| PN | Student | 133
Recently, Qi Chao rarely logged onto social media, and stumbled upon You Zhao’s social media account purely by chance.
He could sense that recently, Guo Li, You Zhao, and Li Lang were somewhat afraid of him, and Qi Chao knew very well that it was because he was too demanding of them.
To successfully create the puppet, Qi Chao knew that the three of them wouldn't mind his strict requirements. If they had only that much perseverance, he wouldn't have agreed to help them in the first place.
However, that being said, Qi Chao was still a soft-hearted person, so when he accidentally discovered You Zhao’s social media account, he couldn't resist and used his main account to leave a congratulatory message.
It was actually a small matter. In essence, Qi Chao was just happy for You Zhao and the others.
But Qi Chao underestimated his own influence, and he also underestimated the malice that some netizens could have out of envy and jealousy.
【So, Qi Chao was simply happy for his fan? Oh, he’s so gentle and kind, I’m in love.】
【??? This is hilarious. The core motherstone hasn't even been put in yet; they’ve just completed a puppet shell, what's there to post about? There have been plenty of puppet makers who failed to awaken their creations, isn’t this "congratulation" basically announcing a funeral?】
【What's wrong with the person above? You’re seriously over-interpreting a simple congratulation, that's impressive.】
【To be honest, it’s true that many puppet awakenings end in failure. I’d suggest that the poster wait until the puppet is completely finished before celebrating.】
【Oh wow, are they jealous that the poster managed to create a puppet shell, or are they envious that the poster received congratulations from a master-level puppeteer? Can you really find a way to criticize even this?】
The comment section was initially quite harmonious, but as soon as a few trolls appeared, the atmosphere shifted dramatically, sparking arguments among users. Neither You Zhao nor Qi Chao paid any attention to these exchanges.
You Zhao was too busy preparing for the next day's tasks to bother with the comments, while Qi Chao was preoccupied chatting with his beloved.
“I’ve almost healed all the injuries on the junkyard puppets,” Qi Chao said with a smile. “If all goes well for You Zhao, they should successfully complete their puppet by tomorrow.”
“Is that so?” Shen Yuxi's eyes, shaped like peach blossoms, curved slightly, showing how genuinely happy he was for Qi Chao. He asked gently, “So, have you figured out the reason why You Zhao kept failing to create the puppet shell?”
“Yeah, I have a rough idea,”
Qi Chao reflected on the past few months' experiences. He reached for a small booklet nearby, flipping through it as he spoke in a low voice, "Most of the issues they encountered were related to details. If I had to pinpoint the most likely cause of the cracks, it would be the process of aligning the puppet's meridian system."
"I had them redo that stage at least seven times. Honestly, I was worried they might not be able to hold on."
Although Qi Chao said this with a hint of a joke, his expression revealed that he truly had been concerned at the time.
Shen Yuxi's gaze fell on the booklet in Qi Chao's hand, his long eyelashes trembling slightly.
To help those puppet master’s, Qi Chao had specifically documented their mistakes in this notebook—it was just like him to be so meticulous and thoughtful.
If that group of puppet masters had really given up back then, Shen Yuxi thought, Qi Chao might not have been angry, but he himself certainly would have been.
After all, Shen Yuxi couldn't bear to see his partner saddened.
"Managing to successfully complete the puppet shell is already quite an achievement," Shen Yuxi said empathetically. "After tomorrow, you can take a well-deserved break."
Thinking about how long it had been since he last saw Qi Chao, Shen Yuxi paused for a moment. He slightly tilted his head, the elegant line of his pale neck accentuated as a faint smile played at the corners of his lips.
His voice, tinged with a gentle sensuality, said, "You promised you'd come to the Ganfen District. It's about time you kept that promise, isn't it?"
"Mm."
The man on the screen was so breathtaking that it was hard to look away. Qi Chao coughed lightly, shifting his gaze from Shen Yuxi's neck to his own desk.
After a few seconds, he replied as naturally as he could, "If all goes well, the day after tomorrow I should be able to bring the kids over."
"Alright, then I'll get the rooms ready for them tomorrow," Shen Yuxi said, watching Qi Chao's reaction with a faint smile. He deliberately avoided mentioning preparing a room for Qi Chao himself.
Qi Chao, being someone with some experience, instantly picked up on the underlying meaning of Shen Yuxi's words. He rubbed his ear, feeling that he might need to eat something to cool down his rising heat.
Otherwise, he might just be driven crazy by Shen Yuxi's teasing.
The two exchanged a few more words before ending their conversation. Once the screen of the virtual device went dark, Shen Yuxi's smile remained fixed in place, unable to fade as he thought back to Qi Chao's slightly awkward expression.
It wasn't until Shen Yuxi saw the screenshot Bugu sent him from Qi Chao's comment section that his smile finally faded slightly.
【Boss, do we need to control the comments?】
【The trolls are trying to mislead fans, making them think that Qi Chao's congratulatory message to You Zhao was actually mocking him.】
Of course, those were just a few isolated comments. Most of the remarks were expressions of envy towards You Zhao for being lucky enough to receive Qi Chao's blessing.
However, since Bugu's task was to monitor any negative comments under Qi Chao's social media, she naturally paid more attention to the problematic ones.
【Hmm, let's wait and see.】
Shen Yuxi knew that hastily controlling the comments could backfire. His fingers hovered over the keyboard for a few seconds before he typed:
【If anyone is deliberately stirring up trouble, make a list of their names.】
Shen Yuxi was quite a petty person, especially when it came to matters concerning Qi Chao.
The next morning, Qi Chao arrived at the warehouse early. Today was a crucial day for Guo Li, You Zhao, and Li Lang as they attempted to awaken the core motherstone.
Even though Qi Chao had already explained the key points to the three of them the previous afternoon, he still couldn't help but feel a little anxious.
In fact, Qi Chao's concerns were well-founded.
This was the first time Guo Li, You Zhao, and Li Lang had reached the stage of attempting to awaken a puppet.
Up until this point, their best achievement had only been creating a puppet shell with cracks in it.
Before Qi Chao entered the warehouse, the three of them hadn't spoken a single word. They knew that if they did speak, their voices would surely tremble with a mix of nervousness, excitement, worry, and fear, leaving them in a state of tense silence.
"Have you eaten yet?"
Qi Chao asked as he entered the warehouse with his two kids, noticing how tense You Zhao and the others looked.
Guo Li, You Zhao, and Li Lang had been sitting in the warehouse in a daze since they woke up, without any time to eat.
When their mentor asked the question, Guo Li shook her head with a wry smile and replied, "No, we don't really have much of an appetite. We thought we'd eat after successfully awakening the puppet."
If they failed to awaken it, they probably wouldn't feel like eating at all.
The joy they had felt yesterday after successfully creating the puppet shell had mostly faded, replaced by unease and a fear of failure.
The three young people sat dejectedly in the dimly lit warehouse, already bracing themselves for the worst even before the puppet awakening process had begun.
Qi Chao didn't say much when he saw their state. He simply reached into his backpack, took out a few pieces of bread, and tossed them onto their laps. "I told you yesterday that mental energy is difficult to control when you're hungry," he said, his tone calm but with a clear hint of displeasure.
Hearing this, the three of them, who had been so anxious about the upcoming stage, suddenly jolted upright. They grabbed the bread on their laps and immediately started eating.
You Zhao, in his haste, nearly choked on the dry bread but stubbornly forced it down anyway.
It was clear that the three of them were quite afraid of angering Qi Chao.
Qi Chao rarely got angry; at least, in the past few months, he had only lost his temper with them once.
That time, his anger was directed at Li Lang for not taking care of his health, becoming so obsessed with his work that he hadn't slept for several days straight.
When their teacher got angry, it was terrifying. He didn't hit or scold them; he merely gave them a calm, indifferent look, and that alone was enough to make the three of them shiver in fear for quite a while.
Perhaps because their teacher's anger was so intimidating, after they finished eating the bread, much of their previous anxiety and nervousness seemed to dissipate.
"Now that you're back to normal, go ahead and start awakening the puppet. Do you still remember the key points I mentioned to you yesterday?" Qi Chao asked, observing their reactions. His deep brown eyes carried a hint of amusement, and his voice was low and calm.
The three of them quickly nodded their heads in unison.
"Good," Qi Chao said with a satisfied nod.
The process of awakening a puppet requires extreme caution; any slight mistake could easily lead to failure. Worried that his presence might make them more nervous and affect their performance, Qi Chao had no intention of staying any longer than necessary.
Seeing that they had regained their composure, he gave them a small smile and left the warehouse with his children.
The dimly lit warehouse soon fell into silence.
After a few minutes, You Zhao, clutching his tools and the puppet, turned to Guo Li and Li Lang and said, "I'm heading upstairs."
Although they usually worked together, during the critical moment of awakening the puppet, they had to carry out the process separately.
You Zhao had just taken a few steps when he paused, turned around, and hesitated before saying, "Actually, the teacher wasn't really angry just now, so don't misunderstand."
Qi Chao must have anticipated that they wouldn't have eaten, which is why he conveniently pulled out three pieces of bread when they said they hadn't had breakfast. His earlier display of anger was likely just a way to get them to relax, a deliberate act to ease their tension.
Worried that his friends might misunderstand their teacher's intentions, You Zhao stopped specifically to clarify.
"Come on, that's obvious," Guo Li responded with a teasing laugh. "Don't overthink it. Get up there and get to work."
Li Lang also chuckled softly. He looked down at the puppet on the table, his hand tightening around his specially designed gloves. They truly were fortunate to have someone guiding them, like a warm ray of sunlight leading them through their confusion and doubts.
They couldn't afford to fail this time, not when they were so determined not to let that person down.
On the other hand, Qi Chao had no idea that those three earnest young people had already seen through his intentions.
By this time, Qi Chao had already left the warehouse and turned a corner to enter the abandoned pipeline area. This was the home of Nou Yan and Nou Bu.
Ever since Qi Chao began trading with the puppets, they had trusted him enough to reveal their secret hideout.
While You Zhao and the others were preparing to awaken their puppet, Qi Chao threw himself back into his own work.
Inside the abandoned pipeline, only one puppet named Nicky still had injuries that hadn't been fully treated. Nicky had only one eye, and for the past few days, Qi Chao had been working on crafting a new one for him.
Nicky's remaining eye was a beautiful sapphire blue. Since finding a matching material for the other eye was impossible, simply replacing it with another blue eye would have made the puppet look uneven and mismatched.
So, Qi Chao decided to take a different approach and created a golden amber eye instead.
The heterochromatic eyes, with one blue and one amber, didn't look out of place on the puppet. Instead, they gave Nicky a distinctive charm, adding to his unique aura.
After replacing Nicky's eye, Qi Chao put away his tools and smiled at the other puppets gathered nearby. "It's done."
The puppets in the pipeline had a close bond, and upon hearing Qi Chao's words, they immediately surrounded Nicky to check on him. Some of their gazes flickered nervously toward Qi Chao, betraying their unease.
Despite their gratitude toward this strange person wearing a Superman mask, they still struggled to overcome their fear of humans.
It seemed Qi Chao was unaware of their apprehension as he took the agreed-upon payment from Nou Yan.
"Looks great," he said, placing the payment into his backpack. He then tossed them an older model light brain. "My contact number is there. You can come to me next time you have such a job."
Even though he wore a Superman mask, the puppets could still hear the warmth and amusement in his deep voice.
Nou Yan didn’t decline the offer; he remembered that the man was not wealthy and had once mentioned wanting to save money to buy a diamond for his loved one. They were in a relationship of equality, able to exchange gold coins for the man's assistance.
“If you encounter any trouble, you can also find me,” Qi Chao added, “My after-sales service has a long warranty.”
“Sure,” the puppets replied.
Hearing their agreement, Qi Chao felt satisfied. He understood that the puppets were very cautious and never intended to immediately impose anything on them.
Maintaining the current state was essential; he wanted them to know that they could seek his help in times of danger.
Once Qi Chao left, the tension in the pipeline eased immediately, and the puppets were no longer as stiff and reserved as before.
They didn’t dislike the man in the mask—in fact, they were quite grateful to him. However, their fear of humans was deeply ingrained in their minds, and a few months of interaction wouldn’t change that.
"Nou Yan, when will that puppet named Xiang Yue come to deliver the energy stones?" Nicky hesitantly asked.
They were unaware of the relationship between the Superman figure and Xiang Yue. The puppets had first encountered Xiang Yue one night when the red-eyed puppet arrived with four or five other puppets and conducted a transaction with them.
As long as they paid enough gold coins, they would receive energy stones in return.
Gold coins were common in the sewers, but energy stones were scarce. Many puppets remained dormant due to a lack of sufficient energy stones.
This was a business that guaranteed profit with no losses.
With Xiang Yue’s purpose being to elevate the status of the puppets, Nou Yan and his companions quickly agreed after discussing it among themselves.
“They promised to deliver the energy stones tonight,” Nou Yan said, glancing down at the somewhat worn light brain in his hand. He opened it, revealing only one number—presumably that of the Superman figure.
“Great!” The puppets around him expressed their excitement.
Seeing their joyful expressions, Nou Yan couldn't help but smile as well. The puppets from the junkyard had never had a good fate.
But now, their injuries were healed, and they had a future with a supply of energy stones; everything seemed to be turning for the better.
And all of this was thanks to Superman.
“Superman really needs money,” Nou Yan tightened his grip on the light brain. “If more puppets learn about Superman, he’ll be able to earn even more.”
Although the puppets in the pipeline were unfamiliar with Superman, their gratitude was no less than that of Nou Yan’s. Understanding how malicious humans could be made them cherish any kindness they received even more.
After hearing Nou Yan's words, several puppets began to think.
Nou Bu hesitantly said, “My master used to log into a forum frequently on the light brain. The news there is very well-informed. We could share Superman's transaction information there.”
After discussing, the group of puppets found this plan quite feasible. So, Nou Bu, the only one who could read, took it upon himself to post the message on the forum.
# Repairing Puppets · Codename: Superman #
[If you are interested in repairing puppets, please send a private message with your offer. Superman is incredible and can repair all puppets.]
However, when the post appeared, the forum users reacted with disbelief: [How ridiculous! A single person can repair all puppets? Some idiots really think people are fools.]
Due to the absurdity of the topic, users were unwilling to even engage in a debate. The post quickly sank without a trace, attracting no attention at all.
The puppets, unfamiliar with online operations, thought it was normal for no one to reply to their post and didn’t think much of it.
At that moment, no one, including the puppets, knew that in the near future, this post would become a hot topic. In fact, it would dominate the homepage for years to come.
Forum users would see the post every day and couldn’t help but admire this legendary figure.
Unaware of the good intentions behind the puppets' post, Qi Chao emerged from the abandoned pipeline and estimated the time before heading back to the warehouse.
Unsure whether the puppets had succeeded in their task, he worried that walking in suddenly might disturb the three puppet masters.
So, after arriving at the warehouse, he found Xiang Yue and Agu waiting outside for him, and they all decided to wait together.
About half an hour later, his light brain vibrated a few times.
You Zhao: 【Teacher!!! I did it!!!! Ahhhhhhh!!!!】【image.jpg】
Teacher?
Qi Chao paused at the unexpected address, but the next second, he saw the message quickly retracted, followed by a new one that changed the address to Big Brother Qi.
The little girl with white hair looked confused and innocent, appearing very cute.
Qi Chao looked at this picture and couldn't help but smile for a moment. Did You Zhao unintentionally reveal how he referred to himself because he was too happy? He thought for a while and typed a line of text on the screen.
[Congratulations! After Guo Li and Li Lang succeed, I will go in.]
The message sent by the teacher seemed quite normal, and it appeared that he hadn't noticed how he had referred to himself earlier.
You Zhao's excitement had turned into unease and anxiety because of his slip-up. He dried his daughter's hair and then exited the chat with the teacher, switching to his social media account to try to change his mood.
However, he didn't expect that this switch would nearly give him a heart attack.
Those who were jealous of receiving the teacher's blessings were understandable, but what did some idiots mean when they said the teacher's blessings were a bad omen?!
In a fit of anger, You Zhao posted a beautiful photo of his daughter online, captioning it: [Thanks to the blessings from Brother Qi, without you, my puppet definitely could not have been born so smoothly.] [image.jpg]
Since the excitement from last night hadn’t died down, many netizens were still hanging around in his comments section. Upon seeing his new post, they immediately began commenting.
[Wow, congratulations! What a beautiful puppet, so lucky!]
[It’s a success! Those who said it was a bad omen yesterday, come out! Only twisted minds like yours could think such filthy thoughts!]
[Haha, dying of laughter. So shameless, saying that without Qi Chao there would be no puppet, so speechless.]
[I have to admit, it does have that flavor now. Brother Qi only said one sentence of congratulations, and the poster is just... emmm, there’s no need to flatter so much.]
You Zhao just wanted to refute those who claimed the teacher was bringing bad luck, and now that he had proven his puppet was successfully created, he was no longer angry. Even though he saw many people saying he was flattering, he felt no emotional turmoil.
What he said was genuinely from the heart; without the teacher, his puppet definitely wouldn’t have been born so smoothly.
Just as he was about to turn off his smart device and take his daughter out, he suddenly noticed that Brother Qi had posted a message. You Zhao instinctively clicked on it.
Qi Zhao: [Let’s praise my student, congratulations to him for creating his first puppet, You Zhao.]
Student?
You Zhao felt a bit dazed and hadn't come to his senses yet when the notification sounds from the comments section started ringing incessantly.
[!!! What the hell?! This guy is just a tailgate truck, right?! Why would the big shot consider him his student?!]
[So the poster isn’t just flattering; he’s simply thanking his teacher?]
[Wuwu, Brother Qi must have seen the comments criticizing the poster, so he acknowledged him. The big shot is really so nice, wuwu.]
[Does the big shot still need disciples? I’ve already made three A-level puppets, I am definitely more talented than this puppet master who hasn’t produced a single puppet in five or six years.]
[Wuwu, I want to know how the poster became a disciple of the big shot. I also want to be noticed by a puppet master.]
It’s somewhat embarrassing to say.
You Zhao thought dazedly; he had only just found out that he was a student of the big shot.
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