71: There is a shortcut

After negotiating the price with the worker.

Ye Tian led Zhang Liang outside.

When Zhang Liang saw the truckload of egg trays, his mouth fell wide open.

"Brother Tian, are these things for raising Cockroaches?"

"Yeah. What do you think? Better to use than tiles or whatever, right?"

"They should be useful, but there are so many. Are we moving them ourselves?"

"Not 'we', but 'me'. You just watch!"

Ye Tian cracked his knuckles and stretched his arms and neck.

He never intended to have Zhang Liang help with this kind of manual labor.

Besides, this wasn't exactly heavy labor, so hiring people wouldn't be cost-effective. He decided to do it himself.

It was a good chance to test his limits.

With that thought in mind.

Ye Tian directly asked the driver to raise the truck bed.

All the egg trays tumbled down.

Fortunately, when the recycling station bought them, most of the egg trays were already bundled.

Each large bundle weighed about 100 catties.

Ye Tian found two long, sturdy strips of cloth from inside the house to use as straps.

He threaded them through the egg trays, exerted force with both hands, and hoisted them onto his shoulders.

He bounced his body slightly to test the weight; there was no pressure at all.

Zhang Liang, seeing that Ye Tian really didn't plan on letting him work, seemed a bit embarrassed.

He stood by Ye Tian's side, wanting to help push or something.

As it turned out, just pushing the egg trays onto Ye Tian's back nearly cost him his life.

He could only dejectedly find some rope to tie up the loose egg trays, at least giving himself something to do.

With the two of them working together.

It took nearly three hours to carry all two tons of egg trays to the open space in front of the Breeding Farm.

After more than forty trips, even the Cockroach-like Ye Tian was drenched in sweat.

If he took off his shirt, he could literally wring water out of it.

Although Zhang Liang did lighter work, the sheer volume was too much, and he was also panting heavily.

But since Ye Tian didn't complain, what could he say?

Old Man Lu, who had come out midway to watch them busily moving back and forth.

He couldn't help but nod with gratification.

Once Ye Tian and the other were finished, he actually took the unprecedented initiative to cool a pot of tea for them.

Watching them take large gulps, he gave a chuckle.

"Not bad, Little Ye. How did you build such physical fitness? With so many egg trays, I estimated you'd be busy until dark, but I didn't expect you to finish so quickly."

"Old Man, I'm just used to it. Back when I couldn't find part-time jobs, I worked at construction sites for a while and moved building materials with renovation teams. Carrying door panels or ceramic tiles up to the sixth or seventh floor isn't any easier than these egg trays."

Ye Tian smiled slightly as he explained.

What he didn't say, however, was that working like that in the past would have nearly killed him.

But now, with the enhancement of the Money Gu, the same labor was much easier.

"Good. With your drive, it's hard not to succeed. You're very pragmatic too, knowing to use cheap and practical egg trays to start things off. I don't know how much capital you have, but not going all out with a grand setup from the start shows you're someone who truly wants to get things done. Back when this Old Man built this Breeding Farm, it was also full of difficulties. Seeing you two feels like seeing my younger self."

Old Man Lu sighed with emotion.

"Haha, you flatter me, Old Man. I'm just scared of being poor, so I like to be frugal. But speaking of which, your yard is a bit too large. From the front gate to the Breeding Farm, it must be nearly a hundred meters."

"That's because you're stupid. You have a shortcut but won't take it, insisting on using the front gate. Didn't I tell you before? There's another large gate by the warehouse at the back. You can reach the Breeding Farm by going through the warehouse. If you insist on coming through here, what can I do?"

Old Man Lu chuckled.

Ye Tian and Zhang Liang looked at each other, both between laughter and tears; how could they have forgotten that?

Thinking this, the two quickly finished their tea and ran to the warehouse.

They hadn't paid much attention during their previous tour.

Observing it specifically now.

They found that the warehouse gate really was a large gate.

Wide and tall.

If it were truly opened, even a truck like the one from earlier could easily drive in.

However, the two tried for a long time but couldn't actually open it.

There was no other way; the trash piled outside was simply too much, and it emitted a constant foul stench. If this trash wasn't cleared, there was no hope of opening the door.

Helpless.

Ye Tian and Zhang Liang rode their electric scooter in a large circle again, arriving directly at the landfill.

At this sight, the two were completely dumbfounded.

Because the actual situation was much worse than they had anticipated.

The trash in the entire landfill was almost level with the outer wall of the Breeding Farm. It was just a hair's breadth away from spilling over the wall.

The warehouse gate was so submerged that not even a shadow could be seen.

If this could be opened, it would be a miracle.

Looking further.

The sheer quantity of trash was almost endless. In the distance, it was a literal sea of garbage.

The most frustrating part was that in such a sea of trash, there wasn't even a single scavenger.

Because the trash remaining here now consisted of things with almost no value.

Various rotting plastic bags, torn cloth, branches, stones, and foul-smelling, dried-up decayed matter. Just looking at it made one feel a post-apocalyptic despair.

"Ti... Brother Tian, I suspect the Old Man is playing with us."

Although they had seen the landfill from afar before, the two had never personally stood upon it.

Watching this spectacular scene, Zhang Liang's voice even trembled as he spoke.

Ye Tian was also filled with shock.

No wonder rumors said this landfill was like a malignant tumor in Copper City.

Just looking at the range and depth... no, the depth was far from as simple as what was visible.

It was said that this used to be a waste burial site; using the word 'burial', heaven knows how deep it went.

It could be said that almost all the valueless trash from Copper City's development over the past decades was concentrated here.

Wanting to clean up such a place was no different from a pipe dream.

Looking at the buried gate, Ye Tian was also at a loss for a moment.

After thinking for a long time.

His eyes flickered slightly.

He seemed to sense something.

He crouched down and began to observe.

In his sight, within the trash heap beneath his feet, there seemed to be many signs of biological activity.

A world loathed by humans had become a perfect world for these creatures.

"Brother Tian, what are you looking at?"

Seeing Ye Tian crouching silently.

Zhang Liang also leaned over, looking puzzled.

Ye Tian didn't answer, but instead found a stick and started digging into the ground beneath his feet.

Before long.

Various bits of trash were pulled and flipped out.

As the trash was turned over, small insects began to scatter and flee.

Cockroaches, ants, crickets, Centipedes, and some that were commonly seen but couldn't be named. In any case, there was a wide variety.

However, what surprised Ye Tian the most was the massive number of Earthworms.