Granny Qin used to be a primary school teacher.
After retiring, she became passionate about public welfare.
She had participated in several charity events and donated a significant amount of money to Sister Zhang’s Charity Foundation.
She knew that every penny she contributed went toward women and children who lacked basic life skills or were homeless.
Yet, while out picking up trash, she bumped into a child from the very institution she donated to.
The foundation provided free room, board, and vocational training—so why was this child out here scavenging?
Could the money she and other kind-hearted people donated have been embezzled by the staff?
Her expression instantly turned stern.
Yun Zhen was good at reading people’s expressions.
The old woman had mentioned donating money to the place she was currently staying.
It seemed she was misunderstanding something.
Yun Zhen hastily explained, “I used to scavenge around here, so I’m used to it.
I eat well and sleep well at Sister Zhang’s Charity Foundation.
I’m learning how to read with the teachers, and I’ve even found two jobs.” She spoke with utmost sincerity.
If this kind-hearted person misunderstood the foundation because of her, the guilt would be too much to bear.
“I see.
Since the foundation provides food and housing, you could easily wait until you’re an adult to start working.
Why the rush?” Hearing her explanation, Granny Qin breathed a sigh of relief.
Her good deeds hadn’t been in vain.
“I want to earn money as soon as possible,” Yun Zhen answered truthfully.
Today, once her father told the whole village about her miraculous encounter, she would become their only hope for survival.
She wanted to earn more money to buy rice, flour, and warm clothes so the villagers wouldn’t freeze or starve to death.
Now, she didn’t just have to support her family—she had to support all the men, women, and children in the entire village.
She had to earn more.
“Granny, where do you take these cardboards to sell?” she asked, shifting the topic to what she cared about most.
Every extra dollar earned was another pound of refined white rice!
“It’s a pity your communicator can’t add outside contacts.
Here’s my business card with my phone number.
Once you’ve sorted out the cardboards, give me a call.
I’ll take you to a boss I know so you won’t get scammed,” Granny Qin said.
The communicators provided by the charity foundation only had three functions: an alarm clock schedule, a hotline to the foundation staff, and emergency services.
Perhaps to prevent the residents from getting mixed up in complicated social circles, the devices couldn’t add outside numbers.
Yun Zhen accepted the small paper card from Granny Qin’s hand.
“When the time comes, just borrow a staff member’s phone.
I’ll drive my electric tricycle over and help you haul the cardboard to sell,” Granny Qin instructed.
Yun Zhen hurriedly thanked her.
“Thank you, Granny.”
“You’re welcome.
My surname is Qin.
I used to be a teacher, so people used to call me Teacher Qin, but the younger generation all call me Granny Qin.
You can call me Granny Qin from now on too,” the old woman said with a smile.
“Granny Qin!” Yun Zhen felt incredibly moved.
There were truly so many good people in this world!
Knowing that cardboard could be sold for money, Yun Zhen lost interest in everything else.
She focused entirely on collecting cardboard of all colors.
The thought that these would increase her income made her work swiftly, SWOOSHING from one side of the street to the other.
Granny Qin clicked her tongue in admiration.
“This child is truly hardworking.” Her own grandchildren at home were completely spoiled—they would struggle just to sweep the floor.
It really took a child who had endured hardship to work with such efficiency.
“Girl, I haven’t even asked for your name,” Granny Qin said.
“My name is Yun Zhen,” Yun Zhen replied while picking up a piece of cardboard.
Granny Qin sighed softly.
“Yun Zhen?
What a lovely name…” By all rights, it meant she was the precious treasure of her family.
Yet, who would have thought she was a pitiful orphan without parents?
“Silly child, cardboard does make money, but aluminum cans are the most profitable.
They go for a dollar each.” Granny Qin picked up a soda can, crushed it flat under her foot, and tossed it into her bag.
Yun Zhen was stunned.
What?
These smooth, colorful cans were worth more than cardboard?
A dollar for just one?
She had previously thought these flashy, feather-light cans couldn’t compare to the clear transparency and solid feel of glazed glass.
She never imagined they could be sold for money, too.
“Granny Qin, these bottles should be worth something too, right?” she asked, showing the old woman the glass liquor bottles she had picked up.
Granny Qin replied, “Beer bottles aren’t worth much.
A whole crate of them only sells for a dollar.
It’s too much effort to collect glass bottles.
Cardboard and aluminum cans are where the value is.”
Yun Zhen fell silent.
In her world, glazed glass was worth its weight in gold, yet here, it was practically worthless—a whole crate for just one dollar, while a single flimsy, colorful can was worth a dollar on its own.
How could the difference be so drastic?
Nevertheless, she obediently stuck to collecting only cardboard and aluminum cans.
When her plastic bag ran out of space, she scavenged two green mesh sacks from the ground and used them to separate the cardboard from the cans.
To Yun Zhen, this place was simply a treasure trove.
One colorful can meant one dollar, which equaled one pound of rice.
She had packed a solid thirty-odd cans, enough to buy around thirty pounds of refined white rice.
The stiff cardboards were neatly stacked together, leaving the mesh sack standing rigidly upright on the ground.
She was so absorbed in her scavenging that even as she occasionally chatted with Granny Qin, her hands never stopped moving.
Granny Qin pounded her aching lower back and looked in astonishment at the little girl engrossed in picking up trash.
“Yun Zhen, you’re truly amazing.
You’ve actually collected this much cardboard.
I originally planned to go sell our scrap with you in a couple of days, but you’ve got at least ten pounds of cardboard here, and dozens of cans.
I might as well take you to sell them before you have to head to work.”
Yun Zhen looked with satisfaction at the empire she had conquered: a massive stack of cardboard and half a sack of colorful cans.
This was all money!
Her face lit up with joy.
“Granny Qin, are we going right now?”
Granny Qin lifted her own bag and tossed it into the electric tricycle parked by the road.
“We’re leaving right now.”
PUFFING with effort, Yun Zhen lugged the cardboard and her half-sack of cans onto Granny Qin’s tricycle.
The scrap yard wasn’t far away.
The electric tricycle got them there in just three minutes.
Inside the junkyard, piles of rusted metal lumps and unrecognizable objects were heaped together, each mound taller than the last.
Yun Zhen inhaled sharply.
They had arrived at a mountain of trash.
“Granny Qin, back to sell more scrap?” A dark-skinned young man walked over with a scale to weigh their haul.
Granny Qin smiled.
“I brought this child to sell her cardboard and cans.
You give good prices here, unlike those who try to lowball us.”
The young man weighed the items and pulled out a wad of cash as he did the math.
“Fifteen pounds of cardboard at fifty cents a pound makes seven dollars and fifty cents.
Thirty-eight aluminum cans at a dollar each makes thirty-eight dollars.
The two combined come to exactly forty-five dollars and fifty cents.” He flashed a bright, toothy smile.
“See, Granny Qin?
I didn’t cheat you, did I?”
Granny Qin nodded in satisfaction.
“You’re a truly honest lad!”
Forty-five dollars and fifty cents!
That could buy forty-five pounds of refined white rice.
Yun Zhen eagerly accepted the money.
In just a short amount of time, she had actually earned forty-five dollars and fifty cents!
Adding that to the one hundred and ten dollars from her two jobs, she was pulling in a total of one hundred and fifty-five dollars and fifty cents today.
She pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and offered it to Granny Qin.
“Granny, please take this.
If you hadn’t told me that cardboard could be exchanged for money, I never would have earned all this!”
Granny Qin refused righteously.
“What are you doing?
I only told you that cardboard and cans were worth money.
You earned this with your own two hands.
How could you give a cut to me?
“You silly child, you’re far too honest!
“Hurry up and put your money away.
Buy yourself some milk to nourish your body.
Look at how dangerously skinny you are.”
Yun Zhen knew the old woman meant well.
Deeply moved and feeling that she had no other way to repay such kindness, she did something that nearly made everyone present drop their jaws in shock!