| PN | 8
Qi Chao hadn't expected that on his first time returning home, he would actually encounter the rarely seen big boss.
In the living room, the attention of all three people focused on him. Qi Chao put on a brave face and walked in with a smile.
"Dad, you're back?" He approached his two younger brothers, jokingly asking, "Have these two little rascals angered you again?"
Qi Chao felt somewhat fortunate that despite the fact that the original owner was a pervert in private, he maintained the facade of a good son and brother in the eyes of the family.
Otherwise, he wouldn't know how to approach this.
His father grunted, his tone cold as he looked at the two disobedient sons kneeling before him. "You both think what you did was right? Go on."
Qi Feng and Qi Ye were twins, their appearances strikingly similar. At sixteen, they were at that rebellious age. One had red hair, the other white, and both had defiant gazes.
"What did we do wrong?" Qi Feng's tone was agitated. "That woman liked the two of us. We just agreed with her, is that wrong?"
Qi Ye, quieter in nature but seemingly in agreement with his brother, added, "She wanted us to take her to the hotel. We went there, and before anything happened, the anti-pornography police came."
Qi Chao: ...
Ah, this.
In just a few sentences, there was a huge amount if information. Qi Chao was momentarily speechless, admiring their nerves.
Before he could fully process it, his father slammed the tea cup he held onto the ground, scolding the two to go to their rooms and write self-criticisms letters.
The two brothers stood up and left with resentment in their eyes, clearly believing they had done nothing wrong.
Qi Chao's father, with a stern face, instructed the young steward beside him to lock the two inside the house until they apologized.
"And you, why aren't you at the company?"
Qi Chao, who had been watching the commotion, was suddenly singled out. His heart skipped a beat, but he managed to pull out a slight smile and calmly replied, "I haven't been feeling well recently."
Of course, that was a lie. The truth was he had forgotten about the original owner's job.
The original owner, now twenty-eight, graduated from the top university on Blue Star and went directly to work at a subsidiary of his father's conglomerate.
With considerable talent, he held high prestige within the company and was practically assured as the heir apparent.
He viewed the company as his own and diligently worked, showing exceptional dedication. He didn't even accept a salary, often working overtime and appearing as someone solely devoted to his job, relying entirely on the pocket money given by his father.
After buying the dolls and the regulator, the original owner's savings were depleted, awaiting the next allowance from his father.
But Qi Chao, assuming the identity of the original owner, felt ashamed to take money from others. Besides, he had no knowledge of finance and didn't intend to continue in this role.
Upon returning, he planned to write a resignation letter.
Qi Chenming, Qi Chao's father, nodded slightly, seemingly unconcerned about his son's health.
His brows furrowed slightly, deepening his wrinkles. His gaze, sharp as an eagle's, bore into Qi Chao. "What were you doing meeting with the Li family's youngest son?"
The youngest son of the Li family was the V-necked man Qi Chao had encountered in the private room.
"Li family has connections with the black market. I wanted to buy a small item at the time," Qi Chao replied calmly.
He wasn't flustered. He had long known from the original owner's memories that Qi Chenming was a person with a strong desire for control. This matter could be easily verified, so there was no need to lie.
Qi Chenming glanced at him warningly. "Do not get involved with the black market again."
"Understood," Qi Chao nodded.
Qi Chenming pursed his lips, seemingly wanting to say more, but he was not good at speaking. The relationship between father and son was cold, and the words of concern choked in his throat, unable to be spoken.
Qi Chao, sitting at the other end of the sofa, watched Qi Chenming silently.
After a moment of contemplation, he asked, "What happened to Qi Feng and Qi Ye's faces?"
Qi Chenming's originally calm face instantly darkened. "During the raid, they refused to go to the police station and they fought back."
Seeing Qi Chenming starting to get angry again, Qi Chao hurriedly comforted him, "They are still young and impulsive. Dad, don't be angry. I will talk to them later."
If it were the original owner, he would have secretly add fuel to the fire, hoping Qi Chenming would get even angrier. The worse the behavior of the illegitimate sons, the more stable his position as the heir would become.
But Qi Chao was different. He had never intended to inherit the company in the first place, so he spoke his mind sincerely when comforting Qi Chenming.
Seeing the sincere expression in his eldest son's eyes, Qi Chenming's tense expression relaxed slightly.
He nodded meticulously. "Your brothers listen to you. You have a good sense of right and wrong. Teach them well. If they get into such dirty things again, chop off their hands."
Qi Chao thought to himself. The original owner has a good sense of right and wrong? Isn't that an insult to the word "righteous"?
Qi Chenming's return home today was coincidental; he had a meeting in an hour. Without lingering further, he patted his eldest son's shoulder and got up to leave.
Before leaving, Qi Chao heard Qi Chenming instructing the steward once again not to let the two younger brothers out upstairs.
The living room returned to silence, with the cleaning robot tidying up the broken teacup from the floor.
Thinking about his purpose, Qi Chao decided not to waste any more time. He headed straight to the library on the third floor.
The books in the old mansion were passed down through generations of the Qi family. To find a book, all he needed to do was input the keywords on the light screen at the entrance.
To Qi Chao's delight, as soon as he entered the keywords, a list of book titles immediately appeared on the screen.
Qi Chao sat cross-legged on the carpeted floor of the library, surrounded by nearly ten books he had fetched after climbing up and down three flights of stairs.
His deep brown eyes glowed with satisfaction as he flipped through the pages.
Originally, he had planned to return home early to avoid his family, but now that he had stumbled upon these books, he decided to spend more time in the library.
He randomly flipped through the ten books, and selected two that were most representative.
These two books were sufficient to give Qi Chao a basic understanding of how to create dolls.
The remaining volumes, while differing in carving techniques, were largely similar in basic doll-making methods.
However, as Qi Chao carefully read through the two selected books, his brow furrowed tighter with each page turned.
It wasn't because the knowledge was too obscure. As an experienced puppet master, he easily grasped the content. Rather, it was because understanding the crafting methods left him feeling powerless.
According to the books, puppet master’s use their spiritual power to forge meridians and refine skin for dolls. Each puppet master’s spiritual power differed, leading to varying conditions in the puppet' skin and the strength of their tendons and bones.
Moreover, when repairing cracks in puppets, it was best to seek out the original puppet master who made them.
Otherwise, conflicting spiritual powers could potentially rupture the fragile meridians of the puppet.
It was clear now that he needed to find the puppet master who had created Lan Luo.
Qi Chao couldn't help but sigh. He ran a hand through his slightly disheveled hair, his eyes filled with conflict.
He had always thought that once he learned how to create dolls, he would personally repair the cracks on Lan Luo.
He even used the excuse of not having money to convince himself not to seek out Lan Luo's original puppet master.
In reality, they were all just excuses.
Qi Chao knew it in his heart.
He didn't want the puppet master to know that the child he had personally created had been beaten countless times.
From the first time he saw the little puppet, Qi Chao had been deeply saddened by the child's misfortune.
Thinking from the other perspective, he could only imagine how devastated the puppet master who crafted Lan Luo would feel upon seeing those cracks.
With a slight heaviness in his heart, Qi Chao was not one to waver.
On the contrary, once he decided on something, he would immediately take action. Since the cracks needed to be repaired by the original puppet master, no amount of pondering would change that fact. He had to look forward.
Recalling from the original owner's memories, when he first acquired Lan Luo at the auction, the name of the puppet master had been mentioned. However, the original owner had paid little attention at the time, and the memory was somewhat fuzzy.
The quickest way to find the puppet master would be to contact the person in charge of the auction.
Although the original owner didn't know this person personally, he had some contact with the person's younger brother.
Qi Chao knew this person as well—Li Yuqin, the younger son of the Li family, the V-necked man in the private room. In the past, in order to obtain the regulator, the original had given Li Yuqin quite a few benefits.
Even after Qi Chao destroyed the regulator later on, he still received considerable benefits from their transactions.
Overall, their dealings had been quite pleasant.
Qi Chao pondered for a moment, then took out his light brain and sent him a message. The response came quickly and generously, saying he had them. After a while, a string of numbers arrived.
"Mr. Qi, this is the contact information for that puppet master. His alias in the black market is 'Doctor,' and he's quite well-known. You should have heard of him. My brother has contacted him in advance, so you can add him directly."
Qi Chao didn't expect Li Yuqin to act so swiftly. His fingertips paused over the light brain, typing "thank you" twice before exiting the chat box and sending a friend request to the puppet master.
After that, there was no response from the light brain.
Puppet Master’s are often busy and have demanding work, they easily lose track of time when engrossed.
In Qi Chao's previous life, there were times he didn't leave the studio until three in the morning. If the puppet master was currently occupied with work, it might take a long time to respond to his request.
Qi Chao didn't wait any longer. He stored the books into his spatial pocket, got up, and left the library. Just as he entered the living room, he saw the steward stopping the two brothers who looked agitated.
"Are you guys planning to go out?" Qi Chao chuckled upon seeing them.
When Qi Feng and Qi Ye were about to push their way out. However, upon hearing their eldest brother's voice, freezing in place, the two awkwardly greeted their big brother.
Qi Feng and Qi Ye had grown up listening to tales of their eldest brother's excellence, and admiring him deeply.
Unaware of the original owner's disdain for them behind his back, and having been subjected to quite a few manipulations, the two still held their eldest brother in high regard.
Even during their rebellious phases, they heeded Qi Chao's words.
Qi Chao found their moral compass somewhat skewed, but compared to the original owner, they were still quite endearing. He had intended to have a serious talk with them anyway, so this was a perfect opportunity.
"Where were you planning to go?" Qi Chao sat down on the sofa and patted the seat next to him, gesturing for them to come over.
Qi Feng and Qi Ye glanced at each other before reluctantly moving over to sit down.
Qi Chao rarely had heart-to-heart talks with people, but he could still rein in these two unruly horses. Seeing the wounds on their faces, he asked, "Have you applied medicine to your injuries?"
"No," Qi Feng with red hair replied with a sniff.
"You haven't applied medicine? And you're going out like this? Aren't you afraid of being embarrassed?" Qi Chao stood up and took the medicine from the steward's hands. "You guys should look in the mirror later. Going out like this will definitely make you look like monkeys."
Qi Feng and Qi Ye glanced at each other, knowing their big brother was right, but they were still holding onto their frustration and didn't want to stay at home.
"Where are you planning to go? To see your girlfriends?" Qi Chao thought about their relationship statuses and paused, feeling that young people nowadays were unpredictable.
The two brothers didn't say anything, seemingly consenting.
"Well, I advise against it. With your face like this, your girlfriends might break up with you when they see you," Qi Chao held traditional beliefs but also knew that the more you try to stop someone, the more they might insist on doing it.
Seeing the hesitant expressions on their faces, Qi Chao hesitated for a moment and then said uncertainly, "Well, that's just my guess. If you really want to go, then go ahead. I'll take care of Dad for you."
Qi Feng and Qi Ye were still easily moved, and upon hearing this, they immediately agreed to wait a few days before going out again.
Qi Chao patted their shoulders, said a few insincere words, and once he was sure they wouldn't sneak out, he left confidently.
Back home, Qi Chao relaxed when he saw Lan Lou quietly watching cartoons in the living room.
He walked over and rubbed his head, about to say something with a smile, when suddenly his light brain made a notification sound.
Qi Chao glanced down and saw a reminder that his friend request had been accepted.
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