Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Game Piece
Zhang Wenda stood outside the Youth Palace, anxiously gazing down the hallway before him. The place already seemed deep, and the Youth Palace looked even more so. He could even feel a faint chill seeping out from within.
A recurring question popped into Zhang Wenda’s mind again. ’Is this place really a Youth Palace?’
Suddenly, Zhang Wenda felt someone tugging on his clothes from behind. He turned his head to glance at the small, bespectacled kid behind him and saw them secretly point toward the hallway. He knew it meant they had to go in.
’Can’t fight fate.’ He steeled himself, squeezed his eyes shut, and copied the kid, grabbing onto the hem of Fatty’s shirt in front of him.
Then, the group of students formed a single line. Under the gaze of the purple Teacher Rabbit standing to the side, they moved like a train down the Youth Palace hallway.
Once inside the Youth Palace, the nursery rhyme music in his ears finally faded away. As the door slowly closed behind them, Zhang Wenda at last began to observe his surroundings.
To be honest, it was only after stepping inside that he realized the Youth Palace didn’t look as scary from the inside as it did from the outside.
The terrazzo floor of the hallway was polished to a shine from foot traffic. On the glass windows to the left, a "Celebrate June 1st" sign had half peeled off. The wall to the right was covered with various gilt-lettered slogans like "Explore, Grow, Be Happy," as well as many brittle crayon drawings.
Further down, the hallway was lined with closed doors on both sides. The doorframes were labeled with interest groups like Go, Model Airplanes, and Calligraphy, though the words were somewhat faded.
Judging by the overall decor, the Youth Palace was clearly quite old. Everything carried an air of decay, and a faint musty smell hung in the air.
Glancing at a plaster statue of a student wearing a red scarf standing at the corner, Zhang Wenda didn’t detect any immediate danger.
’So this is... the Youth Palace?’ Zhang Wenda had no idea what this place was for, and he was afraid of triggering some rule if he asked the other students. Fortunately, someone had given him a guide before he came in.
Zhang Wenda let go of Fatty’s shirt and opened the book in his hands: *Mr. Ding’s Guide to the Youth Palace*.
Page one, line one: "Hello, little friends! It’s me, your old friend Old Ding. I’ll be your guide through the Youth Palace..."
Zhang Wenda quickly skimmed past the fluff and went straight to the useful information. "There are many games to choose from in the Youth Palace. First up, hide-and-seek in the Chess and Card Room."
"I, Old Ding, have hidden some little things in the Chess and Card Room. They look something like this." Next to the text was a crayon drawing of a white circle, which looked like a white Go piece.
"Supplies are limited, so it’s first come, first served! Teacher Rabbit will give a reward to the person who finds the most!" Next to this line was a drawing of a laughing Old Ding.
’Go pieces? They brought us in here just to find Go pieces?’ A completely bewildered Zhang Wenda looked up and saw that the other students were already heading toward the Go classroom.
’Crap, those guys aren’t even waiting for me.’ Zhang Wenda quickly walked in that direction too.
Upon entering the so-called Go classroom, Zhang Wenda saw the small room was densely packed with old-fashioned desks and benches. If you were to count the students based on the number of desks, the class would have at least a hundred people.
Both the benches and desks were very old; the paint had almost completely peeled off, revealing the original wood underneath. They were covered with carved graffiti of various sizes, including the character for "early."
Zhang Wenda followed the other students in among the crowded wooden desks and benches, feeling as if his lower body was sinking into a swamp of old wood.
Then, Zhang Wenda saw Fatty to the side take two palm-sized plastic bags out of his own bag. With his butt stuck in the air, he began searching for something in the desk drawers.
A moment later, Fatty’s eyes lit up. He pulled a white Go piece from a drawer with his chubby hand and dropped it directly into one of the plastic bags.
’So the stuff in our bags is for collecting things in the Youth Palace?’ Still completely bewildered, Zhang Wenda also took a plastic bag from his schoolbag and, copying the others, began searching for Go pieces.
Soon, he felt something hard in the drawer of a wooden desk. When he pulled it out, he saw it was indeed a round, white Go piece. He held it up to the lightbulb and saw it was just an ordinary white piece.
’Huh? Is this... a normal activity at the Youth Palace? To train students’ observation skills? But is all this trouble really necessary?’ Having never been to a Youth Palace before, Zhang Wenda had no idea if this was normal or not.
Although he didn’t know the reason for doing this, Zhang Wenda didn’t care to find out right now. He just wanted to go home in one piece.
Zhang Wenda started to work with his head down. If coming to the Youth Palace was really just about finding things, then nothing could be better.
Soon, as he grew more practiced at the search, the number of white Go pieces in Zhang Wenda’s plastic bag grew and grew, gradually widening the gap between him and the others.
But this outcome was to be expected. As a battle-hardened corporate slave, Zhang Wenda knew how to save time and maximize efficiency in a way these fun-loving kids couldn’t even compare to.
At least when it came to being a workhorse, he was confident that if he claimed to be number two in this class, nobody would dare claim to be number one. ’Perhaps this is my golden finger,’ he thought.
Looking at the bag full of white Go pieces, Zhang Wenda couldn’t help but feel a faint sadness. This really wasn’t anything to be proud of.
"Haozi, you’ve found so many?" Xiaopang squeezed over from the side, looking in amazement at Zhang Wenda’s huge haul.
Then he looked back at his own collection of white pieces, which he could count on one hand, and his eyebrows drooped. "I always find the least..."
Zhang Wenda glanced at the pitifully small number of pieces in the other boy’s bag, then took it. Without a word, he lifted his own bag to the opening and poured half of his white pieces into it. "Here."
"Whoa! Haozi, are these really for me? You’re really giving me this many?" Little Fatty took the bag back, touched.
"Forget it. We’re buddies, right?" Zhang Wenda patted him on the shoulder. "Just remember to save me a couple of those lollipops next time. I really like them."
As he spoke, Zhang Wenda pulled the lollipop from his mouth. The candy was gone, leaving only a little white stick with a slanted cut on the end that could be used as a whistle.
He put the stick back in his mouth, sucking the last bit of flavor from it as he went back to his diligent search.
Based on the current situation, he was without a doubt the one with the most. Zhang Wenda couldn’t help but recall the purple Teacher Rabbit’s promise. He’d said the person with the most would get a special reward. ’What kind of reward will it be?’
Honestly, a place this strange couldn’t only have a bad side. There had to be a good side, too.
’Could it be a magical reward even better than a big red lollipop?’ At this thought, Zhang Wenda couldn’t help but start looking forward to the end of this Youth Palace visit.
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