I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 36

For an entire afternoon, I stayed in a small rented room, typing away on the keyboard.

In May, the average temperature in Shenzhen City has already reached above 25°C, and the air carries a scent of baked earth, making it unbearably hot. Normally, I, a middle-aged man, would be sweating profusely even if I were sitting around shirtless for a while. However, at the moment, it seems that the young girl’s body is not very sensitive to the heat, or perhaps petite children, in general, are more heat-tolerant and cold-averse. In any case, this temperature is still within my tolerance, except for the occasional beads of sweat when my typing speed can’t keep up with my racing thoughts. I don’t feel particularly hot.

This is actually a good thing for me because I really can’t bear to use the air conditioning. Running it for an hour costs several degrees of electricity, which could buy me a few bottles of cola.

Writing novels requires a certain level of talent. This profession is different from most conventional jobs. If your talent is poor, you won’t be able to make a living from it. Authors with average talent can rely on hard work and gradual accumulation of readers and fans, but the ceiling is very low. Only those with exceptional talent, who can easily discern what people of their time want to read, can effortlessly become wealthy by writing books.

In essence, this talent is similar to having a “business acumen,” “musical aptitude,” or “artistic talent.”

The reason I thought about this “talent” is mainly because in the past few days of writing, I’ve noticed that my thoughts and inspiration seem to flow endlessly, and compared to the old days, it’s like night and day.

This makes me wonder if the Grim Reaper deliberately maxed out the “literary talent” skill when creating this body.

So, what is she planning to do? Is it not just to punish me? Turning me into a girl and giving me a boost in my career on the side?

?Uncle, I’ve read your new book, and the beginning is good, much better than your previous one.?

?Indeed, the previous book was too dull; at least this one has the desire to keep reading.?

?Uncle, keep it up!?

?YYWAUQ!?

Typing for forty minutes, then taking a ten-minute break by the window to breathe in some fresh air, gaze into the distance, listen to music, and chat with the members of the book club. Answering their various questions about the new book, the afternoon passed by so calmly.

The female lead in my first book is called “Yin Nuo’er,” and everyone in the reader community knows this. But because the character “?” looks a lot like “?,” some people don’t know how to pronounce it, and they often read it as “Yi Nuo’er.” Later, to make a strong impression on new readers, the old-timers in the community started calling her “Yin Yin” or “Yi Yi.”

Afterward, I don’t know if this group of people saw that image that said, “There are no girls in our group, but we need girls, so we have to artificially create girls,” they forcefully turned me, the “Uncle” author, into the female lead Yin Nuo’er from that novel. They started playing role-playing games, and a large group of people jokingly said in the group, “Yi Yi, has your husband left?” “When will Yi Yi update?” “Yi Yi, move quickly,” and so on.

Gradually, this trend evolved into a situation where as long as I didn’t update or engage in the group, someone would post “Yi Yi, move quickly.” This phrase not only meant “Your novel updates too slowly, move faster,” but also had the innuendo of “Yi Yi, take the initiative” … a rather suggestive feeling.

In the end, these folks couldn’t even be bothered to type the complete sentence “Yi Yi, write an update quickly” and it turned into abbreviated forms like “YYWAUQ,” and someone would post it in the comments every time I updated a chapter.

I remember not long ago when my novel was recommended, we had many new readers. Because they couldn’t understand what the ending phonetic abbreviation meant, they even went to “zhidao.baidu.com” and offered a reward, and the most absurd part is that someone actually answered.

?I’m writing, I’m writing. In the early stages of a new book, you can’t update too quickly. Otherwise, it won’t be recommended, and the editor will kill me.?

?What does ‘write quickly’ mean? Be a bit more serious, guys!?

?Give me your votes for today, you guys!?

I don’t really mind readers posting various jokes or comments like “write quickly” in the novel’s comment section or the discussion area.

If anything, I hope they post more.

For a novel, aside from data like clicks, favorites, likes, and monthly votes, comments and discussions are also among the assessment criteria.

Even comments and discussions have a higher weight in the eyes of editors than clicks and favorites because clicks and favorites can be manipulated by bots. Comments and discussions are more “real.”

If a book has many comments and discussions, it indicates high reader engagement, which means there are many active readers and not just “silent favorites” or “abandoned reads.” These data points can be seen in the editor’s backend, and a book with high activity indicates a large following of readers who are highly engaged. If there are future recommendations or adaptations like audiobooks or comics, books with very active readers will be given priority consideration.

After spending a little over two hours, I managed to squeeze out two chapters of my manuscript and answered the questions in the group regarding the new website and the new book. I stood up from my computer chair and stretched lazily.

—

“Ah…”

Even I couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed when I heard that soft moan.

Am I too immature?!

Thankfully, there was no one else around. Otherwise, that sound just now… I guess it would have a greater impact on people than a “dragon’s roar” in a fantasy world.

I glanced at the computer’s clock, it was 4:50. It was time to go grocery shopping. In this city, even the jobs with slightly better “benefits” would typically end work at 5 PM at the earliest. Then, it would take ten minutes to tidy up the documents and head downstairs, another ten minutes to get to the car, and then ten more minutes to get back home. So, I definitely wouldn’t arrive at the market this early, especially considering that most people finish work at 6 PM or even later.

I thought for a moment. I had fish yesterday, so today I’ll make soup. First, I should visit the market and see if the chicken looks good today. If it does, I’ll make chicken soup. If they have winter melon, I’ll go for pork rib soup. One type of soup, and then I’ll stir-fry some vegetables. I should be able to finish it all by myself, and if not, I’ll follow my usual routine and use the soup base to cook noodles the next day.

I washed the rice and put it in the rice cooker to start cooking. Then, I grabbed my phone and keys and left the house.

—

“Hey, little sister, back to buy groceries again today?”

What made me amused was that it seemed like the uncles and aunties in the market had already recognized me. When they saw me entering, they would greet me from far away, “What did your mom ask you to buy today?”

“Just looking around,” I replied nonchalantly to these uncles and aunties and headed toward the vegetable section, making my way around.

Huh, they actually have these little white mushrooms today.

At the last stall, my attention was drawn to a basket of white mushrooms. Enoki mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, white mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms… This vegetable stall has always sold mushrooms, but I didn’t expect them to have white mushrooms today.

When making chicken soup, I personally prefer these little white mushrooms. While shiitake mushrooms are also delicious when stewed with chicken, they leave a lingering taste in the mouth, which I find a bit uncomfortable, so I’m not a big fan.

In comparison, little white mushrooms are always divine with their sweet and clear taste, making the chicken soup delicious.

Hmm… this shop also sells sweet potato leaves. I’ll have these two tonight. After selecting a small portion of sweet potato leaves and getting a small chili pepper from the owner, I bought the white mushrooms and some pickled bamboo shoots for seasoning. I then went to the “Free-Range Chicken Specialty Store,” which I used to frequent, and bought half a chicken.

“Over here, please cut it into pieces. Thank you.”

“Do you need this amount? It’s 12 yuan.”

“12 yuan. I’ll pay with Alipay.”

“Alright.”

“Is this all you’re buying, miss? Is it enough for the whole family?”

“It’s enough, it’s enough…”

With all eyes on me from the crowd, I left the market carrying two small bags of ingredients. Shenzhen City belongs to a southern city, where shopping for groceries is more flexible. You can buy just half a garlic bulb, a few stalks of green onions, and even negotiate with the seller to get an extra item for free if you buy enough vegetables. People can buy vegetables according to their consumption, and everyone is okay with small transactions worth just a few cents. When buying chicken or fish, you can also request the seller to handle it by slaughtering, gutting, and cutting it into pieces. I’ve heard that in some northern cities, even buying a small bunch of green onions will make the seller think you’re up to something if you say you only need a few for seasoning…

Back at home, I filled a bowl with rice, cleaned the chicken, and cut the white mushrooms into small pieces, washing them before placing them in the rice cooker. I added a small amount of salt, covered the pot, and set it to cook soup. While waiting for the chicken soup, I chopped the small chili pepper the stall owner had given me, turned on the induction cooker, poured in some oil, and sautéed the chili pepper and pickled bamboo shoots. When the time was right, I added the sweet potato leaves and, with some effort, quickly stirred them with a spatula.

Before long, the spicy pickled bamboo shoots with sweet potato leaves were ready. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and plated the finished dish. Glancing at the rice cooker’s timer, there was still a little over an hour left.

Ah… I had only managed to catch a short nap on the bus at noon, and I still hadn’t gotten enough rest. Now was the perfect opportunity to take a break. A short nap, and when I woke up, the chicken soup would be almost ready. A perfect plan!

“Mmm…”

Back in the living room, I turned off the daylight lamp, lay down on the couch, covered myself with a small blanket, and closed my eyes. I used to take naps like this often, but back then, Uncle’s body couldn’t fit the entire couch. After waking up, I’d either have numb legs or a sore neck. Now, as a little girl, I could comfortably sleep on the couch, even with my legs fully extended.

In my hazy consciousness, I smelled the aroma of the chicken soup. It should be almost ready, right? I’ll just take a little more nap.

“…”

—

During my light nap, it seemed like I had that strange dream again:

?Are you alone??

?Yeah…?

?Does it hurt??

?A bit.?

?Just hold onto my hand and endure it for a little while. We’ll be out soon.?

—

Dark night, firelight, and stars.

Ruins, flames, and black soil.

It was a world that felt very unfamiliar to me.

“…”

—

“I didn’t realize you had so many friends online.”

I’m not sure how long I slept, but I woke up to the strong aroma of chicken soup and a familiar voice:

A girl.

More specifically, it was the Miss Grim Reaper, dressed in her Grim Reaper uniform, wearing a hood, with her legs wrapped in black stockings. She had a cold expression on her face as she stared at me.

“Are you awake?”

Sitting on the armrest of the couch, she motioned toward the chicken soup in her hand.

“You’re quite skilled in the kitchen.”

“……”