I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 101

 

Sunset appears beautiful because it is brief, or is it perceived as brief because of its beauty? I don’t know.

 

Just like I’m unsure whether my past self should be a “hero” or a “Yin Shiren.” I don’t have the memories of a hero, but similarly, when “Yin Shiren” was pronounced “dead” in this world, I couldn’t inherit his memories either.

 

In reality, “Yin Shiren” has spent almost half a year cooped up in a rented room, living a solitary life every day, shifting the focus of work to the “outsider” on the internet. In recent years, “Yin Shiren’s” “social” life in the real world has been almost nonexistent. All his life activities are online. It is because of this that I, transformed into a loli, can perfectly continue to play the role of “me” on the internet.

 

In ordinary times, “Yin Shiren” relies on the nearby market for meals. The uncles and aunties in the market, faced with such a common corporate worker, even if he goes to the same stall every day, they can’t possibly have a deep impression. If one day “Yin Shiren” suddenly disappears, for these real-world uncles and aunties, it’s at most the loss of a familiar face in their daily lives.

 

Not even qualifying for a mention in their leisurely conversations.

 

In other words… After successfully portraying “Yin Shiren’s sister,” requesting to move out from the landlord, and completely removing the “brother’s” belongings from this rented room, over time, even the property manager, who talks the most with “Yin Shiren,” won’t remember there was such a person. They won’t bother checking the information of this seemingly ordinary tenant.

 

The apartment sees a large number of young people coming and going every day. With one staircase on the left and another on the right, three rooms on the left side and four on the right, eight floors in total, accommodating up to 56 households at most. Long-term tenants like me do exist, but since I’m not sociable and don’t engage in social activities with the property manager like other tenants who occasionally go out for drinks, play cards, or visit nightclubs, the property manager of Building 3 probably remembers my name at best.

 

…

 

“Do you dare to act so early in the morning?”

With the echoing footsteps descending the stairs, in the empty corridor, upon hearing the words of the property manager from upstairs, Yang Kun, the property manager in front of my room, instinctively turned around. He shouted at the young man who had quickly jumped to the first floor, “Hey! Stop! You can’t escape! We have surveillance cameras!”

 

However, Yang Kun’s words only made the thief run even faster. The sound of hurried footsteps quickly disappeared at the first-floor entrance.

 

“Darn it, we must catch this scumbag today, he’s been harassing our property management for days…”

 

A few seconds later, the property manager from upstairs rushed down. Without even glancing at me, he jumped directly out of the window next to the third floor.

 

Oh my god…

 

Carefully poking my head out, I watched the property manager flip out of the third-floor window and land on the flat roof below. Mentally, I sighed with relief for this man.

 

Are you risking your lives just to catch a thief?

 

“Stop!”

 

Under my gaze, the property manager shouted angrily at the young man who had already run into the alley, “Come back here!”

 

This shout instantly attracted a crowd of onlookers. Several tenants on upper and lower floors opened their windows, discussing the departure of the two property managers.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

“It’s probably that thief stealing shoes again, and in broad daylight.”

 

“This is too scary. Did he have a knife? When did the security of the rental place become so poor…”

 

“If the property managers chase the thief outside, and something happens on the main road… who will be responsible?”

 

“Who cares about Big Fang or Little Fang? I only know that thieves deserve to die, just like the ones who steal shoes!”

 

Amidst the discussions, I pulled my head back.

Maybe it’s better not to get involved in the commotion…

 

Because the person who just ran was too fast, I didn’t get a clear look at his face. Based on his figure, he couldn’t be older than twenty-five and seemed like a recent college graduate.

 

As for why someone would come to an apartment like this to steal shoes or junk, I can’t say. The Wujia Apartment can be considered a place at the bottom of modern society. Around it are small shanties built by impoverished elderly people who have lived here for decades. Not everyone has received education, and not everyone’s worldview and values align with ours. Some people have never attended school in their entire lives, while others migrated from other provinces a few years ago. The differences in culture and values inevitably lead to many behaviors and phenomena that are hard for us to understand.

 

From my own observations and experiences, stealing shoes seems quite normal.

 

Back when I graduated from college and was short on money, I rented a self-built house in a nearby urban village. It was on the ground floor, with the living room next to the kitchen and bathroom. The bedroom was right next to it, separated only by one wall from the alley outside. If the bedroom window didn’t have iron bars, anyone could climb in from outside and sit directly on my bed.

 

One of the most memorable things for me at that time was an elderly woman who would come to my window around five every day. Holding a broom, she would sweep the ground while loudly cursing, often getting more agitated, throwing the broom and banging on the walls. I would be awakened each time, thinking this elderly woman was the local cleaner and perhaps I had angered her by accidentally throwing garbage out the window during my dreams. One day, I purposely woke up early, around four in the morning, and cleaned the alley outside, waiting for the elderly woman. However, she still came out with a broom, cursing at the air while sweeping, growing increasingly agitated, her face turning red as if she were about to beat the invisible person in front of her half to death.

 

The sky at five o’clock was still dim. I was genuinely frightened watching this well-dressed elderly person cursing the air right in front of me. Given that she had been doing this every day since I moved in, I felt a cold sweat breaking out on my forehead. I didn’t dare ask her why she cursed the air, I just ran away, heading to a breakfast shop and staying there until it was time for work.

 

I felt that if the “Entering Science” program crew were to come, they could probably make at least three episodes out of this. Later, I asked the local landlord, a fifty or sixty-year-old lady who looked similar to the elderly woman. She told me that the old woman had some mental issues, her son had passed away, and she wasn’t a sanitation or cleaning worker. Perhaps when her son was young, he didn’t like to keep things clean. Every morning, the elderly woman would come around to clean the area, and it seemed that during these cleaning sessions, she would “see” the phantom of her son throwing garbage, leading her to curse at that imaginary presence.

 

The landlord also mentioned that not only in my building but almost all the surrounding buildings were frequently disturbed by this elderly woman. She didn’t wake up at five, she started sweeping at four every day, beginning from the east side and then moving to my side. Due to her old age, the police were hesitant to intervene.

 

I asked the landlord why she didn’t mention this when I was renting the place initially. The landlord chuckled and said, “If I had told you, you definitely wouldn’t have signed the lease.”

 

Similar situations occur in nearby cramped apartments. For instance, there’s a building separated by several small houses from Three Building Apartment. To the north, there’s a self-built house for rent, and it’s considerably cheaper than the apartments. Most tenants there are elderly people with children. I’ve heard complaints in the WeChat group more than once from residents in that building, stating that the neighboring rented house makes a lot of noise with knives at night, sounding like a scene from a Detective Conan movie. The property manager has tried to negotiate several times, but the other party remains unreasonable, claiming to enjoy playing with stones at night and suggesting to call the police if they disagree.

 

Due to experiencing similar incidents frequently, I’ve become relatively indifferent to things like “shoe theft.” After all, stealing shoes can be considered “profitable.” Items like electric fans, brooms, mops, and shoes occasionally left outside by tenants can be stolen and sold for some quick money.

 

And dealing with “theft” is quite straightforward – catching the thief and handing them over to the police should do it. However, how do you solve the issue of the elderly woman who wakes up every morning to sweep and curse? What about tenants chopping stones in the kitchen all night long? There’s no easy solution to these situations. When the police come for such matters, they usually prefer to smooth things over.

 

Suspicion… Compared to this environment, Ai Luodi’s house feels like… heaven to me. It’s precisely because of these experiences that I’m so persistent about “having a small house.”

 

?The sun has set, the moon has set, weaving the vicissitudes of half a season?

?Under the purple-vine-blue starry sky, crying for the faith you devoted to two years ago, flames staining the hem of your golden dress?

?Come, let me take you home…?

 

Hmm… This should be… a quote?

 

Back in the room, carefully closing the door, I continued organizing my “relics.” I feel like my past self was really sentimental. By the way, which novel did I copy this song from back then? Regardless, these things won’t sell, so I’ll keep them as a memento.

 

One by one, certificates, quotes, mood diaries, and essays were neatly arranged and stacked together. Then, the less valuable drafts, contracts, and underwear were placed in the nearby trash bag.

 

Back when I was in college, I seemed to place special importance on these things. I spent days preparing for club activities, participated in class events whenever possible, and while others were enthusiastically playing games online during the school sports meet, I was passionately striving for first place on the sports field. In the end, though, these awards that I once took great pride in became nothing more than memories.

 

As for clothes… underwear was thrown away as trash, and for outerwear, I’ll pack them up and see if I can contact a charity organization to donate them.

 

“…”

 

That’s about it.

 

Let’s call it a day for now. Next time, I’ll come back to move the remaining items to the first floor for the residents here to take for free. Over the past few years, I’ve freely taken things from the neighbors, and now it’s time for me to “repay” them. Although living in this cramped apartment hasn’t left me with many fond memories, I’ve been here for quite a while. I still wish them well and hope that their spirit of “inheritance” can continue.

 

After packing up my things, I placed the notes, mood diaries, and certificates that I intended to keep as mementos into the rabbit-shaped backpack on my back. Just as I finished cleaning the kitchen, I received a call from Lu Xinjian.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Hello, has Nuo’er gotten up?”

 

Lu Xinjian’s voice sounded energetic, a far cry from the dispirited man I first met at the vegetable market: “Are you still at the café in the Nanqi District? Should I drive over to pick you up?”

 

“No, I’m in the Central District… uh, playing around in the urban village.”

 

I glanced at the sky outside: “There’s a nice ‘Fruit Shop’ in the Central District.”

 

“The Central District? Why didn’t you say so earlier? The Shenzhen First People’s Hospital is in the Central District. Wait there for a moment, I’ll drive over.”

 

“How long will it take?”

 

“If it’s fast, about ten minutes.”

 

“Alright, I’ll be waiting here.”

 

“Okay.”

 

After hanging up, I packed away the cleaning tools, washed my hands and face, applied some sunscreen, and walked out of the house.

 

“Is this person’s head messed up? How much money can you make by stealing shoes?”

 

“You let… Ah Hui and the others work overtime these past few days, one person per building. I don’t believe… we still can’t catch him.”

 

On the first floor, property managers Yang Kun and another property manager from Building One were chatting. Both of them had flushed faces and were panting heavily, obviously having engaged in some intense physical activity just now.

 

Seeing them out of breath, I took a bottle of water from the rabbit backpack and handed it to Yang Kun: “How are you feeling?”

 

“Oh! The beauty is delivering water.”

 

Yang Kun didn’t hesitate, took the water, and proudly said to the property manager next to him, “Haha, didn’t I tell you? The tenants in our Building Three are incredibly kind and lovely.”

 

Saying that, he gulped down most of the water.

 

“Tsk.”

 

The property manager from Building One felt a bit frustrated. He looked at me, then glanced at Yang Kun, seemingly surprised that such a young girl would live here or something. “Little sister, aren’t you supposed to be in class today?”

 

“I’m on break.”

 

I casually replied, “My brother asked me to come help with cleaning.”

 

The reason I gave water to this Yang Kun had a purpose—I’m about to check out, so I wanted to familiarize myself with him a bit in advance.

 

In addition to catching thieves, taking care of cats, warning residents not to raise chickens or knock stones late at night, the responsibilities of these property managers also include handling the “check-out and settlement” process.

 

Having rented various apartments before, I am well aware of the tricks involved. Most tenants end up having various inexplicable “charges” deducted when checking out, such as wall cleaning fees, hygiene fees, and pet odor removal fees. These deductions usually depend on the property manager’s mood, meaning they have the right to decide whether to deduct more or less when you check out.

 

A bottle of mineral water costs only two yuan. Now that I’ve familiarized myself with this property manager, I believe when it’s time to check out, he will likely be more generous, ensuring I can recover most of my deposit.

 

“That thief ran too fast.”

 

Although Yang Kun had just boasted to the man next to him and drank half of my water, he still handed the bottle to the property manager beside him: “But I remember his face. Next time if I see him hanging around here again, I’ll definitely catch him!”

 

I smiled, “Thank you.”

 

Yang Kun seemed pleasantly surprised, “Not at all, not at all. It’s my duty.”

 

“I’ll head back now, I’ll come by to clean next time when I have some free time.”

 

When I said this, it carried two meanings. The first was, “It’s quite challenging for a young girl like me to commute between two places just to clean, and you all should be aware of that.” The second was, “I’ve cleaned multiple times, and you’ve all witnessed it. So, when it’s time to check out, please don’t deduct too much money.”

 

In reality, whether I clean or not, it doesn’t make much of a difference for the owner who manages this apartment building. That’s because this building… has cleaning aunties.

 

The cleaning aunties are regular employees, working from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. When there’s nothing to do, they clean the corridors and walkways. When there’s a task, like a tenant checking out, they handle the cleaning and disinfection.

 

The wages of the cleaning aunties are fixed. Their pay doesn’t increase if there are many tenants checking out in a month or if they have to clean every day. Likewise, they don’t get paid less if there’s nothing to do for a month.

 

Whenever a tenant checks out, the cleaning aunties have to go clean the room, restore everything to its previous state. This is their job. If a tenant doesn’t clean the room and it’s messy, it simply means the aunties will spend a bit more time on their tasks. If the tenant keeps the room tidy, they’ll spend less time, but they won’t receive less pay.

 

As a property manager, just a temporary worker doing inspections, they don’t receive any commission for having more tenants. The money deducted from tenants under the guise of “cleaning fees” doesn’t go to the cleaning aunties or the property managers.

 

So where does this money go?

 

“Take care on the way, little sister! Remember to look at the traffic lights when crossing the road!”

 

Amidst the caring words of the property manager, I left the apartment with the rabbit backpack, heading straight to the fruit store on the roadside.

 

After waiting for a few minutes at the fruit store, I saw a car with the license plate “?AD4399” parked by the roadside. Lu Xinjian rolled down the window and waved at me, “Over here!”

 

I got into the car from the back door and jokingly said, “Uncle, you’re not kidnapping me, right?”

 

“How could I? You’re my… well, my daughter’s lifesaver.”

 

Lu Xinjian hurriedly explained, “I promise to safely bring you back in a little while.”

 

I fell silent for a moment and asked, “Organ donation prohibits family members from checking information about the donor. What did you tell your daughter?”

 

“My daughter knows everything.”

 

Driving while speaking, Lu Xinjian continued, “She’s been very smart and sensible since she was a child. We just told her that you’re here to chat with his sister for a few days, and she understood everything.”

 

The car swayed and swayed, driven by Lu Xinjian onto the main road outside.

 

“Your daughter must be used to having such a resourceful father like you.”

 

I smiled bitterly, “As for me… when my brother told me he was leaving, I… I didn’t even understand what he meant.”

 

Lu Xinjian remained silent for a while, only speaking when he drove the car onto the Ring Road in the central district, “I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s okay. My brother… he’s been like this since childhood.”

 

I felt like I was rambling a bit, “A good person, back in college, he saw something about body donation and organ donation online. Without a second thought, he signed up for it, and after graduation, he just… um.”

 

“So what happened to your brother back then?”

 

‘How did I die again? It can’t be ‘neck laceration, rupture of the neck artery,’ or ‘excessive bleeding,’ right? That’s clearly murder!’

 

“What was the situation with your brother at that time?”

 

“My brother saved a lot of people, he’s our hero.”

 

Lu Xinjian’s tone also became somewhat solemn, “I asked the doctor at the time. Your brother came to the hospital alone. He told the deputy dean on duty that his hands and feet were a bit numb. After searching online, he suspected there was a problem with the blood vessels in his brain. He even said that if anything happened, he wanted his body to be donated and asked the deputy dean to record a video.”

 

“Then what happened?”

“Then… well, the hospital confirmed that it was a rupture of the blood vessels in the brain. He deteriorated quickly, couldn’t be saved even in the hospital, and there were multiple bleeding points.”

Lu Xinjian seemed oblivious to my probing: “At the Shenzhen First People’s Hospital, your brother was in the ward for less than an hour before he passed away.”

 

“Oh…”

 

I feigned a sorrowful expression, took out my phone, and sent a text to Yin Xiamo in the room:

?How did you reconnect a head that was chopped off the neck??

Soon, Yin Xiamo replied: ?Is that difficult for a goddess of death??

I challenged: ?You can even resurrect the dead??

Yin Xiamo replied: ?Other dead people, no. But you, yes. I’ve said it before, I’m your exclusive death god.?

?And then you controlled my body??

?Just cleaning up the aftermath.?

“…”

 

?Why did you do this??

After some thought, I decided to inquire further: ?If you’re my exclusive death god, why did you donate my body organs to the hospital??

?Because doing so would instill in you a habit of thinking that your male body, along with its past karma, has been severed. It makes you believe that your male existence has already died and found its ultimate wish fulfillment elsewhere. You would then feel that the death of the male body is worthwhile… After acquiring such habitual thinking, you will find it easier to accept a girl’s body, my little cutie.?

“…”

 

I instantly felt like I was being played.

?You are truly a great demon.?

?Thank you for the compliment, little cutie. When are you coming back? Wasn’t the dumplings you made in the morning enough for two meals??

?I’m not going back because I’ve initiated the “Starve the Demon at Home” campaign.?

?How could you! My little Nuo’er, can you really bear to see such a cute beauty like me go hungry??

?I can, I can bear it very much.?

 

 

After sending this text, I put away my phone: “Enough about my brother, let’s talk about your daughter. Her name is Xinmeng, right?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Lu Xinjian looked quite happy, “You even know her name?”

 

“Haven’t you always been saying Xinmeng, Xinmeng before? And then your surname is Lu.”

 

I calmly said, “It’s a straightforward deduction.”

 

Lu Xinjian is the boss and doesn’t belong to the type of man who would marry into a family. They also have only one child, and the daughter should take her father’s surname…

 

“Oh, is that so? I don’t recall mentioning Xinmeng’s name.”

 

Lu Xinjian seemed a bit embarrassed, then as if remembering something, he said, “Oh, by the way, forgot to tell you, if you write novels… you have a fan group, right?”

 

“Yes.”

 

I nodded, “But hardly anyone in the group discusses the novel.”

 

“I’m in your group.”

 

Lu Xinjian took out his phone from the side, tapped a few times, and showed me the screen, “Also, you can check in the group. There’s someone named ‘????????’ (Mr. Oil Stick does not like oil sticks).”

 

I was a bit confused, “What’s up with that person?”

 

I remember “Mr. Oil Stick does not like oil sticks”, Once gave me a few hundred yuan in rewards back when Yae-Do Novel was still around.

 

Because I usually have the habit of scrolling through comments and complaining in my free time, I can remember the names of people who give rewards or vote for monthly tickets. My general impression of this ID is that they donated a few hundred yuan and voted for monthly tickets every month. In the group, their image is that of a “big brother” who often discusses novel plots.

 

Should be a big brother… right? This person’s profile picture is a cat.

 

After all, my novel is a male protagonist genre, the traditional monster-fighting and leveling-up flow with almost no female readership. Since “????????” (Mr. Oil Stick does not like oil sticks) did not set a QQ gender and the name includes the character “?” (jun), people in the group call them “???” (Mr. Oil Stick).

 

As everyone knows, readers in reader groups usually discuss games, show off their cards, talk about memes, and discuss anime and movies, but they seldom discuss novels. Mr. Oil Stick is the one in my group who pops up every time and discusses the plot:

 

?New chapters, Nuo’er looks so cool!?

?Will the male lead end up with Nuo’er? Please don’t bring out the knives, I can’t stand knives…?

?Is the Divine Split Magic stronger than the protagonist’s magic??

 

Because Mr. Oil Stick almost always discusses novel-related topics in the group and doesn’t engage in gaming or anime discussions, my impression is that they are more on the “serious” side.

 

How did Lu Xinjian know about this person in my group? Is he Mr. Oil Stick?

 

“Mr. Oil Stick is my daughter.”

 

Under my puzzled gaze, Lu Xinjian put away his phone. “During the time when her heart was in the worst condition, she wore new clothes and could only lie in bed. Knowing that her dad is running a novel website, she insisted on reading novels. I had no choice but to let Ai Luodi, the editor, recommend a few books casually. One of them was yours. That year, my daughter almost woke up and started reading novels.”

“At first, she followed five or six books, but those authors all disappeared, leaving only you still updating. To have something in common with my daughter, I joined your group.”

 

At this point, Lu Xinjian turned his head and looked at me: “Isn’t it amazing? When I was researching, I thought it was unbelievable. It turns out we are old acquaintances. By the way, did you write that novel? I heard from Ai Luodi and others that you were using your brother’s ID at that time. Did you write it, or did your brother?”

 

“Yes… I wrote it.”

 

I didn’t know what else to say for a moment. “I just wanted to make some money at that time… It wasn’t very well-written.”

 

“Xinmeng really likes it. That girl hadn’t read many online novels before, and among those books, yours was her favorite.”

 

“Oh…”

 

“… ”

 

Shenzhen First People’s Hospital itself is not far from the Wujiu Apartment. During the time we were talking, the car had been driving westward along the wide road and arrived near the hospital gate, stopping in the parking lot here.

 

“The inpatient building, fifth floor.”

 

Closing the car door, Lu Xinjian walked up to me. “My daughter woke up this morning and asked me to pick you up quickly, saying she wanted to see her lifesaver and her favorite author. She even prepared many small gifts for you.”

 

I looked up. “Small gifts?”

 

“You’ll know when you get there.”

 

Walking with this father into the hospital amidst the surrounding crowd, when the elevator stopped on the third floor, I noticed a translucent death spirit or ghost flying past the front aisle.

 

“Oncology (Tumor/Cancer) Department.”

 

After the elevator doors closed, perhaps noticing that I had been distracted by the world outside the door, Lu Xinjian casually explained.

 

“Okay…”

 

I knew where this was.

 

I sighed quietly in my heart.

 

The most significant difference between me and ordinary people right now is probably that “seeing death spirits” ability, which is utterly useless, isn’t it?

 

“Ding dong! Fifth floor reached.”

“Come.”

Exiting the elevator with Lu Xinjian, this man led me towards a room labeled “5301.”

 

Pushing open the door, a beam of bright sunlight shone diagonally from the window not far from the hospital bed.

 

This sunlight fell on me and also on the girl lying in the hospital bed in the room. Her small face looked a bit pale, but overall, she seemed lively and spirited.

 

“Xinmeng, the author you wanted to meet, and…”

 

Entering the room, in the sunlight, Lu Xinjian introduced me to the girl lying in the hospital bed wearing a patient’s gown.

 

“And your hero.”

 

“……”

 

……