Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 207 - 73 Buying Scrap Iron_1

Chapter 207: Chapter 73 Buying Scrap Iron_1

Xu Xiaoyan opened her eyes in daylight, a tad puzzled as she glanced outside.

The sun was almost up; why hadn’t Yan Fei come to wake her up?

Suddenly, she instinctively sniffed, then burst into a gleeful smile.

She got up, tidied her tousled hair from sleep, and while combing it, she sauntered into the kitchen: "Yan Xiaofei, why are you in such a good mood this morning? Are you making me scallion oil pancakes to eat?"

"It’s not a scallion oil pancake, can’t you see I’m making griddle cakes?" Yan Fei looked up at her. "Hurry up and get ready. We’re going to the county town later. I need to buy some scrap iron."

"Uh-huh, griddle cakes, griddle cakes, I misspoke... Wait, I was kidding yesterday, are you really going to start blacksmithing?" Xu Xiaoyan, while gleefully watching the griddle cakes in the pot, nodded and asked with a slight surprise.

"Yes, I’ve prepared all the blacksmithing tools and placed them in a place where they won’t bother anyone. From now on, I’ll go out and practice blacksmithing for a while at night." Yan Fei said earnestly. It was indeed true that Vegetable Garden Island would not inconvenience anyone.

"Where could you put blacksmithing stuff without bothering anyone? What other places do you have?" Xu Xiaoyan paused in her hair combing, asking him while cocking her head.

"Well, don’t worry about it, it’s a hard place to find, and you can’t go there. Once my craftsmanship is perfected, I’ll show you." Yan Fei chuckled.

"Ah... I see. You’re embarrassed for others to see, right? Practicing your craft in secret, I want to see if you can master everything?" Xu Xiaoyan gloated, wearing an I-know-what-you’re-thinking expression. "Oh yeah... I just realized! You’re actually quite skilled! You can cook, make small tables and chairs, you even have some Kung Fu skills, and you know how to raise cattle... Who would’ve thought you’re so capable?"

"Of course, having a lot of skills is never a burden. Learning more things might come in handy someday!" Yan Fei boasted proudly.

"Humph..." Xu Xiaoyan rolled her eyes, flinging the just-combed but not yet tied-up hair, and turned around to leave.

Yan Fei leisurely flipped the griddle cakes, still pondering how he could quickly learn to walk when he transformed into a giant python.

After eating, the pair waited by the roadside for a ride to the county town, then got in the car and left.

When Yan Fei’s grandfather was a blacksmith, he bought his scrap iron from the steel factory in the county town. They had all kinds of scrap iron, unlike the collection stations in smaller towns, which only collected scrap iron from civilians, making it hard to find suitable raw materials.

The steel factory in the county has been in decline over the past few years. It was once the best factory in the county, but now it’s not only been outperformed by the fertilizer factory but also by some other smaller factories. Despite its downfall, the factory still takes up a huge space. A few years ago, during its primetime, it moved from the county centre to the outskirts; the area it occupies is close to half the size of Sancha River town.

However, as quick as it rose to glory was its fall. The workers, who used to complain about overtime, were instantly complaining about only having work for two days and having rest days for three, or even sitting idle for an entire month, their complaints resurfacing only when they got paid.

Many would say that the fall of the factory was a bad thing, but at least Yan Fei thought it was good.

He remembered when he was a kid accompanying his grandfather to buy scrap iron; they had to queue for registration at the factory gate for quite a long time. His grandfather also lamented that every time they visited, there was a different person for registration. They had to explain why they were there for a good while before being allowed in. Furthermore, they had to go to several places to weigh in and pay for the scrap iron they bought, and they were checked when they left — such a hassle!

It’s understandable, after all, it was a big factory with thousands of employees. Even the number of staff at the gate was considerable! With dozens or hundreds of people rotating shifts, how could they let his grandfather and him waltz in and out freely and always meet the same person!

Eventually, things got better. The number of staff at the factory gate dwindled, and there were only the same few people. Once Yan Fei’s grandfather came a few more times and got recognized, entering the gate wasn’t difficult anymore.

Now it was even better. When Yan Fei and Xu Xiaoyan arrived at the gate, there were only two or three old men playing the square occupation game under the shade of the trees in front of the gate. They were familiar faces, even Yan Fei recognized them.

The square occupation game was a recreational activity amongst the rural old folks, but also played by young folks when they had free time. It was played on a field marked with several lines forming small squares inside a larger square, similar to a Go board, only with fewer squares. The entire point of the game was to occupy the four corners of the small square. The player who first occupied all the corners of the square with no place left for the opponent or the player who had the majority of squares with all four corners filled with their own pieces won. The ’pieces’ used were usually made from materials at hand like tree sticks, leaves, broken stones, rotten tiles, and broken bricks, making it an easy and convenient game that could be played anytime, anywhere under the shade of a tree or by a wall.

These three old men playing the square occupation game at the steel factory gate were quite familiar to Yan Fei. Of the three, he could identify two; the third was familiar too. They were all current gatekeepers at the factory. However, he remembered them from before, but they didn’t recognize him now. It couldn’t be helped, he had grown so much and changed greatly in just a little over a year.

After he approached and spoke a few words, the old men immediately remembered and expressed their condolences when they learnt that Blacksmith Yan had passed away. They even tried to dissuade him, saying that the industry was not viable anymore. They finally let it go when they heard that he was just doing it for fun, and that he would continue with school.

The old man standing nearby was quite enthusiastic and directly led him in without needing to register.

So, the Principle of Dialectical Materialism mentioned in the middle school textbook is quite reasonable. This factory, with thousands of employees, is on the brink of collapse, but it isn’t necessarily a bad thing for everyone. Look at Yan Fei—he didn’t have to continue exposing his dog-crawl-like ’calligraphy’ for the registration anymore.

The old man was quite talkative due to his age, keeping the conversation going as they walked.

He lamented over Yan Fei’s grandfather’s untimely death, rued over the decline of the factory and its constantly changing crew of unreliable people. The factory was too big, and it took half a day to reach the scrap iron pile. Yan Fei had no choice but to be patient and listen to the old man’s ramblings along with Xu Xiaoyan.

Just before they reached their destination, the old man advised Yan Fei that the current manager of the warehouse wasn’t the same person anymore. He urged Yan Fei to speak courteously to avoid provoking the new manager in any way and to hold his tongue if any untidy words were spoken to him.

Calling it a warehouse was a liberal interpretation; in reality, it was an enormous pile of scrap metal, exposed to the elements. All kinds of waste, including pieces from large machinery, were haphazardly piled up, creating a small mountain.

Beside the mound of scrap metal, there was a row of houses made from blue bricks. At the entrance of the house on the far end, there was a slightly rusted large weighing machine. This was where the scrap iron was weighed.

Upon entering, the old man once again warned Yan Fei: Be polite when talking to them, the new ones in charge were not easy to communicate with.

Only after reminding him repeatedly did the old man take the lead and introduce Yan Fei to a young man, "Comrade Xiao Li, this gentleman from the town below is here to buy some scrap iron."

The reality was plain to see from outside — there were only four or five young men in the room. All were smoking cigarettes and playing cards, with two men even shirtless. Evidently, money was involved in the game, with notes of ten and five yuan being tossed about on the table. Their loud voices could be heard from some distance away.

Looking at all the money, this could definitely be classified as gambling. But Yan Fei and Xu Xiaoyan were not foolish; they knew what could and couldn’t be said when requesting something.

"Buy what scrap iron? All these are raw materials collected by the factory, what are we going to use for production if we sell it all? Not selling!" The moment the old man announced their arrival, a young man engrossed in his game rebutted loudly before urging the others to continue playing.

Talking nonsense while staring straight at him, huh? Yan Fei and Xu Xiaoyan exchanged a glance, both feeling a bit annoyed. All this scrap iron rusting away and they hadn’t seen any production. What’s wrong with buying a bit?

However, despite the frustration, the decision to sell was ultimately up to the owner, and if they decided not to sell, what could they do?

"We are all from the same village, the customer has traveled from afar. In the past, our place always sold to facilitate public needs. They’re not asking for much, it won’t hinder production in the factory. It’s not much trouble. Just let them pick some, weigh it later, calculate the price, note it down and sign. That’s all that’s needed." Even though Yan Fei and Xu Xiaoyan had resigned themselves to not buying anything, the old man hadn’t given up. He continued to lobby on Yan Fei’s behalf with a friendly smile.

"Deal! Damn it, what rotten luck! The last five yuan goes to you. I’m still short on your share. Lend me some more... can’t you lend me some more? Let’s keep playing. You’re not leaving till I recover my losses!" Comrade Xiao Li slammed the table before turning and speaking to the old man. "Old man, hurry up and leave! Don’t you see how bad I’m losing since you all entered? Everyone, please leave. We’re not selling, not selling..."

Without sparing them another glance, he resumed his game.

"Hehe... Comrade Xiao Li, this child has come from far away, it wasn’t easy for him. How about this? I’ll take them to choose the scrap iron, and we’ll weigh it later. Then you just calculate the total, how does that sound?" The old man was patient, continuing to beseech with a smile.

"You..." Xiao Li, who was carefully studying his hand of cards as if he were a thief, wasn’t pleased. He turned around, ready to explode in anger. However, when he noticed Xu Xiaoyan standing behind Yan Fei, his eyes lit up. "So, this lady is also here to buy scrap iron? Where is she from? Fine, in consideration of the young lady, the scrap iron will be sold today. Hurry up and select what you want!"

The other young men in the room immediately burst into laughter, teasing Xiao Li about his weakness for pretty ladies. This incident irked Yan Fei.

However, the old man was insightful and quickly pushed Yan Fei towards the exit, whispering advice as he walked "The task at hand is more important... more important..."

Yan Fei wasn’t ungrateful. The old man had spent so much time fawning over others for his sake. So, he decided to follow the old man’s advice and stepped out of the room.

No sooner had they stepped out than Comrade Xiao Li called out from behind, "Wait, wait, wait. Don’t leave yet, pay before you take anything."

This was indeed strange!

It wasn’t like they were purchasing something specific—buyers wouldn’t know how much they’d be taking. Without weighing the iron, how could they know the total cost? And there’s a rule about payment first?

Not only were Yan Fei, Xu Xiaoyan, and the old man taken aback, but even the men inside the room stopped playing, all looking incredulously at Xiao Li.