Chapter 2: Picking up cans and getting rich "Alan, why are you wandering on the streets?" Dominic asked. "Wandering? Why? Why do you ask? Don't I look like an Asian who just came to travel?" Zhang Ailun thought that he probably didn't have such an obvious homeless temperament. Look at my clothes, man, this is brand new original red skin. Most characters in survival games start out with nothing but underwear. "Not like." Dominic shrugged and said, "Because no one would sit on the side of the road in beach shorts for more than two hours. It's February now and most people are still wearing hoodies. You came from a shelter. If you hadn't spoken clearly, I would have suspected that you were on drugs. The drinks and meals in that shelter are basically only provided to people who don't have jobs." Zhang Ailun was surprised and said, "You can be a detective, man." "Wait, you were staring at me for two hours?"
Zhang Ailun immediately looked at him warily and said, "I don't have that kind of sexual orientation. You don't still want to invite me to go home with you, do you?" Dominic was speechless. "I just wanted the can in your hand. I have been hanging around these streets. This is one of my main sources of income." He added: "I have no home anymore, but at least I still have a tent to live in." "How much money can you make from selling cans?" Zhang Ailun became interested as soon as he heard that he could make money. Now he is penniless and has no money. Relying on the relief station for free is not a long-term solution. There is no way you can think about working normally without an identity, let alone you are a yellow-skinned person at the bottom of the food chain. You can’t beat the Mexicans in washing dishes, and you can’t beat the blacks in zero-yuan shopping. Picking up waste and opening treasure chests may be the more respectable jobs with relatively good income nowadays. There are more than one million can recyclers in the United States every year, and it can be considered a job that will not make you starve. "Each scrapyard is located in a different location, and the daily price will be different." Dominic said frankly, "At the recycling station I often go to, at 16 156th Street in the Fifth District, a can is 5 cents and a clear beverage bottle is 4 cents. If you recycle by weight, the price per pound will be much cheaper." "Last time I spent a few hours guarding the back door of Sanji Bar and Carnation Club, recycling cans from the trash cans, and sold them for a total of $64. I also accidentally picked up a Cartier watch!" "You can find everything in the trash cans in the rich areas! Gold, diamonds, cocoa, cigarettes, leaves, US dollars. Brand new, unopened rice cookers, red wine, daily necessities, and even brand-name clothing. You can sell whatever you pick up at the recycling station." "I can make about $200-800 a week by picking up scraps. If I can find valuable items in wealthy areas every time, I can even make $2000 a week!" Damn it. Is it possible to make money selling scrap in America? The drop rate of treasure chest is so high? Zhang Ailun was somewhat tempted. He had previously learned about the prices in the local neighborhood, and it was relatively cheap to only eat fast food. A thick burger at McDonald's was $, a hamburger and hot dog at a roadside fast food truck was $, and a $10 meal could feed your whole family. I already eat fast food, so why should I care about my health? You can buy clothes and shoes at a 1 yuan store or a high-end second-hand store. The discount store also offers two T-shirts for $. But unfortunately, Zhang Allen's pockets are cleaner than his face. He only had a $1 coin on him, which he picked up on the street, and he couldn't afford to buy anything.
Like the Adidas sportswear Dominic is wearing, outdated models are actually not that valuable and can be sold for just a dozen dollars at a discount store for clearance. Branded goods don't sell well abroad. These days, every homeless person has one. Just now he saw a black pearl girl wearing Nike. I don’t know if it’s a free purchase or what. "The competition in this industry should be quite fierce," Zhang Ailun asked. "Of course, it's not that easy to get into the rich area. Every street is occupied by homeless people, and there are people in the shelter who collect cans. On weekdays, I can only go through the trash cans in the roadside shopping malls, and follow people like you, waiting for them to throw away the cans after they finish drinking. My income is very unstable." Dominic said: "But this is not my main source of income. You know, picking up waste will cause conflicts with many people. If you want to get along well, you must reduce conflicts. It is not easy to make money by relying on this. It will be very hard." "Many homeless people are drug addicts and don't have the patience or energy to do this. Sometimes, my friends and I choose to go to shops or alleys to take some things." It seems normal for a homeless person to admit what he did. "Ok, I understand. But I'm homeless now. Do you know where I can get free tents and daily necessities?" Zhang Ailun took out a coin from his pocket and said helplessly, "This is my only $1. I can't afford anything." Dominic took a look and kindly reminded, "This is 1 cent, Alan." "?" Zhang Ailun was stunned. Then he got really angry, "F**K!! This is 1 cent!? Who is so bored that he wants to cast even 1 cent into a coin? Even the cost of the materials must be more expensive than this, right? Are all of you Americans so bored? Or is there something to be gained from this?" Zhang Ailun had never seen what a one-dollar coin and a one-cent coin looked like before. Who cares about that? In an age where online payments are everywhere, we’ve long since gotten used to not using cash. He didn't even recognize the currency of his hometown. The new currency looked fake. A dollar becomes a penny. This makes the already poor family even worse off. Dominic looked at the frustrated Zhang Allen, sighed and said, "Alan, although I really want to help you, I don't have any extra money to give you. Maybe you can go to the pawn shop to sell your valuables and buy a cheaper tent first, otherwise it will be stolen or robbed if you keep it with you." "You make a lot of sense! But look at me carefully, man. Come on, tell me, what else on me is valuable? My ass?" Zhang Ailun spread his hands. He was wearing only a pair of beach shorts. Do you think I don't want to wear clothes and show off my body? In February, when the temperature barely reaches 10 degrees, doing street art? I don't have any clothes to wear. "If you don't mind, you can come with me to live under the No. 19 bridge tunnel today. I have a spare mattress and tent there, which is the space for a friend of mine. The shelter also distributes tents and clothes for free every week, or you can think of other ways." Dominic said after thinking for a while. "Thank you so much, man." Zhang Ailun's gratitude was so strong that he suddenly froze. You really want to take me home...
Are kidneys popular in America too? Zhang Ailun was secretly alert. He asked again, "But won't your friends mind?" "She was put in jail for committing a crime." "…oh, I'm so sorry about that." Dominic's words shocked Zhang Ailun, and confirmed that he was probably kind-hearted. After all, tents in California are expensive! In order to maintain health and safety, the San Francisco government once provided 6 camping sites with a total of 260 tents for homeless people. These arrangements cost a total of 1820 million US dollars, and the average cost of each tent was about 6 US dollars per year... oh! shit! This is a piece of shit bureaucracy. Otherwise he would definitely have to sleep on the street tonight. "It's okay. She'll be out soon. Because the things she took were not worth more than $950. She just had the bad luck of running into a patrol officer in a wealthy area. It happened that the lost items were found in the trash by the owner. She was charged with theft and needs to pay a $200 fine or be detained for days." Dominic didn't take it seriously. California law stipulates that if there is no injury or death during the zero-dollar purchase and the value does not exceed $950, it is only a misdemeanor. Although buying items for free is a crime, generally speaking, as long as you are not caught on the spot and run away quickly after taking the items, the police will basically not interfere. If someone is caught on the spot making a purchase for free, and it is a first offense, he or she will only be taken back to the police station for verbal education. But if you encounter a police officer who is in a bad mood, and the person you are arresting is a repeat offender, they will find all kinds of reasons to fine you around $200-1000 and detain you for half a month. In serious cases, the offender may even be sentenced to more than six months but less than five years in prison. Bail is also very expensive. Zhang Ailun can only sigh that the West Coast is freedom. (End of this chapter)