Chapter 45 Treasure Hunting at the Junkyard

"Understood." Tang Banxia nodded.

All the letters she had sent to Jiangcheng had been returned, except for the one addressed to Shijie Village in Jiangcheng—it was like a stone sinking into the sea, neither returned nor replied. There could only be one reason: her parents were in Shijie Village, and their situation was less than ideal. Otherwise, they would have replied.

Thinking of this, she bit her lower lip. "Come with me to the commune tomorrow. I need to send another letter to confirm things."

"I'll go borrow a bicycle from the brigade leader's house," Wen Mubai said.

The next day, Wen Mubai brought Tang Banxia to the commune. First, they mailed the letter to Shijie Village, then went to the post office to collect Wen Mubai's parcel and remittance.

Only then did they head to see Lu Xun.

"It's been a while since you last came," Lu Xun said as soon as he saw them, stepping out from behind the counter and heading straight for the basket on the floor. He carefully inspected the herbs Tang Banxia had processed. "Have you run into some trouble?"

Tang Banxia neither confirmed nor denied it. "Not really, it's just that with the cold weather, more villagers are falling ill, and I haven't had the time."

After checking everything, Lu Xun asked, "What herbs do you need this time?"

Tang Banxia had already decided and immediately listed off a string of herb names.

Without further ado, Lu Xun gathered them for her, chuckling as he teased, "These aren't easy herbs to handle. Are you sure?"

"I'll give it a try," Tang Banxia replied with a smile. "After all, I'm the one paying for them, aren't I?"

Lu Xun said nothing more and returned the basket.

The herbs were all very fresh, some even still dewy, obviously just picked. She suppressed the questions in her heart. "I thought you might be bragging, but you really managed to find all these herbs."

So many herbs from such different environments, all fresh—it was suspicious no matter how she looked at it.

Lu Xun smiled knowingly, as if he understood her doubts and reassured her, "Don't worry, all my herbs come from legitimate sources. There's nothing to fear if anyone checks."

Tang Banxia looked at him with a gentle smile. "Then, what is it you're after? What's in it for you?"

Lu Xun couldn't help but laugh. "I thought you wouldn't ask."

Tang Banxia pressed on, "So?"

Lu Xun's expression grew solemn, his lashes lowered. "Just think of it as my good deed of the day."

"A good deed?"

Lu Xun kept his head down, hiding his expression. "I need someone to process herbs, and you need herbs to practice with. It's mutually beneficial, isn't it?"

Tang Banxia said, "I just think your way of doing things is rather contradictory."

It seemed he needed someone to help process herbs, but insisted that certain herbs must be bought, which ruled out most people. Besides, with access to so many kinds of herbs, how could he not find someone to process them?

Lu Xun just smiled again. "That's why I call it a good deed."

Tang Banxia studied him intently, but could only see honesty and openness in his bearing. "Very well, let's settle up."

Lu Xun was a bit surprised, but sat behind the counter and started working the abacus. "The herbs you brought are worth eighteen yuan; the ones you'll take today total fifteen."

He pulled three yuan from his pocket and handed it to Tang Banxia. "Here you go."

Wen Mubai intercepted it midway, his smile warm and refined. "Just give it to me."

Lu Xun glanced at Tang Banxia; seeing she had no objection, he let go.

Wen Mubai's smile grew even more genuine as he tucked away the money.

With the transaction complete, Tang Banxia prepared to leave.

After exiting the pharmacy, she saw there was still time and considered, "Shall we take a look around the recycling station?"

Wen Mubai had no objections.

At the recycling station, the gatekeeper was a limping uncle.

"Comrade, I'd like to find some old newspapers to paper the walls at home," Wen Mubai said forthrightly, slipping a cigarette to the man.

The uncle accepted it, his demeanor softening considerably. "Go ahead, just don't take what you shouldn't."

Inside, the recycling station was a mess—broken huanghuali furniture, shards of porcelain scattered everywhere, and heaps of iron scraps piled at random.

Wen Mubai went straight for the iron, while Tang Banxia was more interested in the furniture.

Even though the pieces were battered and broken, it didn't dampen her fascination. She picked up a chair leg and began rummaging through the pile.

A huanghuali table, a rosewood window frame, a zitan dressing box, and other odds and ends surfaced. Whenever she found something interesting or well-preserved, she set it aside.

Suddenly, her attention was caught by a half-open drawer.

Inside was nothing but a single yellowed booklet. She picked it up and flipped through—it was a San Zi Jing, the "Three Character Classic."

But as she sniffed the faint scent of rue wafting from its pages, she frowned. Was a San Zi Jing really worth preserving with rue?

Suppressing her suspicions, she set the booklet aside and kept searching.

Now she had a goal.

Before long, she found, one after another, the Hundred Family Surnames, the Thousand Character Classic, both preserved with rue and yellowed by age, just like the first.

Tang Banxia raised an eyebrow and kept looking.

Indeed, she soon found the Four Books, the Five Classics, and the Three Hundred Poems, twelve volumes in all. All had been preserved with rue and, interestingly, were found together within a single set of furniture.

Tang Banxia realized something at once.

She gathered several stacks of newspapers and some high school textbooks she had found, slipping the twelve books in among them.

Meanwhile, Wen Mubai had picked out a pile of parts from the iron heap, and together they took their finds to the limping uncle to settle up.

The uncle glanced briefly over Tang Banxia's items, focusing on the dressing box.

"I thought this box was nice and could be handy for storing things," Tang Banxia explained.

Seeing she wasn't sneaking anything, the uncle paid no mind; as for Wen Mubai's parts, he didn't recognize a single one. "Fifty cents for everything," he said.

They paid without fuss and left with their haul.

After all this, it was getting late. "Come on, let's go to the state-run restaurant."

Wen Mubai was delighted, eagerly giving Tang Banxia a ride there.

They arrived early, just as the staff were putting up the signs for the day's menu.

They ordered two plates of dumplings, three meat buns, and a dish of pickled cabbage with pork bone—spending two yuan and eighty cents.

With Wen Mubai around, there was never any food left over.

After eating their fill, they headed home.

Back at the house, Wen Mubai went to return the bicycle.

Tang Banxia, unable to wait, laid out the twelve books on the bed.

She picked up the San Zi Jing first and examined it thoroughly from cover to cover, then set it down.

Tapping her fingers on the table, she thought, Is it really just the Three Character Classic?

Unconvinced, she checked the other volumes one by one but found nothing unusual.

Brow furrowed, she stared at the twelve books and muttered, "Could it be...?"

With a sudden idea, she went to the infirmary, gathered some medicinal herbs, and mixed up a potion from memory. Carefully, she brushed it over the San Zi Jing...

After a moment, most of the text on the page began to fade, leaving only a portion unmoved. Joy flashed across Tang Banxia's face as she picked up the book...