Chapter 32: A Trip to the Scrapyard
Hearing his sister’s stern lecture, Sheng Wanze immediately went to the washbasin. He scrubbed his hands vigorously, rubbing them together several times until he was finally satisfied they were entirely free of dirt.
“By the way, how do you know so much about bacteria?” he asked, looking over his shoulder.
Sheng Wanyan was momentarily caught off guard by the question, but she quickly composed herself. “I’m a high school graduate, aren’t I? I read about it in a book.”
Sheng Wanze nodded. His sister had always maintained decent grades in the past, so the explanation made perfect sense to him.
“It’s good to read,” Sheng Wanze noted, his tone turning serious, “but make sure you don’t bring any questionable books into this house.”
Sheng Wanyan nodded in understanding. In this era, where the working class was glorified above all, keeping unauthorized medical texts or foreign literature at home could be a fatal mistake. If discovered, the entire family could be implicated and sent down to the labor camps. She knew exactly where the lines were drawn.
“Don’t worry, I know better than to bring anything like that home.”
Once Sheng Wanze finished chopping the meat, Sheng Wanyan shooed him out of the kitchen, insisting she could handle the rest herself.
While the rest of the family sat in the living room listening to the new radio, Sheng Wanyan got to work. Secretly, she pulled light soy sauce and wild honey from her space—luxuries the Sheng household currently lacked.
She added the soy sauce and cooking wine to the meat, stirring it continuously clockwise for five minutes to let the marinade absorb. Then, she mixed in the sugar, salt, and pepper. Since households in this era didn’t have ovens, she could only use the large iron wok to slowly pan-fry and dry the meat out. As long as the moisture was cooked out and the flavor locked in, the result would be practically the same.
Once the pork jerky was finished, Sheng Wanyan cut it into small, bite-sized strips and popped one into her mouth.
It was a total success—savory, slightly sweet, and incredibly chewy. It was solid meat, so there was no way Sheng Wanze wouldn’t love it.
When she brought the finished batch out to the living room, the family eagerly tried it and immediately showered her with praise.
“We’ll pack this into jars,” Mother Sheng declared, efficiently dividing the spoils. “Xiaoze will take two jars back to the base with him, and we’ll keep the last one here at home.”
Looking at the neatly packed jars, Sheng Wanze felt a wave of warmth. With this meat jerky on hand, he would have something delicious to replenish his energy after exhausting training sessions.
His little sister was truly becoming more capable and clever by the day. The thought made him proud, but it also sparked a protective flare in his chest; who knew which opportunistic wolf cub of a man would eventually try to steal her away?
She was growing more beautiful with every passing day, her features blooming into genuine elegance. The thought of her marrying someone who might mistreat her genuinely angered him. After all, he had practically raised her. Before he left to join the army at thirteen, he was her primary caretaker. Their parents had been swamped with factory work, and their grandparents busy maintaining the household. Little Wanyan used to waddle behind him everywhere he went, two little snot bubbles constantly hanging from her nose.
With the day winding down, the family went to bed early. There was nowhere to go for entertainment at night in this era, and sleeping early was the best way to save precious lamp oil.
The next morning, Sheng Wanyan had a scheduled day off. She decided to head to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to use up the ration tickets that were on the verge of expiring.
As she prepared to leave, Mother Sheng called out, reminding her to buy a bag of salt.
“Got it, Mom!”
Pedaling her bicycle down the street, an idea suddenly sparked in Sheng Wanyan’s mind: the scrapyard.
In all the transmigration and period novels she used to read, the heroines always managed to uncover priceless hidden treasures at the local scrapyards. It was the perfect opportunity to go take a look. Even if she didn’t find any hidden gold, familiarizing herself with the location would be useful for the future.
Following the original owner’s memories, Sheng Wanyan navigated her way to the city’s scrap collection station.
Instead of parking at the gate, she stopped in a deserted alleyway nearby, ensured no one was watching, and securely stored her new bicycle inside her space.
She slipped five fruit candies into her pocket and walked up to the scrapyard’s entrance.
An older woman guarding the gate immediately stepped forward, eyeing her suspiciously. “What are you doing here?”
“Auntie, I just want to buy some waste paper and scrap wood to start the stove at home,” Sheng Wanyan said sweetly, smoothly pressing the five fruit candies into the woman’s calloused hand.
The auntie glanced down at the brightly wrapped sweets, her stern expression instantly melting. She waved a hand dismissively, stepping aside to let her pass.
“Go on in. Just make sure you don’t take anything you aren’t supposed to.”
“I understand. Thank you, Auntie!”
Sheng Wanyan stepped into the scrapyard. The massive yard was piled high with a chaotic mess of discarded items.
She saw half-burned tables and intricately carved wooden stools missing arms and legs. Looking at the fine craftsmanship of the ruined antique furniture, Sheng Wanyan felt a deep ache of pity. In a few decades, any one of these pieces would easily fetch hundreds of thousands of yuan at auction. Now, they were nothing but firewood.
With a sigh, she squatted down and began sifting through a massive mountain of discarded paper. Among the debris were torn traditional ink paintings, discarded medical journals, and foreign-language books—all highly taboo items. The paintings were incredibly lifelike; even though half of the canvas was charred, their original beauty was undeniable.
Unfortunately, there was hardly anything completely intact. Most items had been violently torn apart or heavily burned.
Just as she was about to give up on the paper pile, her hands brushed against a thick stack of bound volumes. She pulled them out and brushed off the ash. It was a complete, pristine set of high school mathematics, physics, and chemistry textbooks!
These were the exact review materials that would become worth their weight in gold when the national college entrance examinations resumed in 1977. In a few years, millions of youths would go absolutely feral trying to get their hands on a single copy of these books.
Thrilled, she immediately tucked the entire set into her space. Having scored such a massive win in the paper pile, she turned her attention to the destroyed furniture.
Checking over her shoulder to ensure the gatekeeper wasn’t watching, Sheng Wanyan began systematically pulling open every drawer she could find. She found several beautifully crafted sandalwood jewelry boxes. Though they had long been emptied of their original contents, the antique boxes themselves were valuable. She slipped them into her space.
Next, she began tapping on the legs of the tables and stools.
Thud. Thud. Hollow.
Sheng Wanyan paused. She tapped a thick, wooden stool leg again. It was definitely hollow. She flipped the heavy stool over and inspected the bottom. Sure enough, the base of one of the legs had been expertly hollowed out and plugged with a discreet piece of dark wood.
Using a sturdy piece of scrap metal, Sheng Wanyan pried the wooden plug loose and shook the stool leg over her palm.
A small bundle wrapped in a black handkerchief slid out. Sheng Wanyan quickly unfolded the fabric, her breath catching in her throat. Inside lay two solid gold bars, a flawless jade ring, and a pair of dazzling ruby earrings.
Her heart racing, Sheng Wanyan instantly transferred the treasure and the wooden plug into her space, then set the stool back exactly as she had found it.
She spent another twenty minutes checking the rest of the furniture but didn’t find anything else.
Fearing that lingering too long would arouse the gatekeeper’s suspicion, Sheng Wanyan gathered a large bundle of ordinary waste paper and carried it to the front.
The auntie casually inspected the bundle to ensure no restricted materials were hidden inside before nodding. “That’ll be five cents.”
Sheng Wanyan handed over a nickel and walked out of the scrapyard, her heart still buzzing with the sheer thrill of the treasure hunt.
Finding another quiet corner, she tossed the bundle of waste paper into her space—it would be perfect fuel for the stove inside her dimension—and retrieved her bicycle.
Pedaling to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, she purchased the bag of salt Mother Sheng had requested, along with a pound of white sugar and a pound of brown sugar. She then used up her remaining four pounds of grain coupons to buy two pounds of fresh pastries and two pounds of rice.
Having successfully exhausted her expiring tickets, she had spent less than three yuan in total.
Satisfied with her haul, Sheng Wanyan walked out of the cooperative doors—only to stop dead in her tracks.
Standing right in front of her was Sheng Xiuying.
Unlike her previous glamorous appearance, where she had flaunted a pristine new dress and a bright hairband, Sheng Xiuying looked thoroughly miserable. The clothes she wore today were faded and patched at the elbows.
The moment Sheng Xiuying spotted her, she practically sprinted over. For the past two weeks, she had been bitterly waiting for Sheng Wanyan to come groveling to her with gifts and apologies, just as she always had in the past.
Instead, she had waited half a month without a single word, only to hear the neighborhood gossip that the foolish, easily manipulated Sheng Wanyan had somehow secured an incredibly prestigious state worker job!
