Puppet Notes (Wearing Book) - 89

 

| PN | Two Sentences | 89

Since this was a privately organized exchange meeting, it resembled more of a small banquet than a formal knowledge-sharing event. 

The white tables were adorned with high-end alcohol, each bottle worth enough to support the impoverished of Ganfen District for a lifetime.

The puppets’ dining area was set up next door, featuring an array of colorful high-grade energy stones. Compared to the lavish setup at the puppet masters’ table, the puppets’ side appeared rather plain.

Qi Chao glanced over at his two children, ensuring they were in good spirits before shifting his attention back to the puppet masters engaged in conversation with him. 

Nodding politely, he casually asked, “Is it true that all senior puppet masters in the association have access to the association’s library?”

The association’s library contained all the puppet data since the establishment of the empire. Qi Chao had seen many rare puppet books in the collection room of the Qi family’s old residence, but compared to those, the books in the association’s library were even more precious.

“Of course,” a bespectacled puppet master replied with a smile. “If you get access to the library, you’ll surely love it.”

Qi Chao smiled at the man, appearing somewhat intrigued by the idea. He continued to ask a few more questions about the association and its operations.

The bespectacled puppet master noticed Qi Chao's genuine interest in the association and his eyes brightened with enthusiasm. He eagerly began outlining the benefits of the association, emphasizing that getting Qi Chao to join would yield significant rewards for him.

Of course, aside from Qi Chao, there were other puppet masters at the exchange meeting who had not yet joined the association. 

While enrolling these individuals would also result in rewards, their value was negligible compared to Qi Chao's. 

Qi Chao was well aware that these puppet masters were essentially acting as recruiters for the association. Nevertheless, he maintained a friendly demeanor and continued to engage in conversation, hoping to glean useful information from them.

In a distant corner of the venue, Bugu stood with a few close friends, chatting while casting occasional glances toward Qi Chao. 

Noticing their lively conversation, Bugu's eyes showed a hint of contemplation.

“What’s up?” One of Bugu’s fellow senior puppet masters noticed her gaze and playfully nudged her, adding with a wink, “Are you interested in that Qi Chao?”

“Well, who doesn’t like a rich and handsome guy?” Bugu responded with a smile, not denying her interest.

As her friends nodded in agreement, Bugu took out her light-brain, her fingers adorned with decorative nails tapping rapidly on the screen. 

After sending a brief message to an avatar named Shen, she turned off the screen.

Her boss seemed to be very interested in Qi Chao.

This was the first time Shen Yuxi had asked Bugu to monitor a non-association puppet master, and Bugu couldn't help but wonder what Qi Chao had done to attract the boss’s attention. 

It was well known that their boss had little interest in anything beyond tasks.

While her friends chattered away, Bugu’s attention remained firmly on Qi Chao. 

When she saw the event organizer, Xiu Mei, approaching Qi Chao with a glass of wine, Bugu paused momentarily. She then feigned a reason to move closer, dragging her friends along until they were within earshot but not too close.

“I'm glad you could attend the exchange meeting,” Xiu Mei said with a smile. Although her words were directed at Qi Chao, she didn't forget to catch up with the nearby puppet masters. 

Xiu Mei was known for her social skills within the association, a talent that allowed her to invite so many senior puppet masters.

Qi Chao noticed Xiu Mei’s ease with the other puppet masters and responded with a smile. He engaged in light conversation with her, understanding that building relationships among adults often came down to mutual benefit. 

As long as there was something to gain, friendships could be quickly formed.

“I saw your post about Xiang Yue online and have wanted to talk to you since then. When I coincidentally met Qiao Sheng, I got your light-brain number from him,” Xiu Mei explained how she obtained Qi Chao’s contact information.

As Qi Chao listened to Xiu Mei’s explanation, he kept his gaze fixed on her, but his mind wandered to other thoughts.

From his conversations with the other puppet masters, Qi Chao had a faint sense that their understanding of the association was not as thorough as they presented. 

Since Xiu Mei had organized this exchange meeting, she might know more than they did.

With this in mind, Qi Chao’s demeanor towards Xiu Mei was more favorable than it had been with the previous puppet masters. He smiled gently and said, “I see.”

Xiu Mei, unaware of Qi Chao’s internal thoughts, was pleased with his friendliness. 

She valued money above all, and with Qi Chao’s ability to create an S-grade puppet within six months and his affluent background, it was natural for her to want to cultivate a good relationship with him. 

She had no intention of offending him.

Her thoughts shifted as she glanced at Li Bai and Xiang Yue sitting in their chairs. Pausing for a moment, she signaled to her puppet warlock beside her. 

The puppet warlock quickly understood and approached Li Bai and Xiang Yue.

“My pepper puppet is very sociable and should get along well with your puppets,” Xiu Mei said, knowing that Qi Chao cared deeply about his puppets. 

To win his favor, she figured it would be wise to make a good impression through them.

Qi Chao didn’t say much. He glanced at the warlock who was talking with Li Bai and Xiang Yue not far away and replied, “Mm, they should get along well.”

However, despite saying this, Qi Chao was a bit worried. Since the incident with the wolf king and the amusement park, Li Bai had become wary of unfamiliar puppets, no longer as enthusiastic as before. 

Qi Chao knew this didn’t mean that Li Bai had become cold in personality; rather, he had become more easily anxious and tense. 

Xiang Yue was the same, and he was not very good at communicating with unfamiliar puppets.

At first, Xiu Mei didn’t notice that Qi Chao was lost in thought. 

After a few sentences, she gradually realized that Qi Chao’s gaze kept drifting to the puppets not far away. She hesitated for a moment and tentatively said, “Should we go over and see what the puppets are doing?”

Xiu Mei said this just out of politeness, not thinking there was anything particularly interesting about the puppets eating. She considered the dolls to be mere background at the exchange, and what they were doing was not important at all.

To her surprise, Qi Chao pondered for a moment after hearing this and actually agreed.

“Okay, my two children have more introverted personalities. It would put my mind at ease to check on them,” Qi Chao said with a smile.

Xiu Mei's lips twitched slightly. She knew that Qi Chao liked puppets, but she didn’t expect him to actually treat them like children. It felt as if a parent was worried their child wouldn’t make friends on their first day of kindergarten.

Xiu Mei had a great affection for her own warlock, but she understood that puppets and humans were different. No matter how much she liked her warlock, she would never truly treat them as humans; otherwise, she wouldn’t have them earn money for her day after day.

Of course, Xiu Mei also vaguely understood Qi Chao's perspective. In this world, perhaps no one could care for her creations as much as Qi Chao did. 

Given this thought, even though she knew Qi Chao was somewhat eccentric, she couldn’t help but feel that, regardless of his background and abilities, it might be worth befriending someone like him.

The puppet's seats were separate from the puppet masters' seats. 

All the puppets sat around the same table. Unlike the puppet masters who were engaged in lively conversations, the puppets were eerily quiet. 

They sat vacantly in their chairs, occasionally turning their heads to look at their father or mother, as if hoping that their parents would notice them and call them over.

But no matter how long the puppet’s gazes lingered on their parents, their most respected figures showed no intention of calling them over.

The puppets could only sit in their seats, feeling lonely and isolated, while watching their father or mother offer warm and sincere smiles to others.

Compared to the other silent puppets around them, Li Bai and Xiang Yue were somewhat different. 

They knew their father would not abandon them, so aside from occasionally checking to make sure he was still nearby, they appeared somewhat relaxed.

Li Bai was quite talkative. If Lan Luo were present, Li Bai would chat incessantly with him. Now that Lan Luo wasn’t around, Li Bai's conversation partner shifted to Xiang Yue. 

Xiang Yue was less talkative, but he held great respect for his older sibling created by their father. 

Even though he struggled to keep up with some of Li Bai's more imaginative topics, he would occasionally respond with a soft “mm” and give a slight wag of his tail to show he was listening.

Among the thirty-odd puppets, only these two were engaged in quiet chatter.

It was at this moment that the warlock puppet, Pepper, suddenly approached the two puppets. 

Initially, Li Bai and Xiang Yue didn’t pay much attention to this puppet and didn’t initiate any conversation. However, over time, they realized that Pepper seemed to want to speak with them.

Xiang Yue was currently uninterested in the other puppets and had no intention of speaking up, while Li Bai was somewhat curious but not inclined to initiate conversation.

Seeing that these two puppets, who had been chatting animatedly, had suddenly fallen silent, Pepper was unsure how to break the silence.

Pepper was accustomed to live streaming and knew how to showcase his advantages to humans, making himself more likable and encouraging them to spend more money. 

However, he wasn’t sure how to interact with puppets.

In his mother's home, aside from himself, an S-level doll, the lower-level puppets didn’t stay long, so Pepper didn’t understand how ordinary puppets interacted with each other.

When Qi Chao approached from a distance, he saw the three puppets in an awkward silence.

His own children were indeed not good at making friends.

Qi Chao could sense that Xiu Mei was deliberately trying to please him but also realized she bore no ill will towards him. Given the situation, he felt it was fine if his children got along better with the warlock puppet.

In fact, Qi Chao hoped his children would get to know more puppets rather than limiting their social circle to a narrow group and interacting only with that circle over the next few decades.

“Li Bai, do you remember Brother Pepper?” Qi Chao thought for a moment, stepped forward, and gently ruffled Li Bai’s head. “You used to participate in competitions with Brother Pepper. Make sure to get along well with him.”

He paused, then reached out to pat Xiang Yue’s head. “Xiang Yue, don’t be shy.”

When the two puppets noticed their father approaching, their attention immediately shifted to him.

 Upon hearing his words, Xiang Yue’s ears twitched slightly, not quite understanding why his father said that he was shy.

His expression was a bit confused, but since his father said he was shy, Xiang Yue took it as a given. He nodded and said, “Xiang Yue will get along well with him.”

Li Bai also nodded vigorously. He flashed a small grin, his golden eyes crinkling behind his mask. “Li Bai will too.”

Qi Chao nodded with satisfaction. Concerned that his children might be shy about making friends, he walked aside with Xiu Mei. 

Turning back, he saw that the three dolls had indeed started talking, and he felt relieved. 

At least his children had bravely overcome their fear of socializing.

Because the conversation between the three puppets was very quiet, Qi Chao couldn’t hear the details. 

It started with a formal self-introduction and shifted to Pepper discussing how he made money through live streaming.

In fact, even Pepper wasn’t sure why he started talking about this. 

It seemed that after the man left, the puppet named Xiang Yue began to prompt him to introduce himself. 

Once Pepper mentioned making money from live streaming, Xiang Yue’s previously calm demeanor sparked with interest, leading him to ask for more details.

The white-haired Li Bai was quite good at maintaining the atmosphere. Whenever Pepper seemed ready to stop talking about the subject, Li Bai would display an expression of disappointment and eagerness to hear more.

Pepper had no choice but to continue, and by the time he came to his senses, the exchange event had already progressed well into its final stage: the live streaming segment.

He dazedly walked to his mother’s side. Xiu Mei raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, “Since you’ve made friends with them, make sure to leverage their popularity. You can mention them in future streams.”

“Okay,” Pepper replied.

Thinking about the two dolls who had kept asking him about making money, he hesitated for a moment and asked, “Mother, is Qi Chao really short on money?”

“Of course not,” Xiu Mei scoffed. “He’s much wealthier than I am. No matter who needs money, he won’t be the one lacking it. You have to remember, he’s the child of the richest person on Blue Star. Even if he gave up his inheritance to become a Puppet master, he’s still richer than I am.”

So why did the puppet named Xiang Yue seem so eager to make money? 

Pepper was puzzled. 

Had he misunderstood something? 

A few seconds later, hearing his mother call him, Pepper stopped pondering and focused on following her for the live stream.

…

Meanwhile, in a villa on the edge of Linjing District, Qiao Sheng, who was lying in a wheelchair, was discussing what to have for dinner with his daughter. 

Hearing a faint noise, Qiao Sheng sighed, restrained the restless morning sun, and turned to see the man and puppet emerging from the spatial vortex behind him. 

His expression was somewhat despondent.

“No way brother, you’re here already?” 

"Where's the list I asked you to find?" Shen Yuxi asked gently.

Qiao Sheng ruffled his messy hair, reluctant to please Shen Yuxi, but he knew that Shen Yuxi’s visit meant that the man was already aware that he had completed the list.

How did he know?

It could be the puppet’s ability or perhaps a report from his subordinates. Either way, Qiao Sheng found Shen Yuxi to be terrifying.

Didn’t those subordinates and puppets find him difficult to deal with? Qiao Sheng thought, pulling a small black object from his pocket and tossing it to Shen Yuxi. 

He warned, “This is the last time. Don’t come to me again. Even if you do, I won’t help you.”

“Alright.” Shen Yuxi’s eyes were gentle and affectionate, but his voice carried a hint of coldness. 

“As long as you don’t go after Qi Chao or disclose any information about him, I won’t come back here.”

Qiao Sheng was taken aback, realizing that Shen Yuxi had come to see him because he had previously disclosed Qi Chao’s optical brain number to Xiu Mei. 

He tugged at the corner of his mouth, vaguely guessing that Qi Chao was important to Shen Yuxi.

“Does he know your true identity?” Qiao Sheng’s smile widened. “You better not reveal your true self to him, or I’ll have quite the show to watch.”

“Oh? The good little kid who’s always cleaning up after that old father of mine?” 

Shen Yuxi looked at Qiao Sheng calmly, his jawline tightening slightly, showing some displeasure. 

His gentle, peach blossom eyes were gradually replaced by a cold, icy gaze.

“Which part of that comment upset you, the first one or the second one?” Qiao Sheng asked boldly, undeterred.

Shen Yuxi’s lips curved slightly, his blue eyes narrowing into a smile that didn’t reach his cold gaze. 

He said softly, “Both. So this time, I’ll be stabbing you twice.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Moss, who had been quietly following Shen Yuxi, moved swiftly to stand behind Qiao Sheng. 

His black eyes were deep and dark, as if ready to plunge a blade into the heart of the man who had displeased his father.

Previous TOC Next