Chapter 140 The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Chapter 140 The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Chapter 140 The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

When ALibra's white sneakers stepped onto the basketball court, they made a loud noise like a king on his own territory. The girl next to him saw the owner of the shoes, slapped her best friend beside her frantically, and covered her mouth with her hands.

Above the sneakers are two hairy legs with dark skin, thin calves, and muscle lines showing signs of exercise. Above them are size 23 black sports shorts with red edges.

Everyone may have had such a guy around them during their school days: whenever he appears on the scene, he will always grab the most attention like the protagonist, the girls will shout at him like a crazy fan, saying how handsome he is, and even the teacher will smile when mentioning his name.

If you turn a deaf ear to what's happening outside and just want to study hard, you may find that you have missed a lot of plots when you meet your classmates many years later. Girls will talk about the love, hate and hatred between a group of people and that person for a whole day, and the twists and turns are comparable to the most ridiculous love idol dramas of the last century.

You can't help but start to wonder, do you really share the same youth with them? Then you see the crowd in uproar, some girls start to burst into tears, and the same scene is repeated after many years - it turns out that the guy finally shows up, opens the door, and says with a confident smile on his face, "I'm sorry I'm late."

This guy is that kind of person.

With her long hair hanging down and tied into a small braid at the back of her head, she looks very artistic. Her arms exposed outside her basketball jersey deliberately show off her muscular lines.

"Qingxuan, I heard that you had a small competition with a candidate who registered for postgraduate studies today, and you lost the competition?"

Lu Qingxuan glanced at him sideways: "What does it have to do with you?"

The boy put his hands on her desk, jumped lightly, and sat on her desk: "I saw it all in the forum. It said you had a competition. What did you compete on?"

Lu Qingxuan said: "Are you here to whip the corpse?"

The boy laughed: "How can you think so badly of me? Am I that kind of person? I must be here to comfort you."

Lu Qingxuan said: "Thanks, but no thanks. I am an adult and I can adjust myself. I don't need your comfort."

"Look at you, you are always so cold. Don't be so quick to reject people. Listen to me first before you reject me. That person is called Wang Zixu, right?"

The boy took out a piece of paper from his pocket: "Wang Zixu, male, 30 years old, member of Xihe Literary Association, currently published works..."

Lu Qingxuan became interested, straightened up and said, "Go ahead."

The boy smiled and said, "See, I told you that you would be interested."

"Say it quickly!"

"So far, I have published a short story in Yangtze River and a novella at the Xihe Literary Conference. Two articles in total, that's all." The boy put away the note.

Lu Qingxuan said, "Then how did he get into the Writers Association? It seems that the hard target for Writers Associations in various places is to publish at least 10 words publicly, right?"

The boy said, "Because he won first place in the Xihe Literary Association, according to the rules of the Literary Association there, he can enter the Literary Association regardless of the number of words published."

After saying that, the boy jumped down from the table and said, "Look, the other party is also a wimp. He doesn't even have a long article to write. He's just pretending. Think about whether it's not worth getting angry with him. I was going to say this, but now it seems that you are not angry, so there's no need to say it."

Lu Qingxuan rolled her eyes at him unhappily: "Didn't you say it?"

After Lu Qingxuan finished speaking, she asked, "Where did you get all this information from?"

The boy's tone became deeper: "After all, I am also a member of the National Literary Association, so I always have some channels for information..."

……

"What, he's a member of the Literary Association?"

Xu Rongrong turned around and glanced at Wang Zixu with some surprise in her eyes.

Zhao Peilin said, "Yes, what's the matter? He is the first in the Xihe Literary Association. Doesn't he deserve to be a member of the association?"

Zhao Peilin was chatting with Xu Rongrong in front, and somehow the conversation came to Wang Zixu. Zhao Peilin threw out this news at the right time to help Wang Zixu pretend to be happy.

Xu Rongrong had wanted to join the Association for a long time, but she had not yet published enough articles. When she heard that Wang Zixu, an engineering student, had already joined the Association before she even entered the school, she suddenly felt a little unbalanced.

"Is it the provincial literary association or the Donghai Literary Association?"

Wang Zixu said, "It's the Xihe Literary Association."

Xu Rongrong patted her chest and said, "I was so scared. I thought it was the provincial literary association. It's easy to get into a local literary association."

Wang Zixu nodded: "Indeed."

Wang Zixu could naturally see the imbalance in her heart, so he agreed with her. Besides, it was easy for him to get into the Xihe Literary Association.

Unfortunately, Zhao Peilin immediately added: "It is indeed easier to get into the local literary association, but he is the vice chairman of the Xihe Literary Association."

Xu Rongrong stopped and froze in place.

From her expression, it was clear that her worldview had suffered a serious shock. She turned to Wang Zixu with a stiff neck and asked, "Are you the vice chairman of the Xihe Literary Association?"

Wang Zixu nodded with some pity: "Yes, I was just elected."

After the change of leadership, Lin Luo was disheartened, and the Xihe literary community, led by Li Tingfang, naturally pushed Wang Zixu up. Although Wang Zixu has not yet realized the role of this vice chairman, he is indeed the vice chairman.

Xu Rongrong swallowed hard, forced a smile and asked, "Is there no famous person in the Xihe Literary Association who is particularly outstanding?"

Wang Zixu said: "The chairman is Teacher Li Tingfang."

Zhao Peilin said: "There is also Shen Qingfeng among the vice chairmen."

Xu Rongrong took a deep breath and took a long time to prepare herself mentally: "It's nothing to be the vice chairman of the Literature Association. You are already 30 years old. There is a senior in our class who is a member of the national-level Literature Association."

The value of a national literary association is incomparable to that of a local literary association. Wang Zixu raised his eyebrows and asked, "Who?"

……

Ning Chunyan said: "Who is this handsome and talented junior you mentioned?"

Xiao Mengyin rested the umbrella on her shoulder and said lightly, "You don't need to ask too many questions. Anyway, with the certification of the previous winner like me, his work will definitely win the award this time."

Ning Chunyan raised her eyebrows. At first she thought Xiao Mengyin was joking, but looking at her expression, she seemed serious.

"As the previous gold medal winner, you should know that any unexpected events could happen during the judging process, right? Xiao Bing is also participating in the competition with you. He is a well-known author and his work this time is not bad. But he ended up being a stepping stone for you. Why are you so confident about him this time?"

After saying that, Ning Chunyan thought for a moment and said unhappily, "Did you say hello to the judges?"

Xiao Mengyin raised her eyebrows: "Who are the judges? How can I be qualified to greet them? Besides, do they need me to greet them?"

Ning Chunyan asked: "What do you mean?"

Xiao Mengyin asked: "Have you heard of the name Shi Shuqiu?"

……

Lu Qingxuan said, "Shi Shuqiu, I don't care whether you are here to comfort me or to show off your achievements, just get off my desk first."

Shi Shuqiu jumped down from the table, still with a faint smile on his face: "Do you want me to help you avenge this arrow?"

Lu Qingxuan raised her eyebrows: "Don't you claim that you never read books? I'm afraid you don't know as many allusions as I do."

Shi Shuqiu laughed disdainfully: "Who wants to compare that? What else can it mean except comparing who can memorize things more rotely? If you want to compare, compare whose work is better."

Lu Qingxuan was a little unconvinced: "After reading thousands of books, Xin Qiji was able to write like a god. He also liked to use allusions and show off his knowledge. Did he memorize by rote?"

Shi Shuqiu waved his hand and said, "Throughout history, there have been many scholars who have read thousands of books, but how many of them have left their names in history like Xin Qiji? Xin Qiji is often criticized for showing off his knowledge. If he hadn't shown off his knowledge, his artistic achievements would probably be even higher. Xin Qiji is a genius. Do you think that reading a lot makes you a genius?"

Lu Qingxuan said: "Reading a lot does not necessarily make you a genius, but a genius must read a lot."

Shi Shuqiu smiled and said, "I just don't read."

"Are you a genius?"

"Needless to say?" Shi Shuqiu raised his eyebrows. "I have never found another genius as perfect as me in the whole of Nanjing University."

After he finished speaking, many people laughed, which showed that everyone's attention was on the conversation between the two.

Lu Qingxuan sneered: "Narcissism."

Shi Shuqiu tapped his temple with his finger: "A writer's weapon is the brain, which is not for rote memorization. Rote memorization can only consume brain cells. No matter how many questions a test-taker solves, it is not as good as asking a correct question by a non-test-taker. Otherwise, why have I published a collection of poems and joined the China Literary Association, but others have not?"

Lu Qingxuan said she was not convinced, but in her heart she was convinced. After all, Shi Shuqiu's achievements were obvious to all. But she was unwilling to admit defeat: "Then what do you think it takes for a genius to become a genius?"

"I don't know how other geniuses are, but my creations come from the sudden burst of inspiration from my swollen soul, just like the libido of the Little Prince. My creative inspiration also originates from the trickle of the lower body. When it flows through the whole body and reaches the brain, it has become the Yangtze River and the Yellow River. I love life, love girls, and consume hormones in a poetic way during the swollen years. This is my talent."

Lu Qingxuan was so shocked that she couldn't stop talking. It took her a long time to utter a sentence: "The Little Prince's creations did not originate from his lower body!"

Shi Shuqiu raised an eyebrow: "Who knows?"

The girl next to her whispered to another girl: "Shi Shuqiu is so cool."

"Cool? Don't you think he's obscene?"

"The great elegance is the great vulgarity. When one faces his own vulgarity calmly, he becomes a shining noble person."

"Why do I feel like you're only commenting on his looks? If it was a greasy uncle, would you still say that?"

"The key is that Shi Shuqiu's looks are there, and that is an objective existence. We cannot strip away his looks to see his inner self, just like we cannot remove the back of a coin and only keep the front!"

……

Ning Chunyan said: "Shi Shuqiu? It's not that I haven't heard of him, I have never heard of him at all."

Xiao Mengyin looked surprised: "You haven't even heard of Shi Shuqiu? Then have you heard of Shi Tonghe?"

Ning Chunyan rolled his eyes: "Who hasn't heard of Shi Tonghe? Do you look down on me?"

Shi Tonghe, a Mao Dun Literature Prize winner, was the most senior winner in the early years and was undisputed at the time. Now he is the chairman of a provincial literary association.

The top literary figures in the Chinese literary world can be counted on the palm of one hand, and Shi Tonghe is one of them. So Ning Chunyan felt that Xiao Mengyin was weird.

Xiao Mengyin smiled and said, "You still don't understand?"

Ning Chunyan took a breath and said, "Shi Tonghe, Shi Shuqiu, what you mean is..."

Xiao Mengyin said, "Shi Shuqiu is the junior I was talking about. How about it? Do you know why I said that my junior will definitely win the Feishi Literature Award this time?"

"Second-generation intellectuals?!" Ning Chunyan realized that his voice was a little loud after he finished speaking, and whispered, "Are you kidding me? Shi Tonghe is out, and the judges are either his friends or his colleagues. How can others play? Isn't it unfair?"

Xiao Mengyin said, "You can't force the kid not to write or submit, right? It's not his fault that his father is Shi Tonghe. As for the others? You'll have to wait until the next session. Gold will always shine."

Ning Chunyan was shocked and wiped away tears of sympathy for Wang Zixu in her heart.

Wang Zixu, whose wife ran away, your luck is really bad.

Xiao Mengyin said: "By the way, who did you say you were optimistic about?"

"I told you you don't know him." Ning Chunyan blushed a little.

Xiao Mengyin smirked: "If I don't know you, then I will know you if you tell me? Are you also my junior? Don't be embarrassed!"

Ning Chunyan kept silent, thinking: Wang Zixu, why isn't your father a Mao Dun Literature Prize winner? You embarrassed me in front of my friends!
Xiao Mengyin held up her umbrella and turned around, her black lace skirt fluttering: "Let's go, I'm going to the restaurant at the end of the universe to relive my student days."

Ning Chunyan couldn't help it anymore: "Can you please stop wearing Lolita clothes to look young? It doesn't fit your personality at all. The makeup photos printed in the book are not in this style!"

"You are jealous."

"I'm jealous of you, uncle!"

……

"She should be talking about Shi Shuqiu," said Zhao Peilin.

Wang Zixu was not familiar with this strange name. He had no expression on his face after hearing it and only said "Oh" softly.

Zhao Peilin turned around and said, "When you mentioned Shi Shuqiu, I remembered that Shi Shuqiu was also very flamboyant when he entered school, right? Why didn't you criticize him?"

Xu Rongrong said confidently: "Yes, everyone thought he was very flamboyant at the time, but he proved himself, didn't he?"

Zhao Peilin turned to look at Wang Zixu: "Did you hear that? You should prove yourself quickly. Who can bear this?"

The restaurant at the end of the universe is located on the second floor of the cafeteria opposite the NTU Library. It is a private restaurant that provides small dishes and drinks.

Professors and students at Nanjing University like to hang out in bars at night, which is a bit similar to the German tavern culture. The restaurant at the end of the universe has become everyone's unanimous choice.

The restaurant is unique in that it has a large space and also offers board games, so faculty members, PhDs, and masters all love to come here. It's said to be a place for colliding ideas, but in fact it's more about playing mahjong.

The restaurant owner is a science fiction enthusiast, and he decorated the restaurant in a space style. If you are not a science fiction enthusiast, you would not name your restaurant this way - the name comes from the second part of the five-part series "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by British science fiction writer Douglas Adams, "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe".

Wang Zixu whispered to Zhao Peilin why this science fiction fan boss thought that Nanjing University was the "end of the universe"?
Zhao Peilin stamped his feet and said, "Nanjing University is not here, but here is." The Earth is the end of the universe. Have you heard of the Fermi paradox? We have not encountered aliens so far, which means that the Earth is the end of the universe, otherwise how can we not encounter aliens?

Wang Zixu thought about it for a long time and felt that this theory was impeccable. He nodded and said, "It makes sense." But in this case, wouldn't all restaurants on Earth be called restaurants at the end of the universe?
Zhao Peilin didn't answer. The three of them went in together.

As soon as he entered the door, Zhao Peilin's enthusiasm was all shifted to playing throwing eggs.

"Pai Dan is a poker game played by four or six people, in groups of two. Four people play with two decks of cards, and six people play with three decks of cards. It is usually played by four people, but here we only talk about the rules for four people."

After Zhao Peilin sat the two of them down, he opened two new decks of cards and explained the rules as he opened them:

"You will have a partner at the table. This partner will be your closest partner in the game. Your cooperation and tacit understanding will directly affect the outcome of the game. A good partner is worth a fortune. People often say that it is easy to find a lover, but it is difficult to find a bosom partner in poker."

Wang Zixu was stunned: "Are you sure you are talking about throwing eggs, not bridge?"

Zhao Peilin said: "Although it is a different game, the partnership is equally important."

Wang Zixu said: "How can we match three people if one is missing?"

Zhao Peilin said, "Isn't that easy? Here, everyone is a potential player. Just look at me and pick one up at random."

After saying that, he disappeared for a minute, and then came back with a girl.

Wang Zixu looked up at the girl. She was wearing a black Lolita-style gauze dress and holding a small black lace umbrella in her hand. Her headdress was also very complicated and her face was heavily made-up.

He was extremely shocked. Zhao Peilin kept asking him to introduce girls to him, and he thought he was the kind of innocent straight guy whose face would turn red for a whole day when talking to girls. But it turned out that this guy could easily bring a girl back. Was there still a need for him to introduce girls to him?

Later, he mentioned this to Zhao Peilin, who was shocked and asked, "Have you ever thought about why rabbits don't eat grass near their nests?" The more our lives intersect, the more I feel like I'm in love with myself. All the people I meet are of the same kind, so how can I develop a romantic relationship?

Another thing that shocked Wang Zixu was that when he saw the girl, he felt as if he had seen her somewhere before and she looked very familiar.

It wasn't like Jia Baoyu had met her by chance in his previous life, but he really felt that he had seen her somewhere.

The girl pressed her skirt and sat down: "Four people?"

Zhao Peilin cut the cards: "Yes, how good are you at throwing eggs?"

The girl said, “I’m an old hand.”

Zhao Peilin pointed at Wang Zixu and said, "He is a complete novice. I am of average level. Xu Rongrong has played three or four games. Let's have the veterans lead the newbies. I will be in a group with Xu Rongrong, and you can be in a group with him."

The girl said readily: "Okay."

Zhao Peilin said to the other two people: "I just picked this girl up over there. I saw she was alone, so I asked her to come over and play with us."

Xu Rongrong smiled and said, "We got to know each other after playing one game."

The girl nodded politely: "Yes."

Wang Zixu was puzzled. The girl looked at him but didn't react. If he had really seen her, the girl should have seen him too. He began to wonder if he remembered it wrongly.

Zhao Peilin said, "Look, what did I say? Dogs on the roadside of Nan Da can play the game of throwing balls. Anyone can play the game of throwing balls. Girl, how old are you?"

The girl smiled and said, "I'm a tourist, I came here to visit."

Zhao Peilin was a little caught off guard: "Tourists all know how to play mahjong?"

"How can you get out into society if you don't know how to play throwing balls?" the girl laughed.

Zhao Peilin explained the rules to Wang Zixu as they played a round. This was the most complicated poker game Wang Zixu had ever seen. Many of the rules were familiar and extremely complicated, including scoring, upgrading, main cards, tribute... Just remembering the terms was very taxing, but surprisingly easy to play.

After two rounds, Wang Zixu was able to integrate into the game smoothly.

While playing cards, Zhao Peilin started chatting: "Junior brother, speaking of which, what exactly does your job as the vice chairman of the Cultural Association do?"

The girl next to him looked up at Wang Zixu, then looked down at the cards in her hand.

Wang Zixu said: "The main thing is to organize some activities and serve the members... Of course, this is just official words. I have been busy writing recently and have not participated in the activities of the association. Fortunately, the seniors have taken good care of me and let me focus on my creation without making things difficult for me."

Zhao Peilin said, "Your new work is going to compete for the Feishi Literature Award, right? Have you decided where to publish it?"

The girl next to him looked up at Wang Zixu again, and this time she stared at him without moving.

Wang Zixu said, "Isn't the Feishi Literature Award a contest for essays?"

Zhao Peilin smiled: "Yes, the Feishi Literature Award selects published works, not unpublished works."

Xu Rongrong interrupted, "I know all this. The Feishi Literary Award includes works published in magazines, published works, and online works. As long as they are published this year, they can be submitted. Don't you know?"

Wang Zixu held his forehead and said, "I really haven't read the rules carefully. But even if I read them, I can't submit my work now. I haven't finalized it yet."

Zhao Peilin smiled and said, "It's okay. There are still a few months left. As long as you can finish the serialization before then, it will be fine. How many words have you written?"

Wang Zixu said: "I have written 500,000 words so far."

After he finished speaking, the place fell silent and no one played cards anymore.

Xu Rongrong complained, "Five hundred thousand? No novel that has won an award over the years has more than three hundred thousand words. You wrote so much, aren't you afraid that you won't be able to submit it or get it published?"

Wang Zixu said: "I plan to reduce it as much as possible when finalizing it..."

The Lolita girl who had been silent all this time started to speak: "The Feishi Literary Award has never rejected long works. The reason why there are no winning works with 50 words is not because of the rules. The main reason is that if the works are too long, they will have several disadvantages in the selection process, resulting in them not being able to compete with shorter works."

Wang Zixu turned around and asked, "What disadvantage?"

"First, the length of the article is too long. Unless you are a famous writer, it is difficult to find a platform willing to serialize and publish it. Although the Feishi Literary Award does not care about the publication, there is at least a threshold. Others' works are published in first-rate literary magazines, but yours is published in an eighth-rate local magazine. The first impression it gives to the judges is not good."

Wang Zixu nodded, and the girl continued, "Second, the reading process of a long novel is too long. It takes a long time to finish reading it. During this time, the judges have other works to read. If you can't leave a deep impression, it will be easily screened out. Moreover, novels are hard to control once they are long."

Wang Zixu nodded again. Zhao Peilin said, "Sister, you seem quite professional."

The girl nodded: "I know a little bit about it. I participated in the last Feishi Literature Award."

Zhao Peilin was surprised and asked, "Have you been nominated?"

The girl didn't seem to want to answer this question. She raised her white wrist, glanced at her watch, and said, "Let's speed up. I have something to do in an hour, so I may not be able to finish this game."

Zhao Peilin was full of energy: "Okay!"

A full game of mahjong requires several rounds to be completed, and the conditions for determining the final winner are very harsh. Sometimes the two sides are evenly matched and it may take a whole night to complete a game.

After hearing what the girl said, Wang Zixu became anxious and made mistakes repeatedly, leaving the girl struggling to save the situation. She often raised her eyes and looked at him with a reproachful look.

After playing a few rounds, Wang Zixu caught a glimpse of an acquaintance out of the corner of his eye - Diao Yiwen was sitting at the next seat. He didn't know how long she had been sitting there, so it was possible that she had seen him.

He didn't plan to say hello, but because of this, he started to lose focus on playing the cards.

At this moment, a man walked in from the door. He met the other person's eyes, and both of them were shocked.

But it was Lu Qingxuan.

The girl hesitated for a moment, as if she had made up her mind, and finally came over.

When Wang Zixu was about to think that she wanted to say hello to him, Lu Qingxuan tugged at the sleeve of the Lolita girl next to him and whispered:

"Sister, why are you here?"

The three of them raised their heads together.

(End of this chapter)