| PN | Book | 43
After announcing the rules for the first round of the competition, the host of the opening ceremony began a lengthy speech praising the accomplishments of the association.
The competition rules were so outrageous that the already displeased puppet masters had no patience to listen. The noise level in the venue was high, but despite this, no one left. Leaving the opening ceremony would mean automatic disqualification, and no matter how dissatisfied they were with the rules, the puppet master’s wouldn’t forfeit voluntarily.
Qi Chao was still lost in thought when he felt his wrist communicator vibrate. It was a message from the doctor, informing him that he had arrived.
Qi Chao smiled, replied with an "okay," and then shared the news with the two children beside him.
"Is Father back?" Lan Luo's eyes lit up.
"Yes, he's back," Qi Chao replied with a smile.
Li Bai, who had only been born a few days before Shen Yuxi and Moss left, didn't have a deep emotional connection with them.
However, seeing how happy Lan Luo and Qi Chao were, he couldn't help but smile too, eagerly anticipating their return home to see them.
After the opening ceremony, most of the puppet master’s left, grumbling amongst themselves. Qi Chao and his two children headed to the area where their aircraft was parked. Just as he was about to unlock it, he caught sight of two figures out of the corner of his eye.
It was Professor Qiao and his beastwoman puppet, whom he had seen in the audience.
The disheveled man yawned and turned to say something to the puppet with beast ears.
Instantly, the beast ears on the female puppet disappeared, along with the tail that had been behind her.
Qi Chao was stunned by this scene. He had always assumed that the beast ears and tail were part of the puppet's body and never thought they could vanish. Was this a special ability of the puppet?
So absorbed in this surprising discovery, Qi Chao didn’t notice that Lan Luo’s expression had changed to something oddly displeased upon seeing Professor Qiao, as if encountering someone he disliked.
Li Bai, seeing the beast ears retract, was fascinated. He was about to say something to his father and Lan Luo when he noticed Lan Luo's strange look.
Li Bai hesitated, wondering why Lan Luo's gaze seemed so unsettling.
Before Li Bai could think more about it, Lan Luo noticed his gaze and quickly returned to his normal demeanor, flashing a bright smile at him.
Lan Luo knew that Li Bai was generally easier to deal with than his master.
Sure enough, Li Bai’s previous confusion vanished when he saw Lan Luo returning to his usual self. Li Bai showed his two little tiger teeth with a smile.
“Let’s go home,” Qi Chao said, noticing the two children exchanging smiles. He patted his two little ones on the heads, oblivious to any unusual behavior, and added, “It’s getting late.”
The aircraft quickly arrived at the villa. As soon as the door was opened, Qi Chao was greeted by a pleasant aroma.
Hearing the sound of the door unlocking, two figures soon appeared in the entrance hall—Dr. Shen and Moss, who had been away for two weeks.
“You’ve made dinner?” Qi Chao asked with a smile.
Shen Yuxi, wearing an apron with his long golden hair cascading down his shoulders, looked as gentle as ever with his blue eyes. His voice was calm and unhurried. “Not yet, I’ve just started.”
“Perfect, I’ll help,” Qi Chao said as he changed his shoes and stepped out of the entrance hall.
“Father.”
Lan Luo's eyes lit up upon seeing Shen Yuxi. He was eager to approach but also a bit shy. In contrast, Li Bai was more straightforward. He cheerfully greeted Shen Yuxi and Moss before excitedly running to the living room to start the projector.
Shen Yuxi looked at him, gently adjusting the antler headband on Lan Luo’s head, and said softly, “Go watch your animation.”
Lan Luo’s eyes sparkled with joy at the encouragement, and he happily went to the living room.
Noticing Moss standing in the entrance hall, Qi Chao’s gaze naturally fell on the doll Moss was holding. Seeing the new hairstyle on the puppet, Qi Chao exclaimed, “Moss, you’ve learned a new hairstyle? That’s amazing!”
Moss’s bandaged fingers twitched slightly, and the one visible eye curved into a smile he didn’t realize he was making.
Over the past two weeks, Moss had been experimenting with different hairstyles for the doll every day.
After leaving Qi Chao’s villa, no one had paid attention to or praised his hairstyling efforts. While creating hairstyles was a personal interest of his, Moss didn’t dislike the praise from Qi Chao.
With all three children enjoying their animation in the living room, Qi Chao and Shen Yuxi began chatting in the kitchen.
“I saw a beastman-type puppet for the first time today,” Qi Chao shared with Shen Yuxi, recounting the encounter with Professor Qiao. “I was also surprised to learn that they can retract their ears and tail.”
Professor Qiao?
Shen Yuxi’s hands momentarily paused in washing the vegetables before he resumed his task. “Professor Qiao is quite skilled at making beastman-type puppets. He’s been out of the public eye for a long time; I thought he had retired. It’s surprising to see him participating in the competition.”
Qi Chao nodded. Professor Qiao was well-known online, with fans affectionately calling him "Old Beastman Qiao."
“Fantasy-type puppets are very difficult to make. The ears and tails are not physical but rather manifestations of the puppet master’s mental energy,” Shen Yuxi said softly.
In a hidden angle, his eyes darkened slightly. His tone was gentle but carried a deeper meaning. “There are only five puppeteers in Blue Star who can create A-grade or higher fantasy-type puppets.”
Only five?
Qi Chao was initially stunned by the number. He then pondered the concept of fantasy-type puppets as mentioned by Shen Yuxi.
From what he had previously studied, Blue Star’s puppets were divided into two main categories:
Realistic Puppets, these are designed based on human anatomy and closely resemble real humans, like Li Bai and Lan Luo.
Fantasy Puppets, these rely more on the puppet master's imagination, including but not limited to elves, demons, angels, and so on.
The design and production methods for these two categories are vastly different. Qi Chao had recognized his own limitations and, with self-awareness, chose to work on realistic puppets for his first attempt, avoiding the complexity of fantasy puppets.
After the competition, he planned to study more about these fantastical creations. With that in mind, he informed Shen Yuxi, “The contestants need to be at the venue by 7 a.m. tomorrow. It’s quite early, so if you want to watch the competition, you can come at 9 a.m.”
“No need,” Shen Yuxi replied.
Shen Yuxi slightly lowered his head to wash the vegetables, his short, tousled blonde hair falling by his cheek. In a gentle voice, he said, "On the morning we left, you also woke up early to prepare breakfast for us. It's no trouble for us to get up early now."
Qi Chao was taken aback by these words. When he did those things, he hadn’t thought about making the doctor remember them, but knowing that the doctor had kept these small details in mind made Qi Chao feel a warmth in his heart.
He thought to himself that he truly had not made a wrong friend.
The villain on the opposite side was once again winning the host's favor.
The system, which came back to check in as usual, thought.
Upon calculating, the system realized it had not returned to this world for quite a while. The host had been very diligent before, focusing mainly on making puppets and not much else. It was only in the past few days, with the start of the puppet master competition, that the system had been coming back more frequently.
The system knew that once the competition began, the villain’s goals would gradually become clear. It had to come back every day on time; otherwise, if the host's cause of death was unknown later, it would be difficult to write its own death report.
The system thought this as it quietly hid in the host’s consciousness.
After two weeks, the dining table was once again filled with "people." Neither Moss nor the doctor was very talkative by nature, but Qi Chao still felt that the house was much livelier.
Qi Chao was not the only one who had this idea. Lan Luo also had the same feeling.
Lan Luo glanced at Qi Chao, then at his father, and began to swing his legs under the table.
After putting an energy stone into his mouth, his eyes couldn’t help but narrow in contentment.
After the meal, the doctor and the children at home sat on the sofa watching cartoons. Qi Chao joined them in the living room, but unlike them, he held a book about fantasy-type puppets.
Qi Chao had discussed this knowledge with the doctor recently, and with nothing else to do now, he planned to study a bit more.
Shen Yuxi's gaze fell on the book, which he had never seen before.
Noticing the doctor's curious gaze, Qi Chao looked down at the book's cover and smiled, "This book has always been in the study. If Brother Shen wants to read it, you can do so anytime."
Shen Yuxi showed a hint of a smile and replied, "Thank you."
Shen Yuxi enjoyed reading very much. From a young age, books had been his primary exposure. This book was likely part of the Qi family's old estate collection, Shen Yuxi thought. Many of the treasured books in old aristocratic families were ones he had never read.
"You can also look at the books in my study," Qi Chao said.
Hearing this, Shen Yuxi looked up at Qi Chao.
Worried that the doctor might be too polite, Qi Chao smiled and added, "Feel free to come into the study anytime. If you’re not interested in this one, I can bring out a few more from the old estate another day."
Listening to this, Shen Yuxi's blue eyes curved into a smile. He gently nodded, and a subtle, pleasant curve appeared on his lips. This smile seemed a bit different from usual, more natural somehow.
The next day, Qi Chao got up early and also woke up the still-lazing Li Bai and Lan Luo from bed. Compared to these two, Moss was more self-aware, already sitting in the living room without needing any wake-up service from Qi Chao.
Qi Chao, with his entourage in tow, was piloting the aircraft towards the competition venue.
Meanwhile, countless puppet master fans were already stationed in front of the live stream, eagerly waiting for their idols to make their entrance.
【Wow, Master Qing Yu is a judge now! Amazing! I love him so much!】
【I heard that Elder Beast Qiao is also participating in the competition this time! Damn! I don't believe it. He’s been dead for ages. Unless I see him now!】
【Everyone, please vote for my BunBun. BunBun is a top-tier puppet master with an incredibly obedient S-rank puppet!】
【Wow! The person above is actually campaigning! I’m also saying, please support Qi Chao! Qi Shen forever!】
【I haven’t heard of Qi Chao before. Why are so many people talking about him? Who is he, a newcomer?】
【He’s reportedly a top-tier puppet master with a mysterious background. It’s said he has a special relationship with the doctor, and I’ve also heard he’s the son of a tycoon?】
【Another hype maker. Sigh, just forget it, who would a tycoon’s son come to make puppets?】
【1 This is so fake. Marketing accounts love pushing these kinds of stories lately. Ridiculous.】
Meanwhile, Qi Chao, who was piloting the aircraft, sneezed. It seemed staying up late to read the book last night was a bad idea. He might have caught a cold.
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