My System Forces Me to Live off Women-Chapter 70 - 68: Compete, Everyone Can Compete
[35% Unfortunately, you did not win a prize.]
[12% (Skill) Dragon and Phoenix Yin-Yang Harmony Skill...]
[10% (Modification) Liver of Stone, Gall of Steel...]
[30% (Item) Secret Medicine · Peiyuan Pill; Made with ancient methods, nourishing and well-being. Used to invigorate Yang energy, replenish the kidneys, reinforce vitality, and harmonize the five internal organs. By warding off evil, it strengthens Yang energy and augments stamina. (One pill each time, twice a day, this product is not a substitute for medication.)]
[8% (Item) Oath of Trust; A masterpiece by the legendary "Maureen Bell" from the DQ01 Magic Plane. The final echo of mental magic in the DQ01 Magic Plane. When the user writes the name of the other person on the ’Oath of Trust’ and thinks of their image, a contract is formed with their soul, creating a binding agreement that the bewitched will never do anything to harm the caster’s interests or personal safety. (Is this the best it can do? What’s the use? I’m not afraid of him hurting me; I want him to love me!!)]
[5% (Modification) Iron Heart; Bionic organ cultivated with biotechnology from the BC23 technology plane. Probability of heart disease after modification is zero, and the likelihood of external damage to the heart is reduced. Functional improvements such as blood pumping and endocrine functions increased by 430% compared to the original heart, significantly boosting physical fitness, effectively resisting bodily aging and increasing human lifespan by 22%. According to recent studies, heart modifications also show an invisible effect of enhancing willpower and stress resistance for some people. It is recommended to introduce interest-free loan policies together with liver and gall modifications to promote universal adoption. (We have a heart as hard as iron, but in the face of life, it does not make us resilient and tolerant; in the face of love, it still beats wildly with confusion.)]
"Come on!"
Looking at the lottery wheel in front of him, Li Peifeng showed no expression on his face, but you could feel the sharpness in his gaze like a knife;
"I’m going to start cheating!"
...
"I see the conference just started and a few dozen people already slipped away."
"Haha, they must’ve gone back to their rooms to write, I guess."
In the men’s restroom, two young men, one fat and one thin, came in chatting and relieving themselves at the urinals.
"Did you notice? There seem to be quite a few authors from the female category this time."
"It’s normal; their IP adaptations do better than the male category, so naturally there are more invited authors. But I found it alarming that some guys are writing in the female category!"
"Damn, isn’t that weird? Big guys writing in the female category and getting invited to the writers’ conference?"
"Who wouldn’t say so, and they even dared to come, isn’t it creepy?"
"Enough about that... hey, did you see any attractive female authors at this event?"
"None! If you are talking about the prettiest, that would be Zhao Qingge! But she’s a scholar, not an author."
The thin guy nodded with approval: "The professor from Beihua University? Yes, she’s beautiful, looks like a celebrity. I’m tempted to ask for a photo."
As they pulled up their pants and were about to walk out the restroom door, the fat guy hesitated.
"Are we going back to the conference?"
The thin guy shook his head: "Screw the conference; even writing back in the room is better than this!"
"Let’s just go out for a walk."
"Forget it; I want to go back and write."
The fat guy scolded with a smile: "You’re sick? Coming out to have fun, yet you want to write?"
The thin guy chuckled: "Mainly because I plan to work on both my projects. The pressure is big, can’t help it."
"Damn, since when?"
The fat guy was both shocked and angry, gritting his teeth: "You’re trying to corner me, aren’t you? Fine, I’ll go back and write too! Let’s see who can outdo whom!"
The thin guy was about to reply, but then a loud, clear voice echoed from a stall deep inside the restroom.
"Writing, all can be done, there’s nothing you can’t improve upon!"
The two instinctively turned their heads, only to see a handsome man push the door open and stride out, making the dim restroom seem to brighten by two degrees.
His stride was swift and steady, his demeanor like a pine tree or bamboo, his eyes as bright as lightning.
"To be the first, it’s a continuous flow!"
As he got closer, Li Peifeng praised: "By not giving up in front of every seemingly ordinary choice, we can all become part of this great era!"
"Your dedicated and diligent spirit of writing is something I admire greatly."
"The speaker at the conference said it well; we, online writers, must shoulder the historical mission given by the era to contribute to the construction of a culturally strong nation, to facilitate exchange among world civilizations and contribute to building a community with a shared future for mankind... With every extra word you write, you are making a contribution."
"If all online writers could change their lazy ways and be diligent in writing like you two, then the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind wouldn’t be far off!!"
Li Peifeng was confident, optimistic, and full of hope: "I’ve decided too, to learn from you both; I’ll write two—no, two thousand words today, making a small contribution!"
"Huh?"
The fat and thin guys were dumbfounded, looking up at him. Perhaps feeling they couldn’t win against this lunatic, they exchanged glances and decided to use stalling tactics.
"And you are?"
Li Peifeng smiled, revealing two rows of neat white teeth: "A breeze in the world, an Endpoint female category author!"
The two pudgy monks swallowed nervously, each a bit tense.
They were just badmouthing someone and got caught red-handed.
Li Peifeng cupped his hands in greeting: "May I ask your names?"
"Street Rat A, Endpoint male section."
"Street Rat B, Endpoint male section."
"It’s an honor to meet two such renowned street rats today!"
Li Peifeng enthusiastically extended his hand, disregarding their unwilling expressions, and shook hands with them one by one. Afterward, as if remembering something, he chuckled sheepishly and said, "Sorry, I forgot to wash my hands."
...
"Today’s web literature opening ceremony concludes here. Next, please proceed to the exhibition hall to visit the exhibition on the achievements of our country’s web literature development."
With the speaker’s words, the room erupted into the warmest applause of the day. Everyone stood up, whispered among themselves, and moved to leave.
"Why didn’t they mention when dinner starts?"
"Didn’t they give you a little booklet when you joined? It says in there, another half an hour to go."
"Where’s the restaurant? I’ll go sit and wait for a while."
"Aren’t you going to check out the exhibition hall? I think your book’s up there."
"Hehe, I’ll take a peek."
"Qingge, shall we also check out the exhibition hall?"
The gray-haired middle-aged man with "Wang Wei" written on his seat smiled and invited Zhao Qingge.
Wang Wei, 57 years old, is an expert in the Social Science Foundation’s project evaluation group, a winner of the Fourth Lu Xun Literature Prize, Vice Director of the Dong Writers Association’s Web Literature Committee, and also an elder to Zhao Qingge, being a friend of her parents.
"Sure."
Zhao Qingge turned to look at the back row, not seeing Li Peifeng, she frowned slightly, stood up, and followed Wang Wei with the crowd to the exhibition hall.
The exhibition hall was resplendent, with two display walls standing on either side. They were about 2.5 meters high and 20 meters long, primarily red and yellow in color.
Printed in color were web literature works that achieved great success in each era since the birth of online literature, totaling about fifty or sixty. Below each work’s cover was an introduction and an excerpt.
"I actually think the current web literature research is hitting a bottleneck. Studying a bunch of theoretical stuff that not many people read, what’s most needed is to find a representative as a typical case to conduct some concrete analysis and interpretations."
Wang Wei slowly walked past the display walls, looked carefully, and shook his head: "But none of the writers here really fit."
Zhao Qingge understood and simply sighed: "I get your point, it’s best to capture a bridge figure between web literature and serious literature, just like how Jin Yong spanned both popular and serious literature back then... but there isn’t one! In the entire web literature world, it’s hard to find someone who can achieve the revered status Jin Yong held among wuxia authors then."
"Perhaps there never will be."
Wang Wei joked: "With the web literature’s daily minimum update requirement of four thousand words, even a dark horse will eventually tire into an old mule!"
Zhao Qingge nodded with a smile.
After two academic exchanges, Wang Wei slapped his forehead, as though recalling something, he sheepishly said: "Qingge, you’re still single, right?"
"Yeah, you?" Zhao Qingge’s expression grew serious, hesitant to speak.
"Oh."
Wang Wei waved his hand: "Your parents mentioned this to me before, asked me to find someone suitable for you. I agreed but didn’t take it to heart, with today’s times, it’s all about free love, keep looking if you don’t find anyone, it’s no big deal."
Zhao Qingge breathed a sigh of relief: "You’re right, currently I..."
"But." Wang Wei chuckled as he shifted the conversation: "I recently actually thought of someone quite suitable for you. A young man from the Capital, thirty-five, unmarried, very presentable, a department-level officer, with a bright future ahead. Apparently, you’ve met before but he was too shy to talk to you. How about meeting up when you return to Beijing?"
As Zhao Qingge pursed her lips, just about to speak, a familiar voice rang out...
"Here he is, Professor Zhao is here!"
Li Peifeng led over two pudgy street rats and smiled: "Mentor, these two author buddies of mine are your fans, admiring your academic knowledge, they would like to take a photo with you, is that alright?"
Who the heck is your buddy? At most, we’re worth fifty cents of bathroom camaraderie!
The two pudgy street-rats displayed awkward yet polite smiles, equally confused, as they were forcibly dragged over while they were enjoying the exhibit.
"Forget the photo. But we do indeed admire and appreciate your work in web literature research..."
"Sure, we can take a photo!"
Zhao Qingge smiled and nodded.
