| PN | Terrible | 22
System: 【So, Doctor and the two puppets are all in the living room, right?】
Qi Chao responded in his mind: 【Yes, the Doctor came today to treat Lan Luo.】
Ah, well.
The system, revisiting this dimension momentarily choked up, continued: 【Are you cooking?】
【Yes.】
Qi Chao felt the system's question was somewhat strange but nodded patiently anyway.
The system was indeed grasping at straws. If it continued asking about the Doctor, it feared it might truly lose control. Was there anyone more unfortunate than it, having to cook for those demons even in its dying moments?
【I will accompany you today,】 the system decided to see its host through to the end, standing watch for the final time.
Qi Chao was puzzled but nonchalant.
The fragrance of fish slowly wafted from the pot.
Qi Chao glanced at the pot, turned back, and continued chopping vegetables, then heard a clear and gentle male voice beside him.
"Can I join you?"
Qi Chao followed the voice and saw a slender man standing at the kitchen doorway. He walked over and politely said, "Although I'm not very good at cooking, I can handle simple tasks like chopping and washing vegetables."
"Of course."
Qi Chao guessed that the Doctor was hesitant to let him cook alone, he was afraid that refusing him would hurt the other person's face. He smiled and agreed readily, taking out carrots and asking the Doctor to simply wash them.
"Just a quick rinse, I'll peel them later."
As soon as he said this, Qi Chao saw the Doctor rolling up his sleeves, revealing his fair arms, with his slender fingers making a few strokes in the water.
People who specialize in handicrafts rarely have good-looking fingers., as extended labor tends to coarsen them, leaving behind stubborn calluses and occasional scars.
But Shen Yuxi's hands were different. They resembled finely crafted cold jade—slender, fair, and flawless.
Qi Chao glanced briefly, then looked away, silently asking the system: 【How can someone be so perfect—talented, good-natured, and so strikingly handsome?】
The system remained silent. It desperately wanted its host to wake up a bit. If the villain had a good personality, this world wouldn't be classified as a high-risk plane.
After Shen Yuxi finished washing the carrots, Qi Chao asked him to rest in the living room. The Doctor hesitated, as if wanting to say something.
"You've already helped enough. Go rest," Qi Chao said with a smile, guiding the Doctor out by his shoulder, then closing the kitchen door behind him.
Those fingers were so attractive; they certainly needed delicate care. Heavy chores like this should definitely be minimized.
The system, having witnessed the entire process, silently screamed in Qi Chao's mind. What had this fool done?! Making the villain wash carrots was one thing, but daring to actively send him away?!
However, whether it was the system's misconception or not, the villain seemed to have no intention of killing the host. Otherwise, he wouldn't have maintained such politeness until now.
The system was extremely puzzled, fluctuating between certainty that the host would die at the hands of the demons and a sense that the villain might not intend immediate harm to the host.
In its dilemma, it chose to watch quietly.
After preparing lunch, Qi Chao went to the living room.
The father and his two sons were sitting on the sofa, watching a projection of Lan Luo's favorite educational animation. What Qi Chao found amusing was that both the adults and the two puppet-like dolls sat with remarkably perfect posture, as if they had been carved from the same mold—it was a strangely cute sight.
Qi Chao now understood where Lan Luo learned his good habits from. Not only did the father and his sons sit similarly, but their eating gestures were surprisingly synchronized as well.
What differed was the Doctor's every move, exuding maturity and gentleness, while the two puppets, one large and one small, looked adorable no matter how you looked at them.
"Did you carve these two energy stones?" Shen Yuxi suddenly asked during the meal, pointing at the two energy stones carved into small bears on the plate.
Qi Chao looked at the rainbow-colored bears on the plate, rubbed his nose with his finger, and replied, "Yes, I did. It was my first time trying this cartoon-like style, so I'm not very skilled at it."
The two rainbow bears were characters from Lan Luo's favorite animation.
Lan Luo clearly liked the little bear very much, staring at it and was reluctant to eat it. Beside him, Moss had already unwrapped his bandages and eaten most of his bear. Only after Moss finished did Lan Luo finally eat the small pink flower on top of the bear's head.
"They're very beautiful," Shen Yuxi praised. "It's rare for someone to be so attentive to a doll."
Carving energy stones into patterns was indeed meant to please puppets. Qi Chao didn't need others' approval, but hearing the Doctor's praise made him unusually embarrassed.
His ears tinged with red, Qi Chao cleared his throat and said, "It's okay, I guess."
Rainbow Bear is Lan Luo's favorite character. Originally, Qi Chao wanted to carve the character that Moss liked for him, but unfortunately, Moss didn't have a favorite. So, Qi Chao settled for carving the older brother of the bear, making a set of brother bears for their meal.
As they talked, Qi Chao noticed that the Doctor had taken a few more pieces of fish, so he nudged the fish plate towards him. As Lan Luo and Moss had mentioned, the Doctor indeed seemed to enjoy seafood relatively more.
With the fish plate now on his right side, Shen Yuxi paused slightly, then smiled gratefully at Qi Chao.
After finishing their meal, Shen Yuxi began repairing the cracks on Lan Luo in silence, while the taciturn Moss handed over the data he had recorded yesterday to his father.
Qi Chao stood aside, watching the Doctor carefully inspecting the cracks on Lan Luo's hand, feeling uneasy.
"How many days will it take to repair the cracks?" Qi Chao asked.
"Three days."
Shen Yuxi, now in work mode, was not as gentle as before. Without looking up, he wore glasses with gold rims, focused intently on the back of Lan Luo's hand, his voice slightly cold.
Lan Luo, seated in the chair, alternated between looking at his father and glancing up at Qi Chao, with a bright smile on his face.
Qi Chao felt uncomfortable. He forced a smile at Lan Luo, reached out to ruffle his head, and asked, "When you're repairing, can I watch from the side?"
"It's better if you don't." After finishing the inspection, Shen Yuxi glanced up at Qi Chao, serious. "I'm not used to having someone watching."
Qi Chao understood. He smiled faintly and said softly, "Okay, I understand."
To facilitate the Doctor's procedures, Qi Chao had specially cleaned up a room on the second floor to serve as an "operating room."
While Lan Luo underwent the procedure inside, Qi Chao stood outside, waiting.
Moss, despite being an assistant, didn't go inside to help; instead, he stayed outside with Qi Chao, leaning against the wall, his dark eyes fixed on Qi Chao who appeared uneasy.
"Why are you so anxious?" Moss asked in a hoarse voice.
He didn't understand. Qi Chao was the one who hurt Lan Luo in the first place, so why did he seem so worried during the treatment?
Qi Chao paused, inherently sharp-witted, and naturally understood the underlying meaning in Moss's question. "I used to be a damn trash, not worthy of being human. But now, I treat Lan Luo as my own child."
Treat as a child?
Moss, wrapped entirely in bandages, tilted his head slightly as Qi Chao turned around, his large black eyes appearing eerie.
Moss's first master had also uttered similar words, after which Moss's face and body were scratched and torn by his master. His master smiled as he used a sharp knife to cut his skin piece by piece.
This was treating them like their own child?
Mos's fingers, wrapped in bandages, twitched slightly.
The system nearly broke apart in Qi Chao's sea of consciousness, covering its head in fear, whimpering, afraid that the enraged demonic puppet might leap forward and eliminate the host.
It wished desperately to roll over to the next plane—though its other host is naive and useless, at least that plane was safe!
Trembling with fear, the system awaited the impending death of the host. Strangely, despite the puppet wrapped in bandages glaring fiercely, it never rushed forward to kill the host, as if held back by something.
Qi Chao was oblivious to all this. After speaking with Moss, he scratched his head in annoyance, feeling that his earlier response had been too insincere and evasive. But he couldn't reveal anything about the system or his time-traveling; no matter how he answered, the outcome would be the same.
He waited outside the door for nearly three hours. Finally, the door opened, and Shen Yuxi emerged, pulling down his mask with his index finger. "Repairing the cracks consumes a lot of energy. Lan Luo has fallen asleep. Just wake him up when it's time for dinner."
Qi Chao immediately felt relieved and walked in.
Shen Yuxi shifted aside, and after Qi Chao entered, his gaze fell on Moss, who was hiding in the corner.
Moss stood straight like a child caught in the act of misbehaving.
Shen Yuxi's expression remained unchanged. He walked up to Moss as if he knew what had happened, and softly said, "If you can't stay calm, then you're of no value."
Upon hearing this, Moss's black eyes contracted, his lips twitching under the bandages. After hesitating for a moment, he spoke softly, "Father, I didn't."
The depths of Shen Yuxi's peach blossom eyes were like a bottomless lake, icy cold to the bone. He looked at Moss quietly, said nothing, and turned and left.
In the 'operating room,' Lan Luo lay quietly on the bed with his eyes closed, his cracks covered in a layer of white ointment. Qi Chao glanced at him a few times, reassured that his child was okay. He smiled slightly and earnestly thanked the Doctor as he entered.
"No problem," Shen Yuxi replied, removing his glasses with a gentle tone, his features betraying a hint of weariness.
Qi Chao, being a puppet master himself, understood how exhausting it could be to work for three hours with intense concentration. He spoke up, "Brother Shen, I have prepared a room for you. You can go in and rest. I will call you when it's time for dinner."
"No need," Shen Yuxi declined, a slight smirk on his lips.
"Okay," Qi Chao didn't insist. His gaze shifted to Moss, who had been standing motionless at the door the whole time, finding it strange. He asked, "Why isn't Moss coming in?"
Shen Yuxi followed his gaze to Moss, his expression similarly puzzled. "Moss, why aren't you coming in?"
Moss snapped out of his thoughts and silently walked over to his father’s side.
While Moss typically maintained a silent demeanor, his mood swings were still discernible.
During lunch, Moss had been relatively fine, except for that one incident. Qi Chao rubbed his nose. Could it be that his earlier response had offended Moss?
This was bad.
Qi Chao pondered how to comfort the child in his heart.
0 Comments
Post a Comment