Panda Cub – Chapter 8
by Little PandaSleeping
Listen — is that even something a human being would say?
“President Jing, what do you mean by this?”
Those men stood up, their faces darkening as they watched Jing Dan pull their prey behind her and shield her.
Jing Dan stood expressionless in front of the woman, whose face was already flushed red from drink, and faced the men directly. “I’m taking this person with me.”
Her words made the men’s expressions shift. They looked at Jing Dan and said nothing for a moment — they were mindful of Xu Zhihuan.
“President Jing, if you want to take someone away, shouldn’t you first check whether she’s willing to go with you?” The lead man’s gaze swept past Jing Dan’s shoulder to the woman behind her. She flinched under his stare and shrank back a little.
Her eyes slowly reddened. She shook her head, barely able to stay on her feet, yet still trying to put as much distance between herself and those men as possible.
Then a pair of hands reached from the side and steadied her.
The woman looked up and saw a stunningly beautiful woman whose calm, composed features were fixed on the back of the person standing in front of her, eyes flickering with something unspoken.
She froze, looking at these two people standing on either side of her. In all her time in this circle, she had never been treated like this before — and it almost made her want to cry.
“She’s made herself perfectly clear. She wants to come with us,” Jing Dan said coldly.
By then Xu Zhihuan had noticed the commotion. She walked over and took one look, and it was enough to understand exactly what was going on.
She looked at Jing Dan’s cold face, then at the woman standing behind her with reddened eyes. A flicker of something dark crossed her gaze — displeased that Jing Dan was protecting her.
“Zhang Yuan, what are you doing?” Xu Zhihuan said in a low, measured tone.
The man called Zhang Yuan heard that tone and felt a jolt of alarm, cold sweat nearly breaking out on his skin. He rushed to say, “Nothing, nothing — just chatting with President Jing about a few things. We’re all done now, so we’ll be taking our leave first.”
He cast a careful glance at Xu Zhihuan’s expression and, seeing her inscrutable face, wiped his sweat and hurried off with his men.
He hadn’t expected President Xu to value Jing Dan that highly.
After they left, Xu Zhihuan turned to Jing Dan with a light smile. “Nothing happened, I hope?”
Jing Dan kept her cold expression, her opinion of Xu Zhihuan souring further. She might have appeared to take Jing Dan’s side just now, but the fact those men dared to pull something like this at her own party meant it certainly wasn’t the first or second time. They were all cut from the same cloth.
When Jing Dan didn’t respond, Xu Zhihuan gave a helpless smile and spoke with the air of someone who’d seen it all. “Jing Dan, this circle is just like this. These things are all mutual. Interfering too much only hurts their prospects.”
She looked at the woman as she said it.
The woman went pale under that gaze and lowered her head, not meeting her eyes.
Jing Dan ignored the remark entirely. “It’s getting late. We’ll be heading back first.”
She didn’t spare Xu Zhihuan another glance. She glanced back at the two behind her and strode out ahead of them.
He Ying watched Jing Dan’s retreating back and smiled faintly. She steadied the woman and followed Jing Dan’s pace, leaving behind Xu Zhihuan, whose expression had suddenly darkened.
Outside, Jing Dan led them straight to her car. She looked down at the woman, who could no longer stand on her own and was leaning against He Ying, and wondered what to do.
She couldn’t just abandon someone who could barely stand and go home by herself, could she? Her aunt had told her not to put too much faith in human nature — so if she left her here and something else happened to her, then what? And then there was He Ying.
He Ying steadied the woman and watched Jing Dan’s thoughtful expression. “I didn’t drive here,” she said softly.
The implication was clear: you need to drive me home.
Jing Dan understood perfectly, but when she looked up and saw He Ying’s amused, knowing smile — as if she had Jing Dan all figured out — it irritated her.
They’d only met three times in total. What made He Ying think Jing Dan would look after her?
“You didn’t drive? However you got here, get back the same way!” Her tone was stiff. The thought of being teased and taken advantage of last night still made her angry. What kind of demon was He Ying? She was absolutely a fox spirit!
He Ying blinked. What was this one getting upset about now? She hadn’t provoked her just now, had she? She was simply stating a fact — she really hadn’t driven.
“Fine, then. You keep her steady and take care of her yourself. I’ll be off.” He Ying smiled lightly and pushed the woman toward Jing Dan, fully expecting the immediate two-step retreat she got. She raised an eyebrow.
“You won’t take care of her, and you want to leave — so what happens to this person?”
Jing Dan: “…”
She glanced at the woman gazing at her with pleading eyes. In the end, she let He Ying help the woman into the car.
But once they were in, she felt troubled again. She couldn’t exactly bring this person home with her!
“Where do you live?” He Ying asked the woman.
The woman was already so drunk her mind was a fog. She’d been holding herself together through sheer willpower, but now that she knew she was safe, the alcohol hit her all at once. She could barely keep her eyes open, let alone speak.
He Ying sighed softly. “Drive to a hotel.”
Jing Dan gave a little grunt of acknowledgment and obediently drove to a hotel as instructed.
At the hotel, He Ying looked at Jing Dan, who was standing off to the side, completely uninvolved and not lifting a finger to help.
“…”
Whose rescue was this, anyway? All rescue, no cleanup?
She smiled to herself in resignation. Well, this one didn’t exactly look like the caring type.
“If you won’t lend a hand, you can at least go book a room, right?”
Jing Dan blinked and obediently went to the front desk to book a room.
With people around, He Ying couldn’t use her demon power. She struggled to support the boneless woman and followed in Jing Dan’s footsteps, then managed — with a staff member’s help — to get her into the room.
Watching He Ying carefully settle the woman onto the bed and pull the blanket over her, Jing Dan blinked. She looked rather gentle like this. How could someone be so different from one moment to the next?
He Ying turned and caught Jing Dan’s dazed expression. She laughed. “What are you thinking about? You’ve completely zoned out.”
She’d noticed that this one sometimes slipped entirely into her own world, tuning everything else out — like a quiet kid with a head full of thoughts she never voiced.
Jing Dan snapped back and saw He Ying’s raised eyebrows, her look of someone settling in to watch a show. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, unwilling to do anything that would break character.
When she didn’t reply, He Ying didn’t mind. “Come on, take me home.”
Jing Dan checked the time. It was already nearly eleven. She’d barely slept today, and if she drove He Ying home, it would be even later before she got to bed.
“Um, just grab a taxi home yourself. I’m sleepy — I want to go back to sleep.”
He Ying: “…”
Listen to that — was that even something a human being would say? It was only eleven and she was already claiming to be sleepy. Was she a little kid still growing and needing an early bedtime?!
When she didn’t respond, Jing Dan assumed she was worried about the cost of a taxi. “Don’t worry, I’ll cover the fare!”
She pulled out her phone and transferred the money to He Ying right then and there. Once it went through, she smiled as though she’d completed a task, gave a satisfied nod, and said, “All set, money’s been sent. I’m heading back to sleep now.”
He Ying: “…”
She stood petrified, watching Jing Dan’s retreating back, still unable to believe what had just happened. And Jing Dan really had ditched her there and gone home to sleep.
To sleep?
He Ying came back to her senses, so exasperated she nearly laughed. What adult claimed to be sleepy at eleven?!
She shook her head with a helpless smile. A flash of white light — and she vanished from the room.
Leaving the hotel, Jing Dan hurried straight home without stopping. To her surprise, she found Jing Shiyue drinking alone in the living room. Jing Dan paused.
Should she put off sleep a little and ask what was wrong?
Before she could decide, Jing Shiyue spotted her and waved her over.
Jing Dan went over obediently and sat down beside her. She watched her aunt pour a glass and asked, a little bewildered, “Aunt, what’s wrong?”
In all the time she’d known her, she’d never seen her like this. Her aunt had moments where she drank alone?
Jing Shiyue smiled slowly and shook her head without saying anything.
When she didn’t speak, Jing Dan tactfully didn’t ask again. She just sat beside her in quiet company.
Jing Shiyue drank cup after cup. Even as a demon, she couldn’t handle this kind of abuse. A flush crept across her pale face, and those clear, sharp eyes grew misty — as if tears might fall at any moment.
Why did she have to run into her again? Why?
She drained the last of the bottle in one gulp, then turned to look at Jing Dan — only to find that at some point, she had transformed back into her most comfortable panda form, wedged among the soft cushions, fast asleep. Even the cowlick on her head seemed to carry a sweet, drowsy air.
She was tiny, about the size of a throw pillow, splayed out on the sofa with all four paws spread wide and her little head tilted to one side. Whether from the day’s exhaustion or not, she was even snoring softly.
Jing Shiyue smiled. The gloom that had weighed on her had eased considerably, thanks to Jing Dan.
She reached over and flicked the cowlick on her head, her eyes warming with amusement.
In their entire clan, she was the only one with this undignified little tuft of hair. It made the already adorable, dopey-looking little panda look even dopier, as if she’d lost half her wits.
She thought about how Jing Dan’s company was a fair distance from here. Without demon power for the commute, it did take quite a while.
Should she help her get a place near the company? She’d ask her opinion tomorrow.
Jing Shiyue carefully scooped Jing Dan up. The little bundle in her arms really did feel like a throw pillow — and she nestled into a more comfortable sleeping position against her chest without the slightest wariness.
She smiled helplessly. How could she ever trust anyone else with a Jing Dan like this?
The author has something to say:
Cowlick-crowned Jing Xiaodan — so blunt, so oblivious, and always ready to snooze!
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