Chapter 92: The Abandoned Panda Cub..

When Xie Hui first started eating, he didn’t notice anything unusual. After all, in his eyes, stir-fried bamboo shoots with meat was just an ordinary home-cooked dish.

That was until a round, fluffy little cub suddenly pounced onto the stool next to his dining table. Plopping down on the seat, the cub immediately raised a paw and started pointing accusingly at the plate of stir-fried bamboo shoots with meat.

“Hm?”

Only when he saw the cub’s ears twitching angrily did Xie Hui finally realize it was upset.

Following the direction of that paw, he glanced at the dish and paused, then chuckled rather unkindly.

He put down his chopsticks and gently wrapped the pointing paw in his palm. The moment he held it, the cub stubbornly reached out with its other paw and kept pointing indignantly at the same plate.

“It’s not made with your bamboo shoots. The nanny bought them at the market. I just saw how much you enjoyed eating bamboo shoots every day and wanted to try it myself. Don’t be mad, alright?”

“Whimper?”

Xie Hui could now understand about 80% of what the cub meant, so he nodded seriously and replied:

“Really.”

The cub still wasn’t reassured, so it scrambled into the storage room to count its bamboo shoots. Only after confirming that not a single one was missing did it run back happily, tail wagging, and nuzzled its head against Daddy’s arm.

“Go eat now, or it’s going to get cold.”

“Yah~”

Humans could technically eat the cub’s bamboo shoots too, but they weren’t ideal for stir-frying.

The ones typically used in stir-fries are tougher and less sweet. The kind the cub nibbled on were more like apples in texture—juicy and sweet—but they’d turn mushy when stir-fried.

Before bedtime, after making sure the cub was properly tucked in, Xie Hui asked again:

“What did I teach you today? Do you still remember?”

“Whimper whimper, whimper whimper whimper…”

“Hm? Just grunting won’t cut it.”

Xie Hui ruffled its ears and lightly tapped its head. When he saw the cub guiltily bury its face in the blanket, he sighed helplessly:

“I’ll teach you again tomorrow. But if you forget again, you’ll have to taste the stir-fried bamboo shoots with meat.”

“Yah~”

From the sound of it, Xie Hui could vaguely tell the cub didn’t seem scared—if anything, it sounded a bit… eager?

Xie Hui picked up a broom from the corner and waved it gently in front of the cub as he threatened softly:

“Not the actual dish. I’ll use this to spank your butt.”

“Whimper!”

The cub, who had just cautiously poked its head out, quickly shrank back under the blanket.

Xie Hui put the broom back in its place, turned off the light, and got ready to sleep himself.

He had been a little puzzled earlier—how did he know the cub was faking its answer? Now that he was lying in bed thinking it through, he figured it must’ve been the tone of the whimpering.

When the cub got it right, its pitch would match the tone he used while teaching. But earlier, it was just random babbling.

The next morning, when Xie Hui came to wake him up, he immediately noticed that the broom in the corner was gone. He walked over to the bed and saw the cub lying there as if still fast asleep.

Xie Hui reached out and flipped the blanket off, but the cub remained motionless.

“Hm, where’s my broom? Without it, can I still make stir-fried bamboo shoots with meat?”

Sure enough, the cub’s little tail began to twitch at those words, wiggling a bit before drooping again.

“Ai, that’s a real shame…”

This sigh successfully sent the cub’s tail wagging cheerfully again.

Xie Hui smirked slightly, his tone lightly teasing:

“Such a pity, I saw right through a certain someone pretending to sleep. Still not getting up? Should I bring out some stir-fried bamboo shoots with meat to wake you up?”

The wagging tail paused, and the front paws seemed to twitch a little.

Since the cub still didn’t seem like it was getting up, Xie Hui cleared his throat and pretended to be surprised:

“Whoa, how did the broom end up hidden here?”

As soon as he said that, the cub instantly lifted its head and reflexively glanced toward the hiding spot—only to meet Xie Hui’s amused gaze.

Defeated, the cub buried its face in the soft pillow, let out a soft whimper, and wagged its tail.

Xie Hui walked over and scooped the cub up, then held its paws to help it fold the blanket. After tidying up the room a bit, he carried the cub out.

The cub could walk on its own, but most of the time, Xie Hui preferred to carry it. The cub refused to wear shoes, and its white fur got dirty easily—plus giving it a bath took forever.

And honestly, being able to hold this big, round, fluffy mochi was a nice feeling. As long as he still could, Xie Hui wanted to carry it as long as possible.

Judging by how fast the cub was growing, he probably wouldn’t be able to lift it anymore in another year.

At home, the cub usually wouldn’t let Xie Hui carry it, being quite the little rascal. But today, since its pretend-sleep plan had failed and the broom had been found, the sulky little cub refused to walk on its own.

It buried its head in Daddy’s chest, covering its black ears with its paws, looking like it was doubting its entire panda existence.

It wasn’t until they reached the dining room downstairs and smelled breakfast that the cub finally peeked out to see what was on the menu.

That morning, Xie Hui had a busy schedule at the company and even had a meeting, so he left the cub in the office to read and practice writing.

Before heading to the meeting room, he helped set out the brush and ink, gave a few careful instructions, watched the cub nod obediently, and even got a little high-five in return. Feeling reassured, Xie Hui left with his documents.

But when the meeting ended and he returned to the office, a strange premonition crept over him.

Pushing open the office door, his worst fear came true: the entire room was a mess.

The cub’s practice papers had been torn to shreds, and the floor and carpet were covered in black smudges.

The ink he used for the cub was a special edible kind—bitter and smelly, but harmless if swallowed. He had used it the previous day when teaching the cub to write.

They’d been using a brush, since the cub couldn’t grip a pen properly.

Now, seeing the state of the office, even Xie Hui, who was usually mild-tempered, couldn’t stop the vein twitching at his temple.

On the carpet sat three happy little cubs. They all looked up at him, tilted their heads in sync, and forced him to keep his cool.

The other two cubs belonged to his assistants. Both assistants were highly competent, and after getting married, they’d chosen to raise their non-human children nearby during the early stages, which earned Xie Hui’s respect.

The two cubs playing with Xie Jia in the office belonged to them.

One family had a white-feathered parrot; the other, a miniature Pomeranian.

Those two assistants got along well—more like brothers, really—so their cubs often played together. The strong white parrot liked to carry the tiny Pomeranian on its back and fly around the office. Xie Hui had seen it twice already.

That morning, both cubs had clearly stayed in the lounge area… until Secretary Qi glanced subconsciously at the open window in the CEO’s office.

They probably came in from the balcony in the adjacent lounge area, passed through the secretaries’ office, and then flew through the open window into the CEO’s office.

The office was a complete mess, but seeing the three little ones huddled together, Xie Hui figured they must have had a great time.

The dirtiest of the three was the white-feathered parrot—it looked like it had taken a full bath in ink. Only the whites of its eyes were still visible when it blinked.

Even the tuft of feathers on its forehead had been dyed black.

One of the assistants who had taken a bit longer to return from cleaning up the meeting room passed by President Xie’s office door and vaguely thought the parrot looked familiar.

But his mind was occupied with work matters—he just wanted to get back to his own office quickly, list out the key points President Xie raised during the meeting, and distribute them to the other departments.

The other secretary who had walked back from the meeting room with President Xie saw his friend about to leave and couldn’t help but quietly remind him:

“Old Li, aren’t you going to take a look?”

Old Li paused mid-step, clutching a file folder, eyes widening instinctively.

They’d been friends for a while now, and Secretary Qi could clearly tell from his expression that Old Li was silently accusing him of wanting to see the boss in trouble.

“Old Li, don’t you think that bird looks a bit like your kid?”

Old Li instinctively glanced in the direction Secretary Qi was indicating—at the bird now stomping on their boss’s desk—and frowned.

“No way. My kid is white, not this black.”

But the moment he finished speaking, Old Li noticed the ink splattered all over the office floor—and the electronic tag around the black bird’s ankle.

His temper flared instantly. He stormed in and, like an old man grabbing a chicken, lifted his son by the wing.

“President Xie, I’m terribly sorry.”

Xie Hui waved him off—it wasn’t the kind of thing worth making a fuss about with a subordinate.

“It’s fine. Take the afternoon off and go give your son a proper cleaning.”

The little Pomeranian had also gotten stained with ink, and its fur was marked with two crooked characters that read “Human Of—”.

No doubt, that was his own kid’s handiwork. The other two hadn’t even started learning to read yet.

“Secretary Qi, you’re off this afternoon too. Take your daughter home and get her cleaned up. I’m sorry, it was probably my son who invited them over to play.”

After sending the two secretaries off, Xie Hui turned his attention to his own cub, who was still holding a brush in one paw, sitting on the carpet with an innocent face—but his tail twitched nervously.

Xie Hui pulled his lips into a not-so-kind smile.

“Xie Jia!!”

The little panda dropped the brush, flopped onto the carpet, and covered his head with his paws, letting out a pitiful whimper.

“Whimper whimper…”