Fang Chenyi's words nearly made the young man on the other end of the line choke with frustration.
'What the hell? If you're not renting them out, why did you ask me which one I liked? Was it just to judge my taste?'
For a moment, the Mercedes driver at the villa gate was left utterly bewildered.
Meanwhile, Fang Chenyi waited for a moment, steering his Lamborghini with one hand. Hearing no response, he pretended to mutter in exasperation:
"Damn, did he hang up? Man, you should've let me finish. Money's the one thing I don't lack, so I'd never rent out a villa just for profit. But you seemed decent enough. I could've just lent you a place to stay..."
The Mercedes driver, hearing Fang Chenyi's muttering through the receiver, felt his face darken. So it wasn't about judging his taste after all. The rich bastard never planned on renting it to him—he was going to lend it. 'Holy crap, has poverty limited my imagination? I just don't understand the world of the super-rich...'
Snapping back to his senses, the Mercedes driver quickly spoke up, pretending the signal was bad. "Hello? Hello? Hello? Can you hear me? My reception is a bit spotty. Can you hear me?"
A voice came through the car's Bluetooth speakers, and a mischievous grin spread across Fang Chenyi's face. 'This guy sure knows how to save face,' he thought. 'A bad signal? If the reception is so bad, how could he possibly hear me so clearly?'
Of course, Fang Chenyi wouldn't call him out on it. He truly had no intention of renting out the villas. But just as he'd "muttered," if he took a liking to the guy, lending one out wasn't out of the question since they were just sitting empty. The only condition was that he had to know why the man needed a villa. After all, he was pretty sure he had just seen a white Mercedes E-Class car.
'Someone who can afford to drive a Mercedes shouldn't be short on the money to buy their own place, right?'
"Heh, maybe the signal really is bad," Fang Chenyi said, playing along. "How about this? Take a look at the other villas—aside from the first one—and see which one you like. I'll be back in about half an hour, and we can talk then."
"Great, great! I'll wait for your return."
Hearing the man's eager agreement, Fang Chenyi smiled, shook his head, and then ended the call.
He ended the call just as he pulled up to the entrance of the residential complex where he rented a place.
The complex was so old and the laneways so narrow—not to mention cluttered with junk between the buildings—that it was impossible to drive the car inside.
With no other choice, he parked the Lamborghini right in the spot where it had miraculously appeared the previous night. He got out, grabbed his precious woven bag and trash picker, and headed into the complex.
As expected of an old residential complex. He'd barely taken two steps before he spotted a plastic water bottle on the ground. A thrill of delight went through him. 'Even if one bottle is only a hundred-yuan reward, every little bit helps.'
With that in mind, he instinctively reached for the bottle, woven bag in one hand and picker in the other.
However, just as Fang Chenyi's picker was about to touch the bottle, another, nearly identical picker reached for it from the other side.
Upon seeing two pickers going for the same prize, the other one immediately pulled back.
Fang Chenyi retracted his picker as well and looked up to see a wrinkled old face. He recognized the man. The old gentleman's surname was apparently Gang—a rather unusual name—and everyone called him Old Gang. Chenyi had often seen the man, who must have been in his seventies or eighties, collecting scrap in the complex. Whenever residents had cardboard boxes or bottles, they would usually save them for him.
Unlike Fang Chenyi, Old Gang collected trash to survive. He was old, lived a lonely life, and needed the money to get by. But his personality was as unyielding as his name suggested—"Gang" meaning stubborn. You could give him recyclables, but he would refuse to take your money, no matter what you said.
Looking at the old man's stooped back, Fang Chenyi felt a complicated emotion stir within him. 'Sigh... Everyone says the elderly should be cared for and supported, but when people actually reach old age, how many of them can truly enjoy the bliss of being surrounded by family?'
'I used to barely be able to support myself, so I was powerless to help. Now that I have the ability, I should do something for those who are truly suffering.'
"Heh heh, you get it, young man. Go on, you get it."
While Fang Chenyi was staring at the old man's stooped figure, lost in thought about what he could do for people like him, Old Gang broke into a kindly smile, his wide grin revealing several missing teeth. He even pointed at the water bottle on the ground, gesturing for Fang Chenyi to take it.
Clearly, the old man had mistaken Fang Chenyi for a fellow scrap collector.
Yet those simple words tugged at Fang Chenyi's heartstrings. Swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat, he managed a smile. "Okay, then. I'll take this one, sir."
As he spoke, Fang Chenyi stepped forward, picked up the water bottle, and tossed it into his woven bag.
[Host has collected one plastic bottle. System reward: 100 yuan. The reward has been transferred to the Host's bank account. Please check for confirmation.]
[Reward distribution failed. Due to the Host's two prior instances of cheating, the current reward has been automatically canceled. Two-warning penalty complete. Host is advised to learn their lesson!]
Seeing the young man pick up the bottle, Old Gang smiled and began to turn away to look for scrap elsewhere. But before he could leave, Fang Chenyi quickly stopped him.
"Excuse me, sir! Wait a moment, please."
Hearing Fang Chenyi call out, the old man turned back around, looking puzzled. "What's wrong, young man?"
Fang Chenyi took a step forward, flashing the old man a grin of pearly white teeth. "Sir, you're the one who collects all the scrap in this area, right?"
Old Gang nodded. "That's right. The residents are good to me and let me have all the scrap in this complex. Why do you ask, young man? Are you thinking of collecting here too? It's no problem. You just do your thing. Don't you worry about an old man like me."
Hearing the old man's kind words, Fang Chenyi felt his eyes redden, but he quickly fought back the emotion. He put on a smile and waved his hands dismissively. "No, no, sir, you've got it all wrong. I'm not here to collect scrap. I want to buy your scrap from you. At your age, it can't be easy running back and forth to the recycling depot. How about you just sell it all to me?"
[BEEP. System Warning: Purchasing scrap is considered a cheating behavior! If the Host proceeds, the system will continue to enforce the penalty of reward confiscation!]
"Don't worry, sir. Whatever price the depot gives you, I'll give you the same!"
Even though the system's warning echoed in his mind, Fang Chenyi ignored it completely this time.
[To be continued...]