Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Why Is She Such a Mess

At first she wasn’t ready. Later she got busy making money and forgot.

It was time to see what the original owner’s face looked like.

As she thought that, the woman on the call fell quiet a moment, then asked in a hoarse voice: “Qiqi, how is your major doing lately? Is there… anyone dead?”

Qian Qi blinked. She thought the woman was worried about her, so she answered: “No. The Magiplant Department has been safe lately.”

“I see…” the woman murmured: “Good, good. Then… what about before?”

Qian Qi’s brow lifted. Something felt off.

If she only cared about Qian Qi, she wouldn’t need to ask about before. The answer was obvious.

Her index finger tapped the table silently as she said, “There were. Why?”

“Ah, it’s just… do you know about the deceased’s family?” the woman asked carefully: “For example, would they want to adopt a child?”

A sharp pulse tugged at Qian Qi’s temples. A memory seemed to flash by, but she couldn’t catch it.

Her fingers flew over her Light-Brain, searching. After a while she asked, “Why do you need to know? I’ve never heard of an orphanage taking the initiative to ask people to adopt.”

The woman hemmed and hawed. Qian Qi didn’t know how the original owner used to talk to her, but hearing that soft and timid tone, she decided to go hard.

“If there’s something, just say it. Aren’t you my family? What are you afraid of?”

Something in her words broke the woman’s restraint. She choked twice, then spoke, hesitant and teary: “Qiqi, our orphanage’s land rights are about to expire. Renewing them costs 500,000. If we can’t pay, they’ll make us send the kids away.”

“So I thought, before the orphanage gets dissolved, I should find places for the kids to go. If one can be adopted, that’s one less to worry about.”

Qian Qi smacked her forehead.

Now she understood why the System told her to save it.

She had just earned 500,000, and now she might have to hand it right back?

She checked her class schedule and Magiplant growth records, then made up her mind: “I’ll go back tomorrow.”

Since the original owner grew up in that orphanage, she had to take some responsibility. She would go see Bright Light Orphanage with her own eyes, then decide.

“Alright. You can come back anytime. About the adoption thing…”

“…I’ll come back first. We’ll talk tomorrow,” she said, hanging up, then rubbed her temples.

[Still happy now? (???)]

Qian Qi: […]

She lunged at the System panel and gave it a good gnaw.

The slobbered-on System panel sputtered: [……@#?% beep — @#?*]

Feeling instantly better, Qian Qi stood and went to see her face. She leaned toward the mirror on Chen Miao Miao’s desk and studied her new looks.

Hmm… how to say it.

She touched her chin. The face wasn’t hers, but if she had to describe it, words failed.

It wasn’t ugly, just…

She smiled, then jumped at her own reflection.

“Holy crap!” she almost bounced up: “My smile is that scary?”

[You finally noticed! ?(°?°)?]

The System threw a shower of confetti in emoji form, nearly making Qian Qi choke with anger. She kept squinting and moving her brows at the mirror, trying to make a gentle, soft look, but ten minutes later her face was numb.

“This face is so weird,” Qian Qi sighed: “It’s not ugly, but why does it look so scary the moment I make an expression?”

Each feature on its own wasn’t exaggerated, but once she moved them, everything turned messy.

Only with a blank face did she look plain and left a hint of cold, distant air.

Still…

Her grin really did suit a scoundrel or rascal persona.

Quickly getting used to her new face, Qian Qi couldn’t help admiring herself in the mirror again.

[…You really are a pervert…]

Right then, Chen Miao Miao came back. Seeing Qian Qi making faces in her mirror, she was speechless.

But thinking of something, Chen Miao Miao’s smile turned bright. She shot Qian Qi a smug look, then climbed into bed, opened her Light-Brain, and hummed a tune.

“Why is she so happy?” Qian Qi eyed Chen Miao Miao’s bed, curious.

It wasn’t that she disliked her smile. In fact, she kind of treasured that silly grin of Chen Miao Miao’s.

Because who knew when Chen Miao Miao might never smile again.

Bright Light Orphanage sat on the outer edge of Yan City. Qian Qi checked ahead of time. The subway ride would take two and a half hours.

The moment she left the school gates, the tech of this world shocked her.

If the Dungeon and Magiplant made her feel like she was in a magic game, then the speeding hovercars, the roller-coaster-like sky rails, and the glowing ads all around made her truly feel she had crossed into a new future world.

She lifted her head to watch the flashy hovercars overhead and couldn’t help a bit of envy: “System, I want to buy one someday.”

[One costs 378,000,000.]

Qian Qi: […]

“Walking is healthier,” she said at once, turning toward the subway.

In this world, there were many poor people and many rich ones.

The appearance of Dungeons and Monsters created new jobs and let some ordinary people with guts and vision seize chances and gain huge wealth in risk and challenge.

But those people were only “rich.”

The ones called tycoons were the business clans that inherited A rank Awakeners for generations. The truly rich and powerful top tier were the Awakeners who, from the day the Dungeon disaster erupted, fought to carve out living space for humans and finally built the new world with their own hands.

Only their bloodline heirs, who inherited that will, had the right to steer the future of this world.

That was a height ordinary people could never reach.

Meanwhile, our tiny classmate Qian Qi was crouched in front of the subway ticket machine, scratching her head and poking around until she finally managed to board.

After two and a half hours, Qian Qi stood before Bright Light Orphanage.

The grounds were large, and from the outside it looked exactly like the orphanage she’d lived in during her past life. Warmth rose in her chest. She tightened her grip on the bag of fruit, took a deep breath, and stepped inside.

The yard was neatly kept. On both sides of the wide front yard stood rows of racks holding sun-warmed quilts and kids’ clothes. A few older children were washing laundry.

Spring water was still cold. Their small hands were pink and raw, but none of their young faces showed the slightest complaint.

Qian Qi didn’t have the original owner’s memories of this place and didn’t know the way to the dean’s office, so she gave a soft cough to get the kids’ attention.

The children looked up at once.

In the next second, Qian Qi saw with surprise what it meant to change twenty expressions in fifteen seconds.