Old Domain Bizarre

Chapter 7 Chess Pieces
Zhang Wenda stood outside the Children's Palace, looking at the corridor in front of him with some trepidation. The place was already deep, but the Children's Palace seemed even deeper. He could even feel a chill emanating from inside.

A recurring question arose in Zhang Wenda's mind: "Is this really the Children's Palace?"

Suddenly, Zhang Wenda felt someone tugging at his clothes from behind. He turned his head and glanced at the short man with glasses behind him. He saw the man secretly pointing towards the corridor and knew they were going in.

What is meant to be will be, and he couldn't escape it. He steeled himself, closed his eyes, and did as the other man did, grabbing the hem of the fat man's clothes in front of him.

Then the students lined up and, under the watchful eye of their teacher, Purple Rabbit, walked like a train towards the corridor of the Children's Palace.

Upon entering the Children's Palace, the nursery rhymes gradually faded away, and as the door behind him slowly closed, Zhang Wenda finally began to observe the Children's Palace.

To be honest, once he stepped inside, he realized that the youth palace wasn't as intimidating as it looked from the outside.

The terrazzo floor of the entire corridor was polished to a shine, half of the "Celebrating Children's Day" sticker on the left glass window had fallen off, and the right wall was covered with various gold-plated slogans such as "Explore, Grow, and Be Happy," as well as many brittle crayon drawings.

Along the corridor in the distance were rows of closed room doors, with labels on the doorframes indicating interest groups such as Go, model airplanes, and calligraphy, the lettering of which was somewhat faded.

Judging from the overall decor, this youth palace is indeed quite old, with a decaying atmosphere and a slight musty smell in the air.

Glancing at the plaster statue of a student wearing a red scarf standing at the corner, Zhang Wenda did not detect any danger for the time being.

"Is this...the Children's Palace?" Zhang Wenda didn't know what this place was for. He was afraid of triggering the rules if he asked the other students, but fortunately, someone had given him a guide before he came in.

Zhang Wenda loosened his grip on the fat man's clothes and opened the book he was holding, "Old Ding Takes You Around the Children's Palace."

First page, first line: Hello children, I'm your old friend, Old Man Ding. Next, I'll lead you on a tour of the Children's Palace...

Zhang Wenda quickly skipped over the irrelevant text and went straight to the useful information. "There are many games available for everyone to choose from at the Children's Palace. The first one is hide-and-seek in the chess and card room."

"Old Ding, I hid some small things in the chess and card room. They look something like this." Next to the text, a white circle was drawn in crayon, which looked like a Go piece.

"Limited quantity, first come first served! The person who finds the most will receive a reward from Teacher Rabbit!" Next to this text was a drawing of an old man Ding laughing.

"Chess pieces? They let us in just to find chess pieces?" Zhang Wenda, completely bewildered, looked up and saw the other students already walking towards the Go class.

"Damn it, these guys didn't even wait for me." Zhang Wenda quickly walked over there as well.

When Zhang Wenda entered the so-called Go class, he saw that the small classroom was filled with old-fashioned chairs and benches. If you counted the number of people by the number of tables, there would be at least a hundred people in the class.

Both the benches and tables were very old, as the paint had mostly worn off, revealing the original color of the wood. There were also some large and small "early" characters or graffiti carved on them.

Zhang Wenda followed the other students and walked into the crowded wooden tables and benches, as if his lower body was sinking into an old wooden swamp.

Then Zhang Wenda saw the fat man next to him take out two palm-sized plastic bags from his bag and bend over to search for something in the wooden drawer. After a while, the fat man's eyes lit up, and he used his fat hand to pull a white Go stone from the drawer and put it directly into the plastic bag.

"So the things in the bag are for collecting things at the Children's Palace?" Zhang Wenda, completely bewildered, also took out a plastic bag from his schoolbag and started looking for chess pieces like the others.

Soon he felt something hard in a drawer of a wooden table. When he took it out, he found that it was indeed a round white Go stone. Looking at it under a light bulb, he realized that it was just an ordinary white Go stone.

"Hmm? Is this... a regular activity at the Children's Palace? To improve students' observation skills? Seriously, is it really necessary to go through all this trouble?" Zhang Wenda, who had never been to the Children's Palace before, didn't know whether this was normal or unusual.

Although he didn't know why he did this, Zhang Wenda didn't care to know the reason now; he just wanted to go home peacefully.

Zhang Wenda began to bury himself in his work. If he had really come to the Youth Palace just to find something, then that would be perfect.

As he became more and more skilled at searching, Zhang Wenda's plastic bag contained more and more white chess pieces, gradually widening the gap between him and the others.

However, this situation is obvious. As a seasoned office worker, Zhang Wenda knows how to save time and maximize profits, which is far beyond what these playful children can compare to.

At least among these people, when it comes to doing manual labor like cattle, he's second to none in the class; perhaps that's his secret weapon.

Looking at the bag full of white chess pieces, Zhang Wenda couldn't help but feel a faint sadness. This was really not something to be proud of.

"Mouse, you caught so many?" The chubby boy squeezed over, looking at Zhang Wenda's huge haul in surprise.

Finally, he looked at his few white chess pieces, which he could count on his fingers, and his eyebrows drooped. "I always end up with the fewest..."

Zhang Wenda glanced at the two or three kittens in the other person's bag, reached out and took them, then held up his own bag to the opening and, without a word, handed half of the white chess pieces to the other person. "Take it."

"Wow! Mouse, you really gave it to me? You really gave me this much?" The chubby boy took it back, feeling touched.

"Alright, we're buddies, aren't we?" Zhang Wenda patted him on the shoulder. "Next time you have these candies, remember to save a couple for me, I really like them."

As Zhang Wenda spoke, he pulled the lollipop out of his mouth. The candy was all gone, leaving only a small white stick with a slanted opening that could be used as a whistle.

He put the stick back into his mouth, sucking on the last bit of flavor as he began to work diligently.

Judging from the current situation, he was definitely the one who would get the most points. Zhang Wenda couldn't help but think of the promise that Teacher Purple Rabbit had made before. He seemed to have said that the one who got the most points would receive an extra reward. What kind of reward would it be?

Honestly, this place is so strange, it must have more than just a bad side; there must be a good side too.

"Could it be an even more amazing reward than the big red lollipop?" Thinking of this, Zhang Wenda couldn't help but look forward to the end of this session at the Children's Palace.

(End of this chapter)