| PN | Learning | 41
Qi Chao has a slightly fierce and handsome appearance, with single eyelids. When he wasn't smiling, his deep brown eyes could be quite intimidating. However, he could never muster any sternness when it came to the two children at home, especially not when Li Bai looked so pitiful.
"How about this: learn twenty characters in the morning, then you can play for a bit, and afterward, we'll continue learning. Does that sound good?" Qi Chao gently ruffled Li Bai's hair.
Li Bai, feeling embarrassed about his tearful outburst, nodded as he clutched the pen, listening to his father's comforting words.
"Keep writing for now. I'll go to the kitchen and prepare some snacks for you two," Qi Chao said, getting up to fetch some high-grade energy stones for the puppets.
As Qi Chao went into the kitchen, Lan Luo looked down at Li Bai, who was sitting on the carpet.
After a moment, he spoke, "Li Bai?"
"Hmm?" Li Bai looked up, confused.
"I'll give you an hour. If you haven't learned the remaining fifteen characters by then, I won't give you your mask back," Lan Luo said, his usually gentle demeanor turning serious.
Though Lan Luo appeared sweet, he had a firm streak. If he decided to go out and play, no one could stop him.
Lan Luo's blue eyes narrowed slightly, holding Li Bai's fox mask, he stared intently at him and smiled brightly, "You know I'm good at hiding things. If you don't finish the task in an hour, you'll have to say goodbye to your mask."
He meant every word.
Lan Luo thought, If he wants to ensure no one can ever find something, he can just destroy it.
Li Bai looked at his mask, then glanced at Lan Luo. He thought Lan Luo was a bit naive because he could retrieve the mask effortlessly due to his speed.
But Li Bai knew it was because of him that Lan Luo couldn't leave. He pursed his lips and said firmly to Lan Luo, "I will do my best."
"Okay," Lan Luo replied with a smile.
The two puppets didn't know what the other was thinking. Outwardly, they still appeared to be good friends, enjoying each other's company.
When Qi Chao came out, he saw Lan Luo patiently teaching Li Bai how to read. He placed energy stone snacks on the table, watching the two cubs—one teaching, the other learning—in a harmonious atmosphere.
With a friend around, learning didn't seem so painful.
Qi Chao had no idea about what had just happened. Seeing the two children helping each other, he thought for a moment and captured the scene, sending it to the Doctor.
Doctor: [Lan Luo is teaching Li Bai to read?]
Qi Chao: [Yes, Li Bai's progress is slow. I saw Lan Luo teaching him as I came out of the kitchen.]
Doctor: [Their relationship seems good.]
Qi Chao glanced at the two children and felt they got along really well. He typed a thoughtful "hmm" and then asked about Moss.
Doctor: [He's at home styling the doll's hair.]
In fact, Qi Chao didn't need to ask; he had guessed what Moss was up to. Over these past three months, Moss had almost always been with the doll.
As the plush doll's creator, Qi Chao was happy to see Moss cherish it so much.
Qi Chao: [When are you coming to the capital area?]
Doctor: [The day before the competition, time is uncertain. Just focus on the competition, I'll go straight to your place.]
Shen Yuxi knew Qi Chao didn't like being polite to him. To maintain goodwill, he carefully chose his words, often sounding "rude." He knew Qi Chao wouldn't be upset.
Qi Chao: [Alright, the door code is still the same. If I'm not there, you can just come in.]
Shen Yuxi looked at the other party’s message who sent him another funny emoticon, his eyelashes drooping slightly. The longer they spent together, the more he felt the other was very naive.
This kind of naivety was not "stupid" in the sense of being ignorant of the world, but on the contrary, it was a kind of "I treat you as a friend, so I won't doubt you" kind of free and easy attitude.
However, Shen Yuxi regarded this carefree attitude as more foolish than simply being naive. Someone like Qi Chao would meet a grim end in Ganfen District.
Thinking this, Shen Yuxi tossed the light brain aside. When Agu reached for it, Shen Yuxi slowly retrieved it and placed it back on his wrist.
"Father is so stingy. Don't you remember I used to help you deal with those upper layers of Blue Star?"
Agu grunted unhappily, rubbing the back of his head. The blue earrings shimmered faintly in the light.
"But I don't recall you using my light brain to communicate with them," Shen Yuxi said with a smile, his gaze resembling that of an elder looking at an immature junior.
Agu choked for a moment and turned his head. "Even if I don't watch, I know you're talking to the person who hurt Lan Luo."
Shen Yuxi remained unfazed. Meanwhile, Moss, seated nearby, lifted his gaze from the plush doll and fixed it on Agu with a threatening look. It seemed that if Agu said anything inappropriate again, Moss wouldn't hesitate to discipline his brother.
Agu wasn't afraid of his big brother's threats. Leaning back on the sofa, his tone was mocking yet also seemed like a defiant release of long-suppressed frustration: "In your eyes, aren't we just useful tools? So when I wanted to take out that guy directly, you stopped me because of your own plans..."
Before he could finish speaking, Moss had already stepped in front of him. With one hand, Moss gripped Agu's head. If Agu continued speaking, Moss seemed ready to crush him.
Agu immediately fell silent. Getting his head crushed was one thing, but crossing their father's bottom line meant he might not be able to speak freely for a long time.
Shen Yuxi glanced at him, his blue eyes slightly narrowed. Agu understood him well; no matter what he said, it was always just right—enough to provoke but not enough to trigger his true anger.
"You've been resting at home for a long time. Since you're so free, go to the trial grounds," Shen Yuxi said.
Seeing his father's expression, Moss silently withdrew his hand. The trial grounds? Good, that meant he wouldn't see his brother for a while.
Agu scoffed at the suggestion, displeased. "Fine, it's boring here anyway. I actually find it more interesting watching those humans struggle in the throes of death at the trial grounds."
With that, he stood up, the high ponytail of his black hair swishing through the air as he left the house without looking back.
Moss found his brother's behavior strange. Whenever Agu took on tasks, he always made various excuses to avoid them until he couldn't anymore. But this time, he seemed unusually eager.
Shen Yuxi chuckled lightly, as if he knew something. He turned to Moss and said, "Send the trial ground puppets to accompany him. Make sure they stick to him like glue for at least two weeks."
"Alright," Moss replied.
Initially puzzled by Agu's intentions, Moss instantly understood upon hearing his father's words. Agu likely intended to use the excuse of going to the trial grounds to slip away.
As for what he intended to do, Moss recalled Agu mentioning Lan Luo's owner before.
He pursed his lips and turned away.
His father's plans inevitably involved Qi Chao.
Similarly, Qi Chao had made a doll for him and even gave him a comb. Until his father wanted to deal with this human, Moss wouldn't let Agu kill Qi Chao.
…
Qi Chao found that having Lan Luo tutor Li Bai in reading was a wise decision. In less than an hour, Li Bai had learned fifteen characters.
"Dad, can I go out now?" Li Bai fiddled with his thumbs, his mask back on his face after completing the task. His voice was small, tinged with a bit of pride and shyness.
"Of course, Li Bai. You learned a lot this morning. You can play for a while and come back to continue learning," Qi Chao said. Li Bai immediately brightened up at his father's words, his small tiger teeth showing.
Qi Chao patted Li Bai on the shoulder and then walked over to Lan Luo, ruffling the golden-haired puppet's head. "Thank you for your hard work, Lan Luo."
"It wasn’t hard," Lan Luo said with a gentle smile, looking very obedient.
Qi Chao felt a surge of fatherly love. Both of his children at home were so reassuring. He immediately fulfilled his promise and took the two kids to the park outside to play.
Finally freed from the confines of learning, Li Bai was like a wild horse released from its reins, playing with great enthusiasm, kicking off his shoes and stomping on the sand.
At first, Lan Luo was reserved, quietly building sandcastles, but eventually, he too joined in the fun.
Their thinking was simple.
If Li Bai stepped on the sand, then Lan Luo had to as well.
In the end, for some reason, both of them ended up with sand in their hair and all over their bodies. Qi Chao had no choice but to carry one cub under each arm and take them home to bathe.
Li Bai is as naughty as a child, playing with the sand as if in a battle, and somehow managing to get Lan Luo involved—truly incredible.
Qi Chao couldn't help but laugh and cry as he thought about it, cleaning their hair with a puppet cleaning solution.
After washing up, Qi Chao let the two children run around the house wrapped in blankets while he posted a picture on social media.
It was a picture of the characters Li Bai had written that morning.
As the competition approached, Qi Chao posted updates about Li Bai daily to keep interest alive.
In the comments section, most were praising Li Bai, which pleased Qi Chao. He logged off from social media and went to browse through forum posts from the past few days.
The official competition website hadn't issued any notifications, and Qi Chao had originally just wanted to see the latest opinions on the competition. However, he unexpectedly came across a pinned hot post.
# Association Competition Latest Changes Announcement #
This post was said to have come from high-ranking members of the association, though its reliability was uncertain. The poster was the forum administrator, who rarely posted aimlessly.
Qi Chao then carefully read through the contents. According to the post, this year's competition would add two new events based on last year's competition. Each year, there were some changes made to the competition, so this wasn't unusual.
However, unlike previous years, this year the association was reportedly adding assessments for puppet master and their puppet teamwork. It seemed the organizers felt the competition had become somewhat monotonous with just puppets each year, lacking in entertainment value.
Hence, they deliberately added these two events, but the scoring would still follow the previous format.
These two inexplicable assessments left all puppet master’s puzzled, and many of them were venting their frustrations anonymously on the forum.
Qi Chao didn't reply to the post. Regardless of whether the information in the post was true or false, his and Li Bai's goal remained the same: to win.
As he thought about this, Qi Chao turned around to call Li Bai over to continue learning to read.
But the next moment, he saw Li Bai standing on the railing of the second floor with Lan Luo on his back.
Qi Chao's heart jumped to his throat in an instant. Damn it! How could Li Bai be standing on the railing with Lan Luo on his back?
Based on yesterday's incident, Li Bai would probably be fine, but he had Lan Luo on his back!
Qi Chao dared not make a sound, fearing that Li Bai, this spirited child, would get excited and jump down if he heard his voice.
He hurriedly rushed over, intending to pull the two children directly off the railing. Just as he reached the stairs and looked up, he saw Li Bai actually jumping down from the second floor, over three meters high, with Lan Luo on his back, even doing a 360-degree spin in mid-air!
Qi Chao's heart nearly stopped at the sight. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them land safely. Then, a surge of rage erupted in his chest.
These two kids have to be spanked!!!
0 Comments
Post a Comment