What a pitiful child, he should help her a bit more.
After finishing his reminder, Brother Monkey kept swallowing unconsciously. In the end, he couldn’t resist the overwhelming aroma of the banana and opened the “teaching aid banana” the little girl had given him, eating it happily.
Since he had accepted her gift, he couldn’t just do nothing and take advantage of the girl for free. As an adult, he couldn’t bring himself to do something so embarrassing.
After Lu Yuelan parked at the temporary spot pointed out by Brother Monkey and walked over to him, Brother Monkey told her that he still hadn’t completed his tasks for the day and asked her to follow him to work together.
“Can I, a total beginner, really go do tasks directly? I’m worried I might mess it up and waste your kindness.”
“Cut the nonsense. Are you coming or not? Just say yes or no. Hesitating like that is too petty.”
Lu Yuelan had only intended to politely refuse a bit to show she wasn’t someone easily tempted by benefits, but Brother Monkey clearly had a fiery temper and high demands for his subordinates. Just her slight hesitation had already made him angry.
If she kept refusing, she might really end up offending this experienced veteran of the garbage station and drive him away.
Without the help of someone experienced, a complete beginner like her wouldn’t be able to find any good items at all. She immediately nodded, expressing her willingness to follow along and work.
“Then thank you, Brother Monkey. Please go slowly, I’ll take notes. I’ll review them later and memorize them. I refuse to believe I can’t fully master this.”
Lu Yuelan wasn’t just saying it; she immediately put it into action. She found a notebook and pen from the nearby free pile, looking like an obedient, studious “good kid.”
“Enough talk. You only have half an hour, and ten minutes have already passed. If you don’t hurry up, how much can you actually gain?”
Brother Monkey was very satisfied in his heart with Lu Yuelan’s eager-to-learn, well-behaved attitude, but his words were still harsh as he scolded her for being too slow and wasting time.
Lu Yuelan didn’t argue back. The kind big brother was only saying this for her own good. She nodded obediently to show she understood, then followed behind Brother Monkey toward the garbage piles farther away from the entrance.
“Look, just from how broken your vehicle is, I can tell you’re a complete beginner. That pile over there consists of severely scrapped vehicles. Because they’re too badly damaged, only some parts can be used for repairs. Sorting them is too troublesome, so they’re classified as a welfare pile for waste recyclers, you don’t need to pay anything. Just put in some effort and pick out anything useful.”
A wealthy and generous garbage station boss, please accept her bow of respect.
Lu Yuelan’s eyes sparkled with gold light, and she almost couldn’t wait to jump into the pile of vehicles to start selecting items. But considering Brother Monkey was still beside her, it would be rude to just abandon him, it wouldn’t be what a well-mannered child should do.
She suppressed her restless excitement and pretended to be obedient while listening to Brother Monkey’s explanation.
Seeing her well-behaved demeanor, Brother Monkey nodded in approval. Not bad, such steadiness at such a young age.
Unlike other waste recyclers who came to the garbage station: they were either physically lazy, illiterate fools, or impulsive and greedy types. Just looking at them made him feel disgusted. Only this little girl was obedient and likable, so much so that he couldn’t help but want to take care of her.
After thinking for a moment, Brother Monkey turned around and led Lu Yuelan toward a slightly more distant garbage pile. This was the employee welfare allocation he had just received today.
The little girl was decent, so as a senior, it was only natural for him to help her out a bit more.
Although Lu Yuelan felt a little confused about why they had changed locations again, she had just arrived and knew nothing about the situation here. Following along was the right choice. Brother Monkey was clearly a good monkey and wouldn’t trick her, so she didn’t ask any questions.
Seeing that the little girl obediently followed him without any objections, Brother Monkey became even more satisfied. The last bit of hesitation he had about giving up his allocated benefits also disappeared.
It wasn’t hard to find capable juniors, but it was rare to find ones who were both capable and well-behaved. Helping her now might even mean she would return the favor someday.
Brother Monkey was just thinking casually at this point, completely unaware that his prediction would actually come true in the future, bringing him promotion, wealth, and abundant fortune, all thanks to this moment of kindness toward a junior.
Right now, however, he still had the mindset of a caring “big guardian,” and looking at Lu Yuelan’s thin and fragile appearance, his eyes were full of pity.
“This pile is the leftover items the dragon clan discarded yesterday after preparing a banquet for their young master, the only five-clawed golden dragon cub. Because they’re defective goods, they can’t be sold externally, or it might damage the reputation of the golden dragon clan. So the station manager distributed them as employee benefits. You can pick some to take back as food.”
“Don’t be fooled by their appearance, they might not look great, but the dragon clan is extremely wealthy. Their ingredients are all top-quality and very nourishing. Your body is so weak; eating some of these will be very good for you.”
This time, Lu Yuelan didn’t see any golden sparkle in her eyes. Instead, she noticed the reluctance in Brother Monkey’s expression when they arrived. It seemed these items were not as worthless as he claimed. For internal staff like them, this kind of welfare was actually quite valuable.
“What’s wrong? You don’t like it? Don’t be fooled by the appearance, it’s all made by top-tier chefs. It tastes very good.”
Brother Monkey assumed the girl disliked the items because they looked unattractive, so he began to patiently persuade her.
“It’s not that, I’m just a bit embarrassed. These are internal employee benefits. As an outsider, I shouldn’t be taking them. The pile of vehicles from earlier is already enough for this trip of mine.”
Lu Yuelan reluctantly forced her gaze away from the discarded dragon banquet items. What looked unattractive to Brother Monkey appeared to her as exquisite, luxury-grade delicacies. They were not something a child abandoned by her biological parents like her could accept. The previous pile of vehicles suited her status better.
“You kid are too honest. If I tell you to take it, you just take it, you don’t know how to take advantage of anything at all. You’ll suffer a lot when you enter society in the future.”
Seeing the reluctance and disappointment in the child’s eyes, Brother Monkey felt both amused and heartbroken. He casually packed a large batch of visually decent food items into an expired preservation box he had picked up nearby and directly shoved it into her arms.
But after doing that, he still felt it wasn’t enough. This child was too innocent; without something decent to protect herself, she would easily be bullied.
However, if he spent money to buy her advanced weapons, given her overly honest personality, she would definitely refuse.
After all, she had already rejected those defective items earlier multiple times. Only because he was stronger than her did he manage to force them into her arms.
Thinking for a moment, Brother Monkey walked over to a small pile of garbage that didn’t even reach Lu Yuelan’s knees. He rummaged through it and found four or five usable-looking weapons, then took out his repair tools and began tinkering and hammering at them.
Only when a flash of golden light appeared did Brother Monkey finally nod in satisfaction. He returned to Lu Yuelan and once again stuffed the items into the bewildered little girl’s arms.