Being carried onto an ambulance at the start? But this is America!

Just as Li Ping and his team were working enthusiastically, the back door of the bar creaked open.

A man wearing a black T-shirt with tattoos on his arms peeked out and frowned immediately when he saw them.

"Hey, are you guys from White Crow? Why are you taking so long today? It's practically stinking!"

There's an unwritten agreement between the Fiery Rose Alley and the White Crow Gang: the gang gets all the proceeds from the garbage.

However, the gang is responsible for cleaning up regularly, maintaining hygiene and order, and preventing the area from becoming an open-air toilet and needle disposal site.

It should usually be cleaned up before 5 p.m.

Fletcher reacted quickly, without even looking up, and replied vaguely in a tone befitting a subordinate doing chores.

"Our boss had something come up, we just changed shifts, let's speed things up right away!"

Skilled street maneuvering made the other party suspicious.

The tattooed man glanced at Li Ping and Li Fan, both of Asian faces, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, but he was too lazy to ask any more questions.

As long as the garbage can be removed, it doesn't matter who does it.

He waved his hand impatiently: "Hurry up!" and then retreated back inside the door.

The contents of the trash cans were beyond imagination; there were sacs of unborn children everywhere. This bar really knows how to have fun.

Fortunately, there are recyclable and non-recyclable categories, so the cans aren't too dirty.

Under these circumstances, which perfectly matched the identity of a homeless person, Li Ping felt that the "homeless person" was operating at its limit, and his body was in its best condition.

Not long after, he finally touched the familiar whiskey bottle in the trash.

Without making a sound, he fished the bottle out, shook it gently, and then handed it to Li Fan next to him, winking at him.

Li Fan took the bottle with a puzzled look and subconsciously looked into the crack in the bottle.

In the dim light, a golden hue trapped inside a bottle suddenly caught his eye.

"Gold~"

He almost blurted it out, but fortunately Li Ping reacted quickly, grabbing his arm and making a shushing gesture.

"What's wrong, Bro? I think I heard you say Jing? Who is that?"

Fletcher looked up from a nearby trash can and asked curiously.

Li Fan was speaking Chinese, which he didn't understand at all.

"It's nothing, I just saw a rather unusual piece of trash."

Li Ping chuckled.

Li Fan took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down, but the excitement in his eyes was hard to completely hide.

After the harvest, Li Ping's motivation to sift through the items decreased, so he mainly focused on lightweight and valuable plastic bottles and aluminum cans.

Even so, they made some additional discoveries.

A few coins and a rather cool-looking Zippo lighter, which is probably worth some money.

Fletcher and Devon also gained something extra.

There are always some unexpected surprises at these high-quality garbage collection points.

The homeless man, who had been watching from the alley entrance, became bolder when he saw four unfamiliar faces rummaging through the items with great enthusiasm, while the White Crow Gang never showed up.

First two or three, then five or six, tentatively entered the alley, and tacitly found a trash can to start their work.

Li Ping and his group occupied the five most valuable boxes, and those who came later did not scramble for them. The only sounds in the alley were the rustling of people rummaging through the trash and the occasional low exclamation of finding a good item.

However, their goods were far inferior to Li Ping's gold.

As six o'clock approached, the sky began to darken.

The four large woven bags that Li Ping brought were already full, and Fletcher and his group also had a good haul.

"GO! GO! GO!"

Li Ping greeted him in a low voice.

Knowing when to stop is street smart; greed can easily lead to trouble.

The four people quickly loaded the heavy bags onto the trolley.

Even excluding the unexpected gold necklace, these bottles and jars alone could probably sell for over a hundred dollars.

On average, the hourly wage exceeds fifty dollars, which is an almost dream-like income for someone who collects garbage.

"Praise! Ping!"

Fletcher pushed the cart, waving his arms excitedly, "It's my treat tonight, all-you-can-eat pizza!"

Devon smiled憨厚ly; he had found a decent pipe, which he figured he could probably exchange for some money.

The group was overjoyed and pushed their spoils straight to the nearest recycling station.

Pushing heavy garbage bags back to the Eighth Street camp for disposal is not a wise move.

However, just as they were about to step into the yard of the recycling station, which was made of corrugated iron sheds, two figures, one in black and one in white, blocked the entrance.

Both men were wearing dirty vests that revealed their tattooed arms, and behind them were several bulging woven bags.

"NO, NO, stop."

The white youth chewing gum lazily slung the aluminum baseball bat over his shoulder and glanced sideways at Li Ping and his group.

"Don't go in. Sell your stuff to us. At this point, the Sea Whale Gang calls the shots."

Li Ping frowned: "Are you from a recycling center?"

The black man next to him scoffed and pointed to the rusty sign.

"These are locations belonging to our Sea Whale Gang; you can only sell them to us."

"Aluminum cans, $1.58 per pound; plastic bottles, $1.21; glass bottles, $0.00 each, or get out."

Upon hearing this, Li Ping was so angry he almost laughed.

The price was nearly 10-20% lower than the regular recycling price.

Selling junk and getting a cut from the gang's profits? Is there no law anymore?

"Don't get excited, Ping, I'll handle it."

Fletcher squeezed forward from behind, a smile plastered on his face—the kind of smile that comes from years of street life.

He first exchanged a few hand gestures with the black man and started talking in gibberish.

He pointed at Li Ping, Li Fan, and Dewen, took out two leaf-shaped candies from his pocket, and stuffed them into the other person's hand.

The two members of the Sea Whale Gang exchanged a glance, then looked at Li Ping and his group, especially at the imposing physiques of Devon and Li Fan.

The white youth finally swung his baseball bat: "Don't do it again."

Fletcher thanked him and gestured for Li Ping and the others to go inside, thus averting a potential conflict.

"What did you say to them?" Li Ping asked in a low voice after they were out of sight of the two men.

"I told them we were from the Shield, just passing through, and that this was our only day, and we wouldn't be picking up scraps on their turf."

Fletcher shrugged. "Of course, it also implies to them that the four of us are very strong, especially Devin and Fan."

Plus, considering the small gift, it wasn't worth clashing with us over such a little trash, so we let them through.

Li Ping was speechless when Fletcher told him that the recycling point was indeed guarded by the Sea Whale Gang.

This is truly an eye-opening experience.

I've heard of people who watch over various venues, but this is the first time I've heard of someone watching over a recycling center.

They can squeeze water out of even a toad they catch.

"Welcome to real American street economics, Bro."

Fletcher seemed to sense Li Ping's sentiments and grinned.

"But we still made a profit today, didn't we?"

He patted their bulging bags.

"Hahaha!"

Li Ping gave Fletcher a thumbs up, praising him as a veteran who had lived on the streets for five or six years.

"You guys are really capable of getting in by getting past those two watchdogs, the Sea Whale."

The recycling station owner, a middle-aged Black man wearing an oil-stained T-shirt, raised an eyebrow at the bulging bags behind them and quoted a price.

"Aluminum cans, $1.8 per pound; plastic bottles, $1.43; glass bottles, same price as always, $0.1."

This price is higher than what Li Ping sold it for several times before; the aluminum can was 1.73 and the plastic bottle was 1.38.

Fletcher was not satisfied and stepped forward to begin bargaining.

"Boss, don't do that. I heard you were paying those guys from the Sea Whale Gang 1.88 and 1.5."

The boss pursed his lips and wiped the weighing pan with a stained rag.

"How can that be the same? The amount they deliver each time is equivalent to five or six of your trips! And it's consistent."

"We've come quite a lot this time, and we might come often in the future!" Fletcher patted his chest.

After some back and forth, the boss seemed to be persuaded, or perhaps he just didn't want to waste time, and waved his hand.

"Alright, alright, for aluminum cans and plastic bottles, I'll add a maximum of... three cents per pound, that's the most I can do!"

In the end, Li Ping's four large bags of garbage cost $20 more than expected, totaling $120.

Li Ping was somewhat surprised; could this thing be bargained for?

There was nothing he could do; his experience from past and present lives was useless here, as it was all a field he had never been exposed to before.