Fortunately, after turning a corner and walking to the windward side, the stench diminished considerably, and a large compound surrounded by towering walls appeared beside them.

Several guards stood at the entrance, with a sentry patrolling back and forth. Upon seeing the two approaching, a guard respectfully stepped forward, indicating they had received prior notice from the inspection station.

"Inspector Cheng!" The guard raised a hand in salute.

"Hmm, take us to see those scrapped vehicles."

"Alright, please follow me!"

Following the guard into the compound, Cheng Ye finally realized that the desolation of the South Suburb provided this scrapyard ample space.

As far as the eye could see, hundreds of broken vehicles were piled haphazardly on the muddy ground.

There were all kinds of vehicles—transport trucks, pickups, lorries, trucks... it looked like a giant graveyard for cars.

But each one was in a miserable, unwatchable condition.

Some bodies were twisted into contorted heaps of metal, lying askew on the ground.

Some structures barely held together, but the roofs were crushed in a large section, like flattened tin cans.

Some bodies were riddled with bullet holes, not to mention those that still looked relatively complete but with their tires and internal components long since stripped, leaving only an empty shell standing there.

Additionally, a square indoor garage was built within the yard.

The guard pulled open the heavy steel roller door, revealing hundreds of cars inside, though overall in much better condition than those outside.

Most had only some collision marks on the hood, body, or tail, but their tires were also removed.

"The inspection station has this many scrapped vehicles?" Cheng Ye couldn’t help but ask.

At a glance, he estimated there were no less than five hundred scrapped vehicles parked here.

"They’ve all been sent here recently; before, it was at most two or three hundred."

The guard scratched his head and laughed, explaining, "They’re not all from the inspection station; recently, scrapped vehicles from other bureaus were also sent here, hoping the Mechanical Bureau could find a way to repair and reuse them."

Just then, a balding middle-aged man hurriedly ran in from outside, greeting them from afar with a smile: "Inspector Cheng, hello, I’m the person in charge here, Sonny Valentine."

"Hello."

Cheng Ye extended his hand, and they shook hands lightly.

The guard glanced at Master Tian and sensibly stepped aside.

"Currently, the scrapyard holds a total of 612 vehicles, with the severely damaged ones outside numbering 378, and the relatively intact ones in the garage totaling 234."

Having received the notice, Sonny Valentine understood Cheng Ye’s purpose and began introducing without any preamble:

"The parts pricing is different on both sides. The vehicles outside are counted as complete units, each costing 100 Contribution Points. Except for the chassis, which must remain, you can dismantle whatever parts or lines you wish to take, but you can’t mix parts from different cars. You pay for as many cars as you choose."

"The ones inside are priced by individual parts, regardless of their condition, starting at 50 Contribution Points, with a maximum cap of 350 points. Here’s the detailed price list for you to check out."

As he spoke, he fished a densely written piece of paper from a small bag he carried and handed it to Cheng Ye.

Cheng Ye glanced over it, the prices matched what he had previously inquired about from Matthew Lee, with no discrepancies.

However, before he could speak, Sonny Valentine added, "Because of the development of the Satellite City, all bureaus have sent over their previously held scrapped vehicles to see if they can be of use. But now the scrapyard is really too full, so we’ve come up with a temporary promotion..."

"For the vehicles outside, if you choose ten at once, we’ll offer a 20% discount."

"For the parts inside the garage, if you take ten, you’ll get a 10% discount."

This promotion left Cheng Ye quite bewildered, whereas Master Tian beside him seemed to ponder something, saying thoughtfully, "Sending the scrapped vehicles over is to release the vehicle quota, right?"

"Hmm?" Sonny Valentine paused and then laughed, "It seems this master knows the ropes! That’s right; for the bureaus to apply for new vehicles, they must first release the old quotas, which is why they hurried to pile these scrap cars here to free up the slots."

Seeing that Cheng Ye didn’t quite get it, Master Tian continued, "For example, the Public Works Bureau is allocated 100 vehicle quotas, but in daily operations, only 70 are needed, leaving the remaining 30 quotas occupied by these scrap cars. Otherwise, by regulations, if the quotas are left empty, they must be replenished with new vehicles. The Public Works Bureau neither has that kind of funding nor sees the necessity to spend money on unused vehicles."

"Oh, I see!" 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

After pondering for a moment, Cheng Ye instantly understood the trick at play.

It involves temporarily reallocating the budget for purchasing vehicles to other areas to generate returns.

Then, when the need for vehicles arises, they can free up quotas to purchase them.

But it just so happens this benefits him now; with this promotional policy, he can save quite a bit on funds.

...