Grotesqueries of the Old Domain

Chapter 45: Growth

Being singled out by the teacher to stand as punishment, Pan Dongzi cast a resentful glance at Zhang Wenda and, under the giggling eyes of his classmates, walked toward the back of the classroom.

Seeing the old man on the lectern, whose head appeared several times larger than usual, glaring furiously at him, Zhang Wenda didn't want to provoke further trouble. He smiled awkwardly, took his book, and also went to stand at the back.

Being punished like this, Zhang Wenda naturally had no opportunity to speak further. Fortunately, there were only ten minutes left before class ended, so he patiently waited.

With the ringing of the bell signaling the end of class, the teacher grabbed his books and left. Immediately, Pan Dongzi complained, “It’s all your fault, my feet are sore from standing.”

Knowing Pan Dongzi’s weakness, Zhang Wenda immediately shouldered his backpack. “Come on, I’ll treat you to something tasty.”

Pan Dongzi, who just moments ago had a face as sour as a steamed bun, instantly broke into a broad grin. “Great! You're treating me? Now you’re really my good buddy! What are we eating?”

Soon, outside the school’s white walls, in front of a small vendor holding snacks in a stainless steel pot, two sticks dipped and stirred in translucent maltose, gradually forming little candy balls. One was finally stuffed into Pan Dongzi’s mouth.

The mellow, silky maltose melted into strands in his mouth, instantly filling it with a warm, grainy sweetness.

“Mmm! So sweet! So delicious!” His eyes lit up as he shouted involuntarily.

Zhang Wenda, standing beside him, felt slightly embarrassed at Pan Dongzi’s exaggerated performance.

“Sweet, right? Can you now tell me where Teacher Ouyang lives?” Zhang Wenda resumed the topic he hadn't finished earlier during break.

Pan Dongzi pointed at the small clam-shell soup served in transparent disposable cups on the bicycle nearby. “I was punished standing because of you; I also want to eat that. I’ll tell you after eating.”

Seeing that one serving cost only three cents, Zhang Wenda generously said, “Go ahead and eat. It's on me.”

When Zhang Wenda pulled out a whole one-yuan bill from his pocket, other nearby students immediately cast envious glances his way.

Zhang Wenda bought two servings of clam-shell soup—one for Little Fatty, one for himself. He was also hungry; perhaps because he was still growing, his hunger had been unusually intense lately.

The clam shells were tiny, about the size of a fingernail, and the meat inside was minuscule yet extremely tender. The broth was deliciously savory, far tastier than all the soups Zhang Wenda had previously had in high-end restaurants.

“This...this tastes amazing,” Zhang Wenda exclaimed in surprise, looking at the clam in his hand.

“Right? Trust me, everything I choose is tasty. You can be sloppy about anything else, but never about food!” Pan Dongzi proudly declared.

Just as they were gulping down the soup, Zhang Wenda suddenly noticed a little girl wearing patched clothes walking deliberately slow nearby, swallowing her saliva as she secretly glanced their way.

Seeing the longing in the girl's eyes and her expression, Zhang Wenda was momentarily stunned. In that instant, he seemed to see his past self.

He had almost forgotten—once upon a time, he too had secretly swallowed saliva watching others eat delicious food.

The memory was faint; he only remembered he was very young then, so young that he'd almost forgotten that feeling of longing.

“Do you…want some?” Zhang Wenda offered the cup of soup to the girl, startling her.

Realizing Zhang Wenda was serious, without the slightest hint of disgust, the girl joyfully took the soup and happily sucked on the clams as she walked away.

Seeing the girl so happy, Zhang Wenda suddenly smiled gently. He wasn’t sure why he smiled, but at that moment, he felt a deep joy, as though he had drunk Liquid Joy.

“Mouse, why’d you give it to her? Aren’t you eating? If you’re not, give it to me,” Pan Dongzi complained from the side.

Little Fatty’s words brought Zhang Wenda back to reality. He looked around at the street vendors lining the outside walls of the school. Each stall was filled with tempting snacks that caught every student’s eyes: Dingding cake, fried rice cake, dried vegetable pancakes, sour plum powder, Tang Sanzang meat, Huahua pills.

Previously, in his eyes, these were just unhygienic roadside snacks.

But at this very moment, these things gradually became vivid and tempting, even gaining a new brilliance.

It was as if these snacks had transformed into something entirely new before Zhang Wenda’s eyes.

“Come on, brother will take you to eat everything on the street!” Zhang Wenda tugged Little Fatty towards the nearby stalls. Although these things were cheap and perhaps unsanitary, Zhang Wenda had never tasted anything so delicious.

Zhang Wenda sampled every snack one by one. He had eaten plenty of high-quality food after he started working, yet now he realized that none of those meals compared to these roadside snacks.

When he stuffed a handful of Tang Sanzang meat mixed with sour plum powder into his mouth, Zhang Wenda felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction.

Little Fatty beside him was also ecstatic. “Awesome! This is too satisfying! Mouse, you’re truly like my real brother!”

Zhang Wenda ignored him, quietly savoring the satisfaction within him.

Suddenly, he felt this contentment moving toward his wrist.

Then he saw his Yellow Core slowly expanding, finally growing by nearly one-tenth.

Gradually returning from this satisfaction, Zhang Wenda stared in astonishment at the Yellow Core on his arm. At that moment, he realized he seemed to have discovered a method to enhance his power.

“Is it by satisfying my desires? Or something else?”

“Mouse, let's go! I'll take you to Teacher Ouyang! You're such a buddy!” said Pan Dongzi with his mouth full, grabbing Zhang Wenda to leave, but he didn't budge.

“You go ahead. I realized I don’t need to find Teacher Ouyang anymore,” Zhang Wenda replied, turning back toward the other foods and starting to eat heartily again.

He had unintentionally found exactly what he had been looking for.

The growth of the Yellow Core was clearly crucial to improving his strength, and he needed to experiment more.

He tried every food he hadn't tasted yet, eating so much that he felt nearly stuffed by the end.

However, this time was different from earlier; even though Zhang Wenda was still trying foods he'd never eaten before, the Yellow Core showed no change at all, as if his earlier experience had just been an illusion.

“What’s going on?” Zhang Wenda stared blankly at the Yellow Core. “Does it only grow when I'm genuinely satisfied? Why is increasing this Yellow Core so strange?”

Without any teacher to guide him, Zhang Wenda had to figure out the Yellow Core by himself through constant trial and error.

Zhang Wenda sat down on the steps, lost in thought. “Hmm…then how should I truly satisfy myself now to grow this Yellow Core?”