I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 311

Chapter 311: When a Workaholic Meets a Slacker

 

Just like Xiao Mo said, Dolly and Yueyue have used too much energy from casting forbidden spells recently and haven’t gotten up yet.

 

However, Fei Luo is awake. When Xiao Mo and I returned to the rented house with large bags of stuff, this black dragon girl had just prepared a milk bottle and was watching TV in the living room. The volume was turned down so low that you could barely hear the announcer’s voice:

 

?Hello, viewers, this is the Shenzhen Morning News. Recently, under the leadership of Mayor Ye Yuqing, the Shenzhen Cross-Sea Bridge is progressing smoothly and is expected to be open for traffic to the first island in December next year…?

?The Mianyun Shopping Plaza in Nanqi District of Shenzhen City has nearly three hundred merchants settled in. According to the plan, Mianyun Shopping Plaza and Mianyun Commercial Street will become the first area in Shenzhen City to integrate with digital twin technology, bringing the convenience of information technology life to the residents…?

?At the entrance of Mianyun Commercial Street in Nanqi District, the Shangjing Cat Café is holding a Dragon Boat Festival event. Let’s look at the live footage from our reporter on site…?

 

“Are they still not awake?”

 

I placed the dumpling wrappers and half a bag of already-made dumplings in the kitchen and looked at Fei Luo, who was leisurely lying on the sofa, eating sunflower seeds.

 

“It’s normal for kids to be exhausted the first time they use forbidden spells.”

 

Fei Luo turned around, “What delicious food did you buy today?”

 

“Xiao Mo said Dolly likes vegetables and Yueyue likes seafood, so I bought some vegetarian dumplings and shrimp dumplings.”

 

I gestured to a bag of canned fish in my right hand, “And this, canned fish with black beans and fried fish in oil.”

 

Actually, unless it’s absolutely necessary, I don’t really like eating canned food. That’s because I can make fish that tastes like canned fish myself.

 

Douchi (fermented black beans) is a fairly famous “meal companion” in Shenzhen City. It’s made from soybeans or black beans, typically black beans, fermented and then mixed with sesame oil or something similar. You can mix it with rice and eat it directly, similar to how you’d use “Lao Gan Ma (China’s Chili sauces brand)” sauce.

 

Dace with douchi is a type of canned fish that uses douchi as a secondary ingredient. It’s very salty and goes well with congee. I only eat this type of canned fish when I really don’t feel like cooking or when I’m sick and too lazy to cook.

 

Otherwise, if I really want to eat fish, I can steam, fry, or boil it, and I can add douchi to the pot myself for a fresher taste.

 

Of course, this is just my preference. From the way Fei Luo, Gabriel, and the others act, it seems that although the other world surpasses Earth in many aspects and even has magic, their culinary skills are not very advanced. Even the most ordinary canned fish can deeply captivate a catgirl.

 

“If it’s for that child, she would indeed like it.”

 

Seeing the canned fish I bought, Fei Luo smiled. “Her family lives by the sea, so she probably misses her mom.”

 

“Misses her mom?”

 

I was a bit confused. “Didn’t you say the war is over?”

 

“In the beast-ear tribes… well, at least in the cat tribe, their attitude towards their children is quite similar to that of Earth cats.”

 

Seeing that I was curious, Yin Xiamo explained, “The cat tribe generally believes that children can live independently at 20 and are allowed to hunt on their own at 30. If there are no issues, cats around 35 years old will be driven out of their parents’ territory and treated as competitors. If they return at that age, they’ll be met with hostility.”

 

Huh?

So the living conditions for the cat-eared beast tribe are this strict?

 

Yin Xiamo’s explanation reminded me of some lions in “Animal World.” Lions are a type of cat, and after a mother lion gives birth, she will carefully take care of her cubs for a while. But once these cubs, especially male lions, reach a certain age, they will be driven away by their mother.

 

“Yueyue was born by the sea, so she probably grew up eating seafood. After living with Dolly, although there are rivers on the grasslands, it’s not the same as the ocean, and the fish might not taste as authentic.”

 

Fei Luo glanced at the bag in my hand. “Is that canned fish very salty?”

 

I nodded. “It is indeed very salty.”

 

“Then that makes sense.”

 

Fei Luo had a “see, I told you” expression.

 

“Sea cat.”

 

Sea cat?!

Is that why Yueyue likes to eat fish?

 

“Nuo’er, you go ahead and make the dumplings. I’ll take care of things here.”

 

Taking the bag from my hand, Yin Xiamo walked towards the dining table. “How many people in total?”

 

“Five… oh wait, it could be six or seven.”

 

I glanced around the living room. “If Ai Luodi or Gabriel come back for breakfast.”

 

I felt that the chances of Gabriel coming back were slim. This angel lady loves light, and the café’s basement is full of lights. She’s also recently become addicted to online games, and the café’s basement is filled with high-end computers.

 

You could say that all the top-of-the-line consumer computers are there, except for supercomputers. Gabriel doesn’t need to eat or sleep, so it’s definitely no problem for her to play games day and night.

 

For ordinary people, staying up all night gaming would definitely cause health issues, but Gabriel is different. She’s a great angel who has been through the Demon King War. Going without rest for a day or two, or even years, wouldn’t be an issue for her.

 

Damn, the differences between people are just too vast…

 

“By the way…”

 

As I headed to the kitchen, I heard Fei Luo and Yin Xiamo chatting in the living room.

 

“Aren’t you going to do something about those two tufts of hair on Nuo’er’s head?”

 

“What’s there to do?”

 

I heard Yin Xiamo respond, “They’re quite cute.”

 

“Why does she always have hair sticking up like that? It reminds me of a dragon’s reversed scale… oh my, with all the scales growing in one direction, and then suddenly one growing the other way, it makes me very uncomfortable.”

 

“Humans are different. In Earth’s culture, Nuo’er’s hair is called an ahoge. Cutting it off would take away her soul.”

 

“Your Earth’s culture is really strange.”

 

“It has nothing to do with me. I’m just a learner, not a participant.”

 

“……”

 

Feeling slightly speechless, I washed the pots and bowls in the kitchen, poured the rice into the rice cooker, gave it a quick rinse, added enough water, and pressed the button to cook congee.

 

In the morning, I personally prefer congee over rice because it’s easier to eat and digest.

 

While the congee was cooking, I turned on the steamer and began quickly making dumplings at the stove.

 

The chive dumplings and cabbage dumplings, which were for Dolly, went on the first layer. Since the little cat liked seafood, the shrimp dumplings went on the second layer.

 

Then, on the third layer, I placed some mixed-flavor dumplings, along with a few eggs, sweet potatoes, and corn.

 

This way, even if Ai Luodi and Gabriel came back later, there would be a variety of whole grains for breakfast. With a bowl of congee and a glass of milk, the meal would be nutritionally complete.

 

“Fish——”

 

After about seven or eight minutes of busy work in the kitchen, the rice cooker was just starting to release a bit of steam, and I had just finished making all the dumplings and covered the pot. Outside the kitchen, I heard a burst of noise and shouting. I saw the orange-haired catgirl dashing out of her room and heading straight for the dining table—

 

“Fish canned food!”

 

Staring at the can of fish Xiao Mo had opened on the dining table, Yueyue, who was wearing only a thin T-shirt, had her eyes glowing with excitement.

 

“Can I eat it now?”

 

“That was fast,” Yin Xiamo remarked. “I just opened it…”

 

“Good morning…”

 

Before long, Dolly also came out of her room, yawning and curiously looking towards the living room.

 

“It smells so good. Is there something delicious?”

 

“The power of forbidden spells is really impressive. This is the first time I’ve seen the centaur tribe in this state. Normally, you all seem more energetic.”

 

Fei Luo, who was in the living room, smiled. “Are you awake?”

 

“Mm…” Dolly nodded, her two thin ears twitching. “The first time using a forbidden spell seems to have drained all my magic.”

 

“The first time is always like this. These types of boundary-crossing forbidden spells are quite gentle, and with Momo’s coordinate magic helping you, otherwise, with your magic skills, forcing a forbidden spell would likely leave you bedridden for half a month.”

 

Fei Luo then turned to Yueyue beside the dining table. “But this cat girl seems pretty energetic?”

 

“Can I eat it? The canned fish!”

 

Yueyue’s attention was entirely on the fish can. “It tastes just like last night! I’m sure it’s the legendary canned dace with douche (fermented black beans)!”

 

“It’s douchi.”

 

Seeing that the dumplings were almost ready, I took the steamer out of the kitchen and placed it on the dining table.

 

“Wait a little while, the congee isn’t done yet.”

 

“What’s this?”

 

Probably smelling the shrimp dumplings inside, Yueyue’s eyes widened even more, and her orange tail kept swaying back and forth. “Are there sea shrimp inside?”

 

“Do you have shrimp in the other world too?”

 

“There are similar creatures, they reproduce quickly, are nutritious, and produce large broods. It’s like this species exists just to be eaten.”

 

While explaining, Yin Xiamo took the tray I handed over and then pulled out a chair she had prepared earlier. “Yueyue, you sit here.”

 

“Okay!”

 

The little catgirl obediently sat down.

 

“Today’s breakfast includes two cans of fish, shrimp dumplings, and a bowl of congee… although the congee isn’t ready yet, so we’ll need to wait a bit.”

 

As she spoke, Xiao Mo pulled out another chair. “This spot is for little Dolly. Here we have pork dumplings, corn, and sweet potatoes. These should be familiar foods from the grasslands.”

 

“Thank you!”

 

Dolly politely sat down. “Um… Master Momo, and Brave Hero, when can I start working?”

 

While serving food to the two of them, Xiao Mo said, “No rush today. I’ve taken the day off to show you around the city, so you can get familiar with human society here. If you want, you can even run a marathon.”

 

“No work?” Dolly looked a bit uneasy.

 

“Mom said that when we come here, we must work hard. Those who don’t work don’t eat. You’ve given food to Yueyue and me, so we should work harder to repay everyone.”

 

Xiao Mo shook her head. “Not today. The first day is just for getting used to the environment.”

 

“Is that really okay?”

Dolly still seemed hesitant, and was even reluctant to pick up the food in front of her. “Can’t we help out?”

 

“Yueyue also wants to start helping everyone as soon as possible.”

The little catgirl raised her head. “Yueyue has already grown up and can hunt alone very well!”

 

“It’s not like that…”

 

Yin Xiamo looked a bit exasperated by the two and finally said, “Fine, if you want, we can arrange some tasks for you this afternoon. But before that, I need to take you to complete some formalities.”

 

“Formalities?”

 

“Just to set up a name for you here. Think of it as a code name.” Xiao Mo took out her ID card from her pocket.

 

“This is like an imperial identity badge, it’s called an ID card here. After breakfast, I’ll show you around, and there’s a marathon event happening nearby that you can join to get used to the environment. In the afternoon, I’ll take you to get your ID cards. We’ll add a character at the front: Yin Duoli (Dolly), Yin Yueyue. Once you have your IDs, you can start working. Does that sound okay?”

 

“No problem!”

 

As soon as they heard “you can work,” both of them instantly perked up. “Thank you, Sister Momo!”

 

Are there really creatures that fight over getting to work? I was stunned by this scene.

 

Looking at Dolly and Yueyue, it seemed like “being fed without being given work” was a very shameful thing for them. It felt like if Xiao Mo didn’t arrange work for them or let them show their “value,” the two little ones would be very unhappy.

 

“This is why Little Gabriel doesn’t want to come back and face these two little ones.”

 

Fei Luo, on the sofa, covered her mouth with a newspaper and said in a helpless tone, “That’s just how centaurs are, and Yueyue has been influenced by them.”

 

“Nuo’er, come with me for a moment.”

 

Seeing that the two at the dining table were happily eating breakfast, Yin Xiamo led me back to the kitchen.

 

“I probably won’t be able to go to the café today, so you’ll have to handle it on your own.”

 

“I think I’m starting to understand why Fei Luo and Gabriel don’t want to take care of them.”

 

I glanced cautiously at the living room. “What’s the deal with Dolly? Are they naturally like this?”

 

“No, they’re still recovering most of their energy after using forbidden spells. This is actually a relatively mild situation.”

 

Yin Xiamo gave a bitter smile. “Let’s not even talk about the cat tribe, but the centaur tribe… you can understand them as having an innate need to be busy. If they don’t exercise or work every day, they’ll feel particularly uncomfortable. And in some special situations, if you think they’re tired and suggest they rest, it can be seen as discrimination. Discrimination against them growing old and being unable to work, it’s like a belief that’s hard to change.”

 

I cautiously asked, “So… the more you make them work, the more you direct them to do chores, the happier they are?”

 

“That’s one way to understand it.”

 

Yin Xiamo rubbed her head. “But where do we have so much work? Unless it’s something like an online food delivery system, with endless orders every day.”

 

Well… it seems like the centaur tribe in this other world shouldn’t fall into the hands of capitalists. Otherwise… um, actually, I don’t know what the outcome would be like.

 

“So I’ll leave the café to Nuo’er later and ask Sister Ouyang for a leave,” Xiao Mo said as she walked out of the kitchen.

 

“And little cat, remember to drink your milk, don’t waste it!”

 

“……”

 

……