Huayu: I Have a Doraemon

Chapter 32: Deregistered

Is Old Zhao in trouble?

He's just an ordinary citizen who never leaves his home; what trouble could he possibly encounter?

Lin An muttered a few words to himself, sensing that he was about to fall into some kind of super vortex, and quickly changed the subject:

"Is there anything you'd like to eat? I've made a fortune, I'll treat you to something good!"

Doraemon shook his head.

"No!"

Lin An said eagerly, "Let me tell you, there are so many good places to eat around Wangfujing. I heard they're having a beer festival recently..."

Doraemon sighed, "Let's do it another day."

Lin An opened his mouth, unwilling to give up, and said:

"Let's go to the museum then, hasn't it been something you've always wanted to go?"

Doraemon continued to shake his head.

Lin An raised an eyebrow and unleashed his ultimate weapon:

"Dorayaki! I can try making dorayaki tonight!"

Doraemon's eyes lit up with a "whoosh".

Lin An was overjoyed, but the light quickly went out the next second, and he felt a chill run down his spine.

It’s over.

It's completely over.

Even dorayaki couldn't appease him. Did Old Zhao blow up Tiananmen Square with a homemade cannon?

Lin An slowly got up, then turned and ran.

"Why--!"

Doraemon reacted quickly, stretching out his round hand and grabbing Lin An's trouser leg tightly.

Lin An stumbled and almost fell to the ground.

"Why are you running?" the blue fat man asked, puzzled.

With such an obvious pitfall right in front of me, am I supposed to just run and get dragged into it...? Lin An's smile was more like a grimace:

"I remembered there are still clothes at home that haven't been washed."

Doraemon asked, puzzled, "Didn't you say we'd all take them back tomorrow for the auntie to wash?"

"Do you have such a good memory...?" Lin An exclaimed, slamming his fist into his palm.

"I think I still have two film reviews to write, and they're due on Monday."

Doraemon's hand remained perfectly still: "Didn't you say that homework is only exciting when it's done at the last minute?"

...Lin An, with his eyes closed, let out a scream:

"Oh, my stomach hurts so much, I need to go to the toilet, oh no, I need to go to the hospital."

Doraemon took a small plastic bottle out of his pocket with his other hand. Inside was the "panacea" that Lin An had bought for his family.

Lin An stared blankly: "..."

Is this a pitfall he absolutely has to fall into?

……

……

"Speak, what is it?"

At the end of the alley, Lin An, with a pepper cake dangling from his mouth, spoke indistinctly.

Three layers of flaky pastry wrap around pepper-seasoned pork filling. One bite and the meat juices and oil burst in your mouth, savory, slightly spicy.

I used to be reluctant to buy these things, but now I can be a little more extravagant.

Doraemon sat on the stone stool next to him, holding one in his round hand, but he didn't eat it.

He paused for a few seconds and said in a low voice:

"Uncle Zhao's son... seems to have gone bankrupt and owes a lot of money."

It's a cliché story, but it's normal. After all, given Old Zhao's age and social connections, the troubles he might encounter are limited to the same few things over and over again... Lin An nodded slightly and asked:

"How much do you owe?"

Doraemon said, "Two hundred and fifty thousand."

Let that son die... Lin An suppressed the urge to curse, glanced at Doraemon, and said calmly:

"I should have told you before, that you have to be doing well yourself before you can help others."

Doraemon blinked and said, "I'm doing quite well."

Lin An said speechlessly, "I think you've missed the point of that sentence."

He said, "What I mean is to act within one's means and not to sacrifice oneself in the process of helping others."

Doraemon squinted and said:

"Please, of course I know that. I'm not stupid."

"If you're not a fool, then who is?" Lin An thought to himself.

Doraemon explained, "His son and daughter-in-law have already repaid 130,000 of the 250,000 debt, so now there is only a shortfall of 120,000."

What does it mean to have only 120,000? Do you know what 120,000 can do nowadays?

Lin An felt it was necessary to educate Doraemon about the purchasing power of the RMB in this era.

"I can't help with this, and neither can you."

He slipped away, ready to make a quick getaway.

"Let me finish!"

Doraemon tugged at Lin An's clothes: "Uncle Zhao originally planned to sell the convenience store, so that with his own savings, he would have enough money."

Lin An was taken aback, then fell silent.

He probably understood Old Zhao's predicament.

Unlike in later years, housing transactions are not transparent now, and the market is full of shady real estate agents.

If someone wants to sell a self-built house like Old Zhao's, the price can be driven down to an unimaginable level.

Ok?

Lin An paused for a moment, then noticed the key point.

He looked at the blue-haired man and asked curiously, "Not counting the house, how much money can Old Zhao come up with right now?"

Doraemon dreamed for a moment and said:

"It seems to be around thirty or forty thousand."

This means that Old Zhao's bottom line for the house is 80,000, or in other words, he has a chance to buy the house as long as he can come up with 80,000!

Lin An's breathing suddenly became rapid.

Crisis and opportunity coexist; the ancients were right!

The vortex that they had been desperately trying to escape instantly transformed into a glittering treasure trove.

80,000.

This two-story building is less than a ten-minute walk from the Nortel Institute of Technology.

Twenty years from now, the price of a house in this location will be at least one zero, no, two zeros higher!

"What are you thinking about?"

Doraemon waved his round hand and waved it twice in front of him.

Lin An snapped out of his daze and coughed, "It's nothing."

Doraemon blinked, seemingly unconcerned, and continued the previous topic:

"Uncle Zhao's house price has been lowered; the agent is only willing to offer 50,000. I wanted to ask if you could lend me 500 points; I want to buy an [automatic screwdriver]."

Lin An was taken aback. "An automatic screwdriver?"

Doraemon nodded and explained, "This screwdriver has a certain degree of automatic alignment, which can increase my work efficiency by 3 times."

He said happily, "I did the math. With this automatic screwdriver and your 24-hour power supply, I can earn 30,000 yuan in just two months. Then Uncle Zhao's troubles will be solved."

Lin An's mouth gaped open slightly, and he stood there, frozen in place.

"What's wrong with you?"

Doraemon nudged his arm, his round face filled with confusion.

Lin An did not answer.

Doraemon, thinking he was unwilling to lend it, gestured with his round hand in the air and spoke faster:

"Don't worry, I'll find a way to return the points to you. Um, you don't need to pay back the two thousand yuan you owe me before; consider it collateral."

Lin An's cheek twitched.

After a brief silence, he put down the pepper cake in his hand, squatted down, hugged his knees with both hands, and huddled in the shadows of the alley corner, burying his head in his arms.

Doraemon was startled, quickly walked over, and whispered:

"Lin An, what's wrong?"

"...It's nothing."

Lin An said dejectedly:

"It just feels like I've just been declassified as a human being."

Doraemon: ? ? ?