I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 115
Chapter 115: Be a Cat Person, Do Cat Things
In the bedroom, I wrote for about thirty to forty minutes when the sound of the front door being opened came from the living room.
“Are you really not planning to join me tomorrow for the interview at that café? I heard from Nuo’er that the manager of that café seems really nice, very reasonable, and the environment is also very good.”
Shortly after the doorbell rang, Ai Luodi’s voice came through, “Tomorrow, they’re having an event at their café. Many anchors and people who won prizes from Tongmeng Net will be there. It’s also the day when many new stores are opening on the nearby commercial street…”
Then came the voice of the editor Tuzi, Lan Jiajia: “So, they should be very busy, right? It’s okay, I’ll go after tomorrow. There are still many things to hand over at the editorial department…”
Back already?
I stood up from the small chair and walked out of the bedroom.
In the living room, Lan Jiajia, and Ai Luodi were carrying large and small bags, containing meat, vegetables, and fruits.
“How many words did you write?”
Seeing me, Lan Jiajia showed a gentle smile, gesturing to the bags in her hands, “I bought a lot of supplies for you. Despite having such a big kitchen, there’s almost nothing here. You guys have made this place too simple.”
Nothing here?!
I thought for a moment. “I seem to have bought a lot of rice, miscellaneous grains, and basic seasonings. Is it still not enough?”
If I remember correctly, when we moved, I and Yin Xiamo had already moved all the kitchen utensils from the wujia apartment, including food. Things like rice, green beans, red beans, soybeans that I didn’t finish eating alone, various grains, noodles, vermicelli, corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes, unused peanut oil, sesame oil, sugar, vinegar, cooking wine, soy sauce… Although Ai Luodi’s kitchen is indeed large, there’s no need to fill every available space, right? It’s enough as long as it’s edible, isn’t it?
“This rice, you only have one type here. It’s fragrant rice produced by the Shuiming Rice Cultivation Center. It’s called Shuiming Fragrant Rice in the market. This type of rice is generally used for cooking. Having only this type of rice in the kitchen is not enough. Rice can be used for cooking, making porridge, and can also be simmered for congee in the evening. In addition, some aromatic rice is suitable for making fried rice after cooking, and some rice is suitable for making summer desserts with green bean porridge or making thin porridge.”
Lan Jiajia, dressed like a summer wind “lady,” spoke in a virtuous tone. “In my hometown, we like to cook a pot of porridge for breakfast and lunch. This kind of porridge requires a type of rice with a harder texture from the Dadong District, not sticky, with clear rice soup. Cook it with dried corn kernels in a pressure cooker, simmer for a while, then cool it quickly. The porridge water will be very clear. Put it in the refrigerator to freeze, it can cool you down and serve as a staple food.”
Huh?
“And this sweet potato, you only bought regular yellow-fleshed sweet potatoes here. This type of sweet potato is generally used to cook sweet potato soup with ginger. I bought chestnut sweet potatoes suitable for breakfast and purple-fleshed sweet potatoes…”
Walking past me, Lan Jiajia came to the kitchen and began to unpack the things she bought, placing them in the rice jar, grocery cabinet, and refrigerator in the kitchen.
“We’re missing cumin powder and sesame, and there’s no breadcrumbs or potato starch.”
“The freezer only has pork, not up to par.”
“Peanut oil is substandard, oyster sauce is substandard, only light soy sauce, no dark soy sauce…”
Every time she put something on the kitchen shelf, Lan Jiajia explained to herself.
I threw a curious look at Ai Luodi, who responded with an expression like, ‘She’s like this in the game.’
Is this… encountering an expert?
Before, as an uncle, the reason I cooked was purely because life forced me to – I was poor. I forced myself to learn cooking purely to save money.
But this Lan Jiajia in front of me seems to be a bit different from me. She seems quite knowledgeable in cooking.
I used to live alone, and since the market was close by, I naturally didn’t consider the need to stock a variety of things at home. After all, buying too much would mean eating alone, so I just went out every day and managed with that.
As for what Lan Jiajia mentioned… things like cumin powder, I hardly use them in daily stir-frying. They are typically stocked by people who enjoy barbecue or like the taste of cumin.
And this rice, I almost always buy rice from the supermarket at home. When buying, I did some research on whether this type of rice is suitable for making porridge or cooking and what its taste is like. However, what attracted me to buy a particular type of rice wasn’t its purpose but its price. In simple terms, as long as it’s not the kind that needs special treatment or is expired, I buy the cheapest rice because there’s really not much difference in their nutritional value.
Eggs are the same. In the supermarket, there are regular feed eggs, free-range eggs, and even eggs claiming to be from chickens living in a certain scenic area, pure nature, and then they sell for five or six yuan each… There’s really no need. The nutritional value difference is not that significant. If necessary, just eat two regular eggs.
“Are you back?”
At this time, Yin Xiamo also walked out of her room and, seeing Lan Jiajia, exclaimed, “You bought so much!”
“That’s right, no matter how I tried to advise her, she wouldn’t listen. She said she feels uneasy seeing our kitchen and won’t feel comfortable until she fills it up.”
Ai Luodi shrugged, “I’ve been recruiting roommates who can cook during this time. I didn’t expect the best cook to be right here, and I didn’t notice.”
“It’s almost done.”
After neatly arranging the purchased reserves, seasonings, and various kitchen tools, Lan Jiajia took an apron from the side and placed various meats and vegetables on the table. “You guys go outside and take a break. Leave this to me.”
I offered, “Do you need help? I often cook at home.”
“You little girl, your height barely passes the counter…”
Lan Jiajia reached out and gestured between my head and the kitchen counter, “Little one, go back and lie down and wait for the meal. How much have you written in your novel?”
“I…”
I hesitated for a few seconds between the “height” and “novel” questions and ultimately chose “novel.”
“I’ve written over eight hundred words.”
“Half an hour for eight hundred words? That’s a bit slow. A professional author should produce at least 3,000 words in an hour to be considered qualified. If it’s part-time… it should be around 2,000 words in half an hour,” Lan Jiajia said while tying her apron. The “lady-like” aura around her intensified. She gathered her long hair at the back of her head, saying, “If you’re interested in writing in the future, and you join an advanced author group, you can learn from someone named Daxu in the group about how to type. Her maximum speed is 16,000 words per hour.”[1]
What?
I was a bit dumbfounded, “Is there really someone who can write over 16,000 words in an hour?”
Although I’m not a professional, widely popular author, I’ve heard such legends from various sources. Training the input method, generating a long paragraph with just a couple of taps, or adapting the input method to match one’s speech rate or accent for voice input. Keyboard input is more accurate, while voice input has more typos and requires manual punctuation, and each has its advantages.
But still, writing over 16,000 words in an hour sounds terrifying. Even now, not to mention writing 16,000 words, it takes me about half an hour just to thoroughly check through 16,000 words.
“Is that person named Daxu?”
Hearing the editor’s words, I asked tentatively, “In the advanced author group?”
“She’s in the regular author group as well. All the authors under me are in the regular group. To enter the advanced group, you need to have a consistent monthly subscription of 1,000,” Lan Jiajia explained. “You can learn from her about typing, but there’s no need for writing experience. All of her books are printed from the same mold. No matter how I suggest improvements, she doesn’t listen, saying that writing this way is convenient.”
“Huh?”
“There are quite a few authors in such groups. The plots are all the same, but because they have popular tags, people still read them. Quantity matters more than quality in such cases.”
Lan Jiajia bent down to check the stove, turned off the switch, and continued, “What sets Daxu apart from other authors is that she writes part-time, just like you. But she’s much faster. She spends two hours writing a book every day after work, publishes 20,000 words, keeps 10,000 as drafts, and waits until she gets recommended before releasing all the drafts… Many of her books don’t have high collections or subscriptions, and the protagonists are almost always the same template. Still, she updates quickly, and her income is not bad.”
Can I learn from someone like that?
Don’t even mention writing 16,000 words in an hour, I couldn’t even write 5,000 words in an hour. I’m not some octopus monster…
Both of the novels I’m writing seem to lean more towards the daily life genre. If you ask me to write something like, “The protagonist shouted loudly, unleashing a powerful punch with empty hands!” “The enemy took a hit, HP-30.” After the enemy took the hit, instead of retreating, it advanced, unleashing a powerful move called “Endless Sea.” The onlookers gasped in shock. I could probably manage to speed up to 3,000 words per hour, but for more nuanced and detailed descriptions in daily life, I genuinely can’t generate that many words in a short amount of time.
Moreover, do books written like that really have a soul?
“In simple terms, it’s about finding the right market positioning. Some genius authors are naturally good at catching people’s excitement, writing whatever is popular. Some authors rely on plot, and some just directly copy template routines. They translate and adapt them but update quickly, piling up income through word count,” Lan Jiajia explained.
Ai Luodi added, “If you’re not a responsible editor, what about the authors under your supervision? What does the editorial department say?”
“Unless something unexpected happens, they should be transferred to a new editor named Catnip.”
Lan Jiajia replied, gesturing for us to leave the kitchen. “Alright, alright, little ones, don’t stay here and make a mess for the adults. Get out quickly.”
Then I was ushered out.
Catnip?
“Boss.”
After a few seconds of confusion outside, I turned to Ai Luodi, “I don’t think I’ve heard of this editor Catnip?”
“She just joined this month, a new editor.”
Ai Luodi yawned, “Don’t worry, Honeydew’s HR recruitment level is still decent. The editors who can get in should have good skills. You’re an experienced author, you should know what to do.”
“A female editor?”
“I can’t say for sure.”
“Huh?”
“What I mean is… I don’t know if Catnip is a male or female editor. The chief editor didn’t directly say. When I saw the person, I couldn’t tell the gender—short hair, no chest, and the voice was indistinguishable. But the skin was good.”
Ai Luodi patted my shoulder, “I heard that this ‘Catnip’ has a unique personality. Good luck with that. Jiajia and I can only take you this far.”
A bit eccentric in temperament? Oh no, having an eccentric temperament is generally not a good adjective. It seems like my days ahead won’t be easy. With this mood, I sat down on the sofa in the living room and opened my phone.
Opening my QQ on the phone, there was no activity in the editor group that Editor Tuzi mentioned, nor were there any messages indicating changes in editors. Most of the discussions were about games or recent anime, indicating that the author transition might take some time.
Instead, Ouyang Xue, whom I had added as a friend just these past few days, sent me a message on QQ:
?Nuo’er, the café’s decoration will be finished by 8 PM tonight. If you have time, you can come and familiarize yourself with the new environment. Our café will officially open tomorrow, and there might be many streamers and TV stations coming for promotion. Don’t stay up late tonight, get some early sleep.?
?Also, I uploaded the first promotional video for our café on Tongmeng Net. If you have time, you can go take a look and leave a comment in the video’s comment section. You are the first maid in the café and our signature maid. I’ll pin your comment at the top for promotion.?
Promotional video?
Ouyang Xue’s message gave me a completely new impression of this mature older sister. Not only had she previously been a VTuber and served as the logistics team leader at Tongmeng Net, but now, she could handle various tasks at the café, cook, raise cats, program, and write code. And now you’re telling me she can also create promotional videos?
Before the company went bankrupt and novel royalties weren’t paid, during my financially difficult times, I attempted to self-learn video editing.
Generally speaking, basic video editing isn’t too challenging. Most of the popular editing videos on Tongmeng Net don’t require high technical skills. You just need to find high-definition, text-free sources of various anime on some relatively niche websites, add an uplifting music track, synchronize with the rhythm, and since many video editing software these days are powerful, even a beginner can learn it in a couple of days.
But if you talk about making a formal “promotional video,” the difficulty level increases.
I don’t know what Ouyang Xue means by “promotional video.” If it’s just a simple short video, featuring some attractive areas of the café, paired with some soothing background music, I can handle that. However, such promotional videos usually don’t gain much attention.
My intuition tells me, considering Ouyang Xue’s personality, the opening of the café, with Tongmeng Net being a major shareholder behind the scenes and the primary promotion platform, she wouldn’t just casually record a simple video for the website.
“Shangjing Cat Cafe PV1: A Dream in the Floating World”
Indeed, when I opened the Tongmeng Net app and found the official account “Shangjing Cat Cafe,” the only video in the “Submissions” section, I discovered that its view count had already exceeded 120,000.
The video was posted at noon today, and it’s now evening, around six or seven hours later. With 120,000 views in such a short time, it’s evident how valuable it is.
Keep in mind, this is a new account with zero followers and zero submissions just a few days ago. Having over 120,000 views on the first video is quite terrifying.
“Shangjing Cat Maid Cafe… Special thanks to… Tongmeng Net…”
At the beginning of the video, there’s a brief text expressing gratitude, followed by a scene with a style leaning towards a fresh and clean aesthetic.
In the video, the camera seems to be hidden behind a green plant near the cafe. The morning sun has just risen from the horizon, and in the bottom-left corner of the frame, you can see a few emerald-green leaves with dewdrops as clean as jewels. Amidst a series of very soft “meow” sounds, the dewdrops on the leaves fall, and the distant blurry shot gradually becomes clear, revealing the giant mushroom-shaped structure of the Shangjing Cat Cafe.
My goodness, the cinematography…
Bathed in the gentle sound emitted by my new phone, I was already astonished just by this opening sequence.
After that, the scene changed, and the person recording the video proceeded along the path outside the cafe. The camera captured the adorable small chairs at the cafe’s entrance and the beautiful surroundings.
The cafe’s door was pushed open, and Ouyang Xue, dressed in a maid outfit, walked out of the house, holding a broom.
Following that, resembling a game promotional video, Ouyang Xue in her maid outfit appeared on the screen, covering a large portion like a character illustration in a game PV. It gave off the vibe of a promotional video introducing a game character.
“Welcome to Shangjing Cat Cafe in Shenzhen City. I am the acting café manager, Ouyang Xue. You can call me Sister Ouyang or Sister Xue…”
“Hmm? What happened to my clothes?”
“Our café is not just an ordinary cafe. Here, you can interact with little cats for free and taste a variety of delicious food. From coffee and milk tea to fried chicken egg tarts, we offer a full range of dishes. As long as it’s the owner’s request, we will try our best to fulfill it.”
Seeing this, I finally understood why so many people had added me as a friend just now. Because this promotional video… the quality is truly exceptional.
Just by maintaining the cafe’s background, isolating Ouyang Xue, and adding smoothly integrated artistic text introductions with a melodious background music, it made people yearn for this cafe in Ouyang Xue’s soothing voice.
I’ve done videos before, and I know about it. The Ouyang Xue in the middle of this video looks like a game character illustration that has definitely undergone secondary artistic processing, not just a simple cutout of the character’s appearance.
And the design content… is often the most challenging part of video production.
“All the little cats and cat houses in the cafe are free to access, but be careful. Each little cat has a different temperament. If a certain cat is not too friendly, please don’t force interaction…”
Following that, the background music slightly accelerated, incorporating traditional Chinese instruments like erhu and guzheng. The scene transitioned to people dining in the cafe, playing with little cats, and gaming on laptops, depicting scenes from the past few days in the cafe.
If I remember correctly, this footage should have been shot the day before yesterday, and Ouyang Xue sought the opinions of these customers at that time.
“Nuo’er is here!”
Then, I saw myself on the phone.
“Table 18… Meow Meow Cat Paw Egg Tarts!”
“Dada da…”
“If you want a discount, loudly say the name of this item!”
“Dada dada dada…”
Like Ouyang Xue just now, I also had a feeling of being a “game character illustration” appearing on the screen, accompanied by relevant introductions:
?Maid: Nuo’er?
?Attributes: Cute, lively, kitten-like?
?Appearance frequency in the shop: High?
“Oh, wow?”
At this moment, Yin Xiamo approached from the side, “Nuo’er, have you already filmed and uploaded a video?”
“How is that possible? This is… this is the cafe’s promotional video.”
Seeing myself on the screen made me blush, “I don’t even know when she made this.”
During the days working at the Cat Cafe, Ouyang Xue didn’t specifically ask me to film any videos or instruct me to perform specific actions or say anything. She only mentioned that the café had several high-definition cameras installed and that the footage might be used later.
I didn’t expect her to find such a suitable shot among so many recordings, then manually process it into this artistic style with Photoshop…
What’s even more magical is that she could capture my voice so clearly.
“Dingman! Dingman, you can’t run there! Come back quickly, wuu… all fur…”
“Hand-shredded chicken is also an option… with an additional charge.”
“Please don’t be like this, it will bother me…”
I don’t know if I naturally look too cute or if Ouyang Xue’s post-production was too exaggerated, but both the illustrated me and the busy me running around the cafe in this video give off a somewhat unreal feeling.
It’s as if… it’s completely impossible for a girl like the one in the video to exist in real life. Whether in appearance or figure, everything is flawless, the skin is especially fair, and the voice is very soft.
Compared to Ouyang Xue’s introduction and the shots of the cats just before, the thickness of the barrage in the video started to feel off since I appeared.
?Is this kid too cute? Keeps going da-da-da-da-da…?
?The maids’ shoes are like this, and their floor is wooden, so of course, it’s da-da-da-da when they run?
?Is there really such a cute girl in real life? I don’t believe it?
?Wishing for a free meal ticket, lowering the winning rate?
?Did they overdo it with the filter? Is this face and eyes real? The eyes are too beautiful, doesn’t look real?
?Brothers, I got a half-price coupon! Tomorrow I’ll go check it out for everyone, especially this maid named Nuo’er. I have a 100 megapixel camera, I guarantee no beauty filter will be applied.?
?Found Nuo’er’s QQ in the comments, found Nuo’er’s QQ in the comments, found Nuo’er’s QQ in the comments?
The introduction about me in the video lasts about 50 seconds, even more than Ouyang Xue. The “illustration” in the middle is so cute that I, myself, want to grab the girl inside and hug her. Moreover, Ouyang Xue seems to know exactly what everyone likes to see. The selected photos clearly show my two white-silk-clad small feet. One illustration even has an upward perspective: I lift my small feet clad in white silk and wearing small leather shoes, almost stepping on the camera – who knows how Ouyang Xue managed to capture that.
After the illustration, there are various scenes of me serving customers in the cafe. Some scenes, I don’t even remember. Looking at it from this third-person perspective, I even doubt if it’s synthesized.
“Do you want to pet the cat? A fur brush is ten yuan. Oh, if you want to rent it, it’s one yuan per use, unlimited time.”
“Do you want a photo with me? Sure thing, but let me make it clear beforehand, I only have Nuo’er as my wife.”
“What does ‘stepping on you’ mean? I’m a waitress, I don’t do things that harm customers.”
Next up is Yin Xiamo, also in a maid outfit. However, Yin Xiamo’s illustrations and materials are relatively scarce. After all, her maid outfit arrived only yesterday, and she hasn’t worked as a server in the cafe for a few days.
?Xiamo? What a beautiful name.?
?This maid looks like Emilia, have you guys noticed??
?No, she’s slightly more charming than Emilia.?
?I don’t like lolis or mature women, but I’m captivated by this girl. Is she also a maid? It looks like I have to make a trip to Shenzhen.?
After Yin Xiamo’s introduction, there are some scenes from the cafe’s kitchen, information about raw materials, and the staff dormitory. It then transitions to the “company culture” and other formal content.
At four minutes and forty-four seconds, the video returns to the mushroom house at the beginning, displaying the address and map location of the Shangjing Cafe. Several lines of text appear, introducing available bus and subway routes. The entire Shangjing Cafe PV ends with gentle music playing.
“……”
After watching the video, I scrolled down, and among the top ten popular comments, eight were discussing me.
?First row confessing to Nuo’er?
?Can’t think of any pick-up lines, I only know that Nuo’er has stolen my heart, making me, a loli enthusiast, understand that even in the three-dimensional world, there can be warmth?
?Where did the comment that said they found Nuo’er’s QQ number go? I haven’t had the chance to add her?
?I don’t have evidence (to report), some people really went too far. If you like someone, you can support their cafe after it opens tomorrow. It only costs 1 yuan to take a photo. Don’t cyberbully them with sarcasm. Do you think you’re so righteous??
?This PV is so luxurious, there must be a big team behind it, right??
After briefly skimming through the comments on the video, I opened the comment section and used the account “Little Xia Nuo Does Not Hide in the Cardboard Box” to post an “Amazed Cat Head.jpg” emoji.
Then, I closed the Tongmeng Net app and called Ouyang Xue.
“Hello?”
“Sister Ouyang, I left a comment below the video.”
I hesitated for a moment and then asked, “Did you make this video by yourself?”
“Li Chen helped organize the materials, but most of it was done by me.”
Ouyang Xue’s tone sounded weary, and she coughed a few times. “Can Ai Luodi come to work tomorrow? There might be a lot of people in the store tomorrow, and I’m afraid we won’t be able to handle it with just a few of us.”
“Wait a moment, let me ask her.”
I took my phone and turned to Ai Luodi, “Boss, can you go to work tomorrow?”
“Is it necessary to go tomorrow?” Ai Luodi, who was arranging flowers on the balcony, turned around, somewhat hesitant. “Short-staffed?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, I’ll go over to help tomorrow.” Ai Luodi nodded. “But let’s be clear, I haven’t done this kind of work much before.”
“That’s okay.”
I quickly picked up my phone, “She said she can.”
“What about that Lan Jiajia?”
“She hasn’t finished the handover work for the editing yet, so I think she won’t be available tomorrow.”
“Oh, that’s fine. With so many people, it should be enough. As long as we get through the opening on the 10th, the following days will be easier.”
Ouyang Xue’s tone changed, “Nuo’er, you seem to be quite popular on the internet now, and your QQ number is exposed. Be cautious about safety.”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”
I hadn’t spoken yet when the grim reaper, who seemed to have overheard our conversation, approached, saying, “Rest assured, I am Nuo’er’s exclusive Grim Reaper. I can turn a blind eye to anything they stir up online. If anyone dares to mess with you here…”
In the quiet room, I saw Yin Xiamo’s eyes suddenly sharpen, a cold light emanating.
“I wouldn’t mind collecting a few more souls.”
“……”
……
How on earth did this person manage to write 16,000 words in an hour? It took me more than one to two hours just to translate a single chapter containing 8,000 words. And here this person is, writing 16,000 words in an hour. I shouldn’t compare myself to a native speaker, but I didn’t expect the gap to be so wide.