Old Domain Bizarre

Chapter 17 Money

"really?"

Zhang Wenda looked at the rabbit in front of him with some surprise; he had unexpectedly gained something.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. After all, if so many kids had an accident, this kid would definitely be in trouble. I've helped him keep his job, so it's only right that he's grateful to me.

"What kind of reward will he give himself?" Zhang Wenda couldn't help but wonder. In this strange world, it wouldn't be surprising if even more outrageous things appeared.

Rabbit, clearly unaware of Zhang Wenda's inner thoughts, continued, "But it's already quite late. How about I go collect the things first and let the other children go home to sleep? I'll give you the reward separately later, so the other children won't feel it's unfair."

After saying that, the rabbit turned and walked away without waiting for Zhang Wenda's reply.

"Things?" Then Zhang Wenda saw the other students taking things out of their bags, things they had collected in various containers at the Children's Palace, including the white Go stones in the Go room.

The rabbit took a shoebox from the clutter and began collecting the items from the students one by one.

Seeing this, Zhang Wenda suddenly remembered that they had gone to the Children's Palace on a mission.

"Now that you mention it, I think I have some too," Zhang Wenda said, putting his schoolbag on the ground and taking out a plastic bag containing white chess pieces.

Compared to his classmates, he clearly had the most white pieces.

"If the black chess pieces are the eyes of the Children's Palace, then what are the white chess pieces? Taking them all away shouldn't have any impact, right?" Zhang Wenda was a little worried about the Children's Palace.

There weren't many students in line, and it was Zhang Wenda's turn very quickly.

When Teacher Rabbit saw the plastic bags in Zhang Wenda's hand, she seemed a little surprised, and her tone involuntarily rose slightly. "So many? Did you collect all of them? That's really amazing."

Zhang Wenda didn't reply. Before he went into the Youth Palace, he remembered that this thing also had rewards.

He then saw the rabbit reach out and take the white chess piece, then reach into the plush toy's pocket, pull out a crumpled 50-cent bill, and hand it to Zhang Wenda.

Zhang Wenda stared dumbfounded at the five cents, then looked up at the rabbit in front of him, as if he were seeing his former despicable boss.

I went through all that trouble to find it, and all I get is 50 cents?! Is all this rabbit good for is making empty promises?

"Hey, Mouse, take this! Five cents can buy two lollipops." Hearing the chubby boy say this, Zhang Wenda's dissatisfaction lessened a little.

As long as he could exchange it for candy, that would be fine. If he calculated it that way, the price of a big red lollipop that could heal wounds was 25 cents. Zhang Wenda began to have a basic understanding of the prices and currency of this strange world.

"Oh right, I still have some of this left." Zhang Wenda said, taking out a bottle of liquid happiness from his bag. He had already drunk more than half of the full bottle, leaving only a quarter of it.

However, Zhang Wenda, believing that even a small mosquito bite is still meat, handed the rabbit to the rabbit in front of him.

The rabbit took it with some surprise, then opened the cap, sniffed it near its three-lobed mouth, and handed it back to Zhang Wenda under his astonished gaze. "You can drink this yourself."

"Why? Don't you want this?" Zhang Wenda was very surprised by the other party's reaction. "Liquid happiness can only be obtained when you are happy. You won't find happiness if you look for it with a utilitarian mindset."

"There's such a saying?" Zhang Wenda stared wide-eyed at the rabbit in disbelief. Sometimes he really couldn't understand the logic of this world.

But then another line of reasoning suddenly dawned on him. "So that's why you specifically invite students to the Children's Palace? Only they can find true, tangible pleasure?"

The rabbit just smiled slightly, reached out and gave Zhang Wenda a firm pat on the head before continuing his work.

Zhang Wenda, whose head was throbbing from being slapped, took two steps back, rubbing his head as he watched the rabbit collect the items from the other students' hands, occasionally giving them a dime or two.

At this moment, he had only one thought in his mind: his plan to monopolize the lollipop industry had completely failed. Hiring a group of college students as interns, like his boss did, wouldn't work in this world; the liquid happiness they collected would probably be bitter.

He shook the liquid happiness in his hand, thinking somewhat unwillingly, "Why not take it? It's obviously effective, and drinking it makes me happy."

Holding the bottle up to the light bulb, Zhang Wenda handed the small bottle of liquid happiness to the black cat on his left shoulder. "Would you like some?"

The black cat cautiously approached, sniffed with its black nose, and then disgustedly raised its paw and slapped it a few times.

"Fine, you all don't want it. I'll keep it for myself as a painkiller." Zhang Wenda, feeling resentful that his hard-earned product was not valued, put the liquid happiness back into his bag.

Feeling a bit tired, he sat down on the ground and looked at the black cat on his shoulder. "Hey, what exactly are you? Why are you in the Youth Palace?"

The black cat twitched its ears but didn't respond.

“Since you weren’t influenced by Old Man Ding, you shouldn’t be a native of the Youth Palace, right? Otherwise, you’d be either a blackboard eraser or a trash can in my eyes.” Zhang Wenda reached out and lightly scratched the other’s chin.

The black cat immediately narrowed its eyes, tilted its head slightly, and made a purring sound.

“You seem to know a lot about the Youth Palace. Do you come here often?” Zhang Wenda asked again. “How about I take care of you? Come to my house. My house isn’t big, but it should be enough for a cat.”

Suddenly, the black cat's body stiffened abruptly, as if sensing something, and its erect ears twitched repeatedly.

Before Zhang Wenda could react, the black cat glared at him hard on the shoulder and disappeared in a blur up the stairs before everyone's eyes.

Watching the black cat leave without looking back, Zhang Wenda felt a pang of sadness; his attempt to adopt the cat had been cruelly rejected by a cat.

"Mouse, we're leaving! See you tomorrow!" As the other students left in twos and threes, the basement became quite empty.

When he saw that the moles had all left, leaving only himself and the rabbit, the empty and desolate environment made him feel a little uneasy.

He looked at the rabbit plush toy being sorted through the goods, and his heart sank when he thought about how the other person had said they wanted to give it to him alone. Was the other person being sarcastic?

(End of this chapter)