I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 442

Chapter 442: The Time We Embarked on the Journey Together

In the kitchen, I took a disposable cap from a nearby shelf, moved a small stool to the counter, cut half of an already prepared duck, and then briefly prepared the duck meat on the cutting board.

In general, long-haired girls are not allowed in places like the kitchen because their hair might fall into the food. Therefore, they must wear a special cap before entering.

There are many white-cut ducks in the cafe, all prepared in the morning by Chef Wang. When a customer orders it, the duck is cut, placed on a plate, and heated in the steamer.

Typically, to serve quickly, dishes like white-cut chicken and white-cut duck are traditionally prepared with soy sauce and other condiments and microwaved for three minutes in Shenzhen City. However, unless it’s an urgent task, we rarely use the microwave and prefer the steamer.

Also, since Lu Xinmeng is a little girl with limited strength, meat steamed in a steamer is softer and has a better texture, making it easier for her to eat.

I selected the large, boneless pieces of duck meat, arranged them on a platter, poured some special sauce over them, and placed them in the steamer. I then turned around to prepare the sour porridge.

“Beep beep beep…”

The meat sold at the cafe is a bit pricey, just slightly cheaper than KFC or McDonald’s. However, we use high-quality ingredients.

Unlike some other restaurants where duck dishes include lots of bones and the head, our duck is all boneless breast meat, making it look appetizing and easy to eat.

“Got more friends coming over?”

In the kitchen, Chef Wang, who was playing on his phone, teased me when he saw me busy.

“It seems like you have a lot of friends, Nuo’er.”

“Just people I’ve met recently,” I said while stirring the sour porridge.

“I used to be quite introverted and didn’t have many friends.”

“A girl like you couldn’t find friends?” Chef Wang shook his head and continued playing his game.

I quickly finished preparing the sour porridge and took out the steamed, hot white-cut duck. I arranged the duck with the sour porridge and some regular soy sauce dip on a platter, and grabbed a plate of vegetables from the fast food section.

“All done.”

Considering I might not be able to carry more items at once, I took these dishes out to Lu Xinmeng’s table first.

“I’ll go back and get the rice and porridge for you.”

I filled two large bowls with rice and porridge, quickly made a large serving of corn juice with the juicer, and prepared some five-colored sticky rice.

Looking at the empty plate, I thought for a moment and used the seven-colored sticky rice to create an image of a family of three on the plate.

Family… such a distant word for me once.

Thinking quietly to myself, I carried the second set of dishes out of the kitchen.

The supply of ingredients for the five-colored sticky rice had stabilized. I recently learned how to make seven-colored sticky rice from some elderly ladies behind the Starry Garden community.

Traditionally, five-colored sticky rice in Shenzhen City is only made during festivals like the Qingming Festival, which isn’t very auspicious. So, I learned to use two more colors, making the seven-colored sticky rice look like a circular rainbow.

With seven colors, I could create a variety of patterns with the sticky rice.

Xiao Mo is quite good at this. If she were interested, she could use the sticky rice to create an image of “Catgirl Nuo’er” easily, but I wouldn’t sell that.

It’s like how cafes make various patterns with coffee and milk, but ours are colorful.

Life is like this, finding joy amidst the busyness.

“Oh dear, that’s too much. We just had breakfast.”

Seeing me bring out more food, Lu Xinjian looked a bit embarrassed.

“You’re so busy at work, and this girl insisted on coming over…”

“It’s okay.”

I smiled and handed the freshly made corn juice to Lu Xinmeng, then sat down across from her. “It just so happens that I also want to eat something.”

Nowadays, our workload at the cafe isn’t as heavy as it was in the beginning. When we first opened, we had so many responsibilities—writing down orders by hand, running to the kitchen to communicate, and constantly fetching items for customers. Now that the entire system is in place, customers actually prefer it that way.

Nearly 40% of customers in our cafe survey said they prefer to scan a QR code and order independently. They mentioned they come to the cafe to see the cats, are socially anxious, and don’t need maid services. They just want to find a table, scan the code, order their food, and be notified when it’s ready for pick-up.

I’m not sure why, but it seems like the number of “socially anxious” customers has increased. They all just want to quietly watch the cats. Even those who come to see the maids prefer not to be approached. They say it makes them nervous and that they’re happy just watching me move around from a distance.

Is it that kids who like anime tend to be more introverted? For more outgoing customers or those who don’t know how to scan and order, we have a “call waiter” button on each table, similar to an internet café. It says something like “Table 22 needs assistance,” and we mostly serve these types of customers.

“Alright, thank you so much…”

Lu Xinjian still looked a bit embarrassed. “How much for this meal?”

“I said we’re treating.”

“Right now, we really don’t care about the money,” Xiao Mo added. “Nuo’er is basically under my sponsorship.”

“Sponsorship, my foot!”

I glared at Xiao Mo. “I’ll find a way to awaken the demon bloodline and bite you to death!”

“Pfft…”

Xiao Mo laughed out loud.

“Thank you, Sister Nuo’er and Sister Xiao Mo!”

Lu Xinmeng, sitting across from me, clasped her hands together like a character from an anime. “I’m going to eat now!”

“By the way, how’s your novel coming along?”

Lu Xinjian served some dishes to his daughter. “I asked your editor, I think it’s called Catnip, and they said the results weren’t very promising?”

“That’s typical for slice-of-life novels.”

I said calmly, “Slice-of-life novels are the least commercially viable genre in commercial fiction because they don’t have any particularly engaging elements to keep readers hooked, unlike thrilling plot-driven stories where each twist and turn makes you anxious to find out what happens next.”

Slice-of-life novels give a very relaxed feeling in the later stages because readers know that neither the main characters nor the supporting ones are in any real danger, and the plot isn’t crucial. So, most readers just habitually ‘let the book sit’ without actively following it.

In terms of novels, ‘letting a book sit’ is actually similar to ‘abandoning it’. If readers aren’t actively following the book, the data from the editor’s backend will show poor engagement. Consequently, the book will lose its recommended spots and the overall evaluation weight will decrease.

Moreover, my new book is a pure love genre novel. It’s hard to maintain the plot in the later stages because, unlike harem or plot-driven novels that can sustain interest by adding more characters or events, pure love novels face more difficulty in this aspect.

Combining slice-of-life with pure love is like stacking up DEBUFFs, so mediocre results were within my expectations. But it’s alright. I initially wrote novels to make money, but now… with Xiao Mo around and the stable income from the cafe, I just consider novels as a form of casual writing.

“I originally wanted to ask editor Catnip to keep an eye on you, but it seems that the editor’s team also has staff responsible for evaluating author performance…”

Lu Xinjian said, slightly awkward. “So, I thought I’d drop by and let you know.”

“No need, no need. Just give the recommendation spots to novels that can earn more money, I don’t mind.”

I turned to Lu Xinmeng. “How’s school going since your discharge?”

“Now that it’s August and school is about to start, I want to have her repeat a grade and start at the new school. Otherwise, she might not keep up.”

“That sounds good. Keep up the effort!”

“Oh, okay!”

“……”

After a simple meal with Lu Xinmeng’s family, Xiao Mo and I went to the small garden outside, which was filled with various fruits, while the little girl played with the cats.

“It feels quite miraculous, living a different life than before.”

Looking out at the sea in front of the garden, I remarked: “Just now, from that distance, I could clearly hear the heartbeat in her chest, strong and healthy.”

“Yes, that’s life—passed down from generation to generation.”

Xiao Mo stood behind me and put her hand on my shoulder.

“I can understand how you feel, dear.”

“……”

……