The midday sun in August blazed overhead, wilting the leaves and scorching her skin with its fiery heat.
Ruan Qiao wiped the sweat beading on her forehead and looked at the wooden door in front of her, its metal fittings half-rusted, its paint peeling so much that its original color was unrecognizable. She felt a flicker of hesitation in her heart.
She tapped the light-brain on her wrist to confirm the address. Satisfied it was correct, she finally raised her hand and knocked on the half-open door, calling out, “Excuse me, is this the Starlight Orphanage?”
But no one answered.
Ruan Qiao paused for a moment, then knocked harder, yet still received no response.
So she pushed the door open.
What met her eyes was an extremely spacious courtyard, about the size of a middle or elementary school campus from her previous world, but desolate and empty.
There was only an old L-shaped three-story building and three or four scattered small single-story houses next to it. The rest of the land lay idle.
Most striking of all, such a large courtyard, yet not a single person in sight!
“Is anyone here? Hello, is anyone here?” Ruan Qiao walked to the center of the yard and called out louder.
At that moment, a voice suddenly sounded at her feet: “Ding dong, Starlight Orphanage, Service Unit 001 at your service. How may I assist you?”
Startled, Ruan Qiao quickly looked down.
That’s when she noticed, though she hadn’t realized when it had appeared, a small, round, white robot was standing at her feet.
The screen on the robot’s head lit up with a blue smiling face.
Ruan Qiao took two steps back and half-crouched to meet the robot at eye level. “Hello, I’m Ruan Qiao…”
Before she could finish introducing herself, the robot’s smile suddenly turned into two surprised question marks, which then became a flurry of blue symbols dancing across the screen, and finally burst into a cluster of fireworks.
The round little machine even let out an “Ah!” like a human, spinning twice on the spot in delight.
The previously cold mechanical voice now carried emotion: “Ding dong, Ruan Qiao is here! Ruan Qiao is here!”
Its joy was unmistakable.
Such a welcome completely caught Ruan Qiao off guard, leaving her momentarily speechless.
She had only mysteriously arrived on this Planet 0813 earlier that morning, and her first encounter had been with the property owner, who was trying to kick her out, a truly awkward situation.
It was at that moment she felt her wrist vibrate, and in a flustered panic, she accidentally activated the law firm’s projection.
Confused, she then received notice that a distant aunt had passed away last week, leaving behind an orphanage for her to inherit.
She was immediately picked up by staff, signed the property transfer papers in the car, and was brought directly here.
Ruan Qiao was fully dressed for the journey but knew nothing about the situation on this planet.
Only, somewhere deep inside, a voice seemed to tell her—
The girl in this world who shared her name had gone elsewhere to begin an entirely new life.
Her task was to take the place of that girl and continue living on this planet.
Ruan Qiao didn’t know whether that girl had gone to her world to take her place, but she did know one thing, she could never go back.
With no other choice, she accepted her new identity and decisively embraced this unexpected gift.
While Ruan Qiao was still lost in thought, the little robot, after celebrating for a moment, finally adjusted its program and returned to normal.
It moved closer, hugging her briefly, then in its previous mechanical voice said, “Ruan Qiao, welcome. According to Ella’s prior settings, the first thing I will do is give you a tour of the orphanage.”
“Okay,” Ruan Qiao nodded.
The little robot straightened up, and the stylized smiling face reappeared on its screen: “Ding dong, Service Unit 001 at your service.”
Then it activated the wheels beneath its body and rolled to her left front side. “The first place we will visit is the playground.”
Looking at the barren expanse before her, the yellow dirt not even hardened for the ground, Ruan Qiao twitched the corner of her mouth.
The more she looked, the more she felt that this place screamed one word in capital letters: POOR.
Could this uneven, pit-riddled land really be safe for children to play on?
If one of them fell, it wouldn’t just be a joke, it could be serious.
Thinking of this, Ruan Qiao couldn’t help but start worrying about the orphanage’s finances, her unease growing with every passing thought.
She began to wonder if what she had taken over might actually be a huge burden.
The little robot, unaware of Ruan Qiao’s thoughts, continued diligently reporting a bunch of data as it led her across the playground to the row of small houses.
Just then, a shrill warning suddenly rang out: “Low battery, please recharge.”
The little robot stopped in its tracks.
It reached up with its mechanical hand and tapped its head, then a shy expression appeared on its screen.
“I’m very sorry, please wait a moment. I’ll be right back.”
Saying this, it slightly bowed to Ruan Qiao and hurried off.
Ruan Qiao: ?
So… was she supposed to just stand here and wait?
Waiting was out of the question.
The sun was far too strong.
Anyway, she had already reached the dormitory doors, and it was clear that these rooms were all vacant.
Ruan Qiao simply grabbed her luggage and walked into one of the rooms.
The dormitory was spacious.
Any room she pushed open revealed a living area with a separate bedroom.
Not only that, each room had its own private bathroom, and turning on the faucet brought a steady stream of hot water.
She was very satisfied.
Sitting down on a chair, Ruan Qiao finally let down the mask of feigned composure, revealing a tired and bewildered expression.
She had only gone to the seed company under the Agricultural Science Institute during the holiday to buy some vegetable seeds to enrich her little home garden.
Who could have imagined that she would get into a car accident and then inexplicably end up here?
To say she wasn’t nervous, worried, or scared would be a lie.
But since she was here, all she could do was go with the flow.
Fortunately, her parents had passed away early, so in her original world she had always lived independently.
Even in a new environment, she was confident she could adapt quickly.
Ruan Qiao didn’t give herself much time for self-pity. After sitting for a short while, she got up, ready to go explore.
Before she arrived, the people at the law firm had shown her the will, which clearly stated—
To inherit this property, she had to promise to take good care of the five children currently living in the orphanage.
Ruan Qiao had originally wanted to ask about the kids’ situation, but the little robot hadn’t given her the chance.
She decided to go look for them herself. Since she had made the promise, she naturally intended to treat them well.
Ruan Qiao opened the door, and just as she stepped outside, she heard a thud, something small and dark tumbled down the steps right in front of her.
Startled, she hurried a few steps forward and saw a tiny spiky ball curled up, hiding in the corner at the bottom step.
The little creature was clearly timid.
As soon as it realized someone had come out, it curled up even tighter and quietly rolled along the edge of the step, as if that would make it disappear from sight instantly.
Its shy, clumsy little appearance almost made Ruan Qiao laugh aloud.
She didn’t expect that this world had little hedgehogs too!
Suddenly, she felt an unusually warm sense of familiarity.
Ruan Qiao walked down the steps, squatted, and gently scooped up the little creature with her hands, placing it in her palm.
The more she looked, the more her heart melted.
Curled up, the little hedgehog was about the size of her palm, clearly still just a baby.
The little creature’s spines were soft, not sharp at all. Touching them made her fingers feel a ticklish, tingling sensation, far from the harsh prickle she expected.
Unlike the deep brown spines of hedgehogs Ruan Qiao had seen before, this one’s were a very light, almost rose-gold color, with silvery-white tips, as if dusted with snow.
It was absolutely beautiful.
The more she looked at it, the more she liked it, and her voice softened naturally when she spoke to it.
She opened her palm and gently cooed to the curled-up little spiky ball, “Are you lost? How did you end up here by yourself? Where are your mom and dad? The ground up ahead is hot, don’t burn your little feet, I…”
She wanted to say, “I’ll take you to the shade under the trees at the back.”
But before she could finish, she heard a sharp “hiss,” and a furry little thing fell from above, landing heavily on her shoulder!
Caught completely off guard, Ruan Qiao screamed.
At the same time, she felt a sharp sting in her palm.
Looking down, she realized that, in her nervousness, she had instinctively clenched her hand, and the hedgehog’s spines had pricked small holes into her palm, drawing a bit of blood.
She quickly released her grip.
But before she could bend down to put the hedgehog back on the ground, the little creature, which had used her shoulder as a temporary perch, leapt again.
This time, it landed directly on her exposed arm and even turned its head to bare its tiny teeth at her.
Ruan Qiao screamed again, nearly fainting from fright.
She flailed her arms wildly, trying to shake the furry thing off.
Fortunately, the little creature had no intention of staying on her arm for long.
It reached out its paws, grabbed the tiny hedgehog trembling in Ruan Qiao’s palm, and with an almost human-like gesture, blew out a disdainful puff of air and tossed it to the ground.
Then it jumped down itself.
Ruan Qiao felt her entire arm go numb, frozen stiff, and she couldn’t move an inch.
Even so, she could tell that the little thing that had scared her was a golden-red squirrel with a fluffy, broom-like tail!
When she was little, Ruan Qiao had been severely traumatized by plush textures, once at school, she had been wrapped over the head with a wet, foul-smelling, rotten sheepskin coat by bullies, giving her a serious plushophobia.
She liked small animals but refused to touch anything fuzzy.
Even if the neighbors’ cats or dogs were cute, she kept her distance and never reached out to pet them.
Yet today, of all things, she had been intimidated by a squirrel.
Ruan Qiao felt weak in her limbs, standing under the sun, helpless and near tears.
The little squirrel hopped to the ground, tapped the hedgehog with its paw, and let out a series of squeaks.
The hedgehog immediately uncurlled, waddling on its short legs to hide behind the squirrel.
The little squirrel glanced at it, let out two low gurgling sounds from its throat, and, acting like a big brother, pressed its paw gently on the hedgehog’s spines to soothe it.
Then it turned toward Ruan Qiao, suddenly pressing its cheeks with both front paws, stuck out its tongue, and made a huge silly face at her.
After that, it grabbed the hedgehog again, and the two little creatures strutted side by side toward the L-shaped three-story building, acting like inseparable partners in crime.
Ruan Qiao: “……”
She was sure she must have been seeing things just now!
Otherwise, how could she have seen pure disdain in the eyes of a squirrel?!