I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 150
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- Chapter 150 - Pinching the Face is a Prohibited Activity, and Eating People is as Well
Chapter 150: Pinching the Face is a Prohibited Activity, and Eating People is as Well
On Sundays, the number of people coming to the café gives me the feeling that it’s significantly more than on Saturdays. If the café was only in a “saturated” state on the first day of the new café opening and “full-house” on Saturday, then during peak hours on Sunday, the situation here is “packed to capacity.”
Starting from 9 o’clock in the morning, various young men and women started coming in one after another. The customers range from ordinary college students to young people, and even middle-aged uncles and seemingly affluent bosses, covering various social classes.
Especially around noon, customers coming to the café for meals and to enjoy cat-petting while sipping milk tea directly exceeded the café’s “maximum dining capacity,” with even the outdoor seats completely occupied.
It’s important to note that today in Shenzhen City, the temperature is close to 38 degrees Celsius. Although the café is designed in the shape of a large mushroom with a broad overhang that can cover the tables and chairs outside, it surely doesn’t offer the coolness of air conditioning.
Even in such an environment, customers who came to the shop voluntarily chose the “outdoor” option, claiming that the “scenery outside is very good.”
The café is located at the highest point in the Shenzhen River area of Nanqi District. Sitting outside, you can indeed see the distant Nanqi Tower, a vast grassland below the tower, and the glistening sea surface with boats passing by on the Shenzhen River. I originally thought there wouldn’t be too many customers choosing to dine outside, but unexpectedly, on Sundays, it is also filled with guests.
Some people even chose not to sit on the mushroom-shaped stools under the café and found a large stone under the banyan tree. They ordered a cup of milk tea, drank it while playing with their phones, and it’s unclear whether they came for leisure or sightseeing.
May happens to be the season when the banyan tree is mature. With a slight breeze, this large tree, at least seventy or eighty years old, would shed a large number of small flowers, falling like raindrops, and people under the tree don’t seem to mind at all.
“It’s hotter outside, and there may be many mosquitoes. How about taking a break inside the café, everyone?”
For those passengers who chose to play outside, I advised countless times, but the answers I received each time were nothing more than:
“We came here to support you, hoping to have more conscientious shops like Shangjing Cat Café.”
“It’s okay, I don’t really like using air conditioning.”
“I can still see Nuo’er on my phone here, and if there’s anything I need, I’ll go inside.”
Helpless, I had to ask Chef Wang in the kitchen to cook some more green bean and corn sweet soup, add some ice cubes, and provide them for free to these customers who came from afar to support me.
According to the highly praised comments on the Tongmeng website’s video, I could clearly feel that the reputation of “Shangjing Cat Café House” has noticeably changed in these few days.
At the beginning, when the promotional video was just released, many people questioned Ouyang Xue for introducing “2D Culture”, accusing us of “cheating otaku’s money” and “cover deception.” The focus of discussions in the comment section mainly revolved around whether the staff used beauty filters and the “excessive promotion.” Then, some people began mocking, saying, “2D Culture’s money is easy to earn.” Some couldn’t stand it and argued a few words, leading to a heated exchange on both sides.
On Friday, as some prominent influencers and anchors came to the scene for “inspection” and conducted various live broadcasts about the café’s situation, the debate about “beauty filters” and “2D Culture” was suppressed. People shifted their arguments to the café’s “quality.”
“Shops that primarily focus on 2D Culture usually have poor quality, they spend all their money on promotion.”
“Be careful, you might get a stomachache after eating there.”
“Just by looking at the luxury level of this café, you can tell the items are definitely expensive. A custard tart at KFC costs 8 yuan, and I suspect it’s at least 10 yuan here… What? 8 for 60 yuan? Isn’t that still expensive? Cat’s paw custard tart? Oh…”
“Others are cat cafes, and you still expect the food to be good? It’s good if it’s better than the school cafeteria!”
In this environment, coupled with the fact that it was the weekend, some curious people tried to call up their best friends and close friends, taking several hours of the drive to come and “see for themselves” and taste various snacks at the café.
The result was natural: all those who tasted the food in the café unanimously praised Chef Wang’s cooking skills.
The café’s fried chicken and steamed chicken are cooked using the latest cooking machines, with ingredients and chicken weight precision measured in grams. Every piece of fried chicken and every steamed chicken undergoes close-to-perfect quality control and follows a special secret recipe—personally, I feel that the taste is not inferior to those of major branded fried chicken stores.
As for fast food, there’s even less to say. Chef Wang has been a head chef for many years, with experience working in large hotels. The taste of the dishes he prepares is identical to hotel delicacies, yet our prices are significantly lower, offering excellent value for money. There’s virtually no customer who doesn’t like our food.
Lastly, there’s the milk tea and coffee on the second floor. There’s not much to say about this; the preparation process for milk tea and coffee is simple, easy to learn, and even “culinary gods” like Yin Xiamo can learn to make watermelon juice in just two days. Not to mention someone like me, a socialite with experience making milk tea. Unless you’re a professional wine taster or a coffee expert, most people can’t tell the difference between our desserts and those outside—especially considering that we also offer 24-hour air conditioning and free cat-petting services, enhancing the cost-effectiveness.
Of course, these days we’ve also encountered some unreasonable customers, such as someone allergic to seafood ordering a shrimp burger, or someone who didn’t like green onions not specifying and causing a scene in the restaurant demanding a refund. I resolved these issues with my extensive experience as a server.
Friday’s testing, Saturday’s verification, ultimately led to the madness of Sunday. During the lunchtime peak, not only were all the tables in the café filled, but the massage chairs were occupied, and even the second-floor dessert area and the cat living area were bustling with people.
Sixty cats are completely insufficient to accommodate all these customers. Some cats, seemingly dispirited, hide behind the window glass and are forcibly “put to work,” subjected to being petted by a group of college girls, causing them to roll their eyes in discomfort.
Today, the online reputation of the café has turned into a war involving me, Yin Xiamo, Ai Luodi, and Ouyang Xue. The most intense point of contention is centered around me and Yin Xiamo, arguing over who is “cuter.”
Those who like us spontaneously organized into a “fan club” online, spreading excitement and engaging in self-promotion. This led to a significant increase in the view count of the promotional video, and the term “Shangjing Cat Café” repeatedly entered the top three trending searches on Tongmeng Net.
Once the café was confirmed as the “2D sacred place,” with “luxurious decoration, high-quality and affordable products,” “delicious food with a rich variety,” and “no excessive promotion of maid sisters,” all previous doubts disappeared. People enthusiastically posted videos of their entertainment, cat interaction, and interactions with me on Tongmeng Net, once again elevating the café’s popularity to new heights.
However, with the café’s popularity skyrocketing, the people coming to the café also started to become strange and complex.
For example, around 1 o’clock, two men wearing sunglasses came to the café. They specifically asked to take a photo with me, and during the photo session, they lowered their voices and asked if I considered a career change to shoot a “photobook.”
I, of course, declined, firmly expressing that I would “absolutely not consider such work.”
“Don’t rush to refuse.”
These two individuals seemed to completely ignore my words, directly taking out a small bag from behind them, opening it to reveal a pile of bright red banknotes.
“Trust me, with your looks, coupled with professional-level photographers like us, you can earn at least this much in a month. This is just the down payment. According to our investigation on the internet, we know you’re in need of money.”
As he spoke, one of the sunglasses-wearing men extended a hand, saying, “Not fifty thousand, but five hundred thousand, guaranteed, per month.
“This is a new store, and even if it’s backed by Tongmeng Net or has Intel as its shareholder, it can’t offer such a high salary. And this is just the guaranteed price.”
“In today’s market, with your looks… just to be sure, may I confirm that you’re female?”
“Yes.”
Though I wasn’t too keen on talking to someone like this, out of politeness and with so many cameras from the café watching, I had to maintain a composed expression, “Do I look… like a boy?”
I wish I were a male, but unfortunately, that ship has sailed.
“No, no, no, not at all. I meant… if a boy were to do this, the price might even double. Just kidding,” he coughed.
The man had a mysterious look on his face and said, “So, have you made up your mind? Just regular photo shoots, nothing illegal or compromising, no hidden rules—guaranteed five hundred thousand per month!”
“I’ve already rejected you once.”
I shook my head. “This is the second time. Let me make it clear again—I won’t consider what you call a ‘job’ of this nature.”
In fact, I had long been mentally prepared for such situations. After all, in recent days, my QQ had been harassed quite a bit. Once a person’s photos and information are publicly available online, it’s almost impossible to completely avoid such inquiries.
Although I am indeed a bit short on money right now and eager to save enough to buy my own little sanctuary, but… I’d rather not get involved in this kind of thing.
“Okay then, if you change your mind, feel free to come find me anytime.”
Perhaps seeing the firmness in my tone, the man looked somewhat regretful and handed me a business card, saying, “We are professionals.”
I discreetly tossed the business card into the drain on the second floor.
Through those two sunglasses-wearing men, I could roughly imagine the composition of this world. The people who had harassed me before were all adding me on QQ or WeChat online, but I hadn’t expected someone to come offline this time. This is probably the cost of becoming popular.
“Excuse me, is Yin Nuo’er here?”
Besides individuals like those “borderline legal dangerous figures” resembling the two sunglasses-wearing men, that day the café also hosted several more legitimate “business partners.”
“We’re from Light Melody Society Games, and we’re planning to develop a new gacha-style mobile game. Your voice fits perfectly for one of the sister characters inside. Do you have any interest in developing into the field of voice acting? Or maybe you’d like to take on a personal project.”
“Miss Yin Nuo’er, hello. We are the agents for this body pillow. Do you have any interest in helping with the promotion or placing our body pillow in the merchandise section here?”
“We need to shoot an advertisement featuring an image of a little girl. Would Miss Nuo’er be interested in endorsing the character?”
“……”
Various such “business partners” were ultimately politely declined by me because I had absolutely no preparation or inclination for such matters.
My current body… to put it bluntly, was a gift from Yin Xiamo. Although it transformed me from a robust adult male into a little girl, as Yin Xiamo said, this body, appearance, image, and even this cute voice are, in the context of the current era of peace, an enormous fortune.
Last night, while chatting with Yin Xiamo about topics related to “individuals and society,” she gave me an example. She mentioned that there are many types of genes in the human body. Some people are prone to gaining weight, they gain fat no matter what they eat. Such individuals might have a high absorption rate in their intestines or have a longer small intestine responsible for absorbing sugars, fats, and proteins than an average person. Regular people absorb only a small amount of what they eat, but those with a predisposition to gain weight have a longer small intestine, absorbing everything, making them fatter than an average person under the same conditions.
It’s challenging to say whether such genes are good or bad because, in ancient times when food was relatively scarce, having such a predisposition to gain weight was considered a “good gene.” When everyone struggled to find food, those with good absorption rates were less likely to starve. However, in modern society, these genes seem somewhat redundant, especially in an era where food is abundant, and the general aesthetic leans towards being slim.
Yin Xiamo also mentioned that ordinary people’s DNA contains many dormant segments, such as the ability to synthesize vitamin C independently or an inactive UOX gene in the first human chromosome. This suggests that humans had the ability to break down uric acid and avoid gout very early on, but this gene became inactive during the evolutionary process. It was the result of ancient natural selection, and for modern humans, it is a crucial gene.
What Yin Xiamo referred to as the “perfect body” is more or less this idea. Her idea of “perfection” is relative to the aesthetic preferences of this peaceful world and its inhabitants.
In other words, despite Miss Grim Reaper on the surface killing off my original uncle-like body and replacing it with the appearance of this little girl, from a broad rational perspective, transforming me into “Yin Nuo’er” could be considered the best gift she could have given me.
Well… it might take me a long time to adapt to this personal image and lifestyle change.
……
“If they do anything slightly over the line, I might have to take action.”
After barely enduring the lunchtime rush, during the afternoon break, Yin Xiamo walked over to me.
“Especially those two with sunglasses, they are a bit too much. Can you believe they even offered five hundred thousand to lure Nuo’er away? If they go too far, I’ll cut them down, taking away not just their lives but at least ten years of their lifespan!”
“My Lady Grim Reaper, calm down.”
Lying on the massage chair, I patted the head of the full-headed Ding next to me. “Speaking of which, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the real angry side of Xiao Mo. Will you kill someone when you’re angry?”
“Of course.”
The girl next to me almost instantly answered without hesitation, “Except for Nuo’er, I won’t hesitate to kill anyone when I’m angry.”
“You already killed me once…”
“That’s different. The one I killed before was Mr. Yin.”
“Can you really separate that!”
“Sure, and there are so many benefits to killing Mr. Yin. Not only does it save the life of that cute little reader, but also so many other adorable girls. Why wouldn’t I do it?”
Yin Xiamo turned her head. “Nuo’er, you must be happy about saving that little reader with your body, right? I remember her name… Xinmeng? She’s called Final Dream in your fan group. She seems to be a child passionate about writing!”
“That’s one way to put it.”
I fell silent for a moment. “Um… Xiao Mo, if you didn’t… cough, kill Mr. Yin, control that body, and take it to the hospital, would Lu Xinmeng really die?”
“Are you trying to trap me with words?”
The girl beside me showed an expression that said, ‘I knew you, this girl, would have some ulterior motives’.
“I won’t tell you. About my past and the hero and demon king of another world, I won’t tell you anything. Nuo’er just needs to be my little pet and be happy every day.”
“Why do I feel like these kinds of plots usually end tragically?”
After thinking for a moment, I changed the topic. “Speaking of the organ donation by Mr. Yin before… It saved Lu Xinmeng and Li Denghua. I heard there was another child in that hospital who also received an organ transplant. Do you know who it is?”
“I don’t know.”
This time Yin Xiamo didn’t hesitate. “For this, you might need to rely on the relationship with that Lu Xinjian to find out. I didn’t bother to check after I took the person to the hospital.”
“Well… one last question?” I picked up Dingman, who was pressing on my stomach and making it hard to breathe, and put him aside. “Actually, Xiao Mo, can’t you decide your own body shape?”
Setting aside the ability to “create life,” just the fact that she could manipulate Mr. Yin’s body to go to the hospital already exceeded my understanding. I find it hard to believe that Xiamo can’t even handle something like “making her chest bigger.”
“I can, but…” In response to my question, Yin Xiamo blushed a bit. “During the time when I was with the hero, my appearance… was more or less like this. So I hope that when I’m with you, your first impression of me is like this.”
“You still can’t forget about him?”
“What’s that! You’re the one who brought it up!”
Yin Xiamo came over and grabbed my face, giving it a good squeeze. “Nuo’er, little green tea!”
“Uh… I said… pinching the face… is a prohibited activity…”
Amid the playfulness, the sound of new customers entering the door came through my headphones – “Welcome!”
“Welcome!”
I reflexively stood up, tidying my maid dress. “May I ask… huh? Tuzi… uh, Sister Lan Jiajia?”
The person who walked in at this moment happened to be the “Tuzi” editor, Lan Jiajia, who had been missing for two days.
“You two are still as cute as ever.”
Holding a sunshade and dressed in casual summer attire for adults, Lan Jiajia looked around the café. “There are so many people, much more than the past few days.”
“It’s the advertising effect, I guess there will be fewer people later.”
I pressed down the tuft of hair on my head and walked up to Lan Jiajia. “Are you planning to work here?”
In these past few days, due to the impact of Ouyang Xue’s promotional PV, the number of people coming to the café for meals has surged to the point of insufficient seating, far exceeding my and Ouyang Xue’s expectations. According to Ouyang Xue, they had considered this situation when constructing the building and ordered tables and chairs in quantities double the expected peak period. However, the effectiveness of the promotion exceeded their expectations.
Of course, with more customers, my “performance” also increased, and I even received several thousand in “tips” for the “group photos.” It was indeed several thousand, as some people found it troublesome or simply wanted to show appreciation for the beautiful environment, so the money they gave for a group photo was mostly whole numbers like ten or five at most, followed by twenties, thirties, and fifties.
As for those who gave fifty yuan, I have no idea whether they actually took fifty photos. Regardless, I did receive fifty yuan, and as a maid server, I couldn’t request to check customers’ phones and say something like, “Please take exactly fifty photos.”
With hundreds to thousands of people coming to dine each day, even if only thirty percent of them request group photos, the number is still significant. From Friday until now, I’ve already collected nearly 3000 yuan for group photos.
“Well, I’ve figured it out, and I’ve finished transferring the work from the editorial department.”
Under my and Yin Xiamo’s gaze, Lan Jiajia sat down at a table, picked up the menu on the table, and said, “How’s your café manager’s health?”
“We spoke to her on the phone in the morning, and she said she’s almost recovered. I estimate she can be discharged tomorrow or the day after.”
I poured a cup of tea for Lan Jiajia. “The hospital said her bleeding wasn’t too severe, and Sister Ouyang’s body is still quite robust. Otherwise, she might have needed surgery.”
“Feels similar to our chief editor, that old man always likes to mistreat his body.”
Lan Jiajia leaned slightly forward, and her prominent chest directly pressed onto the table. “By the way, Nuo’er, do you know about the Honeydew Author Offline Exchange Conference?”
“I do. The Editor Catnip’s editorial group just announced it today.”
I thought for a moment. “It’s a high-end authors’ exchange event, right? I heard only big-shot authors who subscribe at least ten thousand can attend, along with a few lucky ones.”
What does it mean for a book to have ten thousand subscriptions? “average subscriptions”, as the name implies, represents the average number of subscriptions per chapter of a novel. In simple terms, if I update a chapter one day, within 24 hours, that chapter will have ten thousand readers clicking to purchase.
This is a very formidable number.
According to the chapter pricing on the Honeydew platform (5 yuan per 1000 characters), and assuming a chapter has a minimum of 2000 characters, it would cost readers 1 yuan per chapter. VIP2 and above readers get an 80% discount, VIP6 gets a 60% discount. At an 80% discount, readers pay 0.8 yuan for a chapter. The website and the author split the revenue, with the author getting 64%. So, for one chapter, if a person purchases it, the author gets 0.8 yuan, for ten people, the author earns 8 yuan, for 1000 people, it’s 48 yuan, and for ten thousand subscribers, it’s 480 yuan.
The crucial point here is that “ten thousand subscriptions” means that many people have purchased a single chapter.
Now, if the author writes two or three chapters in a day?
At least on the Honeydew platform, a ten thousand subscribers author updating three chapters a day can earn around 1500 yuan, and if they are diligent and update five chapters a day, it could be 2500 yuan.
Not to mention various rewards and monthly ticket incentives. It can be said that authors with over ten thousand average subscriptions are considered top-tier, earning significantly more than what I make serving customers as a maid at the café.
Of course, considering the current scale of the Honeydew website, authors with ten thousand average subscriptions are not yet considered top-tier. The highest-earning authors have incomes with multiple zeros, an existence I dare not even imagine.
“Yes, it’s an elite author exchange event. Before I resigned, I was fortunate to participate in the company’s discussions about it. This exchange event is not just for show, it’s mainly about discussing writing and reader engagement. Nuo’er, if you have the chance, I suggest you attend. Getting to know some top authors can be immensely helpful for your writing.”
At this point, Lan Jiajia sat up straight, and her two prominent chest also shook a bit. “But now, I’m no longer an editor, so I can’t help you. The choice of a fortunate author depends on your current editor.”
Curious, I asked, “Is this fortunate author decided internally or through a lottery?”
“To be honest, I’m not sure, each author group editor has a different way of determining the fortunate author.”
Lan Jiajia showed a smile filled with apologies, “Specifically, you can ask Editor Catnip when you’re at work tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow Nuo’er has a date with me!”
Next to her, Yin Xiamo seemed a bit unhappy, “Can’t it be postponed for a few days?”
“Don’t worry, it won’t take long to ask the editor.”
Lan Jiajia looked at Yin Xiamo as if she were looking at a child, “I know you two have a good relationship, and you are now recognized as a couple online. Tomorrow, you can take a break during your date and ask then. If you love her, you should fully support her work. Ai Luodi often says this to me.”
Ai Luodi said such affectionate words? She doesn’t seem like someone who’s good at flirting, no?
“By the way, where is the trial version of my maid outfit?”
After sipping some tea, Lan Jiajia asked curiously, “Ouyang Xue told me she had already bought my clothes and brought them over here. She asked me to try them on today, wash them, and then I can start working tomorrow.”
“It should be in the employee break room upstairs.”
I pointed to the second floor, “Go up, turn right, and walk to the end… Or should I go up with you?”
“No need, you two little ones continue your private conversation.”
Standing up, Lan Jiajia winked at me and Yin Xiamo playfully, “What do you two want to eat tonight? I’ll cook when I get back.”
“……”
After Lan Jiajia went upstairs, Yin Xiamo and I returned to the massage chairs in the corner of the café and sat down.
Perhaps because my body looked too small, there was still a lot of space on the chair when I sat down. Yin Xiamo squeezed in like a child who never grew up and hugged my arm.
“Where do you want to go tomorrow?”
Considering I was already used to the behavior of the Miss Grim Reaper, I gently brushed aside the hair on her forehead, “Have you decided on the itinerary?”
“No, but as long as I’m with you, I’m okay with anywhere.”
While holding onto my hand, Yin Xiamo looked at the sea view outside, “We can go to the park, an amusement park, the beach, or find a place where it’s just the two of us to bask in the sun…”
“You…”
I ruffled her head, “So, let me plan it?”
“Mm.”
“Wear the clothes you bought?”
“Mm, wear couple outfits.”
“Do you have any specific foods you dislike or things you don’t like?”
“None, but there’s a food I especially like.”
“What is it?”
“You, Nuo’er.”
“What?”
“My favorite food is Nuo’er.”
“That’s cheesy.”
I turned around and pinched Yin Xiamo’s small face.
“Alright, it’s settled then. I’ll decide on tomorrow’s itinerary, and if you have any ideas or things you don’t like along the way, make sure to let me know.”
“I have an idea right now.”
“What is it?”
“I want to devour Nuo’er.”
“……”
……
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