I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 341
Chapter 341: Age of Aquarius? Xia Nuo Era!
On June 23rd, it was a Sunday.
This day marked the long-awaited non-deletion closed beta of the game “Age of Aquarius,” teasing people’s appetite. It was also World Olympic Day, symbolizing the spirit of “sports” and “athletics.”
However, I still hadn’t figured out how to deactivate the Catgirl Mode.
I had been sporting these ears and tail for almost a week now, feeling like I was being assimilated by the cats in the café.
“Oh! Master Nuo’er is looking very spirited today!”
As per usual, I exchanged tail touches with Yueyue in our rented house in the morning before heading to the kitchen to make breakfast for the two little ones and Xiao Mo.
After Lan Jiajia and Ai Luodi spent a night together at the café, for almost a week now, these two had practically been glued to each other every evening. Watching the café’s surveillance videos, Lan Jiajia hardly ever left the employee lounge.
Ai Luodi’s night shift was very straightforward, hardly taking any time. Considering their hobbies, I suspected they had turned the café into a free boarding house.
Both Ai Luodi and Lan Jiajia brought their laptops to the café every day. Ai Luodi carried hers in a backpack, while Lan Jiajia had set up a small corner in the employee lounge resembling an “e-sports room,” with a gaming console, monitor, teacup, and a small pillow neatly arranged by her bed. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think it was a very leniently managed college dormitory.
In reality… the café was much better equipped than a college dorm.
Previously, Ouyang Xue had made a promise that all expenses incurred in the café would be reimbursed as long as it was for employee use. That meant meals in the café were free, as were water, electricity, massages, TV, and WiFi, as long as it was for personal use and not wasteful.
Imagine this… working at the café. If you choose to sleep here, you can freely eat whatever you want at night, and when you’re free, you can play games with the cats who also can’t sleep. With over sixty cats, if you spend three minutes petting each one and repeat it, it will still take three hours. Water and electricity are free, and you don’t even have to get up early in the morning to rush to work.
I think the last part is what Lan Jiajia values the most. She’s relatively “not very punctual” on our side. Occasionally, she’ll sleep in in the morning. Although Ouyang Xue set the morning shift schedule from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., it’s no big deal if we’re a bit late.
The café doesn’t have the typical “clock-in” system like many other workplaces, and usually at 8 a.m., Ouyang Xue is outside watering plants, dealing with pests, or trimming plants. She doesn’t have a precise sense of time.
As long as it’s not egregiously late, like showing up almost at 9 a.m., Ouyang Xue won’t say much.
However, regardless, Ai Luodi’s rental place is still a distance from the café. In cases like Lan Jiajia’s, where there isn’t anything particularly urgent, and your best friend has to work the night shift, it makes sense to bring some entertainment equipment over and “stay” with Ai Luodi at night.
You can shower and go to bed on time, saving on water, electricity, and gas. In the morning, we have to get up around 7 a.m. in the rented house, but she can get up at 8 a.m. sharp, wash her face, change clothes, and walk out of the changing room straight to work, which is convenient.
“Good morning!”
When eating breakfast with Dolly, Yueyue, and Xiao Mo, Ai Luodi returned to the house unusually early, had a rosy face, looking like she had eaten quite a lot of spicy snacks before coming.
“Why does it feel like your breakfast has a lot more meat lately?”
“Does it?”
I glanced somewhat embarrassedly at the wontons, minced meat rolls, pan-fried small fish, and leftover braised pork on the table.
“Well, it’s getting lively at home, so I thought I’d make some delicious food.”
“I feel like you’re all getting really into your roles as little cats,” Ai Luodi said as she changed out of her clothes in the foyer and put on slippers.
“Dolly and Yueyue, how’s life over here? Are you adjusting well?”
“It’s great!” Yueyue chimed in eagerly.
“There’s so much delicious food here every day! Master Nuo’er’s cooking skills are also superb, nothing like our previous life at all!”
“What kind of life were you living before?” Ai Luodi asked, puzzled. “I remember… you seemed to be from overseas?”
“It was a life of constant training, day and night, very hard, but fulfilling,” Dolly replied. “Like athletes over here?”
“You were athletes? No wonder, ever since you came, the café’s delivery ratings have skyrocketed. You’ve worked hard,” Ai Luodi remarked.
Ai Luodi glanced towards the kitchen. “Is there chili sauce today?”
“Yes, there is,” I pointed to a small bowl at the entrance of the kitchen. “There’s chili sauce with garlic, cilantro, and chili peppers in that bowl.”
Then, I added, “Oh, and don’t eat the porridge in the pot next to it. I’m taking it to the café later.”
“The porridge?”
Ai Luodi walked over curiously and found the pot, seeming to sniff it. “It smells weird. Is it expired? Do we still need to eat this porridge?”
“Yeah, making condiments.”
I proudly said. “Last night, Chef Wang had a friend over and gave us a lot of ducks. We couldn’t finish them all, so today I’m planning to make white-cut duck, and I made this sauce in passing.”
“Porridge with white-cut duck, is that some kind of ancestral secret recipe…” Ai Luodi became even more puzzled. “Moreover, this porridge of yours looks like it’s gone bad.”
“It’s not gone bad, it’s fermented,” I explained. “I added probiotics to it. The temperature is just right, so I’m taking them to the café later to stir-fry and eat.”
“I… can’t understand it. I can handle spicy, but sour is a no-go,” Ai Luodi shook her head.
“I’ll just eat a little. The game ‘Age of Aquarius’ is launching soon, so tonight might be a sleepless night.”
“Is that okay?”
I was somewhat worried. “If you don’t rest properly, when Sister Lan Jiajia comes back…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll only play until noon. It launches at 8 a.m., and I’ll definitely sleep by 12 p.m., then wake up at 8 p.m.”
Ai Luodi poured herself a bowl of porridge, added several wontons and fish to it, then poured a large spoonful of chili sauce, and headed upstairs. “Enjoy your meal, I’m a lonely old lady, I won’t sit here.”
“Why is my dear editor-in-chief a lonely old lady again?”
“I’m old, I’ve never done anything except touch Lan Jiajia’s hand. Isn’t that a lonely old lady?”
Ai Luodi’s mouth was still venomous as ever. “Yesterday, I even tried to take a peek under her skirt and got punched… Tch, what kind of person is she? With such a big butt, she won’t let me see.”
“……”
I turned around and found Dolly covering Yueyue’s ears with her hands.
“Good kids shouldn’t learn,” Dolly said.
“I can still hear!” Yueyue protested.
Before long, Yueyue broke free. “How about we guess how many orders we’ll get today?”
“I should be able to take about thirty percent more than yesterday,” Dolly estimated.
After a moment of thought, Dolly added, “Today’s a holiday, and the lower floor of the café is set up. There will be a lot of people coming to promote, so the orders are sure to skyrocket.”
“Then let’s make it a competition. Whoever loses has to get their butt touched tonight!”
“I’m not interested in touching a cat’s butt,” Dolly retorted.
“How about the tail then?”
“It’s a deal.”
As they bickered, I found myself instinctively turning to Xiao Mo beside me.
“Why… are you looking at me like that?” Xiao Mo asked.
Seeing that the other person was also looking at me with a look that said, “Nuo’er, you know me,” I turned away. “Instead of thinking about cat tails, we should figure out how to turn me back. The method to switch back to the elf mode doesn’t work at all for the catgirl mode!”
“I think this is good.”
Xiao Mo flashed her signature mischievous grin.
“Or perhaps… Nuo’er, why not try transitioning from Catgirl mode to Succubus mode? Or have both modes active simultaneously? Succubus Catgirl, I think that would be quite exhilarating.”
“Please allow me to decline,” I responded firmly.
“How about a pack of fish treats?” Xiao Mo proposed.
“What in the world are fish treats! Do I look like the kind of idiot who would be fooled by such readily available snacks?!”
“Two packs.”
“It’s not about the quantity, geez!”
With my hands on my hips, I tilted my ears back.
“Xiao Mo, you have to understand, it’s me! As a normal person, I wouldn’t be swayed by these little gimmicks! After all, I’m quite grown-up! I’m considered an adult here! I wouldn’t think about things in the dumb ways of a silly girl!”
“Then… shall we do the Capucine together?”
“The pantry’s empty at home!”
“You see, you’re instinctively singing along with the silly cat’s habits!” Xiao Mo teased.
“……”
The lingering glow of the morning sun resembled crumbs of catnip cookies sprinkled on a plate, swirling between the skyline formed by the blue sky and the ocean.
“Is it cat-eared Nuo’er again today?”
Outside the café, seeing me, Xiao Mo, Dolly, and Yueyue coming over, Ouyang Xue, dressed in gardening attire, wiped the sweat from her forehead.
“I wouldn’t even be surprised if tomorrow Nuo’er grew a little devil tail and came to work.”
“That’s not going to happen…”
I assessed the café’s entrance, now fully completed, with its exceptionally luxurious “eSports Zone” entrance. “They really spent a lot of money.”
“It’s for promoting the game, and internet cafes can be perfectly integrated with café’s snack as well.” Ouyang Xue explained, putting away her tools as she walked over.
“Today and tomorrow, then Nuo’er, Xiao Mo, you two can take a break. Have you decided where you want to go?”
“Well… We plan to go to a place with fewer people and beautiful scenery.” I pinched the arm of someone beside me. “Isn’t that right, my dear Miss Grim Reaper?”
“Wherever Nuo’er goes, I go.” Xiao Mo didn’t oppose this idea.
“Have Fei Luo and Gabriel arrived?”
“They’ve arrived, they’re downstairs helping set up the computers. Just now, Tongmeng Net sent over a bunch of machines again. Our café will probably be packed again on the day of the open beta.”
“Oh…” I fell silent for a moment. “Sister Ouyang, are you… really going?”
“Why so sad? It’s not like I’m leaving forever. I’m just changing positions, becoming a lazy administrator at the internet café on the commercial street. You can always come find me if you want to hang out, right? It’s just a few hundred meters away.” Ouyang Xue smiled.
“Once I move over there, everything here at the café will be on your shoulders, Nuo’er. Are you ready for that?”
“I’m ready.” I nodded. “I’ve learned a lot this month.”
“I’m not talking about that kind of readiness. I mean…”
Ouyang Xue gestured to Xiao Mo beside me.
“After Li Chen and I leave, this café… will probably become your love nest, right? Like a married couple running a shop together to make ends meet. Are you both ready for that?”
“……”
……