Su Yun did not delay any further. She glanced at the scale and confirmed that it was indeed seventy-three jin, just as Gu Hai had said.
The recycling station paid two cents per jin for discarded bowls and plates. Seventy-three jin came to 1.46 yuan. Su Yun rounded it up and told Gu Hai, "One yuan and fifty cents in total."
Gu Hai was clearly pleased with the amount.
He waited for Su Yun to settle the payment, but suddenly noticed her staring intently at the scale without moving.
"Comrade Su Yun?"
Gu Hai grew a little impatient. It was getting late, and he still needed to hurry home to cook lunch.
Hearing him, Su Yun looked up and apologized. "Please wait a moment."
Then she reached into the sack of broken bowls and plates, opened it, and touched each shattered piece one by one.
"Ding! Detected an ordinary Ming Dynasty porcelain bowl with damage. Recovery price: 20 qian. Sell?"
"Ding! Detected a fragment of a Ming Dynasty coarse bowl, severely damaged. Recovery price: 2 yuan. Sell?"
"Ding! Detected a fragment of a Ming Dynasty coarse bowl, minor flaw. Recovery price: 3 yuan. Sell?"
"Ding! …"
A rapid string of notifications rang in her mind.
Su Yun could not help smiling.
Just as she had guessed!
The future richest man truly had unbeatable luck!
She had only wanted to test whether Gu Hai would have the same kind of luck as last time. Who would have thought that the scrap he brought today consisted entirely of Ming Dynasty bowls and plates?
His luck was simply outrageous!
Su Yun could barely contain her smile and looked up at Gu Hai with undisguised envy.
Only to find him staring back at her as if she were a fool, likely wondering what kind of strange habit this woman had—touching every piece of scrap before buying it.
Touching them was one thing, but smiling so blissfully while doing it was another.
For a moment, the air turned awkward.
Blushing slightly, Su Yun straightened up, cleared her throat, and broke the silence by skillfully inventing a story.
"Well, Comrade Gu, the reason I touched the bowls just now is that I have a friend who likes collecting old items. I was checking to see if there was a style he might like."
Gu Hai's face clearly showed disbelief. "Oh? And did you find any?"
"I did!" Su Yun continued smoothly.
She casually picked up the most intact bowl from the top and said, "This kind. We used to have one at home to feed the chickens. When my friend saw it, he insisted on exchanging twenty jin of rice for it. So I had no choice but to trade it to him."
Gu Hai, who had seemed uninterested, immediately straightened at the mention of twenty jin of rice. In a serious tone, he said, "Comrade Su Yun, does your friend still need bowls? I know a place. Whatever kind of bowl he wants, I can get it."
Su Yun nearly lit up with excitement.
As expected of the future tycoon—he even had a source!
"Comrade Gu, it doesn't have to be bowls," she replied eagerly. "Other things are fine too—old objects, antique calligraphy and paintings, things people used or wore in the past. As long as they have some age to them, it doesn't matter if they're broken. If they have collectible value, my friend will take them."
Then she added, "The price is negotiable. He can pay in cash or goods."
At that, the two of them smiled at each other like old friends, their expressions equally sincere.
Gu Hai's eyes shone. Without hesitation, he asked, "Comrade Su, can you help me exchange this bowl? I don't want money—I only want rice."
Su Yun answered earnestly, "If you trust me, I can take the bowl to my friend first. Whatever goods he offers, I'll give you every bit of it."
Gu Hai agreed readily. "Deal."
Thus, a mutually satisfying arrangement was made.
Su Yun gained what felt like a walking gold mine and smiled until her eyes curved like crescent moons.
Gu Hai, meanwhile, received his 1.50 yuan from selling scrap. Showing eight teeth in a broad grin, he waved enthusiastically goodbye and arranged to come again the next day.
After he left, Su Yun immediately sold the entire sack of bowls and plates to the Treasure Hunting System, earning 485 yuan in an instant.
Her system balance now stood at 7,441 yuan.
At the same time, she came up with an excuse to give Chen Xiue a sewing machine.
Last time, she had fabricated a story about trading a chicken-feeding bowl for twenty jin of rice and a chicken. What was stopping her from inventing another story about a collector who had taken a fancy to something from their home?
She really was a genius!
Close to noon, Su Yun opened the system supermarket and bought one jin of brown sugar. Wrapping it in newspaper, she tucked it into her pocket. Taking advantage of the lunch break, she locked the recycling station and headed straight for the neighborhood committee office.
Just as she arrived at the entrance, she saw Director Yuan stepping out, holding an aluminum lunchbox and walking briskly.
Director Yuan was not surprised to see her.
The two of them walked to a large tree in the corner. Director Yuan spoke first.
"I knew you'd come looking for me. What happened today was sudden—I only found out this morning when I got to the office. Someone anonymously sent a report letter to the supervisory department, accusing you of buying the job to avoid being sent to the countryside."
"I know why you're here. But I haven't seen the letter, so I don't know who wrote it. However, I can tell you that Captain Liu is very difficult. He won't let this go easily. I've heard before that he has a cousin who planned to take over Xu Fang's job after her retirement. He didn't expect you to step in first. He definitely has it in for you. Be careful in the future."
Su Yun had not expected to gain such crucial information from this visit.
She nodded quickly. "Director Yuan, don't worry. I understand."
As she spoke, she took out the brown sugar and smoothly slipped it into Director Yuan's pocket. "Thank you for speaking up for me today. Please use this sugar to sweeten your tea."
Director Yuan had intended to refuse, but once she felt the contents through the newspaper and realized it was brown sugar, she hesitated.
"You're quite a sharp girl," she said. "Even if someone is jealous and maliciously reported you, don't worry too much. I know Xu Fang well enough. Since she said you're her goddaughter, she won't change her story."
"As for Captain Liu… if he troubles you again, you can also write an anonymous report to the supervisory team about him. Just make something up."
Hearing this, Su Yun's eyes widened. She thought to herself: Experience truly triumphs!
After a brief exchange, Su Yun returned to the recycling station.
When it was time to get off work, she locked up and boarded a bus toward the middle school affiliated with the steel factory, where Jiang Yaozu studied.
At that time, bus fares started at two cents. The recycling station was four stops away from the school. Because it was rush hour, the bus was extremely crowded, and the conductor kept shouting for passengers to squeeze further inside.
After getting off, nearly flattened by the crowd, Su Yun let out a long breath and resolved to save money to buy a small car for herself someday!
With that extravagant thought, she rolled her neck, stretched her hands, and positioned herself along Jiang Yaozu's usual route home, ready to lie in wait and catch him like a rabbit.