Page 40

What amused Qi Chao was that whether it was the adult or the two little puppets, all three sat with perfect posture, as if cast from the same mold. It was rather adorable.

Qi Chao now knew who Lan Luo had learned his good habits from. The father and his two sons not only sat similarly, even their eating motions were astonishingly alike.

The difference was that every move Doctor made exuded maturity and gentlemanly refinement, while the two puppets, one big and one small, were simply adorable no matter how he looked at them.

"Did you carve these two Energy Stones?"

While they ate, Shen Yuxi suddenly asked.

Qi Chao looked at the two Energy Stones carved into little bears on the plate, rubbed the tip of his nose with a finger, and replied, "I made them. It was my first time carving this kind of cartoon character, so I'm not very practiced."

These two Rainbow Bears were the protagonists of the cartoon Lan Luo liked to watch most.

Lan Luo clearly liked the little bear too. He kept staring at it, reluctant to eat it. Moss beside him had already removed his bandages and eaten over half of his bear before Lan Luo finally ate the tiny pink flower on the bear's head.

"They're very beautiful." Shen Yuxi praised him. "Few people put this much thought into puppets."

Carving the Energy Stones into different shapes had been solely to make the puppets happy; he did not need anyone else's approval. Yet hearing Doctor's praise, Qi Chao felt unexpectedly embarrassed.

The tips of his ears reddened slightly. He coughed and said, "They're alright."

Rainbow Bear was a character Lan Luo liked. Qi Chao had originally wanted to carve Moss a character he liked as well, but regrettably, Moss did not have one. So Qi Chao settled for carving him the bear's older brother, making it a matching brother set.

As they talked, Qi Chao noticed that Doctor had taken several extra bites of fish, so he pulled the fish dish closer to him. Lan Luo and Moss had not been wrong—Doctor really did prefer seafood.

When the fish dish appeared by his right hand, Shen Yuxi paused slightly, then smiled at Qi Chao in thanks.

After the meal, Shen Yuxi began repairing Lan Luo's cracks, while the taciturn Moss handed his father the data he had recorded yesterday.

Qi Chao stood nearby, watching Doctor hold Lan Luo's hand and carefully inspect the cracks on it. He felt terrible.

"How many days will it take to repair the cracks?"

"Three days."

Shen Yuxi, now in work mode, was not as gentle as before. He did not look up, his gold-rimmed glasses fixed intently on the back of Lan Luo's hand, and his voice was somewhat cold as well.

Lan Luo sat in the chair, looking at his father for a while, then lifting his head to look at Qi Chao. A brilliant smile remained on his face throughout.

Qi Chao felt awful. He forced a smile at Lan Luo, reached out to ruffle the child's hair, then asked, "Can I watch from the side while you repair him?"

"It's best not to." After finishing the examination, Shen Yuxi raised his head slightly to look at Qi Chao and said seriously, "I'm not used to having people around me."

Qi Chao understood. He smiled, his voice low. "Alright, I understand."

To make things easier for Doctor, Qi Chao had specifically cleared out a clean room on the second floor to serve as an "operating room."

While Lan Luo underwent the procedure inside, Qi Chao waited outside.

Moss, as the assistant, did not go in to help. Instead, he stood guard outside with Qi Chao, leaning against the wall and watching the restless Qi Chao with dark eyes.

"Why are you anxious?"

Moss asked hoarsely.

He did not understand. Qi Chao had clearly been the one to hurt Lan Luo, so why did he seem so worried during the treatment?

Qi Chao paused. He had always been clever, so he naturally understood Moss's unspoken meaning. "I used to be a damned piece of trash, not fit to be called a person at all. But now, I treat Lan Luo as my own child."

As his child?

Moss, whose entire body was wrapped in bandages, tilted his head slightly. When Qi Chao turned away, his black eyes looked unnaturally huge.

Moss's first owner had said the same thing. Then Moss's face and body had been scraped to pieces, his owner smiling as he used a sharp dagger to slice open his skin, cut by cut.

Was this what it meant to treat them as children?

The fingers of Moss's bandaged hand twitched slightly.

The system nearly cracked apart inside Qi Chao's consciousness. It clutched its head and whimpered, terrified that the enraged demon puppet would pounce on the host and destroy him outright.

It desperately wanted to roll off to the neighboring plane. Although Jiao Jiao was stupid and useless, at least that plane was safe!

The system waited in trembling terror for the host's death to arrive. Strangely, although the bandage-covered puppet glared with predatory intent, he never rushed forward to kill the host, as if something were restraining him.

Qi Chao knew nothing of any of this. After speaking with Moss, he irritably scratched his hair, feeling that his answer just now had sounded too fake, both perfunctory and hypocritical.

But he could not reveal the system or the fact that he had transmigrated. No matter how he answered, the result would be the same.

After waiting outside the room for nearly three hours, the door finally opened. Shen Yuxi emerged and pulled down his mask with one finger. "Repairing the cracks consumes a great deal of energy. Lan Luo is already asleep. Just wake him when it's time for dinner."

Qi Chao immediately relaxed and walked inside.

Shen Yuxi stepped aside. Once Qi Chao had entered, his gaze fell on Moss, who was hiding in the corner.

Moss stood straight in the corner like a child who had been caught after doing something wrong.

Shen Yuxi's expression did not change. He walked up to Moss, seemingly aware of what had happened, and said softly, "If you cannot remain calm, then you have no value."

At those words, Moss's black eyes constricted. His lips moved beneath the bandages as if he wanted to say something. After several faint motions, he finally said in a low voice, "Father, I didn't do anything."

Shen Yuxi's peach-blossom eyes were like a bottomless lake, icy to the bone. He silently looked at Moss once, said nothing, then turned and left.

Inside the "operating room," Lan Luo lay quietly on the bed with his eyes closed, the cracked areas covered with a layer of white ointment.

Qi Chao looked him over a few times. Once he was sure the child was alright, he tugged at the corner of his mouth and solemnly thanked Doctor as he came in.