I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 33
Ten minutes later, “Marisa’s Iron Butt” Jiang Wei and I stood at the entrance of the first floor of the Mingzhu Building.
Jiang Wei brought a small table and placed all the hard drives left over from the Yae-Do Light Novel Network’s parent company’s disappearance on the table.
“The boss is a scoundrel. He ran away with his mistress, so we can only use these hard drives to offset our wages. Originally priced at over four hundred, some even over five hundred for the 2TB hard drives. Now, they’re only 299!”
Behind the table, I held a sign that read “Buy a hard drive and get a cute loli group photo.” Jiang Wei fully embraced his social prowess, holding his hands to his mouth like a megaphone, shouting to passing white-collar workers on their lunch break, “Mobile hard drives, brand new mobile hard drives, unopened, top-quality from big brands! Buy one hard drive, and you’ll get the cutest loli group photo in the world! If it’s not cute, you can return it for a refund!”
“Use a mobile hard drive to offset your wages! Gentlemen and ladies all know the importance of mobile hard drives. Worried about hidden folders being discovered? Concerned about leaking important secrets? Afraid you won’t find the game you want to play at the internet cafe with your friends? Bring a mobile hard drive! In the ladies’ dorm, a mobile hard drive can solve a thousand problems!”
“The prices are open and transparent. You can check online for this brand of mobile hard drive, and it’s at least four or five hundred yuan. We’re not asking for four or five hundred, or even three or four hundred. We’re offering them for only 299, all 2TB hard drives to take home!”
It must be said that Jiang Wei’s marketing had a certain effect. Plus, at this time, white-collar workers who had just gone out for lunch were returning one after another. As soon as I set up the table and placed the hard drives on it, his voice instantly attracted a large crowd of onlookers among the working professionals.
At this moment, even though my face was large, I couldn’t help feeling shy. It seemed like the little girl’s body was naturally more timid. Faced with the large crowd of passersby pointing and whispering at us, I instinctively held the sign in front of my face.
“Selling hard drives? That’s interesting.”
The people who had arrived were roughly the same age as Jiang Wei. Some were wearing their company uniforms, while others were in suits and dress shoes, all looking quite well-off.
“What do you use a hard drive for? Storing movies? Can you take it to an internet cafe to play games? The way he described it makes me kind of interested.”
“Wait a minute, I’ll look up the price of this hard drive online… It’s 439 on a certain website? Is it for real? There’s another one for 389, but it doesn’t seem to be the same brand.”
“Buying a hard drive and getting a loli group photo? The world’s cutest loli? Isn’t that false advertising? I’ve seen quite a few young girls, they’re all just mischievous kids. I don’t believe there’s a loli that can be called the world’s cutest.”
Amid the bustling crowd, many people seemed genuinely interested in the hard drives, but they appeared to be distracted by Jiang Wei’s “world’s cutest loli” remark, and their attention was focused on me.
“Is this little kid selling things too?”
“Judging by her appearance, her parents seem to take good care of her. Maybe she’s out here to experience life.”
“She’s pretty cute. Come over here, I can see her face better from this angle.”
“Young lady, could you please lower the sign a bit?”
It felt like there was no point in hiding anymore with so many people around, so I reluctantly moved the sign away from my face.
“Wow!”
“She’s really cute!”
“Her eyes are so big, and she’s blushing…”
“She must be out experiencing life with her parents. Her skin is even better than my little sister’s.”
Although I grew up in the Shenzhen Orphanage, I have to admit that the treatment of orphans in this city is actually quite good.
At least, from my childhood to adolescence, apart from the time when I didn’t know any better and was occasionally bullied by other kids in the orphanage, my life wasn’t much different from that of ordinary children after starting junior high school.
I attended regular full-time schools during junior high and high school. The orphanage would recharge our meal cards every semester, serving as our source of funding for education. During winter and summer breaks, they would send us to small factories or shops to help out. The work was quite simple. In factories, we did manual labor, while those placed in shops helped with stocking and organizing items. We received food and accommodation.
When I entered college, the orphanage helped me apply for student loans and financial aid for the underprivileged. Due to my lack of parents, I received the full amount of financial aid for all four years. My academic performance was also decent, and the student loans didn’t even have any interest. When I needed extra money, the orphanage would help me find part-time jobs. I managed to complete all my studies with ease and graduated successfully.
My life has been both unfortunate and fortunate. The social welfare in Shenzhen City has been quite good, allowing me to have a relatively smooth upbringing. Besides the occasional feelings of sadness on Father’s Day and Mother’s Day, occasional taunts for not having parents, or the sadness of reading online comments where people insulted my parents, my life, overall, has been relatively smooth.
However, compared to Jiang Wei, also known as “Marisa’s Iron Butt,” my situation seems much better.
Jiang Wei, “Marisa’s Iron Butt,” and I share an online friendship, and when we play games together at night, there are times when someone doesn’t perform well and dies in the game, leaving them as spectators. During these moments, we chat about various things – daily life, news, world events, and sometimes our recent experiences or childhood stories.
“Pipi” generally talks about his experiences during high school and college, boasting about how he used to play kart racing, dominating with N2O throughout the entire track. He boasts about being the captain of the Dragon Nest Protection Team and using endless Hurricane Dance against five opponents. He boasts about having a +20 weapon in Dungeon & Fighter (DNF) and about how he met his wife through the game Sword Art Online and later married her…
On the other hand, “Marisa’s Iron Butt” mostly talks about his childhood stories. He grew up in a broken family, where his parents rejected him. He dropped out of high school and worked various odd jobs, being underage and not having an ID card, which led him to work in unregulated factories. He went through many different jobs, from being an apprentice, a waiter, a repairman to working as a bodyguard for local thugs, and even some fringe jobs like debt collection. As he entered middle age, he started an online store, learned some computer skills, and began writing online novels, eventually stabilizing his life.
“Marisa’s Iron Butt,” despite his somewhat chubby appearance that resembles an “otaku” from an anime, is actually the most socially experienced among us.
It seems like the word “shy” isn’t even in his life dictionary. After all, if he were afraid of appearing unattractive or had social anxiety, he wouldn’t have found a job, let alone survived to this day.
Let alone shouting loudly in front of a crowd of people, like he did when he yelled, ‘Boss is a scoundrel and ran away.’
With Jiang Wei’s assistance, soon enough, many working professionals came up to the table and picked up a hard drive, asking, “Is it only 299? Do you have an invoice?”
“Can I really take a photo with this little sister? Well, she is indeed very cute. To be honest, I’m smitten.”
“Bro, I didn’t notice what she looked like earlier, but now that I’ve seen her face, I’m in awe… Are you sure this isn’t due to some heavy-duty airbrushing and filters? Is there really a girl this cute in real life?”
“This skin is flawless, so fair and soft…”
In the face of the astonishment of the people around him, Jiang Wei looked quite proud. “You can try it. Opening beauty filters during photos actually makes others look worse, believe it or not.”
“I believe it…”
A bespectacled professional picked up a hard drive and asked, “If I buy it, can I add the little sister on WeChat? What if it breaks when I get home?”
“You can add me on WeChat.”
Jiang Wei took out his phone and said, “I have an online store. If it breaks, I’ll provide a replacement, or you can contact the manufacturer directly using the warranty card provided.”
“Is it for real? So cheap and with a warranty?”
“We’ve said it, the boss ran away, and we’re having a massive clearance sale here. This isn’t one of those scams you’d find on the streets, we’re the real deal.”
Jiang Wei assumed a big-brotherly look and said, “You can easily resell it to any computer shop and make a profit.”
“Okay, I’ll trust you this time.”
Finally, someone couldn’t resist and pulled out their phone, scanned Jiang Wei’s payment code with a “beep,” and said, “I’ll buy one and take a photo with the little sister.”
“Count me in!”
“I want one too!”
“If I buy two, can I add this little sister on WeChat?”
“……”
……