Building a Homeland by Scavenging in the Interstellar Era

Sheng Xia never imagined she would become the real heiress nobody wanted in a story about the real and fake heiresses. She never imagined that after graduating, she would be thrown out of the house for refusing an arranged marriage, given nothing but a plot of... garbage land in the suburbs.

Under the scorching heat, flies swarmed chaotically, and the stench of rotting waste hit her in the face. A container hut was just visible behind a towering mountain of trash.

Sheng Xia took a deep breath and stepped through the recycling station's rickety gate. A cold voice suddenly sounded above her head. [Ding! Congratulations, you have been selected to participate in the Interstellar Work 101 program. Do you accept?]

[Ding! A compatible piece of equipment has been detected on the Host. It has been recorded and bound to you.]

[Ding! The Host's identity has been issued. Please enter the planet and complete the corresponding tasks promptly, or your status as a laborer will be revoked.]

Sheng Xia looked at the silver ID badge that had suddenly appeared in her hand. Three neat, gold-embossed characters were written on it: Scavenger.

On Pike Star, pigs were taller than cows, cows were bigger than elephants, and ducks were fiercer than geese. After slaughtering pigs, butchering cows, and roasting ducks to complete her task, Sheng Xia looked at the mountain of "trash" piled in the warehouse: pig offal, pig trotters, pig heads, pig organs, cow face, beef tendon, omasum, duck necks, duck legs, duck carcasses. The corners of her mouth curled into a grin.

On Oran Star, the leaves of the Lulujiao plant were broad and heavy, each one bigger than an adult's bathtub. A piece torn off and stuck to the body could reduce inflammation, soothe itching, clear heat rash, and ease pain.

On Lucheng Star, the trees were lush, tall, and sturdy. Their stripped bark could protect against fire, knives, and gunfire.

On Bula Star, Ziyang Star, Shuize Star... Countless kinds of garbage became resources and were continuously transported back to Huaxia. Just as Sheng Xia thought she would spend her whole life dealing with trash, she suddenly received a special invitation from an employer:

"What? You want me to represent your family in a planetary competition? No, I can't do that. I'm a garbage collector who snuck into this alien world. My education is probably worse than that of your elementary school students. Am I supposed to go up there and scavenge?"

That was, until she saw the questions from the previous competition.

Question One: A damaged scroll reads, "Bright moonlight before my bed, I suspect it is frost on the ground." Fill in the missing words.

Sheng Xia: "???"

Question Two: The fragment "A lone plume of smoke rises straight in the vast desert; the long river sets with a round ____" comes from a damaged military document. Taking into account the records of "desert" and "star river" in interstellar geographic surveys, infer the meaning of the two missing characters.

Sheng Xia: "…"

Question Three: The writing on a damaged scroll is badly smeared. Only the characters "If heaven had feelings heaven too would grow old the right path of the human world is full of vicissitudes" can be made out. Archaeologists believe these are two lines of poetry. Mark the correct division with "/" and briefly explain your reasoning.

Sheng Xia: "..."

Bonus question: What is the next line of the famous ancient poet's work, "Have you not seen the waters of the Yellow River coming from the sky"? Fill in the next line to earn ten points. Complete the whole poem to advance directly to the Central Star finals and receive guaranteed admission to Jiuzhou University.

Sheng Xia: "!!!"

Well, don't say it. Don't say it. I really can do this!!!

Later, with her extensive knowledge of classical poetry, Sheng Xia swept the interstellar competition, filled in the cultural history of the parallel world's Jiuzhou, and cornered the market on trash and expired goods across the entire star system, including but not limited to food, weapons, medicine, and satellite and spaceship technology.

After being reborn, Qiu Bai's first move was to buy supplies. She had even chosen the location: that garbage dump in the suburbs. But when she confidently went to find it, the foul-smelling dump had long since changed beyond recognition. Its walls were high and its security was tight. The young guard at the entrance stood straighter than a rifle, his tiger-like eyes sweeping like searchlights. Just looking at the place for a moment from outside earned her a hard stare.

Qiu Bai wondered what was going on inside. Even a place guarding against spies couldn't be any more vigilant.

Later, when Qiu Bai saw quantum temperature-regulating clothes, fast-acting heat relief patches, portable repair sprays, necklace life jackets, and even spaceships and mechs a century ahead of their time suddenly appear on the market, she was completely stunned. Was this still the apocalypse she knew? With so many amazing things, why worry about heat waves, floods, droughts, earthquakes, and other natural disasters?

Qiu Bai gave up stockpiling supplies. With the country looking after us, even if the apocalypse came, everything would stay under control.

Later, Qiu Bai clung to Sheng Xia's leg. "Sis, big shot, do you need an assistant? I can do laundry, cook, and handle business deals. I can help you sell all that alien trash overseas and bring the money back to spend here."

Message: The nation's prosperity is everyone's responsibility.