I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 214
Chapter 214: Cyber Café 2022
Compared to the first few days when the cafe just opened in mid-May, the customer flow in the cafe in June has clearly increased by almost double. Not only during the lunch and dinner peak hours but even in the early morning around 8 am, there are many customers who specifically take a detour to come for breakfast. They praise our breakfast and service enthusiastically on the internet.
The location of the cafe is relatively remote, and most people who come here are users of the Tongmeng website and friends from QQ and WeChat groups. For example, those who take photos with me in the cafe, upload them to their QQ groups, and when asked, “Who is this little girl?” or “What place is this?” the fame of Shangjing Cat Café also spreads.
Similarly, besides “Loli” Yin Nuo’er, there are “Perfect Girl Yin Xiamo,” “Big-Breasted Beauty Lan Jiajia, Manager Ouyang Xue,” and “Night Owl Sister Ai Luodi”… If photos of us working are spread online, the advertising effect is even better than the promotional PV of the Tongmeng website.
Especially for Yin Xiamo and me, any photo of us looks like it has been retouched with beauty filters, without any flaws. If taken with a high-definition camera or a professional-level camera, it can be used as a wallpaper directly. This quickly spreads our fame in various QQ groups, and the cafe’s popularity keeps rising, attracting a large number of tourists.
In this era, most people have a “just eat something” attitude towards breakfast, considering that getting up in the morning to go to work is the worst time for one’s mood. Thinking about working for the boss all day, enduring such a long day, the pain has just begun. Basically, few people have a good appetite. Moreover, the cafe is in a remote location, with few surrounding companies. It’s already impressive to have ten to twenty customers around eight o’clock.
However, compared to customers dining in the cafe, the cafe’s “breakfast delivery” is quite good.
“On the 23rd, soy milk and deep-fried dough sticks, chicken soup—”
“On the 24th, chicken feet, buttered mantou—”
With the shouts from the chef in the kitchen and Li Chen, who is in charge of the cashier, the cafe is bustling with delivery riders coming in and out.
“Wow! It’s really Nuo’er, this early!”
“Nuo’er little sister, good morning! And Xiamo too! I saw the announcement from your boss on Tongmeng website, knew you were coming to work early today.”
“Oh, really? You don’t have to come so early. We’re not going anywhere…”
“Haha, it’s just that I’m not working today. The environment here is so good, with WIFI and cats, so I thought I’d come and have a look.”
“Are you having a meeting? You guys go ahead, I’ll play with the cat.”
Currently, the variety of “breakfast” at the cafe has expanded to a size comparable to a large “morning tea shop” outside. In addition to the essential soy milk and deep-fried dough sticks, there are various buns, xiaolongbao (small Chinese steamed bun), crystal buns, vegetable buns, corn buns, and soup dumplings, and more. If you don’t like buns, there are also rice noodle rolls, rolled noodles, pulled noodles, dumplings, wontons, and other noodle options. It even offers coarse grains such as corn mantou and taro for selection, covering basically all breakfast categories.
So… if I’m feeling lazy at home, I might not even bother making breakfast. I can sleep until 7:30 am, then get up, get dressed, wash my face, brush my teeth, and come to the cafe for a free breakfast.
However, that’s not my routine. I prefer to wake up a bit earlier, then watch the clumsy Yin Xiamo prepare breakfast, or both of us go to the nearby snack shop for some congee or rice noodle rolls. That feels more like a lively life.
This is definitely not because I want to help Xiao Mo cook.
“Sweeping job…”
After entering the cafe with Yin Xiamo and Fei Luo, I saw a half-height sweeping robot approaching us.
This “half-height” refers to half of my height, about sixty to seventy centimeters. It is an AI-powered sweeping robot with a recognition chip, adorned with the Tongmeng website’s logo.
It is the most advanced sweeping robot currently sponsored by Tongmeng, with a retail price online reportedly reaching tens of thousands. It can automatically recognize the type of garbage on the floor and the items in front of it, achieving functions such as sweeping, mopping, and cleaning crevice debris. Its intelligence level is several times stronger than those flat, circular sweeping robots currently available on the market.
The biggest issue in a cat café is the smell and excrement of cats. If it’s just cat fur, most sweeping robots can handle it. However, the major problem with cats is not excessive shedding or their playful antics making a mess everywhere, it’s the inherent unpredictability of these creatures. You never know when they might suddenly do something completely illogical and contrary to common sense.
For instance, the café purchased many automatic cat litter machines. As soon as a cat enters or leaves, the machine activates, cleaning the excrement, eliminating odors, and restoring the entrance. The entire process is fully automated and doesn’t require human management. However, not all cats will obediently go to the litter box at the designated time. If an accident happens, it can be a headache.
If a cat gets stressed and suddenly urinates, what should be done? Regular robots cannot recognize it, and they may run over the urine, sweep for a while, then move to another area, leaving a mess with the scent spreading throughout the entire restaurant.
For example, if a cat has diarrhea and can’t make it to the litter box in time, relying on a regular sweeping robot to handle such a situation would likely result in the cafe having to close and reorganize for an entire day.
In addition to cat climbing frames, the cat café also has an exercise wheel for cats, similar to a hamster wheel. Some cats enjoy running on it vigorously for exercise. However, if one day the café gets some small bugs, and a curious cat sees the bugs moving, it might swallow one out of curiosity. If the bug has too many bacteria, it could cause diarrhea in the active cat that runs on the wheel. Imagine the consequences.
The intelligent sweeping robots sponsored by Tongmeng are specifically used to handle these situations, or you could say that these robots are designed to “manage cats.” They handle tasks such as cleaning cat fur, dealing with fallen cat litter, sweeping, mopping, and more.
Moreover, the robot comes with a “Tongmeng Intelligent Cloud Big Data Object Recognition” feature, which is quite useful.
“Beep, beep, beep—”
Seeing me, the sweeping robot approached, and its front light turned on. A beam of light slanted onto my head and then slowly moved downward.
?Beep, beep, beep, human girl, age 10-12, danger level: 2.?
“What is this?”
Fei Luo, standing nearby, was curious upon seeing the sweeping robot. “Is this the same technology as the thing Xiao Mo introduced to me yesterday… that thing called a car?”
“No, not really.”
I thought for a moment. “This… this is for household use… it’s for cleaning.”
“Cleaning?”
Fei Luo still seemed a bit puzzled, “Sweeping? Water mage?”
“Huh?”
Fei Luo’s response left me with a lot of question marks. Are water mages in another world specifically meant for sweeping?
“Meow—”
At that moment, Dingman and several stuffed cats, sensing my presence, trotted down from the second floor. They first noticed Fei Luo by my side, probably scared by the dragon clan aura emanating from her. However, their curiosity about me overcame their fear, and they bravely approached.
“Meow, meow, meow!”
“Meow!”
“Indeed, just as they say online, Nuo’er is the cat king here.”
Some customers dining in the cafe nearby teased, “These cats were all sleeping on the second floor when I arrived. No matter how much I tried to play with them, they wouldn’t bother opening their eyes. But as soon as Nuo’er came, they all came running down.”
Um… there are cat genes in my body…
I picked up Dingman and pinched its cheek, saying, “Missed me?” “Meow…”
Even though Dingman was already several years old, at this moment, it behaved like a spoiled daughter, burying its big head into my neck, rubbing against me several times, marking its scent.
“Drip, drip, drip…”
At this moment, the sweeping robot beneath our feet turned slightly and aimed its scanner at the cats on the floor.
?Drip, drip, Ragdoll cat, large cat, age 5-6 years, danger level 7.?
“What?!”
This scene left Fei Luo astonished. “Are the combat capabilities of cats stronger than humans? Nuo’er, aren’t you a water mage?”
“Hush—”
Hearing this, Yin Xiamo quickly made a hushing gesture.
“We don’t discuss magic here, and Nuo’er hasn’t awakened yet.”
“Oh, sorry.”
Perhaps wanting to understand the principle of this machine, Fei Luo crouched down and proactively brought the machine’s “scanner” in front of herself.
“Hey, take a look at me.”
“Drip, drip, drip…”
Detecting a new object, the machine followed its programmed settings and scanned Fei Luo up and down.
?Drip, human girl, age 15-17, danger level: 1.?
“What?!”
Now Fei Luo was displeased, casually knocking on the robot’s forehead.
“Why is my danger level lower than that of a cat? Even lower than Nuo’er’s… this isn’t right!”
“Okay, okay.”
Yin Xiamo quickly went over and pulled Fei Luo over.
“This is based on big data, such as how many accidents have occurred in the restaurant, the number of cases of children in each age group getting into accidents, and so on. It uses this uploaded data to determine the danger level, not combat capabilities…”
Fei Luo still didn’t quite understand. “What does that mean?”
“It means… for example, human children at the age of six or seven are the most mischievous. If a child of that age is alone in the restaurant, the probability of an accident is the highest, and the danger level might be rated as 9. The machine will choose to avoid. On the other hand, for adults, around 20 years old, even though they are physically mature and strong, due to understanding and moral constraints, accidents in the restaurant are almost unlikely to happen.”
Yin Xiamo explained, “As for cats, for example, small kittens, although lively and playful, have less strength, so their danger level is low. However, for cats in their prime, especially large cats around three or four years old, with a large size and strong strength, being curious about everything, their danger level is high because they could potentially knock down the robot… This is what I heard from Ouyang Xue, and I’m not sure about the specific judgment logic. Anyway, the more dangerous the situation, the more the machine will avoid it.”
“This… is quite something.”
Fei Luo, supported by Yin Xiamo, widened her eyes. “Has technology advanced to such a terrifying extent?”
“Artificial intelligence is like this.”
At this moment, Su Yunjin walked over from nearby. “Have you all had breakfast?”
“Yes, we have.”
I gestured towards Fei Luo, “You should have already met her yesterday.”
“This is Fei Luo’s ID and health certificate.”
Yin Xiamo handed over the prepared documents to Ouyang Xue beside Su Yunjin, saying, “And the medical examination report.”
“So fast?”
Ouyang Xue was somewhat surprised, taking the materials handed to her.
“I remember it takes at least a week to get a health certificate, right?”
“At the earliest, two days.”
Su Yunjin winked at Ouyang Xue, “Of course, if you know the right people… cough cough, getting things done quickly is not uncommon, as long as the documents are legal.”
“In that case, I’ll register on my end. After everything is settled, we can sign the contract.”
Ouyang Xue, sensing Su Yunjin’s underlying message, didn’t inquire further and carefully placed the documents aside.
“Come, have a seat.”
Su Yunjin motioned for me, Yin Xiamo, and Fei Luo to sit around the large table. She then gestured towards the person next to her, Xiongxiong, “You should already know her, right?”
“I only know her as Xiongxiong in the group.”
I nodded, “She’s, well, a reader from my novel group.”
Still a big shot—though, of course, I only said this quietly in my mind. The impression Xiongxiong has always given me is mysterious, wealthy, and talkative.
She has beautiful blonde hair, clearly a mixed-race individual. As for the specific mix, I really can’t say. The first time we met, she was wearing the Xiongxiong outfit from the anime “Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear.” Her QQ avatar online was also the image of the protagonist “Yuna” from that anime.
Initially, because the “Yuna” avatar gave me a similar feeling to “Maple” from “BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense” or Kirito from “Sword Art Online” in terms of being carefree, having a background, and exuding a mysterious and invincible aura, just like the protagonists in those anime, I always felt the same about “Xiongxiong” using the Yuna avatar.
Moreover, she really lives up to that setting in reality.
The first time she came to Shenzhen City, she rode a “private yacht” and even brought several “freshly dug” coconut trees to the cafe. On the second meeting and today, she brought two bodyguards with her.
Anyway, in all my years, aside from celebrities, I’ve never seen anyone go out with bodyguards.
“My name over here is Sikong Yue (???).”
Under my curious gaze, the “Xiongxiong” in front just smiled, casually taking out half of a… uh, a very strange-looking fruit from a basket behind her.
When I first saw this fruit, it didn’t seem like something from Earth. But with a second look, it felt oddly familiar, like I had seen it somewhere before.
Its skin has a kind of earthy yellow color, like a spiky volcanic slime. When cut open in the middle, it reveals a sticky flesh and seeds similar to the inside of a tomato, looking seemingly not very appetizing.
“Here, this is very sweet, perfect for relaxing in the morning.”
Handing me half of the “volcanic slime,” Xiongxiong stuck a piece of watermelon into the “flesh” in the middle. She then took out a new and complete “volcanic thorn slime,” sliced it in half with the multi-functional army knife she carried, and gave one each to Yin Xiamo and Fei Luo, along with straws.
“What is this? Dragon’s Drool Fruit?”
Fei Luo examined the outer shell of the fruit, “But there’s no magical fluctuation… cough, sorry, just consider it me talking nonsense earlier.”
“Haha, I was curious the first time I saw this fruit too. I thought Miss Sikong was playing a prank.”
Our curious expressions made Su Yunjin reveal a look as if watching kittens play in an adventure team, “This thing is called Kiwano melon. Just hearing the name, you might not know it, but you probably have seen it in a movie.”
I looked up, “What?”
“In ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ the fruit that Thanos plants after retiring to the woods, the prototype is this, Kiwano melon.”
Su Yunjin explained, “Miss Sikong picked this in Africa just yesterday. Just eat the flesh inside, you can drink it directly by sucking it with a straw.”
Picked in Africa yesterday and brought to the vicinity of Shenzhen City today? Did it pass through customs directly? What kind of background does this Xiongxiong have?
“Okay, I… I’ll give it a try.”
Seeing Su Yunjin saying so, I took the straw and tried sucking from the middle of this “volcanic thorn slime.”
Hmm…
How should I put it, the overall taste is a bit like cucumber, very refreshing, but without that astringent feeling of cucumber. The sweetness is not too high, indeed very suitable for moistening the throat after eating a greasy breakfast.
“Miss Sikong comes from a… well, a very mysterious place. Her family has many companies involved in different fields, and one of the companies is developing smart chips. The chips used in the sweeping robots provided by their family for Tongmeng Net this time are from their family.”
Seeing that we were all seated in our positions, Su Yunjin cleared her throat, “This time, they intend to cooperate with Tongmeng Net, planning to develop a new GPU, that is, a graphics card, to support the future online gaming wave in the domestic market after the cold winter of games.
What?
Su Yunjin’s words left me in a daze for quite a while as I was eating the fruit.
This Xiongxiong… oh no, Miss Sikong’s family is planning to develop graphics cards?
“Anyway, that’s roughly the idea. These are all future plans, and it will be integrated into the future development plan of Shenzhen City together with the development and construction of the Tenth District over there. I’ll briefly mention Miss Sikong’s relationship with Shenzhen City here. In simple terms, in the next ten years, Shenzhen City will become the first scientific research city to cooperate with them. However, I’m not very clear about the specific cooperation projects and details. Miss Sikong doesn’t know either. Those were discussed between her family and the representatives of Shenzhen City.”
Su Yunjin took out another set of documents from her backpack, “Today, we mainly discuss the first esports base here in the cafe, as we mentioned before, right? It’s on the underground floor, only open to adults.”
“Yes.”
I nodded, “That one… planned to be styled in a cyberpunk theme, a project in partnership with the Shenzhen City Power Plant.”
“What’s a cyberpunk style?” Fei Luo on the side listened with confusion, “Is it a tech-themed style?”
“Roughly, you can understand it that way.”
I thought for a moment, “There will be a lot of LED lights and billboards, and everywhere will be filled with metal machinery, giving a rebellious and futuristic vibe.”
At least that’s my personal interpretation.
Before this, I played a cyberpunk-related game, mainly Deus Ex, and I didn’t finish it. I played the beginning but couldn’t continue; I felt the protagonist was too evil. As for games like Cyberpunk 2077… even if I could get a pirated copy at that time, my old computer couldn’t handle it.
“Is it still sensible to be involved in games now?”
After listening to Su Yunjin, Ouyang Xue silently took a sip of water. “To be honest, I don’t think the future of this world will be the era of games. Many internet cafes have closed down, and we still want to enter the industry. This…”
“The fundamental reason for the closure of internet cafes is the end of an era, but this era… is not the era of games.”
Su Yunjin crossed her hands, placing her elbows on the table, and rested her chin on the back of her hands, saying seriously, “Have you noticed that there’s an industry that has declined along with internet cafes?”
Lan Jiajia blurted out, “KTV?”
“Yes, KTV, and some hotels, large restaurants, these industries have nothing to do with games, but they were abandoned by the era.”
Su Yunjin, propping her chin with her hands, gestured towards the cafe, “Look, now we are opening a restaurant in the twilight era of KTV, hotels, and restaurants. If we succeed, what does it mean? It means that the decline is not in this industry, but in this era.”
“Internet cafes can’t continue because people’s habits have changed. Most games used to be competitive or required several friends to play together. Now many games can be enjoyed alone, and they barely need online connections. Even in competitive games, the teammates you match with are not too bad. People’s habits are gradually changing. In the past, people may have enjoyed socializing, forming brotherhoods, gathering with good friends at internet cafes to play games during weekends, enjoying that atmosphere. Now, this group of people has grown up, or this habit is about to disappear. Everyone just hopes to relax after work, and they don’t want to deal with the hassle of socializing.”
“This is similar to the drinking culture at the dinner table. More and more people don’t like drinking during gatherings, or singing at KTV, because everyone is too busy. Moreover, computers are no longer luxury items. Most working-class people can buy a computer that can play most games after a month of work. It’s more comfortable and has a better environment at home than internet cafes. The social aspect of internet cafes has lost its cost-effectiveness. Even if someone really can’t afford to buy a computer, there’s still a smartphone, and they can play mobile games or read novels and comics on it.”
“It’s just like dating. In the past, everyone enjoyed socializing in school. Boys would approach beautiful girls, even with a very low success rate, they would still try hard, buying gifts, writing love letters. But now, very few people do that. Boys, if they have money, prioritize spending it on themselves, such as spending on mobile games or paying for their favorite comics and novels, rather than engaging in social activities or courtship like before.”
“So, as long as we adapt to the trends of the times, the gaming industry will always have profits…”
Su Yunjin spoke a lot of words in one go. On the other side, Xiongxiong, who had just finished eating a “Thorn Horn Melon,” took out a tissue from her pocket and wiped her mouth, saying, “Have you all played online games? Have you noticed that more and more online games no longer have a large number of tasks that must be completed in teams like before? Because almost all games with such setups have died out.”
“I’ve been to many countries, and some countries are actually ahead of us. After experiencing the oppression of harsh reality, society enters an environment similar to ‘lying down after high pressure.’ Novels, drawings, animations, movies, and the gaming industry rise. People no longer focus on reality because reality is too harsh. People wake up, turn around, and immerse themselves in these industries, with the gaming industry being the hottest.”
Well… I don’t really understand these things. The proposal from Tongmeng Net is to build a recreational area on the underground floor here, using the same operational concept as the restaurant on the first floor and the beverage shop on the second floor. No socializing, even if someone comes alone, they can still have a great time… Arrange some high-end machines from the family for experiential testing…”
“Wait a minute.”
When Xiongxiong mentioned this, Ouyang Xue interjected, “Are you talking about the metaverse?”
“That concept is still too distant for us. This is just a pilot project, to put it plainly, a more beautiful underground entertainment base. If the layout of Shenzhen City is successful in the future, then this place can serve as the first base for a virtual world.”
I looked at Yin Xiamo beside me and found that she also had a somewhat puzzled expression.
“You don’t have to think so far. Consider it a high-end internet café, for now, let’s start with that,” Su Yunjin added.
“Construction workers will come over the day after tomorrow to start construction on the underground floor. It should be renovated by the end of this month. As for what comes next… we’ll discuss it later.”
“Does that mean the café is hiring again?”
Ai Luodi yawned, “I can’t manage three floors alone at night.”
“So I’m just here today to give you a quick update. This is not something that can be rushed. The recruitment… the recruitment…”
Su Yunjin looked at me, “Um, Nuo’er?”
“What?”
I instinctively leaned towards Yin Xiamo, “I’m just a poor writer. Where would I find so many suitable people for you?”
“Just network administrators. No need for education, just need to be of legal age.”
Su Yunjin continued with an encouraging tone, “I know you, Nuo’er, you must have a way, right? Look, so many people here were recruited by you.”
“No, please set aside your strange biases.”
I shook my head again, “Mr. Su Yunjin, I’m just a worker. If the decision to build a basement in the café is made by the company, I have no objection. But as for hiring… please find someone else.”
“Speaking of which, Nuo’er has been working at the café for a month, right?”
Su Yunjin turned to Ouyang Xue, “During this time, it seems like you’ve been acting as the interim head maid? How about…”
What do you mean by that? You can’t expect me to become that… head maid, right?
“Hey.”
In the midst of the conversation, Fei Luo came over, pulling me and Yin Xiamo into her arms, “I forgot to tell you something. (•?•)”
Yin Xiamo asked curiously, “What is it?”
“About Gabriel, that little flat-chested angel.”
Fei Luo lowered her voice, glanced at Su Yunjin and Ouyang Xue, and then said to me and Yin Xiamo:
“Before I came here, I once had a fight with her in heaven. If she holds a grudge, she should… maybe, in these past few days, she has followed the forbidden magic I left at the teleportation altar and…”
“Chase me…”
“……”
……