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Qi Chao remembered why he had come and stopped wasting time, heading straight for the library on the third floor.

The books in the old residence had been passed down through generations of the Qi Family. To find a book, all he had to do was enter keywords on the light screen by the door. To Qi Chao's delight, the moment he entered the keywords, a whole list of titles popped up on the screen.

Sure enough, the library contained books on making dolls. However, those books had been placed on the highest shelves, and he had to climb three flights of ladders to retrieve them.

Qi Chao climbed up and down and gathered nearly ten books. Joy showed even in his dark brown eyes. After stacking the books high, he thought for a moment and simply sat on the carpet to read through them.

He had originally wanted to return early to avoid his family. Since he had already run into them, he might as well stay in the library a little longer.

He casually flipped through the ten books and selected the two most representative ones. Those two books were enough for Qi Chao to understand the basics of doll-making. Aside from differences in carving techniques, the other books were largely the same in terms of basic construction.

Yet when Qi Chao opened those two books and read them carefully, his brow only furrowed tighter.

It was not that the knowledge was too obscure. As an experienced humanoid maker, Qi Chao could easily understand what was written in the books. It was precisely because he understood the method that he felt helpless.

According to the books, humanoid makers used their own Mental Power to forge meridians for dolls and polish their skin. Every humanoid maker's Mental Power was different, so the condition of the dolls' skin and the strength of their bones and muscles naturally varied as well.

Taking that further, when repairing a doll's cracks, it was best to find the original humanoid maker who had created the doll. Otherwise, conflicting Mental Power could very likely rupture the doll's fragile meridians outright.

As expected, he still had to find the humanoid maker who had created Lan Luo.

Qi Chao could not help sighing. He ruffled his somewhat messy hair, conflict in his eyes.

He had kept thinking that once he learned how to make dolls, he could personally repair Lan Luo's cracks. He had even used his lack of money as an excuse to persuade himself not to seek out the humanoid maker who had created Lan Luo.

They were all excuses.

Qi Chao knew that perfectly well.

He did not want the humanoid maker to learn that the child he had personally created had been beaten countless times.

When Qi Chao had first met the little doll, he had felt deeply distressed by his obedient Little One's experiences. Putting himself in that person's shoes, the humanoid maker who had personally created Lan Luo would probably be heartbroken upon seeing those cracks.

Qi Chao's heart sank slightly. He was not an indecisive person; on the contrary, once he decided to do something, he acted immediately.

Since the cracks needed to be repaired by the original humanoid maker, there was no use overthinking it. He could only look ahead.

Qi Chao searched through the original owner's memories. When Lan Luo had been auctioned off, the auction house had mentioned that humanoid maker's name. But the original owner had not cared at the time, so the memory was rather vague.

The fastest way to find that humanoid maker was to contact the person in charge of the auction house. Though the original owner did not know that person, he had been in contact with the man's younger brother.

Qi Chao knew that person too. It was Li Yuqin, the Li family's youngest son—the man in the V-neck shirt from the private room.

The original owner had given Li Yuqin quite a few benefits in exchange for the regulator. Even after Qi Chao destroyed the regulator, Li Yuqin had still gained plenty. Overall, their transaction had been quite pleasant.

After thinking it over, Qi Chao took out his Light Brain and sent him a message. The other side replied quickly and generously said he would handle it.

A while later, the other side sent over a string of numbers.

"Young Master Qi, this is that humanoid maker's contact information. His alias in the black market is Doctor, and he's quite famous. You've probably heard of him too. My brother gave him advance notice, so you can add him directly."

Qi Chao had not expected Li Yuqin to act so quickly. His fingertips paused over the Light Brain. After typing two words—thank you—he exited the chat and sent the humanoid maker a friend request.

After that, the Light Brain remained silent.

Humanoid makers had tedious work, and when they got busy, it was easy to lose track of time. In his previous life, Qi Chao sometimes did not leave the workshop until three in the morning. If that humanoid maker was working, it would probably take a long time for him to approve the request.

Qi Chao did not wait any longer. He put the books into his

space

button, rose to leave the library, and had barely reached the living room when he saw the butler blocking the two brothers, whose faces were filled with irritation.

"You two planning to go out?" Qi Chao laughed when he saw them.

When Qi Feng and Qi Ye heard their eldest brother's voice, they had been about to force their way out, but their movements stiffened. The two awkwardly called out, "Big Brother."

The Feng-Ye brothers had grown up hearing stories of their eldest brother's excellence. The person they admired most was their eldest brother. They had no idea that the original owner had looked down on them immensely behind their backs and had even secretly made things difficult for them more than once.

In their eyes, their eldest brother treated them especially well. Even during their rebellious phase, the two of them listened to Qi Chao.

Qi Chao felt that their values were somewhat off, but compared with the original owner, they were still much more lovable. He had already wanted to have a proper talk with them, and this was a good opportunity.

"Where are you two planning to go?" Qi Chao sat on the sofa and patted the seat beside him, signaling for them to sit.

Qi Feng and Qi Ye exchanged a glance before slowly shuffling over to sit down.

Qi Chao rarely had heart-to-heart talks with people, but he could still rein in two runaway wild horses. He looked at the injuries on their faces and asked, "Did you put medicine on them?"

"No." Qi Feng, with his red-dyed hair, sucked in a breath as he answered.

"You didn't apply any medicine, and you still want to go out looking like that? Aren't you afraid of embarrassing yourselves?" As Qi Chao spoke, he stood and took the medicinal solution from the butler. "Take a look in the mirror later. If you go out like this, people will definitely stare at you like you're monkeys."

Qi Feng and Qi Ye exchanged another glance. They knew their eldest brother was right, but they were still holding in a breath of anger and did not want to stay home.

"Where are you planning to go? To see your girlfriends?" Qi Chao thought of the brothers' romantic situations, paused, and felt that young people these days were truly unfathomable.

The two brothers said nothing, seeming to tacitly admit it.

"Then your brother advises you not to go. With faces like yours right now, your girlfriends will break up with you the moment they see you." Qi Chao was traditional in his views, but he also knew that the more you tried to stop this sort of thing, the more determined people became.