Puppet Notes (Wearing Book) - 80

 

| PN | Skincare Products | 80

Moss knew that Qi Chao had made a new puppet, which was probably the black-haired puppet in question. 

Moss stood in front of the space vortex holding the plush doll, not making any movements, allowing the unfamiliar puppet to stare at him.

Xiang Yue’s tail behind him swayed, his red eyes full of vigilance. The soft feathers on his shoulder blades glinted with a cold, hard black light, as if any movement from the other party would cause these sharp feathers to mercilessly harvest life like blades.

The next moment, Xiang Yue’s nose twitched slightly, faintly sensing his father's scent. Seeing the doll in the other’s arms, he tilted his head, his dog ears on top of his head twitching. 

Why did the plush doll have his father's scent?

Moss, originally calm, tightened his grip on the doll upon sensing the other’s gaze. His black eyes deepened significantly, and his lips, hidden under bandages, moved slightly to issue a warning: “This is Moss’s.”

When Qi Chao and Li Bai Lan Luo came downstairs, they heard Moss’s hoarse voice, tinged with emotion.

“What’s Moss’s?” Qi Chao asked with a smile, not catching the full meaning.

Moss pressed his lips together and replied hoarsely, “Moss’s doll.”

Moss did not allow anyone to covet his doll.

Hearing this, Qi Chao seemed to guess something. He walked over and patted Moss’s head, saying, “Xiang Yue won’t touch Moss’s things. Don’t worry, Moss.”

He then turned and ruffled Xiang Yue’s head, smiling as he said, “This is your brother Moss. Your brother Moss has a very good personality.”

Xiang Yue felt the warmth from his father on top of his head. His tail behind him swayed slowly a few times, and he nodded lightly, though his gaze still wandered over to the puppet.

Lan Luo, disliking both his older brother and Xiang Yue, keenly sensed that the two might have a strained relationship because of the plush doll. 

Lan Luo’s smile became even brighter; it was more interesting when puppets he disliked were at odds with each other.

However, Lan Luo was disappointed to find that the two puppets were not interacting or even making eye contact.

Moss, holding the doll, handed over the ointment his father had instructed Qi Chao to use. His voice was hoarse as he said, “This is the ointment from Father.”

“Ointment?” Qi Chao paused and took the glass bottle. He looked at the blue ointment inside with some surprise. “What is it used for?”

“For hand care,” Moss paused for a moment after saying this, seeming to feel that just this information was not enough. He pressed his lips together and added, “It’s personally prepared by Father.”

An ointment made by the doctor himself? Qi Chao, hearing this, couldn’t help but smile. He remembered that Brother Shen’s hands were very beautiful, so did Brother Shen have a special formula for keeping his hands so fair and soft?

Imagining the doctor, wearing glasses and flipping through ancient books to prepare the ointment, Qi Chao found Brother Shen oddly endearing. He smiled and said, “Please thank your father for me.”

Moss nodded at Qi Chao, feeling he had completed his task. Just as he was about to return to the space vortex, he heard Qi Chao’s deep voice, tinged with amusement: 

“Moss, why don’t you stay for dinner before you leave? It’s a good chance to take some dinner back for your father too. It’s been a while since we had a meal together.”

Moss originally intended to refuse, but after hearing the latter part of the invitation, he fell silent for a moment before agreeing.

Tonight was Xiang Yue’s first dinner since waking up, so Qi Chao had naturally prepared a more elaborate meal. The high-grade energy stones were carved into shapes of rainbow bears, puppies, and superheroes, which were cute and whimsical.

 Li Bai and Lan Luo hadn’t seen so many shapes of energy stones in a long time, and they marveled at them for a while before starting to eat.

Xiang Yue also ate slowly. This was his first time eating energy stones carved by his father. 

Although he didn’t recognize these characters, it didn’t stop him from thinking that the energy stones made by his father were beautiful.

Moss looked down at the energy stones in his plate, which were very similar to his own doll. He paused with his fork and knife, occasionally hearing Qi Chao and the other puppets laughing and chatting. 

He lowered his eyelashes; such scenes were rarely seen in his father’s home.

In fact, his father’s villa was very quiet. Even Agu, who liked lively places, couldn’t change the villa’s desolation. 

Moss actually liked it when Qi Chao visited their villa before. Although it was an accident, his father’s smile was more frequent then.

“Moss, I have a fish steaming in the pot. Send it back to your father later,” Qi Chao suddenly said.

Moss nodded. After finishing dinner, he rewrapped the bandages on his lips.

In the evening, after seeing Moss off, Qi Chao spent some time watching cartoons with the kids. He then noticed a vibration from his light brain, followed by a photo of fish being picked up with chopsticks.

Qi Chao smiled at the photo. After sending a few messages, he stopped to avoid disturbing the doctor’s meal. 

About half an hour later, Qi Chao checked the time, urged the children to go to bed, and after saying goodnight to the three children, he returned to his room and started a video call with the doctor.

It took a few seconds for the call to connect. When Qi Chao saw the projection of the man on the other side, he paused and shifted his gaze upwards to avoid seeing anything inappropriate. 

He tried to sound natural, and asked, “Brother Shen, did you just take a shower?”

In the projection, the man was wearing a bathrobe, with soft golden hair cascading over his shoulders. His peach blossom eyes were slightly curved, with a moist red tint at the corners of his eyes, and he exuded a soft, dewy aura. 

His lips curved into a slight smile. “Yes, I just finished.”

Qi Chao’s gaze inadvertently wandered over the man’s delicate collarbone. Originally intending to discuss the ointment, Qi Chao found himself pausing for a moment. 

Noticing Shen Yuxi’s slightly puzzled expression, Qi Chao finally smiled and continued discussing the ointment.

“Brother Shen, the ointment smells really nice.”

Qi Chao waved his hand in front of the camera and smiled at Shen Yuxi. They were close enough that some things didn’t need to be explicitly stated, but he knew that saying this would make Shen Yuxi happy.

“Mm.” Shen Yuxi’s peach blossom eyes curved with a smile. “The fish you made is as delicious as ever.”

Qi Chao rubbed his nose, unashamedly acknowledging the compliment. The two shared a smile.

After chatting for a while, Qi Chao, now more at ease, rested his head on his hand, watching Shen Yuxi blow-dry his hair. He idly wondered if Shen Yuxi’s skincare products were also made by himself.

To Qi Chao, Shen Yuxi’s beautiful hands were due to the ointment he personally prepared, so perhaps his flawless, fair skin was also because of his own skincare products.

Shen Yuxi had no idea what Qi Chao was thinking. If he knew that Qi Chao was preoccupied with what skincare products he used during their video call, his smile might have frozen instantly.

After finishing the video call with Brother Shen, Qi Chao decided not to stay up late. Because he had been working late into the night for Xiang Yue’s mother stone, he decided to take a few days off before resuming work.

The next morning, he woke up early, and since none of the children in his house were up yet, he took the aircraft to his two younger brothers’ villa.

Qi Feng and Qi Ye were both easygoing, and Tu Zhuang had a good relationship with these two brothers as well. 

When Qi Chao arrived at the villa, the three high school students were getting ready for a meal.

“Where’s San Yue?”

Qi Chao greeted them slowly and naturally, sitting on the sofa and smiling at the high school students as if he were at home.

“He’s still sleeping,” Tu Zhuang said, pulling out his perfect score report card from his backpack. 

Since Qi Chao started sponsoring him, Tu Zhuang had been working hard at his studies. Every time he saw Qi Chao, he would show his latest grades to reassure Qi Chao that he wouldn’t let him down.

Tu Zhuang’s current life goal was to attend a good university and work for Qi Chao after graduation.

Seeing Tu Zhuang’s perfect score report, which was quite impressive to someone like Qi Chao who was not particularly good at academics, Qi Chao generously praised him. He then shifted the topic to his two younger brothers. 

“Tu Zhuang, if you have time, could you help tutor these two little idiots? I still don’t understand how they managed to get only ten points in math.”

With a full score of one hundred and fifty, Qi Chao hoped these two would one day fill his father’s position. With their current math scores of only ten points, it seemed unlikely that Qi Feng and Qi Ye would even get into college.

Tu Zhuang nodded vigorously.

The two struggling students, sitting nearby, lowered their heads and nibbled on their bread, not daring to say a word.

Qi Chao gave each of their heads a light tap, then remembered why he was there. He looked at Tu Zhuang and said, "I’ll be taking San Yue back to play later. Xiang Yue was born just yesterday, so it’s a good chance for everyone to get together. You all can head over to my villa after class.”

“Xiang Yue?!”

Since Qi Feng and Qi Ye had recently become closer to San Yue, their interest in puppets had grown significantly. 

Hearing about the existence of a new puppet immediately made them even more excited.

Upon learning that Xiang Yue had wings, Qi Feng and Qi Ye could hardly contain themselves. 

They wished they could skip class and go straight to Qi Chao’s house to see Xiang Yue. Wings! 

Surely, this puppet could fly, right?! The inner adolescent enthusiasm in these two high school boys was completely awakened—after all, who could resist a flying puppet?

Certainly not them.

Meanwhile, Tu Zhuang went upstairs to wake up San Yue. Upon seeing San Yue’s furrowed brow, Tu Zhuang paused, realizing that San Yue was likely having another nightmare. 

After waking San Yue, he asked with concern, "What kind of nightmare was it this time?"

San Yue didn’t speak immediately after waking, but his face was very pale. He tightly grasped Tu Zhuang’s hand, recalling the scenes from his dream.

In the dream, there were countless puppet limbs scattered everywhere, the ground was covered with blood and the wreckage of weapons, and the air seemed to be filled with the scent of gunpowder and blood. 

It was raining heavily, and a blond boy puppet sat on a damaged spaceship, swinging his legs like an innocent and carefree child. 

But upon closer inspection, one would realize that his eyes were hollow, as if someone had brutally gouged them out.

San Yue’s breathing became heavier. He wanted to call out to the puppet, but in the next moment, a man wearing a lab coat with a desolate expression suddenly appeared in front of him. 

There were also a few people in military uniforms standing behind the man. Just as San Yue was about to question what was happening, the man smiled and stabbed him without warning.

San Yue wanted to resist, but his body was too weak. He could only widen his eyes as he watched the man in the lab coat take out his heart and put it into his pocket. 

In that moment, San Yue suddenly remembered that his human was dead. He had just avenged him but hadn’t gone to see his grave. His human was so timid, alone in that place—he must be very scared.

San Yue reached out, trying to grab the man’s lab coat, but he only managed to brush the edge of the fabric before he collapsed, his eyes fixed on the crimson sky as he fell into eternal sleep.

“San Yue?” Tu Zhuang’s voice was filled with confusion.

San Yue looked at his human but didn’t say anything in the end. It was just a dream; his human was still alive, and so was he.

Meanwhile, the man in the lab coat, who had a downcast expression, sneezed. He was slumped in a wheelchair, lazily ordering the current Marshal, Lu Chen, “Hey, old friend, come pour some water for your injured buddy.”

Lu Chen glanced at Qiao Sheng, who should have fully recovered three months ago, and pursed his lips without saying anything. He poured him a glass of water.

“You should return to the research institute, Qiao Sheng.”

Qiao Sheng didn’t respond immediately, letting out a few weak coughs as if he might keel over any second.

“There’s been another batch of officials with special abilities disappearing recently,” Lu Chen said with a deep, serious tone, clearly showing his anger over the matter.

“Disappeared again?” Qiao Sheng’s expression was one of mild surprise, but it seemed so out of place that it appeared somewhat insincere.

Lu Chen responded with a nod. “The higher-ups are furious. I won’t be able to visit as often, so I advise you to stop pretending and come back to the research institute with me.”

Qiao Sheng didn't answer, and Lu Chen didn’t push him further. After reminding him to take care of himself, Lu Chen left the room.

"Another disappearance?" Qiao Sheng tapped his wheelchair's armrest, his eyes concealed by his glasses. 

Is Shen Yuxi finally putting his plan into action?

Staring at the yellowing ceiling, Qiao Sheng thought dejectedly. 

I just wanted a few more days of peace; I really don't want to go up against that madman.

Meanwhile, Lu Chen stepped off the aircraft and headed toward the research institute. He accidentally bumped into a woman. Recognizing her, he paused and said, “Bugu?”

Bugu, a top-tier puppet master who would do anything for the right price, and also a judge during Qi Chao’s preliminary competition, looked up when she heard Lu Chen’s voice. 

After a brief glance at him, she slowly nodded, “Hello, Marshal. Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

It wasn’t uncommon for puppet master’s to be around the research institute, so Lu Chen simply nodded and said, "No problem," before continuing on his way inside.

Bugu watched him walk away, then popped a piece of bubblegum into her mouth. Taking out her communicator, she sent a message to a contact labeled "Shen."

[Ten new human ability users added.]

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TL: Sorry I ended up posting the wrong chapter yesterday (._.)ゞ