Chapter 13: Forced to Stay Home, Puppet Arts

While Shi Yi was lost in her thoughts, the elevator doors opened, but she hesitated to step out. Gu Hansheng glanced at her, immediately understanding what was on her mind. He strode out of the elevator, predictably stopping right across from her apartment. Shi Yi stood at the stairwell, staring at him in disbelief. Gu Hansheng scanned his fingerprint, unlocked the door, and shrugged at her.

“What a coincidence—we’re neighbors after all.”

Before Shi Yi could respond, his door slammed shut.

“Phew…”

Shi Yi breathed a sigh of relief. So he really wasn’t some crazy stalker—he genuinely lived here. That was reassuring.

After her experience at the street stall, Shi Yi returned home and checked the viral videos circulating online about her, feeling troubled. It seemed she wouldn’t be able to set up her stall anytime soon. Every time she did, she was surrounded by crowds. She’d have to pause for a few days.

Early the next morning, a loud knocking echoed outside Shi Yi’s door. Before it could wake Shi Yi, Gu Hansheng, who lived across from her, emerged with sleepy eyes.

“Who is it, so early in the morning?”

The girls standing at Shi Yi’s door turned and saw Gu Hansheng, half-asleep and dressed in a loosely fastened robe, stepping out. He gazed at them blankly, and one girl, captivated by his striking looks, couldn’t help but cover her face.

“Oh my goodness, he’s so handsome! The master really lives up to her reputation. Did she already know I’d come to ask about my love life and arrange for this heartthrob?”

The door creaked open. Shi Yi, frowning and half-awake, answered.

“Who is it?” Her voice was muffled, clearly not fully awake.

The stylish girls crowded forward as soon as Shi Yi opened the door.

“Hello, Master Shi Yi. I saw your online posts and waited at the stall for you today, but you never showed up. I can’t believe you actually live here!”

“Master, can you read my fortune?”

Shi Yi listened to the girls chattering by her ear, still a bit dazed. She glanced at Gu Hansheng, who stood opposite with arms crossed, watching the scene unfold.

It took her a while to realize what the girls were asking.

Shi Yi’s frown deepened. She had stayed home, avoiding the stall precisely to escape people like these. Yet here they were, at her doorstep.

“I’m sorry, if you want your fortune read, you have to wait at my stall. Coming to my home won’t do.”

With that, Shi Yi closed the door decisively, ignoring the girls’ pitiful expressions.

Gu Hansheng, seeing the entertainment was over, shrugged and shut his own door.

Behind his door, Gu Hansheng heard the disappointed complaints of the girls and couldn’t help but curl his lips into a smile.

“So she really is a little fortune teller…”

Gu Hansheng glanced at the table, where several puppet figurines were placed, and smiled again.

Whether she was a true master or a little fraud, a simple test would suffice.

He gently flicked his fingers, as if playing a melody, and the robot figurines on the table seemed to come alive, standing up in response to his movements.

“Just scare her a bit, but don’t go overboard.”

The robot followed Gu Hansheng’s gestures, slowly making its way to Shi Yi’s door and vanishing.

The phone buzzed. Gu Hansheng checked the caller and answered cheerfully.

“Gu Hansheng, I heard you took a day off without submitting a leave request. That's an absence—one day’s pay docked. If you do this again tomorrow, your whole month’s salary will be gone.”

Gu Hansheng flicked his finger.

“No big deal, I don’t care about the money.”

The caller, knowing he’d say that, replied calmly.

“I know you don’t care, but we’re getting a new recruit at the bureau soon. Get ready, and don’t slack off or embarrass me in front of the newcomer.”

A new recruit?

Gu Hansheng suddenly grew interested.

“Old Wang, it’s been ages since we had a new face at the bureau. Who’s this exceptional psychic that caught your eye?”

“Enough joking. You’ll see soon—quite outstanding, so don’t use your cheap tricks to scare them!”

Gu Hansheng shuffled back to the sofa in his slippers.

“Alright, alright, I get it, you’re so naggy!”

He hung up, picked up his tablet, and used his puppet’s eyes to observe Shi Yi’s apartment, noting the grayish décor with a raised eyebrow.

Her home style was nothing like her outward appearance.

After shutting out the uninvited guests, Shi Yi wandered sleepily back to her room, flopped on the bed, and drifted off again.

When she woke, it was already evening—the sky had turned dark. Shi Yi was startled; she hadn’t expected to sleep so long.

Groggily, she put on her slippers and reached for the light, but flicked the switch several times with no result.

“What’s going on? Is there a power outage?”

She muttered, wandering through the living room bathed in hazy moonlight. The space was open, the furniture neatly arranged and spotless.

With the moonlight, she could still see her way. She returned to her room, grabbed her phone, and headed into the living room to make a call about the power.

But then, from the corner of the sofa, she saw a pair of glowing red eyes silently staring at her…

Gu Hansheng, who had gone out for dinner with friends, had left his puppet at Shi Yi’s place. So absorbed in his fun, he’d forgotten all about it.

When he returned home late at night and found his newest puppet missing from the table, he finally remembered.

Just imagining Shi Yi being frightened by his puppet made him want to laugh.

“Let’s see how that little fortune teller handled the scare,” he mumbled, picking up his tablet and opening the surveillance feed with practiced ease.

But the screen displayed: Surveillance disabled.

Gu Hansheng’s smile froze. What was happening?

Impossible—his control skills were unmatched. He was a true psychic; how could his puppet malfunction?

Could there be a bug in his new design?

He grew concerned. The puppet was expensive, painstakingly assembled.

Real money had gone into it.

Worried, Gu Hansheng hurriedly slipped on his slippers and headed out the door.

Bang, bang, bang—