The old man who called out to Yuan Zhou looked to be in his seventies. He had a lot of wrinkles on his face, but even so, Yuan Zhou could tell that the old man didn't look well. Even the voice that called out to Yuan Zhou just now sounded a little weak.
Moreover, it was obvious that the old man had a hunchback.
The old man's name was Liu Zhonggui. He was really seventy-four years old this year. He was a homeless man in the neighborhood.
To put it nicely, he was a nearby scavenger, but to put it bluntly, he was a garbage picker.
However, there was still a big difference between the old man and the other garbage pickers. First, the old man was older than the other garbage pickers, and his body felt worse.
Second, compared to the other garbage pickers, although the old man's hands, shoes, and trousers were still very dirty, other than that, the rest of his body was only tattered but clean.
Third, which was also the most important point, the old man only looked for food and necessities at the garbage station at night, almost after the sky had turned dark.
"Old man, what can I do for you?" Yuan Zhou stopped and then asked politely.
"You are the Boss Yuan of The Kitchen God, right?" The old man lowered his posture and said in a gentle voice.
"I don't deserve to be called by you," Yuan Zhou nodded to admit his identity and then said gently, "Just call me Yuan."
Although the current Yuan Zhou wasn't someone that everyone in the province could recognize on the street, in this area of Taoxi Road, there really weren't many people who didn't know Yuan Zhou, even if it was the old man who was a garbage picker.
"Boss Yuan, it's like this. I know that Boss Yuan is a kind-hearted person who puts a meal in the garbage bin every night," the old man said while rubbing his dirty hands in embarrassment.
"But I know that Boss Yuan doesn't have take-out, so Boss Yuan, you really don't need to specially send these things to me to eat. It's very wasteful," the old man looked at Yuan Zhou's expression and then continued to say embarrassedly.
Ever since Yuan Zhou started doing that a few days ago, the old man and his wife had been able to eat warm and full meals.
It was fine if it happened once or twice, but if it happened every night, and it was wrapped up nicely in a lunchbox, then it wasn't a coincidence. So, the old man purposely came earlier today to see who put it there. This time, he finally saw who it was.
"Sir, you're thinking too much. First of all, I'm running a restaurant to sell food. Second, I have to ensure the freshness of the ingredients every day. Therefore, those that can't be sold out naturally have to be thrown away." Yuan Zhou declared with a serious expression.
Yuan Zhou wasn't lying. The ingredients provided by the system were definitely fresh, and the leftover ingredients were always recycled.
However, it was the truth to ensure freshness, so Yuan Zhou continued to speak in a serious manner, "Sir, since you know me, you must know that I'm stingy … Oh no, I mean diligent and thrifty."
This time, the old man nodded seriously.
"Moreover, with the price of a dish in my restaurant, old man, do you really think that I would throw a dish into the trash?" Yuan Zhou asked with a serious expression.
The old man thought about it and shook his head. Indeed, according to what he knew of Yuan Zhou's personality, he wouldn't be so wasteful. However, the old man felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Then why are there takeout boxes …" The old man thought about it again.
"Oh, sir, it's like this. Actually, geniuses all have their own quirks." While explaining, Yuan Zhou didn't forget to boast. He straightened his collar and continued, "I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but I'm also a genius. So, my quirk is that I like to use takeout boxes to store the leftovers properly before I throw them here."
What a good reason, so good that the old man couldn't refute it.
When Yuan Zhou saw that the old man was about to say something, he added, "Before this, everything was sold, and there's nothing left. I wonder if there will be anything left in the future."
He forgot to mention that Yuan Zhou's actions were hidden from Wuhai. Otherwise, the old man wouldn't have had anything to do with it. Even if Wuhai knew the reason, he would probably buy some leftovers in exchange for Yuan Zhou's fried rice and let the old man eat something else.
Yuan Zhou didn't want to hear the old man's story or why he was in such dire straits, so he directly left after explaining.
The old man looked at Boss Yuan until his figure disappeared at the end of the street. Then, the old man bent down and picked up the cloth bag that Yuan Zhou had thrown into the trash can. He carefully placed it into the small gray bag on his back.
He rummaged through the trash can and collected all the plastic bottles and cardboard cases. However, as money became more and more scarce, the plastic bottles became less and less valuable.
About half an hour later, the old man left the garbage disposal station. Speaking of his actions just now, it showed the fourth difference between him and other scavengers.
When the old man rummaged through the trash, he would never flip the trash in the blue trash can to the ground. In fact, he would even pick up the trash that fell on the ground and tidy it up.
The old man's residence was a bit far from Taoxi Road. It was about a 40-minute walk. There used to be a factory there, but after the factory moved away, the place was not torn down.
At first, there was a guard guarding the place, but later, perhaps because it was too troublesome, and they had to pay the guard every month, there was no one guarding the place.
The old man and his sick wife lived there temporarily. Of course, other than the two old men, there were two other homeless people.
As for why the old man spent most of his time on Taoxi Road, it was because there were tall buildings and plazas nearby. There was no garbage disposal station.
On the way, the old man bought two white steamed buns and slowly walked back to the factory. The old man and his wife chose the old office. It faced south and had good sunlight. Because his wife could not move on her own, she liked to bask in the sun, so the old man tried his best to satisfy her wish.
After walking into the room, everything in this abandoned factory had been moved away, so the first thing that came into view was a simple mattress on the floor.
Although it was called a mattress on the floor, strictly speaking, it was not really a mattress. It was just a place to sleep. First, some hay was used as a cushion at the bottom, then three layers of cardboard. On the surface, there was some cotton wool and a layer of faded bedsheet. The quilt was quite thick, and although there were traces of cigarette butts on it, it was very clean.
The room was very clean, and there were a few flowers on the windowsill. Because the old man's wife liked flowers, the old man would occasionally bring back a few bouquets. With one look, it was obvious that the flowers were abandoned by the florist because they looked bad.
"Wife, I'm back. I saw the person who brought us food today." The old man put down the cardboard and plastic on his back and carefully put down his bag. He smiled at his wife who was lying on the bed.
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