After deciding how to deal with the chest, Lu Yuelan released the handbrake, started the vehicle, and drove toward the other end of the road. However, things were increasingly unpredictable. Just after passing the traffic light, she noticed a black-and-white building appearing on the one-way road.
Lu Yuelan immediately became alert, fearing something unexpected might happen.
【Ding. A garbage station has appeared ahead. This station is an official facility type. Non-related occupational users cannot enter for free. Related occupational users cannot stay longer than 30 minutes.】
Hearing the sudden system notification, Lu Yuelan immediately changed her mind and drove toward the garbage station.
The description of the “waste recycling worker” job was too vague. Unlike the childcare worker role, which clearly laid out tasks and even salary income, the waste recycling worker had no wage information and no task assignments. It was as if it only added a job title panel with no real function.
Now that she had encountered a garbage station, something related to her waste recycling job, Lu Yuelan wanted to go take a look. She couldn’t let this occupational ability go to waste.
Earlier, she had already spent all her childcare earnings buying supplies for the little kid, leaving her completely broke. She could only hope the waste recycling job would be useful enough to help her strike it rich.
Cough, maybe “strike it rich” was too exaggerated. Just earning enough for two parallel-use cards would be fine. Becoming rich overnight was unrealistic; one shouldn’t be too greedy.
【Ding. Detected that player Lu Yuelan has the Waste Recycling Worker profession. You are eligible to enter the garbage station for free. Would you like to enter now?】
“Yes.”
【Okay, welcome player Lu Yuelan to the garbage station. Time limit: 30 minutes. Please pay attention to the time restriction. Any overstay will be at your own risk.】
【Detected that player Lu Yuelan is in the beginner phase. Beginner benefit activated: free countdown reminder service. We wish you an enjoyable experience.】
As soon as the system notification ended, a 30-minute countdown appeared in the top-right corner. After confirming there were no other issues nearby, Lu Yuelan drove through the already-open black gate. What met her eyes were piles of garbage forming small hills.
Inside the heaps were all kinds of items, cars, vegetables, electrical appliances, and more. They all looked worn-out and broken, otherwise one might have mistaken them for goods at a free market.
Just as Lu Yuelan tried to take a closer look, she was interrupted by a stern male voice.
“Hey! You new waste recycler, park your vehicle in the parking lot. Vehicles are not allowed inside the garbage field.”
Lu Yuelan followed the sound and saw a man with a monkey-like face, sharp ears, and a gaunt appearance. Her mind immediately went “wow” repeatedly. Sun Wukong? The Great Sage Equal to Heaven? A human-like monkey? So amazing, so this is what alien life forms look like?
“Sorry, sir Monkey… it’s my first time working here and I don’t know the rules. Where should I park? What’s more convenient?”
Even though her thoughts were running wild, it didn’t stop Lu Yuelan from greeting him with a smiling face.
For someone like this strict “homeroom teacher” type, she had plenty of experience dealing with them. In her previous school life, she had even successfully handled her own class teacher. She didn’t believe this monkey-faced guy was truly cold-hearted enough to reject a well-behaved, obedient, and studious little girl.
“Hmph. Coming to work without even bothering to understand the job properly, what a headache. Tsk. Go over there. That area is for parking vehicles that don’t enter the garbage field. Remember, you can only stay here for 30 minutes. If you exceed the time limit, both your vehicle and money will be deducted. If you don’t have a vehicle, that’s fine, you can still move around on your own. But if you don’t have money, that’s serious. You’ll be stuck doing unpaid labor here for the rest of your life. The garbage station doesn’t care about that. No money means no rights.”
Despite his rough appearance, the monkey-faced man’s words were full of good intentions.
Lu Yuelan, this complete rookie who had just entered and understood nothing, would have died without even knowing how she died if she hadn’t met this strict, teacher-like monkey man who liked to instruct others.
Compared to those people who smiled on the surface but were actually malicious, he was much better.
“Alright, Brother Monkey. Sorry for the trouble, here, have something to replenish your energy.”
Lu Yuelan opened the car window and handed over a banana she had originally planned to eat as her dinner “diet meal.” The monkey-faced man raised his hand, about to refuse.
“No—”
“Don’t rush to refuse. I’ll still need Brother Monkey’s help guiding me as a newbie later. Think of this as tuition. Brother Monkey wouldn’t refuse, right? Do you think I’m too stupid and don’t want to teach me?”
Before he could finish speaking, Lu Yuelan put on a pitiful expression, leaving the monkey man at a loss.
As the saying goes, you don’t hit a smiling face. With the girl being so polite, he couldn’t continue nitpicking her newcomer mistake or make things difficult for her over a rule violation.
Forget it. Everyone makes mistakes. He should still give her a chance to correct herself.
The monkey-faced man convinced himself and accepted the banana from Lu Yuelan. While guiding her to the parking area, he also explained things about the place.
“Park your vehicle first. Later I’ll teach you how to pick out usable items from the garbage piles. Actually, there’s not much to teach, if you can read, that’s enough.”
“Mm-hmm~ thank you, Brother Monkey. I can read.”
Because of her childcare certification, Lu Yuelan had not only obtained the Waste Recycling Worker profession, but her mind had also been directly infused with all the languages of the entire interstellar world.
After all, each “cub” did not come from the same species. It was natural that newborn cubs would only speak their own race’s language. They weren’t grown-ups yet, once they reached the stage of going to school, that was no longer the childcare worker’s responsibility; it belonged to primary school teachers. That was already a bit beyond scope.
To make things easier, or to fix possible game bugs and avoid the problem of new childcare workers not understanding cub languages, Lu Yuelan now had access to all cub languages in her mind. She could speak and write them fluently; calling it an “interstellar language encyclopedia” wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
Otherwise, if she had to deal with Brother Monkey’s questions without this, her head would’ve exploded from confusion.
Not knowing other things might be fine, but if she couldn’t understand language and writing, that would be a real problem. Being “helpful” shouldn’t mean making things harder for yourself.
“That makes things easy. Look over there at the free area. Within 30 minutes, you can pick whatever items you need and take them directly without paying.”
As long as she could read, it wouldn’t take much effort from him. He still had other work to do and couldn’t waste all his time here.
From the sight of this girl’s shabby level-1 small school bus, it was obvious she wasn’t well-off. In the spirit of doing what was best for the child, Brother Monkey recommended the pile of freely claimable materials.
Since she could read, picking out useful items to supplement her household supplies would be no problem at all.
“Then… where do I need to pay? I… still want some better things, but…”
Lu Yuelan held her breath and deliberately made her face turn red, forcing out a shy, slightly embarrassed expression of someone short on money but still wanting good items. It immediately triggered Brother Monkey’s sympathy.
“Each garbage pile has a sign showing its purchase price list. Generally speaking, as long as you don’t go into the rooms, and since you’re a waste recycler coming to the garbage station to pick things up, you also get discount privileges. You basically don’t need to spend much money. If you put in some effort and carefully search, just the materials outside are enough to enrich your beginner-level, impoverished inventory.”