As expected, this junkyard wasn’t small. Through the tall fence outside, the slightly open gate, and the windows at the back, one could vaguely see that everything inside was neatly arranged. The gatekeepers weren’t the old men often described in novels, but three burly men instead.
“During that period there were relocations and confiscations, and a lot of heavy items had to be moved. How could an old man handle that alone? They definitely needed young, strong men. Besides, people were also trying to come here to hunt for valuables. Elderly guards wouldn’t cut it—young people were the obvious choice.” Zhao Huai’an found the reason in the original body’s memories. Back then, the original host even regretted being too young; if he had been a bit older, he would have fought for a chance to see if there was anything to gain.
“Ah, people nowadays are so sharp. Do you think there won’t be any room left for us to find treasure?” He Qiutong said a bit discouraged. She thought of her sister and reminded herself not to underestimate the intelligence of people in this era. Just because they had traveled from the future didn’t mean people of this time were foolish.
“Let’s just try it. We still have a daily check-in opportunity anyway. If we don’t use it today, you’ll probably regret it later,” Zhao Huai’an comforted her. It wasn’t a big deal anyway, using one attempt wouldn’t really cost anything.
He Qiutong regained her interest and, after walking around the junkyard, chose a suitable spot for Zhao Huai’an to activate the check-in.
In her mind, He Qiutong prayed: Jade Emperor, Taishang Laojun, Queen Mother of the West, Guanyin, Buddha, Jesus, Amen—please bless us.
Then the check-in succeeded.
“Congratulations, host, you have obtained 20 jin of chicken feathers.”
He Qiutong saw what appeared in her storage space—twenty jin of chicken feathers!!!
Ah!!!
As expected, there really was nothing good in the junkyard! Chicken feathers? Why chicken feathers? Even old newspapers would’ve been better than this!
In fact, Zhao Huai’an also felt a bit broken at that moment. When he heard it was chicken feathers, he was speechless. When people are speechless to the extreme, they tend to laugh. What were they even supposed to do with 20 jin of chicken feathers? Make feather dusters to hit children?
The two looked at each other and gave bitter smiles. “I never knew the junkyard even collected chicken feathers.”
The fact that they could even obtain chicken feathers meant the junkyard actually did recycle this kind of thing.
“Let’s sell it. It’s not useful to us anyway,” He Qiutong said, looking at the 20 jin of chicken feathers and feeling a bit foolish. It wasn’t anything particularly valuable, and selling it to the junkyard shouldn’t raise too many questions.
“Let’s go. We’ll find a quiet spot in the park and take the feathers out there.” In this era, caution was important—this was still material appearing out of thin air. Zhao Huai’an became more careful.
Feeling disappointed, He Qiutong followed him toward the small park.
“I thought it would be gold or jade bracelets or jewelry. Sigh… maybe during the confiscations, all the good stuff was already taken away,” she said.
“It’s not impossible that some was taken, but they wouldn’t have taken everything. Only truly foolish people would smash everything. Some things would definitely have been hidden.” So people really shouldn’t be underestimated.
Although chicken feathers looked light, twenty jin was still quite a lot, and it was packed into a sack rather than something small that could be easily hidden in a pocket.
Zhao Huai’an lifted it and found it wasn’t heavy. “How much do chicken feathers sell for per jin anyway? What can 20 jin even get us?”
With that question in mind, they returned to the junkyard entrance.
“Hello comrade, do you accept chicken feathers?”
“Yes. How many jin?”
“Twenty jin.”
The man glanced at the pile of chicken feathers. It looked like they had been collected for quite a while. “Wait here, I’ll call someone. Go sit in that small room.”
He casually pointed them to a room. After they entered, they found it wasn’t large, but it was bright due to a big window. There were only a few benches and a large table with paper and pens—likely part of the standard procedure before accepting recyclables.
Soon, a somewhat weary middle-aged woman came in carrying a case.
“These 20 jin of chicken feathers… you must have collected them from the countryside for quite some time, right?” she assumed they were brought in by a rural production team. After all, this stuff wasn’t worth much. Years ago, children even used chicken feathers to exchange for candy.
“Please help us inspect them,” Zhao Huai’an didn’t respond directly and simply pushed the feathers forward.
The woman wasn’t fond of handling such tedious, low-value work, but since it was part of her job, she had no choice but to inspect them carefully to ensure nothing else was mixed in.
Time passed without much feeling for the two of them. They sat quietly on the benches, occasionally leaning against the wall when they got tired.
“Alright, these 20 jin of chicken feathers are fine. I’ll process them and issue your payment receipt.” Her attitude improved after finishing the check. She had expected messy, dirty goods and possibly even short weight, but they were actually clean and properly sorted.
After she left, another person arrived at the junkyard and spoke to her.
“Sister Zhou, busy?”
“Oh, just two people from the village here to sell chicken feathers. Tian Ming, what are you doing here?”
“Hehe, got an urgent job and need my brother to help out.”
“Alright, wait here, I’ll call him.”
Their conversation was clearly heard by Zhao Huai’an and He Qiutong inside the room.
They exchanged silent looks.
Zhao Huai’an: I took a glance—it’s him, that black market guy Tian Ming.
He Qiutong: Black market… is there some kind of conspiracy here in the junkyard?
Zhao Huai’an: Shh, it has nothing to do with us.
After Tian Ming spoke briefly with another man, they both left the junkyard. At that moment, Sister Zhou returned.
“8 fen per jin. Your quality is quite good. Total is 1.6 yuan. Here you go. If you have more good chicken feathers in the future, feel free to bring them over.”
He Qiutong stiffly took the light 1.6 yuan. Eight fen per jin—it really was cheap. Hearing “bring more good chicken feathers next time,” she couldn’t help but want to complain: never again. She would never again do a junkyard check-in!
“Let’s go. With 1.6 yuan, we can still have a couple of dishes at the state-run restaurant. At least today’s effort wasn’t wasted,” Zhao Huai’an said as they left the junkyard, trying to comfort her.