Wandering America: My kill threshold is far ahead

Entering the Baoli waste recycling station, it was pretty much as I had imagined—a dilapidated and desolate scene.

In the very center is a basketball court whose sidelines are almost worn away, surrounded by overgrown open space, and enclosed by a metal wall, forming the basic layout.

"Sir, would you mind if I looked around?"

Ma Jie tried to get the black man's consent first, but the man, busy turning on the power switch and weighing scale, waved his hand dismissively: "Whatever, this isn't the president's office."

Jimmy was left there to wait for the deal, while Majab strolled around and began his tour.

The basketball court serves as the main storage area, where aluminum cans, iron cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles, corrugated cardboard, and sorted non-ferrous metals are stacked in sequence.

At the very edge, there was a bunch of things covered with a tarpaulin. Out of curiosity, I peeked through a corner and saw that they were all electronic components.

Besides these, there were also several old, outdated televisions and washing machines, covered in dust and piled up under the tin shed, probably not worth sending for refurbishment.

Right next to the corner of the wall, in the bushes, were two rusty zombie cars. One of them had been completely dismantled, leaving only the car shell lying there, with grass growing directly out of the car window.

After looking at everything, the only things that looked decent were a can shearing and flattening machine and a small forklift that was about 70% new.

When he turned back, Jimmy pointed proudly at the electronic display screen of the weighing scale: "Jack, what did I tell you? The plastic bottles weigh 3.9 pounds, the cans weigh 13.4 pounds, and the total weight is 17.3 pounds. The total recycling price is $25 and 75 cents. Isn't that the same as my previous judgment? The error is definitely not more than 3%."

"OK, you're a genius, is that what you wanted to hear?" Ma Jie satisfied his vanity, then asked the old black man, "Sir, I just saw the sign outside, are you planning to sell this recycling station?"

"That's right," the old man replied absentmindedly. "But that sign has been there for half a month now, and you're the third person to bring it up."

"So little?" Ma Jie frowned. "Then may I know why you're considering transferring the property?"

"Well... that's a long story." The owner sighed helplessly. "This recycling station was originally run by my wife and me. We were both laid-off workers from the steel factory. After retiring, we couldn't find suitable jobs, so we took out a loan to buy this land from the government, hoping to earn more money to support our children."

At this point, her expression became very distressed: "My son studied medicine and graduated from a private school at the age of 35. He found an internship at the county hospital, earning more than $5000 a month, but he has to repay a student loan of up to $96. Based on a 20-year repayment period, he needs to repay $4.8 a year, which is equivalent to 68% of his salary."

"Do you think he can afford to rent an apartment and eat meals with the little money he has left? Homeless people get $950 a month in welfare."

Upon hearing this terrifying repayment ratio, Ma Jieke almost lost his composure.

Although doctors are considered a top-tier profession in the United States, their annual salary after being promoted to attending physician is at least between $180,000 and $250,000.

If it's a specialist doctor, then the number of specialists should be doubled, for example, those specializing in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases or obstetrics and gynecology.

In the greater Los Angeles area, buying a house with a parking garage, with all the expenses paid in full, would cost around $30 to $40.

Of course, this refers to ordinary residential areas; wealthy areas are often worth tens or hundreds of millions.

Although the future looks bright, the transition period of the past few years will not be easy to endure, and we will still have to tighten our belts to make ends meet.

In the United States, there are many people who have already graduated and started working, but still need their parents to help them pay off their loans.

"Sir, I sympathize with your situation, but this is America. I hope you and your family can get through this difficult time."

Ma Jie could only offer some bland and insincere auspicious words; moreover, after witnessing these past few days, he had become somewhat numb to such things.

"Thank you, young man." The old black man smiled politely. "It's getting late, and I have to rush to the hospital to take care of my wife. She accidentally injured her foot while working, and I'm really not up to the task. This is also a major reason why I'm transferring ownership of this recycling station. This experience has taught me that you can't deny getting old."

"So how much do you plan to sell it for?" Ma Jie asked, sounding very curious.

"What, are you willing to take over?" The old man originally didn't want to waste time with the scavenger, but seeing that Ma Jie was dressed quite well, he simply decided to give it a shot.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Since I urgently need money, I'm only considering selling the whole thing, not leasing it. This could cost a lot of money."

"So you mean the land, equipment, inventory, and business license are all bundled together? Is that correct?"

"You understand very well." The old man nodded with satisfaction and gave his quote: "15 US dollars. This is the price I have carefully considered. I do not accept installment payments."

"150,000?" Jimmy was so shocked that his tongue almost fell off the ground. That's enough to buy half a house. Even if you robbed everyone in the camp, you could probably only scrape together a fraction of that amount.

"Okay, I understand." Unlike him, Ma Jie didn't react with surprise; his emotions seemed quite stable. "Could I have a business card? It'll be convenient to contact you later."

"Of course." The boss casually handed him his business card, not holding out much hope. If you could just pull out 150,000, would you need to come here selling jars?

As soon as Jimmy left Baoli's recycling station, his mouth started blaring like a machine gun: "Jack, are you crazy? Even assuming you can afford it, this is a high-probability losing proposition. That old man used his family as an excuse, but didn't say a word about his dismal business."

"First, this location is too remote. What normal scavenger would go to such lengths? I certainly wouldn't."

"Secondly, his recycling price is not competitive either; it's even 2 cents lower than the one I usually go to."

"third..."

"Third," Ma Jie interrupted impatiently, "If you can see the problem, do you think I can't?"

"But have you ever considered that if we could control the supply—I mean a large supply—and combine collecting and recycling cans into one, would we ultimately make a profit?"

"Huh?" Jimmy was a little confused after hearing this unusual analysis. What's the difference between this and growing wheat and vegetables, raising cattle, and then opening a burger shop?

It is theoretically feasible, but quite difficult to implement in practice, although there are already many successful cases in reality, such as crayfish farming combined with themed restaurants, and IP incubation combined with offline amusement parks.

But those are big businesses. We're just homeless people who make a living by scavenging for garbage. Let's not keep dreaming about those unrealistic get-rich-quick schemes.