The Iota Self-Service Restaurant is the largest restaurant in Beta Town. Because of its reasonable prices and beautiful environment, it is very popular among students, and the restaurant's seats are always in short supply.
After Nicholas handed the dining number plate to Xiao Xiao, he disappeared into the street's crowd again.
It was said that he had other urgent matters to attend to and told the newcomers to dine on their own.
This was indeed not a difficult task.
The restaurant was only tens of meters away from the milk tea shop.
The shop's decor was very refreshing, with green vines spiraling up the pillars on both sides of the entrance, twisting into several peculiar characters. On the dark plaque, there was only a huge white letter "I."
Stepping through the vine-entwined doorway, the noisy sounds of the street vanished, and the ears immediately became much quieter.
The lighting inside the restaurant was soft, with a faint white glow flowing from an unknown source, like a refreshing dawn.
The waitstaff were some emerald-green, two-winged Little Elves.
They flapped their agile wings, guiding the newcomers to their seats.
Zheng Qing saw an old acquaintance next to his seat, Little Monk Shiyuan from the airplane.
The Little Monk was wearing Atlas's yellow robe, with many dishes laid out in front of him, and he was unhurriedly munching on steamed buns.
This made him very happy.
The queue in the square and the grouping in the First Hall had scattered all the friends he had just met on the plane. Besides Xiao Xiao, Zheng Qing hadn't had a chance to get to know any other new students yet.
"Where's your freshman guide? Did he bring you here to eat too?" Putting down the cardboard box in his hand, Zheng Qing eagerly asked the Little Monk.
Several of the restaurant's Little Elves curiously examined the similar-looking little fellows in the box.
"We have already finished our tour. Coming to this restaurant was Senior Brother's idea," the Little Monk put down his utensils, chanted a Buddhist prayer, pressed his palms together, and answered earnestly.
Indeed, there were no other Atlas freshmen next to Shi Yuan.
"Where's the menu?" Zheng Qing looked at Xiao Xiao.
"Hello, sir, how may I help you?" a soft, thin voice sounded in his ear.
Zheng Qing jumped in surprise and spun his head sharply.
A Little Elf with two pairs of transparent wings, dressed in emerald green, and about an inch tall, was floating beside him.
Seemingly surprised by Zheng Qing's reaction, the Little Elf quickly floated back a few meters, pulled out a card from somewhere, and hid behind it, only revealing its head, looking at him timidly.
"She can talk!" Zheng Qing looked at the Little Elf in shock, then lowered his head to examine the little fellows in his cardboard box.
"If the Waiter Elves don't speak, how can they serve guests?" Xiao Xiao retorted.
"Are they not the same?" Zheng Qing pointed at the Little Elves still sleeping soundly in the box, surprised.
"Waiter Elves belong to the Magical Creatures Kingdom, Alchemy Creatures Phylum, Elf Class, Winged Order, and Waiter Elf Family. They are created by wizards, specifically to handle dining service. Although they are easier to approach than other Little Elves of their kind, they are still Little Elves in essence, a very timid creature, and especially prone to being startled."
Xiao Xiao took a sip of clear water, lazily flipping through his notebook: "This was also the concept of the wizard who created them back then; when dining, it's best to be quiet. Otherwise, if you scare away the Little Elves, you'll have to go hungry."
The Little Elf seemed to have realized as well, floating back in front of Zheng Qing, its hands gesturing in mid-air to display a clear menu, and it tremblingly asked, "How may I help you?"
Their voices were a bit high-pitched but pleasant to listen to.
"The menu is quite rich!" Zheng Qing looked at the Little Elf waiter and smiled awkwardly.
The menu had an exceptionally wide variety of food, from fruits, cold dishes, and salads, to various soups of different strengths, to stir-fried, stewed, braised, and steamed hot dishes, and then various small desserts and drinks.
From beginning to end, it was clear and well-organized.
"Let's start with some appetizers, some fruit. I prefer apples, grapes are good too, oh, and watermelon," Zheng Qing tried ordering a fruit platter.
"Hmm, for drinks, I'll have a portion of millet pumpkin porridge."
"Since it's self-service, I won't be polite. Small pan-fried steak, hand-pulled lamb, and then some braised meat and scallops." Zheng Qing swallowed his saliva, looking at the vivid pictures.
"Too greasy, some lettuce. And some shredded radish."
"I'll eat slowly first, remember to give me three cream puffs later." Estimating his appetite, Zheng Qing reluctantly let go of the menu.
"For cutlery, I'm used to chopsticks." Saying this, Zheng Qing saw the huge steak and blinked: "But for knives and forks, leave a set as well."
Every time he named a dish, the Little Elf would quickly point out the corresponding name and conjure a corresponding 3D image for Zheng Qing to confirm. After confirmation, the Little Elf would sing a beautiful Spell, presenting the dish on the table in front of Zheng Qing.
After all the dishes were served, the Little Elf cast two Spells in a row, and Zheng Qing immediately felt his hands and face much cleaner.
He mused that this should be a cleansing Spell.
"You sing beautifully." Zheng Qing thought of the fright he had caused earlier and wanted to make it up to the little creature, so he found this reason and tentatively asked, "Can you accept gifts?"
With that, he generously held a silver angle in front of him.
"Thank you very much for your generosity!" The Little Elf joyfully floated to Zheng Qing's nose and lightly kissed the tip of his nose.
"Cough cough, no rush, no rush." Zheng Qing waved his hand in a bit of a panic, looking to the side awkwardly.
He was a bit conflicted in his heart, did this count as losing his first kiss?
No one noticed this interlude; the newcomers had already begun to feast happily.
Zheng Qing pressed the steak with his fork, cutting it while curiously looking at the Little Monk next to him:
"Are there girls in your class? Do you have difficulty communicating with girls?"
"Difficulty?"
"Yes, like precepts or something."
"Amitabha, Benefactor, you are overthinking. Men and women are all Mortal World skins, therefore my spiritual platform is pure, containing tranquility, so even if ****, what does it matter?" The Little Monk's few words almost choked Zheng Qing to death.
"You practice Buddhism, some people worship, is it okay if there are no temples or churches?" Zheng Qing picked up a piece of braised meat, put it into a steamed bun, took a big bite contentedly, a trace of rich meat juice flowing from the corner of his mouth, and asked vaguely: "I don't seem to have seen these places in the school."
"There's no need to care at all. Where the heart is, faith is also. We hold the tokens of our faith in our hearts, with the sky as our roof and the earth as our mat, any place is encompassed within it, so what does it matter if there is a place of worship or not?" Little Monk Shiyuan looked at Zheng Qing's satisfied expression with a troubled face, using his chopsticks to poke at the greens and tofu in front of him.
"Do you want some?" Zheng Qing blinked, pointing to his mouth: "Didn't the Buddha say, 'Wine and meat pass through the intestines, the Buddha sits in the heart'?"
"That is Buddha, not me." Shi Yuan sighed: "Excuses, if you want to find them, there are always some. But we live in this world, we must have some responsibility. A person who cannot even support their own beliefs is just a skin living."
Zheng Qing took a big gulp of rice porridge, and a string of tears was scalded from his eyes.
Shi Yuan, however, misunderstood and said happily, "In that case, Benefactor also has great wisdom."
Zheng Qing nodded submissively, offering no explanation.
