Ziye excitedly scooped up Little Sprout and gave it a kiss. She then hopped onto the forum, posted her compiled research to Sútáng’s bounty question, and submitted her assignment in the homework section. Watching her digital wallet chime incessantly, she counted carefully—a six-figure sum!

What a sense of accomplishment.

Ziye transferred the money to her bank account, paused to consider, and left a few thousand credits in her digital wallet. She then went to the bounty section and posted a new reward: "Just how powerful is the combat capability of a Platinum Tycoon-class mech?" setting the bounty amount at 3,000.

After clicking confirm, Ziye suddenly felt her question was utterly idiotic. Since it was posted, that was that; her 3,000 credits were just a way to give back to the forum anyway.

“Little Dou, we’re rich! Should we open a physical workshop or an online shop?” Doing homework on the forum could certainly earn money, but it wasn't a long-term solution. Once she got busy and couldn't spare the time, the income would vanish.

Furthermore, even just fabricating a low-tier mech outside required materials costing tens of thousands, not even counting critical components like the engine system. Therefore, forum assignments could only serve as a side hustle for earning cash; she absolutely needed a primary occupation.

Since she hadn't reached the legal working age, no one would hire her, an underage laborer. The only viable option for now was opening a store.

Little Sprout was happy because she was happy, but it couldn't display emotions as plainly as a human. It sat quietly, possessing an air of serene detachment, like a sage, reminding her, “Did you even check the rental fees for physical workshops in the space station?” As it spoke, it had already pulled up the listings and displayed them before her. Ziye glanced at them and instantly felt her savings weren't even enough to fill a gap between her teeth.

A hundred-square-meter workshop cost 100,000 a month, and that was in an extremely remote location!

Fine, no workshop then. An online store would work, right?

Even an online store required a mountain of registration documents. Ziye labored for two days before finally getting the shop online. She took the schematics for the Raven, Crow, and Phantom Crow models from Silverfrost Star, stamped them with the words "Original Blueprint," and placed them in the store. Additionally, absorbing the essence of the Warrior type, she removed the impractical elements to create a more advanced mech blueprint, naming it the Frost Crow, and also listed it for sale.

To have something high-tier to lend prestige, she took a high-level blueprint from Tangshan that had never been manufactured into a mech, simplified it partially, and listed it as the Divine Raven—the shop's ultimate treasure.

As for the blueprint information, Ziye entrusted all of it to Little Sprout’s assistance.

Besides the mech blueprints, she stocked the store with various component schematics: engines, ballistic control systems, shields, lasers, missile launchers, and so on, placing three or four selectable blueprints for every detailed part of the mech.

The shop instantly looked much more substantial.

Ziye admired her store contentedly. Wait, she hadn't named it yet?

She looked at Little Sprout. "What should we call it?"

Little Sprout shook the tiny leaf on its head excitedly. "Sproutling Sprout!"

Ziye scoffed. "Sproutling Sprout sounds like a place that sells jewelry."

Little Sprout immediately got angry. "Then why did you take 'Mengya Ya' on the forum?"

Ziye recalled those pleasant afternoons. Actually, Mengya Ya wasn't bad. She chuckled sheepishly. "My little ancestor, I was wrong. How about just 'Mengya'? It sounds more artistic, right?"

Little Sprout turned around and presented its backside to her. "I don't love you anymore."

Ziye stuck out her tongue, poked its little rear, "Mengya it is. Little ancestor, design a brand logo for me."

Little Sprout glanced sideways at her, decided to be magnanimous, and drew a picture based on the tiny sprout on its own head, abstracting it. It didn't show her, just uploaded it directly.

Ziye refreshed the webpage and immediately saw a small sprout breaking through the soil...

Pretending not to notice, she climbed onto the forum to find someone. All her assets were still on Silverfrost Star, making it impossible for her to fabricate a mech independently. She needed to find a processing factory, but being new to the area, the only familiar contact she had on the forum was Chun Niu. She sent him an email: "Hello Chun Niu, do you know any familiar mech processing plants? Could you recommend one?"

After sending it, she noticed an unread email and clicked it open. "Mengya Ya, Sútáng has selected your answer as the best answer. The bounty has been transferred to your wallet, please check."

Huh?

He actually gave her the money?

Ziye felt both surprised and thrilled.

Initially, she had only gone for the bounty money, but as she analyzed the question seriously and sought the answer, she had already surpassed the bounty amount itself in learning.

Therefore, after submitting her answer, she no longer cared who ultimately received the reward; she only knew that she had learned so much from that single question...

Receiving this 5,000 bounty was a double surprise!

Ziye made a "V" sign to celebrate her initial success. She entered the bounty section, clicked on Sútáng’s question, and saw the system font in bright red stating: "Reward for this bounty: 5,000; Final recipient of this bounty: Mengya Ya; This bounty is now closed. Thank you for participating."

Ziye couldn't help but grin widely. She meticulously reviewed every single answer submitted by everyone else. She felt many answers were exceptionally good, covering many aspects of the Saber-type mech she hadn't even considered, all well-reasoned and supported.

It could be said that winning that bounty was extremely precarious.

This was because she felt several people had answered extremely well, perhaps even better than her.

If she had an advantage in her answer, it was that it was absolutely clean-cut and immediately understandable.

After reading Sútáng’s bounty thread, she returned to her own bounty question. Since she had claimed the prize money, she should give back to the forum somehow; after all, this was where her first substantial income originated.

Opening the thread, she saw fifty posts per page, with replies already spanning over two pages.

Chun Niu was the one who secured the first reply, the "sofa."

He provided a very detailed and thorough analysis covering the mech’s specifications, parameters, defense, firepower, locking systems, signal radius, and mobility. Although he didn't touch on assembly, having these figures would certainly make assembling the mech straightforward.

Ziye nodded repeatedly as she read. She had underestimated the Platinum Tycoons before; who knew that beneath that flashy exterior, their combat capability was nearly equivalent to that of a frigate.

Incredibly powerful!

She really wanted to steal a blueprint just to take a look.

She copied the data down for future reference, then moved on to the next floor.

The "bench" belonged to Sútáng.

Sútáng actually answered her question?!

Ziye was excited once more.

Sútáng started by agreeing with Chun Niu's points, merely adding a few details concerning the crucial areas of defense and firepower. Ziye read Sútáng’s answer back and forth three times, her heart filled entirely with excitement.

Not only had he given her the bounty money, but he had also kindly answered her inquiry.

What a genuinely good person!

Subsequent replies were all supporting the sentiment: "Chun Niu is mighty," "Lord Sútáng is sharp."

Ziye hesitated for a moment. Should she give the bounty to Chun Niu or Sútáng? In her mind, Sútáng’s standing surpassed Chun Niu’s and even all the staff members of the Mecha Forum. However, in this instance, Chun Niu’s answer was undeniably better.

Gratitude doesn't fill the stomach; the reward should go where it's due.

Before she could hit confirm, she received a reply from Chun Niu: "Which star system are you in?"

Ziye quickly replied: "Syah System."

Chun Niu was clearly online and instantly messaged back: "I’m quite far from the Syah System and not familiar with the area. Perhaps you should ask Xing Bao; he’s more familiar with your region."

Ziye thanked him and gave him the bounty. Just as she prepared to log off, another message arrived from him, a single sentence: "Mengya Ya, thank you."

Ziye felt a little surprised. It was only three thousand in bounty money. Given his capabilities, earning bounties on the forum must be ridiculously easy for him. Such a solemn thank you seemed unnecessary.

So, she replied: "You answered the bounty, I give you the bounty; no need to be so polite."

Chun Niu wrote back: "Not for that. Just, thank you anyway."

At that moment, Xing Bao sent an email: "Big Sister Meng, is there anything I can help you with?"

Ziye guessed Chun Niu had referred her, which explained Xing Bao's prompt arrival. However, she didn't particularly care for him and didn't reply immediately. She simply said: "Girls hate hearing the word 'sister' the most; it feels so old."

Xing Bao immediately replied: "I'm the youngest on the forum, so I got used to it, hehe," followed by a cute, coquettish emoji.

Ziye gave a faint smile, not replying further, and headed back to the homework section to continue working on problems.

After working for a while, she felt a bit hungry and was about to instruct 431 to prepare food when the doorbell rang. Ziye stood on the balcony and saw it was her neighbor, the boy named Xing Rui.

“Ziye, Ziye, can we have hot pot tonight?” he asked, holding several bags of food, tilting his head back with an ingratiating smile toward Ziye.

Ziye went downstairs and opened the door. “Good afternoon.”

Xing Rui suddenly froze, wide-eyed. He looked Ziye up and down, his face suddenly flushing red. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were a girl, my apologies." Then he turned and bolted...

Ziye stood by the door, momentarily bewildered, then broke into a laugh.

Perhaps it was the recent excess consumption of roses or some other reason, but her body had started developing, and her hair wasn't as stiff as before. She was also a homebody, making her fair-skinned and delicate. Today, she was only wearing shorts and a sleeveless top, exposing smooth, fine skin on large parts of her body. Even her hair was losing its masculine look.

But was she scary enough to make someone run away?

A moment later, Xing Rui rushed back, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Sorry, just now, uh, that..."

Ziye automatically helped him out of the situation. "You wanted hot pot?"

Xing Rui looked slightly wronged, as if she had bullied him, his tone utterly weak: "I haven't had it in a long time, but if I'm alone, I can only manage two or three dishes max. If I have too much, I can't finish it. If we could eat together, we could have several more dishes. You don't mind eating with me, do you?" (To be continued.)