Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Questioning
Zhang Wenda spent almost the entire day of classes in a daze.
His conversation with the rabbit had seemingly torn open a corner of this bizarre world, yet what it revealed was something even more incomprehensible.
’Are all adults monsters in this world? Does that mean everyone is like this?’
Pen in hand, Zhang Wenda stared blankly at the blackboard in the distance. ’What is going on with this world? If all the adults are monsters, then how does the world even function?’
BUMP! Someone crashed into Zhang Wenda, knocking him to the left. Immediately after, Pan Dongzi’s excited voice rang in his ear, "Haozi, let’s go! School’s out!"
Glancing at his other classmates leaving together, Zhang Wenda pulled his schoolbag out from his desk drawer. "You guys go on ahead. I need to see Teacher Ouyang about something."
"Whoa, you haven’t even finished your homework, and you still dare to go bother her? You’re brave."
Zhang Wenda looked at the boy’s completely guileless expression and sighed softly. Sometimes, he really envied this simple Little Fatty.
He didn’t have to worry about a thing, believing whatever his teachers and parents taught him, calmly accepting even the most bizarre events.
’If I could just become as carefree as him, maybe my life would be a little easier.’
But Zhang Wenda knew that was impossible. Ultimately, only his body had returned to its childhood state; inside, he was still an adult.
"You guys go. Don’t wait for me." Zhang Wenda slung his bag over his shoulder and walked out of the classroom.
When he arrived at the teachers’ office again, the huge, grotesque door had, for some reason, become much more normal.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. "Come in."
Zhang Wenda pushed the door open and saw Teacher Ouyang eating from a tin lunch box. Inside were scrambled eggs with yellow chives and stir-fried peppers with pork cracklings.
"Oh, Wenda? Is something wrong?" Teacher Ouyang, her head now a normal size, put down her lunch box.
With a serious expression, Zhang Wenda looked at her and, after a moment of deliberation, spoke. "Teacher Rabbit said you could help me. Can you help me with anything?"
"’Anything’ is a bit too broad. Why don’t you tell me what it is first? If I can help, I’ll do my best." She took out another White Rabbit creamy candy, an encouraging look on her face, as if she already knew what he wanted to ask.
"I was attacked by a very specific rule." Zhang Wenda calmly told Ouyang everything he had experienced.
If the matter of adults was too distant, the trouble with the rule was right in front of him. No matter what, he had to get rid of the rule affecting him first.
Since the rabbit said Ouyang could help him, there was no reason not to try.
After he finished explaining, Zhang Wenda waited quietly for her response.
He tried to analyze her emotions by reading her expression, but her ceramic-like smile rendered his corporate-drone skills completely useless.
"I can’t help you." Her words made Zhang Wenda’s heart sink. It wasn’t exactly disappointment, more like a sense of regret.
"Then, Teacher, can you tell me why this is happening?" Zhang Wenda pressed, unwilling to give up.
’Even if she can’t help me get rid of the rule, as long as I can understand why it appeared, I might be able to find a way to deal with it, just like I did with the Youth Palace.’
’No matter how strange this world is, there has to be some logic to it, right? Why did it attack me? What did I do wrong? Why am I the only one suffering like this, and not others?’
In response to Zhang Wenda’s questions, the smile on Teacher Ouyang’s face vanished, and she sat there like a statue.
"Why won’t you answer me? Is it because of the adults’ rules again?" A hint of disappointment on his face, Zhang Wenda turned to leave.
"Wait."
Hearing her voice, Zhang Wenda spoke without turning back. "I know what you’re going to say. That you’re not telling me for my own good, and that I’ll understand when I grow up. I’ve heard it all before."
Just as his hand was about to grab the doorknob, Ouyang’s words stopped him.
"Although I can’t help you, if you want to learn about that rule, I can tell you where to look."
"Where?" Zhang Wenda turned around in surprise.
She then gave him a very unexpected answer. "The library."
"The library?"
"Yes. You can find the explanation for everything in the world there."
"That’s great! Where is it?" Zhang Wenda quickly walked back, asking urgently.
"It’s right here in this school. As long as you search for it with the intent to find it, you will."
Although the trigger condition was a bit strange, Zhang Wenda was starting to get used to it. He didn’t think this so-called library was a real library. Right now, his attention was elsewhere.
"Is the place dangerous?"
"There is a certain degree of danger. Although you can find all the knowledge you want there, I advise you to only look for what you need. Don’t look at anything else, or you could easily turn into an adult."
Hearing this, Zhang Wenda’s heart tightened. ’From the way she’s talking, does she mean I could also become a monster like them?’
The moment he thought about the danger, Zhang Wenda immediately started thinking about how to avoid it. With such a powerful backer right in front of him, how could he not try to get her help?
"Um... okay, thank you. And, if it’s convenient, could you take me there?" ’It would be much safer to have an adult with me if I run into trouble in a place like that.’
"I can’t."
Ouyang’s reply was unexpected. "Why?"
"Because I can’t see it."
"You can’t see it?" Zhang Wenda was stunned.
"There are some things that adults can’t see, or even perceive. Only children like you can see them. The library, for example, or the Youth Palace."
As she spoke, Ouyang reached out and gently patted Zhang Wenda’s head. Her hand was cold and as hard as ceramic, but Zhang Wenda didn’t mind.
"I’d love to tell you more, but..." A trace of hesitation entered Ouyang’s voice. "But there are some things I don’t remember clearly anymore. I think I’ve been there, but I’ve forgotten what happened or what I encountered."
"Is it... because of the library? Or because you’re an adult?" Zhang Wenda asked.
Ouyang was silent for a long time before finally shaking her head. "I don’t remember. But becoming an adult does require you to forget many unnecessary things."
Comments