I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 127

Chapter 127: The Stopped Hourglass Will Resume Flowing as Soon as It is Turned Upside Down

 

“Hello, 120 Emergency Center. How may I assist you?”

 

“My friend here suddenly fainted. She has been having a persistent cold with a low-grade fever. Just a moment ago, she was talking to us. We’re not sure if it’s heatstroke from the hot sun or a worsening cold, but now… her breathing is rapid, and she’s speaking incoherently.”

 

“We have a general understanding of your situation. Do you need an ambulance?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Please provide the specific address. Also, given the hot weather, if possible, try to move the patient indoors…”

 

“……”

 

While moving Ouyang Xue under the eaves of the mushroom house with Yin Xiamo, I called 120 and provided them with the café’s address.

 

“No… I’m fine… I… ”

 

“I can’t sleep at a time like this…”

 

As Yin Xiamo carried Ouyang Xue back, despite being unconscious, she still mumbled incoherently, furrowing her brows, looking quite worried.

 

I tried touching her forehead.

 

“She has a temperature of around 40 degrees.”

 

Generally, in situations where someone collapses outside, it’s best not to move the patient without understanding the circumstances first to avoid causing secondary injuries. However, considering the extremely hot weather in May and the fact that three to four in the afternoon is the hottest time of the summer, the floor outside the café felt scorching even with me wearing maid shoes. Given such temperatures, Ouyang Xue couldn’t be left lying directly on the ground.

 

So, Yin Xiamo and I carried her back, temporarily letting Ouyang Xue rest under the eaves of the mushroom house.

 

“Is she really okay? Momo, tell me the truth.”

 

After making the emergency call and looking at Ouyang Xue breathing rapidly on the ground, I turned to Yin Xiamo beside me. While I may not fully understand the magic of otherworldly realms or the specific rules regarding the “Grim Reaper” in this current world, I assumed Yin Xiamo should have knowledge about the specifics of life and death for an individual. This could include things like lifespan or health status.

 

Based on past experiences, my only “supernatural ability” is the ability to see the state of those near death, seeing the Grim Reaper harvest their souls. As for where the so-called souls go and whether there’s any way to save them after the appearance of the Grim Reaper, I am not clear.

 

What I least want to happen now is a scenario like those melodramatic novels where Yin Xiamo, as the Grim Reaper and my good friend, repeatedly takes away people around me to abide by the “rules” and not disrupt them.

 

I hate it when it’s like this.

 

“It’s really okay.”

 

Under the somewhat stuffy eaves, facing my question, Yin Xiamo rarely wore a serious expression. “Nuo’er, I have experienced the pain of losing loved ones, so… you have to believe that I won’t joke about something like this. Ouyang Xue is fine, she just overextended herself, coupled with a high fever, she couldn’t handle it.”

 

“What happened?”

 

Before long, the people in the café, including Ice Spirit, Tongtong, and others, also sensed that something was wrong. Even Lu Xinjian, who had been playing with his daughter in the cat living area, rushed out, asking, “What happened?”

 

“Suspected heatstroke or unconsciousness due to a high fever.”

 

I gave the crowd a “don’t worry” expression. “I’ve already called an ambulance.”

 

“Don’t call… an ambulance… can’t call…”

 

Under the eaves, Ouyang Xue, with her eyes tightly closed, seemed to retain a trace of consciousness. She mumbled, “Nuo’er, you… the new café’s opening day… we can’t…”

 

“Don’t worry about the opening.”

 

I quickly grabbed Ouyang Xue’s hand. “You really need to rest for a while.”

 

Unlike my delicate and fair hands, Ouyang Xue’s hands had many calluses, and the skin was somewhat rough, not at all like a girl’s hands.

 

Recalling the events of the past few days, I realized that Ouyang Xue had indeed done a lot for the café. From the preparation phase of the new café, decoration, recruitment, to later when I came to work in the café, coding the café order system, going out to purchase supplies, and finally creating the opening promotional video, she was involved in operations, personally changing clothes to serve customers.

 

I suspected that Ouyang Xue may not have slept much at night during the days she stayed at the café. Even if we don’t consider other tasks, just writing the system would consume a significant amount of time. Programming is not a simple task, and once you write the code, there is a need for extensive debugging and bug testing. Afterwards, it needs to be installed in the café, deal with compatibility issues, connect with various devices, write small programs, and implement QR code ordering.

 

This is not a task that one person can easily accomplish. I once worked as an online store customer service representative, and the boss also asked me to help manage the online store system. Initially, I searched online and found that many online stores have fixed templates. You just need to put the prepared images up and adjust them a bit, but actually doing it is not that simple. Each template has different image resolutions, and you have to self-learn Photoshop or other image editing software. You have to cut out each pixel, extract the required patterns, and then beautify them.

 

Like an online store on Taobao, you need an introduction page, details page, promotional video, and so on. Just the details page… to achieve that kind of effect, extreme experience, cool visuals, super high performance, you need dozens of layers in Photoshop. After selecting the images, determining the resolution, creating a new layer, seeking inspiration from others’ work, adding decorations, creating gradients, setting halos, and more, it takes several hours to produce a single image.

 

And these… are just for a single image of the “details page.” Without available templates, if Ouyang Xue wants to code the entire café ordering system herself, her task is equivalent to what others would assign to an entire team of engineers and graphic designers.

 

Sometimes, when a bug arises, or if there is an issue with the underlying logic of the program, troubleshooting and rewriting can be very torturous, leaving one physically and mentally exhausted.

 

And that’s not all, besides the café system, various miscellaneous tasks in the café, such as going out to purchase supplies, managing finances, and handling internal decoration, are all under Ouyang Xue’s responsibility.

 

Similarly, the delicate promotional video on Tongmeng Online, shooting, editing, retouching, special effects… all of these require time and energy.

 

Even when I was busy for half a day and wanted to take a short break, Ouyang Xue was still working during that time.

 

Such high-intensity work, even a superhero would struggle to handle…

 

“How about I drive her to the hospital? What if the ambulance gets stuck in traffic…”

 

Seeing that Ouyang Xue’s lips were turning pale, Lu Xinjian took out his car keys. “Where is the nearest hospital?”

 

“The nearest hospital is 5.6 kilometers away from here. Ambulances have privileges, and it shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes to arrive.”

 

Yin Xiamo gestured towards the wheelchair-bound Luming inside the café. “Aren’t you planning to take your daughter back in a while?”

 

“I…”

 

Lu Xinjian hesitated visibly. “Taking someone to the hospital shouldn’t take much time.”

 

“We are not professionals, it’s best not to move the patient’s body.”

 

Yin Xiamo shook her head. “Just now, Nuo’er explained the specific situation to the emergency center. When the ambulance arrives, it will definitely come with professional medical equipment, and Ouyang Xue can receive immediate instrument-assisted first aid upon boarding.”

 

Seemingly convinced by Yin Xiamo’s reasoning, Lu Xinjian nodded. “If there’s anything I can help with, feel free to let me know.”

 

“Is your manager suffering from heatstroke?”

 

As university students, Tongtong and Maple, who just came out of the café, were visibly less composed than Yin Xiamo and me. The two girls were filled with concern, “Should we get her some water?”

 

“It’s likely due to the high-intensity work, coupled with a cold and fever. She couldn’t handle it,” Ai Luodi chimed in, approaching and attempting to feel Ouyang Xue’s forehead. She sighed, “We had an editor in our editorial department who experienced the same. Pushing too hard, always the last one to leave work every day, dinner at around nine, and even after getting home, the QQ editor was always open. Answering author questions instantly. After a few months, the body couldn’t endure it anymore.”

 

“No… really?”

 

Ice Spirit looked puzzled, “Is it worth ruining your health for money?”

 

“I can understand.”

 

Physics Duck sighed, “Been poor, scared of being poor.”

 

“I don’t understand.”

 

Ice Spirit hesitated for a moment, “If it were me after graduating from college… I’d rather earn less money and not work so hard.”

 

“You haven’t entered society, you don’t understand.”

 

Physics Duck patted Ice Spirit’s shoulder, “It’s a very realistic issue. You might not understand if you haven’t experienced other people’s lives.”

 

Ouyang Xue in my arms continued murmuring, “Nuo’er, you… maybe you shouldn’t take me… don’t go to the hospital…”

 

As time passed, more and more customers noticed the situation at the door. Many people walked out curiously, gathering around and pointing.

 

“What’s going on? Isn’t she the maid in the café? Is it serious?”

 

“She looks really pale. Did someone call 120?”

 

“This looks like overworking. Don’t ask me how I know…”

 

“Alright, everyone, no need to panic. It’s going to be okay.”

 

Seeing this scene, in my mind, the usually unserious Yin Xiamo suddenly became reliable. She gestured for the crowd to retreat into the café and took the initiative to walk over to disperse the onlookers. “It’s okay, our manager has just been working too hard these past few days. She’s tired. She’ll be fine after some rest.”

 

“Very sorry for disturbing everyone’s meal.”

 

“Woo—”

 

While she was speaking, the siren of an ambulance sounded from afar. Before long, the vehicle passed through the tree-planting workers in front and arrived at the entrance of the café.

 

“Give us a hand, lift the person up.”

 

As soon as the ambulance stopped, a doctor quickly got out, pushing through the crowd. After a brief glance at the situation of Ouyang Xue in my arms, he checked her forehead and breathing, waved to the two nurses behind him after a simple examination.

 

“Are you guys cosplaying?”

 

Seeing me, Yin Xiamo, Ai Luodi, and Ouyang Xue dressed in maid costumes, the doctor nodded towards me. “Pretty cute.”

 

“Doctor…”

 

Ice Spirit frowned and said, “Others have fainted, and you’re still in the mood for jokes…”

 

“Ah.”

 

In contrast, Physics Duck, Kuang Jinshuo, had an appearance of familiarity with the situation. He signaled to Ice Spirit not to speak further. “It’s good that the doctor is in the mood for jokes. When the doctor gets anxious, that’s when it’s really over.”

 

“This young lady is also a regular visitor to our hospital. I probably know her situation.”

 

The doctor chuckled and, with the help of two nurse girls, lifted Ouyang Xue onto a stretcher. “One of you should come to the hospital. We’ll need some signatures later.”

 

Us?

 

“I’ll go.”

 

Ai Luodi volunteered, saying, “I’m pretty good at taking care of people.”

 

“Let Nuo’er go.”

 

Yin Xiamo pulled Ai Luodi back. “I believe whether it’s Nuo’er or Sister Ouyang, they both have a lot to say. Besides, Nuo’er has been busy all morning, so her going is actually the best.”

 

“This…”

 

I was a bit puzzled. “If I go to the hospital, will you two be okay?”

 

Yin Xiamo responded with a question, “Do you think I’ll have any issues?”

 

Ah… I guess that makes sense.

 

“Then let this little sister go.”

 

The doctor, who had already placed Ouyang Xue in the ambulance, waved to me. “Hurry up, it’s hot, and we need to hurry.”

 

“Well… okay.”

 

Considering that Li Chen had gone out for supplies and we couldn’t afford to lose two chefs, it felt a bit odd for the Miss Grim Reaper to accompany us to the hospital. Ai Luodi wasn’t very familiar with Ouyang Xue, so the only one left to go to the hospital and take care of things was me. In this case, during the evening rush, Ai Luodi could handle the coffee and milk tea on the second floor, while Yin Xiamo could manage the first floor.

 

Her physical condition is nothing to worry about, and because she comes from another world, Yin Xiamo’s appearance is also exceptionally attractive. She can easily handle the customers who come during the evening rush.

 

“Momo, I’ll leave this to you.”

 

After a brief farewell to Lu Xinjian, Ice Spirit, Tongtong, and others, I boarded the ambulance and arrived at the stretcher next to Ouyang Xue’s compartment.

 

“Be careful on the road!”

 

Yin Xiamo and Ai Luodi waved to me, “Call us as soon as Ouyang sister’s condition improves!”

 

As the door of the ambulance closed, the world dimmed.

 

“……”

 

……