My Family Built a Fortune of Hundreds of Millions by Living Off the Scrap I Picked Up for Three Years

Li Cuiping was sixty-three when she left the countryside to move to the city and help care for her son’s child. Her daughter-in-law thought she was unsophisticated. Her son was so worried about the mortgage that he’d gone bald, and debt collectors called her granddaughter every day about her online loans. There were four people in the family, three of them in debt, and she was the only one who didn’t earn her keep. One day, she went downstairs to take out the trash and casually picked up a crushed plastic water bottle. A golden glint flashed before her eyes, and a line of text appeared: [Clear PET bottle, recycling price: 10 cents.] She froze. Then she picked up an aluminum can: [Aluminum, 2 cents.] Next, she grabbed a handful of cardboard: [Yellow cardboard, 80 cents per pound.] Wang Lianhua stood beside the trash can, staring at the bottles and cans scattered across the ground, her legs trembling. The whole city was full of money. People across the city threw it away like trash. And she could see it. On her first day, she secretly scavenged for three hours and made 12.8 yuan. She bought a pound of ribs and stewed them. Her daughter-in-law slammed down her chopsticks. “Mom! If the neighbors see our family scavenging, how am I supposed to show my face?” Li Cuiping said nothing. She pushed the bowl of rib soup toward her. Three months later…