda appear beside her.

She twitched the corner of her mouth and asked in a low voice, “Why not stay in your human form and sit in the back with your precious human?”

Pei the Red Panda held a piece of sweet apple in her left paw, focused on nibbling it down before she leisurely replied, “The internet says you have to take it slow when raising a pet.”

Luo Bian mercilessly exposed her. “It’s mainly because you couldn’t wait to eat the apples, right?”

Pei the Red Panda said nothing, but slowly and deliberately pushed the box of cut apples further away from Luo Bian, as if worried she might covet them.

Luo Bian: “…”

Someone please come and deal with this red panda!

Pei the Red Panda was a neat freak. After eating the apples, she took out a wet wipe and carefully cleaned the fur on her paws that had gotten sticky with apple juice.

In doing so, she accidentally touched the wound on her right paw, and it stung slightly.

As she wiped, Pei the Red Panda flicked her large tail, a little melancholic. Drying her fur and paws was something her human was supposed to do for her.

“Did you buy the ingredients to supplement the human?” she asked Luo Bian.

Luo Bian replied, “Yup. I’ll stew the pig’s trotter in the pressure cooker as soon as we get back. It’ll be quick.”

…

Ye Qingyu stared into the soup before her, lost in thought.

A spoonful stirred gently, and ginseng, goji berries, kidneys, and pig’s trotters bobbed up and down in the thick broth.

It looked like the kind of concoction that would give you an instant nosebleed.

Pei Rong sat beside her, lazily propping up her chin as she watched, her peach blossom eyes shining with a faint, expectant glimmer. “Drink more of the soup, and eat the pig’s trotter.”

It was just like someone hoping their little cat or dog would obediently eat more of its food.

This subtle association made Ye Qingyu’s heart tremble.

Just now, when she and Sister Luo had returned to the studio, her colleagues had welcomed them boisterously, cheerfully talking about “lunchtime.”

But when it was time to eat, everyone had scattered like birds and beasts.

Only Boss Pei was sitting at the dining table, calmly looking over at her and gesturing to the empty chair beside her. “Come and eat.”

Seeing her slightly surprised expression, the woman had even kindly explained, “They’re not used to human food yet. For now, it’ll just be you and me for meals.”

Not used to.

Human food.

Besides dyeing their hair, is pica also part of the corporate culture?

As she pondered, Ye Qingyu couldn’t withstand Boss Pei’s gaze, which was brimming with concern for her new employee. She finally lowered her head and took a sip of the soup, immediately choking on the intense medicinal flavor, her eyes welling with tears.

How can it be even more bitter than Chinese medicine!

Did I somehow offend Sister Luo?!

Ye Qingyu looked at Boss Pei pleadingly, hoping to be granted an exemption from this bowl of soup.

The woman didn’t notice her gaze at first, busy eating the box of freshly cut apples she had bought from the market. Her cheeks puffed out as she chewed, her peach blossom eyes squinting slightly, savoring it as if it were some top-tier delicacy.

The spoiled air was gone, replaced by an innocent, well-behaved charm, like a sweet-toothed little animal captivated by the apples.

Ye Qingyu waited for her to finish a piece of apple before clearing her throat lightly. “Boss Pei.”

Pei Rong turned her head to look, blinking, not quite understanding the signal being sent by the human’s eyes.

【When a puppy obeys a command, it needs timely encouragement or praise from its owner. This will not only strengthen their bond but also guide the puppy to complete the task.】

The notes she had taken for raising a human surfaced in her mind.

Pei Rong looked at the nourishing soup, then at the bright-eyed human. Connecting this with her notes, she had a sudden epiphany.

And so—

Ye Qingyu, still waiting for a pardon, was caught completely off guard by the gentle smile that bloomed on the woman’s face. It was clear and radiant, as bright as a spring day.

“Ye Qingyu, you’re doing a great job.”

“Keep drinking the soup. Everything will be supplemented.”

Her tone was light and lilting, as if she were coaxing a puppy.

“…”

Ye Qingyu’s breath caught. For a moment, she forgot to blink.

She remembered Boss Pei saying, “You’re my little animal.”

She also remembered that she hadn’t come here to be a dog.

Of course, she wasn’t being a dog now, either.

She was just… just… because of the vibrant spring in Boss Pei’s peach blossom eyes, or perhaps because of that “you’re doing a great job,” she found herself unconsciously continuing to diligently drink the somewhat bitter soup.

What an obedient human.

Pei the Red Panda’s paws were getting a little itchy. She wanted to pet Ye Qingyu.

But the internet said that humans were even more sensitive and anxious animals than puppies, and raising them often required more patience.

So Pei Rong wasn’t in a hurry. Sooner or later, Ye Qingyu would become clingy to the red panda and come over for cuddles and hugs on her own.

…

In the backyard, by the scholar tree.

A pelican’s large pink beak opened and closed. A capybara, munching on a crisp, sweet carrot, was caught off guard, its head clamped squarely.

The capybara flicked its ears, wriggled free from the merciless beak with practiced ease, and turned to continue eating its carrot.

Couldn’t swallow the capybara today either.

The pelican snorted in disappointment, then clamped a live catfish that had just been brought back from the market from a bucket and ate it, mumbling indistinctly:

“I really want to try clamping that human. I wonder if I can swallow her in one bite.”

A beige fluffball flew down and landed on its back, plump and round after eating its fill. “Putting aside how much Sister Rong treasures her, how could a human be a size you can swallow in one bite?”

“Fine, then.” The pelican spread its large white wings, a little aggrieved. “But even if I don’t eat her, can’t I just clamp her a little?”

At these words, several small animals, including the capybara, immediately looked up and said in unison:

“IF YOU’RE NOT EATING IT, DON’T CLAMP IT!!!”

…

There was a two-hour lunch break after the meal.

Ye Qingyu returned to the work area to find only empty desks. She had no idea where her colleagues had gone.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of a door handle being pushed down behind her. Bai Shuang poked her head through the crack in the door. “Ye Qingyu, Boss Pei ordered a bed for you, but the delivery is delayed. You can rest at your desk for now.”

Ye Qingyu turned to look and nodded. “Okay.”

They even order beds for their employees’ lunch breaks? What kind of divine company is this?

So, my colleagues must have gone to sleep in their respective beds.

“Or,” Bai Shuang paused, “do you like sleeping in a nest?”

Ye Qingyu blinked her clear eyes. “What’s a nest?”

Bai Shuang didn’t explain, just squinted like a sleepy cat. “Anyway, if you want to sleep in a nest, you can tell me.”

After saying that, she retracted her head and gently closed the door to the work area.

Ye Qingyu stood there, bewildered for a couple of seconds, then suddenly remembered the several large dog beds she had seen in the recreation area that morning.

Surely… she doesn’t mean those, right?

She chuckled at the obvious misunderstanding and sat back down at her desk, resting her head on her arms.

She was very used to this kind of lunch break.

At her old job, everyone would rest at their desks for a precious twenty minutes before getting up to continue working.

She had just forgotten to bring her small pillow today.

On a spring afternoon, the sun was warm but not glaring. Outside the window, leaves rustled in the gentle breeze, scattering mottled patches of light that lulled one to sleep.

In this still-unfamiliar environment, Ye Qingyu felt a long-lost sense of peace. Without realizing it, she completely relaxed and, closing her eyes, fell into a sweet sleep.

…

Pei Rong, so sleepy her steps were soft, walked slowly out of her office, preparing to go nap on her beloved scholar tree.

She unintentionally glanced over and saw the human sleeping obediently at her desk. The yawn she was halfway through came to an abrupt halt, and her sleepiness receded like the tide.

Tiny, sparkling flecks of light gradually began to dance in her peach blossom eyes.

She, Pei the Red Panda, wants to secretly play with her own human for a little bit. That should be perfectly reasonable, right?