All My Colleagues Are Animals 70

Chapter 70

Friday night.

While the panther was at the lake villa for her body measurements, Ye Qingyu drove the red panda to the toy store to pick up the wooden horse.

The rocking horse, specially customized for the red panda, was finally complete.

Ye Qingyu had personally designed it, and after careful discussion and revision with a professional wooden horse designer, the final draft was complete.

She had ordered two in total. One was placed in the studio courtyard, and the other at home, so the red panda could rock anytime, anywhere.

The children’s handmade toy store was in the large shopping mall near the studio, next to the bookstore that sold the “Small Animal Survival Guide.”

Ye Qingyu inspected the wooden horse on the spot and felt that both its cute appearance and exquisite workmanship perfectly matched her previous vision.

“Do you like it?”

Presenting the carefully prepared gift, Ye Qingyu was a little nervous.

Pei the Red Panda nodded, staring at the wooden horse, her peach blossom eyes sparkling with stars.

Seeing that the red panda was very satisfied, Ye Qingyu breathed a sigh of relief.

After the hefty final payment was received, the staff member said, “Then we’ll wrap it up for you and carry it to your trunk.”

“Thank you for your trouble.”

Just as Ye Qingyu agreed, she suddenly heard a familiar voice from behind her.

“Honey?”

She turned her head and saw Ms. Ye Zhao standing at the door, holding two bright yellow copies of the “Small Animal Survival Guide.”

“Mom.”

Pei the Red Panda followed, “CEO Ye.”

Ye Zhao’s gaze unconsciously swept over her long, reddish-brown curls and, with a smile, she greeted, “Boss Pei.”

She walked in and, seeing that her daughter and the sugar mama were both looking at the magazine in her arms, she explained with an air of nonchalance:

“I bought it at the bookstore next door. It’s quite good.”

Last time, she had given that copy of the “Small Animal Survival Guide” to Bai Zhiwan, so Ye Zhao had bought a new one.

Every night before bed, she would read it carefully, and her heart would always fill with an inexplicable sense of peace and warmth.

Even her severe insomnia before a certain day had improved.

Today, passing by the mall, she had come over to buy two more copies, as a collection and a spare.

She praised in a soft voice, “Your magazine is very well-done.”

Pei the Red Panda bit her lip.

An unnamed pride and pleasure suddenly rose in her heart.

It was as if Ms. Ye’s praise was of great weight to her.

“Oh, right,” Ye Zhao’s tone changed, and her gaze swept down. “What are you two doing in a children’s toy store… buying a wooden horse?”

“It’s quite cute.”

This custom-made wooden horse was a large order. Seeing this, the staff member quickly praised Ye Qingyu and also advertised:

“This is a wooden horse personally designed by Miss Ye and handmade by our store.”

Ye Zhao’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“…Personally designed.” After a moment of silence, she asked with a smile, “Is it for someone to play with?”

Ms. Ye’s face was calm, but in her heart, she was actually a little tense.

Last time, her daughter had suddenly gotten a sugar mama, which had caught her off guard.

Now, if they were to suddenly announce that they had adopted a cub, it wouldn’t seem to be an accident.

Pei the Red Panda blinked her eyes and suddenly remembered a sentence she had read somewhere:

—The warmer the little family, the more at ease the mother-in-law.

Pei the Red Panda decided to warm Ms. Ye’s heart for the whole day.

And so, she curled her lips slightly and said with a great sense of responsibility:

“It’s for me, because I like to ride wooden horses.”

Ye Qingyu had been about to make an excuse to her own mother, but hearing this, her eyes widened. “…”

The staff member silently took a breath. “…”

Ye Zhao: “…”

Ye Zhao’s brow twitched slightly, and she subconsciously re-observed the wooden horse.

No matter how she looked at it, it was clearly only big enough for a young child.

Or… a small animal.

The tip of Ye Zhao’s heart went numb.

For some reason, many of the words she had recently read in the “Small Animal Survival Guide” suddenly surged up at this moment.

A simple sentence, and it had not warmed anyone for the whole day, but had created a silence that filled the room.

Pei the Red Panda licked the tip of her teeth with an air of innocence and suddenly, belatedly, realized—

Many things that were a matter of course for small animals, in human ears, were a little shocking.

Ye Qingyu quickly came back to her senses and held the innocent little red panda’s hand, gently stroking the back of it to comfort her.

She saved the situation with a calm face and a smile.

“Actually, a wooden horse is a good choice as a decoration at home.”

These words were very clever.

They did not deny, nor did they contain a lie.

But between the words, they quietly guided the listener’s thoughts, making them unconsciously think that what Pei Rong had just said was a joke, and that they were buying the wooden horse as a decoration.

“That’s right,” the staff member said with a smile.

Ye Zhao also curled her lips. “Mhm.”

She agreed, but in her mind, she couldn’t help but recall Pei Rong’s action of lightly licking the tip of her teeth just now, which was very much like a red panda instinctively licking the tip of its canines.

Chaotic thoughts were suppressed in her heart and were then pumped throughout her body, throbbing with her pulse.

She took a silent deep breath and tried hard to control her gaze, so as not to impolitely stare at Pei Rong.

She only raised her right hand and gently played with the jade thumb ring on her left ring finger.

As it turned, it brushed against the two-character tattoo wrapped around the base of her finger.

“You two continue your shopping. Mom still has things to do.”

Ye Qingyu answered, “Okay. Rest well.”

Just as Ye Zhao was about to leave, her movements suddenly paused.

She looked up at Ye Qingyu:

“The first floor of ‘A Leaf’s Taste’ is booked for a little girl’s first birthday banquet today. This suddenly reminded me of your zhuāzhōu(a first birthday tradition where a baby picks an object that foretells their future) back then.”

“Honey, do you still remember what you grabbed back then?”

Ye Qingyu thought for a moment, but had no impression of it in her memory.

“I don’t remember. I was too young then. So what was it?”

Ye Zhao smiled slightly and stared at Ye Qingyu.

Her pair of gentle eyes held an answer that could not be spoken.

Her daughter had already grown up. The tender softness of her face had long since faded, replaced by a beauty that was ethereal, graceful, and alluring.

But as a mother, she clearly remembered every single look of Ye Qingyu from when she was little until now.

Naturally, she also remembered the situation on Ye Qingyu’s first birthday.

A tiny, soft and cute little dumpling was still in diapers, lying on her stomach on the bed, surrounded by all sorts of things.

A writing brush, a ruler, an abacus…

Ye Zhao patted her little head.

“Honey, go and grab something you like. They say that will be your lifelong pursuit. I don’t know if it’s true.”

The soft and cute little dumpling then happily crawled around, curiously touching a book, touching a calculator… and then casually throwing them down.

Ye Zhao smiled. “It seems you’re not very interested in these—”

The unfinished words suddenly stopped.

She saw the soft and cute little dumpling suddenly haphazardly push aside these things that were surrounding her and crawl straight and firmly in one direction.

“Ying…”

The fluffy little red panda at the head of the bed was held tightly.

***

On Sunday afternoon, the Velvet Bamboo Studio’s chat group became active.

[Wu Shu (Not Bird Sister):] I’m planning to go shopping at the mall tonight. I won’t be home for dinner.

[Otter Bao (Looking for Mom Edition):] Tonight, Sister Shui Zhu and I won’t be home for dinner either. We’re going to the night market.

[Gu Yue (Eating and Clamping):] Tonight, I’m going to see “Pelican vs. Godzilla” with Nian Qiu. We won’t be home for dinner either.

…

[Luo Bian (Wife Has Transformed Edition):] It just so happens that I’m also taking my ex-girlfriend to the park tonight, so everyone can get their own dinner.

The small animals were usually very clingy to home and rarely ate out. It was the first time that they were all going out so neatly tonight.

7 PM.

Ye Qingyu was driving the red panda to attend Bai Zhiwan’s wedding banquet.

The Emerald Lake Villa was built by Emerald Lake, and the view was extremely beautiful.

Emerald Lake was a vast expanse of turquoise, rippling finely in the evening breeze, its shoreline wide and boundless.

Nearing summer, the lakeside where the villa was located was lush and green, and a few exquisite villas could be vaguely seen scattered around.

After carefully checking the invitation, the staff let them in, and Ye Qingyu drove along the lakeside road to the deep parking lot.

She got out of the car first, then went to the passenger side to open the door, and bent down to unbuckle the red panda’s seatbelt.

The space was dark and narrow, and the human was very close when she bent over, bringing with her a clear and subtle fragrance.

With a click, the seatbelt was unbuckled.

Pei the Red Panda’s heart beat faster with it, and her gaze unconsciously followed the young woman’s slender neck up and landed on her rosy lips.

She was suddenly a little sullen.

They’re so close, and the human didn’t even think of kissing her, a little panda?

Smack.

—A soft warmth suddenly landed on her lips.

Pei the Red Panda’s breath hitched. She looked up and met the human’s gaze, which was still wanting more.

She was dazed for a moment, and then she belatedly realized:

Just as she was unhappy, the human had happened to be unable to resist kissing her.

Ye Qingyu stroked the side of the woman’s neck, lowered her head and continued to kiss her, and then took another taste.

During this time, she stared at Pei Rong without a moment’s pause.

And so she clearly saw the sullenness in her beautiful boss’s features dissipate with the peck kisses and gradually become pleased.

Ye Qingyu smiled.

Wanting a kiss but refusing to say it. What a tsundere little red panda.

In the end, she gently placed a kiss on the corner of the woman’s lips and coaxed:

“I like kissing you. If I’m not kissing you, I’m thinking about it.”

The little red panda was quite comfortable hearing this.

The next second, she felt that her little thoughts seemed to have been seen through.

She was unwilling to admit it. She slowly turned her head, and her peach blossom eyes blinked lightly.

“I’m not a red panda who is addicted to kissing.”

“Mhm.”

Ye Qingyu stared at her without a moment’s pause and, with practiced ease, rubbed the woman’s hot ears and said with a smile, “Thank you, Pei the Red Panda, for the reward of a kiss.”

The red panda’s fluffy ears were in the shape of a beautiful bow tie, with a slight point at the top.

Her human form’s ears were round, white, and soft, hidden in her long, curly hair, and were particularly cute.

Ye Qingyu rubbed them for a long while, unable to put them down, and only stopped when a pitiful, thin mist began to appear in her beautiful boss’s eyes.

The human and the little red panda dawdled for a long time before they finally came out of the parking lot, fingers interlocked.

Looking up, she suddenly saw a familiar little bird in the grass opposite.

Coincidentally, a streetlight was on nearby, so everything was clearly visible—

The little beige, fluffy bird was hopping around, occasionally lowering its head to peck. As it flapped its wings, the feathers inside were faintly a beautiful, watery blue.

Pei the Red Panda’s steps paused.

As a big sister beast, she was all too familiar with her own little animals.

She couldn’t help but call out to the little fluffy bird, “Nian Qiu?”

The little bird looked up.

“Sister Rong?”

“How are you and Ye Qingyu here!”

Taking advantage of the quiet and deserted area, and the fact that it was a surveillance blind spot, Nian Qiu transformed into her human form and walked over.

“I was about to ask,” Pei the Red Panda said. “Didn’t you and Gu Yue go to see ‘Pelican vs. Godzilla’?”

Nian Qiu said, “Aiya, actually, we were worried about Panther, and wanted to come and see what that bad woman was up to.”

Although the small animals did not have an invitation, they had easily snuck in with their own skills.

The moment she finished, the sound of splashing water came from behind her. A pelican quickly swam over from the surface of Emerald Lake, and the moment it flew out of the water, it transformed into its human form.

“Huh, Sister Rong, Ye Qingyu.”

Gu Yue blinked her eyes in surprise.

And so, the four of them coincidentally gathered and entered the wedding banquet hall together.

Unlike the luxurious extravagance they had imagined, the banquet was decorated in an elegant style, low-key yet grand.

Instead of a festive red, black and white were used to their full visual potential, and occasionally complemented by dreamy and bright colors, making it elegant and romantic.

On the large screen of the stage in front, it was clearly written—The engagement ceremony is about to begin. Please stay tuned.

“So it’s not a wedding, it’s an engagement.”

Gu Yue sighed and, turning her head, was startled. “Wait. Isn’t Bai Zhiwan already engaged to her fiancée? Why is she getting engaged again?”

Nian Qiu: “I’m afraid it’s a different person. That detestable cheater!”

7:30.

It was not yet time to be seated, so the guests were all gathered in the spacious hall, either eating and drinking or toasting and socializing.

Pei the Red Panda led Ye Qingyu to the fruit section. Just as she had gotten a plate and put two pieces of apple on it, she suddenly heard a familiar voice—

“Aiya, dear, you can’t eat that!”

Her ears twitched slightly, and her peripheral vision caught a glimpse of light blue. She immediately turned her head to look.

She saw Luo Bian standing on the side, her ex-girlfriend in her arms.

Her ex-girlfriend’s fingertips were holding a strawberry model, her head was tilted slightly, and her beautiful, clear eyes showed a certain curiosity.

“Okay,” she said, as if she could say simple words.

With a dazed expression, she uttered the voice of a mature woman.

Gu Yue looked up and couldn’t help but be surprised. “Sister Luo, how are you two here too? Didn’t you say you were going to the park!”

Luo Bian was stunned for a moment. “You didn’t go to see a movie either.”

Seeing that the panther had been dejected recently, it seemed everyone had tacitly and quietly come over, wanting to see what was going on with that bad woman.

As for how they had slipped in, of course, each had their own tricks up their sleeves.

And so, when they saw Shui Zhu and Bai Shuang pass by with the little sea otter, everyone was no longer surprised.

—They had said they were going their separate ways, but the entire studio had gathered at the banquet.

Gu Yue was eager to try. “The whole night patrol team is out. Let’s do this and that to that bad woman later!”

Luo Bian’s ex-girlfriend blinked her eyes lightly. “Okay.”

Luo Bian quickly and lightly covered her ex-girlfriend’s lips. “I’m sorry, she can only say this one word for now. It doesn’t represent her opinion.”

“Okay.”

A voice was muffled from between Luo Bian’s fingers.

After they had met and chatted for a while, they heard a broadcast sound. “The engagement ceremony will begin at 8 o’clock sharp. Now, please take your seats at your name cards.”

“Guests without name cards can be seated under the guidance of our staff.”

The small animals, who had swam, snuck, or flown in with their own skills but had no guest status, immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Under the guidance of the staff, they were even seated at a round table in the first row, which was one of the best viewing spots.

And on that round table were also Ye Qingyu and Pei Rong’s name cards, so in the end, everyone sat at the same table.

Ye Qingyu, while unhurriedly playing with the red panda’s fingers, was lost in thought.

A lavish engagement banquet for a wealthy family, and guests without name cards could be seated, and in such a good spot at that.

And she and the red panda had clearly come in with an invitation, but had been arranged to sit with the little beasts from the studio.

…It was as if everything had been calculated.

She turned her head to look, and her gaze suddenly sharpened.

Ms. Ye had always been punctual, but the seat with the “Ye Zhao” name card not far away was still empty.

8 o’clock sharp.

The special guest emcee came on stage with elegant music.

The woman was beautiful and graceful, and she easily caught all of Bai Shuang’s attention.

The little cat stared, and the tips of her ears quietly turned red.

The special guest emcee looked down at the stage, and her red lips curled slightly.

“The engagement ceremony officially begins. Please welcome the two new couples with a round of applause—”

Gu Yue’s eyes widened. “That bad woman is going to appear with the bad woman! I want to see what these bad people look like…”

Nian Qiu huffed. “As the saying goes, one’s appearance reflects one’s heart. The two of them must be unbearable to look at!”

Luo Bian’s ex-girlfriend: “Okay.”

The little sea otter said anxiously, “Here they come, here they come!”

Everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed on the stage.

They saw a pair of beautiful people walk out gracefully.

The one on the left had a pair of sparkling jade-green eyes, and the dark black leopard-print collar around her neck was adorned with a gem of the same color as her eyes, making her neck look slender and fair.

Her deep and beautiful face was cool and aloof, and she walked with a cool and chic air.

The one on the right was wearing a long, ethereal dress as white as snow. The emerald pendants on her earlobes flowed with an elegant luster, and her smiling, bright eyes seemed to hold a pool of spring water.

Her face was as gentle as a distant mountain in spring, and her dress swayed gracefully.

Their fingers were interlocked, and they looked very well-matched.

“…”

All the beasts were dumbfounded.

After a long moment, Nian Qiu came back to her senses and frantically mouthed:

“Panther—”

“Blink if you’ve been kidnapped—”