Puppet Notes (Wearing Book) - 39

 

| PN | Wow | 39

The original owner's father sure has a strong presence.

Listening to the commotion outside the door, Qi Chao exchanged a quick "got it" with Qi Feng on the video call before ending it. He lowered his head and asked the two children to go upstairs to play.

"Dad has something to take care of now. Can you come back to the living room later to play?"

Lan Luo and Li Bai exchanged a glance. Li Bai looked bewildered, pointing at the door and tilting his head up, "Are there bad people? Dad, Li Bai can protect you!"

Lan Luo stood beside him, also tilting his head, "Can't I sit down here and accompany you?"

Seeing how caring his two children were, Qi Chao smiled and rubbed Lan Luo's and Li Bai's heads respectively, saying, "It's okay. The person outside is my father. I won't be in any danger. You two go upstairs first."

Since their first meeting, Qi Chao had known that the original father was not a bad person. 

Even if he came over today, Qi Chao wasn't afraid. However, he wasn't sure about the original father's attitude towards his two children. It would be better to let Lan Luo and Li Bai go back to their rooms while the original father hadn't come in yet.

Li Bai and Lan Luo obediently nodded their heads, walking side by side upstairs.

Qi Chao watched their figures disappear around the corner on the second floor, then breathed a sigh of relief and turned to open the door for the original father.

It must be said that the quality of the original mansion's door was really good. After being pried for so long, the original father still hadn't come in.

At the door, Qi Chenming had a stern and serious expression, his deep-set furrows giving him an authoritative air. Accustomed to high positions over the years, his sharp eyes focused sharply on his subordinate who was dealing with the lock, startling him before he could say anything.

"Boss, I'll be done in just a moment," the subordinate said nervously, wiping sweat from his brow.

Qi Chenming remained silent, while a young steward beside him reassured the subordinate to relax. Before the lock could be picked open, the door of the mansion swung open.

"Dad, you're here?" Qi Chao glanced over at the tools in the hands of those beside him and chuckled, "You could've just told me to open the door, no need to go to the trouble of picking the lock."

"Your brother already told you?" Father Qi  didn't respond directly to Qi Chao's words, continuing on his own, "He must have, otherwise, you wouldn't be so calm."

Qi Chao remained composed, smiling, "After all, we brothers have a good relationship. We always help each other out."

No father would want bad relationships between his children. Indeed, after Qi Chao said this, Father Qi, though still serious, visibly relaxed a bit.

He walked into the living room, scanning it to ensure nothing was out of place, before sitting down on the sofa. Father Qi looked up at Qi Chao, "Where are the puppets you made?"

"They're resting upstairs."

Qi Chao wasn't surprised that his father knew about his puppet-making endeavors, considering he had shared them openly on his social media accounts. 

Even though Qi Chao hadn't acknowledged being the son of a wealthy man, if his father paid even a little attention to him, he would know what he had been up to.

What did surprise him a bit was that after resigning from his job three or four months ago, Qi Chao had suspected his father might come looking for him, but since there had been no movement, he had thought he was just being paranoid. 

Now, seeing his father, it seemed his father had been holding back his anger, otherwise he wouldn't have impulsively picked the lock like this.

Father Qi  nodded solemnly, his sharp gaze resembling Qiao Chao's, fixed on him. "When are you coming back to the company? It's been half a year, you rested enough."

Qi Chao poured a glass of water for his father, leaning back on the sofa, his deep brown eyes meeting his father's gaze seriously. "I've already resigned, so I won't be going back," he said with a smile, "And I do have a job."

"Is making puppets your job now?" Father Qi looked at him, displeased. It was evident he wasn't happy that his capable eldest son had suddenly become a puppet maker. The lines on his face deepened, "How can you return like this?"

"Dad, I've never really liked working at the company," Qi Chao said against his better judgment. After all, the original body had dreamed of inheriting the family business and staying at the company.

"I've worked hard all my life to earn your approval," Qi Chao continued truthfully, "From childhood to now. But making puppets is the first hobby I've truly enjoyed."

Qi Chao's tone turned melancholic as he added, "I'm twenty-eight this year. Consider this my late rebellious phase. I want to spend more time on things I love."

Father Qi  stared intently at Qi Chao's face, seemingly assessing the credibility of his words. After a few seconds, he averted his gaze. "How long will your rebellious phase last?"

Qi Chao had guessed that although his original father was reticent, he cared deeply about his children. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so anxious about Qi Feng and Qi Ye's run-ins with the police. Qi Chao felt a slight relief and pondered for a moment before replying, "Probably about two to three years."

Qi Feng and Qi Ye had just turned seventeen, so in two to three years, they would be nineteen, which would be a suitable time for them to start interning at the company. It would be easier for him to postpone returning to the company until then.

Father Qi  fell into silence, as if weighing Qi Chao's words carefully. He could sense that Qi Chao was buying time, but the initial words Qi Chao had spoken made him hesitate.

He tried to recall Qi Chao's past interests and hobbies and realized that he didn't actually understand his son well. In his impression, this child had always been obedient and didn't need much attention from him.

"Two years," Father Qi  finally said. He looked at Qi Chao's earnest expression, his lips twitching slightly. Ultimately, he compromised.

Two years would pass quickly, Father Qi  thought to himself.

"Alright," he said firmly.

　In two years, if the younger brothers work hard, they should be able to go to the company for experience, Qi Chao looked at his father sitting silently on the sofa. 

After a moment's hesitation, he sat down beside him, putting an arm around his shoulders and patting him gently. "Dad, thank you for understanding me."

Father Qi's shoulder stiffened slightly. He had never been this close to his eldest son before, or rather, due to his personality, he wasn't very close to any of his three sons. He clenched his hand into a fist, hiding the excitement in his heart.

"It's okay," Father Qi  said, then paused before continuing, "Did you take the puppet to participate in the competition organized by the Puppet Master Association?"

Qi Chao was impressed by how well-informed the original owner’s father was.

Qi Chao nodded in response.

"The association's competition attracts involvement from the upper echelons of the empire, even members of the royal family attend," Qi Father mentioned casually.

Qi Chao understood. Such a grand event would surely have involvement from Blue Star's elites. Thinking this, he smiled and thanked his father.

Father Qi could tell from Qi Chao’s expression that he didn't quite grasp his meaning. After a few seconds, Father Qi  frowned slightly and said almost casually, "The Qi family has also received an invitation. I'll be attending."

Upon hearing this, Qi Chao understood. He quickly replied tactfully, "That's great then. If I happen to get into trouble there, I'll rely on you, Dad, to support me."

Father Qi  looked satisfied and nodded.

Qi Chao realized that the original owner’s father was actually quite easy to understand. Just as he was about to make a jesting remark, his lightbrain suddenly vibrated.

He didn't need to guess—it was likely Qi Feng and Qi Ye, who had said they were coming to the house soon. He glanced at the screen and confirmed his suspicion.

The two brothers had already arrived at the villa area, but because the area was too large, they wandered for half a day without finding the place. After informing his father, Qī Cháo turned and left the villa.

Father Qi watched Qi Chao's back for a moment, then withdrew his gaze, lowered his head, and slowly took a sip of water. Before he could swallow, he heard faint voices coming from upstairs.

"Why did Dad leave?"

"I want to go with Dad."

Lan Luo looked down at Li Bai squatting in the corner and thought his friend was a bit silly. He stopped him, saying, "We can't go out. If we do, we'll be discovered eavesdropping."

Li Bai thought for a moment and said, "Can I temporarily lend the mask to Grandpa for a few minutes, ask him not to tell Dad, and then secretly follow Dad? I'm very good at it and won't be found out."

He was born a few days ago and Li Bai had already learned how to bribe others.

Lan Luo thought this method was quite silly. Instead of bribing humans, it would be more practical to quietly follow behind Qi Chao after jumping out of the room's window. He told Li Bai  about this choice, and Li Bai immediately agreed. He actually didn't want to lend out the mask.

Before Lan Luo could implement this plan, the person sitting downstairs suddenly appeared on the second floor.

Lan Luo immediately grabbed Li Bai, who was about to jump out the window, and gave a bright smile to the man standing at the door.

Li Bai was pulled by the collar, sitting bewildered on the ground, with half of his face uncovered by the mask. His amber eyes glanced at Lan Luo, then at the man with deep wrinkles standing at the door.

Could it be that he really had to lend out his mask?

…

Qi Chao spent ten minutes finding the two lost brothers in the park, then explained the situation to them.

"So everything's fine now?"

Qi Feng was shocked. To be able to cheer up the old man, his big brother was really something.

Qi Ye, whose hair was white, had a similarly incredulous expression.

"Everything's fine," Qi Chao said, recalling his promise to his father two years ago. "You guys come over to my place for dinner later, I'll cook for you."

Since he was going to ask them for a favor, of course he had to show a good attitude. Both younger brothers had good personalities and would surely understand their big brother's difficulties.

"Big brother can actually cook!"

"Amazing."

Smart and skilled in comforting people, cooking, and handicrafts—wasn't their big brother just too awesome? Qi Feng and Qi Ye were practically treating him like a deity right now.

"Big brother, does that S-rank puppet you made have special abilities?" Qi Feng couldn't help but ask.

Puppets were quite common in their circle. Although Qi Feng and Qi Ye weren't interested in puppets themselves, after learning that their big brother was going to become a puppet master, the two brothers had researched a lot about puppets.

S-rank—such a rare level of puppet, and their big brother had made one on his first try! They had heard that S-rank puppets might have special abilities, and both brothers were excited.

Awesome! Really cool.

Seriously, who wouldn't get excited at the mention of special abilities?

"I haven’t noticed." Qi Chao smiled, clearly aware of his two younger brothers' expectations regarding Li Bai. Worried they might get too excited and scare the children, Qi Chao tried to lower their expectations: "You can think of the two at my house as ordinary kids. They probably don't have any special abilities."

Upon hearing this, Qi Feng and Qi Ye felt somewhat disappointed, and their initial excitement subsided quite a bit.

That's normal though—after all, being S-rank is already good; how could one expect every S-rank to have special abilities?

As they spoke, the three quickly entered the villa. Just as they reached the living room, a sudden noise came from upstairs. The three Qi brothers looked up, and a white figure suddenly stepped on the handrail of the second floor and leaped down from above.

This figure moved like a nimble cat, gently landing from a three-meter height as if it were a falling leaf, silently and without a scratch.

Qi Chao: ...

Qi Feng/Qi Ye: Damn!

And he says this one doesn't have special abilities?!

Previous TOC Next