“Ah? What is this thing? You’re going to grant me three wishes?” Zhang Wenda was certain he hadn’t misheard, this lamp‐genie was really breaking all the conventions.
As Zhang Wenda gaped at the unexpected genie before him,
The genie looked down upon Zhang Wenda, “Kid, don’t try to shirk responsibility. You’re here, so you’ve obviously heard my story and know what happens when one defies the lamp‐genie!”
As he spoke, his body began inflating like a balloon, growing unusually large and terrifying.
“Damn, this is trouble, I knew there’s no free lunch in this world.” Zhang Wenda’s face turned ugly at the sight.
Just as Zhang Wenda was thinking how to escape this predicament, the genie had already begun granting wishes.
“First wish, since you’re just a kid, let’s keep it simple: hand over all the money in your pocket, and your two buddies there, give me your money too.”
Seeing this, Dama patted Zhang Wenda’s shoulder, “That’s not too harsh a condition, hurry up and fulfill his wish.”
“Give money? Why should I?” Zhang Wenda had barely earned this money—why would he just hand it over, even if the genie looked tough.
And if he really gave it all away, he might not be able to buy candy tomorrow morning; he might have to face penalty under the rules.He’d rather try to find another way than suffer some inhumane torture.
“Genie, look over there!” Zhang Wenda suddenly pointed to the left with his right hand, and the genie turned his head instinctively, only to see nothing.
When the genie looked back, Zhang Wenda had already turned and bolted away with the other two.
The genie wasn’t about to let them go, hurriedly grabbing the teacup he’d emerged from and chased after them.
He couldn’t outrun their momentum, and before long, Zhang Wenda was blocked by the genie.
“Kid, since you’ve touched me, you have to fulfill my three wishes! Or don’t blame me for being ruthless!” As he spoke, the white cloud beneath him roiled rapidly, accompanied by faint thunder, giving him the appearance of a descending deity.
Zhang Wenda’s face darkened; he hadn’t expected to run into such a bizarre genie after coming all the way here.
Just as Zhang Wenda hesitated whether to lose money to avert disaster, Song Jianguo angrily spoke up, “You’ve got it backwards, right? Aren’t you supposed to fulfill our wishes?”
The genie sipped his tea leisurely and said smugly, “Your foreign Aladdin genie, Aladdin’s is foreign, this is a domestic genie, don’t get them mixed up, okay?”
“Aladdin genie? Aladdin’s genie? Shanghai genie?” At this point, Zhang Wenda, who had just pulled out his flashlight, froze when he heard this. Wait, this sounded oddly familiar.
He hesitated, looked at the genie, thought for a moment, and asked, “Something’s off here, right? I feel like I saw this joke online.”
The moment he said that, Zhang Wenda suddenly realized something. He stared at the genie, hesitated, then his eyes lit up.
“That’s right! This is an internet meme! A bad old meme! It’s not just a name issue! You—a reverse‑genie—is a bad meme too! You’re not a real genie! You’re tricking me!!”
From the start Zhang Wenda had sensed something was wrong. If this guy was that powerful, why would he bother babbling to him? And the wishes weren’t anything big—they were demanding money.
Maybe Dama and Song Jianguo hadn’t heard of it, but Zhang Wenda, a veteran internet user, definitely recognized this meme: the genie was fraudulent!
A flash of panic crossed the genie’s eyes as he adjusted his glasses and said, “What meme or not, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Hand over the money. If you anger me, I’ll wish that you fulfill one hundred wishes for me!”
His reaction only confirmed Zhang Wenda’s suspicions. He pulled out his flashlight: “Fine, let’s try that. Once you stick to someone, you can’t shake it off—you’re acting like a scam!”
Seeing his scam plan exposed, the genie shrank back into the teacup. With a lid snap, the summoning teacup began rolling quickly among the ruins, trying to escape.
Realizing he was a fraud, the three were furious, especially Song Jianguo, her face red with anger—for a moment, she’d believed his nonsense.
The genie rolled fast, but there were three of them: Zhang Wenda instructed Dama and Song Jianguo to chase from behind, while he flanked from the front.
Minutes later, with a flash of a red core, Zhang Wenda leapt in front of the genie to block its path. “No escape without a fight? Looks like you’re weak.”
Just as he was about to grab the teacup handle, the genie poked his head out and shouted amid the verbal battle, “If you drink tofu pudding, it must be sweet! Eating salty tofu pudding is heresy!!”
Before Zhang Wenda could understand, darkness suddenly fell overhead. Looking up, he saw dense waves of ranting barrage comments violently pouring down on him.
Zhang Wenda quickly rolled, dodging a “Nonsense!” Then he lunged forward just in time to avoid a “Tofu pudding can only be savory.”
“Who’s there?! Who dares provoke a fight here!”
“Let’s fight! Heretics! Salty tofu pudding is the best!”
“Brothers! I’ve got your back! If you drink tofu pudding, it must be sweet!!”
Zhang Wenda twirled and maneuvered, with the support of the red core he’d summoned earlier, finally surviving the genie’s barrage of lame meme attacks.
At this moment, Zhang Wenda hated this guy so much he could gnaw nails. He shouted to Song Jianguo, who was chasing them, “Stop him! Don’t let him get away!”
Then he circled around the other side. Facing the three‐person encirclement, the genie defiantly launched more lame memes.
“Cilantro is the best! I love cilantro!”
“Originally…”
At this point, the city’s online battles tilted; thanks to the genie's provocation, the crowd’s comments pushed fiercely in that direction.
In an instant, curses filled the sky.
Zhang Wenda slipped once and nearly got hit by a “damn it.” He saw the genie shrink into the teacup and, taking advantage of its small size, begin to dodge carefully inside.
He wanted to chase, but in this state, even self‑defense was hard—he couldn’t catch up to that guy.
“Damn it, am I just going to let the scammer get away?” Seeing the genie about to escape into the heavy rain, Zhang Wenda suddenly thought of a method—a skill he’d just learned.
He then pointed at the genie with all his might and shouted, “Don’t let him get away! This guy’s a little black child! He’s insulting our brother!!”