Chapter 315 - 178: The Grilled Kidneys Tonight Are Really Good

Chapter 315: Chapter 178: The Grilled Kidneys Tonight Are Really Good

Lu Jia also silently picked up his drink.

"Dude, you’re incredible."

Wang Dayong struggled for a moment, only managing to squeeze out those few words.

"Cheers."

Chu Ge raised his bottle.

Three green glass bottles and one orange pull-tab can clinked together gently in mid-air.

Chen Zhuo took a sip of his orange soda, set the can down, and looked at Chu Ge.

"Keep the money safe. Don’t go spending it recklessly."

Chen Zhuo admonished gently, like a nagging mother hen.

Chu Ge chuckled and casually grabbed a napkin to wipe his mouth.

He leaned closer to Chen Zhuo, lowering his voice with a hint of probing.

"Brother Zhuo, I need to tell you something."

Chen Zhuo picked up a peanut with his chopsticks, tossed it into his mouth, and didn’t look at him.

"Go ahead."

"So, Wang Xing... he called me this afternoon. We talked for half an hour."

Chu Ge watched Chen Zhuo’s profile.

"He’s no fool. The moment he saw that algorithm, he knew there was no way someone at my level could have come up with it out of thin air. The underlying algebraic logic is too high-dimensional. It was a complete dimensionality-reduction strike against their current engineers."

Chen Zhuo chewed his peanut without replying, his gaze fixed on the embers flaring and dying in the charcoal stove.

"He kept trying to pry it out of me, wanting to know if I had an expert guiding me from behind the scenes."

Chu Ge swallowed hard.

"Wang Xing’s exact words were, if this expert is willing, he’ll fly to Huizhou to meet them anytime. Even if they don’t join the company, just being a technical consultant in name would be fine. They can name their price for compensation, and even shares are on the table."

As Chu Ge spoke, his eyes were shining.

Even though Wang Xing was still in the startup phase, Chu Ge could sense his ambition and the resources he had in the Capital City’s circles.

This was an incredibly rare opportunity to get a seat at the internet industry’s table.

Wang Dayong and Lu Jia also stopped what they were doing and turned in unison to look at Chen Zhuo.

Chen Zhuo swallowed the peanut in his mouth and wiped his hands with a napkin.

He didn’t show the shock of a child hearing about a huge sum of money, nor did he put on a pretentious air of being above worldly affairs.

Chen Zhuo just smiled gently, the corners of his eyes holding a faint, casual air, as if he were just an amused bystander.

"Did you tell him who I am?" Chen Zhuo asked.

"No, my lips are sealed. Without your permission, I didn’t even reveal your surname."

Chu Ge quickly shook his head.

"Good enough."

Chen Zhuo nodded, reached for his orange soda, and took another sip.

"Don’t mention it in the future, either."

Chu Ge was stunned.

"Wait, Brother Zhuo, you’re really not going to meet him?"

Chu Ge grew anxious.

"That’s Wang Xing we’re talking about! Who knows how huge his company could become? Even if you just casually give them a few pointers and take some founder’s shares, in the future you could..."

"It’s too far."

Chen Zhuo cut him off, his tone casual and dismissive.

"What’s too far? A flight from the Capital City to Huizhou is only two hours..."

"I mean we wouldn’t have anything to talk about. The distance is too great."

Chen Zhuo folded his hands on his knees, leaned back slightly, and looked at the three confused faces across from him.

He began to speak, slowly and deliberately.

"What does Wang Xing care about? Daily active users, concurrent traffic, how to capture market share, how to close the loop on his business model."

Chen Zhuo smiled.

"But I don’t care about any of that."

Chen Zhuo pointed to the dim incandescent bulb overhead.

"I care about whether the Singularity in the continuous domain on Teacher Li’s office blackboard can be eliminated. I care about whether the Jacobian determinant will cause spatial distortion after a homology group is mapped to a discrete topological space."

Chen Zhuo spread his hands.

"Why would I go meet him? He wouldn’t understand what I’m talking about, and I couldn’t care less how he makes his money. It’d be a waste of time for both of us. There’s no point."

Chu Ge opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but found he couldn’t think of a single word in rebuttal.

A string of code he tossed out could create a storm in the business world, yet he himself had no interest in even glancing in that direction.

"Fine."

Chu Ge sighed and took a big swig from his bottle.

"I really don’t get the level you’re on. But you’re right, with a brain like yours, working in the internet industry would really be using a sledgehammer to crack a nut."

Just as he finished speaking, the owner came over carrying a huge metal platter.

"Kidneys are here! Careful, the lamb skewers are hot!"

Large kidneys, grilled until they sizzled and dripped oil, were placed on the table. The rich aroma, a mixture of cumin and chili powder, instantly overwhelmed everyone’s senses.

Wang Dayong was the first to move.

He unceremoniously grabbed two lamb skewers, stripped more than half the meat off one in a single bite, and started chewing with his cheeks puffed out.

"Delicious!"

Wang Dayong yelled, his voice muffled by the food.

"Chu Ge, stop thinking about all that useless stuff and eat! These kidneys are grilled to perfection."

The atmosphere instantly returned to the pure, bustling clamor of a street-side eatery.

Chu Ge also let go of his worries, grabbing a skewer of kidney and taking a large bite.

Chen Zhuo picked up a skewer of grilled pork belly and ate it slowly and methodically. The pork belly was grilled until it was crispy, the fat rendered out, leaving only a charred fragrance.

"Hey, Lu Jia."

Chu Ge, still chewing, nudged the quiet Lu Jia with his elbow.

"Don’t just focus on eating. What’s the progress with that upperclassman?"

As soon as he said this, even Wang Dayong, who had been fiercely attacking his lamb skewers, paused and pricked up his ears.

Lu Jia’s chewing faltered for a second.

He pushed up his glasses, a flicker of unease on his face, but he forced himself to remain calm.

"Progress is very stable, in line with logical expectations," Lu Jia said.

"Cut the crap."

Chu Ge put down his bamboo skewer.

"What does ’stable’ even mean? What stage are you at? Have you asked her out to eat yet?"