A Recipe For Disaster

"I'd appreciate it if you shut up for a moment."

"M-Mister Li?" Ying Yue He stopped at the door with the pot of tea and a teacup prepared and placed in a tray. She had a surprised look on her face, a startled and even uneasy one.

He sighed. A little too tired to be bothered to ask why she hadn't knocked. "I wasn't talking to you, Miss He."

"... are you by any chance talking to a floating panda?" she asked with a nervous smile.

"No, I was only talking to myself aloud, Miss He."

Li Yang couldn't exactly muster the same smile as he answered his secretary, but surely this was easy to resolve. The Panda was gone from his sight but was surely around and observing from whatever vantage point it had. He only needed to act calm and natural—even if all he wanted to do right now was hit his head against the table or a wall, he remained calm.

A sheepish smile formed on her lips, she scratched her cheek. "I was only teasing you, Mister Li. Of course, you were only pretending." She brought up the tray and moved closer to him, her steps careful. The secretary placed the teapot and cup on his table, "When you fell off your chair about two days ago, you had simply asked me the same thing as her—if I had seen a floating panda. It was a funny coincidence."

"Indeed." He couldn't even admonish her for making a 'joke' like that. If this had been any other time, Li Yang would have commended her impeccable memory. It was details like this that either brought or destroyed business relations. If you remembered and treated your client with comfort and acknowledgement of who they were, it was enough to put one at ease.

Instead the man picked up his teacup and took a sip, flavors mixed and melded in his tongue of a combination he couldn't quite tell. Herbs, bitter ones, and even what felt like a metallic taste. And yet this was supposed to be good for him, and so he finished the entire cup until its very last drop. The heat didn't bother him that much in this hour.

[ You Have Consumed Root Blossoming Tea ]

[ Host Has No Spiritual Roots— ]

[ Host Has The Most Pitiful of Roots ]

[ The Pitiful Spiritual Root Of Host Begins To Feel The Effects ]

[ Efficacy: Medium ]

[ Body Compatibility: 60% ]

[ Your Spiritual Root Is Strengthened ]

[ A Small Portion Of Qi In One's Surroundings Can Be Redirected Into Spiritual Root ]

"Mister Li… what if the two of you actually share the same favorite animal? The Panda." His secretary was still around. There was a thoughtful look on her face—possibly because of the incident from earlier. She was smart enough and could read the signs enough to at least gather what happened.

But it wasn't enough for her to not get any strange and wild ideas.

He raised a brow at her, adopting a dismissive tone. "Perhaps we might share that fact, but it doesn't actually mean anything don't you agree, Miss He?" It only happened that they both could see the creature. Did that mean the child was in a similar spot as him with a System of her own or was her vision simply clear?

It shouldn't be his problem but—

"A-ah, you're right." Ying Yue He managed a weak laugh, "My apologies Mister Li, I was only—"

"Not one word of what happened today will be spread, Miss He." He gave her a look. It wasn't this often or actually something that happened where he would be like this, Ying Yue He was competent. But there were far too many things at stake to be ill at ease. If he couldn't convince her then all he needed to do was subvert her attention elsewhere. "I expect your good work as always."

"Of course, sir. I'll discuss this with any other witnesses from the office." She said. "Nothing happened at all today." Ying Yue He inclined her head and gave him assurances that this was not going out at all—but he could only hope to minimize it as possible.

He would have liked to rely on the idea that most people did not care about others actions—and yet it was a different matter for him. People did pay attention. At least to know when they could take advantage of any misstep. And news of a child, whether it was actually his or not was a drama on its own.

Once Miss He finally left and closed the door, it was there that he took another deep breath. The migraine still made his head throb painfully. Getting worked up about everything—he would pour himself another cup of Root Blossoming Tea and drink it. And once he was finished, the man would continue with the main tasks he had in his office.

There was no time to worry about anything, he could only strategize and then move.

No response from his brother was alright, perhaps the man was still asleep or neglectful of his phone. He'd handle it once he got home. But Li Yang already scheduled a doctor's visit as privately as he could—someone that wasn't in the circles of their family or even close ones.

It took far longer than he wanted, making calls and maintaining secrecy. 

The Panda would make no move for the rest of the day and left the man to himself, once again pouring out all of his energy and being into his work. This was not a distraction at all, only doing what was of necessity. It would take another reminder from his secretary to not forget about lunch, and though Li Yang wondered if he should purchase a Divine Energizer Drink available in the System's Shop—he opted not to.

He could get through the day without it.

And it was actually two things: To save charm points and because something like this wasn't too much at all. Even if there might be too much on his plate—he would deal with everything one at a time. If he couldn't handle this much, then what about the future that he was already heading towards? A future that even he couldn't make clear plans out.

Thus would continue this man's hard work, until the end of the day.

If anyone were to ask—this was a recipe for disaster. 

—-—-—-—-

Author Note:

Next chapter is still in the making and I have an awful flu. (February 28, 2021 3:11pm)