Volume One, Chapter 19: Kind Aunt Ye

“Xiao Lin, you don’t have an umbrella? Here, borrow this raincoat.”
“Aunt Ye?!” It was a first-floor neighbor who only had a nodding acquaintance with the original owner.
“Don’t think just because you’re young that you can ignore rain. After a storm like this, the rain is quite chilly.”
Ye Lanru grabbed Lin Yuyu and draped the raincoat over her shoulders.
“And what about you, Aunt Ye?”
Lin Yuyu didn’t think Aunt Ye would have extra rain gear. If she lent it to her, wouldn’t that mean Aunt Ye couldn’t go out?
“No worries, don’t worry about me...”
Seeing Lin Yuyu still hesitating, Ye Lanru reassured her, “Just take it for now. I’m not going out today.”
“But don’t you have urgent business to attend to, even in the rain? You should hurry, or the rain might get heavier later.”
“Thank you, Aunt Ye. I’ll return it as soon as I’m back.”
“No rush, no rush. Take your time and be careful on the way.”
“Alright, I’m off then.”
“Mm, take care…”
Lin Yuyu fastened the straps of the raincoat and stepped into the rain.

She really wasn’t good at handling others’ concern, especially when these people were acquaintances of the original owner.
She always worried they might notice she was different from the original.

Maybe because of the rain, no one was out gathering resources beyond the safe zone; everyone crowded into the administrative hall.
This caused the hall to be packed with people, making it hard to move.

Some were staring at the task board to find work.
Others were eyeballing people, their eyes darting around.

As soon as Lin Yuyu entered, she felt several pairs of eyes fixed on her, making her very uneasy.
But since she only had a small bundle wrapped in a torn leaf bag, the gazes soon shifted away.

Clutching her small parcel, Lin Yuyu slowly moved from the entrance to the corner where the item recycling machines were placed—an unused machine in an empty spot.

The recycling prices in the administrative hall were generally lower than private shops outside.
Though prices fluctuated slightly with the seasons, they were publicly displayed and relatively fixed—no bargaining allowed.

Because of this, many islanders who wanted to earn more preferred to risk the goodwill of private shop owners rather than sell their hard-earned gathered food at a low price in the hall.

Also, exchanging good items secretly at grocery shops was less likely to attract attention.
That’s why, despite the heavy foot traffic in the hall, the recycling machine area was very quiet.

So when Lin Yuyu arrived, she found she was the only one there.

[Beep—This item cannot be recycled.]

The machine’s prompt was silent, but the big red cross and the refusal message on the screen were clear and obvious—even nearsighted people standing far away could see them clearly.

The nearby idle crowd noticed the commotion.

“Heh, kids are just kids, always dreaming the impossible.”
“Don’t mock her. Didn’t you ever bring found stuff to recycle when you were little?”
“Ha, yeah, who hasn’t? When there’s nothing else to do, playing with the recycling machine is normal.”
“True, I used to fantasize the machine would glitch and accept everything I brought. Only now that I’m older have I stopped daydreaming.”
“If you say you won’t do that stupid thing again, I believe you. But saying you won’t daydream? No one can avoid that. I’d love to get rich overnight...”

They chatted near the machine, completely ignoring whether Lin Yuyu could hear or how she might feel.

If not to test the machine, Lin Yuyu wouldn’t have bothered coming here.

Though being gossiped about, she pretended not to hear, focusing on how to check the wild fruit she had.

But she still had to keep up appearances...

Lin Yuyu kept picking up and putting down the fruit, scrolling through the information on the screen. Meanwhile, when no one was watching, she secretly slipped the three fruits with radiation levels below the limit into the machine for recycling, earning over ten points.

The shiny black round fruit was nightshade, containing a large amount of solanine, not recommended for eating. It had medicinal properties like clearing heat, detoxifying, dispersing blood stasis, and reducing swelling.

The recycling price for medium radiation was 0.035 points per gram. Lin Yuyu’s nightshade weighed 120 grams, worth 4.2 points.

The bright orange, bead-shaped fruit was coral cherry, somewhat toxic and not for eating. It had effects like promoting blood circulation, dispersing blood stasis, and relieving pain, also medicinal.

Its recycling price at medium radiation was 0.02 points per gram. The one she had weighed 130 grams, worth 2.6 points.

The most valuable was a soft-spiked, egg-shaped fruit called snakeberry, with various medicinal uses and edible in moderation.

Its recycling price was 0.05 points per gram at medium radiation. Hers weighed 160 grams, redeemable for 8 points.

Altogether, she got 14.8 points.

Converted into nutrient solution, it was less than 15 vials, but since one vial could last a day, these points could stretch nearly half a month’s worth—that made the effort worthwhile to Lin Yuyu.

But when she thought of the island-crossing ticket costing as much as 100,000 points per ticket, she realized earning points wasn’t easy.

...

The recycling machine’s prices were low, but the sale prices of items were fair.

Unlike some grocery shops that randomly hiked prices, this machine’s prices were public and stable, though higher than private shops.

For example, nutrient solution cost one point per vial in the hall, but some shops sold it for only 0.8 points each.

Though the difference seemed small, over time islanders could save quite a few points.

The advantages weren’t negligible either.

All items sold here were brand new and unopened, guaranteeing quality, with a relatively complete selection and longer shelf life.

Lin Yuyu had planned to exchange her points for nutrient solution at the machine, but seeing the crowd and noisy chatter, she feared drawing attention again. So she pretended to have found nothing and sadly repacked the high-radiation fruit she brought.

Then she squeezed into the crowd checking the task board.

The people she pressed against glanced indifferently at her small frame and worn bundle, shook their heads, and lost interest.

They assumed she was pitiful, probably with an emptier pocket than themselves, unlikely to get any compensation even if she made a fuss, so better to ignore her and avoid trouble.

Lin Yuyu didn’t care what they thought. On the contrary, the worse they imagined her, the better she liked it.

Feeling no one was watching her anymore, she focused on the task board.

She scanned the board and immediately spotted the commission she wanted.

It was too conspicuous, pasted right in the center of the panel.

Unlike other commissions that showed realistic pictures, this one had just a few strokes sketching an abstract little mushroom.

Its description was brief: “High price for various specialty mushrooms.”

No other details.

That one sentence attracted many people to pull out their terminals and scan the order code.

People tend to follow the crowd, and Lin Yuyu was no exception. Watching the scramble, she felt a slight urge to join.

Though electronic commissions couldn’t be stolen, if the number of takers reached the limit set by the client, the commission would turn gray and become unavailable.

Once the commission ended, it would disappear from the task board.

So if Lin Yuyu didn’t act quickly, she might miss out.

But she had her own doubts.

The vague description made her suspect there might be a catch.

After some thought, she also felt that if everyone else grabbed it and she didn’t, she’d stand out. Ultimately, she imitated them and extended her terminal to accept a copy.

After all, if she couldn’t complete it, she could always give up.

After reviewing all the tasks displayed and scanning a few order codes, Lin Yuyu left the hall with the crowd, her face bright with excitement.

Once out in the rain, she pulled the hood of the raincoat low to hide most of her face, then wiped off her excited expression.

Expressionless, she headed toward Residential Building No. 9 in the South District.