I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 75
The fact that Jiang Wei had a good relationship with a girl from his class when he was a child was known to both Pipi and me. He would occasionally bring up these old memories while playing games.
Back then, Jiang Wei was just an ordinary boy studying at the only junior high school in a remote town. The girl was the child of small business owners in the town, and they were in different classes. Jiang Wei was in Class 1(A), while the girl was in Class 1(B). Because the town was so small, the junior high school had only two classes, and it was even smaller than half of the elementary schools in Shenzhen City.
Their relationship was not like the ones described in romantic novels with grand declarations of love. It might not even qualify as “romantic.” It was a simple incident. One day, Jiang Wei happened to pass by a vacant lot and saw a few troublemakers trying to rob and search the girl for money. Jiang Wei couldn’t stand by and watch, so he picked up a brick and went after the three troublemakers, scaring them off.
“I didn’t really think too much about it, you know? I didn’t have any ‘hero saving the damsel in distress’ thoughts. I just genuinely despised that behavior. It was utterly disgraceful for three grown men to rob a young girl. I just wanted to teach them a lesson. The feeling was similar to seeing able-bodied people robbing a beggar with only a few coins in their begging bowl by the roadside. It was despicable.”
“It’s like, from that moment on, the girl from the neighboring class would come over from time to time to play with me. She would often ask me to copy her homework, saying she was afraid the troublemakers would retaliate and asking me to escort her home. So, that’s how we got to know each other.”
“Now, looking back, I realize I was really young back then. I wasn’t as overweight as I am now. It’s just that after entering the workforce, I was so busy making money that I didn’t have time to exercise, and I slowly gained weight.”
In our conversations over voice chat, Jiang Wei often reflected on that period of his life as the happiest. During that time, his parents didn’t argue or divorce, and they didn’t have to worry about their basic needs. He had friends to talk to at school, and he could walk home with a girl after class.
Jiang Wei also mentioned that when he was a child, his name wasn’t Jiang Wei, it was Jiang Wuwei. His father’s last name was Jiang, and his mother’s last name was Wu. Combining the two, plus the character “? (W?i)” to make his name. However, his parents divorced, and he was given to his father. On the same day, his father took him to change his name and removed the “? (Wú)” character.
“My dad told me that ‘Jiang Wuwei’ doesn’t sound good at all. ‘Wuwei’ means ‘doing nothing’ in Chinese, which is a lousy connotation. So we just dropped the ‘Wu’ character.”
“Unfortunately, not long after changing my name, my dad went to prison, and I stopped going to school. I started working.”
Among the childhood stories of me, Pipi, Jituto, and Jiang Wei, Jiang Wei’s life was indeed the most complex and regrettable. However, he considered himself the luckiest because, as he put it, ‘at least I made it through and now I’m living the life I wanted, with a house, cars, and no financial worries.’
“Where’s the problem? She clearly likes you.”
“Even Nuo’er says the same thing?”
In the voice chat, after hearing my words, Jiang Wei was clearly excited, “But I really have no preparations at all now. I… I feel like I’m quite poor.”
“A house, two cars, and over two million in savings, and you still call yourself poor?”
Pipi laughed and teased, “I remember all the bragging you used to do. If you call yourself poor now, then at least half of the men in the country can’t even claim to be poor.”
Jiang Wei explained, “It’s different. When I bought that apartment, I never planned to start a family. It’s a two-bedroom, around 90 square meters. It’s fine for me, and you guys can visit, but if I have a girlfriend living there, it might not be suitable. What if we have children in the future…”
“You’re already thinking about having children? Haha, that’s great.”
Pipi chuckled, “A 90-square-meter apartment can’t be a family home? You probably don’t know that many people today get married while still renting. Not everyone has to be like our friend Jituto to be qualified for a relationship.”
“Why are you dragging me into this again?”
In the voice chat, Su Yunjin sounded a bit embarrassed, “Jiang Wei’s situation is indeed quite good. If you’re interested in the girl, you should consider it. She’s waited for you for so many years, and now she’s found happiness.”
“Yeah, it’s a good thing. We’ve been friends for so many years. You can start dating her, and if you face any issues, just ask us.”
Pipi continued to encourage, “If you’re sure about it and things go well, you can get married. If you have any questions about the wedding or raising children, you can always come to me. My family’s ancestors and in-laws have been tormenting me for years now. Why don’t you join the club?”
“If you really think the old apartment won’t work, and you’re not willing to use it as your marriage home, you can consider buying a new one. Jituto knows some real estate developers, right? They can help you find a reliable new place.”
Pipi continued, “And when it comes to dating, Nuo’er is a girl, right? If you have any issues in the realm of women, just ask her.”
“Wait a minute.”
Hearing this, I sensed something was amiss, so I quickly spoke up, “Don’t ask me about women’s issues. I really have no idea.”
Pipi teased, “Haha, Nuo’er, have you gotten used to being a man with a voice changer every day? Among us, you’re the girl, Jituto only likes men. Do you think I should ask my wife then?”
Pipi wouldn’t let up, “This is something only you can handle. If, at some point, Jiang Wei accidentally upsets his girlfriend or has any doubts about women’s psychology or something like that, you can’t back out.”
I… this…
Pipi’s words left me somewhat helpless. While I am physically a woman now, I was a man just a few days ago. I couldn’t explain the supernatural situation to them directly.
“Well… okay, I’ll do my best,” I hesitated for a while before agreeing. “But let me be clear, I’ve always been carefree and lighthearted, so at most, I can share my opinions. When it comes to women’s psychology, I might not be much help.”
“No problem, Nuo’er, your willingness to share your thoughts is more than enough. Right now, we’re all concerned about Jiang Wei’s lifelong affair.”
Pipi’s tone changed as he said, “So, the reason we’re on this call is for this matter?”
“Pretty much,” Jiang Wei seemed excited. “Also, to play some games and relax. I made plans with the girl to go watch a movie tonight, so I might not be able to play later. I wanted to check if you guys were available around noon. I’m still 40 points short of promotion in ranked.”
“I’m free until 2 PM. My daughter has a preschool class until 2:30.”
“Another class?”
“Haha, it’s a swimming class, part of early childhood education. My wife signed her up.”
“Well, that’s how it is. How about you, Nuo’er and Jituto?”
Su Yunjin replied casually, “I’m available. No work today, and I’ve got enough saved drafts.”
“I…”
After thinking for a moment, I said, “I won’t play for now. I just finished making lunch, and in the afternoon, I might go check out that café you mentioned.”
“Nuo’er, are you really decided?”
Pipi seemed to chuckle and said, “Is the light novel author going to switch careers and become a maid?”
“I’m not switching careers, just want to take a look.”
I quickly explained, “Nanqi District is just a 20-minute drive from here, and their ad says it’s an eight-hour job every day with eight days off a month. It sounds pretty good, but it doesn’t mention the salary.”
To be honest, in an era where “weekends off and a 9-to-5 workday” can be considered a “benefit” and listed in job ads, a job with eight days off a month is quite rare. Having lived in Shenzhen City for so many years, I know the typical work conditions for white-collar workers in this city. Most jobs offer one day off a week, and the slightly better ones have a “single weekend off” arrangement, meaning you get one day off in the first week and two days off in the second week, repeating the pattern. In total, this still only amounts to six days off per month.
If I recall correctly, before encountering that unscrupulous Grim Reaper, I was searching for jobs on various recruitment websites. Whenever I checked the “weekends off” condition, the results were either large factories or scam companies.
It’s easy to understand why large factories offer weekends off. They usually pay the basic minimum wage set by the current labor laws, such as 1,800 yuan per month. If you work eight hours a day in the factory with weekends off, your monthly salary is just 1,800 yuan. Meanwhile, your fellow workers, who work from early morning to late at night and do overtime on weekends, can make 5,000 yuan per month. So, if you only work eight hours a day with weekends off, you receive only 1,800 yuan.
The most outrageous part is that the factory managers would occasionally make snide remarks to those who didn’t work overtime and earned only 1,800 yuan a month. One day they would scold you for entering the factory with your left foot, the next day, they would intentionally make your assembly line more difficult, and the day after that, they would deduct 100 yuan from your salary if you spent more than a minute in the restroom. In front of you, they would praise your diligent peers who worked overtime without breaks and forcefully feed them motivational speeches to push you into “voluntarily” working overtime.
As for scam companies, most of them would lure you in for an interview and then immediately claim you were qualified and needed to start working the next day. They would assure you that there was no need to worry and that they would pay you while you received training. The training fee ranged from 20,000 to 50,000 yuan, but not to worry, you wouldn’t have to pay it upfront. After the training, they would find you a job, and the cost would be deducted from your daily wage. Once you’ve completed training, you’d be a sought-after professional earning a high salary, maybe 10,000 to 20,000 yuan per month, with a minor monthly deduction of 1,000 to 2,000 yuan.
In reality, these training companies would deceive you into signing contracts and obtaining loans to get the money. After your training is complete, they wouldn’t care where you worked or how much you earned. They’d simply post your resume on various job websites. They would reassure you that the training was a sure thing, and if you didn’t find a high-paying job, it was because you didn’t work hard enough. If your money fell short, don’t ask them; you’d have to manage it yourself. You would be obligated to repay them every month, and the rest was your responsibility.
Jobs with a two-day weekend were already quite rare, especially ones offering a two-day weekend and an eight-hour workday, which was considered a “benefit.” So I really wanted to check out this coffee shop to see what kind of scheme they were running to openly announce an eight-hour workday with weekends off in this environment.
“Their salary, if I remember correctly, should be a base salary of around 3,000 yuan, plus performance-based commissions from the coffee shop for that month.”
In the voice chat, Pipi asked curiously, “Is that so, Jituto? I thought you were still in Shenzhen and hadn’t come back yet.”
“Right, I’m still in Shenzhen playing with friends,” he replied.
Su Yunjin added, “If Nuo’er really wants to go, I can accompany her in the afternoon. The 3,000 yuan is the base salary for coffee shop delivery staff, not for maid. I think maid have a higher base salary.”
“Is there a 4,000 yuan option? I think someone as adorably cute as Nuo’er could be worth even 10,000 yuan per month.”
“When you go, Nuo’er, please give me a call. Maid earn quite a bit.”
“I have a question,” Jiang Wei interjected. “Jituto, I looked at the map of Shenzhen City and the location of that coffee shop, and I feel the location isn’t particularly good. There are hardly any residential or commercial areas nearby, and it’s like it’s in the middle of nowhere. I’m worried that once the initial hype fades, there won’t be many customers. Are you sure it’s funded by Tongmeng Net? What if it goes bankrupt in the future?”
“Uh…,” Su Yunjin hesitated for a while. “Let me explain it this way. There was a 58-billion yuan project in the Nanqi District not too long ago, which attracted many businesspeople. It’s located a few kilometers east of the coffee shop. This project aims to leverage the convenience of the Nanqi Port for maritime transportation and create a large multi-functional commercial street. They’re putting a lot of importance on this project, and I estimate that in less than half a month, they’ll publicly announce the bidding. When that happens, properties and shops in the area near that location will probably… Well, you get my drift, right?”
“I understand, a 58-billion-yuan project, wow…”
Jiang Wei, who was the first to grasp the situation, exclaimed, “Jituto, are you sure it’s okay to talk about this here?”
“We’ve been friends for so many years. Just keep it low-key, and you’ll be fine,” I replied.
Pipi laughed and said, “Haha, Jituto talks about making a big move in terms of billions, and clearly, both Marisa and I don’t have that kind of capital.”
“So, if Nuo’er is interested in that coffee shop, call me in the afternoon after you arrive there.”
“Alright.”
I felt a bit complicated and added, “Well, my phone got water-damaged this morning, and if it can’t be fixed, I might need to get a new phone. Can you guys share your phone numbers in the group chat, so I can note them down later?”
“Sure.”
“Okay.”
“No problem.”
As soon as I finished speaking, three sets of phone numbers appeared on the screen. Just then, the rice cooker in the living room kitchen beeped, signaling that my ‘rice pudding’ was ready.
“Thanks.”
I quickly said to my earpiece, “My Rice pudding is ready, I need to take care of it.”
“No problem, go ahead.”
“Speaking of Uncle…*cough*, didn’t Nuo’er mention during our game that she would just lie low and be a ‘salted fish’ in the future? Why is she suddenly so actively looking for a job now? Could it be… she’s also in a relationship?”
“What are you talking about?”
I was about to take off my headphones, but upon hearing this, I quickly explained, “Who am I in a relationship with? I don’t even have a girlfriend.”
“Exactly, I knew Nuo’er is into woman, haha!”
Jiang Wei seemed very cheerful: “The first time we met, the way she looked at me and Su Yunjin, I understood. It was exceptionally pure, like she truly sees us as brothers. I was thinking, maybe Nuo’er is only interested in girls.”
“Come on, have you gone crazy from reading too many novels? Can you really deduce so much from just a look?”
Pipi immediately countered, “In my opinion, Nuo’er probably remembered her first love when she saw you being confessed to by a girl. She thought about how she had wasted her time in the past, and she’s now determined to make money and live a better life.”
“You’re all talking nonsense!”
My group of friends left me feeling neither happy nor amused: “Wasn’t it you guys who gave me those pamphlets yesterday? I just saw an interesting advertisement on them and wanted to check it out. Why are you all making such a big deal out of it?”
“No, my intuition tells me that something similar to Marisa must have happened on Nuo’er’s side. I can hear it in her tone, she definitely has something on her mind.”
“Oh, come on!”
I chuckled and scolded, “I won’t argue with you guys anymore. I’m hanging up the voice chat now.”
“Go ahead, go ahead.”
“Oh, come on, Nuo’er is not a child anymore. If I remember correctly, even if two girls are together, there’s still a distinction between the ‘dominant’ and the ‘submissive,’ right? Given Nuo’er’s personality, she probably can only…”
I couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation because I had already clicked “Exit Voice Chat.”
What a mess!
These bunch of teasing friends can never be serious for a day…
I got up from my computer chair and returned to the kitchen, checking the status of the rice cooker. After confirming that everything was fine, I opened the lid.
Instantly, the aroma of “Rice pudding,” a mixture of various grains and red sugar, filled the air.
I wasn’t sure if this ‘Rice pudding’ stored in the snack box really contained “eight flavors,” but at least I could see red beans, longan, and lotus seeds inside. The taste was good, and I would often cook a pot of it for lunch when I felt lazy or when the weather was bad outside and I didn’t want to go out. I’d have it for lunch and refrigerate the rest. If I got hungry again after dinner, it served as a midnight snack.
In times like these, with a raging storm outside and me drenched from the rain, enjoying a warm and slightly sweet bowl of Rice pudding is the most comforting thing.
“…”
Wearing heat-resistant gloves, I poured the congee from the pot into a large bowl and used a ladle to transfer some into a smaller bowl. I happily carried the steaming bowl of Rice pudding back to the living room, sat down on the soft cushions in a duck-like posture, propped up a makeshift table with a tablecloth, and prepared to enjoy my lunch.
Just as I was about to take the first bite, a black rift in the space opened up in front of the soft cushions. A girl, wearing a brand new “uniform” and with band-aids on her face, emerged from the rift.
“Oh my, did you actually cook lunch just for me, knowing that I’d be back at this moment?” the girl in a black robe said as she landed and walked over to me. She leaned in close, seemingly sniffing the aroma of the Rice Pudding. “Cutie, you even remembered that I like sweet things?”
“This is mine!” I quickly lifted the bowl of Rice pudding. “And I’m not your ‘cutie,’ or anyone’s reincarnation for that matter. Don’t define me without my consent!”
“Is that so?” The Miss Grim Reaper remained noncommittal. She reached into her black windbreaker with one hand and produced a box. “The latest model of the smartphone you wanted.”
“Huh?” This piqued my interest. “A smartphone? Did you just go and buy it?”
“Where else do you think I’ve been, little one?” She squatted down slightly and placed the box on the table.
I noticed that she had changed into a new, clean pair of black thigh-high stockings at some point, and she was also wearing small shoes that resembled school uniform shoes.
“How did you know what style of phone I wanted?” I half-suspicously picked up the smartphone box and, with just one glance, I was quite surprised. “Huh?”
This…
This was indeed the latest smartphone that I had been craving for months. It was released in January this year with a massive 1TB of storage! The moment I saw the brand, model, and the standard specifications on the phone box, my little heart started to pound rapidly.
Although this phone wasn’t the most expensive or top-of-the-line one on the market, it was perfect for me in terms of both appearance and specifications.
How did she know I wanted this phone?
“Isn’t it what you wanted?” The Miss Grim Reaper had an amused expression on her face. “If you don’t like it, I can take it back.”
“I love it!” I quickly set down the Rice Pudding and held the box containing the phone in my arms. “But how did you know I wanted this one?”
“What do you think of the god who controls life and death in this world?”
The Miss Grim Reaper smirked and, in one swift motion, grabbed the Rice Pudding from the table and scooped up some with a spoon, tasting it. “Not sweet enough.”
“Eating too much sugar can make you gain weight, and it’s not good for your health,” I replied.
Although I felt a bit upset that my freshly cooked lunch had been taken away, I remembered there was more in the kitchen, and I had just received the phone I wanted. So, I reluctantly allowed her to steal food and examined the smartphone box in my hand. “Did you buy it through legal channels? I don’t want to end up causing trouble with the police after using it.”
“Don’t worry, it was purchased from a brand-name store, and I have the receipts,” the Grim Reaper said as she sipped her food. “The money was obtained through legal means.”
What? Can the terms “legal means” and “obtaining money” be used in the same sentence?
“I’m just messing with you.”
Seeing my puzzled expression, the Miss Grim Reaper explained, “I earned the money through part-time work at a grocery store over the past two months. It’s a legitimate, legal job. If you want, I can give you the address of the store.”
“Um…” Noticing that she was serious, I became curious. “Do Grim Reapers also need to work? Aren’t they part of the demon race? And with such a convenient ability to travel through space, if they wanted to… they could easily become wealthy or rob a bank, right?”
“That’s none of your business,” she replied.
With that, as if remembering something, the grim reaper reached into the pocket of her new robe and pulled out a folded umbrella. Was this the umbrella I had left behind at the breakfast place in the morning? Did she even help me retrieve this?
“Um, the Rice Pudding is good, just a bit bland,” she commented.
In my confusion, the grim reaper had quickly finished her Rice Pudding. She placed the bowl down, then pulled out a sickle from somewhere and cut through the rift behind her with a sharp “snap.” “All the advance payments are in place, so it’s up to you now. I’m looking forward to your performance this week, Cutie!”
As the girl was about to disappear into the rift, for some reason, I reflexively asked, “Are you coming for dinner tonight?”
“Huh?” The Miss Grim Reaper turned, looking somewhat puzzled.
“Oh, no, forget it,” I said, turning my face away. “I mean, if you plan on coming in the future, can you please respect my privacy a bit, use the front door, or maybe knock before entering…”
The Miss Grim Reaper tilted her head. “Does my little pet need privacy?”
“Get out!” I reflexively grabbed a small pillow from the sofa behind me and threw it at her. “Who’s your little pet? Get out, get out, and don’t come back!”
With a swift motion, the Miss Grim Reaper dashed into the rift, avoiding the thrown pillow, and disappeared, leaving it to land in a corner of the living room.
Really!
She’s always up to some crazy antics, turning me into a loli one day and trying to make me wear a cute dress and act cute in videos the next. This grim reaper has a really twisted sense of humor.
Feeling a bit down, my gaze fell on the packaging box of the new smartphone in my arms. The packaging was intact, complete with anti-counterfeiting measures, and it didn’t seem like a counterfeit.
But then again, how did she know I liked this phone? She couldn’t possibly be a mind reader, could she?
No, wait.
I remembered a possibility.
Realizing something, I quickly made my way to the bedroom and sat down at the computer chair. I opened the browser and checked the browsing history.
Today’s browsing history… all looked normal.
Yesterday’s browsing history… hmm?
I was helping out at the anime convention all day yesterday, and yet, this computer shows usage history? And it seems to be a bunch of messages I’ve read before?
“2022 Phone Recommendations,” “Any Recent Smartphone Brands to Recommend?” “2022 Smartphone Reviews, Don’t Blindly Follow Major Brands Anymore”…
Oh, right.
A few months ago, I did look at this information for a few days, and it looks like I even added my favorite new phone, the one in my arms right now, to my shopping cart.
Looking at the web history, it appears that someone was using this computer for at least three hours yesterday.
So, during the time I wasn’t at home yesterday, that unscrupulous grim reaper went through all of my previous browsing history related to new smartphones and concluded that I wanted to buy this phone?
No, perhaps things aren’t that simple.
I tried to scroll the browser’s history back further.
April, March, February, January…
In early January, I had just lost my job, and from February onwards, I was frantically job hunting, so I should not have been at home during the day. However, during that time, there were browser records related to the new smartphone on this computer.
Was she tracking me and going through my browser history, researching the brand of phone I wanted several months ago?
At this moment, the words of the grim reaper from not long ago came to mind:
?The money was obtained through legal means, earned from part-time work at a grocery store over the past two months. It’s legitimate and legal. If you want, I can give you the address of the store.?
My phone got wet this morning and stopped working, and the grim reaper had been secretly looking through my records and researching the phone I liked for months. Did she decide to help me buy a new phone a long time ago?
In other words… does this mean that even if I refuse to wear women’s clothing, I might still get this phone?
What’s going on with this feeling of being deceived and not being deceived at the same time? Or is it just my own wild imagination?
Would such a person with such a terrible personality really be the type to meticulously study someone’s interests by secretly peeking at their browsing history?
“Never mind.”
After flipping through the records for a while, I simply closed the entire browser.
“Eat, sleep, and then go check out that Maid Café in the afternoon.”
In any case, at this stage, I need to focus on making money and saving it. With money comes status, and with status… I definitely won’t be led around by a certain unscrupulous grim reaper every day.
“……”
……