Panda Cub – Chapter 4
by Little PandaDancing
Then go ahead and dance. I want to see.
The atmosphere inside the bar was hot and raucous, yet somehow, ever since He Ying had sat down, the small pocket of space around the two of them had fallen into a strange stillness, becoming a quiet corner all its own.
He Ying really was beautiful—the most beautiful person Jing Dan had laid eyes on in years. Her cascading waves of long hair were vibrant and bold without losing an ounce of elegance, and her forehead was fully exposed, smooth and radiant. Her eyes seemed to hold eternal springwater, and when she looked at someone, even a single glance felt brimming with depth.
Beautiful as she was, Jing Dan didn’t like her.
Over the years she’d watched plenty of TV dramas and movies. People with the same sort of vibe as He Ying always ran deep—mysterious, emotionally seasoned, and skilled at playing with other people’s hearts.
How could she ever hope to match someone like that? The only sensible approach was to keep her distance.
“Not eating?” He Ying rested her cheek on her hand and smiled at her.
The face before her was cool and indifferent, but those eyes—bright and lively—seemed oddly familiar somehow.
Yet the familiarity made no sense. She couldn’t figure out where she’d seen them before.
Jing Dan let out a soft hmph. Her nose had already caught the aroma of the food He Ying had brought, but a panda of principle—how could she let herself be bought off with a few snacks?!
She kept stabbing at the fruit in front of her, making a point not to look at those little dishes.
Seeing that she still wouldn’t respond, He Ying asked with some curiosity, “Do you know me, Miss Jing?”
She was fairly famous in the dance world, sure, but she wasn’t conceited enough to think everyone had heard of her. Could it be that Jing Dan had watched some of the variety shows she’d been on?
This time He Ying let her gaze linger, studying her closely. At first glance she gave off a cold, ascetic vibe, but based on how she’d acted before—her attitude, her behavior—there was something a little childish about her too. Would someone like that watch dance programs?
“I don’t know you,” Jing Dan finally replied. Which wasn’t a lie. Before today, she genuinely hadn’t known what this woman was called.
“You don’t know me, but could I ask where your bad opinion of me comes from?” He Ying raised an eyebrow. This girl struck her as someone who didn’t know how to lie, who couldn’t even fake it convincingly.
When she’d said “I don’t know you,” her dislike had practically been shoved right in her face. She might as well have just come out and said it.
Jing Dan faltered, meeting her eyes.
He Ying smiled back at her, beaming, those eyes practically hooking onto Jing Dan as if they wanted to pull everything they could out of her.
“I don’t have a bad opinion of you.” In the end, Jing Dan couldn’t hold her gaze and looked away, grumbling to herself.
Her true form couldn’t be a fox spirit too, could it? Does Hu Tu even know she’s a yao1?
“You don’t have a bad opinion of me.” He Ying nodded as if she believed her, then pulled out her phone, tapped at it a bit, and held it out to Jing Dan. Still smiling, she said, “Well, since there’s no bad opinion, and we know each other now, how about we be friends?”
Jing Dan looked down.
It was a QR code.
“…”
“I have a bad opinion of you now!” Jing Dan hurriedly straightened her face, fixing her with a glare as serious as could be.
He Ying blinked, then burst out laughing, tears almost springing to the corners of her eyes. She didn’t know why, but that reaction was just too funny. A moment ago she was saying she had no bad opinion, and the instant she saw that she wanted to add her, she immediately owned up to it.
Was adding her as a contact really that terrifying?
“Alright, then let me hear it. What’s your bad opinion of me?”
He Ying locked her phone and tossed it onto the coffee table, leaning a little closer to Jing Dan, clearly delighted to wait for an answer.
Jing Dan: “…”
This woman wasn’t just frivolous—she was tenacious!
“What’s wrong? Can’t say it?” He Ying pressed when she stayed quiet.
Her face was all smiles, but inside she was thoroughly amused. When had she turned into some kind of bullying delinquent picking on a good student?
Yet the more she smiled, the tighter Jing Dan’s frown grew. Something rankled inside her. She felt like she was being played.
“Since you can’t say it, then there’s no bad opinion, right? No bad opinion means this time you really can add me, can’t you?” He Ying’s smile deepened. She unlocked her phone and held it out again.
Maybe it was just easier to like good-looking people. If it had been anyone else ignoring her, He Ying wouldn’t have bothered. But there was something about this particular person that fascinated her. She wanted to tease her, to watch her fumble for words. The look on her face—it was just adorable no matter how you sliced it.
He Ying thought she must be a little unhinged, wanting so badly to tease someone she’d only just met.
Was it because of those eyes that felt so familiar?
In the end, they did add each other as contacts. He Ying glanced at Jing Dan’s avatar—a vivid green stalk of bamboo with two leaves sprouting out.
“Cute,” she commented.
Jing Dan’s face was stone.
“Hey, Yingying, aren’t you about to go do another show?”
A woman who reeked of alcohol suddenly lurched over and collapsed against He Ying. Too drunk to control her volume, her shout carried loud and clear to Jing Dan.
A show? Wasn’t He Ying a dancer? Jing Dan glanced sideways at her as she tried to push the woman off.
The heavy stench of alcohol was practically spraying into He Ying’s face, and combined with how close she was, He Ying instinctively frowned and hurried to pull her upright.
“Yingying, why are you pushing me?” the drunk woman mumbled.
“Alright, alright, you’re drunk. You need to go rest.” He Ying sighed, dragged her up, and settled her against the sofa. Then she poured a glass of lemon water to help her sober up.
“You didn’t answer my question~”
The woman twisted unhappily, insisting on a reply.
Jing Dan sat nearby, stabbing fruit and watching. Seeing the woman’s antics, she glanced at He Ying. Was there any difference between this and He Ying’s earlier persistence? Same relentlessness.
“Yes, yes, I’m going next Monday.”
“Mmm, I heard your show booked Fei Yang, right? Can you get me his autograph?!” The woman perked up at that, sitting bolt upright and nearly tumbling into He Ying’s arms.
He Ying: “…”
She knew it. Ever since she’d started doing variety shows, she’d been asked to get celebrity autographs more times than she could count.
She gave a soft sigh. “Alright. If I get the chance, I’ll ask for you.”
Jing Dan glanced at her again. She hadn’t expected it—frivolous as she was, she was still a decent friend.
“Don’t tell me you’re really not drinking?” Hu Tu walked over with her glass, looked at the chunk of cantaloupe on Jing Dan’s fork, and shook her head in resignation.
“Didn’t I already tell you?” Jing Dan shot her a cold look.
“Don’t look at me like that.” Hu Tu suddenly burst out laughing. Good thing she turned her head in time, or she’d have sprayed wine right in Jing Dan’s face.
The commotion drew He Ying’s attention too, but she only glanced over and said nothing, turning back to coax the woman into drinking some lemon water.
“Don’t put on airs with me. I know what you’re really made of,” Hu Tu whispered in her ear with a small laugh. Who was she trying to fool with that frosty act? Had she forgotten what she looked like as a panda, wobbling around on the floor, barely able to walk?
Jing Dan’s face tightened. She stared at her, expressionless.
“Hahaha, alright, alright, I’ll stop.” Hu Tu smothered her laughter and quickly raised her hands in surrender.
This panda was something else. That cold face of hers was getting better and better at bluffing.
“Hey, by the way, get me a Vice President position or something at your company. I’m bored out of my mind anyway.” Hu Tu nudged Jing Dan’s shoulder.
Jing Dan gave her a sidelong stare, saying nothing, waiting for her to show some self-awareness.
What was this one good at besides eating, drinking, and having fun?
Hu Tu checked that no one was watching, then lowered her voice. “Having me around would put your mind at ease, wouldn’t it? Who knows when you’ll lose control and turn back into a panda again? I can help cover for you!”
Appealing to both reason and emotion—whatever it took, she was getting that Vice President title!
Jing Dan: “…Fine.”
That stung a little. Why could she never get her shape-shifting under control? Here she was, a panda who couldn’t even manage a basic transformation properly, yet her own clan praised her as a once-in-a-generation genius.
Geniuses in the Panda Clan really didn’t cost much.
Jing Dan felt a little gloomy. She didn’t even know when she’d finally master it and become a proper yao.
Once the deal was settled, Hu Tu set down her glass and slipped into the dance floor, grinding against the men and women there in skin-tight moves.
The pounding music stirred up the wild impulses buried deep inside everyone, letting them pour out unchecked in the nightclub.
After settling the woman, He Ying came back over to Jing Dan. She shot a glance at Hu Tu on the dance floor and asked, “Not going to dance, Miss Jing?”
Though she could already tell this wasn’t the sort of person who’d dance.
Jing Dan’s mood still hadn’t cleared, and her voice came out flat, even a little combative. “You’re the one who can dance, and you’re not going. Why should I?”
Oh?
He Ying raised an eyebrow, sharp enough to catch the shift in her mood. But she’d been fine just a moment ago—what had changed?
“If you’d like to watch, I could dance for you.”
Her voice was soft and light, as if she really meant it.
Jing Dan cut her a sideways glance, recalling that Hu Tu had called her a Chief Dancer. “Oh. Then go ahead and dance. I want to see.”
The author has something to say:
Little Jing Dan figures, why pass up a bargain? Free ticket to watch a Chief Dancer perform—what’s not to love?
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