I work as a security guard at a cemetery, and I overhear the dead chatting about getting rich quick.

The inside of the scrap yard is even more chaotic than it looks from the outside.

Old newspapers were piled up like a small mountain.

Cardboard boxes were pressed against each other.

Children's workbooks, flyers, expired magazines, and express delivery boxes were all crammed together, emitting a smell of damp paper, dust, and old ink mixed together.

Lin Ye sneezed as soon as he entered.

Old Qin shouted from the doorway, "Don't go through the appliances, some of them haven't been taken apart yet."

Lin Ye quickly agreed.

"Okay, I'll just flip through the papers."

Old Qin, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, squatted back down by the door and continued stomping on the cardboard

He stomped his feet rhythmically.

Click, click.

Lin Ye stood in front of the pile of papers and took a deep breath.

Then I immediately regretted it.

One breath and it's all ash.

He coughed twice, then bent down and began to turn over.

The pile of old books was more difficult to navigate than he had imagined.

Many books were deformed by the cardboard boxes, with the corners curled up, and a layer of dust would come off with every shake.

He opened the first stack, which was full of elementary school math workbooks.

The second stack is expired newspapers.

The third stack was supermarket flyers, with special offers on eggs printed on the cover.

The fourth stack is... hehe.

Lin Ye smiled knowingly and continued searching.

After rummaging through the dust for more than ten minutes, his hands were covered in ash.

My cuffs were stained black, and the tip of my nose was terribly itchy.

As he flipped through the pages, he repeatedly recited the keywords in his mind.

Old workbook.

Collect stamps as souvenirs.

Hardcover booklet.

Monkey stamp.

These words no longer seem like clues to him; they're more like incantations.

It's just that most people chant incantations for peace and safety.

He chanted incantations to pray for wealth.

Old Qin, who was standing at the door, turned around and glanced at him.

"Young man, what graduation materials are you looking for that require such detailed searching?"

Lin Ye paused.

We must not give ourselves away.

He casually picked up an old workbook, dusted it off, and tried to sound natural.

"I have an internship certificate and a few ID photos tucked in an old photo album. It would be quite a hassle to replace them."

Old Qin nodded.

"Just graduated?"

"Um."

"Have you found a job yet?"

Lin Ye remained silent for a second.

This is a really painful question.

He was telling the truth.

"Found it."

Old Qin looked at him, who was covered in dust, and his expression showed a hint of suspicion.

"What kind of job?"

"security guard."

"Where are you from?"

Lin Ye looked up at him.

"Qingshan Cemetery".

Old Qin paused for a moment, holding his cigarette between his fingers.

Then, he took a good look at Lin Ye.

That look in his eyes was very complicated.

It was like an adult suddenly realizing that the young man in front of him no longer needed to preach any life lessons.

Life has already explained it all to him.

Old Qin coughed.

"That place is quite quiet."

Lin Ye nodded.

"It's quite peaceful."

Old Qin probably felt that this topic was not suitable to continue, so he turned around and stepped on the cardboard box again.

Lin Ye breathed a sigh of relief and continued flipping through the pages.

He flipped through several collections of essays.

One of the books has a cover that reads "A Selection of Perfect Score Essays".

Looking at those words, Lin Ye suddenly remembered that he had also written about "youth and dreams" in his college entrance examination essay.

It was written with great passion back then.

Youth is now rummaging through scraps of paper, dreams are searching for monkey stamps.

Time passed little by little.

Lin Ye flipped through the pages from morning until noon. Lao Qin went out to deliver some goods in the middle of the day and then came back.

When I returned, I saw Lin Ye still squatting in the pile of papers, and I was stunned for a moment.

"Still haven't found it?"

Lin Ye looked up, his face covered in dust, as if he had just rolled around in a coal pile.

"not yet."

Old Qin's gaze towards him changed from suspicion to sympathy.

"Your materials are quite important."

"important."

Very important.

It's so important that it affects whether he can add ham to his instant noodles in the future.

Old Qin placed a bottle of mineral water aside.

"Have a sip."

Lin Ye was a little surprised.

"How much?"

Old Qin glanced at him.

"You think I'd charge you for a bottle of water? Do you think this is a tourist attraction?"

Lin Ye took the water and said thank you.

The water was at room temperature, but drinking it made him feel a little more awake.

He looked at the pile of papers in front of him and suddenly realized that flipping through them like this wasn't a solution.

There are too many old books at the recycling center.

He needs to narrow down the scope.

Old Li said last night that the booklet was under an old exercise book, and it was taken downstairs along with the old newspapers.

This suggests that the batch of items most likely came from the same company.

There are old student exercise books, old newspapers, and a stamp album that an old man had hidden away.

Lin Ye couldn't help but ask Old Qin, "Uncle, why haven't you packed up and taken away your old books yet?"

Old Qin squatted by the door and casually said, "Used books are cheap lately, so I'm too lazy to go out. I'll wait until I have a whole cartload before I go out, so I don't have to run around."

Lin Ye's heart skipped a beat.

These words rekindled his hope.

It's good that they didn't take it away.

As long as you're still here, there's still a chance.

He started specifically looking through exercise books with the same name and the same school.

This method is more effective than randomly flipping through pages.

Soon, he found a batch of junior high school workbooks with the same name.

The cover says: Li Haoran.

Chinese, Mathematics, English, Physics.

Lin Ye's heartbeat gradually quickened.

His surname is Li.

Although there are many people with the surname Li, any one of the characters Li is very attractive nowadays.

He singled out this batch of workbooks and flipped through them.

There were several old newspapers underneath.

The newspaper was yellowed and the edges were brittle.

Below that was a hardcover booklet covered in dust.

Lin Ye's hand stopped.

In that instant, all the sounds in the scrap yard seemed to fade into the distance.

The crunching sound of Old Qin stepping on cardboard boxes at the door.

The sounds of the convenience store owner haggling with customers outside.

The sound of electric bikes honking in the alley.

Everything became blurry.

Lin Ye squatted down in front of the pile of papers, slowly reached out, and pulled out the hardcover booklet.

The cover is yellowed and the edges are worn.

There are four characters printed on it.

Collect stamps as souvenirs.

Lin Ye stared at those four words, his throat tightening slightly.

found it.

They actually found it!

The curses at that grave last night were actually true.

He instinctively wanted to flip it open.

My finger just touched the cover, then immediately stopped.

You can't view it here.

At least we can't watch it in front of Lao Qin.

Lin Ye forced down his heartbeat, tucked the stamp album between several old exercise books, and grabbed a few old newspapers as well.

When he stood up, his legs were a little numb from squatting.

He swayed slightly.

Old Qin looked over from the doorway.

"Found it?"

Lin Ye looked down at the old book in his arms, pretending to be both tired and relieved.

"It seems like we've found some of them. These few look like they're from my box."

Old Qin walked over and casually flipped through the workbook at the top.

Lin Ye's heart jumped into his throat.

The stamp album was tucked in between.

If Lao Qin flips through it a couple more times, he'll be able to see it.

But Lao Qin didn't have that.

He glanced at the workbook cover, then looked at Lin Ye.

"These?"

Lin Ye nodded.

"Hmm, I want to take it back and look through it again. If there are any useful materials inside, I won't have to replace it."

Old Qin stubbed out his cigarette and turned to get the bag.

"These books you picked out, I'll not charge them the price of waste paper, I'll give you eighty."

Lin Ye was stunned for a moment.

Eighty is not cheap.

But Lao Qin made him search for so long and even gave him a bottle of water, so the price didn't seem too out of the ordinary.

Old Qin probably figured it out too, and added a comment.

"You've been rummaging through all that stuff, I can't just let you take it all for nothing. Besides, you're looking for materials, you just want peace of mind."

Lin Ye nodded immediately.

"OK."

At this point, let alone eighty.

He will pay as long as he can afford it.

He opened his phone and scanned the QR code.

A notification sound indicating successful payment was heard.

My bank card balance has shrunk again.

But Lin Ye didn't feel sorry for her this time.

When he walked out of the recycling center carrying the stack of old books, his steps were lighter than when he came.

Old Qin called out from behind, "Young man, be more careful when you move things next time, don't always lose things."

Lin Ye turned around and smiled.

"I'll remember that, Uncle Qin."

He walked out of the old alley.

The sun has risen and is shining on the old wall at the entrance of the alley.

The vegetable vendor was still calling out her wares, the shoe repair stall owner was bent over nailing shoe soles, and the kids in front of the convenience store were squatting on the ground unpacking spicy strips.

Everything was ordinary.

It's as ordinary as that stamp album we just saw; it's just an ordinary old booklet.

Lin Ye walked to the corner of the alley and, after confirming that Lao Qin could not see him, put the book in his arms on the low wall to the side.

His hands were trembling slightly.

He moved the workbook on top away.

The yellowed stamp album was revealed.

Lin Ye took a breath and slowly turned to the first page.

A row of old stamps was neatly tucked inside.

Red, green, blue.

He doesn't understand stamps.

I really don't understand.

But in that instant, he suddenly felt as if he were looking at a row of banknotes that hadn't yet woken up.

He turned to the third page.

Turn to page four.

Every page is well protected.

Old Li must have cherished this booklet during his lifetime.

Although the plastic film was a bit yellowed, the stamps inside were still intact.

Lin Ye flipped through the money very carefully, afraid that he might accidentally tear several thousand or even tens of thousands of yuan into thin air.

His hand stopped when he turned to the fifth page.

There was a red stamp tucked between the pages.

The design features a monkey.

Lin Ye didn't know anything about authenticity or quality.

But he knew monkeys.

Old Li's almost broken voice of angry cursing last night suddenly exploded in his mind.

"There are monkey stamps inside!"

Lin Ye stared at the stamp for a long time.

Then, he quickly closed the booklet.

You can't continue watching on the street.

Lin Ye tucked the stamp album back into his exercise book, hugged it tightly, and walked out along the street.

He took a few steps, then stopped again.

He now faces a new problem.

How much is this?

He doesn't understand stamps, and if he rashly seeks help from someone, he's likely to be scammed.

But he couldn't possibly take this booklet back to the cemetery; he'd have to ask Old Li that evening.

Old Li couldn't hear him.

Moreover, given Old Li's temper, if he knew that Old Li was planning to sell his stamp album, he would probably curse him from his grave until the Qingming Festival.

Lin Ye took out his phone and started searching for local stamp shops.

Several search results popped up.

He hesitated for a moment, then chose a well-established restaurant with many positive reviews.

The navigation system shows that it's three kilometers away.

Lin Ye looked at the bus route and then at the stamp album in his arms.

Three kilometers.

Taking a taxi costs money.

You have to wait to take the bus.

Walking is free.

He chose to walk without hesitation.

Halfway there, the sun grew bigger and bigger.

Lin Ye was both tired and hungry, and he was also holding a stack of old books in his arms.

Passersby glanced at him, then quickly looked away.

Most people probably thought he was a vendor who had just failed to buy goods from the used book market.

Lin Ye didn't pay any attention.

He can't stop thinking about that red monkey stamp.

if it is real.

If it's valuable.

If it can be sold.

Then the number in his bank account will no longer be a three-digit number.

The temptation is too great.

It was big enough for him to temporarily ignore the fear he felt last night.

Lin Ye was already covered in sweat when he arrived at the stamp shop.

The shop is small, and the storefront is a bit old.

A few words were pasted on the glass door:

Collecting stamps and coins.

A sign that reads "Open for Business" hangs at the entrance.

Lin Ye stood at the door, looked down at the old exercise book in his arms, and then at his dusty cuffs.

He suddenly realized that he didn't look like a collector at all.

It's more like someone who just came out of a junkyard and hasn't had time to wash their hands yet.

But we're already here.

He took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

The bell on the door jingled once.

Behind the counter, a middle-aged shop owner wearing glasses looked up.

"What's there to see?"

Lin Ye placed the stack of old books on the counter and took out the stamp album inside.

He tried to make his tone sound casual.

"Boss, could you take a look at this?"

The shopkeeper took the stamp album, looked at the cover first, and then glanced up at Lin Ye.

"Where did it come from?"

Lin Ye spoke fluently without hesitation.

"Found it at home."

The boss looked at the dust on his clothes.

"Your house has a vintage feel to it."

Lin Ye remained unfazed.

"Old house, dusty and grimy."

The boss didn't say anything more, put on his gloves, and turned to the first page.

Lin Ye stood in front of the counter, his heart starting to race again.

He tried to appear calm.

But his fingers had already quietly clenched the seam of his pants.

The boss's expression was indifferent when he turned to the first page.

When you turn to the second page, it's also very faint.

He turned to the third page, but his movements were a little slow.

When he turned to the fifth page, the boss's glasses slid down half an inch.

Lin Ye's heart skipped a beat when he saw this detail.

There is a play.

The boss looked up at him.

"Young man."

Lin Ye forced himself to remain calm.

"Um?"

The boss gently tapped the red monkey stamp next to it with his fingertip.

"Do you want to publish this booklet?"

Lin Ye did not answer immediately.

He recalled Old Li's angry roar last night.

I'm reminded of Lao Qin's words, "Give me eighty."

I realized that I had lost another eighty yuan from my bank account.

I recall the night breeze at Qingshan Cemetery, the stun gun, and that line "Everything is normal".

Lin Ye suddenly realized that life can be really strange sometimes.

Last night, he was a security guard who was so frightened by the graves that he almost quit his job.

This morning, he was already standing in the stamp shop, ready to negotiate with fate.

He looked at the boss and tried to keep his voice steady.

"Name your price first."