I've already reached the Nascent Soul stage, and you're saying I didn't time travel?

Chapter 15 Today Might Be Different

Huayang Road, Huhu Baozi Shop.

It was past ten o'clock, almost noon, and Han Dahai, who had been busy for most of the day, was finally able to relax.

Unlike his previous warm and welcoming demeanor when greeting guests, Han Dahai, now with some free time, had a noticeably more worried look on his face.

Cui He, the wife who had finished working in the kitchen, also came out and said:
"Old Han, my older sister just transferred 20,000 yuan to us as a token of her appreciation to help Wenwen with her medical treatment."

Han Dahai sighed and said:

“Your family isn’t well-off either. This 20,000 yuan must have been squeezed out of their own pockets. But Wenwen needs surgery soon, so we’ll accept the money. Remember to write an IOU.”

"My older sister said we can't write IOUs."

"Forget it, if you don't want to fight, then don't fight. My older sister has a stubborn temper, and it would only make things worse if she made a scene. Let's just remember this."

Cui He asked again:
"How are the house sales going?"

Han Dahai frowned:
"The agent did bring several groups of customers, but they were all very good at bargaining. At that rate, they simply couldn't raise enough money for the surgery."

"I remember the shop next door was selling for 700,000 two years ago, but now we've lowered it to 600,000 and nobody's buying it?"

"The housing market has been bad these past two years, and houses are not selling for a good price. It's especially difficult for people like us who need money urgently to sell our houses. According to real estate agents, if we sell slowly, we might be able to get a reasonable price. But now many buyers are waiting and seeing. If they are in a hurry to sell, they will all try to bargain down to 300,000 or 400,000 yuan without batting an eye."

Cui He's eyes turned red with anxiety:

“How could they do this? This is our only house. We didn’t do this on purpose to make a high price. They’re all trying to lower the price so much. What will happen to Wenwen? She can’t wait much longer.”

After a moment of silence, Han Dahai slowly spoke:

"If this doesn't work out, shall we sell this shop?"

"Sell the shop?"

Cui He's expression faltered slightly:
“We’ve been running this shop for over ten years. It’s practically grown up alongside Wenwen. We’ve spent most of our lives here. Are you really planning to sell it?”

"I understand your feelings for it; who doesn't have feelings?"

Han Dahai glanced around with a lingering look:
“I made all the steamers in this shop by hand, and the layout of the shop is based on my habits. If I don’t encounter any problems, I hope to keep running it until I’m old. Even if I get too old to work, I would rather sell fewer buns than transfer it.”

"But Wenwen urgently needs surgery right now, and the house isn't fetching a good price. Unless we sell this shop too, where are we going to get that much money?"

Cui He hesitated and said:
“If we sell the house, we can rent a place to live, but if we sell the shop too, how will we make a living? After Wenwen’s surgery, the follow-up care will cost a lot of money, and she will also need to go to school and get married in the future. All of these things will cost money.”

“Have you forgotten? Our steamed bun shop started as a roadside stall and gradually built it up step by step. Now we’re just back to square one. I still have my food cart. After cleaning it up, it’s not hard to push it out to sell steamed buns. Besides, without this fixed shop, we can go to more and farther places to sell steamed buns. Maybe the business will be even better than it is now.”

"Business is tough these days. If you suddenly want to sell your shop, can you sell it in a short time?"

"You don't need to worry about this."

Han Dahai glanced to the right and said:
“Old Wei next door is thinking of expanding his business, so I’m planning to sell my shop to him. We know each other well, so I feel comfortable with the transaction.”

Upon hearing this, Cui He immediately became somewhat dissatisfied:
“Old Wei is a bad person. Let’s not even talk about what kind of meat he used in his buns before. Now he puts leavening agents in his fried dough sticks. You should sell the shop to someone else, not him. I can’t stand seeing him harm people.”

"Sell it to someone else?"

Han Dahai smiled wryly:

Who can you sell to in a short period of time?

"Even if we find a buyer, they will definitely haggle hard like they would when buying a house. They can't sell the house and the shop together just to cover the surgery fee. We need to prepare some money for Wenwen's post-operative recovery so that we won't be in a panic if any problems arise."

Cui He's expression immediately became hesitant:
How much are you willing to sell it to him for?

"We chatted casually a while ago, and they said they'd give me 300,000, which is a fair price."

"Then you need to make him transfer the money quickly, Wenwen is waiting for it."

"Okay, I'll go talk to him."

As he spoke, Han Dahai walked out of the shop and caught a glimpse of Wei Songlin, who was just getting out of his Mercedes next door.

"Old Wei, are you done with work?"

"Yes, the naughty child didn't want to go to school, and it was a lot of trouble to get her into school."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Han Dahai got straight to the point:
“Last month you said you were planning to expand your business and were thinking of buying a shop nearby. You also know that our Wenwen is currently hospitalized and we need money for surgery, so I’m thinking of selling this shop to you. What are your thoughts?”

"Sell it to me?"

Wei Songlin stared wide-eyed in surprise:

"You've already sold the house, haven't you? Isn't that enough money?"

Han Dahai sighed and said:

"Houses are hard to sell, what can we do if we urgently need money?"

"You're really unlucky." Wei Songlin glanced at him with pity.
“We’ve known each other for a long time. Since you’re having some trouble, I’ll definitely help you out. I’ll agree to sell the shop.”

Han Dahai was immediately filled with gratitude:

"Old Wei, thank you so much. In the end, I still have to rely on you old friends to help me out."

After saying that, he hesitated for a moment, then added:

"But can we expedite this transaction? Wenwen is still in the hospital, and we need money every day. I need to deposit the 300,000 yuan into her hospital card as soon as I receive it."

"Wait, what, 300,000?"

Wei Songlin asked in surprise.

"That's the transaction price."

Han Dahai asked curiously:

"Didn't you say 300,000?"

"When did I say 300,000?"

Wei Songlin said with a smile:

"Old Han, I'm not trying to be mean, but with your old storefront, how could it possibly sell for 300,000? At most, it'd be 200,000. Considering our past relationship, I'll offer 210,000 as a favor to you."

Han Dahai's face turned pale with anger:

"Two hundred and one thousand? Why don't you just rob someone?!"

"Old Han, that's where you're wrong."

Wei Songlin said earnestly:

"You were the one who offered to sell the shop, how can you say I stole it? Business is tough these days, and shops are hard to sell. I accepted it without any complaints, which is already very kind of you. Instead of being grateful, you accuse me of forcibly taking it? Where can I find justice in this?"

Han Dahai clenched his fists, feeling extremely frustrated.

However, it is indeed difficult to sell the storefront in a short period of time.

He suppressed his anger and pleaded in submission:

“The shop across the street is even smaller than mine, and it sold 280,000 units last month. You’re only offering 210,000 units now. That price is way too low and doesn’t reflect the market price at all!”

"Market price? What is market price? No matter how high you set the price, there has to be a sucker willing to take it. If the other party can find a sucker, that's their skill. Anyway, I'm not going to be that sucker."

“Wenwen often calls you uncle and takes your daughter to play with her. Even for Wenwen’s sake, you can’t offer such a low price.”

"Alright, for Wenwen's sake, I'll add another five thousand."

"Five thousand..."

"Isn't five thousand a lot of money? How many steamed buns would you have to make to earn that back? Don't tell me your daughter is in a hospital bed. You have a daughter to save, but don't I have a family to support?"

Han Dahai almost bit his lips until they bled.

Just then, an old man in a t-shirt led a junior high school student over.

"Boss, thirty mushroom and bok choy buns, please."

Han Dahai took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and turned to walk behind the counter.

He lifted the lid of the steamer and looked inside, saying apologetically:

"There are five mushroom and bok choy buns left. The rest will be made fresh. If you're in a hurry, you can check out our other buns; they're all quite delicious."

"Fine, I'll just have the mushroom and bok choy buns. That's all the kid wants to eat."

"Can we finish thirty?"

"He has several classmates as well."

"Then you may have to wait a little while," Han Dahai said apologetically, "I still need to make some fresh."

"I suggest you pack more."

Han Dahai looked at him with surprise:

"We have too many buns and we can't sell them. It's the middle of the day and no one comes to eat the buns."

The old man smiled and said:

"Today might be different."

(End of this chapter)