Chapter 88: The Abandoned Panda Cub..

Xie Hui tugged on the backpack and, without much effort, lifted the cub up along with it. Seeing its four paws flailing helplessly in midair, he reached out and cradled the little one in his arms.

The cub still clutched the backpack strap with one paw, clearly reluctant to let go. So Xie Hui didn’t force it and carried both the backpack and the cub into the car.

“Can you be good today and keep Daddy company at work without causing trouble?”

Yesterday morning, he hadn’t even had a proper chance to work before being forced to take the cub to the hospital for a check-up.

No matter what species, young animals were always troublesome. But Xie Hui didn’t get angry over such things—he just made a casual joke.

“Whimper.”

At this stage, the client had actually already been thinking about switching careers. He’d offended a powerful figure at a banquet and, out of pride, refused to apologize.

Afterward, he stubbornly poured his efforts into the business for a long time until he could no longer keep it going and finally chose to leave the industry.

Xie Hui had the ability to keep going, but since the client wanted him to make up for past wrongs on his behalf, he figured it was time to tidy up and move on to a different field.

In the client’s memory, the artists who eventually exposed the company’s higher-ups were fairly popular at the time. But things didn’t go well for them afterward.

While the public initially sympathized, those artists didn’t want to capitalize on that sympathy and so rarely appeared in the public eye.

Instead, some influencer seemingly popped up from nowhere, exploiting the public’s empathy and stepping on others’ wounds to rise to the top of the newcomer ranks by playing the victim.

Whenever one of the genuinely wronged artists released new work, someone would bring up the past.

The real victims were accused of trying to gain clout, their reputations tainted. Meanwhile, the influencer—who had made shady deals with the client’s management—was pitied as a tragic national darling.

As Xie Hui absently stroked the cub’s ears, he tried to recall the names of the real victims from the original memories, wondering if he could sign them on once he transitioned careers.

Since he’d decided to leave the industry, the wrap-up work was quite busy. Xie Hui had no time to rest all morning, while the cub on his desk remained focused—on peeling bamboo shoots.

By mid-afternoon, Xie Hui started to feel a bit tired. He planned to take a sip of coffee to perk up, but as soon as he lifted the cup, he saw a piece of bamboo shoot skin spinning in the middle of the coffee.

Instinctively, he turned his head. The cub, still peeling shoots, sensed Xie Hui’s gaze. Its paws paused briefly as it crawled over to peer into the cup.

Looking between the piece floating in the cup and the one still in its paw, the cub gave a guilty little whimper and reached out to try fishing it out.

Of course, Xie Hui wasn’t about to let those dirty paws go into his drink. He took the cub to wash up instead.

He asked his secretary for a fresh cup of coffee and drank half before getting back to work. He hadn’t even finished reading one document when he saw the cub fast asleep on the desk.

Sunlight fell warmly on the little body. The cub was clearly comfortable—snoring softly.

Xie Hui casually picked up a small blanket he’d brought that morning. When he went to cover the cub, he noticed it was still hugging a bamboo shoot. He tried to pull it away, but the cub clutched it with all four paws.

Seeing it didn’t want to let go, Xie Hui didn’t push. He just adjusted the blanket around it.

Worried that the cub might get cold sleeping on the hard office desk, Xie Hui eventually picked it up and moved it to the resting room, tucked it in properly, and then left quietly.

Since the cub was sleeping nearby, Xie Hui unconsciously typed more gently at his keyboard.

The client’s company was still doing fine at the moment, not yet showing signs of decline. It had been gradually dragged down over time. Back then, because the client had poured years of effort into the business, he just couldn’t bear to give it up.

By the time he finally switched careers, it was like cutting off a limb to survive—desperate and clumsy.

In contrast, Xie Hui was leaving early and had at least three times more capital than the client had back then. He didn’t need to beg anyone just to liquidate part of the assets.

After handling the company’s closure, most employees were dismissed. Only his assistant remained—Xie Hui saw him as quite versatile and asked if he wanted to stick around.

At first, the assistant hesitated, worried about future prospects.

After all, everyone had to make a living, and years of working with President Xie couldn’t outweigh the harshness of reality.

“Same salary. Bonus doubled.”

Xie Hui casually offered while wiping the cub’s mouth. The fake smile on the assistant’s face instantly turned sincere.

“President Xie, I’ve worked here since I graduated. I have feelings for this company—I really don’t want to leave. It would be my honor to continue working for you.”

“Mm. Thank you.”

When Xie Hui packed up and left this time, the entire office building felt a bit empty.

Walking through the corridor, the echo of footsteps was clear, leaving a strange hollow feeling in his heart.

The cub in his arms had its front paws resting on his shoulders, peering around curiously, its round black eyes darting about—completely unaware of the shift in atmosphere.

This building had been bought by the client during a real estate lull, and since the location had good future prospects, Xie Hui decided not to sell it.

The client used to be very makeshift about everything. When he was first changing careers, he didn’t have enough capital and had to do everything himself.

But Xie Hui withdrew early, leaving him with plenty of funds. After setting a general direction, he simply hired people to handle the rest.

The plan was to first form a new company, then consider artist recruitment.

Xie Hui wasn’t in a rush, nor was he eager to immediately sign those people. If they found better companies, then later—once his new business had grown—he could offer them support as a form of compensation.

The cub also seemed to sense that Daddy was very busy lately. It had been unusually well-behaved, almost enough to make someone’s heart melt.

Until one day, on a rare day off, Xie Hui woke up and couldn’t find the cub anywhere. Just as he was about to grab his phone to use the ID bracelet’s locator, he spotted a black sesame dumpling hanging in the yard’s bamboo.

The bamboo looked a little bare at the moment. The cub had climbed onto a fork in a branch, its little tail drooping, blending in with the white fur on its butt.

“How did you get up there?”

A staff member had previously reminded Xie Hui that these cubs retained some of their animal instincts.

Like Huskies, who’ll tear the place apart if they don’t burn off energy. Or pandas, whose nature makes them love climbing trees—a skill that’s practically innate.

When Xie Hui used to spend more time playing with the cub, it had been fine. But lately, since he’d been so focused on work, the cub had started seeking fun on its own.

Who’d have thought it could climb up but not back down, hanging there helplessly until Xie Hui came looking.

“Whimper, ugh~”

Seeing its pitiful little tail trembling, Xie Hui reached out his hand.

“I’ll catch you.”

That scene reminded Xie Hui of a documentary he’d seen once.

Even full-grown pandas really like climbing trees. In zoos, there are people to help them get down, but in the wild, some just fall off on their own—people even jokingly say they earned their protected species status with sheer talent.

The little one was clearly scared but seemed to trust Xie Hui quite a bit. He stared carefully at Xie Hui’s hands as if adjusting his position, then let go of the bamboo and dropped straight into Xie Hui’s arms.

Xie Hui caught him and could clearly feel the little sesame glutinous rice ball trembling in his arms.

Although he’d managed to get the cub down for now, judging by Xie Jia’s personality, he’d definitely try climbing again next time.

So Xie Hui held him in one arm, went to the toy room, and brought out a plushie the cub didn’t like. He put the cub in a small stroller and smeared some ketchup on the toy.

Then, pushing the stroller into the courtyard, he placed the plushie on the bamboo, gave the bamboo a shake until the toy fell, picked it up again, and let Xie Jia get a good look at it.

The cub, who had struggled to crawl out of the stroller, saw the plushie’s red ketchup-covered “blood” face smeared with dirt and instantly puffed up in fright.

“Whee!!”

Xie Hui lifted him out of the stroller and, in front of him, dug a little hole in the empty part of the yard and buried the plushie.

The cub looked truly spooked, clinging tightly to Xie Hui with all four paws.

Xie Hui gently pried him off and helped him hold a small shovel with his front paws so he could toss some dirt into the hole himself.

After all, they were different species, and communication was a bit of a challenge. Xie Hui wasn’t sure that just scolding him would work, so he chose this more visual method to get the message across.

That night, Xie Jia didn’t obediently sleep in his little bed. Xie Hui had tucked him in and made sure he had his blanket and his eyes closed.

But as soon as Xie Hui turned to go take a shower, the cub peeked out to check that he was really gone. Then, with a flying leap, he landed on the big bed, spreading his four paws out flat on the blanket, his little tail swaying side to side.

After lying there for a bit, he climbed up to the head of the bed, saw that there was only one pillow—Xie Hui’s—and crawled back to his own little bed to drag his tiny pillow over with great effort.

The floor around the bed was carpeted, so Xie Hui wasn’t worried about his paws getting cold or his sesame glutinous rice ball getting too dirty and needing another bath.

When Xie Hui came out of the shower and opened the bedroom door, he caught sight of Xie Jia busily adjusting the little pillow, clearly exhausted, lying flat like a pancake for a moment before continuing to nudge it into place.

“Ahem.”

Leaning against the bathroom doorframe, Xie Hui waited until the cub had finished positioning the pillow before clearing his throat to announce his presence.

He saw very clearly how the cub froze for a second, then quickly dove under the blanket.

As Xie Hui walked over to the bed, he could still hear the muffled sound coming from under the covers.

“Whee…”