Chapter 242: Seven-Zero Treasure Appraisal System (16)

Because it was a workday and also nine or ten in the morning, not only was there no need to queue at the Grain Station, but the streets of Yongcheng were also quite deserted.

But the scenery was nice; weeping willows were sprouting new buds, Taohua were beginning to bloom in full, and swallows were circling the residential houses in pairs, chirping and singing happy songs.

Xie Yang rode along the way, admiring the spring scenery on the streets of Yongcheng.

Suddenly, her peripheral vision caught a young woman at the entrance of an alley ahead who seemed to have her hands pinned behind her back and her mouth covered as she was dragged into the alley.

This looked like...

Xie Yang had no time to think it over and accelerated her pedaling.

"Wuwu... let go, mm..."

Xu Xiaoyu struggled desperately, wanting to break free from the thug's restraint, but the wet handkerchief covering her mouth clearly contained anesthetic, making her unable to muster any strength even if she wanted to scream.

She knew this alley; both sides were factory buildings, not residential houses, and the factory gates did not open into the alley. Except for workers rushing to work in the morning who would take a shortcut through this alley, almost no one passed through here at ordinary times.

"Stop struggling! You can't escape. Brother will make you comfortable in a moment, hehehe!"

"Wuwu..."

Xu Xiaoyu was in utter despair.

Even though her fingernails dug into her palms, the piercing pain could not stop the anesthetic from taking effect, and her consciousness grew increasingly blurred.

"Boom—"

"Ah!"

Suddenly, the thug restraining her stumbled, his vision swimming as he was struck by a sack of rice that descended from the sky, and he collapsed into the corner of the wall.

Before Xu Xiaoyu fell into a coma, she vaguely saw a young woman swinging the rice sack in her hand like a meteor hammer, angrily pounding the thug:

"What are you doing at such a young age! Actually bullying a woman! Trash like you is a waste of rice and grain even while alive..."

"..."

After knocking the thug unconscious, Xie Yang untied the hemp rope from the grain sack to bind the thug's hands and feet, then carried the unconscious Xu Xiaoyu on her back to the hospital.

She spent a dime at the alley entrance to hire a child who collected scraps to help call the police and keep an eye on her bicycle.

Sure enough, just as she exited the alley, she ran into Bai Xiuyuan.

In the original world, the original owner had just divorced at this moment, and Qin Zheng did not have any intention of driving her away immediately; he went to the bachelor dormitory to squeeze in with colleagues for a few days. It was the original owner who was strong-willed, but after coming out, she had nowhere to go, and she was unwilling to return to her maiden home, so she wandered the streets.

She accidentally bumped into a few hooligans bullying Xu Xiaoyu, and she subconsciously shouted "Help," scaring the hooligans away. Then Bai Xiuyuan picked up the scraps and falsely claimed the credit for saving Xu Xiaoyu.

This time, she would not let her take advantage of this.

Xu Xiaoyu woke up faintly and found herself lying on a hospital bed, with a beautiful young woman sitting by the bed, currently propping up her cheek and dozing off.

Xie Yang was just extremely bored, so she closed her eyes to rest, and she woke up after taking a nap.

Seeing Xu Xiaoyu's teary-eyed look of being moved after surviving a disaster, she couldn't help but smile: "It's alright now, you're fine once you're awake."

Once she was awake, there was nothing left for Xie Yang to do.

She helped Xu Xiaoyu contact her family, then returned to the dark alley to retrieve her bicycle.

The child who collected scraps was quite trustworthy; having received her dime, he kept the bicycle, the vegetables in the basket, and the four rice sacks firmly guarded, and not a single thing was missing.

Xie Yang rewarded him with two jin of corn flour and five eggs, and even helped him deliver them to his home.

The child thanked her with a flushed face.

"Xiao Ze, is that you back?"

A concerned inquiry from an old person sounded inside the dilapidated adobe house.

"It's me, Grandma."

After Liang Junze stood on tiptoe to watch Xie Yang ride out of the alley entrance, he happily entered the house while holding the two jin of corn flour and five eggs wrapped in his outer garment: "Grandma, I did a good deed today and helped someone."

"Really? Our Xiao Ze is so sensible."

"That beautiful auntie also praised me and gave me these good things."

He opened his patched coat, revealing the golden-yellow corn flour and the five eggs.

Not knowing what he thought of, he said somewhat uneasily: "Grandma, I remember your words, 'A gentleman does not eat food given in contempt,' but the beautiful auntie insisted on rewarding me."

The old woman lying on the bed with cloudy eyes was silent for a long while, her eye sockets becoming moist, and she sighed and said:

"That's fine, let's nourish our Xiao Ze's body."

"No, let's nourish Grandma's body."

The grandmother and grandson argued for a long time, and in the end, they compromised—they would splurge tonight and boil two poached eggs, one for each, to nourish their bodies together.

After Xie Yang arrived home, she put away the things she had bought and cooked herself a bowl of egg noodle soup.

After eating her fill and cleaning the pots and bowls, she went to the Recycling Station to scavenge for treasures.

Just as she arrived at the Recycling Station, she saw a group of hot-blooded young people carrying several large hemp sacks, rushing into the Recycling Station in a flurry, and leaving in a flurry not long after.

Xie Yang waited until they left before pushing her bicycle over.

"Hey, what are you here for?"

The old man guarding the gate called out to her.

"I'm here to find some old books and old newspapers for kindling and wall-pasting."

"Old books are 2 cents a jin, old newspapers are 5 cents; pick them out and come to me to weigh them." The old man pointed her in a direction and warned her not to go to the warehouse next to it.

"Thank you." Xie Yang fished two White Rabbit Creamy Candy from her pocket and handed them to the old man to sweeten his mouth, while also asking him to help watch her bicycle for a while.

Then, taking advantage of the old man not paying attention, she slipped into the warehouse next to the old books and old newspapers.

Several large hemp sacks that had just been put into storage lay here, and she was the first patron.

She gently poured out the contents of the sacks and simultaneously summoned the Sub-system to appraise them for her:

【Ding! Scanned Wang Xizhi's copy of "Xuan Shi Biao" (incomplete), recycling price 100,000 yuan (current circulating currency). If you need to recycle, please press 1, to store press 2, to ignore press 3.】

【Ding! Scanned Song Huizong's authentic work "Shu Cai Xing Chi Juan" (damaged), recycling price 100,000 yuan (current circulating currency). If you need to recycle, please press 1, to store press 2, to ignore press 3.】

【Ding! Scanned Tang Bohu's authentic work "Jinshan Scenic Spots Map" (minor flaws), recycling price 1,000,000 yuan (current circulating currency). If you need to recycle, please press 1, to store press 2, to ignore press 3.】

【Ding! Scanned Qing Glass painted enamel Western lady snuff bottle, recycling price 10,000 yuan (current currency). To recycle, please press 1; to store, press 2; to ignore, press 3.】

【Ding! Scanned Qing rosewood inlaid boxwood carved tabletop screen (damaged), recycling price 1,000 yuan (current currency). To recycle, please press 1; to store, press 2; to ignore, press 3.】

【Ding!...】

Xie Yang spent some Appraisal Coins to store all these antique treasures in the space that came with the Appraisal System.

Adding up the few large burlap sacks, a total of over twenty authentic antiques were scanned.

The rest were either fakes or old objects not yet defined as antiques by the Appraisal System.

Xie Yang turned over all the large burlap sacks until the Sub-system stopped making "ding" sounds, then slipped next door to casually pick out a few safe old books and a stack of old newspapers, piled them into a stack, carried them to the entrance, and handed them to the old man to be weighed.