Chapter 59: [Equipment] A Bountiful Harvest!

Early the next morning, which happened to be a precious Sunday, Zhai Da was brushing his teeth in the bathroom with a sleepy look in his eyes.

Lu Wei walked over holding her mug, and Zhai Da took it from her hand, placing it on the sink. "From now on, just keep it right here next to mine. Every morning when I see you carrying it in, I get this false sense that we're living in a dormitory."

He effortlessly squeezed some toothpaste onto Lu Wei's brush and held it near her mouth.

Lu Wei poked her small lips forward and bit down on it.

Side by side in front of the mirror, the two began brushing their teeth together, somehow falling into sync once again.

Suddenly recalling the secret signal they had agreed upon yesterday, Zhai Da switched to brushing with his left hand and held out his right hand to Lu Wei.

With the toothbrush still between her teeth, Lu Wei also extended a pale, slender hand.

Palm to palm, back of the hand to back of the hand, tapping up and down, then down and up.

The routine went smoothly, lifting their spirits.

It was definitely not because getting up early meant getting to touch a little hand.

Suddenly catching sight of the scale beneath the sink, Zhai Da nudged it out with his foot and said to Lu Wei, "Get on the scale. Let's see how much you weigh."

Lu Wei obediently stepped onto it. The numbers on the scale were tiny and wavering, so Zhai Da simply squatted down to get a clear look.

Her jade-like toes momentarily distracted his attention, but he was soon shocked by the reading on the scale.

"Forty-three kilograms... That can't be right! And you're still wearing a full outfit!"

Zhai Da was practically speechless...

By his standards, this weight was indistinguishable from practicing immortal cultivation.

Zhai Da shook his head. "You've been living with me for half a month and you're still this skinny. If word gets out, people will think my mom and I are abusing you!"

"Starting today, you're having three steamed buns for breakfast, the cafeteria must give you two meat dishes for lunch, and for dinner at home, you're going to feast on the fattest cuts of meat!"

Lu Wei hesitated slightly. "I can't eat that much..."

"It's an order. You need to gain at least up to a B! I mean, up to fifty kilograms!"

Both of them had slept in today, and Yu Xiaoli had already gone out to chat with her old lady friends. However, Zhai Da and Lu Wei had plans of their own. They had a breakfast of hot steamed buns at a downstairs shop, with Zhai Da watching closely as Lu Wei finished all three.

Then they hopped onto the "Permanent 28" bicycle—nominally his, though he rarely had the chance to ride it.

Today, Lu Wei was unusually wearing a plain long skirt. To prevent it from getting caught in the bicycle spokes, she slightly upturned her toes, their rhythmic rise and fall seemingly tracing the path of the wind.

First, they headed to the Hongqi Department Store to buy a replacement phone battery for Lu Wei. Since her daily routine consisted of just two locations, and Zhai Da—the only person she needed to contact—had become her roommate, the minor issue had remained unresolved until now.

An original Nokia battery cost 280 yuan, with no guarantee that it was genuinely authentic. Zhai Da decisively chose a domestic brand for 30 yuan.

Even if it blew up from overcharging, it wouldn't hurt, and the next one would only be more obedient.

Lu Wei insisted on paying for it herself, using the one thousand yuan he had previously given her. She usually lived as frugally as a little Pixiu wealth beast, and the rare times she spent extra money were entirely on Zhai Da and Yu Xiaoli.

She was using her own way to turn her gratitude into a gentle stream, filling every unnoticed corner.

After replacing the battery, Zhai Da took a stroll through the "Antique Street" behind the Hongqi Department Store. Unfortunately, there was no harvest; the original owner of the Old Man Television was watching Slam Dunk on a new TV, their interests as unchanging as ever.

And so was their life.

With the errands finished, Zhai Da loaded Lu Wei onto the bike and headed toward Sunmazhuang.

The further they rode, the heavier Lu Wei's mood became, causing her to grip Zhai Da's lower belly even tighter.

Zhai Da looked down.

Now that he had more free time, perhaps he should consider working out... Lu Wei deserved to sit on a bicycle holding onto a six-pack—no, an eight-pack of abs.

There was also the unsealing task for the Nerd's Glasses Cloth: fairly defeating ten people or being fairly defeated by ten people... How difficult... Though he hated to admit it, the latter seemed somewhat easier to accomplish.

If he got the chance, he could check if there was a gym nearby offering boxing lessons...

The bicycle rolled forward all the way, crossing the national highway where trucks rumbled by, and finally arrived at Sunmazhuang.

Beneath that strange residential building, two men were smoking.

Zhai Da parked the bike and waved. "Executive Wang, thank you for making the trip."

Wang Guofeng, an enforcement officer from the bureau, was part of the team that had raided the place last time.

Times had changed, however. The man nodded and said, "It's nothing. Let's go up."

Ever since acquiring Lu Wei's Mathematical Notes and learning that she had more, Zhai Da had set his sights on the items left inside this house.

However, the place had already been sealed and the locks changed, so Zhai Da chose to go through official channels.

Sometimes resorting to underhanded methods was simply due to a skewed understanding of the rules, and it wasn't necessary.

He had contacted Wang Guofeng using the business card he received that day, stating directly that Lu Wei was preparing for the college entrance examination and needed to retrieve some study materials from her home—though he hadn't actually persuaded Lu Wei at that moment.

Wang Guofeng had no reason to refuse; the banner of the college entrance exam was too powerful to ignore. He immediately applied for a "retrieval of non-enforcement items," and today was the execution of that request.

In front of apartment 202, Lu Wei looked with mixed emotions at the dilapidated iron door. The white official seal across it was painfully glaring, seeming to symbolize the complete end of a home.

Zhai Da turned to look at Wang Guofeng, who stepped forward and tore off the seal—a new one would be pasted on later—before accepting a new set of keys from his colleague to unlock the door.

It revealed an interior as chaotic as an abandoned construction site.

Garbage, debris, muddy footprints, cigarette butts... Evidently, the movers from that day had not bothered with cleanliness.

Zhai Da looked at Lu Wei, but unfortunately, her face still lacked expression. In all the time he had known her, the closest Lu Wei had ever come to overflowing emotion was that day in the shadows of this very building.

Wang Guofeng said, "Go ahead and look. I'll need to log every item you take, and I have to watch the entire process of searching through things. Any objections?"

Every step was strictly legal and compliant.

Lu Wei walked into the innermost room while Zhai Da followed behind, glancing left and right.

It was a two-bedroom apartment with no living room, a hallway connecting the two chambers. Aside from the bedrooms, there was only a kitchen. The total area probably didn't exceed thirty-five square meters, truly bearing the style of a factory dormitory.

The television, the refrigerator, and any furniture of potential value were all gone. What remained in the greatest quantity was simply "trash."

Plastic bags, bowls, chopsticks, towels.

Perhaps they hadn't originally been trash, but rather the evidence of a life lived, but once ruthlessly cast upon the floor, they could only be classified as garbage.

Lu Wei's bedroom was extremely simple as well. Judging by the marks on the floor, there had once been only a bed and a desk, both of which were now gone. A large pile of books had been casually tossed onto the floor, and Lu Wei squatted down to sort through them.

With just a single glance, two glowing lines appeared within Zhai Da's field of vision.

"Congratulations to the host for discovering the special white-tier item: [Lu Wei's Mathematical Notes (Part 2)]."

"Congratulations to the host for discovering the special white-tier item: [Lu Wei's Mathematical Notes (Part 3)]."

"Current status: Unacquired, unsealed."

"Equipment Effect 1: Carrying them slightly increases mathematical comprehension, with a double bonus when studying the notes' contents."

"Equipment Effect 2: Focusing on the notes themselves carries a very slight chance of [temporarily] resonating with the owner's talent to gain an enhancement (ineffective for the owner)."

"Remarks: Only when created with meticulous care by someone 'with talent' can their notes qualify to become a 'special item'."

Moving faster than Lu Wei, Zhai Da picked out these two items from the pile of books.

The other notes, however, were ordinary items, including the "physics notes" and "chemistry notes" Lu Wei had previously mentioned.

It seemed that the girl's talent was primarily concentrated in mathematics. Of course, that wasn't to say her other subjects were poor—they were still at a level that could easily compete among thousands of students, just not quite sufficient for system certification.

Since Lu Wei was preparing for the college entrance examination, she also picked out a few study guides, intending to take them all along.

Having retrieved what needed to be taken, Zhai Da didn't want Lu Wei to stay here too long, as it would only breed needless sorrow.

Wang Guofeng began logging the items, while Zhai Da wandered through the various rooms.

He tried to find a photograph of Lu Wei's mother, but came up empty-handed... Perhaps even before this home had shattered, there had never been any photographs hanging on the walls...

Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he fished a keychain out from a pile of debris.

Strictly speaking, it was a key pendant, and the figure on it was very familiar to him.

A panda named "Panpan."

The panda holding a gold medal, made of metallic enamel, was already starting to fade in color.

"Congratulations to the host for discovering the special white-tier item: [Asian Games Keychain]: In 1990, a couple accompanied by their yet-unborn child watched an Asian Games competition together, both of them filled with longing for the future."

"Ownership status: Unowned, unactivated."

"Equipment Effect: Increases physical stamina by 10% when worn, and slightly increases dopamine."

"Remarks: For many years thereafter, the exhausted owner would take out this keychain late at night to gaze upon it alone, trying to extract even the faintest shred of fond memory."

It was a special item entwined with intense emotion, yet only its owner would know—perhaps even excluding Lu Wei—the significance of its existence.

Zhai Da said to Wang Guofeng, "This thing isn't worth anything. Can we take it with us?"

Wang Guofeng had no objections; it was just an old, fading keychain, so it hardly mattered.