Puppet Notes (Wearing Book) - 140

 

| PN | Taking Orders | 140

While eating, Shen Yuxi noticed that Qi Chao was in a particularly good mood. When the two of them were alone, Shen Yuxi casually asked a question.

"Did something happen? You look in a good mood."

"Is it that obvious?" Qi Chao smiled.

Shen Yuxi nodded, his peach blossom eyes looking at Qi Chao. Qi Chao was always in a good mood, but today, he could sense a subtle difference.

The most obvious sign was that Qi Chao usually woke up at the same time every day, but this morning, he had slept in for an extra hour.

"I had a nice dream last night," Qi Chao explained, then thought for a moment and added, "There wasn’t much going on in the dream, but the scenery was beautiful."

Beautiful scenery?

Shen Yuxi looked at the smile in Qi Chao's eyes and guessed that the "beautiful scenery" was probably just the literal meaning. 

Just as he was about to say something, he noticed that Qi Chao's light brain vibrated. He changed the subject and gently asked, "Who messaged you?"

Qi Chao wasn’t sure who it was. He picked up his light brain from the table and glanced at the screen. The sender's profile picture was blank, and the contact name was noted as "Nuo Yan."

Nuo Yan was one of the puppets Qi Chao had treated from the junkyard in the past. Before coming to find Brother Shen, Qi Chao had given Nuo Yan a light brain to stay in touch with him. 

Based on Nuo Yan's personality, they would only contact him in an emergency, so receiving a message out of the blue was a bit surprising for Qi Chao.

“It’s a small puppet I helped before,” Qi Chao explained as he opened the chat window to read the messages.

Nuo Yan: [Hello, Superman. We are doing well now and are very grateful for your help before.]

Nuo Yan: [Not long ago, you mentioned that you urgently needed gold coins. We wanted to help you find business and posted a message online. Recently, someone sent a private message, offering two million gold coins to treat a puppet. If you agree, I can forward you their contact information.]

Qi Chao smiled slightly at the formality of Nuo Yan's first message, which felt a bit awkward. But as he read the next part, his expression became more serious.

Two million gold coins?

Qi Chao thought for a moment and decided not to agree. First, it wasn’t convenient for him to take on such tasks while staying with Brother Shen. 

Second, there were all kinds of people on the comms network, and getting involved with the wrong one could easily lead to trouble.

Shen Yuxi, overhearing Qi Chao’s response, glanced at his comms device and walked over to Qi Chao's side.

Qi Chao didn’t intend to hide anything from Brother Shen. He shifted the device slightly so Shen Yuxi could see the screen better and said, “I wasn’t planning on accepting.”

Shen Yuxi gave a small nod. In truth, even if Qi Chao had agreed, it wouldn’t have been a problem—he would always protect him. 

However, it was better this way.

Shen Yuxi never liked it when Qi Chao’s attention was drawn away by other matters. If possible, he hoped Qi Chao could stay in his villa for the rest of his life.

Downstairs, a few puppets were making a ruckus, and it sounded like Agu had annoyed Lan Luo or Lí Bai again. Their voices occasionally carried up to the second floor, making the atmosphere lively.

“I’ll go downstairs and check on them. I’ll be back soon.”

Hearing the commotion downstairs, Qi Chao scratched his head and got up, preparing to go down and check on things.

"Alright," Shen Yuxi responded, unsurprised.

He picked up a half-open book from the desk, but just as he was about to sit back down, he noticed Qi Chao suddenly stop in his tracks. 

Shen Yuxi looked at him with some confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Qi Chao replied, shifting his gaze away from the light brain. He turned and waved the device in front of Shen Yuxi, showing him the latest message from Nuo Yan. "I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to accept their offer."

Meanwhile, far away in the abandoned pipes of Linjing District, the puppets were thrilled to see the reply from their "Superman." 

It had been a week since Qi Chao left, and this was their first communication with him since then.

The abandoned pipes had since become much cleaner. With their wounds healed and disguises that made them look human, the puppets were no longer confined to the junkyard. They could now move freely. 

All of this was thanks to Superman.

Of course, the puppets they had allied with helped them quite a bit as well.

“Superman agreed!” Nuo Bu exclaimed happily.

The surrounding dolls cheered in response.

Nuo Yan was also pleased. He immediately forwarded Qi Chao’s contact information to the client and then informed them, [Hello, Mr. Superman has agreed to repair the puppet. If you have any further questions, you can discuss them directly with him.]

The client responded quickly, as if they had been waiting by their light brain.

[Thank you,] the reply read.

Nuo Yan breathed a sigh of relief. Now Mr. Superman could earn some money. He turned to Nuo Bu and asked, “Are you sure the information about this client is accurate?”

“I asked Xiao Que, and he said that this client does indeed have the ability to pay two million gold coins. They’re also genuinely looking to repair the puppet, so it shouldn’t be a scam,” Nuo Bu assured him.

Back when they were forming the alliance, Xiang Yue and the others had taken Nuo Yan and Nuo Bu to a villa. 

In that villa, they met two puppets—one named Xiao Que and the other Cheng Qi. Since then, they had been in regular contact with these two puppets.

Xiao Que could perceive parts of the past. Although there were limitations, it was sufficient to determine whether the client was being truthful.

"That's good, then."

Hearing Nuo Bu’s words, Nuo Yan felt relieved. Although their ranks were low, they weren’t foolish. If they caused trouble for Mr. Superman, it wouldn’t be repaying a favor—it would be making an enemy.

He only hoped they could be of some help to Mr. Superman.

This thought lingered in Nuo Yan’s mind.

Meanwhile, in a laboratory, Zhang Cheng nervously followed the instructions of the person he spoke with earlier and sent a friend request to a stranger's comms ID.

Seeing the words "Friend Request Pending" displayed on the screen, Zhang Cheng clenched his hands, his expression turning bitter. He mocked himself inwardly—how desperate must he be to resort to something like this?

In this world, other than the creator, how could there possibly be a second person capable of successfully repairing his own puppet?

Even though Zhang Cheng knew deep down that someone capable of such extraordinary repairs wouldn’t casually post an ad on a forum, only someone as desperate as him would fall for such an offer. 

Yet, despite understanding this, his eyes remained fixed on the comms screen, unable to look away.

【How's it going, Old Zhang? Did they agree?】  

His comms device buzzed with a message from Ge Si, a friend in the same chat group.

【It’s definitely a scam, Old Zhang. Don’t fall for it. If you have time, why don’t you try negotiating with the puppet’s creator again? He can surely repair it,】 another group member, Si Qi, chimed in.

【Exactly. No matter how bad your puppet's condition is, it’s still better than ours. The two of us can’t even figure out who our puppet’s creator is to get them treated.】

Zhang Cheng, of course, knew this. But he couldn’t swallow the bitterness inside. He turned to look at the puppet encased in the glass chamber.

Inside the vacuum-sealed chamber, the child-like puppet with black hair and emerald eyes struggled to lift its arm, tapping feebly against the glass wall. The puppet’s movements were slow and laborious, but it managed a faint smile, as if greeting its master.

Zhang Cheng’s breath caught in his throat, and he clenched his fists tightly. Forcing a smile, he weakly waved back, his heart aching as he watched the puppet’s efforts.

The puppet’s skin was covered in sickly yellow spots. In the vacuum-sealed chamber, the spread of these marks had stopped, but once outside the glass, his skin would immediately turn yellow, begin to decay, and within ten minutes, it would crack and ultimately shatter.

However, the most striking feature of this puppet wasn’t his skin, but his incomplete body. From the knees down, there was nothing—empty space. Judging by the joints, it was clear this was a deliberate design by the puppet’s creator.

Watching this, Zhang Cheng’s heart ached with bitterness. Ayao was so obedient, and the more obedient Ayao was, the more Zhang Cheng resented his father—the renowned master puppet master, Qing Yu.

Since Qing Yu became a master-level puppet master, his value skyrocketed, and he became one of the most celebrated puppet masters in the empire, praised as the most talented of his kind. 

Because of this, when Ayao  fell ill, Zhang Cheng was already prepared to sell off all his experimental results to raise the funds needed to repair him.

Ayao was Zhang Cheng’s lifeline.

At first, Ayao had merely been a gift from subordinates, but after spending countless nights together in the lab, Ayao had become his constant companion. In this environment, Zhang Cheng had long since come to regard the puppet as family.

For Zhang Cheng, who had no other relatives, losing Ayao would mean truly being alone in this world.

Because Zhang Cheng had offered a high price, Qing Yu had agreed to repair the puppet. 

However, upon seeing Ayao in person, Qing Yu finally remembered Ayao’s low rank and spoke with open disdain, even going so far as to say he felt insulted.

"I’m a master-level puppet master, and I didn’t come all this way just to repair this low-grade trash!"

"The amount of star coins you’ve given me could buy three puppets of this level. What a fool."

Zhang Cheng still vividly remembered the look of confusion and helplessness in Ayao’s eyes when he heard those words. Ayao had even tugged nervously at Zhang Cheng’s clothes, afraid that he would listen to his father and abandon him.

In the end, Qing Yu received a voice call and, without another word, left immediately. Zhang Cheng hadn’t tried to stop him.

Zhang Cheng had always thought that as puppet masters, people like Qing Yu would have a deep affection for their puppets. 

But Qing Yu’s attitude shattered that belief. How could someone so heartless create such an obedient and sweet doll like Ayao? Zhang Cheng’s anger simmered within him.

His beloved family had been so cruelly insulted. If Qing Yu weren’t Ayao’s father, Zhang Cheng would have surely taught him a lesson.

Since then, Zhang Cheng never sought out Qing Yu again. Instead, he searched the world for other methods to repair Ayao, but every attempt had ended in failure.

This was the last chance.

Ayao no longer had time to wait. If this attempt also ended in failure, Zhang Cheng would have no choice but to turn to Qing Yu.

As he stared at the screen of his comms device, Zhang Cheng felt a heavy weight settle in his heart. Although he hadn’t shared this with his friends in the group, he had already made up his mind to confront Qing Yu if necessary.

Believing in a random forum ad was just a way to deceive himself. He chuckled bitterly, contemplating whether he should simply delete the friend request. He should be spending this time preparing to face Qing Yu directly.

But before he could act, his comms device suddenly vibrated.

Filled with sudden hope, Zhang Cheng grabbed the device, his eyes fixed anxiously on the new message that had popped up.

Superman: [Hello, are you requesting a puppet repair?]

Zhang Cheng immediately replied, "Yes." Perhaps because he had already resigned himself to the situation, instead of blocking what seemed like a likely scam, his first instinct was to continue the conversation.

Superman: [Is your puppet’s creator the master puppet master Qing Yu?]

Zhang Cheng: [Yes, that's him.]

After that message, the chat interface went silent.

The title of Qing Yu was too well-known—had the scammer been scared off? Zhang Cheng felt a wave of disappointment wash over him. 

Just then, he saw the message from Superman: [Hehe,] a brief response that dripped with disdain for Qing Yu.

Zhang Cheng paused, feeling a bit strange.

Superman: [If you want to repair the puppet, come to the store at 3, 677 Street, Ganfen District, Empire, the day after tomorrow.]

Zhang Cheng was stunned: [Really? You can fix it? You're not scamming me?!]

Superman: [No, we operate with integrity and legal transactions. Although we just opened today, if you look at my name, you’ll know I won’t lie.]

"Just opened today?" 

Zhang Cheng blankly glanced at the name "Superman." Suddenly, he felt like he must be losing his mind for chatting for so long with what could easily be a scammer—especially one with such a ridiculous name like "Superman." 

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