Chapter 81
Pei the Little Able Cat was clinging to Ye Qingyu like she was clinging to a little tree.
The feeling, like a tide, rushed up from her spine, so fast that it left her dizzy and mesmerized, her mind blooming with fireworks.
Perhaps noticing her uncontrollable trembling, the human’s movements paused, and then she finally and slowly released her lips.
The woman’s red lips, swollen and wet from being kissed, parted, and she panted with a hot, orchid-like breath.
Her misty, teary eyes urgently demanded:
“I want a hug.”
Ye Qingyu held the trembling little red panda tightly in her arms and coaxed and comforted her in a soft, quiet voice.
She raised a hand to pet her long, reddish-brown curls, gently and with practiced ease smoothing her fur.
Only then did Pei the Little Able Cat let out a contented, soft “Mmm.”
Ye Qingyu’s lashes drooped.
Spring had clearly already passed.
With just a pure kiss, the woman could tremble limply in her arms, her pitiful tears soaking the crook of her neck.
She couldn’t help but her throat tighten, and she let out a helpless, light sigh. “…What am I going to do with you in the future?”
The little red panda did not hear her clearly.
In the long afterglow, her peach blossom eyes were lazily half-closed, and she bit and gnawed at the human’s neck with the tip of her teeth.
Later, she was turned over by the human, and a certain wet stickiness was gently and carefully cleaned with a clean towel, and she was changed into a thin, soft pair of underwear.
She lay limply in the bed, letting herself be arranged, enjoying the thoughtful service.
After the service was over, Ye Qingyu turned and went back to the bathroom to tidy herself up. Pei the Little Able Cat, through the thin mist in her eyes, looked at the human’s back.
As straight and slender as a little white poplar, pleasing to the eye, it made her heart pound, and she couldn’t help but lick the tip of her teeth.
Why is it that Ye Qingyu has done so much, but she doesn’t seem tired at all?
Could it be that she’s gritting her teeth and putting on a brave face for her, a little panda, and in reality, her legs are already incredibly sore and weak?
A little panda’s heart is not made of stone.
And so, when Ye Qingyu had finished tidying up and had returned, and had come back to the bed, she saw Pei the Little Able Cat looking at her with misty eyes, which vaguely seemed to be filled with affection.
“Hm?” Ye Qingyu’s heart skipped a beat, and she looked at her beautiful childhood sweetheart, not understanding.
“You don’t have to put on a brave face if your legs are weak.”
Pei Rong lifted her chin and, like a considerate big sister beast, said with concern and instruction.
“…”
Ye Qingyu reacted and was torn between laughter and tears.
How could this little red panda be so carelessly speculating about others based on her own physical strength?
She did not refute, but unhurriedly held the woman in her arms.
She pressed her knee between her two legs and, with a precise and powerful lift, pushed up.
“Ooh…”
Pei the Little Able Cat trembled all over from the pressure, and her whole being immediately became well-behaved.
She fled and transformed into a ball of fluffy red panda, her paws clutching the human’s collar, as if nothing had happened.
Ye Qingyu couldn’t help but laugh.
After a moment of quiet embrace, she rubbed the little red panda’s furry ears. “Boss Pei, where did you learn that kind of kissing from?”
Pei the Little Able Cat immediately answered, “The panther’s engagement banquet.”
Ye Qingyu was lost in thought.
This little red panda had gone to a grand engagement ceremony and had only learned how to kiss, but had no awareness at all about giving a title.
How could this wooden, fluffy head be enlightened?
***
The next day, the second issue of the “Small Animal Survival Guide” was officially released.
Ye Zhao went to the bookstore herself early in the morning and bought several copies of the magazine.
Then she returned to the restaurant and, while unhurriedly sipping her tea, read it carefully.
Seeing the otter search notice in the rescue column, her gaze sharpened.
[This sea otter lost a beloved mother otter ten years ago…]
It was clearly a rather cute tone, but as a mother of two children, her heart immediately felt sour.
Rong Bao had also left ten years ago.
The thought that her little red panda cub might have also been so pitiful, and had been searching everywhere in a daze, but had been unable to find her mother and younger sister no matter what, was like a blunt knife cutting and bleeding her heart.
Ye Zhao took a deep breath, and for a moment, she couldn’t bear to continue reading.
Knock-knock-knock.
A knock came from the door.
Ye Zhao immediately reined in her thoughts, closed the magazine, and placed it on the table next to her.
She looked up at the door and said, “Come in.”
Xiao Yu gently pushed the door open and walked in. Behind her, besides Bai Zhiwan and Lin Song, there was another woman—
Shen Rendong was no different from her photo. Her face was gentle and upright, and her posture was straight.
You couldn’t tell at all that she was a woman who had struggled her way to the top in an extremely vicious and evil organization.
“CEO Ye,” she greeted calmly.
Ye Zhao nodded. “Miss Shen.”
The five sat around the table.
The meeting time was tight, and there was no time for pleasantries.
Shen Rendong got straight to the point:
“Why do you trust me?”
Lin Song raised a hand to adjust her collar. “Nine years ago, a ‘Green Bird’ ship ran into a sea storm, and you took advantage of the chaos to release all the marine animals on the ship back into the sea.”
“Six years ago, you used the same trick.”
Shen Rendong’s face showed no surprise, and she even curled her lips with an air of ease. “Is that so?”
But her heart wrinkled.
She had thought she had done it flawlessly those two times and was absolutely sure that no one else knew.
‘Green Bird’ had suffered heavy losses because of this, and had conducted several rounds of strict investigations, but had not been able to find her. In the end, they had just punished and dismissed the relevant personnel, and she had successfully replaced them with her own people.
…How could this Officer Lin know?
Ye Zhao said with a smile, “Miss Shen doesn’t need to be wary. This is not a threat. ‘Green Bird’ still knows nothing about this. You are safe.”
“The most important thing is that we are on the same side.”
Shen Rendong was, after all, a person who had struggled to the top in a sinister organization, and she quickly calmed down.
She did not investigate for the time being and said, seizing the time:
“The Minister of Public Security, Zhou Ren, has been in a long-term private cooperation with ‘Green Bird,’ protecting their smuggling transactions. But it has always been Li Shen who has been in direct contact with Zhou Ren, and he has never let us interfere…”
…
In half an hour, everyone had quickly and efficiently discussed the important matters.
Shen Rendong stood up to leave, but was called back by Lin Song.
“Miss Shen, are there many orders related to sea otters in ‘Green Bird’?”
Shen Rendong paused slightly. “There have always been many sea otter smuggling orders, mainly for fur.”
Lin Song’s breath was ragged, and her usually cool and sharp gaze was a little shaky.
“Besides adult sea otters, do they also catch little sea otters?”
Shen Rendong lowered her lashes and briefly stated the cruel fact. “…They have.”
After speaking, she walked to the door. “Goodbye.”
The private room door was closed, and a brief silence fell over the room.
Lin Song lowered her eyes and took a silent, deep breath.
Her fingers instinctively rose, but she managed to stop them before they touched her cheek. Instead, she clutched her collar, so hard that her fingertips turned white.
Her eyes were almost imperceptibly red, and she fought back the trembling hatred in her heart and said as if nothing had happened, “I’m going back to the bureau. Contact me if anything comes up.”
Ye Zhao said, “Wait a moment.”
She took out the magazine she had bought today. “This is for you.”
Lin Song turned her head and looked at the bright yellow, cute cover, her cool brow furrowing slightly.
Ye Zhao looked at her thoughtfully. “Page fifteen. Officer Lin must read it when you have time.”
***
The second issue of the magazine was finally released. Velvet Bamboo Studio was much calmer than last time and did not specifically go to the bookstore to check on the sales.
At 10 AM, everyone was focused on slacking off or working, and the entire second floor of the small building was quite peaceful.
Ring, ring, ring…
Suddenly, the dedicated rescue phone, which had been silent for a long time, rang throughout the work area.
The ringing was extremely piercing, and everyone’s ears immediately perked up.
—A small animal needs rescue!
Pei the Little Able Cat came out of her office, following the sound, and saw the calico cat leap lightly to the side of the cabinet, transform into her human form, and take out the dedicated rescue phone.
She quickly clicked to answer and also turned on the speaker.
“Hello, this is the ‘Small Animal Survival Guide’.”
A slightly rapid breathing sound came from the other end of the line.
“Hello, I’m a reader of the magazine, and I’m at Yudong Square in the East District right now. There’s an animal performance here, where a human is forcing a raccoon to speak human language…”
Pei the Little Able Cat’s pupils constricted.
…
Yudong Square was not far from Fluffy Road. Everyone immediately got on the tricycle and set off in a flurry.
Luo Bian floored it, and the tricycle weaved through the streets like an agile beast.
Twenty minutes later, the group of humans and beasts arrived at Yudong Square.
It was a weekday, during work hours, so it should have been deserted.
But at this moment, it was crowded with people, a dense and dark mass.
“Can raccoons really speak human language?”
A passerby was quite curious.
Ye Qingyu protected Pei the Little Able Cat as they squeezed through the crowd to the front row.
She saw a raccoon, so thin it was just skin and bones, and dispirited, tied with a rope and standing on a stool.
A man next to it was holding a bowl of grapes and, taking out a small one, held it in front of the raccoon, and coaxed and commanded:
“Say ‘hello’.”
The raccoon looked at the grape, not moving and not speaking.
The passersby immediately booed. “It really is a false advertisement!”
The man hastily explained, “It really can speak human language. Maybe it’s just not hungry enough right now…”
“…”
Pei the Little Able Cat’s face instantly turned pale at the words.
Her legs went weak, and her whole body was about to slide down.
Ye Qingyu quickly and skillfully held the red panda tightly.
“Huh, I know that raccoon! It helped me before!”
The little sea otter struggled to squeeze in, and her eyes widened when she saw the scene.
Seeing the man grow impatient and raise his whip to strike the raccoon, her heart immediately clenched.
“Don’t hit my friend—”
Thanks to her recent workouts with the panther, she rushed forward and, with both hands, snatched the whip away.
The thin man was caught off guard, and the force of the whip being pulled from his hand made him trip and fall to the ground in a disheveled heap, his nose instantly broken and bleeding.
He looked up at the girl and cursed, “Are you crazy?”
The little sea otter also looked at the man, puffed up with anger, and the girl’s clear voice spoke a sea otter’s exclusive angry words:
“I really want to smash you on my rock!”
The group of humans and beasts from Velvet Bamboo Studio quickly squeezed in and surrounded the little sea otter, backing her up.
Pei the Little Able Cat managed to come back to her senses and, ignoring her weak legs, rushed forward and picked up the gaunt raccoon.
Her fingertips trembled slightly as she picked up a grape from the bowl and fed it to the raccoon’s mouth.
She knew the feeling of hunger all too well.
“You robbers, how dare you steal my raccoon?”
Seeing his livelihood being taken away, the man hastily got up from the ground.
He felt his eyelid had been stung by something like a bee, and it was instantly itchy and painful, but he had no time for that. He just said to the group of women in front of him, trying to sound fierce, “I’m going to call the police!”
Ye Qingyu protected Pei the Little Able Cat from behind and waved the phone in her hand. “No need. I already have.”
But she saw the man who had just threatened to call the police tremble all over and turn to run, and then he stumbled—
His escape route was blocked.
A tall and slender, sharp-tempered young woman with a pair of jade-green eyes was staring at him dangerously.
“Where do you think you’re going? Just wait here.”
The man met that pair of extremely aggressive eyes, and for no reason, a sudden panic arose in him, and he stumbled backward.
There was another person in the room who was afraid of calling the police—
“Ah? You called the police?!” the little sea otter exclaimed.
Having been in human society for several years, the little sea otter had been caught by the police aunties many times while she was rushing around looking for her mother, and it had really left a shadow on her.
Remembering the terrible experience of being arrested and educated at the police station last time, she couldn’t help but shiver instinctively.
And as a mama’s otter, her habit of thinking of her mother when she was nervous kicked in again.
She rubbed her cheeks and looked up at Shui Zhu, and said with a sob:
“When I was floating on the sea before, Mom would sometimes have to tie me to the surface of the sea with seaweed and go diving for food herself, and then she would quickly come back to me with the food.”
“Once, I was playing and untied the seaweed. A strong wind was blowing on the sea, and I drifted far away with the waves. It took Mom a long, long time to finally find me.”
“That time, she held me tightly in her fear and said that in the future, if she wasn’t there, I had to be good and wait for her in the same place…”
“So you do remember.”
—A cool voice suddenly came from her side.
The little sea otter’s body trembled.
The next second, a woman in a police uniform slowly walked up to her, her posture solemn, but her cool voice held a certain helpless softness.
“Little Bao, you weren’t good.”
You made Mom look for you for a long time again.
