Panda Cub – Chapter 87

If Extra 4

Older Ancestor Top x Scheming Crane Bottom

He Yuan was slightly taken aback. Letting go of her hand, she looked at her face. She truly did not see any trace of resentment. She genuinely did not hate her and was sincerely grateful to her.

Is that person really that good?

He Ying proactively took her hand and said, “You don’t need to feel sad. I’ve always been happy. Let’s go eat, or else I’m worried we won’t make it back by ten.”

Since Shen Yu told her to be back by ten, she would definitely return by ten. She wouldn’t let her wait for long.

“Alright.” He Yuan responded. The years of guilt surprisingly diminished significantly with the child’s few words.

They went together to have the seafood porridge that He Ying wanted, and then He Yuan took her to the amusement park. Finally, they barely managed to get He Ying back to Shen Yu by ten.

Seeing He Ying return, Shen Yu’s initially calm expression suddenly revealed a faint smile as she pulled her over.

Seeing He Ying being taken away, He Yuan asked, “Can I come see her again in the future?”

Shen Yu was put on the spot. If she refused outright, it would seem too harsh. Finally, she said with a composed face, “You can come see her, but you are not allowed to take her away for a long time!”

Upon hearing this, He Yuan smiled gently, her eyes twinkling with light, “I understand.”

After He Yuan left, He Ying raised her hand to tug on Shen Yu’s belt and said, “I’m back.”

“Mm.” Shen Yu responded indifferently, pulling her belt back, her attitude somewhat lukewarm.

Eh?

He Ying widened her eyes slightly and walked in front of Shen Yu, looking up at her, not quite understanding why she was so cold. She hadn’t come back late.

Shen Yu put her hand on her head and pushed her aside to clear the way.

He Ying tilted her body, looking at Shen Yu’s expression and seemed to guess why. She caught up and, smiling sweetly, asked, “Shen Yu, are you afraid I might never come back?”

Her tone was even a bit smug, as if it was something remarkable that Shen Yu cared so much about her.

Shen Yu glanced at her, sneered, and said, “Don’t think you’re that important.”

He Ying blinked, looking at her cold smile, thinking why does she look so stunning even when sneering? “Am I really not important?”

Shen Yu closed her mouth and didn’t answer her.

Seeing that she was being ignored, He Ying started to become persistent. She asked, “Will you find someone else in the future? Will someone else be with you forever?”

As her questions became more outrageous, Shen Yu frowned deeply. What on earth had this little one learned in the human world over the years? What kind of questions were these?

“Go take a bath and sleep. If you don’t sleep, be careful you won’t grow tall.” Shen Yu didn’t answer her questions, covering her face with her hand and pushing her away.

Seeing her helpless look, He Ying frowned slightly but didn’t continue. She really turned around to take a bath.

After He Ying left, Shen Yu leaned back in her chair, her eyes vacant. During the time He Ying hadn’t come back, countless thoughts had crossed her mind. But mostly, she wondered if the little one’s mother came for her, would she leave with her and never come back?

But every time this thought came up, she would immediately dismiss it, unwilling to think deeply about it. She didn’t want to imagine what she would be like if the little one didn’t come back.

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After that day, He Yuan would occasionally come to see her. He Ying got along well with her, and no one mentioned the past. They just maintained this pleasant interaction.

Perhaps because He Yuan visited frequently and He Ying showed no intention of leaving with her, Shen Yu gradually relaxed and didn’t mind He Yuan’s presence as much. Sometimes, she would even sit down and have a meal with her.

When He Ying was in middle school, the school required boarding to cultivate students’ sense of community and independence. Upon hearing this, Shen Yu’s face darkened before He Ying’s expression fell.

Shen Yu, with a dark face, thought that the little one already couldn’t be seen during the day due to school, and now they wanted her to board? Only coming home two days a week?

“Can you help me apply for day school?” He Ying tugged on Shen Yu’s sleeve and pleaded, “I don’t want to board. I don’t want to live with strangers.”

She just wanted to be with Shen Yu.

Shen Yu looked down at He Ying, who had grown tall enough to reach her shoulder over the years, and asked, “Aren’t you afraid you won’t fit into their group if you day school?”

If everyone else boarded except her, wouldn’t she seem unsociable?

He Ying blinked innocently and said, “I’m a spirit. I don’t belong to their group anyway.”

Seeing Shen Yu frown, she smiled softly, took Shen Yu’s arm, and leaned against her, saying softly, “Oh, you should trust that even if I don’t board, they will want to fit in with me rather than exclude me.”

She had absolute confidence that she could make them willingly approach her. Moreover, if someone excluded her just because she didn’t board, then it wasn’t necessary to bother with those people.

“You’re very confident,” Shen Yu said flatly.

He Ying blinked, “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Shen Yu neither agreed nor disagreed.

In the end, He Ying was exempted from boarding and continued to go to school and return home every day, just like in elementary school. However, she no longer needed Shen Yu to pick her up from school. The middle school was quite close to her former elementary school, so Shen Yu wasn’t worried.

On the first day of school, while passing by the elementary school gate, He Ying saw Yang Yan being pulled by a woman, her eyes red and teary. She quickly rushed over to separate them, standing protectively in front of Yang Yan, watching the woman with a wary expression.

“Why are you here?” Yang Yan’s voice choked as she turned away, not wanting anyone to see her like this.

“I was just passing by after school.” He Ying remained alert toward the woman in front of her.

The woman was stunned by He Ying’s sudden appearance. She looked at Yang Yan’s back and cried out, “Ah Yan, do you really not want to see me anymore?”

Yang Yan’s shoulders shook even more visibly. Seeing this, He Ying frowned and then looked at the woman’s expression, feeling that their situation was not simple.

“Ah Yan, I’ve severed ties with my family. If you don’t accept me, no one else will.” The woman sobbed, tears streaming down her face as she looked longingly at Yang Yan’s back.

Since they were at the school gate, many people noticed what was happening.

He Ying frowned deeply and pulled Yang Yan away. They couldn’t stay here, or else rumors might spread tomorrow, which wouldn’t be good for Yang Yan’s job.

The woman followed behind them, wiping the tears from her face, and tried to grab Yang Yan’s hand.

Yang Yan pulled her hand back, avoiding the woman’s grasp, and the woman’s face darkened.

They arrived at a secluded spot. After adjusting her emotions with her back to them, Yang Yan turned around and looked at the woman, shaking her head as she said, “From the moment you left me to fulfill the responsibilities you talked about, we had no more connection.”

“Ah Yan!” The woman’s tears flowed even more fiercely. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I will never leave you alone again. You still love me, don’t you?”

Tears streamed down Yang Yan’s face once again as she shook her head while stepping back. Her smile was broken and ugly. “I admit that I love you, but I won’t be with you. When you decided to go back home and get married and have children according to your parents’ wishes, we had no future together.”

“You say you’ve severed ties with them now. If you could be so resolute to sever ties now, why didn’t you have the courage back then?” She laughed bitterly, realizing in her heart that no matter what, she would always come second. She couldn’t compete with the so-called societal norms or the expectations for her to marry and have children!

Seeing her crying made the woman cry even harder. “Now they have a baby, they won’t care about us anymore. We can live our own lives now.”

She had already given up so much for her. Why did it come to this?!

Yang Yan laughed bitterly; she still didn’t understand, didn’t understand why she refused to accept her.

Wiping away all her tears, Yang Yan’s face turned cold as she spoke each word clearly, “Don’t come looking for me again in the future. We have no possibility of being together. It was you who said we had no possibility in the past. This time, I’ll say it.”

“We didn’t have a chance before, and we won’t have one in the future either!”

After speaking, she grabbed the stunned He Ying and turned to leave, leaving the woman crouching down and crying bitterly.

He Ying looked at Yang Yan, her face tense, clearly suppressing her emotions. He Ying didn’t say anything, just took out her phone and sent a text message to Shen Yu, saying she would be home late today. Then she followed Yang Yan to her house. When she saw Yang Yan grab a few bottles of liquor as soon as she walked in, her brow twitched.

Yang Yan didn’t treat her like a student. This precocious person often made her feel like they were peers. Yang Yan directly opened a bottle of liquor and placed it in front of He Ying. Then she opened another bottle and took a big gulp before, with a sobbing voice, saying, “You must be curious about who that woman was, right?”

He Ying, curious, took a sip of the liquor. She had never drunk this stuff before. It tasted bitter as soon as it entered her mouth. Although it was hard to drink, the kick it gave after swallowing was strangely alluring.

He Ying didn’t reply, but it was evident that Yang Yan didn’t need her to. She just needed an outlet, and He Ying was there to listen.

“She was my girlfriend, just like me, the only daughter in her family. But my parents passed away early, leaving me with money and a house, and no one cared about me anymore. When we were together and her parents found out, they were furious. They said if she didn’t break up with me, they would sever ties with her.”

He Ying drank, frowning tightly, not knowing if it was because of the bitter alcohol or the story.

“Later, her parents arranged for her to meet a man, and she agreed.” At this point, Yang Yan’s smile was more painful than crying. “She agreed! While we were still together, she secretly went on dates with men!”

While Yang Yan was struggling to earn more money to take them away from this place where no one knew them, she was already planning to return to a so-called normal life. The day before her wedding, she even told Yang Yan to wait for her. After completing her marriage and childbearing duties, she would come back for her.

He Ying’s expression grew more complicated. She gulped down some liquor and asked in an incredulous tone, “How does she have the nerve to come back to you?”

What, did she just assume Yang Yan would wait for her indefinitely, to leave and return at will?

Yang Yan threw the empty bottle aside, letting it roll under the table, and wondered how she had the nerve to come back.

Yang Yan looked up at He Ying, her eyes red, and spoke seriously, “If you ever fall for someone who goes against societal norms, and you aren’t prepared to fight against those norms, don’t provoke or make promises to that person.”

There had been too many such instances, and she didn’t want her student to go through the same.

He Ying was taken aback. If you’re not prepared to fight societal norms, don’t provoke or promise someone? A person’s image suddenly appeared in her mind, causing her face to stiffen, but she didn’t respond to Yang Yan’s words.

If that were the case, what she had to face wouldn’t be societal norms; societal norms meant nothing to her. It was that person’s attitude she cared about most.

“Choose a partner who isn’t too weak,” Yang Yan said with a bitter smile, or else you’d end up like me.

“Mm.” He Ying thought of the person in her mind. That person wasn’t weak; no one could threaten her.

Anyone who dared wouldn’t see the next day’s sunrise.

Yang Yan drank bottle after bottle, suddenly saying, “We might never see each other again.”

“Huh?” He Ying looked at her in confusion. She was still young; why would they never see each other again?

Yang Yan gave a bitter smile. “Since she found me, she won’t give up easily. To avoid her, my job will definitely be affected. In that case, I might as well resign and go somewhere she can’t find me.”

He Ying was silent, understanding her reasoning. Still, she felt a bit downhearted. Yang Yan was her first friend in the human world.

Neither spoke again. When it got late, Shen Yu probably couldn’t sit still at home and came looking for them. Seeing the two drinking, her face turned dark.

She walked over and took the bottle from He Ying’s hand, saying sternly, “You’re too young to be drinking.”

Seeing her, Yang Yan drunkenly pulled her down onto the sofa, slurring, “Come on! Drink with us!”

She even tried to shove the bottle into her mouth.

Shen Yu: “…”

She moved away from Yang Yan with a cold expression and then looked at He Ying, frowning. “What’s going on with her?”

And look at all those empty bottles; clearly, they had drunk a lot.

He Ying blinked innocently at her. “I’m not too sure myself.”

She understood a bit. This was Yang Yan’s personal matter, and she couldn’t talk about it without permission.

Shen Yu: “…” Do I look that gullible?

Eventually, Yang Yan drank too much and passed out. He Ying found a blanket to cover her, then started cleaning up the bottles on the floor. Shen Yu watched her, deep in thought, but didn’t intervene.

After He Ying finished cleaning, they didn’t leave immediately. He Ying had heard stories of people choking on their vomit after getting drunk, so seeing Yang Yan unconscious, she didn’t dare leave. She and Shen Yu sat quietly, waiting.

After a while, Shen Yu suddenly grabbed a bottle and started drinking. This shocked He Ying. Yang Yan had tried to get her to drink earlier, and she refused, but now she was drinking on her own.

Shen Yu’s eyebrows furrowed as soon as she took the first sip, looking at the bottle as if saying, “How can something taste this bad?”

She turned to look at the sleeping Yang Yan, puzzled about how she could stomach so much of it.

She took another sip and found it not so hard to swallow, so she continued drinking.

Her posture while drinking startled He Ying. She quickly stepped forward, trying to take the bottle from Shen Yu, her voice trembling slightly, “Shen Yu, don’t drink anymore.”

The way she was drinking now wasn’t much different from Yang Yan.

“Don’t move!” Shen Yu frowned, raised her hand, and pointed a finger at He Ying, warning her.

He Ying: “…”

Her gaze fell on Shen Yu’s pointed finger—slender, fair, and seemingly glowing with a gentle luster, incredibly beautiful. She suddenly felt a strong urge to grasp it or even kiss it.

Realizing her own thoughts, He Ying’s face stiffened. She dared not look at Shen Yu again, turning her head away and refraining from stopping her drinking.

However, it didn’t take long for her to start regretting not stopping her. Yet amidst the regret, she felt a secret, contradictory joy.

Shen Yu frowned deeply, stood up, and sat beside He Ying, her body swaying unsteadily as she leaned against her. Her voice was a bit slurred, “Head hurts, need a massage.”

As her body leaned closer, He Ying initially stiffened, but upon hearing her complain about a headache, she quickly helped her lie down on her lap, raising her hand to gently massage her temples.

Seeing this, He Ying pursed her lips and smiled softly, her eyes twinkling with an unusual light.

Suddenly, she felt something and looked in Yang Yan’s direction.

At some point, Yang Yan had opened her eyes and was looking their way, her expression complicated.

“You…” Her voice was light, almost as if she didn’t dare to speak, stammering as if she was hesitant to continue.

The look in He Ying’s eyes was all too familiar to her, as she had once possessed it herself.

The look of someone in love.

He Ying responded calmly, curling her lips at her, then raised her hand to hold Shen Yu’s shoulder.

Yang Yan’s eyes widened slightly. What else could she not understand about this possessive gesture?

She closed her eyes again, planning to fall back asleep. She thought the world had gone mad. If it hadn’t, then she must have. How could she have seen He Ying look at Shen Yu with eyes full of love? And that possessive gesture, something ordinary familial relationships wouldn’t do.

Mad, she must be mad, hallucinating from too much alcohol. How could He Ying possibly do that?!

Did Shen Yu know?

Holding onto these messy thoughts, she fell asleep again, but even in her dreams, she was restless. In her dreams, He Ying was even more outrageous, kissing Shen Yu wantonly while she was drunk, her eyes flashing with a crazy love and intense possessiveness.

After seeing Yang Yan close her eyes and fall back asleep, He Ying slowly curled her lips into a smile and continued to massage Shen Yu’s head.

Shen Yu, asleep, knew nothing of this.

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The next day, the two drunks rubbed their hungover heads. Seeing that Yang Yan was fine, He Ying planned to take Shen Yu home to rest.

She walked up to Yang Yan, smiled lightly, and said, “Teacher Yang, let’s meet again if fate allows.”

Yang Yan looked at her with a complicated expression, then glanced at Shen Yu and whispered, “You’re asking for trouble.”

In her understanding, He Ying’s challenges were much more severe than hers, making hope nearly nonexistent.

He Ying flashed a bright smile, winked at her, and said, “Until the end, who knows if it’s trouble or sweetness?”

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The author has something to say:

Writing this story has been really enjoyable. The characters are adorable, and you all are very lovely too. Reading the comments always makes me happy. I love the cheerful and cute comment section. Thank you all, love you (heart gesture).

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