| PN | Training | 42
When a usually good-tempered person gets angry, no one can remain unafraid.
Qi Chao sat on the sofa with a stern expression. Two "boys" around eleven or twelve years old stood nervously beside the coffee table, glancing at his face.
Lan Luo pursed his lips. Since Qi Chao's transformation, every time he got angry, it was directed at those who had bullied him. This was the only time he was angry with him.
Li Bai's thumbs fidgeted with each other, and his amber eyes were full of panic. He was more anxious than Lan Luo because this was the first time he had seen his father angry since his creation.
"Who came up with the idea of jumping off the building with Lan Luo on their back first?" Qi Chao looked at the two puppets and asked in a deep voice.
"It was me." Li Bai's voice was very small, with a slight tremor, clearly showing his fear.
Lan Luo was also a bit scared, similar to the fear he had of his father. However, because he knew Qi Chao wouldn't really do anything to them, Lan Luo's fear of Qi Chao wasn't as intense as his fear of his father.
"The reason?" Qi Chao's tone was somewhat cold.
Li Bai and Lan Luo exchanged a glance and told the truth: "We just thought it would be fun."
In the next second, the foreheads of the two puppets were sharply flicked. Compared to other puppets, S-class puppets could feel subtle pain. This flick didn't hurt much, but it made them feel a clear sense of force.
Li Bai and Lan Luo looked up, each holding their head with one hand, and saw Qi Chao's calm expression. "Do you realize your mistake?"
"Yes."
The two puppets quickly nodded.
Qi Chao felt that the two children didn't truly understand their mistake. He pressed his lips together, the previous anger dissipating halfway. He sighed and painstakingly explained the importance of safety to the two children, detailing the serious consequences their actions could have if something went wrong.
"In other words, Lan Luo is very fragile. If something dangerous happens, Lan Luo is likely to get hurt?" Li Bai summarized.
Qi Chao didn't see anything wrong with that. "Yes."
Lan Luo wasn't actually weak. He felt a bit aggrieved but decided to maintain his facade of fragility.
"You might be able to jump from a height unharmed due to some special ability, but no one knows the exact nature of your abilities," Qi Chao continued, pressing his lips together. "If your abilities suddenly fail and you are unaware of it, no one can predict what might happen."
Li Bai seemed to understand his father's words and nodded earnestly.
After reprimanding Li Bai, Qi Chao turned to Lan Luo, reiterating the importance of not putting oneself in dangerous situations.
Lan Luo looked into Qi Chao's eyes and soon broke into a bright smile, nodding vigorously.
Despite all the reasoning, Qi Chao didn't forget to punish the two children to ensure they remembered the lesson. "Tonight's task was originally to learn thirty characters, but now you will learn forty."
Upon hearing this, Lan Luo didn't react much, but Li Bai was already on the verge of collapse.
His golden amber eyes were filled with confusion and helplessness. He seemed to want to say something but held back in the end.
Qi Chao, having struggled with poor academic performance himself, naturally understood Li Bai's distress. However, there was no other option since Li Bai had been the instigator. Smiling, he looked at Lan Luo and said, "Then I'll trouble Lan Luo to teach Li Bai to read."
Recalling Li Bai's learning performance from the morning, Lan Luo's expression suddenly stiffened.
The two puppets studied from six to nine in the evening. Usually, they would go to bed at eight, but because of the punishment, they had to stay up an extra hour. Qi Chao, watching them, yawned occasionally, finding it amusing and taking many photos.
He sent the two children back to their respective bedrooms, wished them goodnight, and then returned to his own room, pondering how to continue Li Bai's training.
Learning to read was just one part of the training.
According to the doctor, many puppet master’s would start training their puppets in various manners and expressions in advance to ensure they wouldn't embarrass themselves during competitions.
As Qi Chao recalled the doctor's words, he unconsciously remembered his younger brother. In his previous life, when his brother participated in his first talent show, their grandmother would teach him daily on how to perform better on stage to avoid embarrassment.
Thinking of these two things together, Qi Chao immediately knew what to do next.
His grandmother used to be a dance teacher and had extensive experience with competitions.
Qi Chao now equated puppet master competitions with talent shows, immediately jotting down several training methods in a notebook. These included but were not limited to drawing a figure on their palm to alleviate pre-competition nerves and maintaining a dignified posture when facing the audience.
If any professional puppet master were to see this training notebook, they would undoubtedly find it laughable. Puppets were not human; what was the point of such education? Was this a joke?
Most puppet masters' pre-competition training for their puppets resembled a form of physical hypnosis, making the puppets practice the most natural and perfect smile day after day. If the puppets refused to smile, they were denied energy stones. Over time, the puppets would maintain the perfect demeanor and smile.
Compared to this, Qi Chao's training plan was child's play.
However, training plans were always devised by the puppet master’s themselves and never shared. Neither Qi Chao nor other puppet master’s knew each other's methods.
After drafting the training plan, Qi Chao began training Li Bai the next day.
In the morning, they focused on posture training; in the afternoon, on literacy; and in the evening, they were rewarded with a trip to the park. Every day was meticulously planned.
As long as he could go out to play, Li Bai was very excited and always smiled happily, never complaining of fatigue.
During this time, Qi Chao discovered that Li Bai's special abilities went beyond merely jumping off stairs unscathed.
In terms of speed and jumping ability, Li Bai far surpassed ordinary humans. While in the park, Qi Chao only had to cough, and Li Bai could instantly appear in front of him from three meters away.
These special abilities were indeed complex.
Qi Chao decided to temporarily set aside the matter of Li Bai's special abilities. Although these abilities were an asset, they wouldn't determine the outcome of the competition. The priority was to train his cub in other areas.
Two weeks passed quickly with the intensive daily training, and soon it was time for the competition's opening ceremony.
"Tomorrow is a rest day. We'll go watch the opening ceremony," Qi Chao said after closing the official website's updates.
Li Bai and Lan Luo had previously heard their father explain the competition, but they didn't know what the opening ceremony entailed.
"Dad, do I need to do anything at the opening ceremony tomorrow?" Li Bai asked, looking up.
Qi Chao, recalling the content of the official notification, replied, "No, the opening ceremony doesn't require participants to go on stage."
The opening ceremony was mainly for introducing the judges, the scoring system, and the competition process.
Li Bai nodded and continued watching cartoons with Lan Luo.
Qi Chao glanced at the two children, then looked down and opened his communicator, navigating to his chat with the doctor.
Chao Dad: [Brother Shen, when are you coming?]
A few seconds later, a message appeared in the chat box.
Doctor: [Tomorrow afternoon.]
Qi Chao informed him about attending the opening ceremony the next day.
Doctor: [Got it. I'll let you know when I get home.]
Qi Chao chuckled lightly at this message.
The next day, Qi Chao drove his aircraft, taking the two children to the opening ceremony venue.
Given the large crowd and the fact that both puppets were S-class, Qi Chao was worried about any potential incidents. He dressed the children in long pants and long sleeves, along with masks and hats, to disguise them as human children.
The venue for the opening ceremony could accommodate over ten thousand people. Qi Chao's seats were in the middle front row, offering a good view. He could easily see the row of elegantly dressed judges on the stage.
Qi Chao glanced down at the two children. Li Bai and Lan Luo were huddled together, chattering about something. With their masks on, Qi Chao couldn't see their expressions, but he could sense their good spirits.
"Wow, isn't that Professor Qiao, the puppet master? Is he competing this time too?"
"Oh my gosh, it's my first time seeing his beast girl puppet in person. Those ears are just too cute!"
Hearing the discussions from the people next to him, Qi Chao followed their gaze and saw a man with a despondent face, dressed only in a white lab coat.
Beside the man stood a slender woman with long orange beast ears on her head and a fluffy tail gently swaying in the air behind her.
Qi Chao had heard about this man on the forums. It was said that he specialized in creating sensually-shaped adult beastmen puppets. Over the past thirty years, he had only produced one S-class puppet, but that single puppet had catapulted him to legendary status.
Qi Chao hadn't expected him to silently create another puppet to enter the competition.
Knowing that there would be many formidable puppet master’s in this competition, Qi Chao wasn't surprised. He looked away and glanced down at the calluses on his index finger.
No matter how strong the competition, he and Li Bai had to fight for the Double Mirror. After all, Qi Chao believed his own child was not inferior. With this in mind, he affectionately rubbed the heads of the two children beside him.
Seeing the curious looks from Li Bai and Lan Luo, Qi Chao smiled and whispered, "It's okay."
Meanwhile, Moss and Shen Yuxi arrived at Qi Chao's villa through a spatial vortex from Ganfen District.
Having lived there for a long time, Moss was quite accustomed to the place. He set the doll on the sofa and turned to look at his father.
Shen Yuxi picked up a training notebook from the coffee table. His slender, fair fingers flipped through a few pages. Whatever he saw caused a slight, amused curve to form on his thin lips.
Moss was curious but remained silent. After his father finished flipping through the notebook,
Moss tentatively asked, "Did Lan Luo's master do something foolish again?"
Shen Yuxi's fingers slid over the cover of the training notebook, and he responded with a light "hmm." His voice seemed to carry a hint of amusement, though it was hard to be certain.
Qi Chao was unaware that the doctor had already arrived home. He looked up at the man sitting in the leftmost seat of the judging panel.
This was Qing Yu, the champion of the last competition.
And also the owner of the Double Mirror.
Qi Chao smiled lightly and then shifted his focus away from Qing Yu, listening intently to the organizers' announcement.
"The first round of the competition is scheduled for tomorrow. This round will follow a brand-new format. The judges will decide on the topics on the spot, and the puppet master’s will need to design a puppet that best fits the topic within three hours. The one with the highest overall score will win."
Designing an entirely new puppet within three hours?
As soon as these words were spoken, the venue erupted into a commotion.
Puppet Master competitions traditionally compared only the puppets, not the puppet master’s themselves. How could a puppet master's inspiration be summoned on command?
In three hours? Such a short time seemed impossible!
Qi Chao had already heard related rumors on the forums, but rumors were different from confirmed rules. He furrowed his brow slightly but quickly relaxed.
This could be a good thing.
Qi Chao thought, at least this could reduce the pressure on Li Bai.
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