Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Superpower
"What can I get for it?" Zhang Wenda’s heart was pounding. ’It would be great if there was a Superpower for removing rules,’ he thought. ’Even if not, pain immunity would work too!’
He really hadn’t expected the rabbit to give him such a huge gift. He’d have to thank her properly next time they met.
"Pay up first. 10 yuan." The monstrous, withered hand extended from behind the counter again, slowly uncurling.
Zhang Wenda stared silently at the 2 yuan, 4 mao, and 7 fen in his hand. He never thought there’d be another catch—that he’d still need money after getting the ticket. "Uh, I don’t have enough. Can I make a down payment?"
"Stop wasting my time! Go get it from your parents!" an extremely impatient voice snapped, and the Special Ability Ticket was tossed out from behind the counter like a piece of trash.
"Sigh." Zhang Wenda stuffed the Special Ability Ticket back into his pocket and, with a long face, started racking his brain for how to raise the money.
"A fried dough stick is one fen, a steamed bun is two fen, a lollipop is twenty-five fen... 10 yuan is no small sum." Zhang Wenda never imagined he’d see the day he’d be stumped by ten yuan.
His current savings totaled 2 yuan, 4 mao, and 7 fen. Two of those yuan had been earned by risking his life, which meant he’d have to risk his life four more times to save up enough for the Superpower.
But where was he supposed to find that many life-threatening opportunities?
After much thought, Zhang Wenda thought of Xiaopang, who came from a wealthy family. He immediately turned and headed for his house.
「Thirty minutes later, he arrived downstairs at Xiaopang’s apartment building.」
"Haozi! You’re here! Did you come to play with me?" Pan Dongzi’s face was full of excitement.
"No, I came to borrow money." At Zhang Wenda’s bluntness, Xiaopang’s features instantly crumpled like a steamed bun.
"How much?"
"15 yuan."
"What?!" Seeing the damned fatty was so shocked his eyes were actually visible, Zhang Wenda lowered his asking price a bit.
"If you don’t have that much, 7 yuan is fine. I’ll figure out the rest myself."
"Forget 7 yuan, I don’t even have 7 mao right now!"
"Cut the crap. I know you have money. Your mouth never stopped moving at school."
Xiaopang guiltily clapped a hand over Zhang Wenda’s mouth. He glanced toward his home and whispered, "I was secretly taking that from my dad’s counter. He found out a few days ago and beat me something fierce."
Then, Zhang Wenda watched as Pan Dongzi rolled up his sleeve to show him the "tattoo" of the Seven Wolves brand stamped on his arm.
"Now, forget taking money, I’m not even allowed near the counter."
Seeing Zhang Wenda’s speechless expression, Pan Dongzi asked, "Are you really desperate for money right now?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I can introduce you to my older sister. You get 2 fen for tidying and cleaning her room. If you add a massage and laundry, you can get 5 fen."
Zhang Wenda didn’t even consider these harsh terms. "Sigh, your sister is a real capitalist..."
At this moment, Zhang Wenda couldn’t help but feel distressed. Without this path involving Fatty, how was he going to get his hands on the huge sum of 7.50 yuan?
"Hey, right, my deskmate, the one with glasses—does he have money?"
"You mean Yang Shu? Nope. I heard both his parents got laid off."
"If there’s no other way, I’ll just have to be a workhorse. It’s not like I haven’t done it before. Fatty, let’s go. We’re going to the Youth Palace." Zhang Wenda refused to believe the Youth Palace was that dangerous every single time. It wouldn’t take too long to save up, fifty fen at a time.
"Can’t. The teacher said we can only go to the Youth Palace once a week." Fatty’s words cast another shadow over Zhang Wenda’s heart.
Just as he was still thinking, he suddenly caught a flash of familiar black in the distant bushes.
Zhang Wenda couldn’t help but frown, instantly sensing a threat.
"Let’s go, get away from here first." Zhang Wenda grabbed Fatty and started walking forward.
"Where are we going?" Fatty asked, a little surprised.
"First, take me to the place that sells lollipops. I need to buy a few."
Soon, led by Xiaopang, Zhang Wenda arrived in front of a small, very old-fashioned shop. A plaque hung above it with four large words written on it: Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
The counter of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative was just as high as the one at the Xinhua Bookstore.
Luckily, he hadn’t come alone this time. After climbing onto Fatty’s shoulders, he could finally see it: a hand larger than his entire body, resting amidst a dazzling array of snacks.
Connected to the hand was a mustard-yellow military uniform, standing like the Leshan Giant Buddha in the darkness.
That was all Zhang Wenda could see. The rest of the person was hidden in the pitch-black, from which the faint sound of opera singing drifted out.
Zhang Wenda was stunned by the scene. Only when a low voice rumbled from the darkness asking what he wanted to buy did he snap out of it. "Uh... I want to buy lollipops. Four of them."
Even though he was short on cash, he knew he had to spend where it counted. Lollipops were like major health potions that could heal wounds quickly, and he needed to stock up—especially after his experience with Song Jianguo had shown him the world wasn’t a safe place.
In response to the 2-yuan note Zhang Wenda held out, the giant hand lifted up and pressed down toward him like the weight of Mount Tai.
Just as Zhang Wenda instinctively leaned back, the hand rapidly shrank, finally returning to about three times the size of a normal person’s before taking the money from his grasp.
"Candy is bad for kids. Watch out for cavities. You can only buy three a day."
Before Zhang Wenda could say anything, the money and three lollipops were stuffed back into his hand, and he was shooed out.
"What kind of rule is this? There’s a limit on lollipops, too?" Zhang Wenda looked at the items in his hand, not sure whether to laugh or cry.
Just as he was about to put the lollipops in his pocket, he saw Xiaopang drooling greedily.
"Here, son." Zhang Wenda handed one over.
"Haozi, thank you!" Pan Dongzi took it and happily popped it into his mouth.
"Don’t just eat. I have a question for you. Do you know about Superpowers?" Zhang Wenda popped a lollipop into his own mouth before any wounds could appear.
Under the lollipop’s effect, both his other injuries from the Youth Palace and any new ones were slowly healing.
Since he couldn’t get the money for now, he decided to first gather some intel from a local.
"Of course! I have a Superpower!!"
"You do?!" Zhang Wenda was stunned. ’Could it be that this damned fatty next to me has been a wolf in sheep’s clothing all along?’
"Yeah, I do!" Pan Dongzi said decisively, the lollipop still in his mouth.
Seeing Zhang Wenda’s disbelief, he grew anxious and covered his eyes. "Quick, make a number with your fingers."
"What?"
"Just listen to me and make a number! Don’t tell me what it is."
After Zhang Wenda held up four fingers on one hand, the Fatty, who had both hands over his eyes, tilted his body and wiggled an ear in his direction before speaking. "It’s 4, right?"
Fatty lowered his hands and looked at Zhang Wenda smugly. "That’s my Superpower. I can read with my ears! Pretty amazing, huh?"
Zhang Wenda was too tired to even comment. ’What a useless Superpower...’
Hearing this, the Little Fatty got flustered. "How is it useless! I’m the only one who can do it!"
"But why wouldn’t I just use my eyes to see?"
"Er... Um..."
Just as Pan Dongzi was stammering, Zhang Wenda suddenly pulled him aside to hide.
Leaning against the corner of a wall, Zhang Wenda watched warily as a sneaky black cat head appeared on a distant rooftop.
’This woman is relentless,’ he thought. ’Does she really think I’m a pushover?’
Looking at the Black Cat, which was obviously sent by Song Jianguo, Zhang Wenda felt a surge of anger.
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