The King of Global Scrap Collection
Chapter 55 - 55 58 Ideal

55: Chapter 58: Ideal 55: Chapter 58: Ideal In one day, they had collected about a hundred tons of junk, spending over three hundred thousand.

As soon as nightfall arrived, Li Zhongnan pulled out several red envelopes and tossed them to Li Datou, “Everyone has worked hard, take this money and grab some supper in the town.

Then have a good rest and we’ll continue the work tomorrow.”

“Sounds good!”

A group of young lads cheered and sped away on their motorcycles, fading into the night.

Li Zhongnan waited a bit longer and when he was sure nobody was around, he waved his big hand.

Suddenly, a mountain-like pile of junk appeared in the system space.

The junk started sorting itself automatically.

Apart from the green recyclables, everything else was sold to the system, gaining over a thousand three hundred gold coins.

The system’s gold balance was now around two thousand five hundred.

Then, Li Zhongnan looked over at the green items piled in a corner, and asked the system, “How many gold coins would it cost to restore everything?”

He just wanted to ask and get an idea of the value of these items after restoration, not necessarily to restore them right away.

The green items he’d collected before, like abandoned bicycles, TVs, washing machines, were still piled in the system space yet to be restored.

“Ding: Gentle reminder, it will require 18500 gold coins to restore everything.

Insufficient system gold for restoration!”

As the system’s voice chimed, Li Zhongnan was stunned.

Eighteen thousand gold coins?

They must have made a mistake.

The cost to restore all the green items last time, which was several times more in quantity, was just over a thousand gold coins.

Wait, if these items require over ten thousand gold coins for restoration, then isn’t their total value in tens of millions?

The moment he realized this, Li Zhongnan felt his head throbbing.

What the heck, there must be treasures among them!

Unable to contain his excitement, Li Zhongnan immediately asked, “Of these items, which one requires the most gold coins to restore?”

No sooner had his words out than a broken bow-shaped brooch flew into his hand.

“Gentle reminder from the system: This is the Queen’s Antique Brooch and its restoration requires 18000 gold coins!”

Upon hearing this, Li Zhongnan asked in disbelief, “Are you serious?

Is the system malfunctioning?

This seemingly unremarkable brooch is worth tens of millions?”

“Gentle reminder from the system: The Queen’s Antique Brooch has a very long history.

It was crafted by the French jeweler François Cramer in 1855 for Empress Eugénie, the wife of Napoleon III.

The Louvre Museum once spent 68.25 million Yuan to auction it back to France.

Unfortunately, it was stolen, fell into the Atlantic, drifted to the South Sea, and was finally retrieved by a fisherman after many years.”

A century-old creation?

Worn by Napoleon III’s wife?

Auctioned for over sixty million?

Li Zhongnan might not know who François Cramer was, but the other three points were undeniably clear.

It’s an antique!

Worn by a queen!

Tens of millions!

We’re making a fortune!

A real fortune this time!

But wait, this thing was stolen and then ended up here?

Sigh, I can’t sell it, there’s definitely a risk of getting caught.

Okay, guess I’ll just have to give it away.

Well, who should I give it to?

Xiao Yao?

Zhao Yi?

Of course, Zhao Yi!

After all, it’s a brooch!

······

Passing by the school gate.

A clean smiling face flashed through his mind again.

Li Zhongnan couldn’t resist and walked in, arriving beneath the teachers’ dormitory.

It was vacation time and most teachers had gone home.

Only one room in the whole teaching building was still lit.

Exactly the room from his memory.

Looking up, he saw her sitting on the balcony, one hand holding a book, the other hand holding snacks.

With a peaceful smile on her face, she quietly read her book and ate her snacks, creating a quiet and beautiful scene.

Feeling his gaze, the girl lifted her head and gave him a slight smile.

Then she stood up, walked down the stairs, and approached him.

“What are you doing?”

The little girl curiously looked at Li Zhongnan, her bright eyes spinning.

Li Zhongnan caught sight of her adorable expressions and couldn’t help teasing, “I’m watching you!”

To which the little girl retorted, “I know you are watching me!

But why?”

Li Zhongnan replied, “If I want to watch, I watch!”

“Fine then!”

The little girl surrendered reluctantly.

Li Zhongnan then asked, “Aren’t you scared?”

The little girl asked curiously, “Why should I be scared?”

Li Zhongnan was speechless for a moment before saying, “It’s dark out and we’re the only ones here.

Aren’t you afraid that I might be a bad guy?”

The little girl giggled and said, “I’m not scared, I don’t have any money on me, it wouldn’t do you any good even if you robbed me!”

“Alright then!

You’re really clever!” Li Zhongnan was left speechless by her comment.

Didn’t she know that sometimes for a man, the temptation of a woman can be harder to resist than the allure of money?

The little girl smiled again and continued, “And besides, I know you!

You’re Li Zhongnan, aren’t you?”

Li Zhongnan was taken aback and asked, “You know me?”

“Yes!

My name is Yuan Wenjing.

I also studied here in elementary school, three grades below you!” She explained with a laugh, then continued, “Back then, your grades were so good.

I really admired you.”

Li Zhongnan gave a self-deprecating smile and said, “What’s there to admire about that?”

Yuan Wenjing dreamily said, “If you do well in school, you can go to college and then become a teacher.

How cool is that, dummy!”

Upon hearing this, Li Zhongnan asked, “Aren’t you a teacher now?”

“Yes!”

Yuan Wenjing briefly beamed with pride, before sighing, “But, I’m just a privately hired teacher.

I don’t know how long I can teach for.

Maybe the school won’t need me next term.”

So that’s how it is.

Rural primary schools are generally short of teachers.

So, sometimes when there aren’t enough teachers, some schools often hire high school students to fill in.

However, now that nine years of compulsory education is free, schools can’t charge arbitrary fees, and thus don’t have much money.

The number of substitute teachers has decreased, and their pay is very low – often just three or four hundred a month.

“Do you really like being a teacher?”

Li Zhongnan asked.

A girl of eighteen or nineteen, giving up the bustling city to become a teacher in such a remote place and only earning a few hundred a month – this must come from a deep love for teaching.

“Yes!

I love the students.

I love how behaved they are, their playfulness.

So, I love teaching them math and songs.

Being a teacher is great, I am happy every day.” Yuan Wenjing replied with a serene smile, then asked, “Being a teacher is my dream!

Speaking of which, do you have a dream?”

A dream?

Upon hearing this word, Li Zhongnan instinctively wanted to laugh.

But seeing Yuan Wenjing’s innocent face, he couldn’t laugh and even started to reflect.

He was compelled to introspect – did he have a dream?

Li Zhongnan lit a cigarette and reminisced, “When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be a teacher because I thought I could command a lot of people!

In junior high, I saw my classmates eating and wearing good things, then I swore that I would earn a lot of money in the future.

In high school, I saw beautiful girls hanging out with other guys, I thought why they could have beautiful girls and I couldn’t?”

“So from that time, besides wanting to earn a lot of money, I also want to have a beautiful girl.

Then, I studied even harder.

Finally, I got into the best school in the country and chased after a girl who was my ideal woman.”

After hearing this, Yuan Wenjing asked, “And now?”

“Now?”

After thinking for a moment, Li Zhongnan jokingly said, “Now, I want to earn even more money, hold more power, and bed more and better women.”

Yuan Wenjing giggled and pumped her fists, encouraging him, “Then you have to work harder!”

Li Zhongnan was taken aback as he asked, “Don’t you think I’m ridiculous?

Isn’t it absurd?”

If his words reached any other woman’s ears, they would undoubtedly scorn and ridicule him, or even spit at him and call him a jerk.

Unexpectedly, not only did Yuan Wenjing not despise him for this, she even encouraged him.

Yuan Wenjing blinked in confusion, saying, “No way!

This is your dream, why should I laugh at you!”

“I have a classmate named Han Xue.

She’s got a great figure and is beautiful.

I’ve always had feelings for her.

But every time I think about the fact that she’s married, it feels wrong, so I have to suppress those feelings.”

“I have a female teacher named Yao Danhong.

I don’t strongly covet her, it’s just a faint feeling, but I can’t forget her.

Whenever I think back to the time we spent together, it feels cozy and happy.

I feel that I can be apart from her as long as she is happy.

But I can’t accept her being with other men.

At the same time, I’m worried about her being wronged.”

“I slept with a stranger.

We’re separated now and may never meet again, but I still yearn to have her.”

“There’s a woman much older than me, her name is Zhao Yi…”

“…”

“All these women, I want them.

In the future, I may meet even more.” Li Zhongnan listed them one by one, and after he finished, he turned back to Yuan Wenjing and asked, “Now, don’t you think it’s absurd?”

“This isn’t a dream!

It’s an obsession, a desire!”

Yuan Wenjing thought for a bit, then said, “The reason you feel it’s absurd and torn right now is because your current abilities can’t support your obsessions or satisfy your desires.

For example, if you choose one or two of these women now, the others will stay away from you.

When you are powerful, you won’t feel it’s absurd and won’t feel torn!”

“You know so much!”

Li Zhongnan felt a sudden clarity.

At the same time, he was shocked.

Could these words really come from a girl of eighteen or nineteen?

He felt a faint disappointment as he had originally thought her an innocent girl.

Alas, it was wishful thinking.

After all, in today’s society that’s more like a dye vat, such an ideal girl doesn’t exist.

Yuan Wenjing chuckled and said, “Because I’m just like you, I also have obsessions!

I want to eat, a lot of delicious food.

But my salary is so low that if I eat this, I can’t eat that.

If I buy longan, I can’t afford lychee; if I buy lychee, I can’t afford pineapple.

Once I get promoted, I’ll have a higher salary, and then I can buy a big bag of longan, lychee, and pineapple!”

Li Zhongnan paused a moment, realizing that he had indeed overthought it.

After she finished, he responded with a grin, “No need to wait, I’ll take you to eat now!”