Chapter 40: Finding Treasure

Luo Qiao checked the time and decided to make a trip to the scrapyard, hoping to find the missing high school textbooks by chance. Unexpectedly, the elderly gatekeeper recognized her.

Once inside, Luo Qiao searched for a while but only found a bound medical book. She still hadn’t found the high school textbooks she needed. As she was about to leave, she stumbled over a stone, and nearly fell.

After steadying herself, she noticed a small patch of green peeking out from the stone that tripped her. Curious, she bent down and picked it up, her heart racing.

Could this be an uncut gemstone, as rumored? But how did it end up here? Just then, the gatekeeper came in looking for something and asked, “Did you find what you were looking for?”

Seeing Luo Qiao holding the stone that had blocked the door, he asked, “Girl, what are you doing with that? It’s what I use to prop open the door.”

Luo Qiao replied, “This stone almost tripped me just now, but it actually looks quite nice.”

The elderly gatekeeper said, “If you like them, there are a few more at the corner of the outer wall. They’re just for looks, nothing else.”

Luo Qiao smiled, “Thank you, Grandpa. I’ll take this one then, I’m heading back to fix the flower pond.”

With that, Luo Qiao took the stone with her as she left. She checked under the outer earthen wall outside and indeed found several unremarkable stones tossed there but the one in her hand was more beautiful.

To be honest, Luo Qiao wasn’t sure if these were indeed gemstones, but the piece on her hand might have been rubbed against the ground for a long time, and developed its green spot.

It’s possible that these stones were overlooked during a previous house clean-up and ended up being discarded in the corner. Including the one she held, there were six stones in total. Luo Qiao gathered them all in her basket and carried them to the gate.

The gatekeeper noticed Luo Qiao had only found one book and waved her off. Luo Qiao said, “I also found these few stones.”

The old gatekeeper suddenly chuckled, saying, “Just a few stones taking up space there, what use do you have for them, child?”

Luo Qiao felt embarrassed that the old gatekeeper let her take the stones for free. She said, “Grandpa, I feel awkward taking them for free. How about you take a bite for them? That way, I’ll feel more at ease.”

The old gatekeeper chuckled even more and said, “You’re such a strange girl. You won’t take them unless you pay? Alright then, give me three cents for all of them.”

Luo Qiao didn’t have any small change on her, so she took out a fifty-cent bill and said, “Here’s fifty cents. Since you always take care of me, you don’t need to give me change. Use the rest to buy yourself some cigarettes.”

After saying this, she ran off, but after a few steps, she mischievously turned back and waved to the old gatekeeper, “Goodbye, Grandpa!”

She walked to an empty corner and then stored the six fist-sized stones from her basket into her space. Seeing it was getting late, she hurried back because she still had work to do in the afternoon.

Just as she left the commune and hadn’t gone far, Luo Qiao saw two people lying on the riverbank under the bridge. Beside them was an overturned bicycle, and despite it being close to noon, there were hardly any people on the road.

It was clear they had just fallen because the bicycle wheels were still spinning. Luo Qiao quickly ran over and anxiously asked from above, “Are you both okay?”

One of the girls heard someone asking if they were okay and immediately burst into tears. She shouted towards the woman lying on the ground, “Mom, mom, what happened to you? Please don’t scare me.”

Seeing the girl vigorously shaking the unconscious middle-aged woman, Luo Qiao hurriedly spoke up to stop her, “Don’t shake her. Let’s first see where’s injured.”