The recycling station serving Su Yun's neighborhood was located at the corner a few streets away. It was a small, independent courtyard with a sign at the entrance that read "State-Run Recycling Station," and above it hung a slogan in large characters: Serve the People. Inside stood an old counter, and behind it sat a middle-aged woman knitting a sweater.
The woman appeared to be in her fifties. She wore her hair in a fashionable shoulder-length cut and was dressed in a blue work uniform. She had an aloof, indifferent expression.
At that time, employees at recycling stations were officially assigned state workers with secure positions, much like the sales clerks at the supply and marketing cooperative—none of them were known for their good attitudes.
Su Yun stepped up to the counter. Hearing movement, the woman looked up at her expressionlessly and said in a flat tone, "What are you selling? Put it over there on the scale yourself. After weighing it, tell me how many jin it is."
Following her gaze, Su Yun saw a large floor scale in the corner, surrounded by scattered scraps of paper and broken wood. It looked rather dirty.
She withdrew her gaze, put on a bright smile, and said politely, "Auntie, I'm not here to sell scrap. I was wondering if I could look for some old newspapers—maybe to take home and paste on the walls or pad a table leg."
The woman continued knitting without changing her posture and snorted. "You have quite the imagination, little girl. Do you think you can just take things from a recycling station whenever you want?"
As she spoke, Su Yun slipped a handful of fruit candies from her pocket and smoothly tucked them into the pocket of the woman's work uniform. Smiling ingratiatingly, she said, "Auntie, please make an exception. I promise I'll only take a few old newspapers and won't touch anything else."
The woman raised her eyebrows slightly. Clearing her throat, her voice lost its earlier coldness and gained a hint of warmth. "Hmm, you seem like a sensible girl. Taking a few old newspapers isn't a big deal. Go ahead and look for them yourself—but don't take too much."
Su Yun replied sweetly, "Don't worry, Auntie. I definitely won't cause you any trouble!"
With permission granted, Su Yun immediately entered the backyard where the scrap materials were piled. Various discarded items filled half the courtyard in complete disorder.
Based on her previous experiences, she knew that to activate the treasure-detecting system, she had to physically touch the objects.
Without wasting time, she began searching carefully, touching anything that looked even remotely old. Finally, when she picked up half a piece of rotten purple wood, she heard the familiar mechanical voice:
"Ding! Detected: a piece of century-old small-leaf red sandalwood, severely decayed. Recycling price: 20 yuan. Sell?"
Su Yun's heart leaped with joy. She selected "No," set the rotten wood aside, and continued searching.
Within seconds, she touched a cracked bamboo stick, and the familiar light screen appeared again before her eyes.
"Ding! Detected: a Tang Dynasty wolf-hair bamboo brush, damaged item. Recycling price: 5 yuan. Sell?"
Su Yun thought to herself, Even this is worth five yuan?
She selected "No" again and placed the bamboo stick together with the rotten wood.
With such a promising start, Su Yun's luck only improved. Almost every time she touched something, the system chimed. The light screen flickered continuously—5 yuan, 8 yuan, 10 yuan, 20 yuan… A quick mental calculation told her that the pile of "junk" she had uncovered was worth over 300 yuan in total!
Accumulating more than 300 yuan felt like amassing a fortune. Su Yun was practically trembling with excitement.
Afraid to push her luck further, she decided to stop. However, as she stood up, a wave of dizziness hit her. She instinctively steadied herself by placing a hand on a half-human-height, extremely dilapidated cabinet beside her—
"Ding! Detected: a piece of thousand-year-old golden nanmu wood, severely decayed. Recycling price: 500 yuan. Sell?"
Su Yun froze.
Instantly, the dizziness vanished.
Her vision cleared.
She felt as if she had been injected with adrenaline and could leap three meters into the air on the spot.
This was unbelievable!
That filthy, blackened, broken cabinet—without doors and exposed on all sides—was worth 500 yuan?
Five hundred yuan!
At that moment, Su Yun felt like a nouveau riche. Her grin nearly reached her ears.
After celebrating wildly in her heart, she forced herself to calm down and selected "No." Just as she was about to move the cabinet, she heard approaching footsteps outside.
Then came a woman's ingratiating voice: "Cousin Auntie, you're here. Have you had breakfast yet?"
Hearing someone enter, Su Yun quickly grabbed a stack of old newspapers to make it look convincing, afraid her secret might be discovered.
After the greeting, the knitting woman responded coldly, "What, if I said I haven't eaten, would you treat me?"
The visitor laughed awkwardly. "Oh, my dear cousin auntie, look at your family's situation and look at mine—how could I possibly afford to treat you? I just came specially to greet you and talk again about that job…"
The older woman's voice turned frosty. "No need. There's nothing to discuss between us. Yes, I do want to retire early and go out of town to take care of my grandson. But I'm not running a charity. Although this job only pays 28.5 yuan a month, it's still a proper state position. I've already said it clearly—if you can come up with 500 yuan, I'll immediately apply through the neighborhood office to transfer the job to you."
"And don't look so dejected. Just go outside and ask how hard it is to find work nowadays. People are scrambling and still can't even secure temporary jobs, let alone a permanent state position like mine."
The woman being rebuffed sounded displeased now. Her voice lost its earlier flattery. "Cousin Auntie, that's not very kind of you. My son is about to be sent to the countryside and urgently needs a job. Can't you just help family out? Transfer the recycling station job to him first, and once this wave passes, we'll return it to you."
"Enough. At my age, I've eaten more salt than you've walked roads. Let's speak plainly. Don't think you can get something for nothing. I don't care about relatives or not—one price, 500 yuan!"
Her firm refusal clearly angered the visiting woman.
Stamping her foot, the woman said, "Cousin Auntie, I have other matters to attend to, so I'll leave first. Think about it carefully. Don't let a job ruin our relationship!"
With that, she stormed out of the recycling station.
The older woman snorted heavily, utterly dismissive.
From the courtyard, Su Yun had heard every word of their conversation. She felt even more exhilarated.
What perfect timing—just when she was feeling drowsy, someone handed her a pillow. To encounter such an opportunity by sheer luck—if she didn't seize it, wouldn't she be wasting her extraordinary fortune?
With that thought, Su Yun quickly gathered up the pile of "junk" the system had identified earlier. She flipped the 500-yuan cabinet upside down to use as a tray, piled everything on top, covered it with old newspapers for disguise, and then struggled to carry the cabinet out.
Seeing Su Yun emerge, the knitting woman instinctively glanced at the pile of scrap in her arms and frowned slightly.