Chapter 7: Panda
“M-Madam… I… I…”
Yan An was so flustered he didn’t even know where to put his hands. He stammered and looked utterly foolish.
At first, Hua Mian still had a bit of guard up, but seeing his pale face and the way he didn’t dare to look at her, she even found him somewhat amusing.
“You… what?” Hua Mian asked, curious, leaning forward to look at his expression.
Hua Mian was probably around 1.72 meters tall—not short—but Yan An was likely around 1.8 meters. Even with his head down, he couldn’t hide his trembling, pale lips.
“Madam… could you… help me? I-I beg you…”
Yan An tightly clenched his own palms.
“Help you with what?” Hua Mian leaned against the doorframe, raising an eyebrow slightly.
“To… comfort… me,” he said, his voice getting lower and lower.
“What about Chen Xueji?” Hua Mian asked.
Yan An replied softly, “Xueji is much better… thank you, thank you.”
“Are you afraid of me?” Hua Mian noticed his legs trembling slightly, shaking like they might collapse.
The thought couldn’t be suppressed anymore. Hua Mian pressed her lips together, controlling her expression. Her delicate face, backlit by the light, appeared somewhat cold and indifferent.
Yan An looked up and saw Hua Mian’s expressionless face.
His pupils constricted, and he instinctively hunched his shoulders.
Then Hua Mian saw a pair of semicircular black ears suddenly sprout atop the tall, thin, handsome youth’s head.
Ears?
Her gaze fell on the ears, and her hands itched.
Would it hurt if I touched them?
Yan An, noticing he had taken a step back, turned even paler and bit his lip, saying nothing.
Had he messed things up?
Seeing Hua Mian’s hand move closer to his face, he instinctively tilted his head away and tried to control himself.
Hua Mian noticed his reaction. Was he used to being hit?
Recalling the slap she had given Chen Xueji the day she woke up in the book world, hitting Yan An didn’t seem so surprising.
She withdrew her hand, slightly bored.
Not interesting.
She wasn’t pleased, so naturally, she wouldn’t humiliate herself.
“I’m busy.” Hua Mian turned and was about to close the door.
Seeing Hua Mian ignore him, Yan An felt a burning ache in his eyes. He didn’t want to give up just like that.
He couldn’t always let Brother Yu Jin and the others clean up his mess—they weren’t obliged to help him.
In a panic, Yan An knelt down, holding Hua Mian’s wrist, and lightly slapped it against his own face.
Smack! Not too hard, not too soft; Hua Mian only felt a slight tingling in her palm.
Looking down in surprise, she saw Yan An with a pair of ridiculous little black round ears, his eyes red and brimming with tears, the soft lines of his face flushed from the slap.
Silly and dazed.
“Madam, don’t be angry,” Yan An said, looking up at her, his voice choked with emotion.
Hua Mian helplessly withdrew her hand. “Let go.”
“Y-Yes… I’m sorry.”
Seeing his foolish expression, she felt a touch of pity. A child this clumsy and stammering was rare.
“Do you really want to be comforted?”
Yan An nodded vigorously.
“Do you know how I comfort Chen Xueji?”
Yan An hesitated slightly, his round eyes filled with naïve curiosity.
Hua Mian sighed. “Silly.”
She even flicked his ear with her finger. He let out a low whimper, probably in a bit of pain, but still obediently didn’t move.
“What is your beast form?” Hua Mian wondered, unable to imagine a creature with ears like those.
“P-Panda…”
“Panda?” Hua Mian was now genuinely surprised.
Yan An shrank his shoulders, not daring to speak, only nodding repeatedly.
“Come in.” Hua Mian let Yan An enter the room and then closed the door.
The sound of the door startled Yan An, his black ears perking up. Instinctively, he covered them with his hands.
“What’s the point of covering them now?” Hua Mian couldn’t help but tease.
Seeing Yan An quietly shedding tears again, she couldn’t bring herself to scold him.
Silly as he was, he might really just be a not-so-smart panda.
“Show me your beast form.”
Hua Mian sat on the edge of the bed, her gaze intense.
Yan An froze. “I-I won’t look good.”
“Will you or not? If not, I’ll hit you.” Hua Mian didn’t bother with pleasantries.
Yan An’s face was full of fear and trepidation. Then, before Hua Mian’s eyes, a round panda appeared.
A real panda! A breathing, living panda!
Hua Mian climbed onto the bed, pulled back the covers, and patted the spot beside her.
“Come here, let me touch you.”
The panda froze, unsure how to move its front paws.
Hua Mian was speechless.
“Come here, or I’ll hit you.”
Yan An let out a muffled sound in his throat. His big round eyes were wet, and he started crawling onto the bed, using all four limbs, looking pitiful and hesitant.
Soon, a small furry body was curled up next to Hua Mian, its rump sticking up, front paws covering its panda face.
Like a black sesame dumpling with a secret.
Hua Mian touched his fur. It wasn’t very soft, but thick and firm, and the texture felt nice.
Especially the ears on his head—they were unbearably cute.
As Hua Mian rubbed his ears, he didn’t lift his head, just made soft whimpering sounds, not showing any fierceness at all.
So cute.
So interesting.
Fun.
Hua Mian loved small animals, and for the first time, she felt that being transmigrated into the beast world wasn’t that unlucky.
“Can you talk?”
“Yes…”
“Lift your head, let me see your face.” Hua Mian felt like a hostess forcing a shy guest to perform.
“Ugh?”
Yan An stiffly lifted his head, his tail frozen.
Warm, soft hands rubbed his face. The faint rose scent—just like what she had vaguely smelled in Xueji’s room in the afternoon—was the Madam’s own scent.
“Good boy.”
Hua Mian now only felt fascination with Yan An and even studied his panda paws for a while.
After a bit of petting, she noticed he suddenly stopped moving.
Looking closer, she saw that he had fallen asleep.
Breathing evenly, sleeping soundly.
Watching for a while, Hua Mian also felt sleepy and decided to sleep.
After some unknown time, Hua Mian felt warmth on her feet. Half-awake, she realized the panda had somehow snuck under the covers, its back pressing against her feet.
A panda head and two little arms dangling over the bed, still asleep.
This guy is really bold, she thought, silently complaining.
Then she searched the StarNet for information on comforters.
Comforters were the most prestigious profession in the interstellar beast world, only attainable by females with the “comforting essence,” which was extremely rare—almost one in ten thousand females.
Hua Mian frowned at the information.
In short, the comforting essence was an energy that could soothe beastmen and enhance their abilities. It was a natural talent stored in the female’s heart.
To use it, one simply had to channel the essence and apply it to a beastman.
It sounded simple, but Hua Mian didn’t feel any such energy in her heart—only a sharp, throbbing pain.
“Channel the comforting essence,” Hua Mian muttered.
But no matter whether she meditated or spoke aloud, nothing happened.
She continued reading with difficulty.
A female without comforting essence was just an ordinary female; comforting beastmen could only be done through skin-to-skin contact.
Hua Mian: …
No wonder this is an 18+ novel; the author really has a “genius” imagination.
“I want a divorce!” Hua Mian gritted her teeth.
Though she knew it was impossible, she wanted to vent anyway.
Yan An shivered, thudding to the floor.
Hua Mian said nothing, treating it as a joke.
Unexpectedly, he rolled on the carpet and fell asleep again…
Not like he was afraid of her, Hua Mian thought, bewildered.
Meanwhile, downstairs…
“Brother Yu Jin! Yan An is missing!”
