Richest Rag-picker

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and this night certainly needed no further description. It wasn’t until late into the night that Bai Menghan, her face a picture of contentment and bliss, finally drifted into a deep sleep.

Looking at the delicate face beside him, so flawless it seemed it might break at a touch, Fang Chenyi stroked her cheek tenderly.

Yet, for some reason, he wasn’t the least bit sleepy. He figured it was because his body had changed; he could now go for days and nights without sleep and not feel the slightest hint of fatigue.

He lay beside Bai Menghan for a while longer, but after tossing and turning without success, he grew worried about disturbing her. Fang Chenyi carefully slipped out of bed and padded into the living room.

He poured himself a glass of water and chugged it down. GULP, GULP. Then he flopped onto the sofa, limbs spread wide, and began to think.

He mentally ran through his to-do list from top to bottom, but sleep still eluded him. With a sigh, he raised his wrist to check his watch. 3:30 a.m.

He was always so busy handling one thing after another. Now that he was finally home with time to relax, he was so idle that he had no idea what to do with himself.

He recalled how, in the past, after he and Menghan were done for the night, he’d head to the nearby garbage transfer station to look for treasures whenever he couldn’t sleep.

He realized it had been a long time since he’d last gone junk-picking. He’d almost forgotten he even had this ’ability’.

An idea suddenly struck him, and he shot up from the sofa.

Still in his pajamas, he walked out the front door of the villa. He stood at the entrance and stretched languidly, the corners of his mouth lifting into a faint smile.

"Boss, you’re still up? Are you heading out? I’ll get a car ready for you."

The moment Fang Chenyi stepped out of the villa, a few security guards patrolling the neighborhood spotted him and walked over.

Fang Chenyi just smiled and waved them off, indicating they didn’t need to worry about him.

He then walked onto the lawn in front of the villa, hopped onto a Lamborghini-branded electric scooter, twisted the throttle, and sped off toward the main gate of the neighborhood.

The sky of early autumn, the chill of the night. It was now the beginning of fall, and at three in the morning, the temperature was quite low. Yet Fang Chenyi, wearing only a thin set of pajamas on his scooter, didn’t feel the cold in the slightest.

Of course, besides the Water Spirit Pearl he always carried, this was directly related to his unique constitution.

The scooter zipped through the deserted streets. At this time of night, a journey that normally took five or six minutes was over in about three. He soon arrived outside the small garbage transfer station.

Seeing the small lamp still flickering with a dim, hazy light, Fang Chenyi couldn’t help but crack a wry smile.

’Right here, under this very streetlamp, I’ve already had several scooters stolen,’ he mused. ’I wonder who has nothing better to do than come out here in the middle of the night to steal them.’

To be safe, Fang Chenyi once again tossed the scooter over the wall into the small courtyard before hopping over himself.

The familiar yard, the familiar workshop, the two familiar, massive piles of trash... for a moment, Fang Chenyi was filled with a surprising amount of nostalgia.

"Wow, it’s already been over a month since I was last here."

As he spoke, his hands were already moving. He pulled out his woven bag and trash picker, gave the tongs a few test clicks—CLACK, CLACK—and strode toward the trash heap before him.

Even though he was still in his pajamas, Fang Chenyi wasn’t the least bit worried about getting dirty. As long as he had his trusty trash picker, not a single germ or stain could touch him.

He knew he had already used up his special reward from last time, so he didn’t bother being selective. He just started grabbing whatever he saw.

As Fang Chenyi’s picker flew back and forth, a series of notifications chimed in his mind.

[Host has collected a broken-down retro game console. System reward: 800 yuan. The reward has been deposited into the host’s bank account. Please check for receipt.]

[Host has collected a broken-down robot vacuum. System reward: 3,500 yuan. The reward has been deposited into the host’s bank account. Please check for receipt.]

Listening to the string of system reward notifications in his mind, Fang Chenyi felt an incredible sense of satisfaction.

Even with his current net worth, he couldn’t care less about a few hundred or a thousand yuan here and there. But the feeling... that was simply indescribable.

He tossed item after item into his bag, and in just a few moments, he had already earned tens of thousands of yuan. This left Fang Chenyi feeling utterly content.

He lifted his wrist to check the time and was surprised to see it was almost 4:30. ’Time really flies when you’re having fun,’ he thought.

"Just a little longer," he muttered. "I’ll head home at five."

Muttering to himself, he kept right on working.

[Host has collected a broken-down motorcycle helmet, triggering a special system reward. Reward: one virtual reality gaming helmet. The reward has been placed in the woven bag’s inventory space. Host, please check for receipt.]

Out of long habit, the moment he heard the words "special reward," Fang Chenyi froze. His hands stopped moving as he quickly replayed the notification in his mind.

’What the hell? It gave me a virtual reality gaming helmet?’ he thought, stunned. ’Holy crap. This kind of stuff from novels actually exists?!’

Forgetting all about picking up more junk, Fang Chenyi immediately reached into his woven bag’s inventory space to search for it.

A moment later, he pulled his hand back out, now holding a sleek, brand-new black motorcycle helmet.

That’s right—it looked just like a motorcycle helmet, only it seemed to have a few small, hidden buttons, and there was an ethernet port on the bottom.

After examining it from top to bottom, Fang Chenyi muttered uncertainly:

"Is this really the legendary gaming helmet? It doesn’t look all that high-tech!"

He wanted to put it on and give it a try, but where was he going to find an ethernet cable or a power outlet in the middle of a dump? After studying it for a moment, he had no choice but to reach out and place it back into the inventory space.

"Oh, well. I’ll figure it out when I get back."

With that, Fang Chenyi glanced at his watch again. There were still about ten minutes until five o’clock.

He’d always been a man of his word. Since he’d said he’d leave at five, he had to keep picking for a little while longer.

One piece, two pieces... Fang Chenyi’s trash picker danced through the air, tossing all sorts of junk into his woven bag.

Time passed quickly. Just as five o’clock arrived and Fang Chenyi was about to call it a night...

...another special reward notification chimed in his mind.