All My Colleagues Are Animals 83

Chapter 83

Ye Zhao had just been passing by.

Hearing people discuss a raccoon that could speak human language, she had immediately thought that one of Rong Bao’s kind had been exposed.

For a moment, she was worried and went to check on the situation.

After getting closer to the crowd, she had vaguely seen her two daughters standing side by side in the innermost circle.

And so, Ye Zhao had unhesitatingly squeezed through the surging crowd, heading straight for her daughters, and had finally arrived behind them.

Just as she had stood firm, her heart had suddenly skipped a beat.

As if sensing something, she had looked up and had met Rong Bao’s eyes, which were as if drenched by a sudden rain.

The little red panda’s misty, teary gaze was dazed and lost, like a kite with a broken string that had been unable to find its way home for several years.

Seeing this, Ye Zhao’s heart had suddenly ached.

She had raised her hand, wanting to wipe Rong Bao’s tears.

But in the next second, she had reacted, and her fingertips had curled in mid-air.

With their current relationship, such intimacy would probably just cause a disturbance.

Fortunately, another hand had risen and had gently wiped that tear-streaked face.

“Mom and I are both here.”

Ye Qingyu held Pei the Little Able Cat in her arms and gently patted her on the back, coaxing her in a soft, quiet voice.

Pei the Little Able Cat blinked her teary, shimmering peach blossom eyes.

She bit her lip, and her two arms hooked around Ye Qingyu’s neck, and she lightly sniffed the clear and subtle fragrance of the young woman’s embrace.

The little red panda clung to her most familiar and beloved little tree and gradually found a sense of peace.

And the woman by her side was like a gently standing lighthouse. No matter how the tide surged, she, as always, shone on her and her.

It made the little red panda suddenly feel that she was not a lonely boat in the sea.

She had long since returned to port.

***

Lin Song reluctantly let go of Otter Bao, her gaze on the man who was being stared at by Wu Shu and was sitting on the ground, his legs trembling.

Her tone was serious and cold. “You abused an animal, forced it to perform, and profited from it, which is against the law. In addition, you are also suspected of being involved in a theft case. Please come with us to the police station.”

Otter Bao’s eyes widened slightly at the words.

Mama Otter is really a police officer…

Lin Song sensed Little Bao’s trembling and, thinking she was afraid of the suspect in front of her, she raised a hand and gently patted Otter’s head.

The group of humans and beasts, as eyewitnesses, went to the police station.

On the way, the little sea otter held Mama Otter’s hand tightly in the police car, her pair of watery, big eyes filled with a sense of being at a loss.

“Mom, are we really going to the police station?”

Lin Song’s tone softened a little. “Mhm, Mom works there. You’ll be coming every day in the future.”

“…”

Every… every day to that police station place?!

The little sea otter’s eyes widened in disbelief.

…

When they arrived at the police station, a young woman was already waiting there.

Holding the little raccoon she had lost for several months, her eyes welled up with pained, hot tears, and she sobbed, “Rou Rou, how did you get so thin…”

Coming out of the interrogation, Pei the Little Able Cat let out a light sigh and said sullenly:

“The animal that the evil person cruelly treated was clearly a treasure that someone else loved.”

Ye Qingyu rarely did not reply.

Pei the Little Able Cat blinked her peach blossom eyes and looked up at her. “Right?”

The moment she finished, she met the young woman’s beautiful eyes and was suddenly speechless.

In them, there seemed to be a deep and surging, intense pain and affection.

Ye Qingyu’s throat felt a little tight. She raised a hand and gently tucked a strand of hair that had fallen to the side of the woman’s face behind her ear.

“Right,” she said softly.

…

S-City Port.

Li Yuan was pacing back and forth, furious.

“Such a large shipment of live beasts to the neighboring country, and they all disappeared overnight!”

The loss was heavy, and the buyer who had not received the goods was also quite dissatisfied. After a refund, they had threatened to never do business again.

Li Shen’s expression was deep and gloomy, his tone sinister.

“You fool. It’s your order that has this kind of mistake again.”

“The huge deal with the Bai family in the neighboring country was ruined by you, and you couldn’t even close it after half a month of talks; and now, another case of stolen live beasts. Is this how you’re the second-in-command?”

Li Yuan was angry and embarrassed. “I’ve said it before, that woman in charge of the Bai family is very smart. It would have been the same if you had gone!”

After speaking, he narrowed his eyes. “I’m in this position. How much dissatisfaction do you have in your heart? Don’t play little tricks to mess with me anymore. If ‘Green Bird’ suffers a heavy loss, you’ll only be left with small fish and shrimp even if you swallow it all.”

Li Shen sneered. “Turning the tables. Haven’t you been coveting it for a long time?”

Recently, the organization had been frequently frustrated, and another incident of stolen live beasts had occurred. The two brothers’ tempers were on the verge of exploding.

Shen Rendong sat on the side, quietly playing with a beautiful, crescent-shaped seashell in her hand.

Li Yuan glanced at her, at her always elegant and proper appearance, and his heart was stuffy.

He couldn’t help but mock, “No matter how much I mess up, I’m still a Li family member. ‘Green Bird’ should have my share.”

“Some outsiders who have changed their surname from Li have the nerve to be the third-in-command. Why can’t I be the second-in-command?”

Shen Rendong’s face did not change, as if she had not been mocked.

She unhurriedly caressed the delicate texture of the seashell before she stood up with an air of composure.

“Stop arguing. You both know very well that I’m just working for you and won’t get a single bit of the Li family’s property. Why bother picking on me?”

“The most important thing now is to find the source of the theft. Who was guarding the beast cage in the warehouse?”

…

With the theft of live beasts worth a fortune, the organization was in a state of panic.

Investigations, punishments, and the two brothers’ power struggle were in full swing.

And Shen Rendong, who had single-handedly orchestrated this release of live beasts, easily extricated herself and returned home on time at dusk.

She had forgotten to open the curtains at home, and the scorching sunset could not burn into the house, leaving only a dark and dim room.

She stood alone in the living room, looking at the outlines of the furniture, which were quietly sketched by the darkness, and suddenly felt a certain emptiness.

The composure on her face faded, leaving only a quiet loneliness.

Having been in a sinister and treacherous, blood-soaked place for so many years, she had forgotten which expressions were the masks she had been forced to wear and could no longer take off.

Fortunately, all of this was about to end.

She stood like a statue for a long time before she finally moved.

She turned on the light, walked into the bathroom, and carefully removed her makeup in front of the mirror.

A fine cotton pad, soaked with makeup remover, was wiped over the tip of her nose, revealing a small, rosy mole.

Adorning that soft, white, and upright face, it was breathtakingly beautiful.

***

At 5 o’clock, she left work on time.

Ye Qingyu walked into the boss’s office and, facing the 16-degree air conditioning, picked up the warm little red panda blanket before she froze solid.

“Can we go to Ms. Ye’s house for dinner tonight?”

She rubbed the little red panda’s head.

Pei Rong nodded with pleasure. “We can.”

And so, the human and the red panda got into the SUV and headed to Ye Zhao’s mansion.

Ms. Ye rarely cooked, and only occasionally, when she was in the mood, would she cook a little.

Tonight, she had rarely cooked, and had made some special dishes.

Seeing Ye Qingyu and Pei the Little Able Cat come in, Ye Zhao took off her apron and said with a smile:

“You’re just in time. Go and wash your hands and come and eat.”

While the red panda was washing her hands, Ye Qingyu leaned in next to Ms. Ye and said in a low voice, “Mom, what’s the secret to controlling a red panda’s sugar intake?”

Ms. Ye answered in a low voice, “I’ll teach you.”

“The first step in controlling a red panda’s sugar intake is to take out the Ye family’s ancestral recipe book.”

Ye Qingyu was curious. “Who is the ‘ancestor’?”

Ms. Ye: “I am.”

Ye Qingyu was convinced.

Over there, Pei the Little Able Cat had finished washing her hands and, licking the tip of her teeth, came to the dining table with great anticipation.

Sweet and sour pork with pineapple, lychee chicken wings, orange steamed egg…

Today was a sugar-abstinence day, and she could eat so well?

Her peach blossom eyes instantly sparkled with stars.

“Eat, eat more,” Ms. Ye said, serving them gently.

And so, Pei the Little Able Cat picked up her chopsticks and sat down at the table, and began to taste the delicious food.

The flavor of every dish hit the little red panda right in the heart, and she squinted her peach blossom eyes with satisfaction.

Especially, there were also rich and sweet fruits in the dishes, which made the red panda…

At this thought, Pei the Little Able Cat’s thoughts suddenly paused.

Wait, where’s the fruit?

Her stomach was already round, and only then did the little beast belatedly realize a problem—

The sweet and sour pork with pineapple on the table only had meat, and meat that looked like pineapple.

Although the lychee chicken wings were decorated with beautiful lychee shells, there were no lychees.

The orange steamed egg was just served in a hollowed-out orange peel.

…

All the dishes were like this.

Pei the Little Able Cat blinked her peach blossom eyes and, holding her chopsticks, looked around in a daze.

She licked the tip of her teeth and looked at Ye Qingyu and Ye Zhao with a burning gaze, but she saw the human mother and daughter burying their heads and eating seriously, not looking at her at all.

—”The second step in controlling a red panda’s sugar intake is to avoid eye contact with the red panda.”

Ye Qingyu’s skills were ultimately still shallow.

After enduring for a moment, she still couldn’t help but sneak a glance at her beautiful childhood sweetheart.

Seeing Pei the Little Able Cat’s innocent, wronged, and reddish-brown, long, curly, fluffy, and dejected hair framing her cheeks, her heart clenched, and she felt that she was both cute and pitiful.

If it were before, she would have already been unable to resist coaxing her with fruit.

Sure enough, Ms. Ye’s sugar control secrets were all learned through blood and tears.

…

As a red panda with an extreme sweet tooth by nature, and not having had a single piece of fruit today, Pei Rong’s heart was inevitably a little itchy.

Especially facing the human who doted on her, she was spoiled rotten, and her heart was particularly itchy.

And so, after dinner, Pei Rong transformed into a red panda and lay lazily on Ye the Little Tree.

As she passed by the coffee table, her paw suddenly slipped, and with a “ying,” she very accidentally fell down.

She happened to fall limply next to the fruit basket.

She raised a paw and touched an apple in the fruit basket, and said seriously, “Ye the Little Tree, this fruit was accidentally scratched by the tip of my paw. You should deal with it.”

Ye Qingyu paused slightly. “Mmm? It does need to be dealt with as soon as possible.”

Pei the Little Able Cat’s plan had worked. She nodded with pleasure and restraint.

Ye Qingyu held the red panda and, with practiced ease, took out the nail clippers from the drawer and began to carefully trim her fluffy paws.

Pei the Little Able Cat’s peach blossom eyes widened. “…”

The human is not dealing with the apple. Why is she dealing with her, a little panda!

The next second, a long cry of a “ying” echoed in the living room.

—”The third step in controlling a red panda’s sugar intake is to play dumb.”

At night.

Pei the Little Able Cat, who had not had a single piece of fruit all day, had finished her bath and brushed her teeth. She transformed into her human form and lay in bed, her mood empty and drowsy in her withdrawal.

Ye Qingyu came out after tidying up and held the listless, beautiful childhood sweetheart in her arms.

She raised a hand to pet her head and smooth her fur. “Are you unhappy?”

Pei the Little Able Cat licked the tip of her teeth. “My mouth has no taste.”

Ye Qingyu thought for a moment. “Then, do you want a kiss?”

Pei Rong’s lashes fluttered lightly.

Her peach blossom eyes instantly lit up, and she stared straight at Ye Qingyu’s lips.

And so, Ye Qingyu gently held the woman’s chin, and her lips slowly pressed against hers.

Compared to the passion and possession of last time, this time it was more of a long and gentle warmth.

Her wet and soft tongue gently explored and lingered, and in her light sucking, they exchanged a clear sweetness between their lips.

The bedside lamplight was dim.

The fine sound of wetness was subtle, and in the night, it sketched out a certain hazy ambiguity.

After a long while, their lips parted.

Ye Qingyu gently kissed away the sparkling moisture from the corner of the woman’s lips.

Pei the Little Able Cat lay lazily on her shoulder.

As she panted lightly, she was finally content.

“Sweet.”

Ye Qingyu had learned by analogy and had successfully understood the final step in controlling a red panda’s sugar intake—

—replacing one kind of sweetness with another.