The owner spoke as if dumbfounded.
"So you're saying you want to run a junkyard?"
"Yes!"
"You'll commute here and learn the ropes?"
"Yes!"
"Why would a young man want to do this kind of work? There are so many other things you can do these days. This is not an easy job. Plus, you'll be ridiculed for being a garbage dealer. An old man like me can put up with it, but it's not a job for a young person. And if you're doing this because of the dining table, you're mistaken.."
"What do you mean?"
"Honestly, who would buy a dining table from a junkyard? Even I thought you had a strong stomach when I sold it to you. Honestly, it's dirty, isn't it?"
"I can just clean it and use it."
"You really have a strong stomach. Anyway, why would a young man do this? You might make some money, but it's better to get a decent job and work."
I hit my chest and said,
"I have a strong feeling about this. I think I can do this even with my bare hands! I think I can earn as much as I work! What's wrong with making money from anything? There's a saying, 'Earn like a dog, spend like a lord!' I'm confident! Just teach me a little. Please? If it doesn't feel right after a while, I can quit, right? I'll work for free. I have a body tempered by construction work, so feel free to use me! Please, sir!"
At my persistence, the owner put his hand on his forehead and said,
"I really don't understand why you would want to run a junkyard when there are so many other jobs out there."
"I have a dream. I want to live in a palace-like mansion and drive a luxury foreign car. But no matter how hard I work at a regular job, it seems impossible to save up that much. But this just caught my eye. I saw that guy who came in the truck earlier, he just picked up wardrobes and stuff from the streets and sold them here, right? You can start with just a truck and your body, without needing any capital. Just give me a chance. Just one month, no more, just one month. Please."
"Oh, this is something else."
That's how my junkyard life began.
The basics of a junkyard were sorting and dismantling. Especially important was separating non-ferrous metals like aluminum and copper from ferrous scrap metal.
To the average person, they might look the same, but the value difference between ferrous scrap and non-ferrous metals (aluminum, copper, zinc, etc., a general term for metals that are not iron) was more than tenfold. Therefore, the top priority in sorting was to separate the high-value non-ferrous metals.
For example, when aluminum cans and steel cans were mixed and brought to the junkyard, they were purchased as scrap metal at 60 won per kg. But if they were sorted into aluminum cans and steel cans and then delivered to other large junkyards, aluminum cans were traded at 600 won per kg and steel cans at 60 won per kg.
When an electric fan was brought to the junkyard, it was worth 100 won per kg, but if it was dismantled and the plastic was collected separately, the plastic was worth 200 won per kg, the scrap metal was worth 70 won, and the waste wires and copper could be sold as non-ferrous metals for up to 3,000 won.
The more I learned, the more fascinating it became. And the recycling market was bigger and more extensive than the average person realized.
From the grandmas and grandpas collecting waste paper, empty bottles, and empty cans with their carts, to the 1-ton truck owners who were small businesses, the local junkyard where I was was a medium-sized business, the large businesses that received and processed the sorted materials from medium-sized businesses, and finally, the smelters that melted down all the recyclables and turned them into new products.
I learned a lot from the owner during the month I worked there.
"The most important thing when running a junkyard is being cold-hearted. Cold-hearted again and again."
"Why is that?"
"This business is full of scammers. They might say they have a ton of aluminum cans and sell them for 300 won, but the bottom of the sack is all steel cans. Or they might say they have a ton of motors and you buy them to extract the copper inside, but when you open them up, they're just empty shells with the copper already taken out."
"Wow… Does that happen often?"
"Not often, but it's not unheard of. But there are also big scores."
"Big scores?"
"Think the other way around. Someone might sell me something thinking it's steel, like steel cans for 60 won, but it turns out to be aluminum cans. How much profit is that?"
"Five times."
"That's right. You know how I bought that New Grandeur? I bought a used wardrobe for 20 won per kg, and when I pulled out the bottom drawer, there were bundles of cash inside, like someone's hidden stash."
"Bundles of cash? Didn't you return it to the owner?"
"Return it? How would I know whose money it was? Was it the 1-ton truck owner who sold me the wardrobe, the person who threw it away, or someone who bought it used and then threw it away? Is there any way to find out? I don't even know who threw it away in the first place. That 1-ton truck owner probably wouldn't even remember where he picked it up. Of course, this is a very unusual case. It was the first time in my life doing this business."
The owner chuckled for a while, as if remembering that time, then turned serious again.
"Remember this. In the junkyard business, you earn as much as you know. If you don't know, you can assume that the money that was in your hands is now in someone else's. And we junkyard owners should never call these things trash. We should call them goods. We create value from what others throw away as trash. Others might make fun of us for being in the garbage business, but we shouldn't do that to each other."
Unlike his initial reluctance to let me join, the owner spoke as if he had pride in the recycling business.
Actually, it is a garbage business, I thought to myself, but I didn't say it out loud.
Trash is trash, no matter what you call it. Money is money, and trash is trash.
"And since you've already started, let me tell you one more thing."
"What is it?"
"Honestly, this is profitable. It's a kind of blind business. Plus, it's all cash transactions. The large businesses above us issue proper invoices, but we don't. Hehehe. You're lucky. I was thinking about retiring soon because of my age, and then a young guy like you voluntarily jumps into this dirty business. I'm both impressed and feel sorry for you, so I'm teaching you the know-how and all that. You're the first young guy like this, but do you know how many people have begged me to teach them?"
I rubbed my hands together and replied,
"Oh, I know, I know. I'm grateful."
Anyway, it's good to hear that it's profitable.
The owner left work first, cleaned up, locked the junkyard, and turned around to see Maru standing there. Maru looked at me with a dumbfounded expression and said,
"Hyung, what are you doing here? Did you just come out of the junkyard?"
"Haha. It's been a month, hasn't it? Good to see you, Maru!"
"No. I heard that you quit the labor agency, but I was a bit upset that you didn't tell me. And around lunchtime today, I was carrying sacks and happened to look at the junkyard, and I saw you hammering away. I thought I was seeing things at first."
I put my arm around Maru's shoulder and said with a smile,
"Let's go to the makgeolli place and talk while we drink. It's a long story."
"Hyung, you're not wearing the clothes you wore while working at the junkyard, are you? Don't they smell?"
"Do you want to die? I wear separate work clothes when I work. Let's go!"
"So you saw that and just decided to work there, and now you're working for free?"
"Well, it's not just that, but that's basically the gist of it."
As Maru stared at me in disbelief, I started to explain.
"It's complicated to explain in detail, but I've been doing this for a month. This is really profitable. Really."
"What do you know after just a month? Don't you know that people who start businesses do market research for a year before they even begin? Is that junkyard owner scamming you?"
"Why would he scam me? To make money, you have to do something that others don't know about, right? If you do what everyone else is doing, how are you going to make money? You'll be crushed by competing businesses and people. Do you know what snack bars hate to sell the most? It's ramen. They can't sell it at a high price because everyone knows the cost."
"Is that the same as a snack bar? And honestly, it's embarrassing. A junkyard! Even though we don't care what people think, isn't being a garbage dealer a bit too much? I don't know if you'll ever get married, but what are you going to say when they ask about your job at the marriage meeting? Junkyard owner? Garbage dealer? Oh, it'll be over right there. What about your kids? Why were they born to a junkyard owner father, so when their friends ask, 'What does your father do?' they have to say, 'He's a garbage dealer!'"
At Maru's words, I silently took a sip of makgeolli. He's right, the perception of junkyards is terrible.
"So?"
"Huh?"
"So, what does that matter?"
"What do you mean, what does it matter?"
"I love money. Everyone says they don't hate money, but I really, really, really love money. But you know what they say, money makes money. But I don't have any money, and this doesn't require much capital, right? Plus, if you're lucky, you can hit the jackpot. And it's an industry that people don't know much about, so there's not much competition. There's nothing better than this, really. Money is money, no matter how you earn it. As long as you earn it and use it well, that's all that matters. Nothing is perfect. If there's risk, there's also reward."
"That risk is too big! We're only in our 20s. We have a bright future ahead of us, with endless opportunities! If we keep working construction together and get scouted by a construction company, we could easily make 120,000 won a day. There's no need to go to such lengths…"
I interrupted Maru, showing him my palm.
"I thought it was worth taking that risk. And how can you guarantee that there are endless opportunities? Anyway, long story short, why don't you join me? Let's sell trash and live like lords!"
I extended my hand to Maru.