April arrived.
A lot had happened in the past two months.
Due to the fallout from the Hanbo incident, President Kim Young-sam issued a public apology for his aides pressuring banks to make risky loans.
And in March, the Sammi Group, which owned Sammi Special Steel, the third-largest steel company in Korea, collapsed due to financial difficulties.
Sammi Special Steel was a stainless steel manufacturer, and stainless steel was a non-ferrous metal, worth more than ten times the price of scrap metal.
Although smaller than Hanbo, it was a lucrative acquisition.
"We made almost 2 billion won."
Not only did we make more money, but the job was easier.
It was so easy that they contacted us first after seeing our banner advertising inventory purchases.
"The weather's nice."
I took a stroll around the company, enjoying the warm spring weather.
"Welcome, sir."
The employees at the computer assembly factory greeted me.
"Hello, everyone. Keep up the good work."
I walked past the employees, who were busy working, and my steps led me to the pile of discarded circuit boards.
I picked up a board and said,
"Computers were our first jackpot."
My life had changed dramatically since I started making new computers from salvaged parts of discarded computers.
I had gone from being a construction worker barely earning 1 million won a month to handling billions of won.
"It's nothing now, but back then, I was thrilled to be handling such a large sum of money for the first time."
Now, a few hundred million won didn't even faze me.
"I've come a long way. I've made it."
It was incredibly satisfying to be enjoying this leisurely life, making billions of won in profit every month, while everyone else was struggling.
I gently stroked the circuit board and said,
"Thank you, computer. I owe it all to you."
As I was reminiscing, a thought suddenly struck me.
"Wait a minute."
I started examining the circuit board closely.
It had copper circuits, numerous IC chips, and the CPU, the control tower of the board.
And then a question popped into my mind.
"This is a discarded, broken board. But it's made up of numerous components."
A thought flashed through my mind.
"Could some of these chips still be working?"
I immediately took the circuit board to the research lab and searched for the only researcher with an electrical engineering background.
"Researcher Kim! Where are you?"
"Oh, sir! Welcome. What brings you here?"
Researcher Kim, who had been working in his lab, came out, surprised to see me. I handed him the circuit board.
He tilted his head and said,
"Isn't this a computer motherboard? Should I sample it?"
I shook my head.
"You see these chips?"
"Yes, I see them."
I swallowed and asked,
"Can you detach them?"
"That's not difficult."
He brought some pliers and was about to pry them off when I stopped him.
"No, no. Can you detach them without damaging the components?"
Researcher Kim thought for a moment.
"They're attached with solder, so we can heat them up and detach them. Wait, I think we have a heat gun somewhere."
I paced back and forth impatiently, waiting for him to bring the heat gun. He returned with the heat gun and started heating the board.
"But why are you asking this, sir? You seem very urgent."
"Well, there's something… Anyway, will it take long?"
"No, it'll be done soon."
After a while, Researcher Kim put on heat-resistant gloves, placed the board on the floor, and tapped it. The chips and CPU, their solder melted by the heat, fell off.
He collected the chips and handed them to me. I let them cool down and inspected them for any external damage.
After the inspection, I said to Researcher Kim,
"Please keep this a secret. This is very important."
I took the heat gun, summoned Maru and Park Jong-bum, and had them meet me at the computer assembly factory.
They were clueless as to why I had called them, but they diligently helped me detach components from discarded circuit boards with the heat gun. We collected the chips and returned to the office.
I said,
"Don't you think some of these might still be working?"
Maru looked at me as if I was crazy.
"What are you talking about? Working chips? Those came from discarded boards."
"Yes, but a computer is made up of various boards and components. If we replace the faulty components, we can reuse the computer. The same applies to discarded boards. They're made up of various chips. So wouldn't it be possible for some of the chips to still be working?"
Maru scoffed.
"No way. They were exposed to such high heat, how could they possibly be working?"
Park Jong-bum nodded in agreement.
"That's right. They were so hot that we couldn't even touch them. There's no way they survived."
I was annoyed that no one agreed with me and raised my voice.
"Why not? Why don't we at least try? I told you, if you're stuck in a box, you'll never be different from others!"
"What's wrong with you?"
"If you're always so negative, you won't be able to do anything!"
My outburst surprised Maru and Park Jong-bum.
I wasn't known for my good temper, but I usually controlled my anger and rarely raised my voice. This was completely out of character.
Maru said, trying to calm me down,
"Hyung, what's wrong? Calm down. You're right, they might be working. How about… we test them?"
"That's right, sir. We'll look into it."
Their condescending tone infuriated me, and I shouted,
"Are you mocking me? Why! Why don't you understand! Can't you feel it? Can't you smell it?"
I held up the chips as if they were treasures and shouted,
"Can't you smell the money? Don't you get it? It's so sweet. Sniff… sniff…"
My intuition was tingling like crazy, driving me to the brink of madness.
"…I'm sorry. I got too excited."
After a while, as my excitement subsided, I felt embarrassed by my outburst.
"Are you… feeling better now?"
I covered my face with my hands at Maru's question.
"Ugh, why did I do that? I completely lost it. I've never been like that before."
I had gotten excited before, driven by my intuition, but this was the first time I had lost control like that.
"That money smell again? I wish I could smell it too. How sweet can it be?"
Maru's teasing made me want to disappear.
"Stop it. I'm sorry. I'm calm now."
Maru pretended to sniff the IC chips, mimicking me, and Park Jong-bum was struggling to suppress his laughter.
"Hmm, is it sweet? It kind of smells like dirt to me."
"Damn it! Stop it!"
"Okay, okay."
Maru put down the chips, and I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down again.
"Anyway, I see potential in this. It's just an extension of the computer business. Finding working components and creating value. We have nothing to lose, and if it works, great. Let's think of it that way."
Maru pondered and then said,
"Whatever. It doesn't hurt to try. But let's say it works. How are you going to handle it?"
"What do you mean? We sell them to board manufacturers, of course."
Maru looked at me with a condescending gaze.
"Hyung, think carefully. Where did these IC chips come from?"
"Discarded circuit boards."
"Then what are the models?"
"286 or 386."
"So they're outdated components. Do you think there are any companies that still use them?"
Maru's words made me freeze.
Manufacturers were already producing Pentium processors, not even 486s anymore.
There couldn't possibly be any companies still manufacturing computers with 5-6-year-old technology.
"Well… wouldn't someone use them somewhere? The 286 and 386 computers we made are selling well in the secondhand market."
"That's because they're cheap. Most computer manufacturers are in developed countries. Who would use such outdated chips? And they're not even new. It's not like we're going to combine these chips and make our own boards."
His words were undeniable, and my confidence dwindled.
My intuition was still telling me that this would bring me immense wealth, but the reality wasn't that simple.
Seeing my dejection, Maru sighed and said,
"Let's at least find a company that can test them for us. Since you're so excited about this, it's worth a try."
***
I visited a board manufacturer we frequently did business with.
They were located in Ansan Industrial Complex, and we had a long-standing relationship, but they were unlikely to agree to my unusual request of testing the salvaged IC chips by installing them on their boards.
I went to see the person in charge of waste disposal.
"Oh, CEO Park from Chunha Trading! It's been a while. I can't even remember the last time I saw you. Your employees have been handling everything lately."
I smiled at Assistant Manager Kim Young-bok's greeting.
"It has been a while."
"What brings you here? You don't have enough scrap to collect yet."
"No, no, I'm not here for that. I have a different request."
There were thousands, if not tens of thousands, of different types of IC chips, each with a unique shape and function.
I knew next to nothing about IC chips, so I had brought 15 different types, categorized solely by their appearance.
"These are semiconductor chips. What do you need them for?"
"I was wondering if you could test them for me."
"These? Why? They don't look to be in good condition…"
As he examined the chips with a suspicious look, I took out 100,000 won and handed it to him.
"I'm sure your boss wouldn't agree to this if I asked him directly. Can you please test them for me secretly?"
He glanced at his boss's office, quickly pocketed the money, and said,
"Since you're asking so nicely, I'll do it for you. I can't do it now, but I'll do it in the evening, after my boss leaves."
I thanked him and waited outside the company.
After a long wait, evening arrived, and the sun began to set. The company's CEO left in his car, and I received a call from Kim Young-bok.
[My boss is gone, you can bring them now.]
When I arrived at the office, Kim Young-bok had a small testing device ready.
"This device only checks if they're working or not. We don't have the expensive equipment that can test their performance and other specifications. Is this okay?"
"Of course, I just need to know if they're working."
Kim Young-bok carefully examined the 15 IC chips, compared them to the testing device, and said,
"I can test eight of these. The others don't fit the device."
"Alright, please proceed."
I watched his hands with bated breath. He installed a chip on the testing device and pressed the button.
"…"
"…"
"There's no response. It's faulty."
I forced a smile and said,
"Please try the next one."
He tested all the remaining chips, and I thanked him and left the company.
I stared blankly at the IC chips in my hand and said,
"Seven out of eight… are working."