After walking out of the subdistrict office, Auntie Xu said to Su Yun, "Girl, originally after we finished transferring the job today, I should have stepped down and let you take over. But the work at the recycling station—well, it's simple in some ways and complicated in others. I'm not in a hurry to leave in just a day or two. I'll guide you today, and once you're familiar with the workflow, I'll step away."
Su Yun was deeply moved. "Godmother, thank you!"
Auntie Xu waved her hand dismissively.
The two of them quickly returned to the recycling station.
After changing into the loose work uniform, Su Yun immediately began sorting the scrap items.
Auntie Xu sat back behind the counter, picked up her knitting, and continued working on her sweater. Seeing Su Yun busy, she curled her lip. "Why bother with all that? In a few days, the subdistrict office will send a truck to haul everything away for destruction. You don't need to worry about it."
Of course, Su Yun couldn't say she was doing it to make money.
After paying for the job transfer, she had a little over three hundred yuan left from the eight hundred she had saved. Now she was practically guarding a gold mine—how could she restrain herself?
As she sorted, she said obediently, "It's my first day at work. I should at least find something to do. Godmother, just focus on your knitting. I'll tidy these up."
No sooner had she finished speaking than the system's dry mechanical voice rang in her mind:
"Ding. Detected: one Qing Dynasty bamboo brush holder. Minor flaw. Recycling price: 5 yuan. Sell?"
Su Yun looked at the dirty, broken brush holder in her hand and instantly felt even more energized.
Mine. Mine. All mine!
Auntie Xu nodded approvingly. "Such a hardworking child. If only I'd had a daughter like you."
Soon, Su Yun—the little mining worker of the recycling station—quietly piled the items identified by the treasure-detecting system into a corner.
While she was busy, several dirty teenage boys walked in from outside, carrying a heavy lump of iron together. The oldest looked no more than twenty, the youngest around fifteen.
Seeing them enter, Auntie Xu unusually set down her knitting, stood up, and greeted them with a smile. "Oh, the Gu family boy! Selling scrap again today? You kids are really hardworking!"
Hearing that, Su Yun paused and curiously looked over at the group.
The oldest boy, who was bearing most of the weight, looked up at the sound of Auntie Xu's voice and gave her a bright smile—so dazzling it nearly stunned Su Yun.
Gu… Gu Hai?
The same Gu Hai who, in her previous life, became a nationally renowned tech magnate and the richest man in the country?
Was she seeing things?
How could Gu Hai possibly be here, selling scrap?
And dressed so poorly?
The grayish-white shirt he wore was clearly an adult's old hand-me-down, washed so many times it was nearly torn. The faded navy trousers had two patches sewn onto the seat.
While Su Yun was still in shock, the teenage Gu Hai signaled the others to put down the iron lump and stood upright. "Auntie Xu, we were just messing around. Got lucky today and dug this up by the river. Could you take a look and tell us how much it's worth?"
Auntie Xu nodded and didn't forget Su Yun. "Girl, come over and learn. You'll be handling this in the future."
Then she explained to Gu Hai, "I've officially processed my retirement. Starting tomorrow, everything at the recycling station will be managed by my goddaughter. Her name is Su Yun. She's two years younger than you. You boys look out for her in the future."
Gu Hai maintained his bright smile and glanced at Su Yun with lively, shining eyes before nodding. "Don't worry, Auntie Xu. From now on, Sister Su Yun is under our protection. I guarantee no one on this street will dare bully her!"
The other boys chimed in enthusiastically.
Though they were all dirty, they looked spirited and full of life.
Auntie Xu was very pleased. She immediately helped them lift the iron lump onto the scale.
Being publicly "protected" by the future tech tycoon made Su Yun feel strangely conflicted. Unable to look directly at the teenage Gu Hai, she stepped forward to help.
The moment her hand touched the iron lump, she heard the familiar mechanical voice:
"Ding! Detected: one ancient lodestone. Premium quality. Recycling price: 5,000 yuan. Sell?"
"…"
Su Yun froze on the spot.
Five thousand!
Even across both her lifetimes combined, she had never seen that much money!
She felt like she was floating.
"This iron chunk is really heavy—155 jin. It's not easy to find something this big nowadays. Gu family boy, you're really lucky!"
Auntie Xu's voice pulled Su Yun back to reality.
She struggled to keep her face expressionless, trying not to reveal the wild screaming inside her heart.
After thinking for a moment, Auntie Xu gritted her teeth and said, "The current iron price at the station is five cents per jin. For 155 jin, I'll round it up and give you eight yuan."
Su Yun's mouth twitched in disbelief as she looked at Auntie Xu.
Auntie Xu subtly shot her a look and whispered, "We can't go any lower. These kids don't have it easy."
Su Yun hesitated but couldn't help saying, "Godmother, I think this might actually be a lodestone…"
"No way!" Auntie Xu waved her hand dismissively. "Stones don't sell for that much! Little girl, you still have a lot to learn. There's plenty of know-how in this line of work."
With that, Auntie Xu returned behind the counter, wrote up the receipt, and completed the transaction.
Watching the four boys leave with faces full of joy, Su Yun felt a deep pang of sympathy.
Before leaving, Gu Hai even swept the ground in front of the recycling station clean.
Only after their figures disappeared did Auntie Xu speak earnestly to Su Yun. "Remember this: whenever the Gu family boy comes, calculate the price a bit higher for him."
Su Yun asked curiously, "Why?"
Auntie Xu sighed. "The Gu family is a key support case for the subdistrict. Gu Hai's father used to be the Public Security Bureau chief. He died in the line of duty five years ago. Soon after, Gu Hai's mother took all the compensation money and remarried."
"Gu Hai was only fourteen at the time. Just a child himself, yet he had to take care of his younger siblings. Their house was taken over by his grandparents and uncle's family."
"Because the younger children were still small, the subdistrict made an exception and didn't send Gu Hai to the countryside. They even arranged a formal job for him. But his mother came back and made a scene, trying to force him to give the job to her stepson. Gu Hai refused and simply gave up the job altogether… In short, this child's life hasn't been easy. We help when we can."
So that was the reason.
No wonder the future richest man had patches on his trousers.
Su Yun couldn't reconcile the image of the elegant, well-dressed billionaire she had seen on television in her previous life with the poor boy she had just met. She silently resolved to help Gu Hai whenever possible.
After all, with one move, he had practically turned her into a woman worth thousands.
Thinking of this, Su Yun couldn't help glancing at the casually discarded lodestone. Her gaze burned with excitement.
For the rest of the day, Su Yun sorted scrap while learning from Auntie Xu how to receive customers.
Old newspapers sold for two cents per bundle. Glass bottles went for ten cents a crate. Waste cardboard fetched thirty-five cents per cartload. An entire truck of discarded furniture was worth only one yuan…
Only then did Su Yun truly understand—Gu Hai's eight yuan had indeed been a high price.