Chapter 4

Little dolls were afraid of pain too.

People thought little dolls did not fear pain and had no emotions only because no one had ever asked them.

They had human emotions; like newborn babies, they simply needed adults to guide them slowly.

Qi Chao cursed under his breath.

But he did not even know who he was cursing.

Lan Luo still looked as though nothing mattered to him, smiling pleasantly.

Qi Chao reached out with both hands, cupped the doll's cheeks, and gave them a firm rub, squishing his soft, chubby face into a funny expression.

Seeing Lan Luo look at him in confusion, Qi Chao lowered his hands. His dark brown eyes turned serious as he said, "Lan Luo, if you don't want to smile, you don't have to."

Hearing that, Lan Luo seemed somewhat puzzled. His gaze turned blank, as if he did not understand what his master meant. Out of Qi Chao's sight, his fingertips began picking at the sofa again.

Qi Chao explained earnestly, "Your previous master was trash. He deserved to die. You need to remember that hitting people is wrong in itself. You don't need to hide your pain. If anyone hits you, no matter who it is, you can fight back. You don't have to endure it."

As he spoke, he saw Lan Luo's bewildered eyes and realized that his words might be a little difficult for a doll to understand.

As the kid's current guardian, Qi Chao had a responsibility to teach Lan Luo all this, but he was not in a hurry for the little doll to understand right away.

At least until Lan Luo fully learned to love himself, Qi Chao would stay with the little doll as he grew up.

Qi Chao scratched his slightly curly hair, took a drink of water to moisten his throat, then looked up at the time. Eleven o'clock.

"Kid, are you sleepy?" Qi Chao remembered that dolls did not need rest, but after consuming Energy Stones, they would sleep for a while to digest the energy.

That probably counted as sleeping?

"Sleepy." Lan Luo's eyes curved into crescents. As for whether he was truly sleepy, only he himself knew.

Hearing the answer, Qi Chao suddenly remembered that this house did not have a separate bedroom for the little doll at all.

Before, the little doll had slept in a pitch-black storage room like merchandise. Later, when the original owner became fond of the doll, he locked him in a cage.

Both options were completely screwed up. Qi Chao could not understand it. The original owner's villa had so many rooms, so why could he not spare one for the little doll?

"Okay, let's go upstairs and pick you a room." As Qi Chao spoke, he turned slightly sideways and waited for Lan Luo to follow.

Lan Luo obediently followed. He was only as tall as Qi Chao's waist and walked more slowly. Looking at the top of the little doll's head, Qi Chao kept feeling an itch in his hands.

After going upstairs, Qi Chao checked every room one by one and could not help marveling at how the rich really lived. Every room was incredibly luxurious.

It was just that the style did not suit the little doll very well. When he got the chance, he could redecorate according to Lan Luo's preferences.

Lan Luo was a very obedient child. He had no objections no matter which room he stayed in. In other words, even if he were made to continue living in a cage or storage room, he would not object.

So Qi Chao decided to have Lan Luo stay in the room next to his.

After making the bed, Qi Chao looked at the little doll, who was still dressed in a white suit, and suddenly remembered that Lan Luo seemed to have only this one outfit.

Fuck! Why had the original owner not bought the little doll any clothes? Even pajamas would have been fine!

Qi Chao once again doubted whether the original owner really was some rich, handsome young master.

It was too late to say anything now. Qi Chao could only let the little doll sleep like this for one night.

Lan Luo also seemed sleepy, and his reactions had become somewhat sluggish. Qi Chao hurriedly got the child into bed. Only after seeing him obediently pull up the blanket did he turn off the lights and leave.

The original owner rarely stayed at the villa and lived at the old residence most of the time. Qi Chao entered the master bedroom and looked around, finding only a few necessities.

Qi Chao had not rested at all since transmigrating. His mind was still unusually alert, but his body had already begun signaling exhaustion, and his eyelids kept drooping.

Standing in the bathroom, he splashed some water on his face. Looking at the black-haired man in the mirror, he could not help leaning closer for a careful look.

He looked very much like the original owner, but the system had made slight adjustments to make him resemble the original owner more closely. Qi Chao had always lived rough and had done plenty of dirty, exhausting work. His skin had never been this refined. He truly could not compare to a noble young master like the original owner, who had been born with a golden spoon in his mouth.

Qi Chao gave a derisive laugh and tossed the towel onto the rack. It would have been better if the man had not been so awful.

He yawned, forced his eyes open long enough to pick out several outfits and several pounds of High-Grade Energy Stones for the little doll, then burrowed beneath the covers. Qi Chao had always fallen asleep easily, and since he was truly exhausted today, he was out cold within a minute of lying down.

Who knew how much time passed. Breathing softly filled the room as the night deepened. Shadows of clouds drifted past, and cool moonlight shone through the floor-to-ceiling windows and thin curtains onto the second person in the room.

What was terrifying was that the person was crouching beside Qi Chao's pillow, yet Qi Chao had not noticed a thing.

Under the moonlight, his golden hair seemed to glow, while his blue eyes held an inorganic coldness. It was clearly the little doll, Lan Luo.

The doors and windows were tightly locked. No one knew how he had gotten in.

Qi Chao would have noticed someone beside him if he merely turned over. Unfortunately, he had always slept very properly.

Lan Luo crouched on the bed and gestured toward Qi Chao's heart, seemingly deciding where to strike.

Today's master was especially annoying.

And especially inexplicable.

Lan Luo stared coldly at the man in bed.

He remembered Qi Chao calling himself Dad.

A shadow flickered through Lan Luo's eyes as he closed them.

It was not time yet.

He could not kill him.

Big Brother would be angry.

Father would too.

A gentle breeze brushed past, leaving only Qi Chao in the room.

And the system, which had just returned to check in and happened to witness this scene.

System: ...I was terrified at the time.

Chapter 4

At six the next morning, Qi Chao woke up with sleepy eyes and messy hair. He clearly had not gotten enough sleep.

[Good morning, Host.]

The electronic voice suddenly sounded.

No matter how sleepy Qi Chao was, that instantly woke him up. He was a little surprised. The system had only left yesterday—was it back already so soon?