Chapter 27: Chapter 27: Harvest
"Do my homework? No way. Even if she did it, I wouldn’t trust it."
After speaking, Zhang Wenda turned to look Fatty over. He saw that his friend was pale and chubby, with no injuries on him at all.
"You... okay?" A scar appeared on his body again. The only silver lining in this misfortune was that Zhang Wenda was starting to get used to it.
"I’m fine, why do you ask?" Fatty reached out to snatch the fried dough stick from Zhang Wenda’s hand.
Zhang Wenda’s hand went slack, and he let him have it. "Nothing happens to you if you’re not home by 6 PM?"
’Even though that damn cat explained it yesterday, I can’t trust a word someone like her says.’
"Why would you get hurt for not going home at 6? Is it because you missed dinner and your stomach hurts from hunger?"
Hearing Fatty’s words, Zhang Wenda understood immediately. Punishments from rules this harsh really did only apply to him.
’Why, though? Where on earth do these rules come from?’ Zhang Wenda wondered, pulling out his Student Handbook to jot down another entry: *Prohibited from not being home by 6 PM.*
Zhang Wenda then laid out all the rules he had recorded, trying to find some underlying logic.
The Youth Palace incident made it clear that the rules of this world didn’t just appear out of nowhere; there had to be some kind of hidden logic behind them.
If he could just figure out this logic, maybe he could find a way to escape the rules.
No being late or skipping class.
No asking others questions.
No saving others.
No staying out past 6 PM.
’What kind of logic could this possibly have? Why is it just me, and not anyone else?’ Zhang Wenda thought, his brow deeply furrowed.
However, after looking them over, he couldn’t deduce any necessary connection between them.
If this was a code of conduct for students in this strange world, then why wouldn’t it let him save others, and why wouldn’t it let him ask questions?
’This is completely illogical. What kind of ’good student’ isn’t allowed to save people?’
"Fatty, let me ask you something. If you make a mistake, like something from the Student Code of Conduct, what are the consequences?"
Hearing this, Fatty, who was chewing on a fried dough stick, suddenly showed a trace of fear in his eyes. "You... you get points deducted."
"That’s it?"
"Isn’t getting points deducted scary?! If you lose too many, you have to write a self-criticism essay, and if it’s serious, they’ll call your parents."
Zhang Wenda sighed, unable to help but lament that different folks had different fates. Compared to his own rules, Fatty’s rules seemed exceptionally lenient.
’No, not lenient. Those are just normal school rules! It was the same way back in my own normal childhood.’
"What on earth is going on with this world?" Zhang Wenda looked at the bustling street outside. This was his childhood, but it was also a little different.
Even setting aside things like the Superpower and the Youth Palace, it was still different. For one, he had never used ration coupons in his childhood, nor were there any supply and marketing cooperatives. These were clearly things his elders’ generation had experienced.
And something like the Four Pests Campaign was something his generation had never experienced.
This world seemed like a blend of a more distant era and his own childhood—familiar, yet different.
"Ah, forget it. I’ll just take it one step at a time. First, I need to get my hands on that Superpower." The morning sun felt warm on his skin, making Zhang Wenda feel a bit tired. After all, he hadn’t slept all night.
"Fatty, keep an eye on her for me. I’m going to sleep for a bit. When I wake up, I’ll treat you to some fried skewers."
"Really? Don’t worry, leave it to me!" Fatty slapped his chest with a THUMP THUMP.
He gave Song Jianguo a series of commands: don’t harm yourself, don’t leave the city, and keep working. After carefully ensuring there were no loopholes she could exploit, as if he were reviewing a contract, he slowly closed his eyes.
He slept very well. By the time Zhang Wenda woke up, the sun was already starting to set in the west. Aside from the pile of rat and sparrow heads having grown a bit taller, Fatty was off to the side, poking at ants with a stick out of boredom.
"You’re finally awake! I’m hungry. I’m going home for lunch." Fatty was about to leave when Zhang Wenda grabbed him. "Not so fast. I said I’d treat you to grilled skewers, and I will."
With that, Zhang Wenda walked toward the pile of sparrow heads. The heads had to be turned in, but the bodies could be eaten.
A CRACKLING sound filled the air. The firewood Song Jianguo had gathered burned brightly. One by one, the skinned bird bodies were skewered and roasted until they sizzled and dripped with fat.
The sparrows were all skinny, but there were plenty of them. Most importantly, Fatty had somehow gotten his hands on some chili powder and instant noodle seasoning packets, which took the flavor of the sparrows to another level.
"Hiss... Haa... Spicy," Pan Dongzi said between bites, his head covered in sweat.
"If it’s too spicy, use less chili powder," Zhang Wenda said, stuffing a sparrow into his mouth.
He popped the roasted sparrow into his mouth. The outer layer was slightly charred and crispy. After a CRUNCH, he got to the incredibly tender bird meat, which had the faint sweetness characteristic of poultry. It tasted amazing.
Zhang Wenda remembered this. Back when he was a kid, his family was poor. If he wanted a snack to satisfy a craving, he had to figure it out himself.
Sprinkling some rice to catch and eat birds was one of those ways.
Other methods included catching crayfish by the river and secretly using his family’s oil to fry them, collecting watermelon seeds that others had spit out and drying them to eat, and even stealing sweet potatoes from people’s yards to roast.
After so many years, Zhang Wenda thought he had forgotten all of this, but once he started, he found he was still just as skilled as ever.
Zhang Wenda could feel Song Jianguo’s hidden, hungry gaze from a distance. She hadn’t eaten all day either, but he ignored her.
In fact, after dealing with Song Jianguo for so long, he had pretty much figured her out. The girl had absolutely no normal human morals or values.
You couldn’t even see her as a person; it was better to just treat her like an animal. Only stray cats and dogs would casually steal things from other cats and dogs.
Words don’t teach people, but experiences do. It was useless to reason with someone like her; it was better to just let her suffer the consequences of her mistakes.
’But why did she turn out like this? Don’t any adults look after her?’ Zhang Wenda wondered, looking at her sun-darkened skin, the clothes she wore, and her bare feet.
’Right, and where did her ears come from? It’s not right to say she’s a complete savage raised by wild cats and dogs; she can talk and wear clothes. She even knows how to use a collar to control people and make them her laborers. Where did she get that collar?’
After Pan Dongzi had eaten his fill, he followed Zhang Wenda’s instructions and took some of the grilled bird skewers for the classmates who had helped earlier to try.
Once Pan Dongzi left, it was just the two of them again. There wasn’t much left in this spot, so Zhang Wenda took Song Jianguo and moved to a new location.
To accomplish Zhang Wenda’s goal, Song Jianguo worked incredibly hard. She had been busy for over a dozen hours, barely eating or sleeping. Both her human and cat aspects were clearly haggard, and several small cats were even lying at Zhang Wenda’s feet, panting heavily.
When the large, square clock in the center of town chimed five times, marking 5 PM, Zhang Wenda finally let her stop.
It wasn’t that he felt sorry for her. The main reason was that if he wasn’t home by 6 PM, he would be punished by the rules again.
Song Jianguo found a tattered net from somewhere, stuffed all the rat and sparrow heads into it, and began dragging it toward the sanitation and epidemic prevention station.
The rat and sparrow heads left a long, bloody trail on the ground, like the trail of grief and indignation in Song Jianguo’s heart.
Evidently, no one else at the prevention station had ever seen so many of the "four pests." The others waiting in line were stunned, and they all made way for her.
Soon, the results of Song Jianguo’s nearly twenty hours of labor were tallied: a total of eleven yuan and forty-five fen.
"See? See? Honest labor can create wealth, so why do you have to steal?" Zhang Wenda said with a smile on his face as he snatched the money from her hand.
But the listless Song Jianguo had no energy left to talk back. All she wanted now was to sleep.
Seeing Song Jianguo like this, Zhang Wenda found her much less annoying. "You really want a Superpower, don’t you? Alright, I’m not you, after all. I’m not that heartless."
"How about this: when I go to make the exchange later, you can tag along and watch. Feast your eyes on it."
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