Chapter 22 Seeking Help: Finding Books at the Scrap Collection Station

Luo Qiao’s eyes lit up instantly. She asked cautiously, “Won’t this cause trouble for others?”

Lu Yichen pondered for a moment before saying, “We’ll follow the policies. If there’s an exam, you’ll take it. It’s not like we’re asking them to fake anything.”

Luo Qiao was delighted, a smile appearing on her face as she looked at Lu Yichen across from her. “Then tonight, I’ll treat you to ^[1]“Dumplings stuffed with shepherd’s purse” refers to a type of Chinese dumpling where the filling is made with shepherd’s purse (荠菜, jìcài in Chinese). Shepherd’s … Continue readingdumplings stuffed with shepherd’s purse.”

Lu Yichen didn’t say anything, but a faint smile played on his lips.

Just then, the waitress called out, “The food for table three is ready. Please come and fetch it.”

Luo Qiao suddenly remembered that this wasn’t the era where the customer is always right.

She stood up and went with Lu Yichen to pick up their food.

The chef here was skilled indeed. The braised pork was fatty but not greasy, lean but not tough. After a few bites, Luo Qiao stopped eating. The bowl of noodles was sizable, and she was afraid of wasting food.

It had been some time since she arrived here, and this was her first time having meat. While her space contained all sorts of vegetables, there was no stored meat. She was starting to suspect that the previous owner of her space was a vegetarian.

Otherwise, how come there’s not a trace of meat smell in the space? Thinking of this, Luo Qiao recalled another purpose of her visit to the commune this time.

Lu Yichen nudged the braised pork towards Luo Qiao. “Eat more meat.”

Luo Qiao smiled and pointed to her bowl of noodles. “This bowl is big. I’m afraid I won’t finish the noodles.”

Lu Yichen had thought of saying ‘it’s okay if there are leftovers’, but looking around at the others dining, he refrained from saying it.

Luo Qiao struggled to finish the bowl of noodles. Nowadays, there were no distinctions between large and small bowls; they were all those big coarse porcelain bowls.

After finishing their meal, Lu Yichen asked, “Are you heading back to the village now or continuing to explore?”

Luo Qiao didn’t conceal anything. “I want to go to the scrap collection station to find some textbooks.”

Lu Yichen pointed her in the direction, and they parted ways there.

When she found the scrap collection station, an elderly man was guarding the entrance. Luo Qiao explained her purpose, and the old man said, “If you find everything you need, hurry out. Books are three cents per kilogram.”

Luo Qiao nodded and entered the yard. The commune’s scrap collection station was not large, just a big warehouse with iron shelves and broken tables scattered in the yard. As she entered the warehouse, a musty smell hit her nose.

Without much thought, she quickly searched inside. After some effort, she managed to gather a complete set of junior high textbooks.

There were still a few missing for high school; she planned to come back another time when she had the chance. In a corner tucked away, she also found three hardbound books, each with varying degrees of damage.

Among the miscellaneous items, she found a porcelain bottle. Unsure if it was an antique, but it looked quite similar, so she included it in her collection.

After searching further without finding anything else appealing, she moved everything out and had the elderly man weigh it. In total, it weighed 21.6 kilograms, totaling 63 cents.

The old man kindly found some rope to tie the items together for her. After paying, Luo Qiao took out a handful of red dates from her pocket and placed them on the table as a token of gratitude before leaving.

She didn’t have anything else valuable on her; these red dates were produced in her space and weren’t worth much, but they were suitable as a gesture of goodwill.

Finding a secluded corner, she stored the items into her space. Carrying them was inconvenient. Now, she just needed to see where she could buy some chicks. However, she didn’t find any chicks but stumbled upon someone selling ducklings in a nearby alley.

There were a total of ten ducklings in the basket, originally selling for ten cents each. Luo Qiao took them all, negotiating down to eight cents each and paid a yuan for the basket.