pjbooks Chapter 155 Special Scavenging Team and Food Thieves
Chapter 155 Special Scavenging Team and Food Thieves
Chapter 155 Special Scavenging Team and Food Thieves
Once the price can be agreed upon, the remaining issues are all minor details.
The 12 yuan they received was not just for a recycling station, but also for land, equipment, inventory, and business licenses.
The land accounted for more than half of the price, and the equipment consisted of only one can shearing and flattening machine and an old forklift.
Given the dismal business situation on-site, the inventory issue is negligible.
Most importantly, the last item is the business license. If you try to get that done yourself, who knows how many pitfalls you'll run into.
It's okay for locals, but for an Asian person, doing anything in the US won't be as smooth sailing as it is for native-born people.
Take college entrance exams as an example. Hackers once broke into New York University's website and released the ACT (College Entrance Exam) results.
Average admission score.
The report revealed that Asian students needed an average score of 32.94 to be admitted, while white and Hispanic students needed 31.14, and black students only needed 27.78.
This is America, a country that believes in "equality for all." Is this kind of differential standard targeting different racial groups discriminating against Asians, or is it discrediting the intelligence of Black people?
As for other areas, they are only scratching the surface. Therefore, Ma Jieke's strategy is to play to his strengths and avoid his weaknesses, saving his energy and focusing it on where he should exert his efforts.
After the deal was agreed upon, a deposit of $2 was paid to reassure the old man and prevent any unforeseen complications.
The rest involves signing contracts and running around with all sorts of tedious procedures, including dealing with multiple departments such as environmental protection, municipal administration, and taxation, which is extremely troublesome.
However, Ma Jieke knew how to be a hands-off manager, so he directly entrusted Sawa to prepare the relevant documents and handle all the steps that could be done in advance.
What's rather strange is that this guy didn't mention commission at all during the whole process. Maybe he was too embarrassed, or maybe he wanted me to owe him a favor.
It wasn't until the two were about to part ways that Ma Jie paid him a commission according to the normal labor dispatch fee standard.
Back in the slums, we randomly picked a coffee shop on a street corner and sat down with Jimmy to discuss our next move.
As the saying goes, everyone has their own expertise. As a master jungler, this guy has been dealing with junkyards for seven or eight years, so he must have a lot of valuable knowledge.
After they were seated, he grabbed the menu and eagerly told the waiter, "Listen, buddy, I'd like a cappuccino for one, a chicken and bacon Caesar roll, waffles, crème brûlée, pan-fried cod with garlic chili sauce, and oh yeah, a strawberry ice cream too, I've been really craving strawberries lately."
Hearing him order in such a reciting manner, Ma Jieke couldn't hold back a little. He thought to himself, "This is a coffee shop, not a fast food restaurant. Are you here to drink coffee or to be David Dai?"
"And you, Sir?" After Jimmy placed his order, the waiter turned around.
"Same as him." Ma Jie copied it without hesitation. He had no choice; Max's terrible cooking had ruined his appetite in the morning, and he had to make up for the missing nutrients in his breakfast.
The waiter was completely dumbfounded. Where did these two country bumpkins come from? They wanted so many side dishes for just a coffee.
Soon, the coffee and food were served, filling the table to the brim. After this meal, I probably wouldn't be hungry all night.
Jimmy finished a Caesar roll, licked the sauce off his fingers, then picked up a piece of silver cod with his fork, dipped it in garlic chili sauce, and put it in his mouth. Seeing that he was a little spicy, he quickly took a sip of the melting strawberry ice cream next to him before patting his belly contentedly, looking completely blissful.
"Do you need me to find you a waitress dressed as a maid?"
Is it here?
"You'd better not!" Looking at his starving ghost-like appearance, Ma Jie was furious: "You better tell me something useful, or you'll have to pay the price yourself."
"No, no, no, didn't we agree that you were treating?"
That hit his sore spot, and the kid immediately quieted down: "What's the rush? Let's start by understanding the most basic supply chain issues. Have you ever thought about where all that scrap the recycling station collects goes in the end?"
"A larger recycling center?"
"You're half right." Jimmy picked up his cup, took a sip of coffee, and continued, "Simply put, there are two upstream channels for recycling stations. One is the packing station, which you can think of as a large middleman. We collect waste from itinerant scavengers, pack it up, and sell it to them to make a profit."
"The packing stations then meticulously sort the waste and sell it to various industrial manufacturers based on the specifications."
"Take aluminum cans as an example. They are mainly made of aluminum alloy and can be sold to aluminum product processing plants or directly to can manufacturers."
"The same applies to other waste. Plastic bottles are sold to plastic factories, waste cardboard is sold to paper mills, and electronic waste, being classified as energy metals, can be sold to new energy material suppliers."
"Stop going off on that tangent, buddy." Ma Jie was getting a little impatient. "All I want to know right now is how we can make a quick profit after we take over."
The matter is obvious. Given the current size of this waste recycling station, which industrial manufacturers would bother with it? They measure their output in tons.
"That's easy," Jimmy said confidently. "First of all, we can recycle $4 worth of waste every month just with our own people. If we sell it to a recycling center, we can immediately earn about 8% more on top of that. If we want to increase our profits further, we need to expand our territory and increase the overall amount of waste we recycle."
"For example?"
"For example, we can establish partnerships with communities, supermarkets, and even schools outside of poor neighborhoods to install smart recycling machines, but this requires a significant investment."
"Then what are you talking about? Are you going to pay for this?"
"Don't rush, this is just a standard method." Jimmy paused for a few seconds before continuing, "There's another way. We'll form a special scavenging team to infiltrate upscale neighborhoods and steal—no, not steal, but take the more valuable items from the trash cans."
When Ma Jie heard this idea, he found it interesting. What cooperation? If you can cooperate, why can't others? Why should you be the one to make money? It has to be a crooked way to be reliable.
Seeing the leader's pleased expression, the kid said with a sly look, "I've thought it all out. We'll use our current community as a pilot project. This community was only recently built, and the private recycling companies haven't had time to move in yet. All the garbage collection work is handled by the municipality, so the only thing we need to deal with is the community security guards."
"Alright, I'll take care of that. You just need to set up that scavenging team you mentioned as soon as possible."
"Don't worry, it'll be done within three days. I'll personally lead the team, and anyone I choose will be absolutely top-notch."
Jimmy smiled smugly at him. Indeed, as a veteran in the camp, he knew exactly who had the best jungle clearing ability.
This special scavenging team, aside from anything else, must have excellent physical strength, a sharp eye, and be fast enough. After all, no matter how far you look at it, this matter is neither entirely legitimate nor entirely illegitimate; what kind of good person would go to a neighborhood to steal garbage for no reason?
Having temporarily resolved the production capacity shortage issue, Ma Jieke then asked, "There's one more thing: how's the fundraising going?"
Jimmy then took out a notebook from his bag, opened the list of investors, and checked them one by one: "I won't report the small amounts to you, I'll just mention a few of the larger ones. Max decided to invest $10,000, Fiona also invested $10,000, Sandy invested $5,000, and as for me, hehe, sorry, I only have $30,000."
"Wow, where did you get so much money?"
After asking this question, Ma Jie suddenly realized that the question was a bit silly. This guy was already a hidden billionaire, and he had also received a lot of profits from participating in "Warehouse Treasure Hunt King". It was not an exaggeration for him to be able to come up with 3 dollars.
Jimmy looked at him smugly: "Don't worry about that. Anyway, I'm going to be the second largest shareholder, and 25% of the shares will be mine."
"I'm warning you, the more you invest, the greater the risk you take." Although he admired his courage to gamble everything, Ma Jieke still decided to say everything he needed to say: "I think at least half of this money was saved up by you, one jar at a time. If you lose it all, I won't be responsible for cleaning up your mess."
Upon hearing this, Jimmy's smile faded considerably. Indeed, doing business is not like participating in a competition, where even if you lose, you can still get a guaranteed minimum return. If you lose money, all your investment will be wiped out, and you might even end up in debt.
"What, you're already having second thoughts?" Ma Jie raised the corners of his mouth disdainfully. "It's okay, it's not too late to regret it now. You can withdraw some of your funds, and I'll make up the difference."
"Who...who regrets it!" Unexpectedly, provoking him only made the kid more stubborn: "A man does what he decides and doesn't go back on his word. I'll accept it even if I lose. Anyway, I've had enough of the poor days I used to live. If I lose, I can just start over. I'm still young, and youth is my greatest asset."
See, that's human nature. People move from a tent to a new home and their thinking and perspective immediately change.
When it comes to making money, there are two main approaches: increasing income and reducing expenses. Most people can't increase income, so they can only reduce expenses. If you hold this mindset, you'll never be able to afford four dishes in your entire life.
Of course, those who only think about open source may end up worse off than the latter. Starting a business is like a thousand troops crossing a single-plank bridge. Before you have enough ability, it is always right to be a little timid.
After his pep talk, Jimmy's tone softened, and he looked at him seriously: "Actually, I don't really believe in this business. I just believe in you. Before I met you, I never thought that I could do anything else in my life besides picking up trash. You gave me the courage to realize that many things are not as scary as I imagined."
"Stop talking, bro, I'm feeling a bit nauseous." Ma Jie rubbed the goosebumps on his arm. "Your behavior just now reminded me of something: why does little Jimmy never speak in church?"
"What kind of question is this? How did it suddenly veer off to this?" Jimmy said, indicating that he didn't understand.
"Because his mother told him that he couldn't talk when he had something in his mouth."
When Jack revealed the answer, Jimmy paused for a few seconds, then blushed and replied, "Jack, could you please stop making these kinds of ridiculous jokes with me? I don't find them funny at all, and they just make people think our relationship is abnormal."
"Then please stop talking to me like you're confessing your feelings all the time, okay?"
"Oh my god, I didn't confess my feelings at all!"
Seeing his exasperated expression, Ma Jieke couldn't help but laugh and said, "Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore. Now let's discuss the last issue: if we were to hire full-time employees, how many do you think we would need given the current scale of the industry?"
"Let me think about it." He became serious again when the conversation turned to business: "Anyway, we definitely need one person to weigh the goods. That's a fixed position. Two people to do odd jobs are enough. One person can be responsible for sorting, and the other for transportation. We can pick people from the camp to fill these positions. Then there's financial management. I feel that's the most troublesome part because we have many investors, and we'll be involved in more recycling projects in the future. If you ask me to do it, I definitely can't handle it."
"So what's your suggestion?"
"Find a professional." Jimmy picked up his coffee and took a sip. "Don't worry, it won't cost too much. We'll find one among the homeless in the slums."
"Good idea." Ma Jieke agreed with his point of view. There are many hidden talents among the homeless. If you want to find them, you can find talents from almost every industry.
Many people end up homeless simply because they have lost their credit, rather than intending to make a living by collecting recyclables and begging from the beginning.
"If I remember correctly, you and Miss Valentina are quite close, right? Her job is actually affiliated with the shelter. We can get a complete visitor registration list through her. Although doing so might be a bit against the rules, it depends on how far your relationship has progressed."
At Jimmy's prompting, Ma Jie directly opened the social media app.
Send to Valentina: Hi sweetheart, what are you up to?
Valentina: (A casual selfie with a yellow food truck in the background)
Ma Jieke: Send me your location, I'll be right there!
Valentina: Do you need me to reserve a few for you? There are quite a lot of people in line today.
Ma Jieke: No need, I just ate. I have something else to discuss with you. Let's talk when we meet.
Having obtained the specific coordinates, the two rushed to the scene immediately.
It was noon, and the older folks who had gotten up to find food came running as soon as they smelled it. Occasionally, people in the queue would get into fights over cutting in line.
There's nothing we can do; life is tough. The cat sighs.
The only one to blame is those free-to-play players who are too rampant. For safety reasons, the leadership had no choice but to reduce the refresh frequency of the relief food truck from four times a week to twice.
Just as Ma Jie walked to the front of the line, a homeless man with half his face covered by a baseball cap suddenly picked up several pre-packaged meals from the table.
"Hey, one person can only take one!" Valentina called out to stop her, but it was too late. The other person had already run far away and didn't seem to be an adult.
Oh ho, you dare to mess with the Grand Duke Jupiter?
Ma Jie subconsciously activated [Quantum Tracking], marking the food thief and making a move to give chase.
"Jack, let it go," Valentina quickly called out to him, seeing his reaction. "It's just a few fast food meals, no need to take it so seriously."
Actually, she was afraid that if Ma Jieke chased after her, there might be danger, since there are too many mentally unstable people in the homeless community.
"It's alright, I'll be right back. Otherwise, if he gets away with it this time, he might do something even more outrageous next time, which wouldn't be good for you."
Ma Jie arrogantly stated his position and rode off on his motorcycle to catch up.
Those who break the rules should be dealt with severely. If they steal food today, they'll steal phones tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow they'll be participating in free shopping. Never underestimate the speed at which these people grow.
To be honest, this guy was pretty fast; he was practically speeding along, and he kept heading into alleyways.
However, once marked, it will be permanently displayed on the map no matter where it is, unless it leaves Earth.
Following the other person to the vicinity of a bridge arch, the person finally stopped moving.
Ma Jieke stopped his motorcycle some distance away, activated stealth mode, and crept closer.
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