I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 303
Chapter 303: Blue Lotus Flower
In order not to worry Ouyang Xue, seeing that there weren’t many people in the café, I started doing the “manager” job.
Simply put, it’s handling all sorts of odds and ends.
Lately, Ouyang Xue’s main job has been with the takeout orders because the café doesn’t have its own customer service.
The backend program for takeout orders is directly linked to our café system. Ouyang Xue, who developed the system, directly connected various prompts to our cat earphones.
Whenever there’s a takeout order, a chat with customer service, an evaluation, or a negative review, our earphones ring, and then Ouyang Xue comes over to this side of the lounge, chats with customers using her laptop, and handles after-sales service.
To put it bluntly… all of us employees, waitstaff included, double as “customer service” for the café’s takeout platform, and Ouyang Xue is the top “customer service” here.
That’s also why my elf ears won’t be discovered up close, because most of the time at work, we wear cat earphones.
The cat earphones are a bit small for elf ears, but thankfully the earmuffs are very soft. When I wear them, even with half of my ears sticking out, it’s not uncomfortable, and people facing me won’t think “Nuo’er’s pointed ears look like props” because they can only see half of my ears.
As for what Ouyang Xue has been busy with lately… it’s almost all related to “beautiful images.”
When opening a store in the takeout app market, although some takeout platforms have their own templates and optional images, if you want to stand out among numerous takeout businesses, the external design of your own store is essential.
Like the platform provides one menu after another, dropdown menus, each item in these menus needs to be set one by one, and the pictures need to be taken one by one. The pixel size of a food image on the phone is limited.
When we take pictures with a professional camera, the images are very large, so we need to beautify them first using photo editing tools, crop them, adjust them to the appropriate pixel ratio, and then put them up to see what they look like. If they don’t look good, we have to exit and re-crop them.
Some optional templates have a picture frame. Some photos are already well done and look good without a frame. But because this template comes with a border, it covers two or three pixels, obscuring important content in the picture, or making it unclear, so we have to redo it or take new photos.
Places like the Shangjing Maid Cat Café are okay because we have many beautiful spots for photoshoots and scenes to take pictures. The plates and tables in the shop are also very beautiful. When taking photos, we just need to put our best work up, set the angle nicely, take a few more shots for backup, and then later, adjust some color saturation and other settings using photo editing software.
But this kind of work… if an ordinary person were to do it, it’s really easy to get frustrated. I consider myself to have a fairly patient and good-tempered personality, but when doing this, I still can’t help but be amused or frustrated by some strange bugs or rules of the takeout platform.
Some pictures are uploaded, stuck, displayed correctly, and then need to be reuploaded. Some pictures inexplicably lose some pixels due to decorative borders, making the delicious-looking food seem like it’s missing a corner.
Some pictures, due to the whims of the review process, prompt messages like “Does not comply with regulations, your picture contains inappropriate content, please resubmit,” and despite trying several times, they just won’t upload.
One or two instances are manageable, but the main issue is that the variety of food in the café has expanded greatly. We have a huge number of pictures to upload, and the entire takeout platform isn’t just about “food” images that need to be processed.
For example, to cater to most people’s tastes, Ouyang Xue has added “non-spicy,” “mildly spicy,” “very spicy,” and “extra spicy” options in the “special requests” section. The system requires pictures for each of these options.
Some businesses take shortcuts, the first option may have a white background, the second option might have a chili pepper, and the last one might have a pile of chili peppers. But Ouyang Xue has chosen to use photos of the café’s signature cat-shaped dumplings: a regular photo, one with a slightly furrowed brow, one with closed eyes and tears streaming, and one with an open mouth seemingly calling for help.
Just imagine, Ouyang Xue is usually working as both a maid and a porter in the shop. When Li Chen delivers goods, it’s mostly Ouyang Xue who sorts and organizes them. She has to endure the tantrums of important customers while dressed as a maid, and on the takeout platform, she has to act as customer service to deal with all sorts of people flirting or hurling insults—some people have nothing to do at home and randomly open platforms to chat with customer service representatives.
In addition to this, there are those who buy something and find it unpalatable, and then come directly to customer service to vent, leave negative reviews, threaten to report, or even retaliate by sending inappropriate images.
Under such immense pressure, Ouyang Xue, when she finds a moment to spare, patiently teaches herself Photoshop software, painstakingly pixel by pixel, processing and uploading one picture after another. She also updates the café’s information on the business details page, fixes bugs in the café’s ordering system, handles all sorts of odds and ends…
Listening to Li Chen, these past few days have been Ouyang Xue’s menstrual period. With such great pressure, various miscellaneous matters, feeling sad, and her body not feeling very comfortable, if she also catches a cold or fever, naturally her body won’t be able to handle it. So, I really admire bosses like Ouyang Xue.
Of course, someone like Ouyang Xue is destined not to become a “good” boss. If all bosses were to follow her standards, the company would easily go bankrupt. The correct approach would be to cut the wages and bonuses of the staff a bit, free up some money specifically to hire a “designer” who also acts as customer service for the café, and then let the staff handle various miscellaneous matters part-time. The boss only needs to come to the shop every day, look busy, and make the staff feel like “this boss is just like us, working hard every day, I need to work hard for the company too.”
If I remember correctly, I once saw some videos online introducing “maid cafés,” and the content creator revealed that the biggest challenge in opening a maid café is hiring maids. Rent, storefront, coffee—those are minor issues.
There are hardly any full-time maids; most people find the treatment low, undignified, shy, with low wages, and exhausting. Basically, they are all female students who come to work part-time to support themselves and quit at any time. So those bosses treat “maids” as a kind of “disposable item” and don’t offer high salaries, allocating expenses to other areas.
“That should be about it.”
Around ten forty, as the last picture was smoothly uploaded, I carefully checked all the food pictures and descriptions of “Shangjing Cat Maid Café” on the takeout platform. After confirming that the prices were calculated correctly, I stretched lazily on the small stool.
At this time, the café didn’t have many customers left. Ai Luodi also arrived at her workstation with her small notebook. In the spacious room, only a few young people on the ground floor were still playing mobile games and reluctant to leave.
Even the cats were tired, with some lounging on the cat tree. Dingman, as the “cat king,” didn’t even bother with his favorite high-level cat tree and simply found a scratching post to nap on, his faint purring audible from where I sat.
“When Sister Ouyang goes to the commercial street over there, I should be able to take over here quickly.”
Closing the notebook, I turned to Xiao Mo beside me.
“Thanks for waiting.”
“The way you work so diligently…”
Yin Xiamo paused for a moment, then seemed to recall something. “No, it’s nothing. Are we going back now?”
Are you… recalling the hero?
Even heroes of the past… would they work diligently for something?
“You mentioned Dolly and that mysterious person…”
I glanced at the few young people left in the café playing games.
“When are they coming?”
“In about an hour.”
Yin Xiamo glanced through the transparent glass window of the café at the seaside. “Do you want to go to Moon Orchid Island?”
“I want to go to Nanqi Tower first.”
Taking Ouyang Xue’s notebook to the side, unplugging it, and saving it, I walked over to Yin Xiamo. “Are Fei Luo and the others still here?”
“Fei Luo is playing with Gabriel in the basement. There are still many people over there who haven’t gone back. It probably won’t stop until late tonight.”
Yin Xiamo looked lazy. “Su Yunjin said we can go back first. He’ll watch over here.”
“Alright.”
I headed upstairs. “I’ll change clothes.”
As usual, I took my usual female attire to the second-floor changing room, took off the maid outfit and stockings, letting my hair fall freely on me. I used some skincare products to roughly tidy up in front of the mirror, then tried to flatten the stray hairs on top of my head.
No effect.
Pressed a few more times.
Still sticking up…
Forget it.
Finally, after changing clothes, I packed the maid outfit into a small backpack and walked downstairs.
“Ding dong! Welcome!”
At the same time, amidst the sound of a large truck parking, Li Chen also returned.
“How did it go?”
I approached. “How’s Sister Ouyang?”
“Oh, she’s fine. Her fever had gone down by the time she reached home.” Li Chen breathed a sigh of relief.
“Just to be safe, I had her do a blood test, everything’s normal. It’s like all the little issues she had before are gone, everything’s normal, like she’s just an ordinary person. I almost thought I was seeing things.”
I glanced outside. “And what about Sister Ouyang?”
“Although there aren’t any problems, I still insisted on completing the hospital admission procedures for her, just to observe for a couple of days.”
Li Chen gritted his teeth. “I’m really scared.”
“Then why did you rush over here…”
I joked, “Aren’t you afraid Sister Ouyang will scold you?”
“It was actually her who called me, saying the café can’t be left unattended these days. It’s a critical time and we need manpower, so I had to come back.”
Li Chen placed his hands on his hips.
“Damn it, it feels like she’s always like this. When we were just laying the foundation, she said the same thing. When the house was built, she said the same thing. When the café opened, she said the same thing. Even during the Dragon Boat Festival… oh, no, the Dragon Boat Festival is over, and she’s still saying the same thing. When do we not need people? When is it not critical?”
Hmm… that seems about right. Since I started working here, it seems like every day has been crucial.
“How’s everything going on your end?”
Li Chen scanned the first floor. “Nothing’s gone wrong, has it?”
“There’s basically no major issues, except for a few customers complaining during the dinner rush about the lack of tables and chairs being inconvenient. The glutinous rice and zongzi today also sold quite well. There’s quite a bit of yellow wine left, and in the kitchen, there are some zongzi with a mix of fat and lean meat, and salted duck eggs.”
I gestured towards the kitchen. “Have you had dinner? Shall I heat something up for you?”
“I ate at the hospital, but the hospital caféteria food… well, never mind. I’d rather eat at my own place.”
Li Chen hurried off towards the kitchen.
“I can handle it myself, you guys must be tired after the day, hurry back, I’ll take care of things here.”
I called after Li Chen’s retreating figure. “There are still many people in the basement, Su Yunjin is there!”
“Okay, I’ll go down after eating!”
Hmm, then let’s head back too.
I turned to Xiao Mo. “When can you teach me that magic where things fly everywhere?”
“You can’t learn it, there’s no magic on Earth.”
Yin Xiamo shrugged. “But in elf mode, you can run faster and jump higher than normal people.”
That’s not enough. I still prefer those especially convenient magics.
Like the one you used when we went to Canjing District before… that translucent, glass-like magic circle, both beautiful and practical, “whoosh,” and you’re up in the sky, very fast.
“Tonight, Xiao Mo will have to carry me again.”
“At your service, my princess.”
After leaving the café, on the quiet, tree-lined path outside, Yin Xiamo in front of me slightly bent over and stretched out her hands. As usual, I leaned back, and just like that, I was lifted by Xiao Mo in a princess carry. Even though I knew Xiao Mo didn’t mind the weight, I was in elf mode now, so I weighed much less. It should be much easier for her, right?
“Hold on tight.”
Accompanied by a relaxed prompt, the whole world lifted off. Xiao Mo expertly made a big leap and landed on the nearby lamppost, then another leap onto a large tree that looked like it had been there for decades. With another jump, we reached the top of the tallest tree ahead. Xiao Mo, carrying me as usual, bathed in the moonlight, flew towards the direction of Nanqi Tower.
This posture reminded me of a scene from an anime I watched a long time ago, “Shugo Chara!.” There was a segment where Ikoto Tsukiyomi carried the protagonist Amu Hinamori at night, doing a three-step jump.
Hop Step Jump!
“……”
Before long, we arrived at the familiar peak of Nanqi Tower. What surprised me was that the usually deserted Nanqi Tower was now bustling with activity.
“Xiaofei, come catch me! There are so many eggplants here!”
“Denghua, slow down! Don’t trample on Grandpa’s crops…”
“Nyah nyah nyah…”
Behind Nanqi Tower, in the vegetable garden that the old people who used to live here had always taken care of, Li Denghua and Zhou Xiaofei were playing around with each other. The spacious courtyard was filled with the laughter of children.
Quietly, Xiao Mo and I landed on Nanqi Tower, towering high and looking down at the two old people sitting not far away on a large rock by the seaside.
One on the left, one on the right, one man and one woman. Both of them were very old, with the man’s hands showing some cracks and the woman’s hands covered in wrinkles. Yet, their hands were still tightly clasped together.
The woman leaned her head on the man’s shoulder, and the two elderly people sat hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, on the large rock, watching the surging waves of the sea.
“Do you still remember your favorite song back then?”
“Remember, do you want me to sing it for you?”
“Mmm.”
“Nothing can stop… your yearning for freedom… through the dark ages… you’ve also felt lost…”
“You’re off-key, let me…”
“……”
The two elderly people’s weathered voices echoed over the sea.
Xiao Mo and I stood on Nanqi Tower and watched the two elderly people for a while, then we also sat down.
Instinctively, I grabbed the hand of the girl next to me and placed it on my thigh.
“The moon is so round tonight.”
“Mmm.”
“……”
……