Chapter 50, 60, 61, and 62 (Combined Chapter)

"Collecting old newspapers, old books, and toothpaste tubes—"
"Collecting discarded bricks, waste wood, and old furniture—"
Under the scorching sun of July, Lin Yilan rode her bicycle through the various alleys, calling out her trade.
Who would have thought that after her mother mocked her for "scavenging for junk," she would actually embark on a career as a scrap collector?
The summer breeze brushed past her, bringing a bit of coolness to her heat-drenched body.
Since the start of summer vacation, aside from her usual studies, Lin Yilan had been selling tea eggs at the railway station. However, as the weather grew hotter, the sales of tea eggs dropped compared to the cooler days, so she reduced her stock of tea eggs and used the remaining time after selling them to tidy things up.
At first, she had only wanted to collect some furniture from old houses, but on one occasion, after she finished collecting the furniture, the homeowner asked if she also bought other scraps. At the time, Lin Yilan refused.
Later, after taking the opportunity to learn about the prices of scrap materials, she figured it wouldn't hurt to make a little extra money while collecting old furniture, and thus she officially began collecting junk.
"Heh~"
"Other protagonists who time-travel to the seventies and eighties make a fortune through cooking and gourmet food, but look at me—I'm making a living by collecting trash."
Lin Yilan muttered to herself as she leisurely pedaled her bicycle.
After turning into the next alley, she immediately resumed her familiar chant.
"Collecting old newspapers, old books, and toothpaste tubes—"
"Comrade, do you collect scrap?" The door of a courtyard suddenly opened, and out came a slightly hunched-over middle-aged uncle wearing glasses and with graying hair.
Lin Yilan immediately squeezed the brakes, resting her left foot on the ground. "Ah, Uncle, I do collect scrap, but not everything. I don't take things like glass bottles."
The uncle pushed up the glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. "Then do you collect discarded furniture? My wife just heard someone calling out for unwanted furniture."
"I do." She carefully assessed the uncle's appearance, noticing that the temple of his glasses seemed to have broken long ago and was now mended with white adhesive tape.
Glancing down, she saw that the uncle was wearing a short-sleeved white cotton shirt over a white undershirt, paired with khaki bermuda shorts, completely devoid of any patches.
Lin Yilan clearly remembered that trousers of that exact style should only be temporarily available as finished products at the Friendship Store in the entire capital.
He seemed like a meticulous and somewhat fashionable uncle.
Glancing back at the courtyard gate, she noticed that the door knockers were not only of an old-fashioned design, but their carvings were exceptionally exquisite.
She thought for a moment and tentatively asked, "Uncle, is there a lot of furniture in your home? If there isn't much, could you just bring it outside?"
Making money was important, but she still paid close attention to her personal safety.
The uncle seemed to sense Lin Yilan's hesitation and turned back into the courtyard.
Just as Lin Yilan was looking at the shadow wall, worrying that this business deal might fall through, she suddenly heard the uncle shouting loudly.
The babbling words sounded like a southern dialect, and she couldn't understand a single syllable.
Lin Yilan quietly pedaled her bicycle a little farther away.
After a while, a woman's voice chimed in, apparently speaking in the same dialect.
The man and woman spoke loudly back and forth, but she couldn't comprehend a single word.
"Comrade, I'm sorry to keep you waiting so long. I asked my wife to bring out the things we want to sell."
The uncle walked back out through the courtyard gate and waved at Lin Yilan.
Only then did Lin Yilan notice that he seemed to have some physical discomfort, walking with a distinct limp.
At that moment, an auntie emerged carrying a stack of newspapers and several flattened toothpaste tubes.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry! All you know is rushing me, I was just cleaning things up inside."
Holding the items, she stretched both hands out toward the uncle.
Lin Yilan hurriedly dismounted her bike, taking out the specialized handheld steelyard and scale from her basket. "Auntie, please put the toothpaste tubes on first, and I'll weigh them."
Upon seeing Lin Yilan, the auntie startled, took a small step backward, and glanced sideways at the uncle.
"Alright, thank you for your hard work, little girl."
She deftly operated the handheld scale, tied the items securely, and hung them from the hook.
"Little girl, you certainly have nimble hands."
Lin Yilan smiled shyly, told the auntie the weight, and squatted down to continue flipping through the discarded newspapers they had brought.
After making sure there were no items she didn't accept, Lin Yilan tied up the stack of old newspapers.
"Umm, Uncle and Auntie, are you still selling the unwanted furniture?"
The auntie slapped her thigh. "We are! But young lady, you're all by yourself—can you manage to move it?"
"Old Liang, why don't you go help her?" She turned her head and called out to the uncle.
Lin Yilan glanced at Uncle Liang, who had quietly turned and walked back into the house, and reached out to stop him. "Wait, Uncle and Auntie, do you have a lot of unwanted furniture?"
She hesitated for a moment. "Different furniture has different prices, so I need to choose. If there's a lot, would it be alright if I stepped inside your courtyard to take a look?"
The auntie looked Lin Yilan up and down, her eyes assessing.
"Fine then, follow me inside," she said with a wave of her hand.
Lin Yilan took a deep breath. Had it not been for the courtyard gate that hinted there might be some treasures inside, she would never casually enter a stranger's home.
Seemingly sensing her apprehension, the auntie stopped as soon as they entered the courtyard.
"Little girl, just wait for us outside. This uncle and I will move the things out together."
Lin Yilan nodded and politely accepted the arrangement.
After the uncle and auntie went inside, she quietly observed their courtyard.
She shifted a few steps to the left, turned to look at the front gate, and seeing that the uncle hadn't closed it, she felt a bit more at ease.
Immediately afterward, she turned her attention to the flowers and plants in the courtyard.
She could only recognize the Chinese roses; as for the rest, she couldn't tell what they were, but clusters of red and yellow blooms were gathered together, looking truly magnificent.
The brickwork around the flower beds appeared to have been carefully scrubbed. Squatting down for a closer look, she could still trace the old grease stains settled deep within the brick crevices.
It seemed this courtyard hadn't been reclaimed for very long.
After a thorough observation, Lin Yilan roughly deduced the background of this courtyard.
Next to the flower bed sat a rocking chair and a tea table, upon which rested a newspaper and a teacup.
Seeing the newspaper, she instinctively looked away; snooping at things inside someone's home was bad manners.
After waiting for another ten minutes—having already scrutinized everything visible in the courtyard—the uncle and auntie still hadn't emerged, though she could hear the two of them murmuring inside the house. Unable to help herself, she looked for something to occupy her time.
She quietly took two steps closer and couldn't resist casting a glance at the newspaper.
What immediately caught her eye was a long string of foreign text. At first, she thought it was English, but upon closer inspection, she realized she didn't recognize it, until she saw the place of publication and understood it was Danish.
...How awkward; she didn't know Danish.
Rubbing her nose, Lin Yilan lowered her head and zoned out, staring at her upturned shoes.
The rubber soles of her newly bought shoes seemed to be coming unglued already...
How could she remember buying this pair not long ago? It must have been right when she started university, so why were they falling apart now?
Weren't things supposed to be well-made these days?!
Could it really be true what her mother said about her being rough on her belongings?
[We sincerely invite interested architects to submit your works.]
What on earth?!
Lin Yilan rubbed her eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, she had accidentally glanced at the newspaper and actually understood a sentence.
Had she suddenly comprehended Danish in this exact instant? Or had the Transmigration Deity bestowed another blessing upon her?
Unbelieving, she lowered her head and scanned the dense text of the newspaper to find the sentence she had just read.
Hard work pays off; she quickly located the phrase.
Staring at it intently, she realized it had been written in English all along.
Yet the word "architect" instantly piqued her curiosity. Lin Yilan bent over, pressing her hands against her knees, brought her face close to the newspaper, and began reading the article word by word.
Automatically filtering out the Danish words she didn't know, she focused her attention on the final few paragraphs of the article.
Before long, she managed to distill the meaning of those paragraphs in her mind.
"...A coastal town in Denmark, due to local development needs, plans to construct a sailors' center by the seaside. We now sincerely invite ambitious architects from all over. If you are interested in this project, you are welcome to submit your works to us.
Of course, the selected architect will receive a certain remuneration, the most sincere gratitude from all the residents of our town, and become an 'eternal friend' of our town."
In a mere flash, the newspaper suddenly flew away from right in front of Lin Yilan's eyes.
Before she could even react, she blinked hard and found herself staring at a pair of shoes standing close by.
"Whoa—"
Lin Yilan jerked her head up to see the uncle and auntie who had emerged from the house at some unknown moment. The auntie's face was pale, beads of sweat dotted her forehead, and she was gripping the uncle's arm tightly, while the uncle's face was dark as pitch, his eyes filled with fierce murderous intent.
She hurriedly retreated a few steps, immediately realizing the reason for their expressions.
"Uncle, Auntie, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have peeked at your newspaper." Fumbling frantically, she pulled her student ID out of her satchel and held it up high.
"I'm a student majoring in architectural design at the University of Technology, and I collect scrap as a work-study job. I just happened to see an article inviting architects to submit designs in the newspaper and got carried away."
Lin Yilan desperately projected goodwill toward the two people before her. "Please rest assured, I would never report you to anyone because of a newspaper! Besides, our country doesn't casually entertain those kinds of reports anymore.
Otherwise, the two of you wouldn't have been able to get this house safely back into your hands, right!" she said carefully.
She saw the expressions of the uncle and auntie opposite her soften somewhat, the fierce hostility vanishing from their eyes.
She took a few small steps forward and handed her student ID over to them.
"I believe the two of you must have relatives or friends with overseas connections, otherwise this Danish city newspaper wouldn't have crossed oceans to reach our country."