With a gentle wave of Ouyang’s hand, two students who looked like zombies walked over and helped Zhang Wenda up from the ground, his body covered in injuries.
“Don’t worry, you’re my student. I won’t harm you. I’m just using Green Dam to erase your memories of the Network World.”
“You’re a student, you should be a good child. Teachers always have your best interests at heart.”
Looking at the numb faces surrounding him, the weakened Zhang Wenda let out a faint chuckle.
It felt as if that day’s experience was happening all over again, but he was no longer the same as before — he had grown up.
He looked down at the floor beneath him and slowly said, “I’m sorry, I’ve never been a very obedient kid.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he pressed his hand lightly on the Yellow Core.
In the next second, the entire environment instantly changed.
Like a rain washing away the colors, the crowd around him vanished.
Under the golden light of the setting sun, an old and dilapidated school corridor appeared in front of Zhang Wenda.Aside from the litter and dust on the ground, what remained were all sorts of red demolition characters on the walls.
The school corridor was completely empty — the teachers and students from before had all disappeared.
The moment he switched into the Adult World, Zhang Wenda’s crisis was immediately resolved.
He raised his hand and looked at his watch, realizing he only had 2 minutes left on the Yellow Core.
Without time to think about anything else, he hurriedly made his way out of the school.
“Thank goodness I had the Yellow Core. Otherwise, I’d have been finished today.”
Still feeling uneasy, Zhang Wenda pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took a deep drag.
He immediately felt much better.
Just as he was about to step out through the ruined school gate, a hunched woman blocked his path.
It was Teacher Ouyang.
But at this moment, she looked extremely old, with ceramic cracks on her face resembling deep wrinkles.
Zhang Wenda didn’t run.
Teacher Ouyang now looked so frail it seemed a light push would topple her.
Ouyang raised her head and looked at Zhang Wenda with cloudy eyes.
“You must listen to your teacher. This is for your own good.”
With heavy breathing, Zhang Wenda placed his hand on her shoulder and pointed out toward the street.
Pointing at those people glued to their phones, he shouted, “Teacher, look! Look at their phones! Everyone in the world is online now!”
“Come on! Tell them! Tell them they’re all committing crimes! Tell them they’re all prostitutes and thugs! Say it! Do you dare?!”
This time, the Yellow Core’s duration was even shorter.
Zhang Wenda had just stepped out of the school when the half-smoked cigarette in his mouth turned into a half-melted Lollipop.
Having escaped danger, Zhang Wenda stood in a corner, looking from afar at the school.
Inside, teachers and students were searching high and low for him, like they were performing a massive cleanup.
For some reason, Zhang Wenda had a feeling that he wouldn’t be able to return to that school anytime soon.
After thinking for a moment, he quickly headed toward Song Jianguo’s treehouse.
As he walked, he muttered to himself, “Why didn’t Song Jianguo tell me that you can’t even talk about the Network World?”
“Why should I tell you? Did I go to school? How would I know?”
Inside the treehouse, Song Jianguo rolled her eyes while eating dinner.
“I told you, that place is dangerous. I told you not to go. Now look what happened. You got into trouble, didn’t you?”
“I haven’t even gone yet. Can’t I at least ask?”
Zhang Wenda felt extremely wronged.
He just wanted to ask around, gather some experience, weigh the pros and cons, and then decide whether to go.
He didn’t expect that in this strange, broken place, even asking a question could land him in trouble.
“Hey, Mouse, hey~!”
Outside the treehouse came the hushed voice of Pan Dongzi.
When Zhang Wenda poked his head out, he saw several familiar faces.
Besides Pan Dongzi and his deskmate, there were a few others who had gone to the Youth Center with him before.
“How did you find me?” Zhang Wenda climbed down the utility pole, looking at them in surprise.
“Ever since you fought with that wild kid, you’ve been coming here to play with her all the time. I figured you’d be here,” said Pan Dongzi, then looked around and whispered, “Mouse, my mom said I shouldn’t hang out with you anymore. She says you’ve gone bad.”
“If you’re not supposed to hang out with me, then why did you all come here?” Zhang Wenda frowned.
“What my mom says is one thing. But you treated me to a big meal today. I’m not that ungrateful.”
After patting his chest, Pan Dongzi lowered his voice and whispered again, “I came here to warn you — the teacher has told everyone in the class to look for you. If you run into any classmates, make sure to hide.”
“I seriously don’t get it. What did I do? Did I kill someone? Set a fire? Why such a huge fuss?” Zhang Wenda almost laughed from frustration.
“The teacher said you’ve learned to go online, and you even learned to play online games. She said you’ll become a bad person in the future.”
“Bullshit!” Zhang Wenda’s shout startled Pan Dongzi.
Zhang Wenda paced back and forth, then looked up at Pan Dongzi.
“Go back and tell her — I’m not going back to school anymore. She can go ahead and expel me.”
“But… won’t you get hurt if you’re late?”
“I’d rather suffer every day. I’ll resist with candy if I have to — but I won’t accept her reasoning! Wrong is wrong!”
After saying this, Zhang Wenda climbed back up the pole.
Song Jianguo, who had been eavesdropping with her cat ears raised, commented in surprise, “What’s wrong with you? You’re acting like someone stepped on your tail.”
“None of your damn business. Pack your stuff. We’re leaving tomorrow. I’m going to the Network World no matter what!”
Zhang Wenda grabbed his belongings and left in a hurry.
Nearby, Aunt Flo, who had been petting a cat, said slowly, “That kid looks like he’s having a stress response. He’s carrying a lot inside.”
“He’s always like this. When I asked about his parents before, he was the same. Tch, just like a lunatic,” Song Jianguo said with disdain.
Aunt Flo set down the black lump in her arms, walked over to Song Jianguo, rolled up her sleeves, and showed off her strong muscles.
“Don’t worry about tomorrow. You don’t have to do anything. Just follow along. Aunt Flo will protect Mimi.”
“Aunt Flo, you’re the best.”
Song Jianguo hugged her big belly with emotion, but in the next second, Aunt Flo hit her with another elbow from below.
“Ugh… it’d be even better if you didn’t hit me…”