After Gan Ling returned home, some time had already passed since school had let out. Yang Mo and Yang Xia, who was visiting for the day, had both arrived home before her. As soon as she met them, she pulled out her identity card to show off. The first thing both of them noticed was the age column, which was filled with an age identical to Yang Mo’s.
After seeing it, Yang Mo tilted her head slightly and said to Gan Ling with a smile, “That’s great. If that’s the case, we can definitely be in the same grade.”
Yang Xia, on the other hand, remarked, “Isn’t this age a bit too much of an exaggeration? You were only born 2 months ago.”
“I even think it’s a bit young. After all, my mental maturity might be the highest among everyone here,” Gan Ling, the reincarnator, replied. However, there was a bit of bravado mixed in. Even counting her previous life, her age was actually still a bit younger than Yang Xia’s.
Yang Xia and Yang Mo both froze at the same time upon hearing her half-truth. They looked at each other and then turned back to her with incredulous expressions, as if to say: ‘What is this girl talking about?’ Gan Ling suddenly felt their silent gazes stabbing into her heart like small knives. After snapping out of it, she asked, “Then what age do you think should be in this column?”
“Uh, well…” The question caused Yang Mo’s forehead to break out in a sweat. “I can’t really say, but I always feel like you should be a bit younger than me?”
“Yeah, I have the same feeling,” Yang Xia added, crossing her arms in agreement.
Gan Ling fell completely silent. ‘So you really do see me as a younger sister!’ She didn’t say anything more after that, and the three of them didn’t bring it up again until they went out shopping together.
“By the way, I met with Ms. Lin from the Support Association this afternoon,” Gan Ling said as they walked, informing Yang Mo and Yang Xia about her new job. After hearing her explain the circumstances, Yang Mo’s gaze inadvertently drifted to the side, seemingly recalling what happened when they first met.
“The setting we just made up on the spot — is it actually still continuing today?” Yang Mo wondered aloud, rubbing her chin.
Yang Xia didn’t seem surprised. “I felt it a couple of days ago; your Magic is indeed very suitable for cleaning, but…” She turned to Gan Ling with a flat look. “A Housekeeping Robot, right? You’d better act a bit more like one this time.”
“Of course, I’ve reflected on my performance back then,” Gan Ling replied, while the scene of her confrontation with Yang Xia flashed through her mind. At that time, Yang Xia had been lecturing Yang Mo regardless of the occasion, and Gan Ling had only dropped her disguise because she couldn’t stand it anymore. ‘That’s right, I hadn’t adapted to the expression patterns of this body yet, otherwise I would have used even more serious words to criticize Yang Xia.’ She believed this was the part she needed to reflect on.
Yang Mo’s voice interrupted her thoughts as she suddenly asked a very practical question. “Speaking of which, is it really okay to work with the age filled in on your identity card? Won’t your wages be lowered because of your age?”
“No problem. It’s under the identity of a robot anyway. The company will definitely think the salary is being sent to the Support Association’s account. If they even dared to exploit the Support Association, they would have to be incredibly bold.” After answering, Gan Ling had a second thought and realized that Yang Mo and the others were in a similar position. “Isn’t it the same for you Magical Girls? You have your duties, but it also counts as a job, right?”
Yang Mo pondered for a moment before saying, “You seem to be right…”
Yang Xia, standing nearby, also shared her thoughts. “Does being a Magical Girl count as work? I always feel like… except for when we’re fighting a Badma, there’s no sense of urgency that comes with a job.”
Gan Ling stopped in her tracks and stared at Yang Xia. “Have you forgotten what I told you? By the time the sense of urgency arrives, it’s already too late.” The Yang Xia in the Original Work only understood this through personal grief; Gan Ling only hoped that Yang Xia wouldn’t repeat the same mistake.
“Ah…” Yang Xia wore a look of sudden realization. She awkwardly rubbed the pale nape of her neck and said, “You’re right… I’m a bit forgetful. Sorry.”
Hearing her say this, Gan Ling felt a sense of relief. It was likely that Yang Xia’s mindset hadn’t shifted yet; just like the ordinary people in the Original Work, she thought being a Magical Girl was an easy task. Fortunately, the previous incident had still given her a certain level of warning.
At that moment, Yang Mo lightly poked Yang Xia’s shoulder to encourage her. “Sister, let’s work hard together from now on. We need to become strong enough to handle any situation with ease.” She raised a fist to show her determination as she spoke. Seeing her like this, the bitterness on Yang Xia’s face gradually dissipated. She lifted her head and replied, “Yeah, let’s work hard together.” She then pointed at Gan Ling and said to Yang Mo, “We have to make that Evil Puppet over there see us in a new light.”
Hearing this, Yang Mo hooked her index finger near her lips and let out a nearly silent chuckle while looking at Gan Ling.
After that, the three of them bought their groceries and went home to cook, spending the rest of the day as they usually did. The next day was Gan Ling’s first day of work. According to their agreement, she needed to report to the office she had visited yesterday. Although she could maintain her original appearance during work, she kept her Stealth Magic active on the way there to avoid causing a commotion.
Gan Ling noticed that the entrance to the Cleaning Company had an access control system that required a card. ‘What, do robots really have no human rights?’ she thought. Fortunately, this was only a minor problem for her. With the help of her Stealth Magic, Gan Ling easily slipped inside while someone else swiped their card. She walked straight to the general manager’s office as if no one were there, canceled her Stealth Magic, and knocked twice on the door.
After a moment, the middle-aged man called “Old Xu” from yesterday came to open the door. A suspicious expression was initially plastered on his face, but when he saw what was behind the door, his expression instantly turned into one of shock. A girl-type doll stood motionless in front of the door, emitting the silence of a dead object. There was nothing else around her, and he had no idea how she had gotten there.
“Whoa!” Old Xu let out a scream and fell straight onto his backside. He didn’t speak to Gan Ling immediately but instead shouted toward the hallway, “Xiao Chen, Xiao Li! Get over here!”
By the time the two employees arrived, he had finally managed to scramble back up. He asked angrily, “Which one of you let it in? You didn’t even notify me!”
The employees looked at Gan Ling with panicked expressions and then at Old Xu. Finally, they told him, “We don’t know. We’ve been at the entrance this whole time, but we never saw it…”
“Is… is that so? Then never mind. Go back to work.” As Old Xu spoke, bean-sized beads of sweat continuously broke out on his forehead. No matter how much he wiped them away, it didn’t help.
To ease the atmosphere, Gan Ling had no choice but to mimic a robot’s tone and say, “Hello. I am Gan Ling. Is there anything. I can help with?”
Hearing this, Old Xu’s expression finally softened a bit. “What the… regardless, it’s just a robot. At first…”
***
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