The full name of the system is “Chinese Culture System.” Although it had always accompanied Qiao Nan after her rebirth, it fell into a dormant state due to energy depletion after the little girl was born. During the more than six years they spent together, Qiao Nan’s understanding of the system was limited only to its name and its role as an all-purpose Baidu Encyclopedia-like assistant. 

To be exact, this is the first time the system has initiated a conversation with her. 

“Mission? What mission?” 

The little girl quickly told Xie Luoying something, then hurried back to her small room, firmly closed the door, and eagerly asked. 

The system in Qiao Nan’s mind paused for a moment before its soft voice chimed in again. 

⌈ Qiao Qiao, to check the mission, you need to bind the system. ⌋ 

⌈ Currently, only the AI section is open. After you bind with the system, other functions will be fully available to you. ⌋ 

“Bind the system?” This wasn’t the first time Qiao Nan had heard the term. In fact, every time the system woke up, it always asked her about binding while answering her questions. 

Qiao Nan wasn’t particularly eager to bind with the system. The system’s energy bar had never fully recovered, and other than the occasional glitchy pop-up saying “not activated,” it didn’t give any useful information. 

Since her rebirth, the little girl didn’t want to be controlled for no reason. Even though the dialogue box had been popping up for over six years, it hadn’t convinced her to bind with the system. 

This time, though, Qiao Nan almost instinctively wanted to dismiss the reminder. But then she remembered what Tuan Tuan had said to her just a few minutes ago, and the words she was about to speak suddenly changed. 

“Tuan Tuan, what can I get if I bind with the system?” 

As the saying goes, there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and that applied to Qiao Nan too. 

From what the system had previously revealed, Qiao Nan’s rebirth was a result of the system’s power. Even though Tuan Tuan kept saying it only used up all the system’s energy, Qiao Nan could still clearly sense something unusual within her body. 

For example, despite her daily rigorous training on land, her leg strength was enough to injure someone with a single kick, but in some ways, she still collapsed at the slightest impact. 

She would catch colds and fevers every winter, and people who didn’t know her well would think she had been spoiled as a child and couldn’t handle the sudden weather changes. 

The voice in her mind responded quickly. 

⌈ Every mission in the system comes with certain rewards, but the specific rewards depend on the profession Qiao Qiao chooses. The system will issue corresponding missions without interfering with your career preferences. ⌋ 

⌈ Based on previous system records, your beginner mission should focus on improving physical strength. ⌋ 

“Physical strength? Tuan Tuan, didn’t you say my physical condition hasn’t changed?” Qiao Nan instinctively caught the inconsistency in Tuan Tuan’s words and asked, “Isn’t physical strength related to regular training? How will the system quickly improve it? Will there be any side effects?” 

⌈ Qiao Qiao, your physical strength is related to premature birth. The system’s energy and your two years of training together fill in your own foundation. ⌋ 

⌈ The strength increase provided by the system isn’t a fast-track product. Its main function is to speed up metabolism in specific areas, without any negative side effects. ⌋ 

⌈ So, Qiao Qiao, are you going to bind with the system? ⌋ 

Tuan Tuan’s words were much more sincere than before, and these rewards seemed like a gift from heaven to Qiao Nan. 

“Bind.” The little girl felt relieved and answered directly when Tuan Tuan asked again. 

The next second, she found herself in a world of pure white, with a blue screen appearing in front of her. 

⌈ Host: Qiao Nan; System: Chinese Culture System. ⌋ 

⌈ Based on your family background and overall ability, the following career options are recommended for you. ⌋ 

The words on the screen gradually faded, replaced by colorful circles showing different career names. 

The largest ones were “Actor” and “Company Heir.” 

Indeed, considering the Qiao family’s financial situation, these were the simplest paths with almost no chance of failure for Qiao Nan. 

However, for the little girl who had already set her goals early, the size of the circles couldn’t distract her from her plan. 

She carefully scanned the entire screen and, after finding her goal, immediately selected the next step. 

⌈ Based on system calculations, it is recommended that you choose Actor as your career preference. ⌋ 

⌈ Host, according to your last life’s health report, this career carries high risks and it will be difficult to gather energy. ⌋ 

⌈ Are you sure you want to choose this career? ⌋ 

“So what?” Qiao Nan glanced at the small circle with the words “Figure Skating” in the corner of the screen, chuckled softly, “It didn’t work in my last life, but who’s to say it can’t work in this one?” 

“Since you have this option, it means it can complete your mission.” 

Though the little girl was only half the height of the screen, her tone left no room for retreat. Even the blue screen seemed to pause for a moment. 

After a brief silence, the mechanical system voice echoed again in the white space. 

⌈ Information received. ⌋ 

⌈ System binding mission in progress. ⌋ 

Although Qiao Nan had a heavy and demanding course load on weekends, as a primary school student under nine years of compulsory education, no matter how tired she was the day before, she still had to wake up at 7 AM on Mondays, put on her uniform, and head to school with the housekeeper. 

Qiao Nan is attending a private elementary school, not because public schools are bad, but because she specifically chose this one because it has a chain of schools that go from elementary to middle to high school, and it also allows students to take their final exams early. 

As a figure skating athlete in training, who already has her career planned out even before entering school, Qiao Nan has been preparing for future competitions for quite a while. 

Although the elementary school curriculum isn’t too difficult, the “previous life” Qiao Nan didn’t stand out much academically. Her university was just a regular one, so since she had the chance to start over, she wanted to take this opportunity to solidify her foundation. 

But while she was thinking about her competitions, she never imagined they’d come so soon. 

Figure skating in China is still in its infancy. The only major competition is the national championship, which even combines the youth and adult groups. In her original plan, Qiao Nan wouldn’t be able to take leave for competitions until third grade—when she turned eight and could compete in the youth category. 

She had never even heard of the Volin Memorial competition that Marlon mentioned. 

The Volin Memorial takes place in mid-February, and according to the school’s schedule, Qiao Nan’s midterms end in mid-January, followed by a break. 

At first glance, it doesn’t seem to clash with her competition. But once Merlin finished the choreography, Qiao Nan realized that her ice time was going to increase significantly. 

The moves she needs to perform in competitions have to be graceful and fluid, and that takes repeated training to build muscle memory. 

For Qiao Nan, her usual two hours on the ice every weekend just wouldn’t be enough. 

She needed more time. 

So, after the class flag-raising ceremony, Qiao Nan quickly ran to her homeroom teacher’s office during the break. 

“Teacher,” she gently knocked on the door. “Um… can I apply to take my exams early?” 

It was still early in the semester, and the top student in her class had just finished their midterm exam. Now, here she was, asking to take the final exam early. 

Ning Jiwen, who had been teaching for five years, was a bit taken aback and couldn’t respond right away. 

“What’s going on, Qiao Nan? Do you have something urgent?” she asked, turning to the little girl. “We haven’t finished the class yet. Are you sure you want to leave now?” 

“It’s not that.” Qiao Nan shook her head and explained to the teacher, “I have a competition in February, and I need to take time off early for training.” 

She paused. “I know we haven’t finished the class yet, but I’ve already mastered everything for first grade.” 

Author’s Notes: 

✵ Full system name: Chinese Culture System; AI assistant: Tuan Tuan 

✵ In China, the only large-scale competition is the National Championship. In comparison, the neighboring country (Russia) seems to be rolling out competitions one after another—there’s even a five-year-old doing double jumps now. Other people’s five-year-olds vs. my five-year-old… 😅🤷‍♀️