Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Lollipop
"The Youth Palace?"
Hearing the name, both strange and familiar, Zhang Wenda couldn’t help but freeze. ’Since when did this little town of his have a Youth Palace?’
He had never been to one. In the past, he’d only ever seen the term in his math textbooks.
Question: It takes Xiaoming 10 minutes to get to the Youth Palace. He sets off, but after 4 minutes, he realizes he forgot something. He immediately returns home at the same speed. After grabbing the item, he rushes to the Youth Palace at a speed of 120 meters per minute. The total trip took 14 minutes. What was Xiaoming’s original speed in meters per minute?
It sounded like a place for fun. As a kid, he would sometimes imagine how amazing it must be. But he didn’t think that way now. ’God knows what kind of thing the Youth Palace in this godforsaken place is.’
"So, are you going or not? If not, I’m leaving," Pan Dongzi said, pretending to be impatient. He held his digital watch up to his face, checking it again and again.
"Wait, hold on." Zhang Wenda quickly stood up, stuffing the Student Handbook in his hand into his pocket. "We’re going now? Don’t we have class this afternoon?"
"It’s Friday, you dummy. We always go to the Youth Palace on Friday afternoons."
"So... do I have to go? What happens if I don’t?" he asked, his voice tinged with hesitation.
"How should I know what’ll happen if you don’t go? I’m going. If you don’t, I won’t be with you," Pan Dongzi replied, adjusting the straps of his backpack.
"Are the other students going?"
"Pretty much. So are you going or not?" Pan Dongzi pressed him.
"I’m going! I’m definitely going!" Recalling the agonizing experience from that morning, Zhang Wenda didn’t hesitate any longer and readily agreed.
Skipping class was already that awful. God only knew what consequences skipping the Youth Palace would bring. He absolutely did not want to go through something like that a second time.
Faced with this world of the past, there was much he didn’t understand. But one thing had become crystal clear: when in doubt, just go where the locals go. Following them couldn’t be a mistake.
"You’re going just like that? Without bringing anything?" Fatty sized up Zhang Wenda.
"Bring anything? What could I possibly need to bring just for the Youth Palace?" ’Then again,’ he thought, ’what could Xiaoming have forgotten when he went to the Youth Palace all those years ago?’
"Of course you do." Fatty unzipped his backpack to show him.
When Zhang Wenda peeked inside, he was shocked to find that the backpack, which should have been full of books, didn’t contain a single one.
Before him lay a jumble of ropes, some clear glass bottles, a few balled-up plastic bags, and a folded red-and-white striped woven plastic sack.
The sight left Zhang Wenda completely bewildered. ’What... what is all this? You need to bring this stuff to the Youth Palace? Is this what Xiaoming forgot? What in the world is this Youth Palace?’
He had never been to a Youth Palace as a child and could only guess what it was like. But even so, he instinctively felt that something was wrong with these items.
Zhang Wenda quickly flipped through the Student Handbook and found no mention of the Youth Palace whatsoever.
Glancing again at the contents of Fatty’s bag, he asked, "Is all this stuff required?"
"Yep, it’s required. The teacher told us during class."
"The teacher? And the purpose of bringing these things is—" Zhang Wenda stopped himself mid-sentence. ’That was close. If I keep asking questions, will I get attacked again?’
Still shaken, he glanced at the Student Handbook. Zhang Wenda didn’t dare gamble on what triggered the rules.
"So just this stuff, right? Okay, wait for me. I’ll go home and get it now."
After returning home, Zhang Wenda had initially planned to take the paper money from under the glass tabletop to buy the items. But as it turned out, he found a grimy, worn-out backpack.
He opened it up and found that, besides some textbooks, it also contained some of the same containers. Judging by their condition, it was clear he had been to the Youth Palace before.
Seeing this evidence gave Zhang Wenda some peace of mind. ’It looks like the Youth Palace probably isn’t dangerous.’
He immediately shouldered the backpack and prepared to head back down. But after a moment’s thought, he picked up the heavy flashlight, weighed it in his hand, and finally tucked it into the mesh pocket on the left side of his backpack.
’Better take it. If something happens, it can be used as a blunt weapon. It’s good to have something in my hands.’ As a kid, Zhang Wenda had tested its power; it was more effective than a brick.
On the yellowed concrete road, a group of students was walking toward the Youth Palace. Besides Xiaopang, other classmates gradually gathered together.
Zhang Wenda found all their faces familiar, but when he tried to recall their names, he drew a blank.
They were mostly boys. At this age, they probably didn’t hang out with girls much anyway.
Whenever a group of boys got together, they would always debate some far-fetched topic. Right now, for instance, the group was arguing about whether planes or tanks were more powerful.
"Of course planes are more powerful! Planes can fly! Can a tank fly? Do you know how high a plane can fly?" Pan Dongzi said, gesturing wildly.
"Can a plane compare to a tank? A tank has a cannon! It can shoot a plane down!"
But at that moment, Zhang Wenda was in no mood to argue about such nonsense. He took out a pen and, gritting his teeth, wrote a new rule in a blank space in the Student Handbook: "Do not ask others too many questions."
Based on his firsthand experience of triggering the rules twice, it was clear the rules in the Student Handbook were ambiguous. He needed to make them more precise based on his own experiences.
Then, he wrote another new rule: "Hang meat on TV No. 6. Pat it gently 4 times just before 8:00." After writing it, he thought for a moment and crossed it out.
"Here." A lollipop in an orange plastic wrapper appeared in front of Zhang Wenda.
Zhang Wenda froze. His gaze traveled up from the lollipop to Pan Dongzi’s carefree, smiling face. "Orange lollipop. Isn’t this your favorite? Eat it, and the pain will go away."
Seeing the familiar wrapper, Zhang Wenda felt a stir in his heart. The wariness he had quietly built up against the guy lessened considerably. ’It’s touching that he still remembers I liked these as a kid.’
But after he learned to smoke later in life, he never ate candy again.
Zhang Wenda took it and unwrapped it. As he popped it into his mouth and took a lick, a rich orange flavor instantly filled his senses.
It might not actually do anything, but the sentiment was rare and precious. Maybe this damn fatty really wasn’t a normal person, but for now, it seemed their relationship was truly that of best friends.
"How is it? Good, right?" Fatty playfully pushed his hand away and went back to discussing planes and tanks with the others.
However, just a few steps after Pan Dongzi walked away, something strange happened.
As he gently sucked on the sweet lollipop, a feeling of joy welled up inside him. His gloomy mood instantly lifted, and he felt a warmth spread throughout his body.
But the miraculous effect didn’t stop there. Along with this internal change, his battered and bruised body also began to transform rapidly.
The stinging pain started to fade, and the swelling and bruises on his body began to subside.
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