Chen Lan and Jia Xing, the mother and son, were chatting as they walked and soon arrived at the bicycle parking area to the left of the hospital entrance. Jia Xing listened to Chen Lan’s words without objection, merely nodding obediently and saying, "Understood! Mother, your son will follow your arrangements."
He knew that Mother had decided none of the siblings would return to the valley this time, but would stay in Harbin to attend high school. While she said it was to accompany their father in his studies in Harbin, there must have been an important reason behind it. Mother always did what was best for them, so he didn't ask any further questions.
He simply said, "Mother, please hold on tight to the back seat and sit firmly. Your son is about to depart!"
About fifteen minutes later, the mother and son cycled to the largest scrap recycling station in the Nangang District. Jia Xing parked the bicycle by the wall outside the back courtyard wall, then locked it. The mother and son then walked towards the iron fence gate of the back courtyard.
Chen Lan walked ahead, with Jia Xing following behind her. Chen Lan noticed, quite by chance, that the gatekeeper from previous visits was the same old man on duty today.
The gatekeeper also saw Chen Lan and her son approaching from a distance and called out a greeting, "Younger sister, with this hot weather, why aren't you resting at home at midday? What are you looking for here today?"
Chen Lan quickened her steps and, from the cloth bag she carried, took out two bottles of sorghum wine, holding them in her hands. She replied with a smile, "Elder brother, what a coincidence! It's your turn on duty again today! I've come to the acquisition station today to see if you have any old junior high textbooks."
The gatekeeper asked as he opened the gate, "Younger sister, you're not planning to go back, and intend to let the children study here in Harbin!"
Chen Lan reached out and handed the two bottles of sorghum wine into the gatekeeper's embrace, replying, "Elder brother, I've brought you two bottles of specialty products from my hometown. Try them and see if they suit your taste."
She continued, "There are still elders at home, so I definitely have to go back to my hometown. I just plan to leave a few children here to study with their father in Harbin."
The gatekeeper, holding the two bottles of sorghum wine, asked with a smile, "Younger sister, you've spent money again. I won't stand on ceremony and will accept them to try later. By the way, younger sister, when school starts, won't the school issue new books? Why are you still spending money on old books?"
Chen Lan replied with a smile, "Elder brother, I heard that if you want to transfer to a school in Harbin, you first need to take the class placement examination organized by the school before the start of the term. We didn't bring any junior high textbooks with us when we came to Harbin, so I wanted to come to the acquisition station to see if there were any old textbooks, just to try my luck here."
The gatekeeper turned and placed the two bottles of wine on the long table in the duty room, then replied with a chuckle, "The warehouse specifically for books and paper should have old junior high textbooks. Younger sister, you're lucky to have come today. If you had come a couple of days later, there probably wouldn't be anything left here."
As the elder spoke, he saw Jia Xing following behind Chen Lan and casually asked, "Oh, younger sister, this young man is your son, isn't he! He looks so spirited."
Chen Lan replied to the elder's question, with a hint of surprise, "Yes, he's my second son. By the way! Elder brother, what's going on? Is your acquisition station planning to move?"
The gatekeeper replied with a smile, "Younger sister, where are you getting that idea? How could the acquisition station move? Every month, the paper mill sends a truck to our acquisition station to haul away all the waste paper and books back to the paper mill for recycling."
Chen Lan nodded in understanding and replied, "So that's how it is! Elder brother, but it's already past the beginning of the month, and they haven't sent a truck yet. It seems like, as you said, I'm lucky!"
The gatekeeper chuckled, "Isn't it your luck, younger sister! They haven't been late before, but this time the delay is a bit long. Younger sister, you and your son should come in quickly! While no one from the station is here now, they've all gone home for lunch. I'll open the large warehouse where the books and waste paper are stored. You two can search the large warehouse thoroughly, and you should be able to find junior high textbooks."
Saying that, he unfastened a set of keys from his waist and held them in his hand.
Chen Lan hastily asked, "Elder brother, will it be alright if my son and I go into the warehouse to look for things?"
The gatekeeper, holding the keys, replied as he closed the iron fence gate, "What could be wrong? Things are sold by the kilogram! Besides, I'm not giving them to you for free. Selling them to you or selling them to the paper mill is all the same. Younger sister, as long as you don't make a mess in the warehouse, there's no problem! Let's go quickly! Come with me to the warehouse where the books are stored."
Chen Lan thanked him profusely and then turned to follow the gatekeeper towards the warehouse where books and waste paper were stored.
This time, when they came to the back courtyard of the scrap station, Chen Lan saw that the yard was much cleaner and tidier than on previous visits! Gone was the messy, chaotic, and dirty appearance of things piled haphazardly together that she had seen before. Now, everything had been neatly organized and stored in their respective warehouses.
The gatekeeper said as he unlocked the warehouse door, "Younger sister, you and your son should go in quickly and search! I'll go to the entrance to keep an eye out for you."
The mother and son thanked him repeatedly, and then they walked into the warehouse one after another.
Looking at the full warehouse of books and waste paper, perhaps due to the hot weather, the entire warehouse was filled with a peculiar smell. Chen Lan smelled a mixture of ink and a strange moldy scent.
Seeing the situation in the warehouse, Chen Lan and Jia Xing, mother and son, were both slightly taken aback.
Although the waste paper and books in the warehouse had been sorted, they were not stacked neatly, but piled up in disordered stacks. Many entire books were simply thrown on the ground.
The mother and son didn't have time to linger in their surprise. Chen Lan quickly reacted, immediately using her will to retrieve two masks from the system's inventory, casually handing one to Jia Xing. After putting on their masks, they immediately began their search separately.
Looking at the mountains of books and waste paper piled in the warehouse, Chen Lan unhesitatingly opened the system's search function, intending to see if there were any valuable treasures in the warehouse first.