Chapter 72

Fan Junwei had lived with his grandma in the sanitation workers' dormitory since he was a child.

As the lowest-level profession in the town, the sanitation worker job had a strong "welfare" connotation, intended to allow those elderly people without income or support to survive. Relying solely on a few hundred yuan in salary was clearly not enough.

In the corners of the square, in the water and electricity rooms in the park, in the seemingly unnecessary "management rooms" in public toilets—places most people rarely noticed—there were actually "dormitories" for sanitation workers.

Of course, these scattered places could only solve a small part of the problem. In Dongyang County's case, there was also a courtyard on the edge of the county town that centrally allocated dormitories for nearly a hundred sanitation workers.

This place was originally a garbage dump, which was cleared out as the city expanded. Two-story low buildings surrounded it on all sides, and in the center was a courtyard that was neither large nor small. From a distance, it looked like a prison, and because of its remote location, Zhai Da hadn't been here in either of his two lifetimes.

Fan Junwei led Zhai Da into the low building. The living density here was very high. Each room was only about ten square meters, with no balcony, no kitchen, and no toilet. Basically, it was just enough to put some miscellaneous items and two beds.

Since it was close to mealtime, many people were setting up small stoves at their doors to cook. Coupled with the miscellaneous items occupying the open corridors, it was a struggle just for a person to pass through.

Fan Junwei and his grandma's "home" was on the first floor. The old grandma Zhai Da had seen once was hunched over, cooking.

"Grandma, I brought a classmate back."

Fan Junwei’s grandma, whose name was Wu Guizhen, raised her wrinkled face. Her enthusiasm also carried a hint of surprise: "Oh, classmate of Xiaowei~ Welcome, welcome."

Zhai Da looked at the large pot of milky white liquid on the small stove and said with a smile: "Hello, Grandma. Cooking milk?"

Grandma was stunned and laughed: "This isn't... milk, this is white flour paste."

Zhai Da stared at it for a while; he really hadn't seen it before...

Wu Guizhen wasn't a bitter person. This old grandma was actually very resilient. Seeing Zhai Da, she immediately said there was still meat and eggs in the refrigerator and wanted to add them to the pot to keep Zhai Da for a meal.

Fan Junwei handed the packed food to his grandma: "We've already eaten. Zhai Da treated me to a meal at a restaurant, and we packed some up. You eat this first."

His fat finger pointed to the back: "I'll take him to the courtyard to have a look."

"What's there to see in the courtyard~ It's all just garbage..."

"Zhai Da likes garbage."

After briefly greeting the elder, Zhai Da finally got to the point and followed Fan Junwei to the back.

Because it was blocked by the buildings, one wouldn't see the scene inside even if passing by. Zhai Da walked through the winding corridors and finally arrived at the so-called...

Maybe it didn't count as garbage, but it was definitely waste—a courtyard where sanitation workers had collected and piled things up over the years.

Countless miscellaneous items were piled up like a small hill, probably several meters high: tables, chairs, stools, broken sofas, broken cotton-padded jackets...

Thermos cups, door frames, sponge heads...

Most of them were wood products or materials he didn't recognize, because any metal or plastic items with a bit of weight had already been sold for money.

As soon as he walked into the courtyard, a folded line actually appeared in Zhai Da’s line of sight.

He took one look and rushed forward in three steps, stopping an old man’s act of wasting a treasure.

"Grandpa! Spare it!"

The old man, who had raised his firewood axe, was startled.

"What are you doing?"

Zhai Da snatched a wooden stick from his hand: "Let me play with this for a while, you shouldn't need it, right?"

The old man smacked his lips: "I need to chop firewood!"

No wonder this place had so many things piled up; it turned out many sanitation workers used them as firewood...

"Congratulations to the host for discovering the white special item [Youth's Straight Stick]: No man can refuse such a straight wooden stick."

"Current status: Not owned, not activated."

"Equipment effect 1: When held, slightly increases leadership and persuasiveness toward males; effect doubles for minors."

"Note: In a certain residential area, this short stick was the 'symbol of the king' for the boys and was passed down for several years, until a certain king was beaten by his mother, and the symbol of the king was lost from then on."

The [Youth's Straight Stick] wasn't long, only about thirty centimeters. The tail was about the thickness of a coin, and the tip was only the thickness of a soybean.

But in a child's hand, one could say the length was just right, and it was very comfortable to hold.

The most special thing was that this wooden stick, which looked as straight as if it had been machined, with one end thin and one end thick, was actually naturally formed. It had the grain of an unknown tree on it, and the tail had two small tree knots, forming a bionic "grip."

It could be said that it was precisely because of its natural shape that it was once regarded as the symbol of the "king of children."

"Grandpa, give this to me."

The old man probably thought he was too childish and waved his hand, telling him to go play somewhere else.

Almost at the same time, the system's ownership was updated.

Zhai Da held it and examined it for a moment. His first reaction was...

This thing looks like a magic wand from a movie... Unfortunately, it's just a white piece of equipment; it can't emit green light or cast a killing curse.

Magic wand...

Subconsciously, he took the [Joker Poker] out of his pocket and placed it together with this [Youth's Straight Stick].

Magic... magic wand... can they be combined?

Alright, he must be overthinking it; it just looks like a magic wand...

Suddenly, Zhai Da had a flash of inspiration and took the [Bookworm's Eyeglass Cloth] out of his pocket.

When all three things were in his hands, he heard a brand-new prompt from the system.

"Detected that the host has discovered a [Set] for the first time. Congratulations on activating the [Set] ability."

"[Set]: Composed of a varying number of related pieces of equipment. After the host obtains multiple related pieces of equipment, you can activate the 'Set Effect'."

"The [Set Effect] is 'passive' and takes effect without needing to use or carry the corresponding equipment. It only depends on whether the ownership is complete."

"The same piece of [Equipment] may belong to different [Sets], and the same [Set] may also be composed of different equipment. For more information, please explore it yourself, host."

"Congratulations to the host for activating the green set [Magic Regalia] (3/6)."

"Component enhancement -> [Joker Poker] 'Spotlight': The attention-grabbing effect is now controllable. When you need it, everyone will look at it; when you don't, it will dim."

"Component enhancement -> [Bookworm's Eyeglass Cloth] 'Burst': When the corresponding effect is triggered, the host is immune to the negative effects of adrenaline. Elegance never goes out of style, and a gentleman is always rational."

"Component enhancement -> [Youth's Straight Stick]: The range of leadership and persuasiveness is extended to all genders."

"Set Effect 1: Mr. Magic (Passive): The magic props on you will never reveal their secrets and will never fail, making them appear as magic in the eyes of laymen."

"Set Effect 2: Dexterous Hands (Passive): Your hands seem born for magic, significantly increasing dexterity, precision, and speed."

"Set Effect 3: Center Stage (Passive): You are more likely to receive applause, even if you just wave your hand."