Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Superpower
Zhang Wenda came to the tall counter of the Xinhua Bookstore once again, but this time he didn’t have to stand on his tiptoes. "Come here, kitty."
Riding on the head of a listless Song Jianguo, Zhang Wenda could finally see over the counter. It did indeed look like a bookstore inside, with various bookshelves lined up neatly. However, the sign on the wall seemed to have changed from before.
Before, it had prohibited beating customers. Now, it prohibited beating customers without reason.
The counter was very small. When the salesclerk came over, he could only see her tacky, peach-pink sweater; he couldn’t even see her head.
Before she could speak, Zhang Wenda handed over the money and a slip. "I’m here to redeem a Superpower."
"It’s almost closing time and you’re starting this now..." As the woman grumbled with an impatient expression, Zhang Wenda saw a door slowly rise out of the adjacent wall. "Go find Wang Shaojie on the second floor yourself."
With a spark of excitement, Zhang Wenda led Song Jianguo inside. He couldn’t help but be thrilled. ’A Superpower... whether or not it can solve the problem with the rules on my body, who wouldn’t want one?’
Just as he stepped inside, Zhang Wenda heard gossip coming from the counter, punctuated by the occasional loud laugh characteristic of housewives.
He wove through the various bookshelves and headed for the second floor.
When he reached the second floor, it instantly became quiet. He wasn’t sure if it was because of how the books were organized, but the entire floor was filled with heavy, dense tomes. Some of the books looked bigger than Zhang Wenda himself.
Besides books, Zhang Wenda also saw something very unexpected here: bullets.
Rows upon rows of bullets were scattered along the side of the aisle, like discounted items being cleared out.
’He knew that, given the year, guns probably hadn’t been banned yet. But the Xinhua Bookstore selling bullets? Seriously?’
For a moment, he couldn’t tell if this was just another strange thing about this world, or if it had always been this way.
Glancing at the time on the wall, Zhang Wenda saw it was already 5:20. There was no more time to waste. He immediately called out toward the deserted bookshelves, "Excuse me, is anyone here?"
"Come in," a voice called from behind a partially open door in the distance.
Zhang Wenda walked over, and as soon as he pushed the door open, he saw a middle-aged man in a white lab coat. ’This must be Wang Shaojie.’
The man was currently holding a black-boned, white-feathered chicken in one hand and a syringe in the other.
Zhang Wenda then watched as the man inserted the syringe through the chicken’s feathers, drew a full tube of blood, and then injected it into his own arm.
The sight left Zhang Wenda dumbfounded. For a moment, he almost forgot why he was there. ’What is he doing? Is he injecting himself with chicken blood?’
Wang Shaojie shoved the chicken into a nearby cage, then swiveled his chair to face Zhang Wenda. In a thick Shandong accent, he said, "Sister Liu told me. You’re the kid who wants to trade for a Superpower, right?"
After the man asked twice, Zhang Wenda finally snapped out of it. "Oh, yes, yes, that’s me."
"What kind of Superpower are you looking for?" The man looked Zhang Wenda up and down, then glanced at Song Jianguo.
"Uh, mister, can I ask you a few things first? You must know a lot about Superpowers, right? You’re an expert?"
Feeling a pang of pain in his body, Zhang Wenda quickly stuck the lollipop he had just bought into his mouth.
"Hmph, hmph. Of course." After speaking, the man proudly took a sip from a large white ceramic mug. Inscribed on it in square, red lettering were five words: "Talent Show Third Place Prize."
Zhang Wenda showed the man the red scar on his arm. After a full day, the red within the scar had deepened somewhat.
"Does this count as a Superpower, too? Do you know anything about it?"
This thing had appeared on his body for no reason at all. Now that he had finally found someone knowledgeable, Zhang Wenda naturally had to ask all his questions.
"This thing of yours..." The man leaned in, stroking his chin, and carefully examined the red scar on Zhang Wenda’s arm. "This thing... I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before."
"Where?" Zhang Wenda couldn’t help but tense up.
The man scratched his balding head, a look of confusion on his face. "Hmm... ah, I can’t remember. Does this thing of yours have any symptoms?"
After learning that it made him stronger, the man continued, "Then it’s almost certainly a Superpower. It doesn’t look like Qi Gong."
"There’s Qi Gong, too?" Zhang Wenda’s eyes widened.
Hearing this, the man leaned back, looking at Zhang Wenda in disbelief. "Of course there is! Just a few years ago, a bunch of Qi Gong masters were on the Spring Festival Gala. Don’t you watch the Gala?"
"Er..." Zhang Wenda hesitated, unsure if this Qi Gong was the same stuff his grandfather practiced haphazardly.
"Besides Qi Gong and Superpowers, is there anything else?" he continued to ask.
His knowledge of this strange world was basically zero. Now that he’d finally found an expert, he naturally had to ask as much as he could.
"This is all that’s shown to the public. As for what the Third Line units have internally, a low-level clerk like me in the culture and entertainment industry has no right to know."
"Third Line?" Zhang Wenda knew about the Third Line units—a unique product of the era, created to counter the Sino-Soviet split and the American military threat in Vietnam.
But he wasn’t sure if the Third Line of this world was the same as the one he remembered.
"Um, do you know of any Superpowers or Qi Gong related to rule-based punishment? Like, the kind where if someone breaks a rule, they get punished."
"Hey, if you have questions, go ask your teacher at school, okay? What are you asking me for? Am I your teacher? Do you want a Superpower or not? I get off work in half an hour."
The man glanced at his watch. "I’m telling you, that slip has been canceled. If you don’t make the exchange today, you won’t get your slip or your money back."
Seeing that the man was unwilling to say more, Zhang Wenda stopped asking questions. "I’ll exchange. I’ll do it."
"Go on, pick one." The man then pulled a white book from a nearby shelf and handed it to Zhang Wenda. Written on the cover in large characters were three words: *Human Body Science*.
Zhang Wenda opened the first page, and his pupils instantly contracted. Written on it in large characters were six words: Human Body Science 001: Word Recognition by Ear.
Zhang Wenda then turned to the second page. It read: Human Body Science 002: Color Recognition by Abdomen.
Human Body Science 003: Mind Control. Strength: Nudging clock hands, moving a cigarette pack.
Human Body Science 004: Remote Viewing. When activated, allows sight of scenes over 50 meters away.
Human Body Science 005: Egg Stepping. When activated, allows one to stand on an egg with one foot without it breaking.
"What is all this junk..."
Although Song Jianguo, who was standing to the side, pretended not to care, she still secretly craned her neck to peek.
He started flipping through the pages faster and faster, each one revealing another bizarre Superpower, until he finally snapped the book shut.
"This is it? Are you kidding me, this is all there is? Do you have any idea how much effort I put in to earn these 10 yuan?"
At this point, Wang Shaojie was already packing up his lunch box, looking like he was ready to clock out at any second.
"10 yuan? What did you expect to get for 10 yuan? Do you know how much a dacron shirt costs these days?" the man said, flicking the shirt under his lab coat with a finger.
"This isn’t the old days anymore. Prices are starting to skyrocket, and money is worth less and less each day."
Frowning deeply, Zhang Wenda opened the book again. ’Impossible. The rabbit had no reason to lie to me. He sent me to the Xinhua Bookstore for a reason; it has to be related to the punishment from the rules affecting me.’
Suddenly recalling something, Zhang Wenda looked at the other colored books on the shelves. "This can’t just be the most basic Superpowers, right? There have to be more powerful ones, right?"
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