Richest Rag-picker

As Fang Chenyi withdrew his arm from the woven bag, an irregularly shaped, palm-sized metal plate appeared in his hand, its color a deep, profound black.

The metal plate was covered in strange lines, but Fang Chenyi couldn’t make out what specific pattern they formed.

Judging by the broken lines at its edges, Fang Chenyi was certain this wasn’t a complete object. In other words, it was most likely a fragment!

’But one thing Fang Chenyi didn’t understand was that the system had clearly called it an unknown Rune Stone, but this didn’t look like a stone, did it?’

’Judging by its weight and the way it felt in his hand, it seemed much more like a chunk of iron!’

After examining it over and over for a good while, Fang Chenyi still hadn’t found anything, which was starting to annoy him.

’What is this thing even used for? The system gave it to me as a special reward, it can’t really just be a rock, can it?’

’Or perhaps it’s made from a Meteorite? Or maybe its name is Meteorite, but it should actually be called Meteorite Iron.’

’That would make sense. Judging from the system’s past special rewards, this is very likely a meteorite whose value has been hyped up to an astronomical price.’

The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. After all, the system’s rewards were always immensely valuable. So getting a Meteorite this time was perfectly reasonable.

At this thought, Fang Chenyi shook his head in resignation and casually tossed it into the woven bag.

For him at this point, a Meteorite, while valuable, wasn’t something he particularly cared about.

After stowing away the ’Meteorite’, Fang Chenyi turned his gaze back to the row of junk before him.

There were still a dozen or so items left, but he only had four special rewards remaining. For a moment, he found himself conflicted again.

He mulled it over but couldn’t come to a decision. Then, Fang Chenyi suddenly remembered a game he often played as a child.

Then, he pointed his finger at the first item and began to chant, "Mud. Pot. Mud. Bowl. You. Get. Out!"

With each word he spoke, Fang Chenyi’s finger moved to the next item. And just like that, the second item was selected.

Since he had decided to choose this way, Fang Chenyi didn’t hesitate for a second. He reached out with his trash picker and grabbed a gourd-shaped antique ornament in front of him.

The reason he’d decided on this gourd ornament was that picking up such an item gave him a high chance of getting a real antique. That way, he could at least make a bit of money.

But when he brought the gourd up to his eyes, he froze, and a curse couldn’t help but escape his lips:

"Holy shit! What the fuck, who does this?!"

He hadn’t noticed before because the light was dim and he hadn’t examined it too closely. The large gourd actually had a word written on it: ’Maltesers’.

’This was so damn frustrating. He’d been hoping to find a fake antique and get a real one as a reward, but who would have thought it was a gourd full of chocolate balls...’

But Fang Chenyi had a stubborn streak. Since he had now "chosen" this thing twice, it must mean they were truly fated to be together.

And so, deciding he didn’t care what it was, he tossed it into the woven bag without hesitation.

[Host has picked up one gourd of expired Maltesers, triggering a special system reward. Reward: one unknown Medicine Pill. The reward has been placed in the woven bag. Please retrieve it at your convenience.]

"What the hell? Another ’unknown’ item?"

As the prompt sounded in his mind, Fang Chenyi froze once more. ’It was just a gourd full of chocolate balls, so how did another unknown item appear?’

’An unknown Medicine Pill? What on earth kind of pill is it?’

He reached into the woven bag again, found a large, dark-red pill, and placed it in his palm. Instantly, an enticing aroma drifted into Fang Chenyi’s nostrils.

He shook his head vigorously to fight the urge to pop it into his mouth, then quickly threw it back into the woven bag.

’What on earth is this thing? The system didn’t give me a single shred of information. No matter how fragrant or tempting it is, I don’t dare just eat it.’

He had no idea what was going on today. The system had rewarded him with unknown items twice in a row. As Fang Chenyi looked at the remaining junk on the ground, he felt a sense of hesitation for the first time.

’Twice in a row now. I wonder if the next one will also be something unknown.’

’Is my luck just bad today?’ He shook his head in resignation, used his trash picker to toss the dozen or so remaining items back into the junk pile, and then turned to leave.

He lifted his electric scooter up and passed it over the fence again, then vaulted over from the inside.

He dusted the dirt from his hands, got on his electric scooter, and headed back to his villa community. ’Today has just been too strange,’ he thought. ’I’d better save the remaining three special rewards for now.’

But just as Fang Chenyi left, in a building not far away, a window facing the waste treatment center slid open. A head peeked out, and the person made a call on their phone:

"Come on back. Damn it, the kid didn’t leave his scooter outside this time!"

Meanwhile, in a dark alley outside the garbage transfer station, two young men hung up the phone, cursing under their breath. They turned and walked back toward the residential complex behind them.

...

After returning to the villa community, Fang Chenyi greeted Gold, who was on duty at the gate, then went back to his own villa.

He went to the bathroom to take a shower before returning to the bedroom to sleep with his wife in his arms.

But as he lay in bed, he found he couldn’t sleep. His mind kept replaying the two special rewards from today. His brow was furrowed in thought, but he couldn’t make heads or tails of them.

Time ticked by, and soon, the sky began to pale with the first light of dawn.

He sighed in frustration, forced himself to stop thinking about it, and finally fell into a deep sleep.

When he opened his eyes again, it was already broad daylight. He glanced to his side; Bai Menghan was long gone.

He stretched, got out of bed, and then saw the note Bai Menghan had left for him on the nightstand:

"To my big sleepyhead of a husband, Dad and the others and I have gone to the company. Remember to eat when you get up!"

He smiled as he set the note down, then got dressed and washed his face before calling Qi Xiaotian.

"Xiaotian, how are the preparations on your end? We’re leaving tomorrow. Oh, right, how come I haven’t seen that guy Vajra around for the past two days?"

PS: A huge shoutout to the patron ’Wang Hen’ for the 6666 book coin donation, which instantly shot them to second place on the overall leaderboard!! *Tosses confetti!* *Tosses confetti!*

Congratulations on becoming a Hall Master! And congratulations on being about to become this book’s second Alliance Leader!

My apologies to you, patron. I was out harvesting corn late yesterday, until past eleven at night, and my whole body is sore. But don’t you worry, Xiao Youzi will definitely get those bonus Chapters out for you in the next day or two!