All My Colleagues Are Animals 95

Epilogue 1: If Line – Childhood Sweethearts (Part 2)

First day of school, 7 AM sharp.

“Jiejie, are you ready?”

Ye Qingyu stood at the bedroom door, her schoolbag on her back and another of the same in her hand.

She was wearing a brand-new, sky-blue school uniform, and the simple style was made fresh and eye-catching by the girl’s slender and beautiful figure.

“Not yet.” A sullen reply came from the room. It seemed the little beast was not happy.

Ye Qingyu knew what was wrong at a glance.

“I’m coming in.” She waited for a few seconds after announcing, then gently pushed the door open.

The bedroom’s blackout curtains were drawn, and the room was completely dark.

The seventeen-year-old girl was sitting on the edge of the bed, her back to her.

Her two hands were stubbornly fumbling behind her back.

Her arms were pushing against the hem of her uniform, exposing the lower half of her delicate, white back.

Ye Qingyu’s gaze softened slightly, and she said in a gentle voice, “Let me help you.”

Pei the Red Panda immediately let go, so tired that she fell limply onto the bed, her voice lazy and muffled in the pillow.

“Mmm.”

Ye Qingyu bent down and, with practiced ease, helped her fasten her bra.

Then she carefully lowered the hem of her uniform, took the girl’s hand, and pulled the red panda up from the bed.

“Let’s go. It’s time for school.” Her voice was light and held a smile.

In the morning, the day was bright.

The red sun was half-hidden in the clouds, dyeing a patch of clear and refreshing orange morning glow. It was as if a girl, in her play, had accidentally spilled a sky full of orange soda.

Ye Qingyu rode her new bicycle, and Pei the Red Panda sat on the back seat, her hands wrapped tightly around the girl’s slender waist. Her head was pressed against her back, nuzzling, her peach blossom eyes curiously sizing up her surroundings.

On the way, they passed a little dog that “woof-woof-ed” at them. Her pink lips immediately parted slightly, and she bared the tips of her sharp canines at it.

“Ying.” A fierce warning from a red panda.

Ding-ding— The bicycle wove lightly through the small paths, an occasional clear silver bell ringing. The morning breeze was cool and refreshing, and it fluttered the tips of the girls’ hair.

“I wonder what our new classmates will be like,” Ye Qingyu said.

“Don’t be afraid. Jiejie will protect you.” The fierce little red panda lifted her head with confidence.

Ye Qingyu’s eyes curved slightly, and she answered meekly, “Mhm.”

…

As the best public high school in B-City, Zhisong High School had a free and lively school spirit, and its grades were climbing year after year.

The school itself was also exquisitely and grandly built, and everywhere was as beautiful as a painting.

Ye Qingyu, holding Pei the Red Panda’s hand, smoothly found the classroom of Class 1-1.

To avoid the students having to rush around in the summer heat, the school had adopted an online registration method, and the textbooks had also long since been neatly placed in everyone’s desk drawers. Therefore, this was the first time the human and the red panda had come to the classroom.

They seemed to have been a little too eager—

At this moment, there was only one girl in the classroom.

“Good morning.” Ye Qingyu’s eyes curved slightly, and she generously greeted her new classmate.

She looked up and met the girl’s gentle and beautiful face, and the introverted girl’s face immediately flushed red with nervousness.

“H-hello.”

Pei the Red Panda poked her head out from behind Ye Qingyu and lazily rested her chin on the girl’s shoulder. Her pair of clear peach blossom eyes looked at the new classmate with curiosity.

The girl was stunned.

Her gaze was deeply attracted by this new classmate’s hair color—

So trendy, it was actually reddish-brown! It made her unable to help but think of a fluffy red panda.

But, this classmate did not look very easy to get along with.

That stunningly beautiful, peach-blossom-like face, that rather proud and lazy expression, looked very much like a spoiled and hard-to-provoke young miss from a rich family.

The girl’s heart grew even more nervous.

She had worked hard to get into this school with her grades. She absolutely could not provoke a young miss classmate. She quickly and earnestly greeted, “Y-you too, good morning!”

Why is this human so nervous? As expected, a ferocious beast is majestic wherever it goes.

With this thought, Pei the Red Panda was pleased and did not spare a smile for her new classmate.

The corners of her lips curled up slightly, revealing a small row of neat, white teeth. Her two little beast canines were a little sharper than a human’s, and were quite eye-catching.

The girl’s eyes widened—

So, so cute! She really looks like a little red panda!

…

Before the start of school, the class had determined their seats through an online lottery.

Very luckily, the human and the red panda had become deskmates. And so, Ye Qingyu, holding Pei the Red Panda’s hand, sat down in the third row of the second group.

Exploring a human school, which she had longed for, for the first time, Pei the Red Panda was curious about everything.

She looked here and touched there, and then took out the books from the drawer where they were neatly placed. She opened them one by one and, with a black ink pen, seriously wrote her own name—

A rounded character for “Rong.”

After writing for herself, she also wrote for Ye Qingyu.

This time, she not only wanted to write a rounded character for “Yu,” but she also wanted to draw a little red panda’s paw print right next to it, like a domineering mark.

Ten minutes later, she took out the last book from the drawer.

“High School Mathematics?”

After writing her name, Pei the Red Panda, with an air of composure, began to read, unguarded.

And then, in less than two minutes, she was dizzy, and her beastly nature flared up, and she fell asleep on the desk.

“…” Ye Qingyu looked at the little beast who was sleeping soundly and couldn’t help but laugh.

She tidied up the books the red panda had taken out one by one and placed them back in their respective drawers.

During this time, new classmates were constantly pouring in through the front and back doors of the classroom.

And without exception, their gazes would curiously look at that reddish-brown, fluffy head.

Pei the Red Panda was sleeping soundly, occasionally licking the tip of her teeth, completely unaware of the attention she was attracting.

Ring, ring, ring— The school bell rang.

Ye Qingyu pinched Pei the Red Panda’s hand, and the girl then opened her sleepy peach blossom eyes and dazedly sat up.

The head teacher walked into the classroom in high heels.

“Hello everyone, I am your head teacher for the next three years, and my name is Qiu Fenghong.”

“You can all call me Hong Jie.”

Hong Jie looked very young, only about thirty years old.

She spoke clearly and forcefully, her expression calm and kind, and she seemed to be very much at ease.

“On our first meeting, I won’t ask the students to introduce themselves one by one. In our long time together, everyone will come to know and remember each other deeply.”

Hearing this, all the students in the room immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

“Our class is all girls. I’m sure everyone will be able to understand each other well and get along happily. I am very much at ease.”

“Also, Ye Qingyu, your student number is 01. Can you be the temporary class president before the official election?”

Hong Jie quickly assigned the class committee positions.

The first two classes were the head teacher’s, and they were mainly for introducing school-related matters and organizing the new class.

Soon, the second class was over, and it was time for the 25-minute long break.

As the temporary class president, Ye Qingyu was called away by the head teacher. She patted the red panda’s shoulder with a certain unease.

“I’ll be back soon.”

“Go on,” Pei the Red Panda nodded with a spirited air.

During the long break, the classroom became unprecedentedly lively. Many new classmates would dawdle past Pei the Red Panda, and as if unintentionally, would look back at her.

Noticing those gazes, Pei the Red Panda innocently lifted her peach blossom eyes and gradually began to feel a little nervous.

After a moment, someone finally couldn’t help but stop and, with a generous air, take the initiative to speak to her.

“Classmate, your hair color is so pretty.”

This was the first time she had been alone with a strange human, talking to them.

Pei the Red Panda’s heart tensed up. She blinked her peach blossom eyes and lifted her head proudly.

“Mhm.”

The girl asked again, “Excuse me, where did you get it dyed? I want to get it dyed in the future too.”

Pei the Red Panda was a woman of few words and answered with a certain coolness, “I was born with it.”

“Wow, how magical!” Hearing this, the girls who had been pretending to pass by, but were actually listening with their ears perked up, immediately “wow-ed” in unison.

They all gathered around Pei the Red Panda with a sense of novelty and looked at her curiously.

“Classmate, you and the class president are so pretty. I couldn’t help but look at you just now.”

It was the vigorous and vibrant period of adolescence, and the girls were full of enthusiasm, their praises direct and sincere.

But a naturally timid little red panda, where had she ever been surrounded by so many strange humans?

With Ye the Little Tree not by her side, she was so nervous that her heart was pounding, and she almost wanted to raise her hands in surrender. Her reddish-brown hair also became fluffy, and a cowlick popped up, and the little red panda’s fur was bristling.

After a moment’s thought, her pink lips parted slightly, and she bared the tips of a little beast’s sharp canines at everyone.

“Ying—”

To scare the humans, to give the classmates a red panda’s show of force.

She was full of confidence, waiting for everyone to show a panicked expression of “don’t bite me.”

But she saw the girls’ eyes sparkle. “Wow, so cute!”

“You’re so good at imitating a small animal, just like a cute little red panda!”

“Ooh-ooh-ooh, my heart is melting.”

“…?” Pei the Red Panda was stunned and blinked her peach blossom eyes in a daze.

…A human who would praise a red panda as cute should not be a bad person.

And so, when Ye Qingyu walked into the classroom, this was the scene she saw—

Her and the red panda’s seats were being enthusiastically surrounded by the girls, and the air was full of sweet praises.

And her little red panda Jiejie, who was just entering society, her peach blossom eyes were shimmering, and she had a pleased look, her chin lifted proudly. The tips of her little beast teeth were half-exposed between her pink lips, so white and cute they were dazzling.

“…” Ye Qingyu’s steps paused slightly, and her gaze immediately became clear and deep.

“Excuse me.” Ye Qingyu said lightly to the girl who was blocking her seat, her breathing slightly heavy.

“Oh, oh, I’m sorry.” The girl quickly moved aside.

Ding-ding-ding— The school bell happened to ring at this moment.

Everyone dispersed and reluctantly returned to their respective seats.

Seeing that her most beloved and familiar little tree had finally returned, the red panda was even more pleased.

She habitually extended her fair arm and hooked it around Ye Qingyu’s neck, and like a red panda on a tree, her whole being was on Ye Qingyu’s arms.

A wild red panda spends most of its day on a tree, and she spends most of her time on Ye Qingyu. This was a habit that had been formed over more than a dozen years since she was little and was deeply ingrained in her bones.

Feeling Pei the Red Panda’s usual dependence, Ye Qingyu’s inexplicably clenched heart finally relaxed, and she gently patted her on the back.

The third class was mathematics.

The math teacher was wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and looked rational and serious.

“There are a little over a thousand days until the college entrance exam. Rounding up, that’s tomorrow’s college entrance exam.”

“!” Pei the Red Panda’s pupils trembled.

How did the college entrance exam suddenly become tomorrow?

Her peach blossom eyes became misty, and she suddenly felt that the world was very cruel to a little red panda.

“Yu Bao,” Pei the Red Panda said melancholically. “Tomorrow, I’ll take you to the college entrance exam. I won’t go in.”

Ye Qingyu was slightly stunned, and then she smiled.

She explained in a low voice, “The teacher was just exaggerating. There are still three years until the college entrance exam.”

Hearing this, the dejected little red panda was suddenly revitalized, and the invisible furry ears on top of her head perked up high.

Just now, hearing that the college entrance exam was in a thousand days, the little red panda’s world had collapsed. But now, after experiencing the urgency of zero days, she suddenly felt that a thousand days was really ample, and a red panda could do a lot!

But before she could put her plan into action, she naturally had to fill her stomach first.

At noon, after class, Ye Qingyu led Pei the Red Panda to the school cafeteria.

The cafeteria was crowded with people, and the red panda’s reddish-brown, fluffy head was particularly eye-catching in the crowd, and it caused a great deal of excited discussion among the students.

“My god, isn’t dyeing your hair not allowed in school? To have it dyed so gaudily, she must be a school bully!” “What a cool hair color.”

Besides Ye Qingyu, who was holding her hand, the cafeteria was full of strange humans. They were surging like a tide, their gazes burning.

“Ying…” For the first time, seeing so many humans at once, the timid little red panda felt nervous again.

The red panda’s instinct sent a tingling, electric sensation up her spine, and Pei Rong almost wanted to raise her hands in surrender, but she managed to hold it back.

It was really unbearable to hold it in. She unconsciously pursed her lips and lifted her head—

And so, she looked as if her peach blossom eyes were noble and cold, and her expression was arrogant. Her exceptionally beautiful face, with its inexperience just beginning to fade, was beautiful and moving, and she held her head high with the pride of a queen.

And the hand that had been halfway up in surrender, and had been raised and then lowered, was now like a threat to her classmates—

Be careful, or Jiejie will beat you up after school.

“Oh my god—what a cool school bully!” The students shrank back and turned their backs, and continued to whisper and discuss heatedly.

At the same time, there were also a few chuunibyou girls who were not afraid of death and ran up to Pei the Red Panda, their eyes sparkling.

“Jiejie, I want to be your Jiejie!”

Ye Qingyu was looking around, helping the red panda to see which window was selling freshly cut fruit.

When she came back to her senses, she saw that someone was actually trying to steal her childhood sweetheart Jiejie.

The usually gentle and bright girl’s smile immediately disappeared.

She held Pei the Red Panda’s hand tightly and, lowering her eyes to look at the girl, said in a light tone:

“I’m sorry, she’s already my Jiejie.”

“Mhm,” Pei the Red Panda nodded proudly.

…

At noon, in the freshman dormitory, there was a great deal of discussion.

“Have you heard? There’s a particularly beautiful school bully in Class 1-1 this year. She has reddish-brown hair, ignoring the school rules, and a pair of peach blossom eyes.”

“Oh, right, she also has a little follower, who is said to be a gentle and sweet girl…”

“I feel like I’m shipping them. What’s going on?” In a corner of the dormitory, a girl with brown hair was sitting cross-legged on her bed, quietly listening to everyone’s discussion.

Her gaze gradually brightened, as if with shattered stars.

She took out the small notebook and pen she always carried with her and wrote a line:

[Domineering School Bully Jiejie Top x Gentle Follower Sweet Girl Bottom]

Creak— The dormitory door was suddenly pushed open.

The girls who were gossiping temporarily stopped, and all of them looked curiously toward the door.

They saw a tall and slender girl come in. She was gentle and beautiful and looked very easy to get along with.

“Hello, you—” The enthusiastic welcome for a new roommate was stuck in her throat.

Because behind this sweet girl was a beautiful older sister with reddish-brown hair and peach blossom eyes.

The peach blossom eye Jiejie’s lips were slightly pursed, and she had no expression on her face, and she looked difficult to provoke.

“…” For a moment, the dormitory was speechless.

It was very clear that these two were the subjects of their heated discussion!

Just now in the cafeteria, she had run into too many strangers, and the red panda was a little unaccustomed to it, and her mood was a little low.

In her heartache, Ye Qingyu had no time to exchange pleasantries with her new roommate. She just politely said “hello” and then quickly led the red panda to their beds.

This was a dormitory for students’ lunch break. A room had four bunk beds and could sleep up to eight people.

Ye Qingyu and Pei the Red Panda were assigned to the top and bottom bunks of the same bed, but the two had never slept in separate beds.

And so, they naturally got into the bottom bunk together.

The bed curtain was drawn, and a dim and stable darkness fell over the bed.

Finally, without the gazes of strangers, Pei the Red Panda took a light breath.

The little red panda who had been spoiled since she was little was scared, and she particularly needed comfort. Her peach blossom eyes were misty, and she haphazardly hooked her neck around Ye Qingyu’s, and she clingily and repeatedly entangled herself with her, wanting to be closer, and even closer, their clothes rustling.

She also buried her head in the crook of the girl’s shoulder and lightly sniffed the scent on her, which was similar to her own. It was the scent of the laundry detergent their mother had bought.

After a moment of hugging, the little beast calmed down a little. She lifted her head slightly, and her teeth restlessly and not too lightly and not too heavily gnawed on the girl’s chin.

Ye Qingyu silently indulged all of Pei the Red Panda’s actions and held her by the waist.

Her other hand rose, and with practiced ease, she petted her fluffy head, smoothing down the bristling, reddish-brown hair. She then moved to her rounded, cute ears and gently kneaded them.

Just as she had done with the little red panda’s beast form before.

Pei the Red Panda was so comfortable from being petted that she gradually relaxed, and finally fell into a deep and sweet sleep in the girl’s arms.

“Ying…” she licked the tip of her teeth and unconsciously made a red panda’s sound.

And outside the bed curtain, the girls’ eyes were wide, and they looked at each other.

What’s going on?

The school bully Jiejie and her follower sweet girl are squeezing into one bed for their lunch break, and she’s even forcing the sweet girl to make little animal sounds?

As expected, a school bully is a school bully, and ordinary people should not touch them