Chapter 9
“Human, why are you… not talking?” The cotton doll had been muttering to itself for a long time, but it hadn’t heard the human utter a single word. Suddenly remembering the “fallen” snow globe and the “on strike” white machine, it leaned close in concern: “Human, are you… broken?”
“…What nonsense are you spouting again.” Shang Che hooked the collar of the cotton doll’s clothes and placed it onto the island counter in the storage room. Then, relaxing his shoulders, he supported himself with both hands against the counter’s edge, leaning his body forward slightly.
His obsidian-like eyes met those pure golden pupils in silent confrontation.
Shang Che scrutinized it up close, millimeter by millimeter. Aside from its ability to talk and move, the cotton doll in front of him really didn’t look any different from an ordinary plush toy—it had the same round head, chubby body, and short, stubby limbs.
At most, only the color scheme and facial expression were different.
He still remembered the quick glance he had taken at the doll photo Lin Zhi showed earlier: the doll in the picture had chestnut hair, green eyes, a mouth shaped like a tiny “o,” and was dressed like a painter.
Mm, so he had to add one more distinction: the outfit was different.
So, why was the cotton doll in front of him… alive?
Lost in thought, Shang Che lowered his head unconsciously, his brows furrowing slightly in confusion and doubt.
Until—a soft touch pressed against his forehead.
Shang Che froze, snapping his eyelids up.
The cotton doll didn’t know why the human had stared at it for a moment, only to suddenly daze off into thin air.
It shifted forward cautiously. Taking advantage of the moment Shang Che had lowered his eyes to ponder, it held onto his firm forearm and slowly stood up. Then, stretching with all its might on its non-existent toes, it gently pressed its soft, plush head against his forehead, swaying subtly from side to side to rub against him softly.
It was like a clumsy attempt to smooth out the tight furrow between his brows.
“!!!”
With the cotton doll so close, the first thing that hit Shang Che’s eyes was a blurry patch of pink. Not just his forehead and the space between his brows, but even the tip of his nose registered that soft touch.
As if startled, he jerked his head back, his breath catching in an instant. He looked at the cotton doll—which had approached him at an unknown moment—with a mix of fluster and surprise.
Seeing the human’s tightly knit brows smooth out, and even his eyes widening quite a bit, the cotton doll was overjoyed: “Human, you’re all better!”
“Cotton thought… you were broken…” Still holding onto Shang Che’s arm, its tone carried a hint of subtle pride, practically begging for praise: “Cotton fixed you! Isn’t Cotton super awesome~”
“Human, say something…”
Lowering his gaze just a fraction, he could see those dazzling, brilliant eyes of the cotton doll. Shang Che paused, then countered in a casual tone: “Say what?”
“Say Cotton is awesome!” The cotton doll raised its big head, still persistently hung up on not receiving praise.
Hearing this, the corners of Shang Che’s lips curled into a faint, unreadable smirk. Brows raised, he delivered each word clearly: “You. Are. Not. Awesome. At. All.”
This mean human only knows how to make Cotton mad!
“How could Cotton… not be awesome!”
Shang Che shrugged, then suddenly turned around and bent down. The cotton doll panicked instantly: “Human, where are you going?”
Shang Che picked up a glass marble off the floor without lifting his head, his footsteps floating over accompanied by a gentle reply.
“To clean up the mess for a certain… barely awesome cotton doll.”
!!!
Having received a “disguised” praise, the cotton doll sat obediently on the island counter in complete contentment. Even though it was the one who had demanded the compliment, it was also the one now covering its face and lowering its head in shyness.
Human praised Cotton! Human praised Cotton! Human praised Cotton!
It dropped the round hands covering its eyes, only to realize the surface under its bottom was far from ordinary.
The cotton doll bumped its head against it, its cheeks pressed tight against the glass. A pair of starry eyes sparkled brightly, its tone filled with excitement: “Woah~ There are so many… shiny things here!”
The top of the island counter was a sheet of crystal-clear glass, and the black velvet interior lining made the gems collected inside shine even more brilliantly.
Shang Che was currently pinching the dirty 20-centimeter cotton doll, letting out a sigh as he unlocked his phone to search: Can a 20cm cotton doll be washed? Hearing its exclamation, he replied casually: “You like them?”
“Cotton likes them! Cotton wants them!” The cotton doll looked at him expectantly.
Immediately after, a cold, ruthless sentence echoed through the storage room: “Mm. If you like them, take a few extra looks.”
Cotton Doll: “Mean human!”
After briefly skimming through the search results, Shang Che lifted the cotton doll off the island counter and turned to leave the storage room, his tone completely flat: “I’ll let you see how a mean human ‘punishes’ a trouble-making cotton doll.”
The cotton doll was set down beside the sink, watching Shang Che roll up his sleeves to reveal youthful yet firm, toned forearms.
After turning off the faucet, he poured a little bit of a different liquid into the basin. His slender fingers stirred the water until fine bubbles formed, then he glanced at the dirty 20-centimeter cotton doll beside him before turning around to fetch something.
“!!!” The cotton doll stared with a face full of terror at his departing back. Without a second thought, it transferred into the 20-centimeter body. Ignoring the loud “creaking” sounds, it shuffled wildly toward the edge of the sink, trying with all its might to escape.
This punishment is too terrifying! Help! Someone wants to harm Cotton!
Returning with a clean new towel, Shang Che heard a strange noise.
Approaching to take a look, he saw the 20-centimeter cotton doll—which was supposed to be sitting quietly and lifelessly—currently moving forward, “creak, creak,” at a painstaking pace.
“So this is what you meant by learning to walk?” Shang Che’s teasing voice rang out.
The cotton doll turned its head stiffly. The mean human was crossing his arms, watching its “escape” with great interest, and even casually delivered a fatal blow: “At this speed of yours, I could give you a whole day and you still wouldn’t make it out of this room.”
“Mean human!”
Shang Che ignored its accusation and walked straight forward. He pinched the doll’s hand that was pointing at him and realized: “So you’re a cotton doll with an internal skeleton.”
He gently flexed the arm joints twice, commenting: “Quite flexible, actually.”
Dangled in mid-air by him, the cotton doll kept resisting with all its might, crying out loudly in protest: “You want to harm Cotton!”
“You want to… drown Cotton!”
Shang Che was almost driven to laughter by its absurd imagination.
Just as he was about to “threaten” it a bit, he acutely felt that beneath his thumb, the tiny body was trembling in subtle quivers.
…Was it… scared?
Shang Che’s movement froze. He paused, softening his tone slightly: “No one is trying to harm you. You got dirty yourself, so I’m just helping you clean up.”
“The punishment was just to scare you.”
The cotton doll knew it was very dirty right now, but it still shrank back in resistance: “Cotton… can’t touch water.”
…Did its factory settings come with a built-in fear of water?
Shang Che exercised his patience to explain: “This small one can. I’m just using a damp towel to wipe you down. It’s fine.”
“Really?” the cotton doll asked cautiously.
Shang Che pulled at the corner of his mouth, his tone carrying that familiar, exasperated disdain: “Do you think I really want to wash you?”
It was hard to tell who was actually being punished here.
The cotton doll still couldn’t completely set its mind at ease. It insisted on staying in the 20-centimeter body until Shang Che washed it clean and proved he wasn’t going to harm it.
Shang Che couldn’t be bothered to argue further: “Suit yourself.”
He dipped the new towel into the sink, wrung it out until it was half-dry, then held the dirty cotton doll firmly in one hand. Starting from its round head, he wiped it down gently with the towel.
A layer of dust had settled on its fair fabric face, especially around its chin down to its mouth, looking like crumbs left behind from sneaking a snack. The back of its head was relatively clean. Shang Che cleaned it meticulously, even using the towel to smooth out the tuft of ahoge hair on its head.
Realizing that Shang Che truly had no intention of harming it, the cotton doll slowly relaxed, even unconsciously rubbing its fluffy head against his palm like an enjoying, petted small animal.
Shang Che’s movements paused almost imperceptibly: “…”
Its little clothes were dirty beyond belief, so Shang Che’s flexible fingers quickly unbuttoned them.
Holding onto one of his fingers with its “creaking” hands, the cotton doll asked in confusion: “Human, why are you… stripping Cotton’s… clothes again…”
Shang Che withdrew his finger and cleared his throat softly: “If you want to wear dirty clothes, I don’t mind either.”
The cotton doll pondered for a moment: “Cotton doesn’t want to.”
Then it obediently let go, allowing Shang Che to drop its clothes into the sink to soak.
The hands and feet were the hardest parts to deal with, requiring a bit of force to wipe clean. Shang Che had zero doubt this little creature had crawled around on the floor for quite some time. He had to change the spot on the towel three or four times before he finally got it clean.
Once wiped down, the dust on the cotton doll was essentially gone, restoring its original pure white and soft state. However, because some parts of the fabric face had touched water, the color looked darker in some patches and lighter in others, feeling slightly damp to the touch.
Setting it aside, Shang Che scrubbed the small clothes that had been soaking for a while, wrung them dry with force, then retrieved the hair dryer from the side. Adjusting the temperature, he said to the cotton doll: “Once it’s blown dry, we’re done.”
The cotton doll sat quietly, the tuft of hair on its head fluttering gently in the warm air, brushing past Shang Che’s fingers.
Throughout the entire process, the cotton doll was extremely quiet and cooperative. There were only Shang Che’s shallow breathing, the subtle friction of the towel wiping down the fabric, and the continuous low hum of the hair dryer—yet there was an indescribable warmth to the scene.
After confirming that the cotton doll’s body was completely blown dry and even emitting a fresh fragrance, Shang Che fell silent again, drying those half-damp little clothes, carefully feeling every corner that might have been missed.
The cotton doll returned to its 40-centimeter body, seemingly because it could see things better this way.
This human who said he was going to “punish” it hadn’t hit or scolding it. Instead, he had patiently cleaned it up and even washed its clothes for it.
Although this human sometimes spoke very harshly and resisted its approach and touch, he had still let it stay.
Even though it didn’t know how long it would take for this human to truly accept it, as a Cotton, it had already chosen this keeper.
If this keeper could be just a little bit nicer to it, that would be even better.
The cleaned-up cotton doll was brought back to the storage room and set neatly on the blanket by Shang Che as before. Resting one knee on the blanket, he leaned down, met those eyes, and instructed: “From now on, you stay in the storage room and be quiet.”
“…I’ll come see you when I have time.”
“Mm!” The cotton doll agreed earnestly.
Shang Che turned to leave. When he reached the doorway, he glanced back once more.
On the blanket, the cotton doll was still sitting there obediently and quietly, yet carrying a clear look of dejection and grievance, the tuft of hair on its head drooping.
Shang Che suddenly spoke up, his tone somewhat unnatural: “…Will you be scared staying here by yourself?”
The moment the words left his mouth, Shang Che regretted it. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh.
What on earth was he saying?
Asking a lump of cotton if it was scared.
Yet the cotton doll seemed to think about it very seriously, answering slowly:
“It’s not dark… Cotton is not scared.” Because the human had left the light on for it.
“Quiet… Cotton is used to it.” Because before hearing the human’s voice, Cotton’s world had always been quiet.
“Cotton used to be scared of water… not anymore…” Because the human had been very patient when cleaning it up.
It paused, adding a sentence in a tiny voice: “Cotton can manage by itself.”
The cotton doll’s expression was simple and direct, yet Shang Che understood the reason behind every single word. His throat suddenly felt a bit dry, and he gave a low, quiet response: “Okay.”
Right at the moment Shang Che pressed down on the door handle, the last sentence the cotton doll blurted out struck his chest without warning.
Shang Che fell silent for a few seconds. In the end, he said nothing, merely pulling the storage room door shut gently.
Click.
The door lock engaged, as if separating two worlds once more.
This time, however, Shang Che stood outside the door, not leaving right away.
The back of his head rested against the hard, cold wall. Hearing no further sound coming from inside, the cotton doll’s final sentence echoed repeatedly in his mind, every single word incomparably clear.
“Cotton wants to be with human. Cotton doesn’t want to be alone.”
He raised his hand, rubbing his temples that had begun to throb with pain again.
As expected, keeping this cotton doll was a monumental trouble. If he had been a little more heartless back then and thrown it straight out, everything would have been fine.
He glanced at the tightly closed door panel. Beneath the annoyance caused by the trouble, something else seemed to be quietly sprouting—a subtle, tiny sting, like an ant nibbling at his heart.
“Sorry, A-Che. The streetlights in the garden are broken. Dad will find someone to fix them in a few days.”
“Dad is busy. A-Che, you can manage by yourself, right?”
“A-Che, you’ll understand Dad, won’t you?”
“A-Che…”
—He would only do such a stupid thing once.
In the next second, the storage room door was yanked open violently. The human had returned, standing before the cotton doll once again. Looking into those golden eyes that lit up in an instant, his tone was crisp, carrying an urgent authority that left no room for debate:
“I’ll give you one second to decide whether you’re coming back to my room with me.”
