Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Parents
"Where are your parents?" At Song Jianguo’s words, Zhang Wenda, who was in the middle of packing his books, stiffened.
"I don’t know. Maybe they’re on the night shift," Zhang Wenda said nonchalantly.
"Night shift? Then who made you these noodles?" This time, Zhang Wenda didn’t answer Song Jianguo’s question, acting as if he hadn’t heard a thing.
"What kind of job do your parents have that requires a night shift?"
"I heard you’re in some kind of trouble with the rules. Why don’t you ask your parents for help instead of trying to figure it out yourself?"
While Song Jianguo was still prying, the next second, Zhang Wenda hurled his schoolbag straight at her.
Song Jianguo ducked instinctively, and the schoolbag grazed her cat ears as it flew past.
Zhang Wenda rushed over, slammed her head down onto the table with one hand, and practically snarled, "Provoke me again, and see if I don’t make you eat shit!"
Song Jianguo was taken aback. He had never worn such a savage expression, not even when they had fought.
It was as if she had touched a raw nerve.
As Zhang Wenda let go and went to pick up his schoolbag, Song Jianguo watched his retreating back with a strange look on her face.
’What on earth happened between him and his parents? Why did he fly off the handle like that?’
The fact that Zhang Wenda wouldn’t say anything only made her more curious.
"I’m done eating. Go wash up and get to bed. You’re sleeping under the bed."
Although Song Jianguo desperately wanted to argue, she ultimately complied, cursing him under her breath.
But when she got under the bed, she was very surprised.
She had expected nothing but the cold, concrete floor. Instead, there was a small bed made from a pile of old rags and cardboard. Beside it were a few small toys and tools, making the space look almost cozy.
Leaning back on the little bed, she picked up a tin frog and scraped it with a sharp nail. ’This place isn’t half bad,’ Song Jianguo found herself thinking.
They were both tired and had nothing more to say to each other. Soon, the light in the room went out.
After Zhang Wenda turned off the TV and lay down on the bed, Song Jianguo’s voice, tinged with an apology, drifted up from beneath him.
"I wasn’t actually trying to provoke you. I’ve never met my parents, so I was just curious."
Zhang Wenda took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes. "That’s a good thing. Since you’ve never met them, you can imagine them freely. You can assign them all the wonderful qualities of parents from movies and novels. But reality isn’t like that. Nobody’s perfect."
He paused for a moment before continuing, "Anyone can have a kid, but not everyone is fit to be a parent. If you’re unlucky enough to be born to a couple of animals, your whole life is ruined."
Hearing this, a look of disapproval crossed Song Jianguo’s face from under the bed. "You’re a real piece of work, talking about your own parents like that."
Zhang Wenda’s expression turned savage, and his voice suddenly boomed as if from a stress reaction.
"Yeah, you’re right! I’m unfilial, I’m an ungrateful bastard, I’m not even human! I’m a piece of trash! Are you satisfied now? Have you ever wondered how I got so good at enduring pain?"
The room fell dead silent, with only the sound of Zhang Wenda’s and Song Jianguo’s breathing.
A few minutes later, Zhang Wenda spoke again, his tone much calmer this time.
"I don’t care what you think. I don’t care about them. Do you understand? So what if I haven’t seen them once? I don’t care."
After another few minutes, Zhang Wenda’s voice rang out again. "This room is only so big. They haven’t shown their faces once. You think I didn’t notice? I’ve known for a long time, but so what? I don’t care! Whether they’re dead or alive, or even if they’ve turned into a monster like the Youth Palace, what does that have to do with me? I don’t care! I don’t give a damn!"
"I won’t go looking for them, and I won’t get involved with them! Even if this world gets weirder and more dangerous, I’d rather be tormented to death by the rules than ask them for help!!"
After spitting it all out in one breath, Zhang Wenda sat on the bed, panting heavily. He waited for a moment but got no reaction from Song Jianguo.
Hearing the faint sound of snoring from under the bed, he realized Song Jianguo had fallen asleep sometime during his rant.
"Sigh..." The room fell silent once more.
Early the next morning, Zhang Wenda woke up. He kicked the bed frame, jolting Song Jianguo awake. "Get up."
"So annoying! I barely slept!" the prickly Song Jianguo grumbled, crawling out from under the bed with an impatient look on her face.
"Let’s go. I’ll treat you to breakfast." Zhang Wenda waved a few crumpled bills in his hand.
"What do you mean, ’treat me’? That’s clearly my money..." Song Jianguo grumbled, reluctantly following him out.
They went to a bustling breakfast shop where Zhang Wenda ordered two servings of xiaolongbao and two cups of soy milk, and the two of them began to eat.
"I have class today. In the meantime, you’ll be outside catching rats and sparrows. After my class ends at 5 PM, take the money you earn and meet up with me," Zhang Wenda instructed Song Jianguo as he ate.
Seeing her grab a dumpling with her hand, Zhang Wenda couldn’t help but frown. "Are you from India? Eating with your hands? Use chopsticks! And put your feet on the floor!"
Song Jianguo shot Zhang Wenda a vicious glare, then reluctantly pulled a single chopstick from the bamboo holder, speared a dumpling with it, and lifted it to her mouth.
’I can’t always be so hard on her,’ Zhang Wenda realized. ’After all, you have to show a little leniency to such a useful tool sometimes. It would be a huge pain if she was constantly by my side plotting how to kill me.’
"Don’t look at me like that. Bro, I’ve been around the block. I’m destined to make a fortune. When I become the richest man in the country, you, as my number-one employee, will get a huge cut."
Just as Zhang Wenda was rattling on, painting this rosy picture for her, he saw other students with schoolbags walking past the shop’s entrance.
He pushed the two remaining xiaolongbao in front of Song Jianguo, grabbed his schoolbag, and hurried out. "Remember, 5 PM sharp at the school gate!"
It was his first time going to this school, so he felt a little unsure. It would be safer to go with other people.
The main reason was that the recent incident had left him jumpy. If the Youth Palace could be a monster hiding underground, what if this school wasn’t a proper school either?
That’s why he had gotten up early today—to lie in wait for Fatty and the others at school and ask them straight up if this school was what it seemed to be.
He also needed to know what else they did besides studying, and whether they had to do strange, inexplicable things like at the Youth Palace.
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