Chapter 7: Pawn
Zhang Wenda stood outside the entrance of the Youth Center, uneasily staring at the corridor ahead.
This place was already deep, and the Youth Center looked even deeper.
He could even feel a trace of chill wafting out from within.
A familiar question resurfaced in Zhang Wenda's mind, “Is this place really the Youth Center?”
Suddenly, Zhang Wenda felt someone tugging at his clothes from behind.
He turned his head and glanced at the short bespectacled kid behind him.
Seeing the other boy secretly point toward the corridor, he understood it was time to go in.
If it was a blessing, it wouldn't be a curse; if it was a curse, he couldn't escape it.
He steeled himself, closed his eyes, and imitated the other's action, clutching the hem of the fat boy’s shirt in front.
Then the group of students lined up in a row.
Under the watchful gaze of Teacher Rabbit, they marched into the corridor of the Youth Center like a train.
Once inside, the nursery rhyme music at last gradually faded away.
As the door slowly shut behind them, Zhang Wenda finally began to examine the Youth Center.
To be honest, it wasn’t until he stepped inside that he realized — from the inside, the Youth Center wasn’t as terrifying as it appeared from the outside.
The terrazzo floor of the corridor was polished shiny from being rubbed over.
The “Celebrate June 1st” sign on the glass windows to the left was half peeled off.
On the right wall were stuck various gold-foil slogans like “Explore, Grow, and Enjoy,” along with many brittle crayon drawings.
Farther down, both sides of the hallway had rows of closed doors.
Above each door frame were faded labels marking interest groups like Go, model aircraft, and calligraphy.
From the overall decor, it was obvious this Youth Center had quite a few years behind it.
Everywhere reeked of decay, and the air carried a faint musty smell.
He glanced at a corner where a red-scarf-wearing student plaster statue stood.
Zhang Wenda hadn’t noticed any immediate danger.
“So this is… the Youth Center?”
Zhang Wenda didn’t understand what this place was supposed to be.
He feared asking classmates might trigger some rule.
Fortunately, before entering, someone had handed him a guidebook.
Zhang Wenda let go of the fat boy’s hem and opened the “Old Man Ding Takes You Through the Youth Center” in his hand.
First line of the first page: “Hello kids, I’m your old friend Old Man Ding. Let me take you on a tour of the Youth Center…”
Zhang Wenda quickly skimmed over the fluff and began searching for useful information.
“There are many games in the Youth Center for everyone to choose from. First up, hide and seek in the chess room.”
“Old Man Ding hid some little things in the chess room. They look like this.”
Next to the text was a crayon drawing of a white circle — looked like a Go piece.
“Limited quantity, first come first served. Whoever finds the most will get a prize from Teacher Rabbit.”
Next to that line was a smiling sketch of Old Man Ding.
“Go pieces? They brought us in just to look for Go pieces?”
Zhang Wenda, puzzled, looked up and saw the other students already heading toward the Go classroom.
“Damn, these guys don’t even wait for me.”
Zhang Wenda quickly followed in their direction.
Once he entered the so-called Go classroom, Zhang Wenda saw the not-so-large room packed tightly with rows of old-fashioned chairs and stools.
Judging by the number of desks, at least a hundred students could attend class here.
Both the stools and desks were very old, most of their paint flaked off, exposing bare wood.
Some were carved with various scribbles and graffiti.
Zhang Wenda followed the others into the dense sea of wood like sinking into a swamp of old furniture.
Then he saw the fat boy nearby take out two palm-sized plastic bags from his backpack.
With his butt sticking out, the fat boy began rummaging through the drawer of a desk.
Soon enough, the fat boy's eyes lit up.
He pulled out a white Go piece from the drawer with his chubby hand and dropped it into the plastic bag.
“So all the stuff in the bag is for collecting things in the Youth Center?”
Still puzzled, Zhang Wenda also pulled out a plastic bag from his backpack and began searching for Go pieces like the others.
Before long, he felt a hard object inside one desk drawer.
He pulled it out and found — just as expected — a round, smooth white Go piece.
He held it up to the light bulb and saw it was just an ordinary white piece.
“Huh? Is this... a regular Youth Center activity? To train students’ observation skills? But is it really necessary to make it this complicated?”
Never having visited a Youth Center before, Zhang Wenda had no idea whether this was normal or not.
Though he didn’t understand the reason, he didn’t care to find out.
Right now, all he wanted was to get home safely.
Zhang Wenda threw himself into the task.
If all the Youth Center required was to find things, then that was perfect.
As he grew more proficient, the number of white Go pieces in Zhang Wenda’s plastic bag grew rapidly, widening the gap between him and the others.
This was to be expected.
As a battle-hardened office worker, Zhang Wenda knew how to save time and maximize returns — far beyond what these playful kids could manage.
At least among this crowd, when it came to doing grunt work, no one else could top him.
Maybe this was his “golden finger.”
Looking at the plastic bag stuffed full of white Go pieces, Zhang Wenda couldn’t help but feel a hint of melancholy.
This really wasn’t something to brag about.
“Mouse, you found this many?”
Little Fatty squeezed over in surprise, staring at Zhang Wenda’s haul.
Then he looked down at his own few white pieces — so few he could count them on one hand.
His eyebrows drooped.
“I always find the least…”
Zhang Wenda glanced at the other boy’s nearly empty bag.
He reached over, held up his own bag, and without a word poured half of his Go pieces into the other’s.
“Here, take it.”
“Whoa! Mouse, you’re really giving me this much?”
Little Fatty took the bag with tears in his eyes.
“It’s fine, we’re bros — what’s mine is yours.”
Zhang Wenda patted him on the shoulder.
“Next time, if you get more of that candy, save me a couple, yeah? I really like it.”
As he spoke, Zhang Wenda pulled the lollipop from his mouth.
It had been sucked clean, leaving only a white stick with a slanted tip — which could be used as a whistle.
He put the stick back in his mouth and continued searching while savoring the last bit of flavor.
Judging by the current situation, he was definitely in first place now.
Zhang Wenda recalled Teacher Rabbit’s earlier promise — whoever found the most would get a special reward.
What kind of reward could it be?
To be honest, this place was so strange, it surely didn’t only hold danger.
There must be some good things, too.
“Could it be an even more amazing magical prize than the big red lollipop?”
At that thought, Zhang Wenda couldn’t help but look forward to the end of this Youth Center trip.