Grotesqueries of the Old Domain

Chapter 26: Enslavement

Reaching out to touch the collar around her neck, Song Jianguo’s eyes were now full of shock and fear; she couldn't even care about Zhang Wenda’s hand crazily fondling her ear.

But the next second, she glared at Zhang Wenda with eyes like a man-eating beast, flailing and clawing as she lunged toward him. “I’m going to kill you!!”

However, Zhang Wenda softly said, “Lie down.” Song Jianguo immediately lay flat on the ground, looking up at him with a humiliated and furious expression.

Zhang Wenda walked over, smiling, and lightly patted her cheek with one hand as he said, “Let me tell you something in advance—you’re completely finished. Now come and massage my back. Gently. Softly.”

Though she resisted with all her might, Song Jianguo’s body moved on its own, beyond her control.

While enjoying her reluctant service, and watching the look on her face—wanting to kill him, but forced to obey—Zhang Wenda felt pure satisfaction. He hadn’t felt this comfortable since arriving here.

Zhang Wenda then heard Song Jianguo’s voice, practically growling between clenched teeth: “Just you wait! One day I’ll break free from your control! One day! I’ll torture you to death then!”

“Oh? Tell me, how exactly will you torture me?”

“I’ll make you stand! Start by slapping you in the face! I’ll smash your head—”

“Slap yourself. Hard.”

A crisp smack echoed through the Youth Center.

Song Jianguo stood stunned, her face covered with her hand.

“What else? Keep going, I’m listening.”

Song Jianguo bit her lip with her sharp teeth, her body trembling with rage, but she didn’t dare say another word.

In truth, Zhang Wenda wasn’t angry. He just wondered if this girl was a bit slow—knowing he could control her, yet still threatening him. Was she asking for a slap?

But thinking of her age, Zhang Wenda let it go. Well, she wasn’t that old—clearly incapable of purely rational thinking.

Precisely because she was still so young, he thought he ought to come down hard. If she was this awful now, how would she be as an adult? She had to be disciplined properly.

Looking around at the increasingly claustrophobic Youth Center, Zhang Wenda realized this wasn’t the place. He dragged Song Jianguo toward the Aeromodelling Room.

About ten minutes later, just as a crowd of cats were pacing anxiously in the Youth Center basement, they suddenly saw the curtain on the wall lift. Their master emerged, carrying that boy on her back like a horse.

“I’m a reasonable man. However others treat me, that’s how I treat them. Do you understand your next task now?” Zhang Wenda pinched Song Jianguo’s ear as he spoke.

“I have to help you earn 10 yuan.” Song Jianguo nearly ground her teeth to pieces as she spoke.

“Hmm, not too dumb. Then hurry up and get to it,” Zhang Wenda said with a yawn.

“Now? It’s midnight already!”

“Hahaha, what? You want to sleep or something?” Zhang Wenda asked, genuinely surprised.

“Only people who don’t contribute to society sleep. Hurry up and go make money.”

“But I’m not like you—I’m very principled. Here’s the deal: once you’ve earned 10 yuan, then you can sleep. How’s that?”

“I don’t know how to get money,” Song Jianguo stubbornly turned her head aside.

“Comrade Cat, you have to show initiative! How can you toss everything to your boss? Then why would I even hire you?” Zhang Wenda said with a sigh, then closed his eyes as if going to sleep.

Of course, he was only pretending. Who could sleep on their enemy’s back? It was a test.

“You...!” Song Jianguo began to growl, but cut herself off. She didn’t want another slap.

She called all the cats over and asked each one how to make money.

Half an hour later, as Zhang Wenda cracked his eyes open to a narrow slit, he saw Song Jianguo in a small alley catching mice with the cats.

“What’s that supposed to mean? Trying to insult me in a roundabout way?”

In response to Zhang Wenda’s question, Song Jianguo stiffly replied, “There’s money in pest control.”

Then, without hesitation, she ripped a rat’s head off with her bare hands.

“Not bad, not bad. Keep it up,” Zhang Wenda said, pretending to nap again.

Staying up all night wasn’t a big deal for him, but for Song Jianguo it was another matter—especially while carrying Zhang Wenda on her back.

By dawn, her face had gone pale with exhaustion, her legs trembling. But even so, she didn’t say a word of complaint.

They had changed locations by now. Looking at the pile of tiny rat heads beside them, Zhang Wenda said, “Go buy me breakfast. I’m hungry.”

Drinking freshly ground soy milk, eating piping hot fried dough sticks, and watching Song Jianguo labor for him—Zhang Wenda felt completely content.

But then, he saw Song Jianguo squatting on the ground, her back twitching slightly.

As he walked over, she quickly stood up and acted like nothing had happened. Still, he caught a glimpse of tears at the corner of her eyes.

Zhang Wenda spoke with feigned earnestness: “Jianguo, you’re not trying hard enough. Still have time to cry? If you’ve got time to cry, why not use it to make money?! You want to lie flat now?”

“If you lie flat, when will I ever drive a Bentley? No, wait—I meant, when will I ever get to use Special Abilities?”

“I’m not crying!”

Song Jianguo raised the spear in her hand and drove it fiercely into a nearby rat hole, as if venting all her frustration with Zhang Wenda onto the rats.

Zhang Wenda sat back down and kept watching her work. It wasn’t just rats either—her cats occasionally leapt up to catch sparrows. Now, a pile of sparrow heads was forming too.

The surrounding cats were dispersing more and more, but Zhang Wenda didn’t care. He only needed to keep an eye on the cat-headed girl—Song Jianguo.

As he continued to watch her, a panting Little Fatty came running up.

“Mouse! There you are. You scared me to death—I thought you’d gone somewhere.”

Zhang Wenda was a bit surprised. “Why are you here?”

“I came to find you. I couldn’t find you at all last night, and when I woke up I kept searching.”

Then he looked toward Song Jianguo. “Why’s that wild girl here? She didn’t hurt you, did she?”

“No problem. I won,” Zhang Wenda said as he sipped his soy milk, casually recounting what happened.

After hearing the story, Fatty got excited. “So now you can make her do whatever you want?”

“Yeah.”

Pan Dongzi clenched his fists. “Awesome! We’ll never have to do homework again. She can do it all for us.”