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墨書 Inktalez
As the market closed down, the sky was still bright. Shen Weidong did not head home immediately; instead, he approached some of the old vendors who seemed well-informed and inquired about the location of the largest Scrap Station in the city. After confirming the general direction, he slung his Canvas Tool Bag, which contained all his belongings, over his shoulder and set off.
After walking for about half an hour, a strong, pungent odor mixed with various decaying materials wafted toward him. He quickened his pace and turned a corner to find a large yard surrounded by red bricks and barbed wire. A weathered sign hung at the entrance—“Red Flag Scrap Comprehensive Recycling Station.”
Sitting at the gate was an Old Man dressed in a tattered blue cotton coat and a worn cotton hat, puffing on a pipe while his bleary eyes scanned the incoming and outgoing carts.
Shen Weidong stepped forward and pulled out his last remaining Daqianmen cigarette—one he had saved since leaving Red Star—and offered it to the man. “Sir, please have a smoke. I’d like to ask you something. I’m a vendor from the nearby market looking to trade for some old parts. Would that be alright? I won’t take much; whatever I choose, I’ll pay you according to scrap metal prices.”
The old man took the cigarette but didn’t light it; instead, he skillfully tucked it behind his ear and scrutinized Shen Weidong for a moment. Finally, he exhaled a puff of smoke slowly and said, “Go on in. Just look around; don’t mess things up. Pick what you want and take it over to that scale for weighing. Ask Xiao Liu for payment.”
“Great! Thank you, sir!” Shen Weidong quickly expressed his gratitude, feeling relieved.
He pushed open the creaking iron gate and stepped into what felt like a “kingdom of garbage.” The yard stretched endlessly before him, with piles of waste sorted by type, filling the air with an even stronger stench accompanied by occasional metallic clinks and workers shouting.
“Wow! This place… is practically a graveyard of industrial civilization! But what’s trash to others is treasure to me!” Shen Weidong rubbed his hands together excitedly and dove into a nearby heap of electronic waste.
Focusing intently, his Ability activated quietly. Wherever he looked, information about the internal structures beneath the damaged exteriors flooded into his mind like a tide.
“This Hai Yan brand radio has a cracked shell, but its variable Capacitor and several key Resistors are intact—Green Dot! I’ll take it!”
“This Luo Tuo brand Fan has no blades left, and its Electric Motor casing is rusty, but the coil inside is functioning normally with slight bearing wear—Green Dot! A good find; I’ll take it!”
“This Instrument Panel… there are several seemingly good imported small Resistors on the circuit board below—valuable! I’ll dismantle it!”
Shen Weidong was like a miner carefully excavating treasures from these “mountains” of waste. He selectively picked out discarded items with valuable core components. His Ability’s diagnostic skills acted like x-ray vision, greatly enhancing his efficiency while he meticulously controlled his Mental Power expenditure.
He carefully piled up his “treasures”—mainly usable electronic components along with various screws and nuts—on an empty patch of ground at his feet.
Just as he was about to continue searching another area, something caught his eye in the corner: half-buried under greasy waste was an old Aluminum Lunch Box, rusted and severely deformed as if it had been crushed by something heavy.
“What could possibly be in this junk?” Shen Weidong initially dismissed it but instinctively focused his Mental Power on it out of habit from his engineering days.
“Huh?” The feedback in his mind made him pause! Inside the lunch box, wrapped in tattered cloths, lay a small roll of something! From the energy feedback and vague structural images, it appeared to be… several intact Electronic Tubes made of slender glass structures? Moreover, judging by their design, they were likely rare models found only in vintage precision instruments!
“Wow! What a treasure!” Shen Weidong felt ecstatic. This item was hard to come by even if one had money; it was invaluable for restoring vintage equipment! Suppressing his excitement, he feigned nonchalance as he bent down to grab the Aluminum Lunch Box.
“Hey! Kid, you’re pretty quick with your hands!” A gruff voice suddenly rang out beside him, followed by a large hand reaching over to snatch the lunch box away first!
Shen Weidong looked up to see a burly man with a face full of flesh and a prominent scar running across one eye weighing the lunch box in his hands with ill intent. This man was known as Scarred Eye around the market—a notorious thug who often bullied new vendors.
Scarred Eye had simply noticed Shen Weidong's actions and wanted to seize whatever profit he could find. “I’ve got my eye on this thing! It’s mine now!” he declared arrogantly while shoving the lunch box into his coat.
Shen Weidong frowned; this was clearly robbery! He suppressed his anger and said in a low voice, “Hey there, brother; there should be some order here. I found this lunch box first.”
Scarred Eye glared at him and spat on the ground beside him before picking up a rusty pipe lying nearby and weighing it in his hand. “Quit talking nonsense! If I want it, it's mine! You better scram unless you want your head smashed!”
Shen Weidong glanced at the water pipe in the other person's hand, then surveyed the surroundings. Although there were other scavengers nearby, they were all at a distance and didn’t seem inclined to interfere. A direct confrontation? While he wasn’t afraid, it would definitely attract the attention of the gatekeeper or even the police. At that point, his "shopping" behavior would be hard to explain, and he might even expose his ability.
"Damn it, I've run into a tough opponent. I can't just go head-to-head; I need to think." Shen Weidong's mind raced.
Suddenly, he put on a look of resignation and pointed to a larger, seemingly more intact pile of discarded motor casings near Scarred Eye's feet. In a somewhat flattering tone, he said, "Alright, alright, big brother, you’re impressive. If you want this broken lunch box, take it. But you see that motor casing over there? It’s so intact! If the copper wires inside haven’t been stripped away, it could be worth quite a bit! Unfortunately, it’s too heavy for me to move alone; otherwise..."
Scarred Eye's attention was indeed drawn away. The price of scrap copper was much higher than that of the broken aluminum lunch box! He cast a suspicious glance at Shen Weidong and then looked down at the pile of motor casings. Greed flickered in his eyes as he unconsciously loosened his grip on the lunch box.
Now's my chance!
Shen Weidong's gaze sharpened. He suddenly exerted force with his legs and, using a slight boost from his ability, darted forward like a cheetah. Before Scarred Eye could react, he snatched the aluminum lunch box from his hand! Without looking back, he quickly shoved the lunch box into a sack already filled with assorted scrap and covered it with some rags.
The whole action was swift and seamless!
"You bastard..." Scarred Eye finally reacted, furious as he raised the water pipe to strike.
"Big brother! You have sharp eyes!" Shen Weidong stepped back a few paces, pointing at the pile of motor casings with a sincere smile on his face. "That big 'treasure' is still waiting for you to discover! I'm just picking up some worthless little parts; I’ll be on my way now! Thanks for your 'guidance'!"
With that, Shen Weidong wasted no time and quickly stuffed the previously selected scrap into the sack, hoisting it up as he made his way toward the gatekeeper.
Scarred Eye was left bewildered by Shen Weidong's maneuvering. He looked at the water pipe in his hand, then at the heavy motor casings, and finally at Shen Weidong’s bulging sack filled with junk. For a moment, he didn’t know what to do. Should he go check the motor casings? What if there really wasn’t any copper? Should he rob Shen Weidong’s sack? It looked like nothing but trash inside; starting a fight over a broken lunch box would only attract management’s attention. He could only watch helplessly as Shen Weidong carried the sack to be weighed.
Shen Weidong approached the gatekeeper and placed the sack on the scale. "Sir, please weigh this."
The gatekeeper leisurely set down his smoking pipe and adjusted the weights: "Hmm... fifteen pounds six ounces; let’s call it fifteen and a half pounds. That’ll be one dollar fifty-five cents."
Shen Weidong paid without hesitation, hoisting up the sack. Before leaving, he waved cheerfully at Scarred Eye in the distance, flashing a grin.
Once outside the recycling station's gate and turning into a secluded alleyway, Shen Weidong finally breathed a sigh of relief. He set down the sack and carefully pulled out the deformed aluminum lunch box from the bottom. Opening it up revealed several intact electronic tubes inside that shimmered with a special luster. A victorious smile spread across his face.
"Damn it! Picking up scraps feels like fighting a battle; it's all about wits and courage! But it’s so exhilarating! These tubes are worth it! As for parts—this is just the beginning!"
He carefully stored the lunch box and electronic tubes in his space pocket, hoisted up his sack again, and walked briskly in the direction of home.
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