Welcome to The Li Family

There were two pairs of shoes at the welcome mat of the house, the lights were open and the sound of noodles packs opening. Li Yang was home. Yes, perhaps that was one way to describe his situation. He was seated at the dining table and watched his older brother mess around the kitchen's stove. "I already ate."

"Have you now?" Li Liang asked, he was fussed over his cooking, "I just got back from the airport and went here directly. Did you eat with a girlfriend or something while you were out?"

One of Li Yang's eyes twitched, "You really will not stop with that are you?"

"Stop what?"

"Girlfriend this and girlfriend that. I'm not like you, Liang—I don't have a girlfriend every week." He sighed and drummed his fingers on the table. What else did he need to do? He had left his suitcase back in his room and it contained most of the documents of his cultivation and system research, but that left him with one thing now. It didn't change the fact that the creature was glowering at him from the table.

Still, the situation had been resolved.

At least he considered it to be resolved—the man had no interest in conversing with the panda and explaining the situation as he did with Bo Lifen. He had a brother, that was it. If there was anything surprising, it should have been the creature not realizing that or failing to gather information about him prior the giving of the System.

But even that was irrelevant.

He just wanted to rest.

"Well, don't look at me. I'm sure our father would love a grandson—and I'm not the one giving that." Li Liang shrugged and continued with his food preparation. "I doubt he would want one from me, I'm already disowned. But you? You're the heir, so you better have an heir too or who else is going to run the business empire when we're gone?"

"I didn't think you cared about that."

"We put our blood, sweat and tears into this—do you really think that I'd let it all go down the drain?"

As a matter of fact, Li Yang sometimes believed that his brother would do just that. In the earlier years, the two of them had worked together, but now it felt like he was the only one running the company save for the brother's occasional inputs. He really didn't mind it, at least he was doing something that he was good at.

But even so, the company might just be the last thing that he should worry about.

His company was at stake, the Heavens and the panda told him that—but more than that, it had shackled him into this game. A game that he had to outplay and his brother did not have a singular clue at all, as with most things.

[ Evil Qi Is Rising ]

[ Evil Qi-Dispelling Talisman Working… ]

"Geez, take a chill pill." The Panda muttered and swatted a paw at him.

A wave of energy struck at him, and for a moment—he thought he'd seen an orange arc as it did its paw swipe. His thoughts vanished, or rather the energy was enough to stop his train of thoughts. Still, now was the time that the creature was finally talking to him? Li Yang sighed and opened his mouth—and bit back a reply. His brother's back was turned against him, but even so, it would be weird to get caught mumbling to himself.

CEO: How did the chat function operate again?

Panda: You just did it.

The eerie yet familiar blue screen appeared in front of him, and despite the fact that the Panda was just lying down on the table—its face was blank as well. It was hard to decipher what actually went through the creature's mind when it wanted to retain its composure.

Now what did Li Yang even need to say to the Panda in the first place?

He had survived just fine without it, and even had a quieter day in the office with the lack of its ramblings and complaints. But even so, he was still able to gain some progress—even if it had been coincidental. Did he even need to say it?

Panda: Alright, what happened today? Can I get a summary

CEO: Why?

Panda: You already know why!

CEO: I don't.

Panda: [ Sent an Emoji ]

It was an emoji of frustration. The creature did actually look ruffled right now, its black and white fur was rising up like a cat's… Li Yang didn't know it could do that. But he honestly didn't understand why the creature would need a summary, could it read his thoughts and said that to spite him? He realized how much he didn't know about the Panda that was inexplicably linked to his situation, one way or another.

Panda: I gave you a day of freedom—the least you could do is let me know what you did

CEO: And if I don't tell you?

Panda: ...whatever. You probably stayed in your office all day, nothing interesting

CEO: Uh huh

The creature wasn't all knowing of the things that happened to him? Li Yang kept his face blank—it wasn't hard to do that. But then again, that should have been an obvious fact. No powerful entity would relegate itself to watch and observe the lives of men up close, and it simply confirmed the Panda's position here.

It was stuck in this position like him—

A bowl plonked over the table hard and it made the Panda jump out and disappear over the table. His older brother sat across him.One of his legs was above the chair, his sitting posture was hunched over despite his suit, and there was a mischievous look in his eyes, "Is the idea of an heir that scary to you? You've been silent for about five minutes now."

Did he ask a valid question?

Li Yang sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "I don't have the time to raise a child."

"Oh, for a moment I thought you had problems with sleeping with a woman." Li Liang began to eat, he was shoving the noodles into his mouth. "If that time still haunts you, it's fine—because surrogacy is also an option. We could look for a willing mother, someone pretty and smart so the child gets the best of genes, you know?" He finished slurping his noodles and sighed in relief. Until his expression cooled down and he gave Li Yang a look. "Besides, I'm sure you won't fuck up like father did, give yourself some credit."