Grotesqueries of the Old Domain

Chapter 31: School

As soon as he thought about having to ask many questions next, but knowing he might be punished for asking, Zhang Wenda immediately turned and ran toward the supply‑and‑marketing cooperative.

Just as Zhang Wenda received three lollipops from the counter and was about to leave, he noticed something new displayed on the counter.

His footstep paused just as he was about to walk away; yesterday’s incident at the Xinhua Bookstore flashed in his mind.

“If they can sell wound‑healing candy, maybe they can sell other things too?”

To decide for himself, he immediately resolved to test it.

“What is that?” Zhang Wenda pondered and pointed at that thing resembling a Tetris game machine.

“That is a Tetris game machine.”

“.........”

“Never mind, pretend I didn’t ask.”

A very awkward Zhang Wenda turned to leave, when a voice behind him sounded again.

“Too expensive? There are cheaper toys, like this one.”

A large hand reached out, holding a device about the size of an MP3 player; it looked used, with many scratches and a plastic shell—it seemed very low quality.

“This is a ratio identifier, used to help students understand the world—educational and entertaining.”

“Toy? How does it work?”

Just as Zhang Wenda finished speaking, the large hand pointed the device at him. With a “B” sound, a line of text appeared on the gray screen:

Water: 58.5%

Protein: 16.6%

Fat: 17.6%

Minerals: 5.9%

Other: trace.

“Is this… the material composition ratio of my body?” Zhang Wenda asked in surprise as he took it.

He had a feeling: although this world looked normal, it was full of oddities—just like this.

“How is it? You can use it 5 more times. I’ll give you a discount—6.50 yuan.”

Upon hearing that, Zhang Wenda immediately put the money back. “Forget it, I don’t have that much money, and it’s of no use to me.”

He turned to leave, but after a few steps was called back by the other person.

“Don’t go. Here’s the deal: after you use it 5 times, return the shell to me and I’ll charge you only 1.50 yuan.”

Zhang Wenda hesitated, glanced at the money in his pocket—after deducting the candy and yesterday afternoon’s 10 yuan, it seemed the other person had figured out exactly how much he had.

After a moment’s hesitation, Zhang Wenda finally bought it. Although it didn’t seem very useful, it might come in handy in some special situations.

For example, if he had had this device when he was in the Youth Center, he would have known as soon as he entered that the building was alive—and wouldn’t have had to struggle for so long.

If the school was alive too, he could detect it immediately this time and prepare in advance.

Having bought it, Zhang Wenda didn’t ask about anything else—he didn’t have money anyway.

He shoved the new gadget into his pocket and headed to school.

Although he didn’t know where he had class, he found his classroom based on the notes in his textbook.

The classroom was messy. Zhang Wenda walked straight to the bespectacled student tidying his desk—he remembered this guy saying he was his deskmate.

“Mouse, you’re here?”

“Mm, I’m here.” Zhang Wenda looked around—everything was normal, from the blackboard to the desks and even the classmates.

But after what happened at the Youth Center, he still felt uneasy, so he took out the newly bought device and pointed it at the wall.

Sand = 77%

Cement = 20%

Rebar = 2%

Other: trace

Seeing completely normal ratios, Zhang Wenda breathed a slight sigh of relief—at least the school wasn’t alive.

“What are you doing?” Yang Shu looked at Zhang Wenda in confusion, not understanding what he was doing.

“I’m not doing anything, just looking around,” said Zhang Wenda as he put the device away and popped a lollipop into his mouth.

“Let me ask you something—what do we usually do when we come to school?”

“Go to class.”

“What does ‘go to class’ mean?” Zhang Wenda picked apart the phrase carefully, afraid of making a mistake—what if “class” turned out to be some sort of creature? That would be a huge problem.

“Going to class is when the teacher teaches us…”

As the other explained, Zhang Wenda finally understood the whole process of going to school. Fortunately, it wasn’t much different from school in his previous world.

“That’s not bad. If it’s just regular lessons, as long as I don’t break any rules, at worst I’ll just waste some time—it won’t be dangerous.” Zhang Wenda thought this as he greeted Fatty.

Accompanied by the very nostalgic sound of the school bell, Zhang Wenda saw the other students slowly settling into their seats, and a short-haired female teacher walked in with a smile.

He didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but Zhang Wenda felt she was completely unfamiliar—he’d never seen her in class before.

She looked completely normal, nothing out of the ordinary.

Just as Zhang Wenda was zoning out, he heard the female teacher clear her throat lightly, and the classroom instantly fell silent. “Has everyone handed in their weekend homework?”

When he heard everyone replying in unison, Zhang Wenda’s heart sank.

“Oh no.”

Seeing Fatty nearby winking at him exaggeratedly, Zhang Wenda almost popped his eyes out in disbelief. “Why didn’t you tell me something like this!!”

As he watched the female teacher reach out to check the homework on the lectern, Zhang Wenda felt like he was watching the King of Hell taking roll.

“Zhang Wenda, why didn’t you turn in your homework?”

“Crap.” Zhang Wenda cursed fiercely in his heart.

Click, click, click—heels approached step by step, and then Zhang Wenda smelled a faint sandalwood fragrance. “Wenda, lift your head.”

When Zhang Wenda looked up, he saw the teacher’s kind and gentle face.

Whether it was his imagination or not, Zhang Wenda felt his scalp tingle, as if something had set its sights on him.

“Wenda, the teacher’s asking you a question—where’s your homework?”

Secretly pulling a lollipop from his pocket, always ready to treat pain, Zhang Wenda hardened his heart and said, “I… my cat tore up my homework notebook.”

After what felt like an eternity, that piercing gaze finally moved away. “Alright, teacher believes you. Make sure to rewrite it and hand it in tomorrow morning.”

As he watched the teacher turn and walk away, Fatty in the distance gave Zhang Wenda a secret thumbs-up.

Zhang Wenda ignored him, still shaken as he looked at the departing teacher. “Is this bloodline suppression? Why am I still afraid of this even at my age?”

Suddenly, something occurred to Zhang Wenda. On impulse, he pulled out the ratio identifier and pointed it at the teacher’s back.

“B” — a string of text appeared on the screen once again.

And when Zhang Wenda saw that line of text, a chill shot straight from his back into his brain.

Water: 23%

Minerals: 19%

High-density parasitic cyst cluster: 34%

Protein-like humic polymer: 51%

Unknown organic solvent: 3%