RGL – Chapter 9

Even leafy greens were selling for thirty cents a jin.

Sun Qiufang touched the money in her pocket and couldn’t bring herself to spend it. “The city really is a money pit. Back in the countryside, we could just go to the garden and pick what we wanted.”

“Ma, everyone lives like this here. You spend money fast, but you make it fast too,” Su Min said with a smile as she picked through the vegetables.

But Sun Qiufang still couldn’t bring herself to pay that much. As she looked around, she noticed that some of the vegetable stalls were tossing out piles of leafy scraps—some still quite green.

“What a waste,” she muttered, and walked over with her basket. Spotting leaves that were still fresh, she bent down and started gathering them.

Su Min had just picked out some greens and was turning around to find her mother, only to see her squatting on the ground picking through discarded leaves. Some people nearby were pointing and whispering.

But Sun Qiufang acted as though she didn’t notice a thing, silently continuing to gather leaves into her basket.

Su Min’s eyes suddenly welled up with tears.

In her past life, when she and her gravely ill mother first came to the city, she’d gone out to work, and her mother—despite being sick—had come to the market to pick up discarded vegetable leaves just like this. Then she’d quietly brought them home.

Back then, Su Min used to wonder how her mother managed to get food without money. It wasn’t until she accidentally witnessed it once that she realized her mother had endured such indignities just to save a few coins.

“Ma, let me help you.” Su Min wiped her tears away and ran over with a smile.

Sun Qiufang was already feeling self-conscious. When she saw her daughter come over, she quickly said, “What are you doing here, kid? Go wait over there.”

She didn’t mind being embarrassed herself, but she didn’t want her daughter to be judged by others too.

Su Min smiled. “Ma, what are you afraid of? We’re not stealing. We’re just poor—so what? Picking up vegetable leaves isn’t a crime, right?”

Sun Qiufang hadn’t expected her daughter to be so open-minded. Seeing her daughter handle it with such grace made her realize how silly she was being—acting more reserved than a child. Her embarrassment melted away, and she began picking up the leaves more confidently.

The family couldn’t eat that much anyway, so they only picked out half a basket of vegetable leaves. Then the two of them went to the pork stall and bought half a jin of pork. The vendor, having seen them picking up veggie scraps earlier and knowing they were struggling, kindly added a few pork bones for free.

“Oh my, thank you so much, boss,” Sun Qiufang said gratefully to the butcher.

“What boss, we’re all just trying to make a living. If you really want to pick up vegetable leaves, don’t come at this hour. Come around 6:30 in the evening when everyone’s packing up—the stuff they toss out then is way more, and you’ll find lots of good things. I sometimes grab some nice veggies myself.”

“I really didn’t know that. Thank you for the tip.” Sun Qiufang was very happy to run into such a kind and helpful person.

Su Min looked at the butcher and felt he looked a little familiar, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t recall who he was.

The mother and daughter happily carried the meat and vegetables back home.

“These vegetables were all picked up for free. And the bones were given to us too. In the countryside, who would be willing to give away such good stuff? I’ll make some pork bone soup later—it’ll be really nourishing.”

As she spoke, Sun Qiufang handed the items to Su Changrong to look at.

Su Changrong also found it all quite novel. Back in the countryside, even vegetables from their own garden had to be painstakingly grown before they could eat them. Now, they could just pick them up off the street.

“Minzi was right. Life in the city really is good. Qiufang, let’s work hard and settle down here for good.”

Looking at Su Min counting money on the side, Sun Qiufang smiled. “I’m not thinking about anything else right now, just hoping we can settle down soon and get Minzi into school. A girl her age shouldn’t be living like this with us. She needs to study.”

Su Changrong said worriedly, “Will the city schools even accept rural kids like us?”

“I asked around today—apparently, they do, but you need to pay more. It’s called being a ‘temporary student’ or something. As long as you have money, it’s fine. If we work harder and earn more, at the rate we’re going, we’ll have enough in no time.”

Sun Qiufang was now more confident than ever about their life in the city. Before, she was worried they wouldn’t be able to make a living. Now that they had a way to earn money—and could even bring home useful things for free—life definitely felt more hopeful.

And with such a thoughtful and understanding daughter, she truly felt like there was light at the end of the tunnel.

Outside, Su Min was calculating their income and expenses under the streetlight.

They were only earning a few yuan a day, which wasn’t much by her standards. Plus, in a while, more and more people would start scavenging, and business would get harder.

But for now, it was only their first day earning money. With no real cash on hand, even if she had bigger plans, she couldn’t implement them yet. They’d have to keep at it for a while longer, save up, and maybe transition to something else. After all, picking through trash wasn’t something they could do forever.

As the days passed, the family got better and better at the work.

They covered nearly the entire county town—every factory district, every street.

Unless it rained, the three of them never took a break.

Sometimes, in addition to collecting recyclables, Sun Qiufang and Su Changrong even picked up old furniture and brought it home to fix. Slowly, their once-empty house began to feel more complete.

Su Min now had her own little bed. A wooden board was used to divide the room in two, creating two separate areas.

Sun Qiufang, being a tidy person, kept the home neat and organized. Using a salvaged sofa, she even sectioned off a small living room. The cooking gear was moved outside and only brought back in when they went out.

On the last day of the month, the family sat at home and calculated the month’s earnings.

“Changrong, we made 160 yuan this month!” Sun Qiufang was thrilled after totaling it all up.

“Wow, that much?” Su Changrong was shocked. He hadn’t expected that collecting trash could be this profitable—much more than a regular worker’s wage.

Su Min was also overjoyed. She’d thought scavenging would barely put food on the table, but the earnings were more than she’d expected.

At this rate, they could make over a thousand yuan in a year.

“This really beats farming back in the countryside,” said Su Changrong. “It’s easier and earns more. Let’s stick with this!”

Su Min thought for a moment and said, “Dad, this isn’t something we can do forever. Right now we’re making money because there aren’t many scavengers, but later, more people will come to the city and do this too. We won’t find as many things. And city people aren’t stupid—some will start selling the stuff themselves instead of tossing it.”

“That’s true,” said Sun Qiufang thoughtfully. “I’ve already seen more people picking through trash lately. Once others catch on, they’ll start doing it too.”

“Then what do we do?” Su Changrong grew anxious. He’d just started to feel hopeful, and now problems were already appearing.

Su Min smiled. “Dad, don’t worry yet. Let’s keep this up for another two months and save some money. After that, we can become bosses too.”

“We can be bosses?” Su Changrong looked at her in surprise.

Even Sun Qiufang didn’t believe it and thought her daughter was joking. “Minzi, your dad and I don’t know how to run a business. We don’t know anything, and we have no capital. Don’t you see how people doing business always need money up front?”

“Oh, I’m talking about something that barely needs capital. Like turning nothing into something.”

Seeing they still didn’t understand, Su Min decided to wait before explaining further. After all, it was just a plan for now, and if she talked too much too early, someone might catch wind of it and beat her to it.

She laughed. “Let’s talk about it when we’ve saved up. It’s too early now.”

Having made money this month, the whole family was in high spirits. Su Changrong was actually more generous than Sun Qiufang—he didn’t even want to cook. He suggested they try eating out like city folks.

Though reluctant at first, Sun Qiufang agreed—though a bit painfully—since they’d earned more than most city people anyway.

That evening, the three of them changed into clean clothes and headed out.

By now, they knew the city pretty well, and they went straight to a modestly priced restaurant. It was a privately owned place that had just opened, run by a retired city worker.

Su Min realized again that people with money always had a head start. They could afford to invest and take the lead. Even with a second chance at life, having good ideas and timing meant little without resources. She still had to start from scratch.

Inside the restaurant, Sun Qiufang looked uncomfortable. She kept glancing at others and looking around the place. “Eating at home would be so much better. Why come out? It’s so awkward.”

It wasn’t like they were attending a wedding feast where everyone was familiar. Here, they didn’t know a single person.

Su Changrong was a bit uneasy too, but he found it all fascinating. Seeing his daughter calmly ordering food, he realized they were being too timid.

He patted Sun Qiufang’s hand and said, “Look at our girl—how can we adults be less composed than a child?”

Sun Qiufang looked at her daughter, blushed, and smiled. She glanced around the restaurant again, thinking this kind of life was something she’d never even dreamed of before.

After Su Min ordered a few dishes that her parents liked, she also asked for their input.

Sun Qiufang said, “Whatever you decide is fine. We’re not picky.”

Su Min handed the menu to the waiter.

“Minzi, is that your third uncle?”

Su Min had just turned around when she saw her father staring blankly in a certain direction.