129: Chapter 129 Poverty breeds cunning, wealth breeds conscience

Sensing the wink thrown by the owner, Chen Sheng swallowed his bellyful of complaints, "Fine! 4 yuan it is."

After scanning the code and paying 410 yuan, the owner, upon learning that Chen Sheng did not need an invoice, rummaged from some unknown corner to find a trolley. He piled all the old books Chen Sheng had bought onto it, wheeled them over to where the car was parked in one go, and even enthusiastically helped lift them into the trunk.

Before leaving, the owner offered Chen Sheng another cigarette and said, "Little brother, come back again if you need anything!"

"I can't afford to smoke your cigarettes; you sold me things you bought for a few cents at four yuan." Now that he had the goods in hand, Chen Sheng dropped his disguise.

"Oh! The price is negotiable; I'll give you a better deal next time." The owner's hand, which had been pushed back with the cigarette, reached out toward Chen Sheng once more.

"Alright! You must give me a cheaper price next time." Chen Sheng took the cigarette, opened the car door, got in, and made a show of preparing to leave.

It wasn't that he really wanted to leave, but rather he was using this method to urge the owner to leave the area.

At this point, the time window provided by the second piece of information was fast approaching.

Seeing Chen Sheng accept the cigarette, the owner greeted him and tactfully returned to the salvage yard.

About five minutes after the owner walked into the salvage yard, a dilapidated tricycle loaded with various scraps came slowly driving toward the yard.

The tricycle was one of those old-fashioned human-powered frames fitted with a small drive motor, converted into an electric tricycle.

It didn't have much power; it was mainly for assistance.

Chen Sheng got out of his car and walked quickly to the path the tricycle had to take. As it approached, he immediately stopped it. "Old man, I see you have some scrapped thermocouples up there. Where did you collect these from?"

On the old-fashioned human-powered tricycle, the rear cargo bed railing wasn't very high. Even though it was piled high with scrap, Chen Sheng, who had specifically learned what thermocouples were after receiving the information, spotted that pile of thermocouples at a single glance.

Qian Dashan saw that he had been stopped and hurriedly pressed the brake lever on the handlebars. After a harsh "Screech~~" sound, the vehicle barely managed to stop a meter away from Chen Sheng.

Qian Dashan got off the vehicle on tiptoe, and it was precisely this action that made Chen Sheng immediately abandon his plan to buy this batch of thermocouples at scrap prices.

No other reason; the Qian Dashan before him was a lame old man who walked with a limp.

Looking at his attire, that old, faded clothing, washed until it was pale from long-term wear, still had visible traces of mending at the cuffs, knees, and other places.

At this age, in this condition, still riding a converted electric tricycle to collect scrap...

Everything was silently telling the story of the hardships faced by this Qian Dashan.

20,000 to 30,000 yuan was just a decent income for him now, but for Qian Dashan, 20,000 to 30,000 yuan might be a massive sum that could change his life.

Therefore, he didn't want to earn this kind of money.

His conscience wouldn't allow it.

This wasn't him putting on an act. As the saying goes, "Poverty breeds cunning, wealth fosters conscience." This is a change in mindset that naturally occurs in everyone once their wealth accumulates to a certain level.

When a person is penniless, they will subconsciously quicken their pace if they see fifty cents dropped on the road, fearing that if they are too slow, someone else will pick it up.

When a person has hundreds or thousands in their pocket, they will most likely turn a blind eye to fifty cents on the road, but when passing a shop they are interested in, they will subconsciously stop their hurried steps and stand outside, looking into the shop with a longing gaze.

When a person has tens of thousands or even over a hundred thousand in savings, they will naturally walk into a shop they are interested in, and sometimes, if they meet a Part-time employee selling flowers, they will generously buy one.

When their savings exceed a million, and they see those suffering people—where the rope always breaks at the thinnest part—while scrolling through videos, they will subconsciously ask about donation channels.

When their savings exceed ten million or even a hundred million, they build roads for their hometown, donate to their alma mater, and set up scholarships. Regardless of whether it's called grandstanding, the money is genuinely given.

Qian Dashan walked limpingly to Chen Sheng's side, grinned, and revealed a cautious, humble smile, "This boss, what did you just say?"

"I said, where did you collect these thermocouples from?"

"What's a thermocouple?"

"You don't know what a thermocouple?" Chen Sheng pointed at the thermocouples and said, "It's this."

"Oh! You mean this? I didn't know it was a thermocouple. I collected it as scrap; it's not illegal, is it?" Qian Dashan nervously rubbed his hands, his gaze scanning all around, as if looking for a "sting" operation team hiding in the shadows.

"Old man, don't be nervous, I was just asking out of curiosity." Seeing Qian Dashan's nervousness, Chen Sheng hurriedly took out a cigarette and handed it to him, saying with a smile, "Are you planning to sell these things directly to the salvage yard?"

After Qian Dashan took the cigarette, Chen Sheng took out his lighter, lit it for Qian Dashan first, and naturally, he lit one for himself as well.

After taking a deep drag, Qian Dashan's originally tense body relaxed at a visible speed as he exhaled the smoke, "Thanks! I collected quite a bit this morning, and combined with yesterday's, it just happened to fill a cart, so I hurried over to deal with it so I wouldn't be delayed for work this afternoon."

"Old man, about how much per jin do you get for selling these thermocouples to the salvage yard?"

"Lately, scrap metal like this can sell for one yuan and eighty cents." As he spoke, Qian Dashan carefully stubbed out the cigarette he had only taken a few puffs of against the tricycle's side panel and tucked the remaining part behind his ear.

Seeing Chen Sheng looking over, he hurriedly pulled a half-finished hand-rolled cigarette from a crack in the tricycle and explained with a smile, "This cigarette is too mild; I'm not used to it. I usually smoke this."

Chen Sheng waved his hand, pulled a section of thermocouple from the tricycle, and pointed to the intact parts inside, saying, "Old man, you're selling this too cheap. For something like this, if you find a place that recycles precious metals, you can easily ask for at least several hundred per jin."

Upon hearing this, Qian Dashan immediately stepped back, his gaze toward Chen Sheng instantly filled with wariness, and his hand subconsciously moved toward his pocket.

"Old man, I'm not a scammer." Chen Sheng hurriedly explained.

Qian Dashan didn't respond.

Being suddenly stopped on the main road by a stranger, and then having this stranger tell you that what you have in your hand is extremely valuable...

No matter how you look at it, this routine seems like a scam.

Besides, what kind of scammer would admit to being a scammer?

Seeing that Qian Dashan became even more wary after his explanation, Chen Sheng hurriedly took out his phone, found his browsing history for thermocouples in the browser, pulled up the information about thermocouples and platinum-rhodium wire, and handed it to Qian Dashan, saying, "Old man, this is information from the internet. See for yourself."

Qian Dashan suspiciously took the phone, but after looking at it for a long time, he came out with this: "This boss, I don't understand what's written on here at all!"

"No~ then what have you been looking at all this time?"

Loneliness?

Qian Dashan grinned, revealing the large yellow teeth left by long-term smoking of hand-rolled tobacco, though it didn't look disgusting. "I was just looking to see if the things on there were about the same as what I collected, but..."

Qian Dashan said hesitantly and quietly, "I don't know if what's written on here is real or fake."

"Sigh~" Chen Sheng couldn't help but sigh. It was rare that he wanted to do a good deed, yet it turned out to be so difficult. Sure enough, a person can only earn money within the scope of their own knowledge.

Chen Sheng changed from his previous gentle tone and said firmly, "Just tell me, are you willing to sell it to the salvage yard at a low price, or would you rather spend a little more time to sell it for a high price?"

"I definitely hope to sell it for more," Qian Dashan replied without hesitation.

"That's right." Chen Sheng clapped his hands sharply and continued, "Look, I'm just telling you that this thing is valuable. As for exactly how much you can sell it for, you need to find the relevant sales channels to sell it yourself."

"I don't want a commission, and I'm not buying these thermocouples from you. There's no financial transaction between us. What could I possibly want from you?"

"Yeah! This boss, what exactly do you want?" Qian Dashan asked.

"I..." Chen Sheng thought for a moment and gave a relatively reasonable answer, "Just now, I bought some old magazines and newspapers at this salvage yard, and the owner charged me four yuan per jin. Just consider this me doing a good deed to vent my frustration."

Qian Dashan nodded and commented, "Four yuan per jin is indeed quite expensive. I collect it at three jiao per jin, and even when I sell it to the salvage yard, it's only four to four and a half jiao."

"Damn it!" Chen Sheng couldn't help but curse in his heart. He originally thought it was marked up seven or eight times, but it turned out this damn thing was marked up a full ten times.

Chen Sheng spread his hands helplessly and said, "So... now you believe me, right?"

Qian Dashan subconsciously wanted to shake his head, but he forced himself to stop and nodded reluctantly, "Thanks!"