| PN | Constraint | 200
The matter of the black market was something that Qi Chao didn't know about.
Or rather, after agreeing to let the children do whatever they wanted, he rarely inquired into what they were doing. Qi Chao knew that the children at home had their own sense of propriety.
However, even if he didn't know, there would still be someone who would make sure he found out.
After blowing up the association, Qi Chao didn’t go home immediately. Instead, he went to the Alliance with Shen Yuxi. Qiao Sheng also went with them.
"Why did you come along?"
The smile on Shen Yuxi's lips didn’t change, but anyone could tell that there was a deep displeasure hidden in his eyes.
Qiao Sheng was actually a little wary of Shen Yuxi. Even though he no longer remembered the trial grounds, he wasn't stupid.
Besides, his second daughter, Chao Yang, had once told him that Shen Yuxi had taken him away, and with a bit of thought, he realized he had been thrown into the trial grounds before.
"I just wanted to get certified by the Alliance. I’m not following you on purpose," Qiao Sheng said shamelessly.
"Is that so?"
Shen Yuxi smiled meaningfully, but in the end, he said nothing more.
As they walked beside each other, Qi Chao heard those words and grabbed Shen Yuxi's hand, pulling him into the building while reassuring him, "Brother Shen, don’t pay attention to Qiao Sheng. Even if he wants to join the Alliance, we won’t allow him to use connections. He’ll still have to go through the exams."
Qiao Sheng, who was walking behind them, almost couldn't hold himself back when he heard this. He felt as though the two were mocking him, fully aware that it was impossible for him to join the Alliance.
Qiao Sheng lowered his head and adjusted his glasses. The reason he was following them was mainly out of curiosity about their next plan. If they were going to think like this, they probably wouldn’t tell him anything.
Forget it.
Qiao Sheng shrugged and stopped following them into the Alliance building. He turned around and left.
Qi Chao and Shen Yuxi, walking ahead, heard the sound of his departure but said nothing, continuing to follow the original plan and heading upstairs.
As soon as they entered the office, the two heard You Zhao and the other two whispering and occasionally laughing.
Shen Yuxi's expression remained as gentle as ever, while Qi Chao went over to pat each of them on the back of their heads. "What’s going on? Why are you guys happy?"
In fact, it wasn’t just them—Qi Chao himself was in a good mood too. After all, not long ago, he had personally blown up the association he had long despised.
"Teacher!"
Seeing their teacher and Shen Yuxi, the three puppet masters immediately stood up, smiling brightly as they greeted them.
"We were looking at the comments online," You Zhao said, eagerly handing over his light brain. Then, he happily added, "The black market are no longer selling puppets! It's really great!"
After the association traded puppets, they would occasionally follow up, offering some protection for the "works" of the association’s puppet masters.
But the black market was different; anyone who was a puppet master knew that the buyers in the black market were morally bankrupt.
Puppets bought and sold in the black market all had a tragic fate, and now that they knew the black market was no longer selling puppets, You Zhao and the others were naturally very happy.
Qi Chao took the light brain, and Shen Yuxi leaned over to take a look as well. The two saw the great achievements displayed on the screen.
"Puppets sold in the black market are part of black trades. Even if those puppets are destroyed, it isn’t considered illegal," You Zhao explained, letting out a sigh.
"But we still don’t know if those puppets are safe. Those crazy people in the black market are not easy to deal with."
After hearing this, Qi Chao frowned slightly, but when he thought about how the children at home had been lively and active these past few days with no signs of injury, he felt reassured.
That’s good. Putting aside Li Bai and the others for now, Agu and Ayu are both the kind of people who do whatever they want in the trial grounds, and it’s just the black market. They can definitely handle it.
Even so, Qi Chao still made up his mind to check on the children at home after returning to make sure they hadn’t been hurt.
When Shen Yuxi noticed Qi Chao's thoughts, the smile in his eyes deepened.
After pausing for a moment, he looked toward You Zhao and said, “Are the puppet masters from the association still sending resumes to the alliance?”
"Of course. The alliance's mailbox is stuffed with resumes from those puppet masters," said Li Lang, who was usually taciturn, with some difficulty.
When the alliance was first established, many puppet enthusiasts among the puppet masters joined the association. Later, a documentary was released, and yet another batch of puppet masters who liked puppets joined them.
Now, the association only has puppet masters who are not so friendly towards puppets left.
These puppet masters are still thinking of selling puppets on the black market—bah!
"But if we keep rejecting their applications to join the alliance, I’m afraid they’ll just make puppets and sell them privately."
Guo Li furrowed her brows, speaking with some concern, "Private trading can easily lead to unchecked transactions, and the fate of those puppets might not end up any better than in the black market."
You Zhao immediately rebutted, "Why should we let them join? What if those bad apples spoil our alliance?"
"Besides, now that the motherstone veins are in the alliance's hands, it'll be hard for them to find the materials to make puppets."
"We'll just outlast them, waiting for them to run out of money and change careers."
Most of You Zhao’s words were said out of frustration. Even he knew that, even without selling them the motherstone, those puppet masters still had ways to earn it.
There was almost nothing they could do against those puppet masters.
Shen Yuxi listened to the back-and-forth between the three of them without giving his own opinion.
Instead, he turned to look at Qi Chao, who had remained silent the whole time.
"What do you think should be done with those puppet masters?"
Hearing this question, the three of them stared intently at their teacher.
"Done with?"
Qi Chao lowered his head, looking at the comments on the screen—those lamenting the collapse of the black market. He spoke, “There’s no need to deal with them. They never deserved to be puppet masters.”
“Puppet masters shouldn’t be so unscrupulous.”
Upon hearing Qi Chao’s words, Shen Yuxi and the three disciples were stunned for a moment.
Then, as if he had realized something, Shen Yuxi nodded and turned to his disciples, saying, “Since there's no need to dealt with them, you three don't need to worry about this matter for now.”
“Got it.”
You Zhao and the others didn't quite understand what their teacher was hinting at. They exchanged glances, but since their teacher always had his reasons for whatever he did, all they could do was support him.
Qi Chao and Shen Yuxi didn't stay at the alliance building for long. Half an hour later, the two of them boarded the aircraft and returned to the villa.
“What are you planning to do?” Shen Yuxi turned his head to look at Qi Chao. Although he asked this, he already had a vague idea in his mind.
"The bottom line for puppet masters cannot be so low. If that's the case, we need to find a way to raise the bar," Qi Chao said vaguely. "The best way is to establish a clear standard."
"Hmm." Shen Yuxi watched Qi Chao as he lowered his head in thought and said gently, "Then we'll need Elliton's help."
Qi Chao agreed with him.
But he knew that while it's easy to set a bottom for puppet masters, the real challenge lies in figuring out who will be responsible for enforcing it.
Elliton could improve the laws, but given the current situation, the law might protect the puppets, but it would never treat them and humans equally. The status of the puppets would still be low.
In such circumstances, those unqualified puppet masters would likely exploit the loopholes in the law.
Lost in thought, Qi Chao didn't notice Shen Yuxi quietly took his hand and guided him toward the villa.
However, before they could enter the living room, they heard Qi Yang speaking to the puppets at home: “You all go over there tomorrow. I need to rest.”
As a young man addicted to the internet, Qi Yang found it hard to endure days without a weekend off.
The puppets didn’t have much attachment to whether Qi Yang went with them or not.
As soon as he mentioned it, Li Bai and Qiu Qiu immediately cheerfully said, "Okay," and then ran up to greet their two parents, welcoming them home with loud cheers.
Qi Chao found it easier to handle the children. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "You’re not going with the kids tomorrow?"
"Mm, I need to rest," Qi Yang said, shamelessly nodding in agreement.
"Alright then."
Qi Chao didn't stop him. He casually replied, then lowered his head to look at the children at home and, as if casually, asked, "Did you go to the black market a few days ago?"
"The black market?"
The puppets, including Xiang Yue, all looked confused, as if they had no idea what their father was referring to when he mentioned the black market.
Qi Chao paused for a moment, he was gonna remind the children about safety, but when he opened his mouth, he suddenly forgot which day the black market was attacked.
He turned to look at Shen Yuxi, and noticing his silent plea for help, Shen Yuxi gently spoke, "Your father is talking about July 3rd. What did you do that day?"
The puppets lowered their heads in thought. Meanwhile, Ayu had already pulled out a notebook from her pocket and flipped through a few pages. She then handed it to her Dad closest to her, calmly saying, "Dad, this is what we did that day."
Perhaps due to her ability being focused on information gathering, Ayu had the habit of recording everything she did.
After handing the notebook to Qi Chao, she quietly stepped back to her original position.
"Ayu is really meticulous," Qi Chao complimented her, then began flipping through the notebook with Shen Yuxi.
[7.3
After Dad and Father went to work, we followed the plan and arrived at an alley. The alley was very dirty and smelly. There were four damaged puppets locked in cages, being sold to a group of men who were haggling over the price and insisting on stripping them to inspect their bodies.
In order to get home quickly, we knocked out those humans and brought them to Nou Yan. The four puppets said they were willing to cooperate with us.]
Ayu’s record was very brief.
Based on keywords like "alley" and "transaction," it was clear they had indeed gone to the black market that day.
Qi Chao's gaze lingered on the actions of the men in the alley for a while. He then tightened his grip on the notebook. Instead of immediately handing it back to Ayu, he flipped through the pages.
The notebook contained a complete record of the children’s activities outside. Their daily routine seemed to revolve around rescuing puppets in distress and then reaching agreements with them.
When counted up, the number of rescued puppets was shockingly in the triple digits.
Qi Chao felt a weight in his heart, a mix of sourness and complexity.
Initially, the children had kept talking about giving him a surprise. While he had indeed felt touched when he finally learned what the surprise was, it was nothing compared to the shock he felt now, reading about these specific events.
“Dad?”
Xiang Yue, the most sensitive to emotions, looked up at Qi Chao. His tail swished behind him, showing signs of confusion.
“It’s nothing.” Qi Chao closed the notebook and looked up, giving a smile to the children in the room.
He then proceeded to ruffle each of their heads affectionately, offering a sincere compliment. “You guys are amazing!”
Shen Yuxi, watching the scene behind Qi Chao, couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
On the side, Qi Yang thought his brother was too easily moved. After all, these puppets hadn't really done anything extraordinary; they had only rescued a few puppets.
Shen Yuxi seemed to sense Qi Yang’s thoughts. After a quick glance at him, he smiled faintly and said, "Qi Yang, you've been working hard these past few days too."
When Qi Yang was suddenly addressed by name, he had an ominous premonition.
Sure enough, the next moment, he heard his older brother say, “He’s only been with the kids for two or three days. How could it compare to what the kids have been through?”
Then, with a shift in his tone, he continued, “Your uncle is tired, so you guys must be tired too. Can you rest at home for a few days and play with your uncle at home?"
Qi Yang nearly spat blood upon hearing this.
He had been watching the kids long enough these past few days. It was finally his chance to rest, and now his brother was asking him to stay and watch the puppets.
Each one of them seemed more energetic than the last. He feared this would end up exhausting him.
But refusing was hard to do. After all, his brother wasn’t wrong.
With a sigh, Qi Yang resignedly accepted the task, all while thinking of it as a job that had been thrust upon him.
Shen Yuxi smiled and nodded at Qi Yang, clearly pleased, before following his partner back to their room.
He had been contemplating whether he could spend the next day with Qi Chao for some alone time.
But just as he was thinking about it, he heard Qi Chao say, "Brother Shen, I know how to restrain those puppet masters now."
Shen Yuxi tilted his head slightly, intrigued. "How do you plan to restrain them?"
"With the puppets."
Qi Chao paused for a moment, then continued, "The only ones who can truly restrain the puppet masters are the puppets themselves."
0 Comments
Post a Comment