Chapter 140 The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
After ALibra’s white sneakers stepped onto the basketball court, they made a loud sound as if they were dominating their own territory. When the girl on the side saw the owner of the shoes, she frantically slapped her bestie beside her and covered her mouth with her hand.
On the sneaker net are two furry legs with dark skin and thin calves. The muscle lines can show traces of exercise. Above them are No. 23 black sports shorts with red edges.
Everyone may have had a guy like this around him when he was a student: whenever he appears on the scene, he always steals the most attention like the protagonist. The girls will shout infatuatedly that he is so handsome, and even the teacher will smile when he mentions his name.
If you don’t listen to what is going on outside the window and just want to go to school well, you may find that you have missed a lot of plots when you wait for the class reunion many years later. Girls will chat about the love and hatred between a group of people and that person for a whole day, and the twists and turns are as bizarre as the most bloody love idol dramas of the last century.
You can’t help but start to wonder, do you really share the same youth as them? Then you see the crowd in an uproar, and some girls start to burst into tears. The same scene happened again many years ago - it turns out that the guy finally appeared, opened the door and said with a confident smile on his face, "I'm sorry I'm late."
This boy is that kind of person.
Her long hair hangs down and is tied into a small braid at the back of her head. She looks very artistic. The arms exposed outside the basketball shirt deliberately show off her muscle lines.
“Qingxuan, I heard that you had a little competition with a candidate who signed up for graduate school today, and you lost?”
Lu Qingxuan glanced at him sideways: “What does it have to do with you?”
The boy put his hand on her desk, jumped slightly, and sat on her desk: "I saw it in the forum. They said you had a competition, what was the content of the competition?"
Lu Qingxuan said: "Are you here to whip the corpse?"
The boy laughed: "How could you think of me so badly? Am I that kind of person? I must be here to comfort you."
Lu Qingxuan said : "Thank you, but no need. I am an adult and can adjust myself. I don't need your comfort."
"Look at you, you are always cold. Don't rush to reject others. Thousands of miles away, you can refuse after listening to me. That person is called Wang Zixu, right?"
The boy took out a note from his pocket: "Zizixu, male, 30 years old. , a member of the Xihe Literary Association, currently publishing works..."
Lu Qingxuan became interested, straightened up and said, "You tell me."
The boy smiled and said, "Look, I told you that you would definitely be interested."
"Say it quickly!"
"Currently, I have published a short story in "Yangtze River" and a medium length at the Xihe Literary Conference. There are two articles in total, and they are gone." The boy put away the note.
Lu Qingxuan said: "Then how did he get into the literary association? The hard target of various literary associations seems to be to publish at least 100,000 words, right?"
The boy said: "Because he won the first place in Xihe Literary Association, according to their rules of the literary association, he can enter the literary association regardless of the number of published words."
After saying that, the boy jumped down from the table: "Look, the other person is actually very good at it. He didn't even come close to writing a long story. He was just pretending. Now think about whether it's not worthwhile to be angry with him - that's what I originally planned to say, but Now it seems that you are not angry, so there is no need."
Lu Qingxuan rolled her eyes at him angrily: "Didn't you say so?"
After Lu Qingxuan finished speaking, he added: "Where did you get all this news?"
The boy's tone became deeper: "How can I say that I am also a member of the National Association for Literature and Art? There are always channels for information..."
…
"What, he is a member of the Cultural Association?"
Xu Rongrong turned around and glanced at Wang Zixu, with some surprise in her eyes.
Zhao Peilin said: "Yeah, what's the matter? I am the number one in the Xihe Literary Society, is he worthy of being a member of the Literary Society?"
Zhao Peilin was chatting with Xu Rongrong in front, and for some reason the conversation ended up with Wang Zixu. Zhao Peilin promptly revealed the news and helped Wang Zixu pretend to be Qianqian.
Xu Rongrong has wanted to join the Literary and Art Association for a long time, but the number of published articles has not yet reached the standard. When I heard that Wang Zixu, an engineering student, had already joined the Literary and Art Association before entering school, I suddenly felt a little unbalanced.
“Is it the provincial literary association or the Donghai Cultural Association?”
Wang Zixu said: "It's the Xihe Literary and Art Association."
Xu Rongrong patted her chest: "I was scared to death. I thought it was the Provincial Literary and Art Association. The local literary association is very easy to get into."< /p>
Wang Zixu nodded: "Indeed."
Wang Zixu could naturally see the imbalance in her heart, so he went along with what she said. Moreover, the Xihe Literary Association was very easy for him to get into.
It’s a pity that Zhao Peilin immediately made up his mind: “The local literary association is indeed easy to advance, but he is the vice chairman of the Xihe Cultural Association.”
Xu Rongrong stopped and froze in place.
It can be seen from her expression that her world view has been severely impacted. She turned to Wang Zixu with a stiff neck: "Are you the vice chairman of the Xihe Literary Association?"
How old is Wang Zixu? Nodding sympathetically: "Well, I was just elected."
After the change of office, Lin Luo was disheartened, and everyone in the Xihe literary circle headed 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 and asked with a forced smile: "The Xihe Literary and Art Association doesn't have anyone particularly famous, right?"
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 rough breath, and it took her a long time to mentally prepare herself: "The vice-chairman of the Cultural Association is nothing. , you are already thirty, and there is still a national-level literary association member in our senior year."
The value of the national-level literary association is not the same as that of the local literary association. Wang Zixu raised his eyebrows: "Who?"
…
Ning Chunyan said: "Who is the handsome young man you are talking about who is talented?"
Xiao Mengyin leaned the umbrella on his shoulder and said lightly: "You don't need to ask too much. Anyway, with the certification of me, the former winner, his work is definitely determined to win the award this time."
Ning Chunyan raised her eyebrows. She thought Xiao Mengyin was running for a train at first, but looking at her expression, she seemed to be serious.
"As the previous gold medal winner, you should know that accidents may occur during the award selection process, right? There is also Xiao C in the same competition as you. He is an old author who has been famous for a long time. The work he wrote this time is not bad, but it turned out to be a stepping stone for you. Why are you so confident in others this time?"
After saying that, Ning Chunyan's mind turned around and he said angrily: "It's not you who said hello to the judges, right?"
Xiao Mengyin raised his eyebrows: "Who are the judges and teachers, how am I qualified to say hello to them? What's more, do they need me to say hello?"
Ning Chunyan said: "What do you mean?"
Xiao Mengyin said: "Have you ever 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, first go to my table Come down."
Shi Shuqiu jumped down from the table, with a faint smile still on his face: "Do you want me to help you avenge this attack?"
Lu Qingxuan raised his eyebrows: "Don't you claim to never read? I'm afraid you don't know as many allusions as I do."
Shi Shuqiu smiled disdainfully: "Who can compare with that thing? Apart from being better than someone who memorizes ideas by rote, what else can that thing mean? A comparison means someone's work is better."
Lu Qingxuan sounded a little unconvinced: "After reading thousands of volumes, he is like a master of writing. Xin Qiji also likes to use the dictionary to drop his book bag. Is he memorizing it by rote?"
Shi Shuqiu Waved his hand: "There are so many scholars who have read more than ten thousand volumes throughout the ages. How many people can leave a name in history like Xin Qiji? Xin Qiji is often criticized for dropping his book bag. If he had not dropped his book bag, his artistic achievements would have been even higher. Xin Qiji Qi Ji is a genius. Do you think that reading a lot means being a genius? "
Lu Qingxuan said: "Reading a lot does not necessarily mean a genius, but a genius must read a lot."
Shi Shuqiu smiled: "I don't study."
"Are you a genius?"
"Is there any need to say that?" Shi Shuqiu raised his eyebrows Mao, "I have not found another perfect genius like me in NTU."
After he said this, many people in the field laughed, which shows that everyone's attention is on the conversation between the two.
Lu Qingxuan sneered: "Narcissistic."
Shi Shuqiu tapped his temple with his finger: "The writer's weapon is the brain. The brain is not used for rote memorization. Rote memorization can only consume brain cells. No matter how many questions a question maker solves, it is better to ask a correct question without doing any questions. Otherwise, why would I have published a collection of poems and joined China Literary Association, but others can't? "
Lu Qingxuan said she was not convinced, but she was convinced in her heart. After all, Shi Shuqiu's achievements were obvious to all, but she refused to admit defeat: "Then what do you think a genius needs to become a genius?"
"I don't know what other geniuses are like, but my creations come from a flash 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 body and reaches the brain, it has become the Yangtze River and the Yellow River. Love life, love girls, and consume hormones in a poetic way during the swollen years. This is my talent."
Lu Qingxuan was speechless after hearing this, and it took him a long time to hold back a sentence: "The creation of the little prince does not originate from the lower body!"
Shi Shuqiu raised his eyebrows: "Who knows?"
The girl next to him whispered to another girl: "Shi Shuqiu is so cool."
"Cool? Don't you think he is obscene?"
"Elegance is vulgar. When you face your own obscenity calmly, you become a shining noble person."< /p>
"Why do I think you only commented like this because of his appearance? If it were a greasy uncle, would you still say that?"
"The key is that Shi Shuqiu's face is there, that is an objective existence. We can't peel off his face to see his inner side, just like we can't remove the back of a coin and leave only the front!"
...
Ning Chunyan said: "Shi Shuqiu? It's not that I haven't heard of it, it's that I haven't heard of it at all."
Xiao Mengyin looked surprised: "You haven't 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, the winner of the Mao Dun Literature Award, and the most senior one in the early years, was undisputed at that time. Now he is the chairman of a provincial literary association.
The top group in the Chinese literary world can only be counted in the palm of a hand, and Shi Tonghe is one of them. So Ning Chunyan felt that Xiao Mengyin was yin and yang strange.
Xiao Mengyin smiled and said: "Don't understand yet?"
Ning Chunyan took a breath: "Shi Tonghe, Shi Shuqiu, what do you mean..."
Xiao Mengyin said: "Shi Shuqiu is the junior student I was talking about. How do you know why I said that my junior student is bound to win this Feishi Literature Award?"
"The second generation of literary scholars?!" After all, the judges are either his friends or his colleagues. Isn’t it unfair for other people to play?”
Ning Chun was shocked after the banquet and wiped tears of sympathy towards Wang Zixu in his heart.
Your wife has run away, Wang Zixu, you are really unlucky.
Xiao Mengyin said: "By the way, who did you just say you were optimistic about?"
"I told you you didn't know him." Ning Chunyan blushed a little.
Xiao Mengyin smiled mischievously: "I know you already if you don't know me? Are you also a junior? Don't be embarrassed!"
Ning Chunyan kept silent while thinking: Wang Zixu, why is your father not the winner of the Mao Dun Literature Award? You've embarrassed me in front of my friends!
Xiao Mengyin held up the 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 finally couldn't help it anymore: "Can you stop wearing Lolita all the time to pretend to be young? Your personality doesn't match at all, and neither does the makeup photo you printed in the book. Such a style!”
“You are jealous.”
“I am jealous of you!”
“She should be talking about Shi Shuqiu.”
Wang Zixu was not familiar with this strange name and showed no expression after hearing it. He just said "oh" softly.
Zhao Peilin turned around and said: "I remembered when you mentioned Shi Shuqiu. Shi Shuqiu was also very flamboyant when he entered school, right? Why didn't I see you criticizing me?" You've proven yourself, haven't you?"
Zhao Peilin turned to look at Wang Zixu: "Did you hear that? Who can bear this anger?"
The restaurant at the end of the universe is located on the second floor of the cafeteria opposite the Nanda Library. It is a private restaurant that provides small dishes and wine.
Professors and students at NTU like to hang out in bars at night, which is somewhat similar to the German bistro culture. The restaurant at the end of the universe has become everyone’s unanimous choice.
This restaurant is unique in that it has a relatively large space and also provides board games, so all faculty and staff, including doctors and masters, love to come here. It is said that it is a collision of ideas, but in fact it is more of a slap in the face.
The restaurant owner is a science fiction enthusiast and decorated the restaurant in a space style. No one who is not a science fiction fan would give his restaurant this name - the name comes from the second part of the five-part "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by British science fiction writer Douglas Adams, "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe".
Wang Zixu asked Zhao Peilin in a low voice, why does the boss, a science fiction fan, think that Nanda is "the end of the universe"?
Zhao Peilin stamped his feet and said, Nanda is not, but this 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 why would we not encounter aliens.
Wang Zixu thought for a long time and felt that this theory was impeccable. He nodded and said it was reasonable. However, in this case, wouldn’t all restaurants on earth be called restaurants at the end of the universe?
Zhao Peilin did not answer. The three of them went in together.
As soon as he entered the door, all Zhao Peilin’s enthusiasm was transferred to egg beating.
"Guan Dan is a poker game played in groups of four or six people. Four people play two decks of cards, and six people play three decks of cards. Usually there are four people, and we will only talk about the rules for four people here."
After Zhao Peilin took the two people to sit down, he opened two new decks of poker and explained the rules while doing so:
"You will have a partner at the table, and 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 hard to find. People often say that it is easier to find a lover than to find a partner who knows the egg."
Zhao Peilin said: "Although it is a different game, the equally important thing is the partnership."
Wang Zixu said: "Three are missing and one is missing, how to match it."
Zhao Peilin said: "Isn't that simple? Here, everyone is a potential poker player. You see, I can just pick one up."
After saying that, he disappeared for a minute, and then brought back a girl.
Wang Zixu raised his head and looked at the girl. She was wearing a black Lolita-style dress with gauze skirt. She was holding a small black lace umbrella in her hand. She also had a complicated headdress and heavy makeup on her face.
He was extremely shocked. Zhao Peilin begged him to introduce girls all day long. He thought that this boy was the kind of innocent straight man who would blush all day long when he talked to girls. But it turned out that this boy could bring any girl back, so why did he need to introduce girls?
Later he mentioned this to Zhao Peilin. Zhao Peilin was shocked and said, have you ever thought about why rabbits don’t eat grass beside their nests? The greater the intersection of life, the more I feel like I am falling in love with myself. All I can meet are the same kind of people. How can I fall in love?
Another thing that shocked Wang Zixu was that when he saw the girl, he felt as if he had seen her before, she looked very familiar.
It was not that Jia Baoyu had met her by chance in a previous life, but he really felt that he had seen her somewhere.
The girl sat down by her skirt: "Four of us?"
Zhao Peilin cut the cards: "Yes, how good are you at cracking eggs?"
The girl said: "I'm a veteran."
Zhao Peilin pointed at Wang Zixu: "He is a pure novice, I am average, Xu Rongrong has played three or four games, then we always lead the new ones, Xu Rong and I Rong is a group, you can be a group with him."
The girl was very happy: "Okay."
Zhao Peilin said to the other two girls: "This girl. I picked her up casually over there. I saw her alone, so I invited her to come over and play with her." Xu Rongrong smiled and said, "We got to know each other after playing a game."
The girl nodded politely: "Yes."
Wang Zixu was puzzled. The girl glanced at him without any reaction. If he has really seen it, the girl should have seen him too. He began to wonder if he had remembered it wrong.
Zhao Peilin said: "Look, what am I talking about? The dogs on the roadside of Nanda will scratch eggs. Anyone can scratch eggs. How old are you, girl?"
The girl smiled slightly: "I'm a tourist, here to visit."
Zhao Peilin was caught off guard: "Do all tourists crack eggs?"
"How can you get out of society if you don't know how to crack eggs?" The girl laughed.
Zhao Peilin had a round while explaining the rules to Wang Zixu. This is the most complicated poker game that Wang Zixu has ever seen. Many of the rules are familiar and extremely complex. Scoring, upgrading, main cards, tributes... just remembering the terminology is very difficult, but it is surprisingly easy to get started.
After two rounds, Wang Zixu can smoothly integrate into the game.
While playing cards, Zhao Peilin started chatting: "Junior brother, speaking of which, what kind of job do you have as the vice chairman of the Cultural Association?"
The girl next to him raised his head and glanced at Wang Zixu, and then looked down at the cards in his hand.
Wang Zixu said: "The main thing is to organize some activities and serve members... Of course, this is official. I have been writing recently and have not participated in the activities of the literary association. Fortunately, the seniors have taken good care of me and let me focus on creation. They have not made it difficult for me."
Zhao Peilin said: "Your new work is going to compete for the Fei Shi Literary Award, right? Have you decided where to publish it?"
The girl next to her looked up at Wang Zixu again, and this time she stopped staring at him.
Wang Zixu said: "Isn't the Feishi Literary Award a competition for essays?"
Zhao Peilin smiled: "Yes, the Feishi Literary Award selects published works, not unpublished works."
Xu Rongrong interjected: "I know all this. Submissions for the Feishi Literary Award include works published in magazines, published works, and online works. As long as they are published in this year, they can be submitted for submission. Don't you know?"
Wang Zixu pressed his forehead: "I really didn't read the detailed rules of the essay seriously. But even if I read it, I can't submit it now. I haven't finalized it yet. ”
Zhao Peilin said with a smile: “It’s okay, there are still a few months, as long as you can finish the serialization before then.”
“It’s half a million words so far.”
After he said that, everyone stopped playing cards.
Xu Rongrong complained: "Half a million? No novel that has won an award in the past years has ever exceeded 300,000 words. Are you really worried that you won't be able to submit it and publish it if you write so much?"
Wang Zixu said: "I plan to reduce it as much as possible when finalizing it..."
Luo Li, who had been silent all the time, said Ta Meizi spoke: "The Feishi Literature Award never rejects long-form works. The reason why there are no winning works of 500,000 words is not because of the rules. The main reason is that being too long will have several disadvantages in the selection, resulting in the competition being limited to shorter works."
Wang Zixu turned around and asked: "What disadvantages?"
"First, the article is too long. Unless you are an already famous writer, it is difficult to find a platform that is willing to serialize and publish it. Although the Fei Shi Literary Award does not care about the publication, at least there is a threshold. If other people's works are published in first-class literary magazines, if you publish them in an eighth-rate local magazine, the first impression on the judges will not be good."
Wang Zixu nodded, and the girl continued: "Secondly, the long reading process is too long. It takes a long time to finish reading. During this period, the judges have other works to read. If they cannot leave a deep impression, they will be easily screened out. Moreover, novels are difficult to control once they are long."
Wang Zixu nodded again. Zhao Peilin said: "Sister, you seem to be quite professional."
The girl nodded: "I understand a little bit, I participated in the last Feishi Literary Award."
Zhao Peilin said in surprise: "Have you been nominated?"
The girl seemed not to want to answer this question, raised Bai Shengsheng's wrist, glanced at the watch, and said: "Let's speed up the progress, I Something will happen after an hour, and the game may not be finished. "
Zhao Peilin was full of energy: "Okay!"
It takes several small games to finish the game, and the conditions for determining the final winner are very strict. Sometimes the two sides are evenly matched, and they may not be able to finish the game all night long.
After hearing what the girl said, Wang Zixu became anxious and made frequent mistakes, leaving the girl struggling to save the situation. She often raised her eyes and looked at him with reproachful eyes.
After a few rounds of fighting, Wang Zixu spotted an acquaintance with the corner of his eye - Diao Yiwen sitting in the seat next to him. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, so he might have seen him.
He doesn’t intend to say hello. But because of this, I started to lose focus when playing cards.
At this moment, a person 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.
Just when Wang Zixu was about to think that she wanted to say hello to him, Lu Qingxuan tugged on 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)