Li Chen asked the girl, "What's your name?"
The girl answered in a clear, bright voice, "I'm called Second Girl."
Li Chen couldn't help laughing. "Second Girl? Why not Second Fool? That hardly counts as a proper name."
The girl said, "That's what everyone calls me."
Li Chen said, "How about this? I'll give you a new name. What do you think of Han Li-Li meaning 'to stand'? A man should strive to grow strong, and a girl should strive to stand on her own as well. This name carries great fortune in the unseen workings of fate. Your future prospects would be extraordinary."
The girl looked innocently at Li Chen, unable to understand a word of what he was saying.
Li Chen said, "Never mind. That isn't a girl's name. Let's call you Han Li instead-Li meaning 'beautiful.'"
Li Chen asked again, "Have you ever learned any cultivation methods? The qi refining and breathing techniques taught by cultivators?"
The girl shook her head in bewilderment. She had never even heard of the things Li Chen mentioned.
Li Chen asked, "Then what can you do?"
The girl said, "I... I can cut cloth and make clothes!"
Li Chen said, "So you know the art of sewing."
Tailoring was one of the hundred crafts, and sewing was also covered in The Hundred Crafts, Part One, a text passed down through the Puppet Dao. At its most basic, it provided everyday tools for the people; at its highest level, it could lead to cultivation and the pursuit of the Dao. It was also the foundation for cultivating Shape-Stealing Skin-Painting.
As a Puppet Dao cultivator, Li Chen had studied its basics at the Heavenly Crafts Academy in White Rock Ward during his apprenticeship. He now had the girl, Han Li, recite the material