Pei Yubai opened his eyes at his usual time, preparing to wash up and go for a morning run before returning to wake up his Yuanyuan.
The daylight filtering through the curtains was still a grayish-blue. Birds were chirping outside the hotel where the film crew was staying, but they stopped after chirping twice.
He turned his head to the side; the pillow next to him was empty.
Pei Yubai regained consciousness in an instant.
Qiguan Yuan always gets up late; back in Cloud-Hidden Town, he could sleep until noon, so it was impossible for him to have woken up before him.
Pei Yubai frowned.
He propped himself up on one side and glanced towards the bathroom. The door was open, but the light was off.
Just as he was about to lift the covers and get out of bed to look for it, he suddenly felt a slight itch below his waist and abdomen.
It was very, very light, like some extremely soft downy hair gently brushing against his skin.
The itching was very noticeable.
He stopped pulling back the blanket.
Look down.
The blanket formed a small, almost imperceptible curve at his waist.
He gently lifted a corner of the blanket.
The morning light peeked through the gaps in the curtains, falling on the pillow, the sheets, and on the little figure curled up beside him.
It was a tiny figure, barely taller than his palm.
She lay on her side, her silver hair spread out on the sheets, finer than silk, covering a small patch.
She was wearing a white undergarment, the same material as the one Qiguan Yuan had worn before going to bed last night. The neckline was askew, revealing an incredibly small section of her collarbone.
The pair of snow-white fox ears on her head were twitching gently, the tips brushing against Pei Yubai's waist, each twitch bringing a slight tickle.
Its nine tails tucked into nine small tufts of white fluff, piled up loosely behind it, with one tail draped over its ankle.
Pei Yubai remained motionless, still holding the blanket up.
He stared at the little man in disbelief for a long time.
His gaze swept from the silver hair to the ears, from the ears to the tail, and from the tail to the small face, no bigger than his thumb.
Qiguan Yuan's face.
He blinked.
I put the blanket down, then lifted it again to look. It was still that same face.
He gently put the blanket back, then very slowly moved his body down a few inches so that he could look the little man in the eye.
Qiguan Yuan has not yet woken up.
Her breathing was even and deep, her small chest rising and falling slightly with each breath.
Pei Yubai lay on the bed, one hand supporting his chin, watching the palm-sized Qiguan Yuan sleeping beside him. Birds chirped outside the window again.
He didn't hear it.
After about half a cup of tea's time, he reached out his hand.
The pad of his index finger touched Qiguan Yuan's cheek very lightly.
The texture was exactly the same as before; the skin was slightly cool and as soft as a freshly cooked rice cake.
But it's a little different from before.
Pei Yubai couldn't quite put his finger on what was different.
Qiguan Yuan frowned in his sleep, touched the spot where he had been poked with his little hand, turned over, and buried his face in the blanket.
That hand was only half the length of Pei Yubai's finger joint, and when the five fingers were spread out, it looked like a small ginkgo leaf.
Pei Yubai stared at the hand for a while, then gently pulled the blanket down a little and poked Qiguan Yuan's other cheek.
It's incredibly rare.
So cute, Yuanyuan.
Qiguan Yuan was awakened by being provoked.
He vaguely felt someone touching his face and instinctively reached out to block it.
My finger touched a huge, warm fingertip.
He opened his eyes.
Pei Yubai's face filled the entire field of vision.
Qiguan Yuan took a big step back, his two ears on his head suddenly turned to the sides like airplane ears, and his tail exploded into nine dandelion-like blooms.
He looked up at the enormous face in front of him, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly before he could finally find his voice.
" Pei Yubai?"
It was still his voice.
Her voice was soft and hoarse, with a nasal tone, as if she had just woken up.
To Pei Yubai, the volume was as soft as a kitten whimpering in his ear.
Pei Yubai responded with a "Mm."
"You..." Qiguan Yuan looked down at his hands, then at his feet, and then turned to look at the tail behind him.
The tail was only as long as Pei Yubai's little finger, and it was stiffly standing upright.
He reached out and pinched the tip of its tail; it hurt.
This isn't a dream.
He slowly raised his head to look at Pei Yubai, his tone incredulous. "I've shrunk?"
Pei Yubai said, "Hmm."
Qiguan Yuan immediately thought of that formation.
"Why aren't you shrinking? The formation is clearly aimed at you."
" Yuanyuan, do you still remember that formation from last night?"
Qiguan Yuan thought for a moment, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Lu Zhao.
There must be something wrong with the spells recorded in that tattered book.
He went through the page of incantations with the folded corner in his mind again and found a line of very small text in the footnote of the last paragraph that he hadn't seen clearly last night.
The footnote roughly states that this spell was a shrinking curse invented by an ancient deity to spite a hedgehog spirit.
If a spell is mispronounced during casting, the spell's effect will change from "shrinking the target" to "shrinking the caster."
The deity was mocked by the hedgehog spirit for three hundred years after he mispronounced the word.
Qiguan Yuan opened his eyes, his expression a mixture of helplessness and resignation. "I have to return to the Heavenly Realm to find Lu Zhao to break the curse. There are no materials in the mortal realm that can break this curse."
Pei Yubai stretched out his hand, palm up, and placed it next to Qiguan Yuan.
Qiguan Yuan glanced at the hand, then looked down at his own height, which was not even as tall as the other person's hand, and resignedly stepped on Pei Yubai's palm.
He sat down in Pei Yubai's palm, his nine tails dangling at the edge of his hand, his two legs dangling in the air and swaying.
Pei Yubai clenched his palm slightly.
His thumb gently stroked Qiguan Yuan's back, feeling the few tufts of tail fur brush against the base of his thumb.
Returning to the Heavenly Realm requires waiting for Lu Zhao's communication talisman; there's no use in rushing.
Qiguan Yuan, resting his thumb on Pei Yubai's bent thumb.
Pei Yubai watched him finish yawning, gently placed him on the pillow, and got up to wash up.
He washed his face and brushed his teeth much faster than usual, and instead of changing into his workout clothes for his morning run, he returned to his bedside and sat cross-legged in front of his pillow.
Qiguan Yuan was lying face down in the middle of the pillow, his face buried in the pillowcase, with only his two ears and a small patch of silver hair showing.
After shrinking, he seemed to get sleepy more easily and fell asleep again.
Pei Yubai lay on the edge of the bed, his chin resting on his crossed arms, looking at Qiguan Yuan on the pillow.
After watching for a while, he stretched out his finger.
He gently rubbed Qiguan Yuan's ear with his fingertip. The ear flicked under his finger.
He withdrew his hand, but couldn't resist touching the little tail draped over the pillow.
Its tail twitched unconsciously.
His Yuanyuan is so cute!
Pei Yubai buried his face in his arms, leaving only his eyes showing, and continued watching.
When Qiguan Yuan woke up again, he smelled soy milk.
He sat up and rubbed his eyes, only to find a mineral water bottle cap in front of him containing warm soy milk.
There was also a small piece of steamed bun next to it, broken into pieces about the size of a fingernail.
Qiguan Yuan looked at the bottle cap, then at Pei Yubai. "Don't you have a cup?"
Pei Yubai said, "You can't even hold the smallest cup in the hotel."
I'll have someone order some for you.
Qiguan Yuan remained silent for a moment.
He picked up the bottle cap with both hands and took a sip of soy milk.
After finishing the drink, put the bottle cap down and let your ears droop.
Even drinking water is so difficult after shrinking.
Pei Yubai watched him drink soy milk while making a phone call. On the other end of the line was his executive agent.
"Buy me some things. I need very delicate little clothes and accessories too. The smaller the size, the better. Have someone make them for me right away; I need them this afternoon."
The agent asked what size.
Pei Yubai glanced at Qiguan Yuan, who was breaking a steamed bun with both hands, and said into the phone, "I'll send you the measurements in a bit."
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.
The agent didn't press further about the reasonableness of the size, simply saying "I understand" and hanging up.
After breakfast, Pei Yubai held Qiguan Yuan in his palm and prepared to go out.
Qiguan Yuan stood on his palm, gripping his thumb with both hands to maintain his balance.
When I arrived at the film set, the production assistant was the first person to greet me.
Pei Yubai handed over the thermos she wanted to return. As the stagehand took the cup, she caught a glimpse of something he was holding in his other hand and instinctively looked down.
A tiny figure stood in Pei Yubai's palm.
Her silver hair reached her waist, and she had two snow-white fox ears standing upright on her head, with nine tails swaying gently behind her.
Wearing a white undershirt and barefoot, she looked up at the lighting equipment on set, her fox-like eyes full of curiosity.
The stagehand nearly dropped the thermos he was holding.
" Teacher Pei, what is this?! It's so cute! So pretty! Is this Teacher Qiguan's image?"
"This is a lifelike robot that Yuanyuan customized for me." Pei Yubai held his palm forward slightly so the production assistant could see it more clearly. "Is it nice?"
Qiguan Yuan stood in his palm, expressionless, and raised a small hand to wave at him.
It was part of the performance.
The stagehands' eyes were glued to Qiguan Yuan and couldn't be pulled away.
"It's so beautiful... it's so realistic... and the ears even move... oh my god, so cute!"
Pei Yubai hummed in agreement and continued walking inside, supporting Qiguan Yuan.
Along the way, I met the costume designer, makeup artist, head of the lighting crew, and director.
Every time he met someone, Pei Yubai would unconsciously extend his palm forward, letting them see the little figure in his palm.
Everyone reacted in roughly the same way.
First, they gasped, then leaned closer to look, and exclaimed things like, "It's so exquisite!" and "How much would it cost to have this custom-made?"
I absolutely love this "humanoid robot".
Pei Yubai nodded after hearing this and continued walking forward.
Qiguan Yuan sat in his palm and whispered, "Why do you treat me like a museum exhibit, showing me off to everyone?"
Pei Yubai said, "Because Yuanyuan is beautiful."
Qiguan Yuan's ears twitched, but he didn't refute it further.
The makeup artist couldn't resist reaching out to touch the little figure's fluffy ears.
Before his fingers even touched her, Pei Yubai withdrew his hand.
He looked at the makeup artist and said two words: "Mine."
He then added, "Don't touch it."
The makeup artist awkwardly withdrew her hand.
The costume designer next to him couldn't help but laugh, " Teacher Pei just said it was a robot. A robot being afraid of being touched?"
Pei Yubai ignored her.
He carried Qiguan Yuan to his rest area, placed him on a folding table, and then took out a measuring tape from his bag to measure Qiguan Yuan's height, shoulder width, and waist circumference.
Around noon, the assistant drove a small van into the film set.
The truck door opened, and several staff members helped unload the goods.
The things being carried down caused the entire crew to stop what they were doing and gather around to watch.
A delicate little recliner with an adjustable backrest and a seat cushion filled with silk and goose down.
The matching small parasol has bamboo ribs and a beige cotton-linen fabric canopy, with a border of handmade lace around the edge.
A small round table, its legs carved with intertwined floral patterns, and its surface covered with a tiny embroidered tablecloth.
A small wardrobe, inside which are five or six different styles of clothes, including loungewear, light jackets for going out, and a hooded bathrobe with the hood shaped like fox ears.
The costume designer squatted in front of the small recliner, clutching her heart, and said, "This is so cute! I've never seen anything so cute in my life."
The makeup artist squatted down beside her, staring at the neatly hung little clothes in the wardrobe. "Isn't the fox ear hat on this yukata a matching set with the little robot's ears?"
The young female stagehand had already taken out her phone and snapped over a dozen photos, muttering, "Are all the parts for lifelike robots this exquisite?"
"What would a robot need a bathtub for? Won't it leak electricity while taking a bath?"
Pei Yubai ignored them, took Qiguan Yuan out of his coat pocket, and placed him on the table.
"Try the recliner first."
Qiguan Yuan glanced at the exquisitely crafted mini recliner, then at the crew members squatting around him with shining eyes, and resignedly walked over and lay down.
The recliner was at the perfect angle. The parasol blocked the overhead light.
On the small round table sat freshly squeezed juice, just brought by his assistant, in custom-made small glasses, the rim of which was just large enough for Qiguan Yuan to hold with both hands.
Qiguan Yuan lay on the recliner, took a sip of juice, crossed his legs, and rested his tail comfortably on the armrest.
Pei Yubai squatted down beside him and kept taking pictures of him with his phone.
I took several pictures and chose one to set as my new lock screen wallpaper.
Pei Yubai has two major performances this afternoon.
He checked everything before he left.
Is the angle of the parasol right? Is there enough juice? Is the small blanket folded and placed on the armrest of the recliner?
He bent down and said to Qiguan Yuan, "Call me if you need anything."
He customized a small phone watch for Qiguan Yuan so that Qiguan Yuan could hold and play with it.
Cell phones are too big for him; a smartwatch is just the right size.
Qiguan Yuan stretched her little hand out from under the blanket and waved it to indicate that she understood.
After Pei Yubai left, the makeup artist finally couldn't resist coming over and squatting down next to the recliner to observe the little robot up close.
After watching for a while, she let out a soft "hmm".
"Don't you guys think... this robot's skin texture is so realistic? There are even crescent-shaped white marks under its fingernails. The texture of its hair doesn't look like a wig. And it really seems to be breathing."
The costume designer also came over. After looking at it for a while, she said, "It's drunk half a glass of juice. There's really not much juice left in the glass."
Can robots drink juice?
The young stagehand remained silent for a long time before zooming in on the photos she had secretly taken to examine them closely.
It even has pores.
Good heavens, is this what rich people's robots are like?
She really wanted it too.