I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 143
Chapter 143: Spy! Mission! Waku-Waku
Go to Starlight Elementary School to inquire about someone? Evening self-study? What a mess.
Li Denghua’s words in front of me were a bit confusing.
“Wait a moment.”
I turned around and glanced at Jiang Wei and his girlfriend Ye Zi, who were curiously looking in our direction at the entrance of the café, and gave them a look that said, “Wait for me a few minutes.”
“Let me confirm first. You’ve recovered now and are ready to go back to school, right?”
I looked at the elementary school uniform in my hands and Li Denghua’s “Campus ID Card.” The card displayed Li Denghua’s passport-sized photo, her name, student ID, class, and at the bottom was a cute piece of art with the words: “Shenzhen City Nanqi Starlight Elementary School ID Card.”
Through this card, I could gather some general information about Li Denghua—she is around 11 years old, close to 12, currently in the sixth grade (3rd class) at Xingguang Elementary School, with the student ID 201503013.
It’s not difficult to see that the first four digits of the student ID on the card, “2015,” should represent Li Denghua’s year of enrollment. Now it’s 2022, seven years have passed, and the elementary schools in Nanqi district have a six-year system. It’s evident that Li Denghua took a year off from school, which aligns with her own description.
As for the elementary school uniform… the style seems to be of the British type, paired with a pleated skirt and a beret. The seal looks intact, there are tags inside, and it doesn’t seem to have been worn by anyone, it’s probably just produced this month.
“Yes.”
Facing my question, Li Denghua put on a “small person, big spirit” look and said, “There is evening self-study at school tonight. Disguise yourself as me, infiltrate, find the person – that’s the mission.”
“Little devil… who taught you to talk like this? It feels like a boss assigning tasks to a subordinate, no courtesy at all.”
“Who are we looking for?”
Although I wasn’t quite pleased with the girl’s commanding tone, considering that in reality I was almost ten centimeters shorter than this elementary school student, and he was just a kid, there was no need to escalate things. I put on a serious listening expression and asked, “Is this person important to you?”
“You’ll know when you ask.”
What struck me as odd was that Li Denghua didn’t directly answer the question but turned her head to the side and said, “As long as you complete this task, I… if you want to come to our house as a tutor in the future, I’ll listen to whatever you say.”
That did sound like a threat.
“If this person is important to you, wouldn’t it make more sense to meet her yourself?”
I tried to extract information from this kid, “Or do you have some reason you can’t go?”
“So annoying…”
Li Denghua stamped her little shoes impatiently, twirled the umbrella in her hand, and said, “Just say whether you agree or not!”
“Sure?”
At this moment, Jiang Wei, sitting on a stone pedestal outside the café, shouted towards us, “What’s going on? Do you need help?”
“Oh! It’s okay, it’ll be fine in a while.”
I turned around, shielding my eyes from the sun, and told Jiang Wei, “Just chatting with a friend.”
Later, I turned to Li Denghua again, saying, “How about this? The sun outside is too strong. You go upstairs to the café and find a place to wait for a while. You can play with the cats there. I’ll talk to the guy over there about work. After we finish, I’ll come upstairs to find you, okay?”
The clothes Li Denghua wore today were not much different from the first time we met. She had a set of a small dress somewhat similar to a Lolita dress, paired with lace stockings and little shoes, giving off a “gothic Lolita” or even a “rich Lolita” vibe.
Of course, Li Denghua indeed belonged to the wealthy category. Her mother is an aerospace engineer, and her father works in the field of physics, researching things on the level of particle colliders. Such a family is undoubtedly well-off, though there might be some indulgence in the area of education.
Before, when Li Denghua and her mother came to the café for the first time, we chatted. My first impression of her mother was refined and easygoing, and my second impression was that she allowed Li Denghua too much personal time and freedom.
Of course, this judgment could be based on my own experiences growing up in the welfare institution and chatting with classmates and roommates during my school days. The welfare institution is like a big family, and for the sake of management, those of us who grew up there had a strong sense of “discipline” from an early age.
For example, when you see an elder, you greet them. When it’s time to eat and sleep, what tasks should be done and what shouldn’t be done – everything was strictly regulated from a young age. After growing up, I asked classmates and roommates, and while they didn’t have as many rules as I did coming from the welfare institution, their parents still imposed various forms of management and restrictions on them.
For instance, doing homework at home with the door open, playing computer games only on weekends, and strictly limiting it to within two hours, engaging in physical activity for an hour after dinner, and so on. Almost all families have their own ways of education.
But Li Deng… from her mother, I learned that their approach to educating this precious daughter seems to be… as long as it’s not a fundamental mistake or an excessively unreasonable demand, it will be fulfilled.
The so-called fundamental mistakes are things like misbehaving like a “wild child,” such as damaging someone else’s car in the garage, causing trouble and damaging the elevator, or running around on the street affecting traffic – these are absolute “mistakes,” and Li Denghua’s mother imposes very strict punishments when she sees her daughter making such mistakes.
But apart from these, any requests that do not affect others and are within the family’s means are attempted to be satisfied, and they allow their daughter to be “willful” and give her freedom.
Whether she wants to buy cute and unique dresses, read books related to particle collisions, research quantum entanglement at her father’s workplace, study frog epidermal cells under a microscope, transform the utility room into a physics laboratory, or dismantle the computer her father just bought… these are not considered “mistakes” by Li Denghua’s mother, and they will fulfill these requests.
This has led to Li Denghua being particularly self-willed from childhood to adolescence. With the help of abundant resources from her family, she rapidly progresses in things that interest her, while being lazy to learn things she doesn’t like, resulting in a strong bias in her studies and a solitary personality.
I suspect that sending Li Denghua to Starlight Elementary School is simply for convenience – their home seems to be nearby.
“You go to the second floor of the café first, take a look at the menu, remember what you want to drink, and I’ll come up to help you later.”
Under the sunlight, seeing Li Denghua not saying anything, I patiently explained, “I still has some work to finish here. Wait a bit, and after I am done talking with them, I’ll come up to discuss school matters with you, okay?”
I’m not very good at comforting children, especially little girls. But now, the biggest problem is that this “child” in my eyes is taller than me.
This results in me not treating her as a child or as a peer, but only being able to speak to her in a tone of an “elder sister.”
“Okay.”
Fortunately, perhaps due to Li Denghua’s reserved personality or the scorching sun outside making standing uncomfortable, the little one walked straight towards the first floor of the café after hearing my words.
“Xiao Mo.”
I lowered the microphone and said, “The girl Li Denghua who came over earlier, please take care of her, bring her to the second floor and let her sit down.”
Soon, through the headphones, I heard the cheerful voice of Yin Xiamo, “Got it!”
“Sigh…”
Slightly relieved in my heart, I returned to the entrance of the café and stood next to Jiang Wei. “What did you just say? Help me assemble a computer?”
Jiang Wei is, in my memory over these years, the only one who can be considered as “self-made.” He dropped out of school at a young age, orphaned, worked various jobs, saved some money, opened his own computer shop, mainly dealing with buying and selling computers, computer accessories, and computer repairs. In his spare time, he writes novels and engages in some side businesses, saving more money and buying a house.
Although there is still a gap compared to the legendary wealthy, at least Jiang Wei is economically independent now, ahead of most people of his age.
The computer industry is particularly contradictory nowadays, especially for those in computer malls. Most people have had the experience of being cheated when buying a computer in these places, and over time, computer malls have become representatives of “unscrupulous merchants.” Jiang Wei mentioned before that he had worked in a computer mall for a while. Later, unable to tolerate the hypocrisy and indifference of the people there, he quit his job, started his own business after acquiring enough technical skills, primarily focusing on online sales. With the added fame as a novelist, he barely managed to revitalize his small computer shop.
Jiang Wei, as the owner of this type of computer shop, is actually quite different from those shops in the computer malls. His business model is more akin to the “livestreaming sales” category, where an individual gains popularity and earns money through their fame, and the products, in this case, computers, can be easily diversified.
He manages his accounts on various short video and video platforms, promoting his online store address while writing books. The store’s revenue primarily comes from employee salaries, his own assembly fees, and some income from video traffic. For instance, if someone wants to buy a computer but is afraid of being deceived at a computer mall, they approach Jiang Wei. He might ask them to send their own configuration list or even send the components, and he assists in assembling before shipping it back. Alternatively, he may purchase the required components according to the customer’s specifications, assemble the computer, and send two packages – one containing the computer and the other containing the various component boxes, warranty cards, etc. They charge an assembly fee for this service.
Similarly, if someone needs computer repairs or wants their laptop cleaned, they can approach him. Moreover, Jiang Wei doesn’t seem to rely entirely on his computer shop for income. Whenever new components or computers are released, he uses his technical skills to create corresponding “testing” videos. For example, when a new brand of laptop is released for the June 18 shopping festival, Jiang Wei quickly places an order. After receiving the laptop, he starts testing and creates a video covering aspects like appearance, specifications, performance data, and user experience. He posts this video across multiple platforms, and due to his existing fan base, each video garners several hundred thousand views. The platforms then pay Jiang Wei several thousand to several tens of thousands of yuan in fees for that month.
Afterward, Jiang Wei puts the newly bought, only-used-once computer on sale in his online store, offering a discount of around a thousand yuan from the original price to his fans. Alternatively, he might give it away as a gift in the comments section and continue testing the next laptop.
Whether it’s laptops for June 18, new CPUs for Singles’ Day, or a specific graphics card for December 12, there are so many computer components and laptop models that he can practically produce these testing videos almost every day.
It can be said that Jiang Wei’s business model is not easily replicable. Even if someone in the same industry tries to emulate his approach, they would need to endure for at least four or five years until they have built up several hundred thousand fans.
I will always remember that when playing games, Jiang Wei’s most frequent complaints were about various troubles and computer manufacturers bothering him for advertisements. “A certain company claims that the laptop I tested has harmed their interests and wants to send me a lawyer’s letter. It’s so annoying. I have to go to court in the next few days, can’t play games with you guys.” “Do you remember the company I mentioned before? They contacted me yesterday, asking me to promote their power supply. How am I supposed to do that? What if my fans use that little nuclear bomb later, BOOM, it explodes. All the goodwill I’ve built up will be ruined. This money isn’t worth it.”
So, while Jiang Wei may be a bit eccentric at times, he is a relatively straightforward person.
I just don’t quite understand why, even though it’s his wedding, he’s the one helping me assemble the computer. But to be honest, I do need a computer with better performance now.
My and Yin Xiamo’s computers are quite similar, both functional but somewhat uncomfortable to use. Both the CPU and graphics card are from a long time ago. If we plan to go into live streaming or video editing in the future, our current computers would likely torture us.
“Yeah, actually, this is the second thing I wanted to talk to you about.”
Under my gaze, Jiang Wei held hands with the girl next to him. “Me and Ye Zi are planning to move over here. We’ve already found a house, a second-hand house by one of my readers. We’ll do a bit of renovation and move in. It’s right here in Nanqi District, near the sea, very beautiful.”
“Move over here?” I was even more surprised. “What about your computer shop? What about your employees?”
“The lease for the old shop is also coming to an end. When the time comes, I’ll move everything from the shop here and reopen it.”
Jiang Wei seemed quite relaxed about it. “As for those employees, if they’re willing to come, I’ll raise their salaries by thirty percent. We’re still good buddies. If they’re not willing, we’ll compensate them according to labor laws.”
Hmm…
“What you just mentioned, assembling computers and all… What’s going on?”
I pondered for a moment. “Are you trying to sell me a computer?”
Although I haven’t been married, based on my experiences and observations, I know the current societal norms. If a close friend gets married, and you attend the wedding banquet, you are expected to give a “red envelope” or “bridal gift.”
Of course, there are indeed people who have ulterior motives. For instance, someone you haven’t contacted in five or six years suddenly adds you as a friend, and after a few brief exchanges, they mention getting married and ask you to attend the wedding, reminding you to bring a red envelope. This is clearly an attempt to collect “returns” on the investment.
I’ve had many such “classmates” and “friends” add me before, and I shut them down by saying, “Brother, do you have any money? I’m tight on cash lately. Can you lend me two thousand bucks?” But Jiang Wei clearly didn’t fall into that category.
Although I’m currently not well-off, having used the café’s advance salary to buy a phone for Yin Xiamo, if you ask me to come up with seven or eight hundred or a thousand bucks for a good friend’s wedding, I can still manage.
I’ve already paid this month’s rent, theoretically having no money left… but three meals a day at the café should be enough.
Anything more, like asking me to buy a new computer, that’s something I really can’t afford. Even considering my current computer needs, not playing many games but likely to start live streaming and doing video editing and graphic design in the future, a computer with the current mainstream configuration would probably cost at least five or six thousand. So, my plan is to wait until the salary for the next month or the month after comes in before considering the computer issue.
“Not selling, it’s a gift… cough cough, can’t really say it’s a gift. When it’s all set up, you can give me a symbolic one or ten bucks, just for good luck.”
Jiang Wei had a mysterious look on his face. “I don’t know what configuration you want, so I’ll just give you the flagship model from my shop, maxing out all the parameters…”
“Wait a minute.” I quickly interrupted him. “What kind of drama are you playing here?”
At the moment, I wasn’t quite clear on what Jiang Wei meant by “maxing out all the parameters,” but if I remembered correctly, he mentioned the CPU and graphics card configurations earlier when talking about building the computer: 12th Gen i9 CPU with a 3090ti graphics card.
The prices for these two items, if I’m not mistaken…
Pulling out my phone in front of Jiang Wei, I opened an online shopping app and entered these two keywords.
The CPU was ranging from three to six thousand yuan, and the graphics card was over ten thousand.
These two items alone cost over ten thousand, and a complete computer cannot possibly run just with a CPU and graphics card. For such a high-level CPU, you need a motherboard of the same level, and then you’ll need a powerful cooler to handle it. Adding it all up, the power supply must also be up to par; it has to be a high-end power supply to avoid any potential issues. On top of that, you need memory, storage, and a case, even if you don’t count the monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Just the case alone is estimated to start from around twenty thousand.
Is Jiang Wei crazy, or does he find himself with too much money?
“No, no, no, don’t get me wrong. It’s like this.”
Seeing my skeptical expression, Jiang Wei cleared his throat and pulled out something with strange symbols drawn on it from his pocket. “Those of us in business tend to believe in Feng Shui, fortune, and such. Since I’m getting married to my girlfriend and we’re moving, closing the shop and reopening, I consulted with a few Feng Shui masters I know. After all, I’ve terminated my previous lease and rented a new space here to reopen the shop, so it’s like starting anew. Fortune must be calculated.”
“I consulted with a few Feng Shui masters and some Taoist priests in the village. They all said that if I reopen the business in this manner, there will be a calamity. The only way to resolve this calamity is through the first transaction after the new store opens, which is supposed to counteract the calamity.”
Jiang Wei explained, “Those Feng Shui masters told me a lot, like the characteristics of the most suitable person, the ideal type of business, and so on. When I heard all this, the first person I thought of was you. So, don’t refuse. It’s not a gift; it’s something I’m selling to you. Just give me a bit of money, and it’ll be fine.”
Such beliefs exist?
I pondered for a moment, “Okay, but you don’t have to make it too expensive. I mainly use the computer for things like playing Apex Legends occasionally and editing videos or doing photo editing. Just suggest something appropriate. I’ll pay you according to the market price, but it might be next month before I can make the payment. My salary hasn’t been paid yet.”
Maybe because Jiang Wei is a bit older than me and grew up in a relatively backward place, he seems to have strong beliefs in these things. Moving requires checking Feng Shui, opening a new store involves measuring auspicious timings, and even weddings need to consider specific dates.
“Haha, as long as you understand. Money is a small matter, just give whatever you think is appropriate, even if it’s one yuan.”
After hearing my words, Jiang Wei seemed contemplative, “By the way, Nuo’er, how’s the pay working here? Is it high enough?”
“It’s pretty good.”
I nodded, “Just a bit troublesome dealing with a lot of strange customers every day. What would you like? I can go inside and get you the menu.”
“Do you have everything here?”
Perhaps seeing that I agreed to “buy” a computer, Jiang Wei visibly relaxed. He pulled over the girl beside him, “Ye Zi, do you want to eat something?”
The girl asked, “What beverages do you have here?”
“Basically everything—fruit juice, cola, coffee, milk tea, and herbal jelly.”
After some thought, I gestured towards the QR code beneath my name tag “Nuo’er” on my chest, “Alternatively, you can scan this code and download the app to order online directly.”
“Sure, let’s give it a try.”
Jiang Wei took out his phone and scanned my chest, “Drip,” then said, “Nuo’er, you go ahead and do your work. I’ll discuss booking the venue for next Saturday with your store manager later.”
“The store manager is not around,” I sighed, “She ended up in the hospital due to overwork, and the person in charge is also absent. But you can directly go to the kitchen and talk to Chef Wang, just tell him you’re my friend.”
“Alright.”
“Then go ahead and place your orders. I’ll go upstairs to check on the little kid.”
“Okay.”
After saying goodbye to Jiang Wei, I returned to the cafe and found Li Denghua playing with several stuffed toy cats on the second floor.
“Don’t you want to have something to drink? Milk tea and herbal jelly are available.”
I walked over, “It’s on me, no need to pay.”
“No, there’s too much sugar in milk tea, it’s easy to gain weight.”
The girl covered in visible cat fur still had that youthful look, “How are things going with our plan?”
Our plan… How come the way you say it sounds so strange? Clearly, it’s just pretending to be you at school, making it seem like… like we’re involved in some kind of shady deal?
“There’s a picture of your face on this card.”
I took out Li Denghua’s campus ID card, “How am I supposed to replace you with this?”
“At our school, on Friday and Saturday nights during evening self-study, you only need the school card to enter. It’s a mixed-class system, where resident students must attend, and non-resident students can choose to come or not. Non-resident students need to swipe their cards to enter, and the security guard won’t check the photo,” Li Denghua explained. “Each grade has its own classroom, and the discipline teacher in charge is the grade director. She won’t remember what students from which class look like, and besides, I’ve been on leave for a year.”
There’s evening self-study on Friday and Saturday? Primary schools these days are really intense.
“Even if I can go in…” I still didn’t quite understand what this little girl was up to. “Why don’t you go yourself?”
“I need to attend an academic lecture on quantum computers at my dad’s place. I’ve been waiting for a year, I must go,” Li Denghua avoided my gaze. “So… that’s why I have to ask for your help with school.”
“Ask for my help?”
Suddenly, something clicked in my mind, “Don’t you have any other friends at school?”
Li Denghua fell silent this time.
“Who should I look for?”
I quickly changed the subject, “If it’s just finding someone, give me more specific details. I might be able to finish in less than half an hour.”
“She’s called Hu Die (Butterfly).”
“Hu Die (Butterfly)?”
I was a bit confused, “Is she another girl like you, named Hu Die?”
“Anyway, she’s called Butterfly. When you go to the school, ask the teachers there, and you’ll find out.”
Li Denghua became a bit impatient. She stood up from among the stuffed toy cats and said, “Our deal is like this: school evening self-study starts at 7:30 and ends at 10:00. If you find ‘Butterfly,’ I’ll agree to let you be my private tutor. If you don’t want to, even if you come, I won’t listen to your lessons.”
This guy, why does he coincidentally show up at this time…
I remembered the computer setup that Jiang Wei mentioned earlier. Even though he said I don’t need to spend money, according to my personality, if Jiang Wei really helps me set up a high-configured computer, I’ll have to give him a few thousand yuan, especially since I have to give him a red envelope for his wedding next week.
My savings can’t hold up.
However, if it’s tutoring Li Denghua in her studies, it could perfectly solve this problem. I may not be a graduate of a prestigious university, but I can teach primary school Chinese and English. Most importantly, the hourly wage for this kind of “private tutor” is very high. Li Denghua’s mom directly offered 500 yuan per hour, and if everything goes smoothly, tutoring for around 2 hours a week, I can accumulate this money in two weeks.
And this Miss Li Denghua seems to have sensed my recent need for money directly, using the condition of “if you don’t agree, I won’t study well” as a threat.
“I’m going back. I’ll bring my school bag to find you at 6:00.”
Under my gaze, Li Denghua walked towards the staircase on the second floor, saying, “Whether you want to or not, it’s up to you.”
…
Darn it, why can kids be so cunning these days…
“Looks like you’ve encountered quite a bit of trouble, huh?”
At this moment, I heard Yin Xiamo’s voice through the earphones, “How is it? Do you need my help? I received quite a bit of compensation when the café manager helped with the dispute earlier. After buying bedding, there’s still a good amount left.”
How on earth did this girl know what I was thinking right now?
“No, it’s fine. I can handle it myself.”
After a brief consideration, I searched for it on my phone and dialed the phone number of Li Denghua’s mom that I had saved before.
“Hello, it’s like this…”
After taking a bit of time to explain Li Denghua’s situation, I expressed my concern, “What’s the specific situation between your child and the school now?”
“Oh, I see…”
On the other end of the phone, Li Denghua’s mom was silent for a few seconds. “I do remember that Starlight Elementary School indeed has evening self-study, and today is Mother’s Day. The school seems to be organizing some activities… but I don’t know what this ‘Butterfly’ that Denghua mentioned is, and I don’t recall there being such a person in her class.”
“How about this?”
After a while, Li Denghua’s mom suggested, “I’ll accompany my child to her dad’s place for the lecture. If you have time, you can use the child’s school card to enter the school and check. If you can’t find anything, it’s okay, we, the parents, will handle the follow-up matters.”
“……”
……