NABC Chapter 126: Scrap Yard
Chapter 126: Scrap Yard
Over the next two days, Zhang Lei rode his bicycle around all the dilapidated courtyard houses in the surrounding area in pursuit of his treasure hunt.
However, the results were minimal, and the treasure trove that had been imagined was not the case.
Moreover, he collected a lot of things, but because he lacked knowledge of antique appraisal, he couldn't be sure whether the things he found were valuable antiques or treasures.
But Zhang Lei thought that since he had already accepted it, he should keep it for now.
I'll see if the system can reward me with a treasure-hunting ability later.
Then I can distinguish them one by one.
While Zhang Lei was searching for treasure, he discovered a great place – a junkyard.
During the Great Leap Forward in 1958, scrap yards collected a large number of items, many of which were melted down. Now that the Great Leap Forward has ended, the scrap yards are gradually filling up again. Zhang Lei regrets not having transmigrated earlier. If he had come in 1958, he might have been able to use the system's abilities to find many antique bronze artifacts and other treasures. During the Great Leap Forward, due to the overwhelming enthusiasm of the masses, many precious things were destroyed, which Zhang Lei finds regrettable.
Thinking it over, Zhang Lei sped up and rode his bicycle to the entrance of the scrap yard.
As soon as Zhang Lei arrived at the scrap yard, he saw an elderly man with a slight limp sitting in the sun at the entrance, watching the small tricycles delivering scrap metal come and go. Zhang Lei quickly went over to him.
But as soon as he got close, the old man suddenly opened his eyes, his sharp gaze startling Zhang Lei, who felt that the old man was extremely vigilant.
It was a hot day. As Zhang Lei approached, he noticed a clear hole in the old man's leg and immediately understood—it was a gunshot wound. It seemed the old man was a veteran, employed at a scrap yard. Indeed, many organizations now employ veterans.
Zhang Lei didn't dare to be negligent, so he quickly offered him a cigarette and asked with a smile, "Hello, sir."
The old man didn't immediately take the cigarette Zhang Lei offered. Instead, he gave him a wary look and asked in a hoarse voice, "Young man, what do you need?"
With a simple, honest smile on his face, Zhang Lei pointed to the mountain of items piled up in the scrap yard and said, "Grandpa, I want to buy some things for my family, but I don't have much money on me. I came to the scrap yard to try my luck and see if there are any items that I can use."
After hearing Zhang Lei's words, the old man finally stretched out his calloused hand, took the cigarette, and tucked it behind his ear. The wariness in his eyes lessened slightly, but his tone was still scrutinizing: "Looking at you riding a bicycle and smoking a cigarette with a handle, you don't seem like someone who's broke."
Zhang Lei thought to himself that this old man had a sharp eye, but he explained with a wry smile, "Sir, don't judge a book by its cover. This car of mine is a second-hand one, it's practically worthless now; and these cigarettes were just from a friend. Besides, the purpose of our scrap yard is to reuse waste, right? I'm just responding to the call to promote this spirit of thrift and frugality, that's why I came to the scrap yard to find some treasures."
The old man looked at Zhang Lei, his gaze calm yet sharp, as if he could see right through him. After a moment, seemingly confirming that Zhang Lei wasn't lying, he nodded and said, "Alright, young man, since that's the situation, you can go in. Just mention my name, Old Zhang."
Zhang Lei quickly said gratefully, "Thank you, Uncle Zhang!"
Soon, Zhang Lei arrived at the scrap yard warehouse. Watching truckloads of collected scrap continuously being loaded into the warehouse, he couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion. Although resources were relatively scarce in this era, this was, after all, Beijing; even a weakened camel is bigger than a horse, and there was still a considerable amount of stuff ending up at the scrap yard.
Zhang Lei found the warehouse keeper and said he was introduced by Old Zhang. The warehouse keeper glanced at him, said nothing, and let him in. Zhang Lei was secretly pleased; it seemed Old Zhang's influence was quite useful.
Upon entering the enormous warehouse, Zhang Lei was immediately stunned by the sight before him. All sorts of scrap materials were piled up like mountains: glass shards, chicken feathers, goose feathers, wool, scrap iron, wood... everything imaginable was there, haphazardly piled together.
As Zhang Lei walked, he carefully explored using the system's perception capabilities. Anything that gave him even a hint of "treasure aura" was promptly stored into his personal space.
As Zhang Lei walked, he pretended to browse, picking up items every now and then to look at them before putting them down, so as not to appear too strange walking around empty-handed. After all, he was there to "buy things," and if he didn't pick anything out and just walked around, he would easily attract attention.
As he walked, he saw a clay Buddha statue ahead and wondered why such a mud thing would be collected as scrap. He picked it up and immediately felt something was off—it was much heavier than a regular clay statue. Zhang Lei discreetly scanned the inside of the clay Buddha statue with his system, and the scan made his heart skip a beat: there was something inside!
He quickly glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then immediately put the clay Buddha statue into his personal space. Once inside, he gently peeled back the outer layer of the clay Buddha statue with his consciousness. At this moment, he couldn't hold back any longer and covered his mouth, almost bursting into laughter with excitement—inside was a golden Buddha statue!
What surprised him even more was that there seemed to be something inside the golden Buddha statue, layer upon layer, just like a Russian nesting doll. Zhang Lei tried to calm himself down and decided to study what was hidden inside the golden Buddha statue carefully after he got out.
He collected coins along the way, mostly copper coins. He had all kinds of Tongbao and Yuanbao coins, and he couldn't distinguish the specific dynasties. He only knew that although most of these copper coins were worthless, if he found one or two rare versions, he would make a fortune.
Zhang Lei became increasingly excited as he searched, and even found a hidden compartment in an old cabinet with a missing leg, where several gold bars were concealed. He was secretly astonished, guessing that some spendthrift had sold the cabinet as scrap metal and hadn't even noticed the gold bars.
He had quickly walked through about a third of the junkyard. He wanted to continue, but it was getting late, so he had to give up.
When he got to the scrap metal area, he saw seven or eight old bicycles piled up there. He immediately became interested and wondered if he could use these old parts to put together a complete bicycle.
He dragged the old bicycles one by one to the warehouse entrance, then went to find the person in charge. The man gave him a strange look, and Zhang Lei explained with a smile, "These old bicycles look pretty good. I was thinking of trying to piece one together. I wonder if I could buy them?"
The man looked at him and said, "Okay, but for Old Zhang's sake, I'll give you a 20% discount."
Hearing about the discount, Zhang Lei was overjoyed and nodded quickly, "Thank you so much!"