She closed her eyes and rested for a while, then opened the package. There was a vegetable salad paired with a fragrant, tender-looking, juicy chicken leg, along with a blue mid-grade nutrition solution—blueberry flavor.
Cang’er excitedly held the mid-grade nutrition solution and savored it carefully. Delicious—pure happiness! Compared to this, those two low-grade nutrition solutions were unbearably, unbelievably bland.
It wasn’t that she was inexperienced; she was genuinely poor. Other people who transmigrated either had noble identities or came with built-in systems. When she transmigrated, heaven was her blanket and the earth her bed—she couldn’t even figure out how old she was.
This was the fullest meal Cang’er had eaten in days. She even smiled in her sleep.
With a capable boss, the employee had to be capable too.
Early the next morning, Cang’er arrived at the photography studio from the day before. The photographers hadn’t arrived yet, so she planned to strip all the AI models bare and dress them in the outfits she had already designed in her mind.
Thinking it through, she acted immediately. She raised her hand and walked toward the nearest intelligent robot, yanked off its skirt—and then heard the robot’s trembling voice:
“I—I… you—you—you, ah—!”
She was so startled that her hand shook.
Then a girl in a white T-shirt from the day before hurried over and scooped up the skirt that was hanging around the robot’s calf.
“Li—little… Teacher, if you want to change 003’s outfit, just let me do it!” The girl looked at her in terror, as if she were some pervert who loved stripping people’s clothes.
Cang’er gave her a complicated look, then glanced at the intelligent robot model 003 beside her, which still wore a polite smile but had fear leaking from its eyes.
She awkwardly tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Sorry.” As she spoke, she picked a black dress from the rack and handed it over. The girl waved her hand, connected to the intelligent robot via her light-brain, and after a flurry of operations, the black dress appeared on 003’s body. In the middle of it, the robot even seemed to shoot Cang’er a resentful glance…
Ahem. Technology truly was marvelous.
“Teacher, does 003 need any other accessories?” After tidying up 003’s hair, the girl turned and asked.
“Just call me Cang’er,” she said, looking toward the accessories wall. Everything had already been neatly categorized according to her instructions.
She turned and picked up a white short-sleeved top and a light-blue pair of jeans, handing them to another girl in a white T-shirt nearby. “Have the robot in the blue dress change into this outfit.”
Then, without turning her head, she said to the first girl, “First row, ninth pair of shoes from the right, and the first black necklace on the fourth row. Thank you.”
“Okay, Teacher Cang’er,” both girls replied in unison.
…
Fortunately, there were no more accidents over the next two days. In just one day, Cang’er completed half the work thanks to her outstanding aesthetic sense.
Even she hadn’t expected this speed. Her photographic memory allowed her to quickly locate exactly the accessories she wanted. All the clothing combinations came together in her mind with effortless ease.
Mingya trusted her completely. Aside from spending half a day at the studio watching her work on the first day, she never appeared again. She also instructed that Cang’er’s meals be upgraded—on top of the regular food, her nutrition solutions increased from one bottle to two.
The child was still growing; there was no need to be stingy.
A good boss, good coworkers…
On the morning of the third day, Cang’er finished integrating and styling all the outfits as usual. After the new clothes were photographed and modeled, they were released online on schedule. She heard they caused a small sensation, but she didn’t care much about that. She was here to collect her pay and then buy a ticket to leave.
With her nutrition improved over the past few days, her control over her mental energy had gradually strengthened. The miraculous sensation made her eager to get to an academy as soon as possible for systematic training.
“What are you planning to do next?” Mingya asked. She already knew that Cang’er was alone here, with no parents, no relatives, and no friends. She couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the frail yet remarkable child.
As she spoke, she took out two gold coins and pressed them into Cang’er’s hand, leaving no room for refusal. “The clothes are selling very well online. This is what you deserve.”
Cang’er accepted the two gold coins and pressed her lips together. “Thank you, Sister Mingya.”
These past few days, Mingya had quietly added extra meals for her and had Monk remind her to eat on time every night. Cang’er had noticed all of it. Mingya really was, just as Monk said, a very, very gentle person… She felt deeply grateful.
Back on Earth, her design talent had been discovered, and she became the only child from the small orphanage to be adopted. The adoptive family worked in the fashion industry. Although they provided for her living expenses, everything was because of her talent. She knew clearly that if she lost her value, she would be abandoned.
So she studied desperately, competed, and grew stronger—hoping that one day she could take control of her own fate and help the kind old director of the orphanage who had taken her in.
“I’m going to Central Tower City,” she said. She needed to become stronger and take control of her destiny. Central Tower City was the main city of the continent—the political center, the most prosperous place, and home to the Academy for Special Talents.
“All right,” Mingya nodded, not asking for her reasons. A talented child like her truly shouldn’t be buried in this remote town.
She took a silver box from the desk drawer and opened it. Inside was a brand-new light-brain. Cang’er looked up at her blankly, finally showing the expression of a thirteen-year-old child.
Mingya laughed softly. She took Cang’er’s left wrist, made a small cut with a knife, then brought the light-brain close. After absorbing the bead of blood that welled up, the light-brain fused into the surface of her skin.
Then a mechanical voice sounded in her mind: Hello, Master. Light-brain 7018 is happy to serve you.
“I only activated the most basic functions—communication, photography and recording, detection, and navigation. If you want any other functions, you’ll have to pay to upgrade them yourself at the network center. Don’t refuse,” Mingya said with a smile, patting Cang’er’s dry, yellowed hair. “I don’t want to lose contact with you.”
“Now then, little one,” she added, lifting her own wrist and giving it a small shake, “may I add you as a contact?”