Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Happiness
Zhang Wenda continued searching for white Go pieces in the Go room, which was filled with tables and chairs. Even though he’d given half to Little Fatty, it didn’t take long for his first plastic bag to fill up.
He had already figured out the pattern. Most of the white Go pieces were stuck to the top-left corner of the drawers, while the black ones were stuck to the inner side of the chair legs.
Also, he realized that once he found a white piece, the chances of finding another one in the desk drawer immediately to its left were very low.
Zhang Wenda made a mental note of these patterns, figuring he could use them the next time he came here.
By the time he had filled his second bag halfway, he had pretty much searched all the tables and chairs.
He judged that continuing to search this area wouldn’t yield much more. Just as he was about to double-check some of the drawers in the corners, he suddenly froze. His gaze fixed on a bench to the side, where he saw a black Go piece.
’A black piece? Should I collect it? Didn’t Old Ding say to collect the white ones?’
As Zhang Wenda was still pondering this, he looked again and saw the distant black Go piece was gone, as if it had just been a hallucination.
’What the hell was that?’ Frowning, Zhang Wenda reopened his copy of *Mr. Ding’s Guide to the Youth Palace* and quickly found some notes about black Go pieces at the end of the "Board and Card Games" section.
"Attention, kids! The Youth Palace teachers only buy white Go pieces; we don’t need black ones. If you see a black piece, please act like it doesn’t exist."
"1: If you see a black Go piece three or more times, please inform your classmates and leave the Go room!"
"2: If five or more black Go pieces form a line on a table, and strange noises start coming from the game room, please return to the entrance as fast as you can, inform Teacher Rabbit, and then you can all go home early to watch cartoons today!"
Reading this, Zhang Wenda finally let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He was now one hundred percent certain that the Youth Palace Xiaoming went to back in the day was absolutely nothing like this.
Although Old Ding’s tone was whimsical, Zhang Wenda didn’t find the guide humorous in the slightest. This place was clearly off, and definitely dangerous.
’So... what exactly are we here for?’ he thought, looking at the students around him who were engrossed in their search for Go pieces.
A carefree person like Little Fatty might not notice, but he could tell something was seriously wrong with these rules.
The so-called "going home early," to put it bluntly, meant that the appearance of five black Go pieces signified that something very bad was about to happen, which was why they were told to leave early.
Although he didn’t know what that would be, it definitely wouldn’t be anything good.
Judging by the severe punishment he received just for skipping class, if he were to break the Youth Palace’s rules, he might not make it out alive.
’How cruel,’ Zhang Wenda thought. ’Sending a bunch of kids to a place this dangerous? Aren’t they afraid something will go wrong? Aren’t their parents worried? Or is this sort of thing just commonplace for the people in this world?’
He had already packed up his things. He wasn’t planning to search anymore and squeezed his way to the door of the Go room, ready to retreat the moment things went south.
This place was indeed dangerous, but fortunately, the danger here also followed a certain logic.
As Zhang Wenda waited anxiously, time ticked by. When he saw a black Go piece for the second time, his heart instantly clenched, and he moved so that one foot was already out in the hallway.
To his relief, however, it was clear that he had already collected the majority of the white Go pieces. The other students, finding little for themselves, began leaving the Go room in twos and threes.
When he saw the last student come out and close the main door behind them, Zhang Wenda finally let out a deep sigh. ’Phew. At least I’ve made it through this trial for now.’
He grabbed Pan Dongzi’s right hand, glanced at his plastic watch, and saw that it was only 2 PM.
The Youth Palace closed at 6, which meant he still had to stay here for another four hours. At this moment, Zhang Wenda finally understood what it meant for a day to feel like a year.
After that, the other students split up in twos and threes, heading to various rooms. They mostly stuck with their friends, which made it hard for Zhang Wenda to decide what to do.
Just then, Fatty, standing at the door of the model airplane room around a distant corner, waved to Zhang Wenda. "Haozi, come on! Hurry! It’s more fun over here!"
Zhang Wenda thought for a moment and quickly walked over. ’Since he’s been here before and we’re on good terms, he probably wouldn’t try to harm me,’ he reasoned.
When they walked into the model airplane room, they saw all kinds of small planes hanging from the ceiling by strings.
"Haozi! Quick, look at that one."
Zhang Wenda then saw Pan Dongzi pointing at a single-aisle, narrow-body Boeing B737, gesticulating wildly as he said, "I’ve seen this little plane before! One time, when I was on my balcony memorizing my lessons, it flew over to my house from the 4th floor of the building across the street."
"I was so happy! I wanted to catch it with a cage, but unfortunately, my older sister chased it away with a broom."
"Is that so? Your house must be pretty big." Zhang Wenda couldn’t be bothered to listen to the other boy’s nonsense. He buried his head in the Youth Palace guide and started looking up the rules for the model airplane room.
He was less concerned with what kind of small plane could fly into someone’s house and more focused on what he was supposed to collect in this room, and what dangers it held.
"You don’t need to look at that, I know this one! I’ve been here lots of times!" Xiaopang said, pulling Zhang Wenda deeper into the room.
However, he didn’t touch any of the model airplanes or the large globe in the middle of the room. Instead, he went over to the yellowed wall and stood close, looking up.
Then, as if he’d seen something, he quickly waved at Zhang Wenda. "Bottle! Quick, get the bottle!"
After taking the clear glass bottle from his companion, Pan Dongzi stood on his tiptoes, pressing the mouth of the bottle high up against the wall.
Just as Zhang Wenda was trying to figure out what he was doing, he saw a pale yellow liquid seeping out of the wall and trickling into the bottle.
Pan Dongzi tilted the bottle from side to side, and soon the liquid covered the bottom.
Sweat beading on his forehead from the effort, he offered the bottle to Zhang Wenda and said, "Here! Have a drink. This stuff is great!"
"I’m not drinking that." Looking at the liquid, which seemed to contain murky impurities, Zhang Wenda quickly shook his head. ’It’s not like I’ll just put anything in my mouth,’ he thought.
"It’s delicious, really. It’s not like you haven’t had it before." Pan Dongzi said, then brought the bottle to his lips and took a small sip. A blissful smile immediately spread across his face.
"What is this?" Just as Zhang Wenda finished speaking, a scar instantly appeared on his back. The pain made his body go rigid. "Fuck!"
The chuckling Little Fatty once again offered the bottle to Zhang Wenda.
"This is happiness. Liquid happiness. The orange-flavored lollipop you ate earlier had this in it too."
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