Girl in the Box: Please tell me why I was reincarnated as a mimic monster!

"Sigh... Oh well... let's leave it at that."

Xiao may have reached that age and started to dislike studying, but even if Xiao didn't whine, Ning wouldn't force her to study. Since they wouldn't be coming to Earth often anyway, it wouldn't be a big problem to delay learning this world's language. Although Xiao seems like a very naive girl, she's actually a very smart child and learns things quickly, so there's no need to worry too much about it.

Not long after, Li came out of the bathroom while using wind magic to dry her hair. Ning thoughtfully turned off the air conditioner, which was set a little too low.

"How are you?" Ning asked. "Are you feeling better?"

"Hmm, much better," Li said with a wry smile. "Anyway, let's rest at the hotel for now. Cities here on Earth, especially in the summer, get incredibly hot in the afternoons. It's best not to go out at times like that. Although we can use magic to solve the problem, that only solves one aspect of it... Sigh..."

"I understand how you feel. Just sitting by the window right now, you can feel the high temperature outside."

The streets in this city must be hot enough to fry an egg by now. I often saw news like this when I was still here, and even after returning to this world six months later, the situation hasn't improved at all; in fact, it's gotten worse. I can even see the ground distorted by the heat. If they were still wandering around here, it would be truly unbearable.

“Well… I’ve also checked with my magic eyes, and there’s nothing suspicious in this room,” Rie said, a faint magical light emanating from her hand. “I’ll just use a little magic.”

An icy magic circle unfolded beneath her feet and quickly covered the entire room. This was just an ice-attribute spell to control temperature and humidity, and it wouldn't consume much magic power. Now was the perfect time to use this spell, and since no one would disturb her in this high-class hotel room, she decided to indulge herself a little with magic.

Once the room temperature was comfortable, Ri climbed onto the middle bed in the three-person room and patted the spot next to her, urging the two to come over. Xiao nimbly jumped from the side bed to the middle one without even causing it to shake. Ning stood up and jumped over from the side bed as well. Now that the three sisters were all in one bed, Ri prepared to start talking.

"Ahem," Li coughed lightly twice, "Let me ask you two first, what do you think of this morning's itinerary?"

"How is it?" Xiao lay on the bed, swinging her legs. "Emmm, is it delicious?"

"Delicious... well, it's not bad..." Ideally, Xiao eats almost all morning, so using "delicious" as a compliment isn't wrong.

"What about you, Ning?" Li asked Ning again.

She was still concerned about whether she had taken care of the other two's feelings. She was usually in the hospital, so she didn't know if she could take them around well. She was worried about their feelings, so she wanted to ask them how they felt.

"It feels alright," Ning gave a fairly objective assessment. "It's not great, but it's not bad either. Maybe it's because you chose a bad place. Overall, Earth is still the biggest disappointment for me, but there's not much difference. Maybe it's because I know Earth too well that my expectations were too high."

"I see..." Li breathed a sigh of relief. "Anyway, let's wait here until tonight and talk about it then. Things will get a little more fun then."

"So what are we doing here now?" Xiao asked.

“Hmm… I want to teach you two something.” Li took out two boxes from the treasure chest space. “I almost forgot that I didn’t give you two cell phones. Well, having a cell phone makes a lot of things more convenient, so I plan to teach you how to use a cell phone.”

"Hey, a cell phone?" Xiao picked up the white box and took out the white cell phone inside. "It's much lighter than I expected."

“A cell phone…” Ning picked up the light blue cell phone. “I’ve always wanted to make something similar to a cell phone in the other world. It’s not bad to have a reference now.”

"Do you know how to use it, Ning?" Li asked tentatively.

"...? I guess I can?" Ning tried it out. "I can use the basic functions... This is your number, right..."

After a few steps, Ning successfully dialed Li's phone number, and Li's phone rang immediately. Li picked up the phone and answered the call.

"Hello, can you hear me?"

"...Are you stupid...? We're face to face right now, how could we not hear each other...?"

"Hey, stop undermining me," Li complained. "I was just testing if your phone could connect properly."

"Oh." Ning hung up the phone indifferently.

In short, Ning estimated that after using it for a while, she should be able to quickly learn how to use the phone. In fact, it would be surprising if she didn't know how to use the phone. Right now, it's time to teach Xiao.

"Uh..." Xiao showed a bitter expression, "Why can't I open it...?"

"Ah... it's just not turned on. You need to press and hold here for a while, and when it vibrates, it means it's turned on."

"Is that so? Oh, it's vibrating!"

In conclusion, during their time resting at the hotel, they basically spent their time teaching the two how to use modern tools. Xiao didn't seem to be very good at these high-tech, sophisticated instruments, so it took Li and Ning quite a bit of time to teach her. It was more difficult than they had imagined, and Li silently kept this in mind. Li found it hard to learn things that seemed very complicated.

After teaching Xiao these things, and after Ning and Xiao had learned how to use the phone, the three of them rested for a while. When night fell and the phone alarm went off, the whole city had already changed.

The entire city of Chengdu was ablaze with lights, like twinkling stars in the sky, even more beautiful and captivating than the stars themselves. Red, green, blue, and yellow lights clustered together, like bunches of flowers radiating brilliant light. The flashing lights resembled the wise eyes of the builders.

This is Earth at night.

Chapter 19 The City at Night

At night, neon lights illuminate half the sky in Chengdu. People gather in small bars and skewers shops, drinking beer and chatting.

Like all cities, Chengdu's nights are filled with busy people. Besides those working night shifts in various industries, taxi drivers perhaps best represent the hard work of the city's laborers.

Taxis in Chengdu generally operate on a two-shift system, with some drivers working all day and others continuing at night, tirelessly helping drivers earn income. Many night shift drivers are very talkative, especially if you've taken a taxi from the airport; they'll surely tell you about the city's customs and stories. After a good night's sleep, you can while away the night listening to the radio.

A small number of drivers—taxi and motorcycle taxi drivers—have stable routes and customers at night, serving women in certain sex industries. Despite constant crackdowns, these women continue to make a living this way. They sleep until four or five in the afternoon, order takeout, then go to an alley to put on makeup, and appear at their workplace promptly at seven or eight o'clock. The higher-end ones work in clubs, considering themselves "white-collar" workers with incomes comparable to "gold-collar" workers; the lower-end ones hide in residential areas or alleys, their addresses known only to regular customers.

The three sisters, as tourists in Chengdu tonight, naturally left their hotel and came to the bustling night market streets. They were in the heart of Chengdu's commercial district, in the most dazzling neon-lit area. Just as it's said, the city by day and by night are completely different, giving one the feeling of stepping from one world to another.

"It really is quite different," Ning said, looking around at the city's night view.

"Well... I just feel like the light pollution is really bad..." Li complained.

"Wow, it's so bright!" Xiao's eyes reflected the light of the neon lights.

In that other world, even the larger cities aren't as bustling as Earth's cities at night. The lights are sparse, and there are relatively few people wandering around at night. Hakoniwa is currently working to become more like a modern city, so Akihabara's streets are now quite similar to those of this city, with people gradually starting to go out at night, and there are many more recreational activities available.

This time, Rin also plans to refer to modern cities on Earth to build Akihabara. Therefore, one of the goals is to observe all kinds of cities. Today, we will slow down the pace a bit and explore the things we want to know. After we have a basic understanding, we will speed up the work in the remaining days.

“Let’s look around,” Li suggested.

"That's settled then." Ning naturally took Xiao's hand. "Where would Xiao like to go?"

"Eh~ I don't know..." Xiao shook her head.

Having just arrived on Earth, Xiao is still unsure how to plan her seven days. Moreover, she doesn't yet understand the language of this world. In fact, even the phone she's currently using was converted into the language of that world by Li and Ning using special methods, which is how Xiao can barely use the phone.

"Hey... speaking of which, there's something I'd like to try..." Ning skillfully took out her phone and casually asked, "Li, how much money have you prepared?"

"Money..." Li thought for a moment, "I only have about five thousand at my disposal... What do you want to do with it?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Ning smiled. "Of course, we'll go on a shopping spree at the mall! Well... I also want to see if I can find anything interesting, but this amount of money might not be enough."

"Huh... they're doing this on the very first night...?"

Ryou had originally intended to save this for last, but since Ning had already brought it up, she was starting to have the same idea herself and wanted to go to the mall. It was probably a girl's instinct, and Ryou instinctively couldn't resist the suggestion.

"Give me a bag of gold coins first," Ning said, holding out her hand. "You haven't already eaten all the gold coins, have you?"

"No, not at all..." Li quietly reached into the pocket of her skirt, took out a small burlap bag, and handed it to Ning.

Although the Treasure Gathering skill requires gold coins to operate, it doesn't consume too many gold coins, only eating within the necessary range. In addition, with the recent recovery of the alliance's economy, gold coins have regained their role. Although paper money is being promoted, many people believe that paper money is unreliable and therefore have not accepted it quickly. Gold coins remain the main circulating currency.

Olitzo said that the amount of gold coins Rie uses to collect treasures each time should be limited, because their basic income and expenses have been relatively balanced recently, and they no longer need to use treasures to make a living. This miser is also reluctant to see the gold coins being eaten up, so he still has quite a lot of gold coins left. Rie hasn't been eating gold coins much lately, just carrying a few in his pocket and taking them out as snacks when he's hungry.

These are the gold coins I've saved up over this period without eating much; there are probably around three hundred of them.

“Then wait here for a while,” Ning said, weighing the bag in her hand. “I’ll go to the gold shop and pawn these gold coins to get some cash.”

"Okay, then you go ahead. Xiao and I will wait for you here."

Across from their hotel were numerous luxury boutiques; as this was a commercial district catering to high-end consumers, gold shops were naturally present as well. Ning had already planned her evening's itinerary, but she needed some funds to make it happen, and with so many gold coins, that should be enough. A short while later, Ning returned empty-handed.

"How is it?" Li asked.

“It’s been resolved,” Ning said calmly. “Carrying cash is too inconvenient, so they transferred the money to me via mobile phone. It was around 100,000 yuan, but I didn’t pay attention to the amount.”

"Can three hundred coins really be exchanged for one hundred thousand?" Li felt that his view of money was about to collapse.

“Yes,” Ning said, “the gold coins over there are of very high purity because they are separated by magic and then reprocessed to obtain the gold coins, so the purity is naturally different.”

"Is 100,000 a lot?" Xiao, who had a shallow understanding of money, asked.

"I don't know whether I should say more or less..."

He pressed his temples, his head aching.

Having lived a life of abundance in the other world, now that he's back on Earth, he casually pawned the few gold coins he had on him for cash, and they were worth a staggering 100,000! It's really hard to know how to react. Because of these events, his understanding of money has become somewhat blurred, and he doesn't know whether to call it a good thing or a bad thing.

drip.

A car drove up and stopped on the road in front of the three of them, honking its horn twice. The window rolled down, and the middle-aged man in the driver's seat leaned out.

"Oh?" the middle-aged man greeted him. "Is this the Didi you called?"

"Didi?" Li vaguely remembered it.

“Yes,” Ning opened the passenger door and got into the car, urging, “What are you waiting for? Get in the car.”

"Eh...oh..."

Although Li didn't quite understand what was going on, she still pulled Xiao into the car. After the three of them were in the car, the uncle started the engine again and slowly drove away from the hotel entrance. Speaking of which, why was Ning so skilled? This car clearly didn't look like a taxi, but a private car. Li didn't know why someone would specifically come looking for the three of them.

The car pulled up to the intersection where the light was red and stopped. The cars around it also gradually slowed down and came to a stop. Xiao pressed her face against the car window, watching the scene with curiosity. Most of the things they had experienced on Earth were Xiao's first experiences. Although she looked to be around fourteen or fifteen years old, she still acted like a child.

Cars came and went, their headlights and taillights creating dazzling trails of light. If they were looking at it from above the city, it would look like a silver river fallen to earth. Gradually, the red light went out and the green light came on, and the cars on this side began to move again. At this moment, the driver broke the dull atmosphere by speaking.

"You three, are you planning to go to the mall?" the uncle asked while driving. "Don't shop too late, it's dangerous for three young girls like you at night."

"Eh... really..." Li was a little confused.

“Especially lately,” the uncle warned, “you young people always like to hitch a ride for convenience, which makes you easy targets for those with ulterior motives. Sigh, I feel so sorry for those young girls who have been murdered.”

"Uncle, you're so reliable," Ning said with a smile. "I feel lucky to have gotten a ride with you."

"Hey! You can't say that," the uncle said. "If I were a few years younger, I might not have been able to resist seeing three such pretty girls like you. But now I'm old, and I make a living by giving people rides around. Anyway, be careful when you take these kinds of taxis at night, there are some people who are specifically targeting you... Oh, we're here."

Li sat in the back seat, completely bewildered by the conversation between the older man and Ning. Had she become so out of touch with the times after being away from this world for two years? She couldn't understand a word they were saying. By the time she came to her senses, they had already gotten out of the car, and the older man waved goodbye before driving away.

"What's wrong? Why are you standing there?" Ning patted her shoulder to bring her back to her senses.

"Wait, wait, wait?" Li asked. "What was that guy doing just now?"

"Don't you know?" Ning tilted her head. "This person was called by a ride-hailing app."

"...Is this even possible?"

Li gradually felt like she was falling behind the times. Even Ning, who had just arrived on Earth, knew more than she, a native of Earth. It really felt like the village had just gotten internet access. Ning had actually mastered using a mobile phone in just one afternoon?

“Hmm,” Ning nodded, “It’s that simple. Although I’ve read some reviews saying that there have been cases of rideshare drivers taking women to remote areas to rape and murder them recently, I was thinking of teaching them a lesson if I encountered one. But it seems that it’s not all the case.”

"...Alright, I won't be surprised what you do from now on..."

Li has given up hope.

"...? I don't know what you're thinking, but..." Ning pointed to the mall, "Aren't you going to take a look?"

"Go, of course!"

Li cheered herself up, deciding to have a blast tonight. The three sisters entered the mall. The first floor was filled with jewelry and cosmetics shops, but they weren't interested in jewelry; instead, they focused on the cosmetics.

Li doesn't know much about cosmetics, so she's just an outsider watching the spectacle. Xiao is probably the same way, but Ning is quite interested in it.

"Oh, hello miss, how can I help you?"

Seeing the three sisters huddled around the counter, the waiter approached and asked if they needed help. Some of the shy Li hesitated to speak, while others were unsure what to say. Ning, on the other hand, naturally began talking to the waiter.

"Hello." Ning pointed to one of the lipsticks, then to Li, "Do you think this lipstick matches her?"

"They match perfectly. Are you picking out lipsticks for your best friend?"

"That's it."

"In that case, I recommend this lipstick. It suits this lady much better."

"Is that so? May I try it out?"

"Of course, miss, could you please come over and give it a try?"

"Huh? Me?" Li was taken aback.

"Who else is there besides you?" Ning nudged her.

"Uh...you don't need to buy me this kind of thing..." Li said, somewhat troubled. "I don't need it..."

“Miss, you’re not right about that.” The waitress’s eyes suddenly blazed with fire. “Girls are born to dress up. This is a battlefield for young women. In this highly competitive society, you need to use these cosmetics to arm yourself so that you can win in this cruel world!”

"Huh? Wait..."

"Besides, you'll look beautiful if you dress up nicely, why don't you give it a try this time?"

Because the other party's aura was so overwhelming, Li really couldn't refuse, so she reluctantly tried it out. The sales assistant used a small brush to take a little from the sample and apply it to her lips, then asked her to purse her lips to make the lipstick spread more evenly.

"Hmm..." Ning nodded and said, "As expected, it's more practical to ask you. It does look much better now."

"Right, right?" The waiter smiled. "The moment I saw this young lady, I knew she was definitely a fine gem. She already looked beautiful, and with a little dressing up, she would look even more stunning."

Ning and the waiter seemed to have reached some kind of consensus without realizing it, and Li had a feeling that she would probably be dressed up as a doll next.

Chapter 20 is booked out.

I had assumed that mall sales staff would only be concerned with selling merchandise and wouldn't be enthusiastic about offering customers a lot of help. But to my surprise, this salesperson was very attentive to that, constantly discussing with Ning how to dress herself. In short, I've realized you're a very competent salesperson, but now please leave me alone...

They'd been sitting there for an hour because of this, barely looking anywhere else. Since Ri was treated like a costumed doll, she couldn't move around freely; even if she wanted to leave, she'd likely be nagged. Ri had given up and was now sitting there with Akatsuki, playing on their phones. It was then that she realized a problem: what if her rash actions made Akatsuki addicted to her phone?