Chapter 4: Lots of Equipment, Little Equipment
Zhai Da's home is in an old factory complex called "Wool Spinning Complex 3"
Dongyang County is in the bulk province, but it is the northernmost part. In comparison, it is a typical case of being absolutely underdeveloped within the province and relatively underdeveloped in the country.
It ranks first among the poorest counties in the province.
The earliest Sanyi Woolen Mill was one of the few industrial enterprises in Dongyang County. It mainly engaged in wool spinning, which was used for both military and civilian purposes. It made large jackets for the troops in the summer and short-sleeved shorts in the winter.
In that era, almost every place had its own woolen mill, which was the most primitive light industry.
It was once prosperous. As a state-owned factory, building houses for employees was a routine operation. Dongyang County has four or five such villages, from "Wool Spinning X Community" to "Wool Spinning New Village".
Therefore, the locals are accustomed to using Damao and Ermao to refer to each community, so his home is in Sanmao.
Of course, things are different now. This factory has been half-dead for more than ten years.
As for this house, it was allocated to me when my grandfather was alive. It is said to be related to the professional title I had been awarded. It is larger than the houses allocated to ordinary employees. It has two bedrooms, a living room and a storage room, and is over 60 square meters without any public areas.
He is a single parent. His father died before he could remember, leaving behind only a vague impression of him and some relatives with whom he had uneasy relations.
So it’s more than enough for my mother and I to live in, it’s still quite spacious.
Zhai Da followed his mother upstairs. He seemed calm, but in fact he was looking around. He had not been back to this place for a long time.
After my mother passed away in my previous life, this house was not sold and remained vacant for several years. When I got over the hurdle in my heart, I rented it out.
I only came back once in a few years because the tenant was caught by Uncle Hat because he was doing business inside.
What bad luck!
This building was originally built by the factory, and the concept was quite unique. It has four floors in total, and all the doors face in the same direction in a long corridor, just like the factory dormitory.
Zhai Da's house is at the innermost part, and one has to pass by seven or eight doors along the way.
I know every household well. It's dinner time now, and the doors are all open for smoke exhaust. I have to chat with everyone as I pass by.
"Xiao Li, are you going to cook? Xiao Da is in for another treat~"
"Aunt Liu is right, my mother's cooking skills are amazing~"
"Xiao Da, you're out of school so early today? Your mom caught you in the internet cafe, right?"
"Uncle Wang, your legs are still there! So healthy!"
Uncle Wang:?
In fact, Zhai Da couldn't call out the full names of most of his neighbors, only their surnames, but the neighborhood relationship was closer than that in big cities. Not to mention helping each other, it was also lively when he went home to a few familiar faces.
In case a tenant secretly runs a buffet, neighbors can help report it!
When he reached the house at the back, Zhai Da was stunned because there was a girl standing at his door.
His hair is very long, tied into the simplest ponytail, his skin is white with a slightly bluish tint, his facial features are three-dimensional, and he has a pair of big eyes, but the tails of his eyes are relatively long, which gives people a feeling of being aloof and not easy to mess with. In fact, if you look at him carefully, you can find that he is just "expressionless".
The long eyelashes were dyed warmer and more delicate by the light. The shallow lip line did not have much blood color and almost blended with the pale skin color, making the girl look extra...clean.
He couldn't find a more appropriate adjective.
The most critical
What's surprising is that this girl, Zhai Da, actually looks familiar...
However, he only remembered a pair of legs of Lin Shuyao who wrote the love letter. As for this girl who was at least two levels prettier than Lin Shuyao...he really couldn't remember who she was.
The girl was leaning against the wall, reading a book in her hand. Sunlight was pouring in from the corridor window. On the spine of the book was written "Mathematical Olympiad Series".
Holding such a book in a small county town or an old community reminds Zhai Da of the young people who sat in coffee shops in big cities holding a copy of "To Live" or "The Moon and Sixpence".
Of course, Mathematical Olympiad is definitely more advanced, and most people wouldn't think of going in this direction...
Seeing Yu Xiaoli, the girl took the initiative to say, "Teacher Yu, you left in a hurry this afternoon, and it seems that the paper pattern is not finished. Manager Liu said that he would need it tomorrow, so he asked me to bring it to you."
Yu Xiaoli took a plastic bag with a smile. The so-called "paper pattern" is a sample of clothing drawn on paper, with rules for cutting and sewing set to achieve the goal of standardized production.
She heard in the afternoon that her son had fainted and was in the hospital, so she had no time to work. The meaning of Manager Liu sending someone to her was obvious, as he wanted her to work overtime at home.
The girl presented the gift and bowed slightly politely, but when she looked up, her gaze paused for a moment on Zhai Da's face.
Zhai Da also exchanged glances with the clean girl.
Calling my mother "teacher"? Judging from her age and speaking habits, she sounds like a student. But she is actually a factory girl?
Are the factory girls so well-equipped these days? No wonder Ms. Yu keeps trying to get me hired.
After Lu Wei left, Zhai Da asked curiously:
"Mom, who is that person?"
"He's new in the factory, just arrived not long ago, and is considered my apprentice. This kid keeps calling me teacher, and it makes me feel embarrassed."
Having said that, Ms. Yu still likes to hear it, it's better than being called "Auntie Yu"...
Zhai Da had no memory of this happening in his previous life, but it made sense. He had never fainted in the examination room in his previous life, so naturally, he had not had to send the "paper sample" like he did now.
But why do I still feel that the girl is familiar?
Are you greedy again?
After returning home, Yu Xiaoli went straight into the kitchen, while Zhai Da stood at the door, taking his time to change his shoes, but in fact he was constantly looking at his "former home".
Although it was an ordinary, old and dilapidated house with outdated decoration, Zhai Da's smile was harder to suppress than AK's.
Even the inexplicable "smell" accumulated in the air due to the old decoration is so sweet~
When I returned to my room, the feeling of being slapped in the face by youth became even more obvious.
A pirate poster, Mr. Zhou's album CD, a desk lamp that claims to protect the eyes, a tutorial book on the desk, a copy of Men's Health under the mattress...
This room was once everything to a young boy.
Returning to 2008, every object can turn him into a human-machine and make him fall into memories.
For example, the One Piece poster is given as a gift when you buy "Anime Frontier". There are a lot of free gifts every time. I don't know how the magazine makes money.
For example, Mr. Zhou’s CD was bought at a music store in front of the school. The owner guaranteed that it was genuine and sold it for 18.8. But when Zhai Da took it home and listened to it, he found that it contained the song “Lonely Sandbar is Cold”.
If you play a CD without announcement, it will start singing from frame 0.
The name printed on the CD was Xiao Zhou, so he always thought it was Xiao Zhou. But after listening for a month, he found out it was Lao Zhou.
I won’t talk about “Men’s Health”, it’s sometimes necessary when you want to pretend to be a man.
Well...occasionally...
However, Zhai Da didn't have time to feel so much for the time being, he had more important things to do.
That means rummaging through boxes and cabinets to see if there are more [equipment].
He searched almost everything in his room, and while Yu Xiaoli was cooking, he searched many places outside until his nostrils were full of dust.
Even in an old box, a few boxes of old "Angong Niuhuang Pills" were found!
I thought to myself: Oh my god, I have the start-up capital!
Looking closely, it was "Burdock Pills for Pregnancy Protection".
After a lot of trouble, Zhai Da finally found out to his disappointment that there didn't seem to be any special items in his house that could be converted into [Equipment]...
In other words, if you don't count the [Joker's Love Letter] that was forcibly converted by the system, they only have one "28 Big Bar" that can be considered a special item.
Everything else, even some of Yu Xiaoli's precious gold jewelry and her own miscellaneous items that were tinged with youthful flavor, were ordinary objects and were not recognized by the system.
"That makes sense, otherwise the system's definition would be too loose... It's impossible for the streets to be filled with special items..."
"Strong emotions, obsessions, and feelings can linger on objects...so old objects are more likely to be involved, while new objects are generally less likely...Think about it another way, objects with stories? Do antiques count?"
"Looking at the world as a whole, there are countless special items that can be transformed into [Equipment]. There may be hundreds of them in this small Dongyang County. However, starting from myself, the ones I can discover and possess are still relatively rare."
Currently, there are two white [Equipment]. The [Joker's Love Letter] is of little use, I just carry it for fun, and the [Permanent 28-inch Bar] is for my mother to ride, so that she can go to and from get off work at the factory safely.
To round it off, it’s equivalent to not even using this cheat yet!
A sense of humor can't make a living.
"Xiao Da~ get ready to eat!"
“Here I come!”
Zhai Da used the last bit of his time to take out a piece of draft paper and write a few lines on it.
"One: More exploration systems."
"Second: Save my grades and try to get into college. I can't have a romantic relationship, but I can pay it back in installments later."
"Three: I don't want to be so tired in this life anymore. The worst that can happen is I can just wait and buy that lottery ticket again. I'll make money if I can, but I have to have some. Lying down requires money. Lying down without money is like waiting to die."
"Four: Spend time with Mom, listen to her, avoid making her angry, and find an opportunity to take her to a big city for a checkup."
"Xiao Da~ hurry up~"
Zhai Da stood up and prepared to enjoy the dinner with his mother that he had been longing for for ten years.
Just as he was about to open the door, Zhai Da withdrew his hand.
He turned around and added a sentence on the paper.
“Five: Become a better version of yourself… Chase the sun and the moon, and don’t forget the mountains and rivers.”
Then, looking at the small round mirror on the desk, the young and immature self raised his eyebrows.
He turned around and grasped the old brass handle that had the plating worn off.
Twist gently.
Open the door and enjoy a new life.
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