Panda Cub – Chapter 3
by Little PandaFrivolous
Is that something a proper person would say!
She was beautiful in a way that was pleasing to the eye, beautiful without falling into cliché. If she had to compare, Jing Dan still preferred the woman from last night.
She reached out and accepted the business card. Although Jing Dan really didn’t want to talk to her, she remembered her aunt’s teachings—now that she was in human society, she couldn’t act as recklessly as before. And considering that Zhihuan Entertainment was currently the leading company in the entertainment industry, she would inevitably run into them in the future. There was no need to start things off on such hostile terms.
“Then I’ll gratefully accept President Xu’s kind offer.”
Seeing her cold and aloof attitude, the interest in Xu Zhihuan’s eyes only deepened.
“There’s a banquet the day after tomorrow. I hope Miss Jing will do me the honor of attending.”
As she spoke, she moved closer. The hem of her skirt brushed against Jing Dan’s leg, lightly grazing the fabric of her trousers. It was barely noticeable, but Jing Dan still felt it.
Her heart gave a startled thump. The somewhat heavy scent of roses washed over her, and she took an uncomfortable step back.
Jing Dan: “…Okay.”
Not only was this woman not as good-looking as that one, even the scent on her wasn’t as pleasant or comfortable to smell.
“Oh? Miss Jing, why are you backing away?” Xu Zhihuan, however, looked as if she had spotted something amusing. The smile on her face grew more meaningful as she slowly stepped toward Jing Dan.
This time, Jing Dan didn’t retreat. Her face cold, she said flatly, “The perfume President Xu is wearing is too strong. I’m not used to it.”
Blunt and bold, showing no mercy whatsoever.
Xu Zhihuan was startled for a moment, then laughed heartily. “You don’t like this scent? Then I won’t use it anymore, alright?”
Jing Dan lowered her gaze and moved a few more steps away from her. “Whether I like it or not isn’t important.”
She felt that if she had been even a second slower in retreating, this woman wouldn’t have just been brushing her skirt against her leg.
“It’s still very important.” Xu Zhihuan’s tone was meaningful, but fortunately, she didn’t press further. “The banquet the day after tomorrow will be inviting many of the entertainment industry’s hottest stars. Miss Jing, make sure you remember to come.”
With that, she left quite cleanly.
Jing Dan subtly wrinkled her nose, then pushed thoughts of her aside and turned her gaze toward the pastries on the side table instead.
Having just a little bit… that shouldn’t be a problem, right?
…
“President Xu, got your eye on someone?” Someone bumped Xu Zhihuan’s shoulder.
Xu Zhihuan’s gaze still hadn’t left Jing Dan. She raised her wine glass and took a slow, deliberate sip, then said with a smile, “Don’t you think… that prim and proper look of hers just makes you want to see what she’d be like all torn apart?”
The person beside her watched for a moment, then nodded in agreement. “But she’s one of Jing Shiyue’s people.”
Someone who could walk all over this place.
Xu Zhihuan finally withdrew her gaze, looked at the other person, and raised an eyebrow. “So what if she’s her people? No matter how formidable she is, she can’t stop her niece from having someone she likes, can she?”
The other person immediately caught on and couldn’t help but laugh, giving her a thumbs up.
“As expected of President Xu. So confident.”
Xu Zhihuan neither confirmed nor denied it, but the way her gaze flickered toward Jing Dan’s direction grew increasingly determined.
It had been a long time since she’d met someone she wanted so badly.
On the way back from the banquet, Jing Shiyue looked at the woman beside her—sitting with perfect posture, her demeanor cold and aloof—and said in a faintly exasperated tone, “What are you eating?”
It was such a nice picture, so why did her mouth have to keep moving? Couldn’t she just match her current persona for once?!
Jing Dan turned her head to look at her, then opened her right hand in front of her. Inside were two cute little green pastries. She asked, “Do you want some too?”
Jing Shiyue: “…”
With a weary heart, she rested one arm on the car window and propped her forehead against her hand, speaking in a tone that was practically dripping with frustration. “Jing Dan! Can’t you have a little more ambition?”
Born into the Jing family, had she ever gone without anything to eat? Why did she lose all composure at the sight of food!
Jing Dan immediately closed her palm and silently sped up, swallowing the food in her mouth.
If she had her panda ears on her head right now, they would definitely be drooping.
Jing Shiyue let out a deep sigh. Well, at least she still puts on a decent act in front of strangers.
“That Xu Zhihuan earlier—what did she say to you?”
Even while she was making small talk with others, she had been keeping an eye on Jing Dan’s situation. Naturally, she had also seen Xu Zhihuan, who kept radiating a seductive aura toward Jing Dan.
It made her wary. Xu Zhihuan was a woman who didn’t discriminate between men and women and played the field quite openly. She didn’t want Jing Dan to fall into her trap.
“She invited me to her banquet the day after tomorrow.” Jing Dan’s voice was a little sullen.
“And you agreed?”
“Mm. I’ll have to deal with her eventually anyway.”
Jing Shiyue nodded. “But I’ve already told you what kind of person she is. Just be careful yourself.”
“Okay.”
Hearing that, Jing Shiyue knew she hadn’t taken it to heart at all. She sighed softly.
The next evening, still in the form of a panda cub, Jing Dan was lying on her bed dozing off with a bottle of milk in her arms when she received a call from her friend Hu Tu.
A red fox demon.
“Come out, come out! There’s an event here tonight! Hurry up and join the fun!”
Her soft, seductive voice carried a slightly floating, slurred quality, as if she’d had a bit too much to drink and her tongue was getting thick.
Along with her voice came the thumping music and the noisy chatter of a crowd. Jing Dan didn’t even need to think to know where she was.
“I’m not going. I don’t want to drink anyway.” She refused bluntly and decisively. Besides, she didn’t like the atmosphere in bars. She always found them too noisy.
“No way! You have to come out! I made a bet with them—if you don’t show up, I’ll have to pay the bill!” Hu Tu’s voice rose, then shifted into a serious, persuasive tone. “Come on, come on! Don’t let yourself become an island. You need to come out and soak up some human energy!”
A flash of white light, and the panda cub lying on the bed transformed into a tall, long-legged woman. The bottle of milk in her arms rolled onto her leg, and she caught it with a quick hand.
Her faint brows slowly furrowed together. Reluctantly, she said, “Then just pay the bill. It’s not like you’re short on cash.”
“I don’t care! Get your butt out here now! I’m at Zuiye! Hurry up! Don’t make me come to your house to find you!”
With that, she hung up.
Jing Dan wrinkled her nose, but in the end, she resignedly got up to change clothes. Before leaving, she didn’t forget to finish the bottle of milk, then headed to the place Hu Tu had mentioned.
She had been here once before, also brought by Hu Tu. Inside, men and women were all tangled up together on the dance floor. When she had watched them back then, she thought they were a bit strange. She had seen human dancing before—it wasn’t like that, was it?
When she arrived and found the booth Hu Tu had described, the semicircular booth was already filled with quite a few people. Most of them were already drunk and sprawled out, not knowing who was who anymore.
She rolled her eyes inwardly. They’re all this drunk, so why did they call me here? To pay the bill?
“Jing Dan!”
Hu Tu was the first to notice her. She immediately staggered over, her steps unsteady, and draped herself over Jing Dan’s body. Her voice unconsciously rose as she said, “Come, come! Let me introduce you to some new friends!”
As she spoke, she pushed Jing Dan in front of the group, looking quite proud as she said, “So? Isn’t she gorgeous!”
Then, as if showing off a prize, she pushed Jing Dan even further forward, like a proud mother showing off her obedient daughter.
Jing Dan: “…”
Expressionless. She even felt like leaving immediately.
“This is He Ying! She runs her own dance troupe now! Her dancing is amazing! She’s won a ton of awards!”
Jing Dan casually looked in the direction Hu Tu was pointing, but suddenly froze. Her gaze fixed on that person and didn’t move.
It was her.
The woman who had held her and dug up bamboo shoots.
Thinking back to that night, her expression grew even colder. She looked at the woman before her, who was still stunningly beautiful even in the dim light, and let out a cold snort.
Getting handsy with someone on the very first meeting—clearly a very frivolous person.
Jing Dan gave her a negative score in her heart.
He Ying, who had been sitting, stood up. She looked at Jing Dan and slowly revealed a captivating, faint smile, sizing her up with great interest.
She had noticed Jing Dan the moment she appeared. After all, a woman this beautiful would stand out wherever she went, especially with that aura about her—so out of place with the glitz and glamour of this place.
If it were just her good looks, that would be one thing. Plenty of people were good-looking, even if there weren’t many who were as beautiful as her. But it wasn’t impossible to find—she considered herself quite attractive, after all.
What piqued her interest, however, wasn’t her beauty. It was the look in her eyes when she looked at her, and her attitude toward her.
That look… it was as if she knew her. Combined with her attitude, it was clear that even if she had seen her before, her impression of her wasn’t good.
Yet He Ying’s memory held no such person. So where did this prejudice come from?
“Miss Jing, I’ve heard Hu Tu talk about you for a long time. Now that we finally meet, Miss Jing is exactly as Hu Tu said—so beautiful you just want to pull her into your arms.”
That was a lie, actually. With Jing Dan’s demeanor, anyone with even slightly weak mental fortitude would find it hard to even get close to her, let alone pull her into their arms.
Jing Dan: “…”
She shot a glance at Hu Tu, whose expression was starting to turn sheepish, and immediately understood that this woman was still thinking about the time she had held her in her panda form.
Receiving Jing Dan’s look, Hu Tu’s expression grew even more awkward. She shot He Ying a look, signaling her to stop talking. How was she supposed to know that He Ying would blurt out something she had only said casually while drunk!
But after He Ying said that, Jing Dan let out a cold snort from her nose. Without even looking at her, she found a random seat and sat down, mentally sticking another label on her.
Frivolous!
This was only their second meeting, and she was already talking about wanting to pull her into her arms! Was that something a proper person would say!
At this moment, Jing Dan had completely forgotten about the time that woman had held her and dug up bamboo shoots for her all night.
Receiving another cold shoulder, He Ying raised an eyebrow. Her interest in her only grew stronger.
Just how big a prejudice must she have to be this cold toward me?
Seeing that Jing Dan wasn’t paying He Ying any attention at all, Hu Tu rubbed her nose, feeling a bit awkward. She said quietly to He Ying, “Don’t mind her. That’s just how she is. Look, she’s not even acknowledging anyone else, right?”
Granted, those few people were already too drunk to even get up and say hello.
“It’s fine. I think she’s adorable.” He Ying chuckled softly. She glanced at Jing Dan, who was spearing fruit with a toothpick, and there was a hint of amusement in her eyes. She found this person truly interesting.
Coming to a bar and not drinking, just staring at the fruit platter and demolishing it.
Hu Tu was speechless. For a moment, she almost wondered if He Ying knew Jing Dan’s true identity.
Adorable? Jing Dan in her panda form was certainly adorable. But if you were talking about Jing Dan in her human form, ‘adorable’ didn’t have a single thing to do with it.
Looking at He Ying’s very interested expression, she wisely decided to keep her mouth shut.
He Ying was frequently appearing in the entertainment industry these days, and Jing Dan’s company was also in the entertainment field. It would be good for the two of them to get to know each other and have some connection.
Thinking this, she looked at He Ying’s face with a bit of regret. It’s a shame she doesn’t act. Otherwise, even without any acting skills, she’d probably be carried to the top by the looks-obsessed fans.
But no matter what schemes were running through her mind, He Ying had already sat down next to Jing Dan. She even brought over a few plates of snacks and placed them in front of her, asking with great thoughtfulness, “What’s wrong? Didn’t have dinner?”
Jing Dan’s gaze swept casually across her face. She maintained a haughty, aloof expression and said nothing.
According to what Aunt said, make people think you’re not someone to mess with, and then scare them off!
The author has something to say:
Luan Luan: Jing Xiao Dan! Stop saying ‘Aunt says this, Aunt says that’ all the time! It makes you look like an auntie’s girl!
Jing Xiao Dan in front of strangers: This woman is prettier, smells better, and her embrace is more comfortable.
Jing Xiao Dan in front of He Ying: This person got handsy the first time we met! Promiscuous! Frivolous!
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