Chapter 21: Job Hunting, Meow?

A Familiar Place

That afternoon, Xiao Xi arrived at the café twenty minutes early for her interview.

Following the navigation, she realized with a start—this was the same café where she’d gone on that blind date with Ye Xinglan!

She remembered how a monster had crashed through the ceiling back then. The place had clearly been renovated, though it hadn’t reopened yet.

“Hello? Anyone here? I’m here for the interview we scheduled.”

Xiao Xi cautiously pushed open the door, noticing the interior had a completely new vibe. Compared to before, the décor now leaned heavily into cute, anime-inspired elements.

“Just a sec, I’ll be right there!” A crisp, feminine voice called from behind the counter.

Moments later, Xiao Xi sat by the window, staring in surprise at the matcha cake and Earl Grey tea the girl brought her.

“Thank you.”

Xiao Xi discreetly studied the girl sitting across from her. She looked to be in her early twenties, wearing a white blouse and a brown apron, with short black hair and clear, approachable eyes.

“Hi, I’m Su Ying, the manager of this café.”

Xiao Xi recalled that Su Ying had been the one who served them during her date with Ye Xinglan, even making their coffee. Who’d have thought this multitasking girl was the manager?

At the same time, Su Ying sized Xiao Xi up with a bright smile, nodding in approval.

“Not bad. You’re so cute—you perfectly meet our hiring standards!”

Xiao Xi let out a confused “Eh?”, thrown off by the sudden compliment.

“Oh, sorry, I forgot to mention,” Su Ying said, realizing her oversight. “The job listing only went up yesterday, and I haven’t had time to refine the details. I didn’t expect someone to come for an interview so soon.”

Xiao Xi nodded. No wonder she hadn’t seen this perfect job before—it was brand new.

A New Direction for the Café

Through Su Ying’s explanation, Xiao Xi gradually understood what kind of person they were looking for.

After the monster attack damaged the café, the Association gave Su Ying a compensation fund. Combined with her own savings, she decided to use the renovation as a chance to change the café’s business model.

Su Ying wanted to reopen as a maid café aimed at anime fans, something she was personally passionate about.

So, she was really looking for maid servers catering to an anime-loving crowd, where appearance was a key factor—and she was very satisfied with Xiao Xi in that regard.

“I love coffee and anime, but the café was doing decently before, so I hesitated about changing the style.”

“The monster attack was scary, but it gave me the push I needed. Without the Association’s compensation, my savings wouldn’t have covered the renovation.”

Su Ying stuck out her tongue, and Xiao Xi thought it was a silver lining in disguise.

A maid, though? Despite being a girl for so long, Xiao Xi had never paid much attention to feminine clothing, let alone a maid outfit.

But she quickly accepted it. Being a maid was way more respectable than writing spicy fanfiction—her standards had already been lowered by that darn novel!

“The café’s main focus is desserts and afternoon tea. This commercial street gets busy in the afternoons, so I’m looking for a part-time server.”

“Salary’s 3,100 yuan a month, plus extra commissions based on customer orders. How’s that?”

Xiao Xi nodded. For a part-time job, the pay was good, especially with commissions. She had no reason to refuse.

“Oh, one more thing—how familiar are you with anime and magical girls?”

Magical girls? Xiao Xi froze, confused why a server job would involve that.

A Niche Market

Su Ying led her to the southwest corner of the café, where Xiao Xi noticed a dedicated area with shelves of anime and magical girl merchandise, the walls plastered with posters.

“Here’s the deal. Most people who come to a maid café are anime fans, so I thought I’d expand by selling some merch on the side.”

“I studied up on it. It’s called business model integration.”

“Combining multiple services in one space increases customer dwell time and spending opportunities…”

Su Ying rattled off professional jargon, clearly having put serious thought into the business shift.

“So, servers should ideally know anime and magical girls—at least enough to recognize IPs and characters to pitch to customers.”

Anime was no issue for Xiao Xi—she’d been an otaku for years. But… staring at the rows of magical girl merch, she couldn’t help but squint and frown.

“What’s wrong? Not familiar with this stuff?”

Seeing Xiao Xi’s complicated expression, Su Ying assumed she wasn’t knowledgeable.

“No, I’m… pretty familiar.”

Xiao Xi pointed at a row of magical girl merch, rattling off their names like a menu.

Of course she was familiar. She’d met most of these famous magical girls on the battlefield. The rest were either her old teammates or… herself.

Aside from the new magical girls who’d risen in the past three years, she knew them all.

But seeing Eternal Star’s merch on the shelf? She could only grimace. Selling her own merch felt so weird.

Ugh, too bad the Association owned Eternal Star’s image rights. If she’d known magical girl merch would sell this well back then… Sigh, no use dwelling on the past.

Su Ying’s eyes lit up like she’d found a treasure. She grabbed Xiao Xi’s hand, her tone earnest.

“Miss Xiao Xi, you have to work here! We can talk salary!”

Where else could she find a cute girl who knew anime and magical girls so well? This beauty was practically her ideal girlfriend!

They quickly sealed the deal. Su Ying hired Xiao Xi on the spot, and Xiao Xi was thrilled with the job.

“Come on, let me show you around.”

“This is the storage room, this is the break room—where you’ll change.”

“That door leads to the back exit. Oh, and don’t go into this room. It’s, uh… my private space.”

Xiao Xi nodded, memorizing everything, and asked Su Ying for a menu to study.

“Oh, and we need to prep for the opening event…”

Su Ying chattered on, brimming with energy. Xiao Xi didn’t mind working with someone so enthusiastic.