My CEO Harem Cultivation System

Chapter 89 - The Second Time Around—

Li Yang was on the finishing steps of his food preparation. He didn't have much opportunity to cook at home and refused to have hired help, but he knew how to manage himself. The ingredients he used were those he knew that were good. He had ordered them online too, and it was delivered to his office.

It was the personal perks he ensured of owning an e-commerce business.

Now the fragrant and melted cheese oozed slightly through the thin crust of the pan-seared bread dolloped with a generous amount of butter. He arranged it carefully on a clean white plate and then went to the fridge for a fresh cold glass of milk. Li Yang wasn't a streamer, albeit one could argue that he was one now, but he at least knew a vast majority of the people also enjoyed food streams.

The Panda suddenly appeared in front of him. It was a fur of excitement and waved its paws wildly in the air, and it had a gleaming look in its eyes. "Drop everything you're doing now—we got a cat fight going on and you gotta see it!"

"What?" Li Yang wasn't sure if he had heard it correctly..

"Outside your house—I saw it while I ignored you doing "cooking" here."

Wouldn't most of the viewers enjoy him doing something? He raised a brow. "What's so wrong with cooking?"

"First of all, a grilled cheese sandwich? Second—get out before that Bo Lifen's pretty face gets scarred, will you? And yes, I'm biased now, shoo."

The Panda darted towards him and struck his head with its behind and urged him to move. Li Yang didn't wait for another second and ran out of his house to come upon the sight of the two women nearly in each other's faces. Now it wasn't like they were going to tear each other's throats down, but it wasn't friendly either.

The two of them pulled away the moment he arrived.

He frowned slightly and greeted them.

"Good evening."

"Li Yang."

"Bossman!"

Contrary to the Panda's words and possible expectations, Taiga hadn't permanently scarred the woman for life. And neither did Bo Lifen look so upset… well, the two seemed a tad upset. But it was nothing as physically dangerous as the Panda claimed. Albeit he had more reason to believe that the two women were able to handle their temper better than to believe a creature's attempt to rack up interest, didn't he?

"What the… did they resolve it while I was gone? She called her a bitch and then something about respect!" The Panda motioned vaguely in the air and was gawking. "I swear that a fight should have broken out instead of them resolving their differences through a conversation like normal and sane adults do—which neither are!"

The CEO ignored the spout and glanced at his bodyguard. "It's a little late, but I prepared a sandwich and a glass of milk for you, Taiga. If you can enter the house without getting seen, it's in the kitchen and you can help yourself."

[ You Have Gained 100 Charm Points ]

"You're the best, Bossman!"

Taiga was out in a flash—like a bolt of lightning that headed out to his house without an ounce of worry on the repercussions of the speed.

Li Yang could only wonder if feeding the girl would get him a good stream of points on a regular basis? But he moved on to the next matter on hand, that was Bo Lifen. He glanced at the woman and took note of her appearance.

Similar to last night, she only wore a shirt and shorts on. The memory was enough to make his lips twitch, but then he focused on her face instead of staring at her, "I'm not sure what you are here for, Miss Lifen?"

"... Granny Lanfen told me to bring you tea again. That's all." She jerked the thermos forward into his hands.

Li Yang accepted it, "Ah, thank you—I still haven't thought of what to get to her as gratitude for looking after me. This kind of tea is no doubt expensive, isn't it?" A tea that could potentially lengthen one's lifespan was a precious thing. "You mentioned that it was made from pearls?"

"I got the pearls from a friend of mine, he was able to procure it and gave it to me at a good price." Bo Lifen had a tad uncomfortable look on her face.

He nodded, "I see, perhaps you can introduce me to him?"

"Why?" Bo Lifen placed a hand on her hip, "Do you not like it when a woman has guy friends? We're not together or anything for you to—"

Li Yang waved a hand at her, "No. I'm not thinking about that, I'm aware that what happened between us is a one-time thing. You can be friends with whoever you like. I am interested in purchasing these pearls from your friend though."

Her face suddenly burned.

Even with the flickering light of the streetlamp, he caught her face growing at a red shade. In order to make her not feel that embarrassed, he chose to pretend not to see it. The woman was almost always high-strung when they met.

Li Yang wanted to ask if she had seen a therapist—but that would aggravate things further.

"You know I... I can keep brewing them for you." Bo Lifen crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't meet his eyes. "That's what I do best, tea brewing."

Li Yang appreciated the offer and wanted to take it, but he also knew of her circumstances. "That would be too much for you, especially when I understand that you're simply here to rest. I do not wish to impose on you or make you promise something that's difficult to complete."

There was something he also had in mind, something he had an inkling about, but he made no mention of it.

She raised her head and met his gaze, "You could get it from the Heavenly Jade Pavilion, it's not too far off from the company you work at. I can actually just have one of my people to deliver it to you."

Now that was a good offer.

He doubted an incident like Ying Yue He's tea mishap could happen again, but then again, his secretary would also enjoy Black Pearl Tea too, wouldn't she? He smiled but shook his head, "I do not wish to occupy too much of your time by having you do that."

"Well—you'll still be paying me, right? You'll pay for the convenience of having it delivered for immediate consumption versus preparing it yourself."

Li Yang blinked but nodded, "Of course, I suppose this is simply you not connecting me to your supplier, is it not?" Similar to her, he had almost forgotten that there were other things at stake besides simply their relationship with one another.

Bo Lifen's lips curled lightly, "Well, you're not the only one who is business minded, Mister CEO. If I see a demand—who wouldn't cater to it?"

"Even if I'm only buying for a personal supply?"

"Well, I did say you can get it from me." She pursed her lips at him. "And wouldn't that be a good offer for a busy man like you?"

"You drive a hard bargain, Miss Lifen." He chuckled. "I am also interested in buying a good number of pearls for your great grandmother too. But more than that, I am also interested in meeting your supplier."

Her eyes narrowed at him, "So you are going to sell the pearls, aren't you?"

"I think having good connections is valuable in this world." He didn't exactly answer the question, but it wasn't what he had in mind when she mentioned about a pearl supplier. "Not a lot of things you can do alone."

"... that's almost strange hearing it from you."

"Is it?" He raised a brow.

"Well, I suppose it makes sense in your position to delegate tasks because that's what I do too… but I assumed you'd be someone who says something like 'I work alone' or other variants."

Li Yang tilted his head. "I can also understand that. But I'm not exactly Bruce Wayne."

"Huh…?" Bo Lifen's eyes widened. A snort then escaped her lips, and she pressed a hand to her mouth. "Did you really just say that aloud and with a straight face?"

The sight of the woman breaking into a giggle was enough to make him lose his composure for a moment. "Did I say anything wrong?"

She waved an arm at him and stifled a laugh, "No—it's just cute. Didn't think you'd say that."

Li Yang felt a small wave of embarrassment course through him. He lifted a hand to his face and sighed. "I don't exactly see how this is cute for you, I think it's quite natural to be aware of that animated series and the comics."

"I guess?" Her laughter quieted down, and she had a more rosy glow on her face. "I just didn't think that you would know about it, but I guess even you were a boy once."

"Mhmm, I think we all experienced childhood before." He said with a light smile. It was a silly remark. Li Yang didn't think she would have such a side like this to her either… but then she had a brother too, didn't she? Brothers, in fact. "Do you know about this through your brothers?"

"Yes. But I've watched it even before them… though ah, I think I should get going now. It's a little late now, isn't it?"

The two of them had indeed talked far more than what was necessary for a quick conversation. Li Yang held the thermos in his hand and nodded, "Thank you for delivering this, Miss Lifen. Do you want me to walk you home?"

She blinked for a second and fumed slightly, "Weren't you the one who said it was a one-time—you're just being hopelessly considerate again now, aren't you?"

Li Yang finally understood what he accidentally implied and scratched his cheek, "Frankly, yes. It didn't cross my mind at all, my apologies if it sounded like that."

Bo Lifen stared at him for a good minute, before she finally said. "... What if I tell you that I wouldn't exactly mind going for this more than once?"

—-—-

Author Note: Batman reference! Oh, and yes, Bo Lifen is coming on to our CEO again.