I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 133
Chapter 133: Xiamo is Ready to Make a Move
Together with Ai Luodi and Chef Wang, we carefully cleaned up the café, clearing away cat fur and household garbage from every corner. After a general check-up of the cats’ health, as well as the cat litter box and automatic food and water dispensers, we turned off all the floor-cleaning robots in the shop and switched the signage to “Night Mode.”
Regarding this “Night Mode,” the café’s main hall has a detailed description, but in simple terms, it offers only a limited selection of items. For example, Ai Luodi can handle dishes like fried chicken and steamed chicken with cola. On the second floor, only some drinks like coffee and juice are available for sale. This mode was decided upon during our discussion with Ouyang Xue.
After all, during this time, very few people come to the café for coffee. Most are travelers and individuals taking a break. For customers of this type, having something to eat and drink is generally sufficient.
The café is quite modern, and items like steamed chicken and rice are cooked automatically by placing the ingredients into a machine, completing the cooking process at the scheduled time.
Ouyang Xue has briefed us on the situation at the café at night. She has been managing the café mostly on her own during these days. There are few customers coming in during the evening, and after midnight, there are almost no customers. After 2 a.m., there might be a few sporadic pedestrians coming in. These customers are mostly down-and-out business people or travelers passing through Shenzhen City. For instance, those who enjoy global travels, have a broken-down car, or are cycling, passing by Shenzhen City, see a shop open, and decide to come in for a rest.
Since most people don’t like “free accommodation,” when they come in, they usually order some fried or steamed chicken and a bowl of rice to slowly eat.
Ai Luodi’s only concern is the safety of the vicinity.
It’s strange to say that over the years, in the Nanqi District, located far from the city center and backed by the port, the crime rate is surprisingly the lowest in the whole Shenzhen City. Shenzhen City, in turn, has the lowest crime rate nationwide. Whether it’s due to the area being too remote or the residents of Nanqi District having higher qualities, based on the accounts of the locals who have lived in Nanqi District for many years, there haven’t been any cases here for many years.
However, as a precaution, Ouyang Xue has still installed a comprehensive alarm system for the café.
All the maids wear headphones with corresponding alarm buttons. The buttons have distinct patterns for easy identification, and a long press can directly trigger an alarm or initiate a conversation with the nearest police station. If the headphones aren’t worn at the time, one can also trigger the alarm system by speaking key phrases into the phone or at several hidden recording points in the shop. For example, our designated key phrase is “Sorry, no cats today.” This sentence only becomes effective when spoken by someone in our café, similar to calling out “Hey Siri” on a phone.
“Sister Ouyang, today’s turnover is more than ten times the usual!”
Before leaving, a few of us initiated a video call with Ouyang Xue: “In the evening, Ai Luodi will be watching over here. Xiamo and I will be back tomorrow, so you can rest assured. Take care of yourself, and we’ll handle things.”
“Really?”
Ouyang Xue on the other side of the video call indeed looked much better, and Li Chen, standing nearby, seemed to have recently had an argument with her.
“Ah, the doctor here told me that I need to stay in the hospital for at least five days, perfectly missing the golden opening period of the business….”
Ouyang Xue had a helpless expression, “Did you share the photos of me in the hospital this afternoon? What did everyone say?”
“Everyone?”
I was stunned for a moment, “What else can be said? The comments are all saying that this café manager is reckless. She has a fever, gastric bleeding, and still insists on working. Do you know what the most upvoted comment under my account says?”
Ouyang Xue remained silent for a few seconds, “What does it say?”
“Let me read it to you…”
I switched my phone to the Tongmeng app, “Everyone, support me to let this foolish café manager see. If she continues to neglect her health like this, we won’t patronize this café anymore. Let’s resist the exploitation of people, starting with me.”
“Pfft…”
After I finished reading, Ouyang Xue on the other end of the phone burst into laughter, “What kind of exploitation is this? These brats learn a term and start throwing it around everywhere. Do I look like a capitalist to them?”
“Not at all.”
I shook my head, “No capitalist would do the work of a laborer and end up hospitalized from overworking.”
In situations like this, most bosses would choose to let their employees handle the tasks. After all, employees are hired by the boss. Bosses typically don’t care about your skills or your salary; their only attitude toward employees is, “I pay you a salary, and you must complete whatever tasks I assign to you.”
For example, I once worked at a grocery store as a cashier. Originally, my responsibilities were just to watch the store and handle customer transactions. However, various unexpected tasks kept piling up. The boss wanted to open an online store, so I had to learn graphic design, become a photographer, take pictures of the store items, do photo editing, create advertisements, and design flyers. After finally completing those tasks, the boss heard about another platform and asked me to adapt to that platform, play the role of customer service, handle data, learn about databases, and input various product lists.
In addition to these, whenever an appliance in the store breaks down, the boss asks me to fix it. When deliveries arrive, the boss instructs me to handle them. When new stock arrives, I’m asked to use a small cart to pick up and deliver the goods. Basically, any task that can be done by an employee, the boss absolutely refuses to do personally. Every day at work is about drinking tea and maintaining good health for the boss.
In comparison, the way Ouyang Xue treats us and the way other unscrupulous bosses treat their employees are worlds apart. When I was hired as a maid waitress, Ouyang Xue really only wanted me to do the duties of a waitress. She didn’t require me to know programming, drive, handle deliveries, or participate in advertising or testing the café’s app. At most, she would let me familiarize myself with the kitchen and the various ways of preparing food during my free time.
“Boss, you really need to take a break.”
At this point, even Mr. Wang, who was behind me, couldn’t help himself. He approached the camera and said, “You shouldn’t be pushing yourself so hard. If you continue like this… people will call you foolish.”
“Haha… yeah, you’re right. I’ll stop, I’ll stop.”
To my surprise, Ouyang Xue didn’t refute, “But since the actual revenue is almost the same as expected, I feel relieved. Nuo’er and Xiamo, both of you go back early. Ai Luodi, be careful when watching the café alone at night, especially if someone coming in is a solitary man. Wear your headphones and keep your phone accessible.”
“I know.”
Ai Luodi yawned, “I’ve pulled night shifts in the editorial department before. Ah… back then, we received notifications about website restructuring from higher-ups, and the group I led had the most issues. We worked through the night reviewing documents.”
“Alright, alright, the grand opening ceremony is perfectly concluded. Let’s call it a day.”
In the hospital room, Ouyang Xue casually took the medicine handed over by Li Chen, taking it with water while talking to us, “Later, I’ll respond to some questions from netizens under the official account. Let’s wrap it up.”
“……”
As I left the café, I glanced back at the large mushroom-shaped building behind me and adjusted my small skirt. I noticed that as I gradually adapted to the girl’s body, girl’s clothes and shoes seemed to become more pleasing to the eye.
The advantage of being a girl when it comes to dressing is… you can wear clothes of any gender, but the opposite is not true for boys. If a guy wears women’s clothing outside, he’ll be considered weird.
Currently, I’m wearing an outfit that I bought with a delivery app: a hooded sweatshirt with a pleated skirt and round-toe casual shoes. The skirt and cute round-toe shoes make me feel light and airy. Even my mood is lifted. Though I can’t see how I look right now, every time I lower my head and catch a glimpse, I feel like I’ve been enchanted.
Tonight, the moon is exceptionally beautiful, shining in a silver-white color.
“Nuo’er, I want to take you somewhere.”
In the moonlight, walking a few steps along the shaded path outside the café, Yin Xiamo suddenly spoke beside me, “There’s something I want to tell you.”
“Hmm?”
I’m curious, “Can’t you tell me when we get back?”
“If we go back… it’s not very convenient.”
“Not very convenient?”
“Anyway… will you go or not?”
The girl beside me blushed a little, breaking her usual demeanor, “Consider it as me using up the right from today’s truth or dare challenge.”
“Sure.”
I nodded, “Where to?”
“Nanqi Tower.”
“That lighthouse? The Old Man and the Sea?”
“Yeah, I’ll take you to see the place where I used to go every day when I first came to Earth.”
“……”
……