I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 142

Chapter 142: Runaway Repeater at Starlight Elementary School

 

Considering that Yin Xiamo has gradually started to accept this world and embrace her new self, but because her culinary skills haven’t improved much, my workplace ended up being on the second floor, where I took on the roles of a barista and a milk tea mixologist.

 

For an ordinary college graduate like me, mixing milk tea is considered a basic skill. I vaguely remember our main subject teacher confidently saying during our university classes, “In the future, at most less than 20% of this class will choose to pursue their field of study.”

 

The teacher used “choose” instead of “find,” making it clear that, for example, in the Information Engineering School’s “Software Technology” major, if there were 20 students in a class, only 20% – or 4 people – would end up on the path of becoming a “programmer,” while the rest would either work in an unrelated company, factory, deliver takeout, or change careers.

 

The university I attended was very ordinary – an ordinary campus, ordinary majors, and ordinary classmates. The only thing not ordinary was probably me, a student without parents, relying on student loans and part-time work to graduate successfully.

 

And as the teacher said back then, very few college students eventually choose to pursue their field of study. Most ordinary college students come out after three or four years feeling lost. If a company is willing to hire them, that’s considered good, because without connections or background, and with the strict employment rate criteria set by the school, not finding a job means no graduation certificate. Many people have no choice but to work in industries with a huge demand for labor, such as milk tea shops and restaurants, to get a graduation certificate first, which is still better than working in a factory.

 

So basically, students who didn’t graduate from prestigious universities have worked as waiters, been in milk tea shops, and have some understanding of popular desserts on the market. As long as they’ve been shown the recipe, after familiarizing themselves for a day or two, they can pretty much make the corresponding milk tea.

 

Ai Luodi clearly belongs to the category of social individuals who have worked as waiters in a milk tea shop or have some understanding of this stuff.

 

After reviewing the manuscript Ai Luodi left on the second-floor café, comparing it with the original manuscript in the milk tea café, checking various machinery on the workbench, and consulting the highest-order rates for desserts ordered by customers yesterday, I roughly got an idea of the café’s revenue situation.

 

Currently, the highest-selling desserts in the shop are all “classics,” including signature pearl milk tea, roasted grass jelly, mango milk green tea, and the like. In contrast, coffee sales are relatively low, with the most popular “Rabbit Coffee” having less than half the sales of roasted grass jelly.

 

?Guys, I’m back, and this PV (promotional video) is really not deceiving. The signature maid in this shop is even cuter than in the video.?

?Now the only question is whether this person named Nuo’er is really of legal age. If not, they are illegally employing child labor. If they are of legal age… it’s truly a perfect and legal loli.?

?But since this official account can smoothly buy the official promotion of Tongmeng’s website, the possibility of employing child labor is unlikely.?

 

There are relatively few people coming to the café to eat between seven and eight in the morning, and even if there are, they are on the first floor, where Xiamo is responsible for serving. So, I can familiarize myself with the use of various tools at the workbench here. Additionally, I can open the app that connects my phone to the café system and check the comments section of Ouyang Xue’s video on Tongmeng’s website.

 

What surprised me is that the café’s promotional video has already reached 1 million views today, and it’s about to hit 2 million. The comments under the video are diverse, but most of them are positive—

 

?I was there in person, for those who don’t believe it, you can check my story. I recorded it with my phone without any beauty filter, and Nuo’er is simply an angel.?

?Their manager is also dedicated. Even when she had a fever, she stood in the sun to supervise the work and eventually passed out. Nuo’er took her to the hospital.?

?Yes, I was also present yesterday, and I noticed a small detail. The little girl Nuo’er, after returning from the hospital, the first thing she did was to go to the second floor to take a bath, change clothes, and disinfect. It was really touching.?

?Did all of you only pay attention to Nuo’er? And that maid named Xiamo is also super beautiful, right? Her legs are really perfect for white stockings.?

 

Compared to the comments section, the barrage in the promotional video is mostly harmonious and positive ——

 

?Nuo’er, go go go!?

?Got a half-price card, came here to fulfill my wish?

?Met Nuo’er, took a photo, tomorrow I’m going to go and pet cats for free?

 

Switching to the homepage of Tongmeng Net, I found that the promotional video for the café is still prominently displayed in the most conspicuous position.

 

Thinking about Su Yunjin’s “painting a big picture” just now, at this moment, I finally understand how powerful the energy behind the café is, and why a video like this is worth Tongmeng Net investing so much resources in promotion.

 

Of course, in the current internet environment, the sudden popularity of the “Shangjing Cat Maid Cafe” has also sparked a lot of backlash from many people. There are quite a few negative comments and barrages in the video, but overall, it is still relatively harmonious.

 

Opening the “Little Xia Nuo Does Not Hide in the Cardboard Box” dynamic zone that Xiamo and I created together, I saw a post I made yesterday afternoon about Ouyang Xue being hospitalized due to illness. The most liked comment in the comment section was something like this ——

 

?If you want to see Nuo’er’s photos in white stockings and bare feet, give this a like so Nuo’er can see it?

 

This made me neither cry nor laugh. It seems they are completely indifferent to Ouyang Xue’s illness…

 

Although… Well, considering that this is my account’s comment section, this generation of internet users… it’s quite normal.

 

With the routine preparations completed, I closed the Tongmeng Net app, lowered my head slightly, and glanced at my legs wrapped in white stockings and suspenders under my maid skirt.

 

Wearing these stockings, there is a clear distinction from the clothes worn around men. It’s like… they constantly remind you… that you are already a girl, you are very cute, exceptionally cute, cute to the point of explosion, just like the female protagonists in anime.

 

I can’t describe this feeling specifically, but… these days, while working in the café, feeling the wrapped sensation of stockings on my legs and the flowing feeling of the skirt around my waist, my “confidence” seems to be easily triggered.

 

Back when I was just a guy, I didn’t care much about what I wore. Being away from home, I was accustomed to the fact that I was just an ordinary person. But working in the café is different. When I wear these clothes here, I always feel more confident, more optimistic, and my entire mood becomes happier.

 

“Hmm? Are you called… Xiamo, right? Where’s that little loli from the promotional video?”

 

“Second floor? Alright, I want to take a photo with you guys, and then play with the little cats here. Petting the cats is free, right?”

 

While I was organizing materials on the second floor, quite a few customers had already started coming in on the first floor, arriving one after another upon hearing the news.

 

Unlike the customers who seemed to be just probing around yesterday, today’s visitors are more open, and their purpose is very clear.

 

Based on the surveillance footage and sound transmitted from the first-floor camera to my phone, I can tell that the customers entering the café during this time are here for the “cute maids,” and most of them are young people.

 

Today is May 11th, Saturday, the first day of the weekend. If yesterday was less crowded because it was a Friday and people didn’t have much time off, plus the new store opening, making passersby unsure about the specifics inside and hesitant to enter, then today is probably the “peak period” for coffee house customer flow.

 

On the first day of the new store opening, major websites heavily promoted it, and many people were watching. Most of the visitors were either relatively free or already living near Shenzhen City. Some were big anchors who rely on this for a living. It’s normal for the crowd to be sparse initially, but after these anchors “tested the waters,” the quality and service of the café gained recognition. The views of the promotional PV on Tongmeng Net kept climbing, and discussions about the coffee house skyrocketed. I don’t need to think to know… the number of people coming to the store today must be terrifying.

 

“Wow! It’s really exactly like the video!”

“I finally see real person!”

“Come on, I’m recording now. I don’t believe you’d dare to lie.”

“What’s there to lie about? I, I… I want to be Miss Nuo’er’s dog!”

“…”

 

After the café went viral, I had to face various situations.

 

“Uh…”

 

Facing several male netizens who had arrived at the store early in the morning on the second floor to record videos and have fun, after a brief moment of bewilderment, I tried to present an appearance of ‘this old man has also experienced many storms’: ‘But I like cats.’

 

“Meow, meow, meow!”

 

Then, this group of guys went crazy: “Meow, meow, meow!”

“I’m a cat, I’m a cat!”

“I can also be a mouse, Miss Nuo’er’s cat can eat me however she likes!”

 

Then came the classic noisy time.

 

“Do you gentlemen want some coffee or milk tea? We also have small cakes and juices!”

“The Rabbit Coffee comes with a coffee cup with a rabbit pattern.”

“The design can be customized, but… maybe I’m not very good at drawing.”

“Interacting with the little cats is free, but it’s best to pay attention to the cat fur. If you need to use a cat teaser or a fur removal tool, renting items will cost extra…”

 

Just as Ouyang Xue and I anticipated, starting from the group of netizens who likely came a long way after watching the Tongmeng Net video, the number of customers at the café surged after nine in the morning.

 

In contrast to the previous large groups of couples, families, and trios, today almost all the customers entering the café were in groups of college students and online friends.

 

In groups of three to five, most of them carried backpacks, looking like they had traveled a long way just to see Xiamo and me, experiencing the atmosphere of a “high-end cat cafe.”

 

“Can I interview you, Miss Nuo’er?”

“Hello, I’m a streamer on Tongmeng Net. This is my account, would you like to follow me?”

“Wow, is this the new internet-famous café? The ambiance is great, so many cats, and free drinks? Is this… plum juice?”

“To be honest, most internet-famous check-in spots are all show and no substance, but this place is different. It’s solid, everything from food to drinks, clean, and a good environment.”

 

In addition to online friends and college students, there were noticeably more streamers coming into the café today compared to yesterday. Many of them couldn’t wait to go straight to Xiamo for a group photo upon entering, then came up to the second floor to find me, and finally, they took the time to savor the food and interact with the cats in the coffee house, being impressed by the quality of the dining experience here.

 

If it weren’t for my knowledge of the anime and manga culture and frequent interactions with my reader community and those meme groups, understanding many popular internet elements and memes, I might really struggle to deal with these swarming netizens.

 

Ouyang Xue’s insight was correct. Simply having cute or beautiful appearances for the maids recruited by the café is not enough.

 

If there were girls who were not familiar with anime culture and internet memes, or those with a more serious personality, and a guy came over acting eccentric – “I’m Miss XX’s dog!” – they might think it’s mockery, unable to resist showing a disdainful expression or even responding with insults on the spot. This could lead to an extremely awkward situation. If these netizens went back and talked about it, shared a video, others might think the maids here are uninteresting and might decide not to come next time.

 

Moreover, after working for a morning, I noticed that today’s college students and online friends who came because of the video had a much higher willingness to make various payments compared to the couples and passersby from yesterday.

 

Ouyang Xue’s philosophy of “free is the most expensive” was thoroughly applied at this moment.

 

Entering the café is free, petting the cats is free, and the place even provides free drinking water and beverages. However, if you want to eat something, take photos with the maids, interact with the cats, it all comes with a cost.

 

It’s similar to the operation strategy of some free-to-play games.

 

Contemporary college students and online friends are almost accustomed to the gaming model where you enter the game for free, play casually, receive in-game costumes, but if you want a good-looking character, you have to spend money. They receive equipment through tasks, and using that equipment for daily activities is possible but slow. If you want to defeat monsters quickly, you have to spend money.

 

Young people, influenced by various free-to-play games, clearly have a different consumption outlook compared to their parents’ generation.

 

Yesterday, many parents brought their children to play, to pet the cats. When those parents saw their kids playing with the cats, their concern was mostly about being careful not to get scratched or bitten by the cats, and they never mentioned the paid services. However, the college students who came today were completely different. They saw, “Oh, renting a cat teaser is only one yuan? That’s so cheap! Let’s just buy one and consider it supporting the maid girls. A pack of small dried fish is only five yuan? So cheap! Let’s get ten packs, consider it a tip!”

 

And then, unconsciously, even if they didn’t dine in the café, didn’t order fried chicken or milk tea, just by petting the cats and taking photos, one person’s spending easily reached tens or even hundreds of yuan.

 

In addition, the big screen in the center of the café constantly displayed the tipping system, and every now and then, someone would tip five or ten yuan. It gave me a feeling… it had a taste of tipping virtual streamers.

 

Although, in a certain sense, Xiamo and I at the café can indeed be considered idols.

 

“……”

 

“I can finally take a break.”

 

Starting from nine in the morning, whether it’s making milk tea and coffee or helping in the first-floor kitchen to transport small cakes, along with introducing various cat services to second-floor customers and taking photos with them, I’ve been busy until after two in the afternoon. Finally unable to hold on, I asked Chef Wang for a “Nuo’er’s Exclusive Special Lunch,” hung a sign on the work table saying “Having lunch, please wait a moment, will be back soon,” and went to the staff break room to eat.

 

“Ugh… it’s been tough.”

 

During the meal, in order to save time, I didn’t even have a chance to look at my phone. I focused on the “special lunch” on the table, trying to eat as gracefully as possible, but in reality, I was devouring it with enthusiasm.

 

“Darling.”

 

Halfway through the meal, Yin Xiamo, who was supposed to be on the first floor introducing the cats, pushed the door open and walked in. “Your friend has arrived.”

 

“Jiang Wei?”

 

I swallowed a bite of food. “Got it. Ask him to wait for a moment.”

 

“Eat slowly.”

 

Coming over to my side, Yin Xiamo sat down with me on the bed. She seemed a bit happy. “If you choke, I’ll feel sorry for you.”

 

I gave her a glare. “I’m not stupid enough to not know how to eat.”

 

“By the way…”

 

After looking at me for a moment, Yin Xiamo spoke softly, “You remind me of thousands of years ago, when I was still that weak and pitiful little demon abandoned by the family, the one the hero found in the ruins.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

I turned my head, “How come you can remember things from so long ago just because I’m having a meal…”

 

“At that time, the hero’s homeland was destroyed, and the surrounding area for dozens of miles was all a sea of fire. There was nothing to eat, and I was starving for over a week.”

 

Yin Xiamo sighed, “Then that fool found me and, when he gave me something to eat, it was like coaxing a pet—’Go ahead, it’s not great food, but at least it can fill your stomach.'”

 

I assessed the food in front of me, scooped up a bite of rice, and then handed it to Yin Xiamo.

 

“Hmm?”

 

Yin Xiamo looked somewhat curious. “What are you doing?”

 

“Eat.” I mimicked her expression from earlier. “Although it’s not great food, at least it can fill your stomach.”

 

“Pfft…”

 

The girl in front of me had a suppressed smile, “It’s not similar at all..”

 

“How could it be? I’m not that person, and you’ve turned me into this… little loli appearance. Even if I say the same thing with the same tone, it won’t be the same.”

 

I put on an expression of ‘You’re the one to blame for this’, “Can you blame me for that?”

 

Just as I was about to take the spoon back, the girl beside me directly took a bite with a playful “Ah-woo,” eating the rice on it.

 

“Hmm, it has Nuo’er’s taste, fragrant.”

 

Yin Xiamo, speaking with a bit of a muffled voice due to eating, said, “Feels like home.”

 

“You really ate it…”

 

I helplessly put the spoon back into the bowl.

 

“Of course, this is called an indirect kiss.”

 

“Cough, cough…”

 

I looked at the spoon in the bowl. “You don’t have that kind of, special ability, do you? Like making people’s hearts race, blush, and feel hot?”

 

“What are you talking about? I’m not a succubus.”

 

Yin Xiamo innocently said, “Demons and succubi are completely different species, you know?”

 

“Is that so?”

 

“Yes, that’s right. Demons are much stronger than succubi!”

 

Yin Xiamo proudly declared, “Back then, in that rented apartment, I should have taken someone’s first kiss while she was unconscious. Now, if I want to kiss her, I have to come up with all sorts of excuses. It’s so troublesome.”

 

Hey…

Why do you make it sound like I’m… some kind of laid-back girl who can freely mess around just because my first kiss was taken?

 

“Be serious, we’re still working here.”

 

Quickly finishing the meal in a few bites, I grabbed a crispy shark from the snack box and put it in my skirt pocket as I headed out. “Where are Jiang Wei and the others on the first floor?”

 

Yesterday, Ai Luodi was in charge of managing the customers on the second floor and preparing milk tea. She practically cleaned out several snack boxes here.

 

All the spicy strips, konjac snacks, small fish… anything spicy was gone, leaving only crispy shark compressed dry rations, a quick-filling snack.

 

I always feel like Ouyang Xue is going to lose money at this rate.

 

Hiring Ai Luodi as a maid every month costs around one or two thousand just for snacks.

 

“They’re at the entrance of the first floor, next to the tree stump table on the left.”

 

In the staff break room, Yin Xiamo explained, “I originally wanted them to come in and sit down. Those two said they wanted to check out the scenery outside first.”

 

Well, this does indeed fit Marisa’s character.

 

“……”

 

After quickly cleaning up my plate, I went downstairs, pushed open the door of the café, and found Jiang Wei and his girlfriend by the tree stump table outside.

 

“Why are you sitting outside?”

 

Maintaining the usual image in the café – legs together, standing with a slightly inward pose – I waved to Jiang Wei on the tree stump, “There’s free drinking water and sour plum juice inside!”

 

Jiang Wei’s appearance hadn’t changed from my memory. He wore a perfectly matching uncle-style shirt with jeans, had a very “tech-savvy guy” flat-top haircut, the kind that could give you a feeling of “Master, what do you do?” if he sat in any computer store casually.

 

As for the girl beside him… my first impression of her appearance was sweet. Round face, two dimples, tied in a small ponytail, dressed in a simple and plain manner. Her clothes had clearly been washed many times, and her skin lacked the delicate feeling of an upper-class princess but wasn’t too bad either. She seemed to be a clean, ordinary, and innocent girl.

 

It’s like the scent of “first love” in movies from the 90s.

 

They sat together, the tech guy on the left and the virtuous wife on the right. It indeed seemed quite fitting.

 

“As you get older, you tend to prefer a quiet environment.”

 

Seeing me, Jiang Wei showed a slightly joyful expression. He gestured to a few streamers and a family of three in the corner with parents bringing their children to play, “And it’s generally better to discuss things in a quiet environment, right?”

 

Following Jiang Wei’s gesture, I saw the streamer holding a phone and speaking into a microphone, “They say now if you sing ‘Lone Warrior,’ you can give a secret signal to the kids. We also saw a five or six-year-old here in the café. Let me try if it’s true,” and walked towards the little child who was currently staring at the cat, “Do you love wandering in dark alleys?”

 

The child immediately looked up, “Love you without kneeling?”

 

Then the two of them started singing together, “Loving you, facing despair without crying once, want to go? Go…”

 

For a moment, the area of the café was filled with a lively atmosphere.

 

“If you’re here to book a wedding, you don’t need to come directly.”

 

Returning my gaze from the café, I looked at the girl next to Jiang Wei, “What should I call you?”

 

“Ye Zi (??).”

 

The girl stood up from the wooden stool, then realized that she was more than a head taller than me, seemed a bit embarrassed, and sat back down, “Ye (?) as in leaf, Zi (?) as in purple.”

 

“Oh, Sister Ye Zi.”

 

I nodded, “I’m called Yin Nuo’er, Nuo (?) as in promise.”

 

“I know.”

 

Ye Zi smiled, “These days, Brother Jiang has mentioned you a lot, saying that you used a voice changer to fool them for so many years, and none of them found out.”

 

“Uh…”

 

I felt a bit awkward, “Those are things of the past.”

 

“I didn’t come here today mainly for booking a wedding. I also wanted to experience this internet-famous café that has been trending for days.”

 

Jiang Wei looked at the clothes I was wearing, “Nuo’er, you look really good in this outfit, simply amazing. When I first met you, I thought if you wore second-dimensional clothes, it would be a decisive blow to the whole cosplay community. But I didn’t expect the effect to be so good.”

 

I felt a bit embarrassed, “Are you looking for me just to flatter me? Aren’t you afraid your girlfriend will get jealous?”

 

“Ye Zi doesn’t get jealous, we’re engaged, and she’s not that kind of girl.”

 

Jiang Wei seemed magnanimous and pulled the girl next to him over, saying, “Right?”

 

“No, I’m jealous. You actually praised another girl.”

 

Ye Zi mockingly replied, “As a punishment, you have to help me with ranked games tonight.”

 

Hmm…

 

Their playful banter somehow reminded me of the interactions I had with Yin Xiamo before.

 

Turning around, I saw someone standing behind the transparent glass of the café, making faces at us.

 

“Cough, let’s not beat around the bush. It’s like this.”

 

After some teasing with the girl beside him, Jiang Wei took out a delivery slip, “This time I’m engaged, and both you and Pipi are my good buddies for several years. If I remember correctly, Nuo’er, your computer seems not so good, right?”

 

“Huh?”

 

I thought for a moment, “Computer? My computer?”

 

“You used to crash a lot when playing games with us, and you complained about lagging. I remember you posted your computer’s CPU and GPU in the group. Well, mine is a budget build. I didn’t know what to give you this time, so I sent over my shop’s treasure, a 3090ti graphics card paired with a 12th-gen i9 CPU. Rest assured, it’s brand new. It took me a long time to get my hands on it. Even if the 40 series graphics cards come out in the future, this card can still hold its own for four or five more years.”

 

Jiang Wei looked serious, “When the time comes, I’ll go to your place to help you install the computer, and then I’ll leave…”

 

At this moment, my maid skirt’s phone rang.

 

“Sorry.”

 

Taking out my phone, lighting up the screen, I saw that the incoming call was from “Li Denghua.”

 

The genius girl who had previously undergone a corneal transplant – why was she calling me?

 

“One moment, I’ll take a call.”

 

I gave Jiang Wei an apologetic look and walked to the side with my computer, answering the phone, “Hello?”

 

When I first met Li Denghua at the café, her personality seemed a bit reserved, but not to the extent of being completely uncommunicative.

 

At that time, her mother offered me a tutoring deal: an initial rate of 500 yuan per hour. If there was a noticeable improvement in the child’s Chinese and English grades, the rate could go up to 1000 yuan per hour.

 

However, these were just preliminary terms. Since Li Denghua had just been discharged from the hospital and was still recovering, we had only briefly discussed the tutoring arrangement without reaching a final agreement.

 

“Are you Sister Yin Nuo’er?”

 

After pressing the answer key, Li Denghua’s crisp and somewhat gloomy voice came through the phone, “I’m coming out of that mushroom house, behind the big tree on the right.”

 

Out of the mushroom house? Behind the big tree on the right?

 

I looked around and headed towards the large banyan tree.

 

Sure enough, a girl in elementary school uniform was standing hesitantly at the spot.

 

“I’d like to ask for your help. If you don’t help, even if you come to tutor me at home later, I won’t listen.”

 

In the midst of my puzzled gaze, the girl put down her phone and handed me a package containing what appeared to be an elementary school uniform and a school ID.

 

“I studied abroad in the first grade due to illness, and this is my first time back at school. My previous classmates have all moved on to junior high, so no one knows me. Tonight, on Saturday, we have an evening self-study session.”

 

“Use this to replace me at Shenzhen Starlight Elementary School… Inquire about someone inside the school. If you find out… you’ll be my boss from now on.”

 

“……”

 

……

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Chapter 143: Spy! Mission! Waku-Waku