Note: Two Novel Protagonists' interaction. Two chapters deal with 'Dat Peach' motivations.

The one who ended up opening the door was Li Yang himself. "Thank you for agreeing to come here upon my immediate request, Han Jing." the CEO shook the younger man's hand.

The other man's grip wasn't light or slack, but neither was it a strong one either. Instead the man sheepishly smiled. "Well, embarrassing it may be to admit it, but I don't have a lot of things to do so I was able to come here.. But ahem.. what can I do for you sir Li? CEO Li?"

"Please take a seat first. What refreshments do you wish for?"

"Anything really. Anything is good for me, sir."

Li Yang had the young man arrive in nothing but a white shirt and khaki shorts. His appearance was someone who had rolled out of his bed—and the idea that this man was a friend of Bo Lifen's contradicted greatly with his supposition of the woman's personality. Not that it was easy to get a read when people had numerous sides.

He still remembered seeing Bo Lifen at the concert and the thought of it made his lips quirk. The CEO soon cleared his throat and said, "Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to serve you the Black Ocean Pearls I've bought from you before."

"Oh, I didn't know you drink them—I think Lifen brews them, but the process seems difficult."

"Not so much, traditional medicine and ayurveda practices consuming these by making them into a powder. Pearls are also used in making toothpaste and other products, don't you agree? For a moment though." Li Yang paused and switched to his intercom. "Miss He, please bring us some refreshments. Thank you." Once he was finished, he glanced back at the younger man.

What were the possible repercussions by speaking directly?

He could see nothing wrong by being forthright and it was what he was used to, but so far the man made no allusions to anything else beyond being a simple and clueless man. It was difficult to gauge and Li Yang didn't want to trust a person simply because he was affiliated with Bo Lifen.

"Do you know the reason why I've called you here, Mister Han?" he asked.

Han Jing's expression flickered and then he scratched his cheek. "I mean, this isn't a job interview I guess. I do have a copy of my CV and resume just in case, but it's probably something else, sir. Do you have any complaints with the pearls or anything like that? Not sure if I can do refunds."

"What made you think that?"

"Just a guess."

Li Yang sighed inwardly, and finally asked. "I've called you here in order to gather information about Peach, otherwise known as 'Dat Peach' if it strikes you more familiarly."

"Never heard of that name in my entire life." Han Jing didn't miss a beat.

One of Li Yang's eyes twitched. "Wouldn't you have at least assumed it was a fruit first if you had to go with a state of being ignorant?"

"You saying 'about Peach' means it's a person called Peach. Unless you're talking about a nice butt, although it's called cake nowadays." Han Jing rubbed his chin. "Sir Li."

The man added the honorific in an afterthought.

Li Yang shook his head. "I suppose you have no incentive for speaking of the truth then. How much will it be to gather the information from you?"

"Woah, woah—there's no need for any of that, sir Li." Han Jing waved a hand, standing up and motioning to the CEO. "I mean.. you're a cultivator, right? Bo Lifen introduced us last time. I thought it was weird at first, since most cultivators start early unless something strange happens. But I guess it made sense that something like this would happen especially when you're a new one. You're a Player too, right?"

Li Yang raised a brow. "Player?"

"Huh, so you're not—then again, it wouldn't make sense if we shared the same server. Something else then."

"I'm only here to ask if your Moderator is someone who I can trust. Anything else is irrelevant to me right now," Li Yang said. He didn't continue explaining anything else, if the notifications ringing in the back of his head was any indicator that this conversation was enough to cause attraction. Even more than that was the lack of presence of Bao despite the man knowing it was around.

The Panda failed to show itself during his first meeting with this man as well.

Han Jing shrugged. "I guess she's nice?"

He stared at the man. "Nice doesn't cut it."

"... I mean, I'm not sure what I can do for you. The Moderator is supposed to be an unbiased individual that takes care of matters in our server, but obviously that's not the case." Han Jing eyed him back, finally showing some thought and reservation. "Since you're not a Player but there's involvement between the two of you. She hasn't mentioned anything though."

Li Yang wouldn't dare say he was an object in the Heavens and Higher Beings entertainment. The idea of it was preposterous and so he asked, "Is there anything that she desires?"

"She does her job and then some. Perhaps she's someone looking forward to a vacation. I mean, that's all I can think of. She doesn't speak much even if we've known each other for nearly two years now."

Two years?

No, more than that.. a vacation?

Did it have anything to do with the System Patch?

"What exactly constitutes you as being a Player?" In the CEO's mind, he could already see the information he would get from the other person might just reveal that it was not different from his own position and simply a change in titles.historical

Han Jing scratched his head. "You can say I have an avatar in another world and what happens to my avatar, affects my state now. Almost vice versa since my status there was affected by my condition here."

Li Yang stayed silent and waited, only taking note of the explanation. It was easier to get more information by making the other individual uncomfortable.