| PN | Terrified | 3
On the table was a plate of energy cubes cut into small pieces.
Energy stones are equivalent to food for puppets, but no one bothers to prepare them, just as no one tries to make strawberry-flavored oil for robots. There's no need for it; anyone who does such a thing is either extremely bored or has something wrong with their brain.
Qi Chao is neither of the above.
He didn't think much of it; cutting the energy stones was simply to make it more convenient for the little puppet to eat.
Lan Luo looked at the plate of energy cubes, his eyelashes trembling slightly as if he were extremely surprised. His blue eyes sparkled with obvious joy as he said, "Thank you, Master."
Qi Chao sat in a relaxed, nonchalant manner. Hearing Lan Luo's thanks, he instinctively wanted to tease the little puppet and make him call him "Dad," but swallowed his words at the last moment, only saying, "You're welcome."
Referring to himself as "Dad" using this scumbag's identity was already shameless enough; there was no need to rush the little puppet into changing how he addressed him.
At least wait until Lan Luo gets more familiar with him.
In Qi Chao's view, "Daddy" is a very special term of address.
After cutting the energy stones, it indeed became much easier for Lan Luo to eat. He picked up a piece of energy cube, put it in his mouth, and chewed it like a hamster, then picked up another one, eating them like candy beans.
Qi Chao appeared to be watching the animation on the projection screen, but his attention was entirely on Lan Luo.
The old father's heart was melting.
This cub is really adorable!
Watching the little puppet pick up the energy cubes one by one with his hand, Qi Chao's gaze involuntarily fell on his right hand.
The little puppet’s skin was a cool, pale white, which made the crack on the back of his hand stand out even more.
A black crack, about ten centimeters long, stretched from the joint between his index finger to his wrist. This crack was the result of the original owner's beatings.
There was a similar crack on Lan Luo's left foot.
The original owner had never held back when beating the puppet, always being as ruthless as possible.
Although the puppet’s nervous systems were not highly developed, it didn't mean they couldn't feel pain. The higher the grade of the puppet, the more sensitive their nerves were. Lan Luo was an S-grade doll. Such severe cracks must have been extremely painful at the time.
Qi Chao stared at the crack on his hand, gradually losing himself in thought.
Sitting on the sofa, Lan Luo noticed Qi Chao's gaze. His eyelashes lowered, hiding the fleeting emotion in his eyes. He scratched the sofa with his fingertip, then picked up the whip from under the table and skillfully knelt on the floor tiles.
"Master, do you want to whip Lan Luo?" Lan Luo raised his head, revealing a sweet smile. His bright blue eyes curved like crescent moons, as if he could accept anything the other party did to him.
Qi Chao's heart skipped a beat. Before he could even form a coherent thought, he instinctively lifted the puppet back onto the sofa.
Lan Luo's eyes widened slightly. By the time he reacted, the whip in his hand had already been taken away. He looked up just in time to see Qi Chao throwing the whip into the trash can.
"I'm not going to hit you." Qi Chao's voice was still a bit hoarse. He continued, "Little one, keep eating your energy cubes."
Qi Chao rubbed Lan Luo's head, and when the little puppet looked up and gave him a shy smile, Qi Chao couldn't help but smile back.
However, his heart sank again when his gaze fell on the whip in the trash can. Thinking about how the original owner had beaten the puppet countless times in the villa made Qi Chao's teeth gnash with anger.
He told Lan Luo to continue eating and then got up to rummage through the villa for various "punishment tools."
Horsewhips, wooden sticks, electric shock devices...
One by one, the items that had been used on the little puppet were pulled out.
Lan Luo, not understanding what Qi Chao was up to, he narrowed his eyes, his expression as gloomy as a poisonous snake when Qi Chao wasn't looking. His index finger scratched the sofa—a habit that only appeared when Lan Luo felt anxious.
Qi Chao threw everything he found into the trash can, pressed the destruction button, and after a series of crunching sounds, the original owner's precious tools were completely destroyed.
Feeling a bit relieved, Qi Chao turned to look at the sofa and met the little puppet's eyes.
The well-behaved blond puppet, with his bright blue eyes, looked at Qi Chao with innocent bewilderment. It seemed that no matter what Qi Chao did, Lan Luo would accept it without any negative emotions.
"They're just high-end toys."
"Emotionless dumb things."
"Robots with exquisite skins."
These thoughts flashed through Qi Chao's mind as he recalled how Blue Star people described puppets. To Blue Star people, no matter how beautiful or human-like puppets were, they were still just emotionless toys.
This seemed to be true. If it were a normal person, having suffered the original owner's brutal beatings day after day, they would be filled with fear if not hatred.
But Lan Luo seemed devoid of such emotions, reacting like a pre-programmed machine, always showing positive emotions.
Moreover, when Qi Chao first arrived, he referred to himself as "Dad" and called the puppet "little one," which was a stark contrast from the original owner's behavior.
Yet, the little puppet didn't react much, seemingly fitting the Blue Star people's assessment that puppets lacked human emotions.
Qi Chao walked over to Lan Luo. Seeing the little puppet smile at him again, he crouched down to be at eye level with him and said, "Lan Luo, I will never hit you again."
Lan Luo's bright blue eyes squinted in a smile, and he beamed radiantly as he crisply responded, "Okay!"
Once again, he accepted everything without question.
Qi Chao ruffled the little puppet's fluffy hair and asked again, "Did it hurt when Daddy used to hit you?"
Lan Luo thought for a moment and nodded heavily. "It hurt!"
"Why didn't you say anything before?"
In the original owner's memories, the little puppet had never once cried out in pain.
Lan Luo looked confused for a moment, then asked back, "Master didn't ask, so why should I say anything?"
Qi Chao's heart skipped a beat.
A deep, indescribable sadness surged up.
Why say anything?
This sentence seemed to explain everything.
The little puppet did feel pain. People assumed puppets don't feel pain and had no emotions simply because no one had ever asked.
They did have human emotions, just like newborns needing adults to slowly guide them.
Qi Chao silently cursed.
But he didn't know whom he was cursing.
Lan Luo still had that unperturbed, smiling expression.
Qi Chao reached out with both hands, cupping the puppet's cheeks and giving them a firm rub. The soft, pudgy face squished into a funny shape.
Seeing Lan Luo's puzzled look, Qi Chao lowered his hands and, with his deep brown eyes serious, said, "Lan Luo, if you don't want to smile, you don't have to."
Hearing this, Lan Luo seemed a bit perplexed, his eyes turning blank as if he couldn't understand what his master was saying.
Meanwhile, in a place Qi Chao couldn't see, his fingertip once again scratched at the sofa.
Qi Chao explained seriously, "Your master was a piece of trash before, deserving of death. You need to remember that hitting is inherently wrong, and you don't need to hide your pain. If anyone hits you, no matter who it is, you can fight back. You don't have to tolerate it."
As he spoke, he noticed Lan Luo's confused eyes and realized that his words might be a bit difficult for the puppet to understand.
As Lan Luo's current guardian, Qi Chao felt responsible for teaching him all this, but he wasn't in a hurry for the little puppet to immediately grasp his meaning.
At least until Lan Luo fully learned to love himself, Qi Chao would be there to help him grow.
Qi Chao scratched his wavy hair, took a sip of water to moisten his throat, and glanced at the time. Eleven o'clock.
"Are you sleepy?" Qi Chao remembered that puppets didn't need to rest, but after consuming energy stones, they would sleep for a while to digest the energy.
Was that considered sleep?
"Sleepy." Lan Luo's eyes curved into crescents. Whether he was really sleepy or not, only he knew.
Hearing the response, Qi Chao suddenly remembered that the original owner didn't have a separate bedroom for the puppet.
Previously, the puppet slept in a dark storage room like cargo. Later, the original owner, having taken a liking to the puppet, locked him in a cage.
Both situations were terrible. Qi Chao was puzzled; with so many rooms in the villa, why couldn't the original owner give the puppet a proper room?
"Alright, let's go upstairs and pick a room for you," Qi Chao said, slightly turning his body, waiting for Lan Luo to follow.
Lan Luo obediently followed. His height only reached Qi Chao's waist, and he walked slowly. Qi Chao, looking at the top of the puppet's head, felt a strange urge to reach out and touch it.
Once on the second floor, Qi Chao checked each room one by one, marveling at the luxury typical of wealthy people. Every room was super luxurious.
However, the styles didn't quite match the little puppet. In the future, they could redecorate according to Lan Luo's preferences.
Lan Luo was a very well-behaved child, having no opinion on which room to stay in. In other words, even if he had to continue living in the cage or storage room, he wouldn't have any complaints.
Qi Chao decided to have Lan Luo stay in the room next to his own.
After making the bed, Qi Chao looked at the little puppet, still dressed in his white suit, and suddenly remembered that Lan Luo seemed to have only this one outfit.
Damn! Why didn’t the original owner buy clothes for the puppet? Even pajamas would have been fine!
Qi Chao once again doubted the original owner’s supposed status as a rich and handsome guy.
Now it was too late to do anything about it. Qi Chao had to let the puppet sleep in his current attire for the night.
Lan Luo seemed quite tired, his reactions were a bit sluggish. Qi Chao hurriedly let the child get into bed, and seeing him obediently cover himself with the blanket, he turned off the lights and left the room.
The original owner seldom stayed in the villa, mostly living in the old mansion. Qi Chao entered the master bedroom and took a look around, finding only a few essential items.
Since his arrival, Qi Chao hadn't rested, his spirit was still high, but his body was sending signals of fatigue, with his eyelids feeling heavy.
He stood in the bathroom, washed his face with cold water, and looked at the black-haired man in the mirror. He couldn't help but lean closer for a better look.
He looked very similar to the original owner, though the system had slightly adjusted his appearance to make the resemblance even closer.
Qi Chao had lived a rough life, doing a lot of dirty and hard work before, so his skin wasn’t as refined as the original owner's, who had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
Qi Chao snorted, tossing the towel onto the rack. If only the person hadn’t been so terrible.
He yawned, forced his eyes open long enough to pick out a few outfits and some high-grade energy stones for the puppet, and then crawled into bed.
Qi Chao, being someone who fell asleep easily, dozed off within a minute of lying down, exhausted from today.
He didn’t know how long he had been asleep when the room grew quieter, the night deepened, clouds drifted, and the cool moonlight shone through the floor-to-ceiling windows and sheer curtains, illuminating the figure of a second person in the room.
What was startling was that this person was crouched by Qi Chao’s pillow, yet Qi Chao remained completely unaware.
In the moonlight, his golden hair seemed to glow, and his blue eyes had a cold, inorganic quality. Clearly, this person was none other than the little puppet, Lan Luo.
The doors and windows were tightly shut, so no one knew how he got in.
Qi Chao could have discovered someone next to him if he had just rolled over, but unfortunately, he slept very still.
Lan Luo crouched on the bed, extending his hand to gauge Qi Chao’s heart, as if deciding where to strike.
Today, his master was particularly annoying.
And particularly baffling.
Lan Luo watched the man on the bed coldly.
He recalled Qi Chao referring to himself as "Daddy."
A shadow of malice flickered in Lan Luo’s eyes as he closed them.
It wasn’t time yet.
He couldn’t kill him.
Big Brother would be angry.
Father would be too.
A gentle breeze blew, and the room was left with only Qi Chao.
And the system, which had just returned to check in and witnessed this scene.
System: ...I was terrified at that moment.
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