Feng Qingxue didn’t linger at the Xu Family’s place. After settling the grain handover, she wrote a letter to Lu Jiang, then headed for the scrap collection station.
She had noticed quite a while ago that the scrap collection station often received large amounts of new scrap materials.
Just as Lu’s father said, whether it’s the county’s scrap collection station or the city’s, there were indeed antique calligraphies and paintings, but particularly precious, lightweight, and easy-to-hide items were rarely seen.
Some were destroyed or taken during house raids, and others were intercepted at the scrap station.
Since ancient times, there’s never been a shortage of people with discernment, taste, and courage.
No wonder the first time she went to look for treasures at the scrap station, she didn’t find many valuable books and paintings. She originally thought it was because the local rich residents were sparse, explaining the lack of quality items.
The most common items in the scrap station were papers, copperware, ironware, and recyclable wood materials. The papers were mostly textbooks, newspapers, and thread-bound books. Ninety percent of the books and paintings, although old, were common in the market and didn’t possess special cultural relic value. However, odds of finding antiques were higher amidst the copperware, ironware, and wood materials.
No sooner had Feng Qingxue entered the scrap station than her gaze landed on a half-human-tall bronze tripod. It’s a pity she couldn’t buy it openly or smuggle it into her space because it was too large, any loss would be easily discovered by the staff.
With a sigh of regret, Feng Qingxue started sifting through other scraps.
However, there were quite a few thread-bound ancient books at the scrap station today. Most of them appeared to have been shipped in at the same time, predominantly printings from the Qing Dynasty official offices, along with both domestic and foreign classics printed in modern times; although not unique, they possessed some value.
There were valuable books, but very few in quantity. As for paintings, she found none of particular value.
Feng Qingxue herself was an avid reader and a genuine bookworm. She hastily smuggled the books she fancied into her space.
It wasn’t that she wanted to steal; it was just impossible to remove these books from the scrap station.
Struck by a sudden idea, Feng Qingxue took out two bills and walked over to Uncle Li, "Uncle Li, I just found twenty dollars in a book while rummaging through the scrap paper pile."
"What? You found money in the scrap paper pile?" Uncle Li was very surprised, wondering why such good luck never happened to him.
Feng Qingxue slightly smiled, "Yes, Uncle Li, so I decided to turn this money over to the scrap station."
"Okay, I’ll make sure it gets turned in." Uncle Li took the money and happily praised her integrity for willingly returning the found money.
Feeling somewhat absolved of guilt, Feng Qingxue returned to the scrap pile to continue her treasure hunt.
After looking through the books and paintings, she found many pieces of smashed furniture, made of carved Dalbergia odorifera wood. What’s notable was the absence of any traces of burns, and that all the pieces were present. After thorough examination, Feng Qingxue figured she could at least assemble a bed, maybe even a cabinet.
Next, she saw a Western-style metal bed with traces of damage.
Perhaps because it couldn’t be disassembled, it was shipped to the scrap station intact.
Not sure whether they were from the same house, she found a full set of a Republic-era style genuine leather sofa with the leather surface cut by a sharp object, revealing the inner wood and springs as if someone had been searching for something.
In the end, what she brought to Uncle Li to pay for were bundles of furniture parts and some notebooks that could be taken away.
The Dalbergia odorifera was heavy, costing Feng Qingxue quite a lot.
Her explanation to Uncle Li was that she was engaged and wanted to find some wood to build furniture as her dowry. Her explanation didn’t arouse any suspicion.