I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 219

Chapter 219: The Summer Brushed by a Gentle Breeze

 

Originally, our plan for the Shangjing Cat Maid Café was to have around 80 cats in the café. However, when a cat café owner, whose business had closed down, heard that we were also opening a cat café, he hesitated a bit, fearing that we might suffer the same fate as him. So Ouyang Xue had to postpone that project and brought in 60 cats first to let them adapt to the environment and allow us, the staff, to adapt to the cats.

 

However, until now, the remaining dozens of cats haven’t been brought over. Ouyang Xue said that some of the owners of those cats have had some regrets. They felt that we already had too many cats in our shop and worried that their cats might not be treated well if they brought them over. So we had to cancel the cooperation.

 

Until now, the number of cats in the café is still just over 60, as it was at the beginning. Personally, I feel that this many cats is already enough. Unless in the future, as Su Yunjin mentioned, when the underground level is completed, we need to add more cats there.

 

Otherwise, considering the structure of the café with two floors, just over 60 cats are perfect. It’s an ideal number both in terms of cat density and serving customers. Adding more might burden this place, and we would also have to buy a lot more cat food.

 

“Meow…”

 

On the ground floor hallway, hearing my greeting, Dingman made his signature “clip sound” and ran over to me, rubbing against my ankles a few times.

 

Dingman, this cat… is considered the “internet-famous cat” of the café. It’s the largest and heaviest cat in the café. When Ouyang Xue weighed it, it reached 12.4kg, close to 25 pounds. Its chassis is very stable when walking, and because it’s a long-haired cat, it has a very prominent “collar” of tortoiseshell color around its neck. Dingman in the café is like a little lion.

 

When Dingman first came to the café, his throat was a bit hoarse, and because he liked to meow a lot, I thought his throat was like that because he meowed too much every day. However, after about half a month of rest in the café, with automatic cat food and water dispensers serving him daily, and occasional treats of freeze-dried fresh meat and canned fur strips from customers, Dingman’s throat quickly improved and turned into the current “clip sound.”

 

Usually, when there are a lot of customers, as soon as he opens his mouth, most of the girls around will exclaim “so cute” and come over to pet him.

 

In addition, Dingman also has a trick up his sleeve. Whenever he sees someone, regardless of gender, if he’s interested, he will lie down on the spot and show his belly for a belly rub. If the person doesn’t react, Dingman will curl up his front paws, roll left and right, make cute “umiao” cooing sounds, wag his tail, and twist his body, presenting his entire belly to that person.

 

Ouyang Xue also mentioned that Dingman is so skilled at being cute because he has been abandoned by several owners before. Dingman himself doesn’t have any issues, it’s just that he had the misfortune of encountering owners who didn’t do their homework properly. They thought the cat was cute, bought him on a whim, and then realized that he’s a long-haired cat.

 

Some owners couldn’t handle having to clean up cat hair every day after work. The next owner, also acting on impulse, found Dingman adorable and took him in, only to realize a few months later that he’s a large cat and eats too much, making it unsustainable to keep him. So they put him up for sale on a second-hand trading website.

 

Subsequent owners mostly had similar reasons, either complaining about Dingman shedding too much, eating too much due to his size, or finding him noisy. Eventually, Dingman was sent to the cat café.

 

Although he’s a male cat, Dingman has been neutered—actually, most cute, round-headed, chubby cats nowadays are male cats, because female cats usually have a more pointed face, smaller cheeks, and look less attractive. Their bodies are also slender or even very thin compared to male cats, making them appear malnourished. So most cat owners prefer to keep male cats.

 

Furthermore, if one intends to keep only one cat at home without worries, most people would choose to have the cat neutered. Neutering for male cats is just a minor surgery, done and discharged on the same day, with packages costing tens or hundreds of yuan. For female cats, it’s much more complicated, it requires surgery and carries significant risks. Some cats with poor health may need to be hospitalized for observation. The whole process at a reputable hospital can cost thousands of yuan.

 

Dingman is a very round and friendly cat. You can touch or pet him all over his body except for the area around his testicles. Don’t mention Dingman, almost all cats consider that area off-limits. Who touches a cat there?

 

Moreover, Dingman is the smartest cat in the café. Sometimes he seems to understand your meaning with just a glance or a sound. He’s very active, friendly to strangers, unafraid of unfamiliar environments, and even if he ventures out, he always comes back on his own, making him perfect for outings.

 

Perhaps because I carry the genes of a cat girl, Dingman seems to see me as the “boss” here, while he himself is the “boss” of the café’s cat group. According to this registration system, I seem to have inexplicably become the “big boss” of the café.

 

“Fei Luo!”

 

Carrying Dingman upstairs, I asked Fei Luo, who was still making milk tea at the workstation in the same way as before: “Are you still adapting here?”

 

“Huh? I’m doing fine.”

 

Fei Luo, wearing a specially made “enhanced chest support” maid outfit, happily placed several milk tea cups on the table and began adding ingredients inside.

 

“I just figured out that payment system. All they have to do is scan it, and my screen here will generate the required milk tea… I don’t even have to handle the money face-to-face. The technology here is too advanced.”

 

Uh… modern technology really is like that. In peacetime, scientists and capitalists are concerned with how to make ordinary people pay, but in wartime, they have to consider how to make the country pay.

 

I can understand the logic behind this – the parallel world is a place dominated by martial arts and magic. Everyone is born with the goal of striving to cultivate martial arts or magic, otherwise they will be bullied by powerful warriors and magicians. Personal abilities are infinitely magnified, and no one would think about “inventing items for the benefit of the nation and the people”. Capital tends to focus on “how to make magic stronger” and “how to develop more powerful magic”…

 

However, I’m still quite surprised that Fei Luo was able to adapt to the café environment and learn the human language in such a short time.

 

“Are you okay here by yourself?”

 

I grabbed the largest leash from a shelf next to the second floor and said to Fei Luo, “If you encounter anything you don’t understand, you can ask Xiao Mo downstairs. I need to go out for a bit.”

 

“You’re going out?”

 

Fei Luo nodded. “Alright, I’ll keep an eye on things here. Don’t worry, I’ve been a bartender for over 100 years.”

 

You have more working experience than my age…

 

I opened the bag containing the leash and crouched down, gesturing for Dingman to lie down.

 

“Meow.”

 

This cat, almost as big as me when standing up, “plopped” down on the ground, revealing its fluffy belly.

 

I carefully fastened the strap under Dingman’s front legs, secured it, then lifted up this furry fellow and examined the bag’s connectors. Satisfied that they were secure and wouldn’t cause discomfort to the cat, I stood up and headed towards the employee lounge on the second floor.

 

From the lounge, I retrieved my rabbit backpack and took out my personal items, then placed the printed flyers inside.

 

It was noticeable that these flyers designed by Ouyang Xue included descriptions of several “traditional” items from the café, such as fast food and snacks like fried chicken, cola, and egg tarts, as well as milk tea and coffee, accompanied by images filled with colorful pixelated dots, indicating that the designer of this flyer didn’t put much effort into it.

 

In addition, the back of the flyer also printed the address of the café and several niche services, such as taking photos with the maids, single-person massage chairs, and free cat-petting sessions.

 

“Alright, let’s go.”

 

Finally, I put two bottles of water, a pet milk feeder, and some cat freeze-dried treats and cat sticks into the rabbit backpack. I signaled to Dingman in the employee lounge that it was time to come downstairs.

 

“Don’t wander around later. Today, we’re going to a relatively far place.”

 

Connecting the leash to the harness behind Dingman, I descended to the ground floor and pushed open the door.

 

Instantly, a wave of heat hit me.

 

Phew… The outside world really is harsh enough.

 

At the café entrance, I tore open a pack of cat sticks and fed Dingman a bit, then gave it some water to drink.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

With the heatwave as our companion, I led Dingman towards the cobblestone path outside the café, the small leather shoes matching the maid outfit making a “clack-clack” sound on the ground.

 

Honestly, I quite like this feeling now.

 

Wearing a pretty little dress and cute shoes, walking in the refreshing and clean world outside gives me a sense of comfort as if the whole world is lovely and beautiful.

 

The material of the maid’s shoes is very soft, with almost no sense of weight or hardness when worn on the feet. The material used for the white silk stockings wrapped around the feet is also very soft, clinging to the skin. Despite the fact that the thighs and calves may sweat a bit on this hot day, the stockings still feel somewhat misty. And the maid’s dress on the body is made of high-quality silk and cotton, very breathable. Just a slight breeze can make you feel incredibly refreshed.

 

I don’t know when it started… I’ve adapted to this combination of a little dress, knee-high socks, and small shoes.

 

If it were the old me, I probably wouldn’t bother with this kind of outfit—clothes are just about comfort, right? A pair of ten-yuan sneakers and a T-shirt can conquer the world. Who needs all these complications?

 

Now, my only concern is… Maid outfits aren’t mainstream attire in the outside world. If I were to wear this outside, I would definitely become the center of attention, just like when I accompanied Ouyang Xue to the hospital back then. Almost everyone in the hospital glanced my way at least twice.

 

But there’s no other way. When handing out flyers, what’s most needed is attraction. Ordinary people standing on a busy street won’t get noticed. Even if you pass them a flyer as they walk by, they probably won’t even react. But wearing “nice clothes” is a different story.

 

I don’t remember where I read a report, but it mentioned a test where someone distributed flyers in the same location, at the same time, in regular clothes compared to wearing denim overalls. The pedestrians’ reactions to the flyers were clearly different. Both in terms of how quickly the flyers were distributed and how likely the pedestrians were to be attracted to the content, those in denim overalls had a higher response rate.

 

Similarly, if I want to distribute flyers faster, wearing a maid outfit would definitely be faster and more efficient than wearing everyday clothes.

 

“Wow…”

 

Leading Dingman along the path outside for a while, I arrived at the entrance of the commercial street behind the café. Following Ouyang Xue’s instructions, I looked towards the buildings in the back for a while, finally finding the legendary “Mianyun Commercial City”.

 

From a distance, that area seemed to be a relatively spacious “complex” of buildings, with a layout somewhat similar to the plazas around the central district of Shenzhen City. There was a very large intersection with standard traffic lights, dense shrubbery on both sides, followed by streetlights and some billboards.

 

Apart from having fewer people than the plaza in the city center, this place gave me the feeling of another “People’s Square”.

 

Of course, all the equipment and buildings here, including public buildings, are brand new, so it’s evident that this area hasn’t been around for very long.

 

“Meow…”

 

Compared to most cats, who either get stressed or instantly enter “lazy” mode as soon as they go out, Dingman’s behavior outside could almost be given full marks. Not only was it unafraid of the people and cars here, but it also showed no fear of the buzzing and honking of passing vehicles, even sitting down by the flowerbed to lick its paws.

 

“It’ll be up to you to attract people in a while.”

 

Patting the big cat’s head, I led Dingman towards one of the newly established commercial buildings in this new plaza, and amidst the surprised looks of the people around, I searched for the door number, confirming that this was Building 1 of Mianyun Commercial.

 

These were the two largest buildings on both sides of the intersection, particularly conspicuous.

 

Speaking of which… have I fully maximized the “eye-catching” factor with this setup now?

A maid plus a cat—either element, taken alone, is enough to attract a large crowd.

 

“Why are there maids here too?”

“That cat is so big! Is that a cat? It should be a cat, right? It’s not afraid of people, huh?”

“Its face is so round! I really want to pet it…”

“That little girl is also so cute. She’s wearing that outfit… What are they doing? Advertising? Should we go get one?”

 

Amidst the chatter of the surrounding crowd, I shifted my rabbit backpack to the front and unzipped it, revealing the advertising flyers inside.

 

“Nuo’er.”

 

Just as I was about to find a relatively shady spot to use Dingman’s beauty to advertise, a familiar voice came from behind.

Someone actually followed…

 

“You…”

 

Seeing Yin Xiamo, for a moment I thought I was seeing things, but the other person’s conspicuous café maid outfit quickly brought me back to reality—this girl really came out with me.

 

“It’s almost lunchtime rush hour, why did you come out here?”

 

Taking the flyers out of the backpack and holding them close, I looked at the girl in front of me with confusion.

 

“It’s so hot here…”

 

“Nuo’er doesn’t really like being alone, right?”

 

Under my gaze, Yin Xiamo casually took a stack of flyers from my arms.

 

“There’s Ouyang Xue and Lan Jiajia over there.”

 

I was dumbfounded. “Then what about you…”

 

“Of course, I’m here to accompany my wife.”

 

In front of a large group of people, Yin Xiamo directly kissed my face without any reservations.

 

“When couples work together, they can accomplish anything!”

 

“……”

 

……