Chapter 68: Hidden Settings

“Hiss! You’ve really got my old style now! That’s how it should be! Sometimes people don’t even know what they really need. Is it just the basics of food and shelter? Not necessarily. The platform ensures we don’t starve, but the free market is the true source of joy and hope! Hahaha!

Let’s trade! Last time, I exchanged for rice and realized it uses too much water. It pained me to no end! And little miss, it’s not easy for you either, living near a water source when your place is still in drought, huh?”

“No kidding, we’ve already left Qishan Prefecture and moved to another large prefecture, yet it’s still like this.”

Yan Yu pointed at Sanbao and said, “Sanbao still has plenty of water in its belly. If it’s not enough, it can drink more.” Then she grinned. “Uncle, you wouldn’t believe it, but Sanbao has been a huge help to my family. It pulls our double-decker cart effortlessly, processes jerky, stores water, plans routes… Oh, and it can even climb mountains!”

The uncle dryly responded, “You named it Sanbao, huh? I didn’t expect you to develop so many functions for it. As long as it’s useful, that’s what matters.”

Enhancing transport capacity and planning routes was expected, but processing jerky and storing water—what the heck?!

And making a cow climb mountains…

Fine, it can do that, but isn’t this pushing it too far?!

This family really squeezes every last drop of usefulness out of their things!

They completed a trade with what remained in Sanbao’s belly—20 jin of rice, 20 jin of flour, two types of wild vegetables (Malanders and wild amaranth), 3 jin each of frozen chicken, fish, and pork, plus a large chunk of wild boar meat and two slabs of ribs.

At Yan Yu’s request, they also threw in several bottles of fruit juice and vegetable juice as freebies.

The nutrient liquid was… tolerable at best. Whether it was corn-flavored or banana-flavored, the taste was far off from the label.

But Li Xuemei found the fruit and vegetable juices quite palatable.

During pregnancy, her tastes had become unpredictable, but she mostly preferred lighter flavors.

While Yan Yu was busy with the trade, Yan Lao’er cheerfully washed some ground cherries.

He picked one, tasted it, smacked his lips, and nodded. Then he divided them into two portions—one for his boss and one for his precious daughter.

Watching the little girl pop ground cherries into her mouth one after another, the uncle couldn’t take it anymore. He abruptly cut off the call.

The pile of goods before them disappeared, replaced by a lazy, just-awakened big cat.

Yan Yu recalled the activation command the uncle had flashed on the screen earlier.

With a long sigh, she whispered in resignation, “It’s decided! You’ll be… Doraemon!”

The big cat’s ears twitched. It tilted its round eyes at her, its long tail swishing lazily.

Yan Yu: I’m doomed, I’m doomed! Side-head kill!

She whispered to the cat, “I’m Shizuka.” The cat stared at her for three seconds, then nodded.

Li Xuemei said to the cat, “I’m the mom who makes dorayaki.” The cat stared at her for five seconds, then nodded.

Yan Lao’er, expressionless, said, “I’m Nobita.” The cat stared at him for three seconds, then nodded.

Then, in a flash, it leaped onto Yan Lao’er’s shoulder, then onto his head, and from there, shot up a tree.

In the blink of an eye, it was gone.

The family of three: …

Yan Yu panicked. What happened? Why did it run away?!

Seeing that there was still time, she quickly reconnected.

The uncle answered instantly: “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?”

“Uncle, the cat ran away! We followed your instructions exactly, word for word! What’s going on?!”

The uncle looked completely unbothered. “Didn’t I tell you? I temporarily programmed it as a little surprise for you.”

“That was no surprise—only shock!” Yan Yu pressed on. “Also, why did it jump on my dad to get up the tree? Is there something wrong with this cat?”

“Think about your ownership command.” The uncle explained methodically, “It’s a robot cat. Based on your request, your mom, as the one who makes dorayaki, has the highest authority. You and your dad are secondary, as Shizuka and Nobita.”

“That’s correct, but it suddenly jumping on people—what if it leapt onto my mom and scared her? She’s pregnant!”

Precisely because she was expecting, Yan Yu had given Li Xuemei the highest authority, for the self-defense feature the uncle had mentioned.

The uncle shook his head firmly. “That would never happen! The robot cat wouldn’t dare challenge Nobita’s mom’s authority. What, does it not want to eat dorayaki anymore?”

“As for Nobita… There’s a hidden setting. A cat’s nature can’t be completely tamed. It will always have a mischievous and proud side. That’s why it needs someone to interact with. Nobita serves that role—it’ll obey orders but also ‘bully’ him from time to time…”

Yan Yu: …

She cast a sympathetic glance at her dad.

So in the future, the cat would both love and torment her father?

“And it didn’t run away. It’s for the storyline. You guys need a reason for suddenly having a cat, right? I’ve already set it up for you. When the sun rises, the plot will officially begin. So cooperate, okay? It’s time to show off your family’s acting skills!” The uncle clenched his fist excitedly and decisively ended the call.

Yan Yu: I really want my meat back…

After explaining everything to her parents, Li Xuemei chuckled, barely holding back laughter. “It’s actually pretty interesting.”

Yan Lao’er had a complicated expression. Why did he have to be Nobita? He could’ve been Shizuka too!

Still smiling, Li Xuemei coughed lightly. “I was thinking, should we buy some bamboo slips to read? And some hand-copied books?”

Bamboo Slip Three contained a charcoal-making method. It wasn’t useful now, but when they moved north, it would be invaluable.

Plus, it was simple and easy to learn—a skill that could be mastered quickly.

“I was thinking the same.” Yan Yu gestured toward the dark surroundings. “But we’re still far from having enough points, so we’ll have to…”

Yan Lao’er immediately said, “Let’s go! I’ll hold the torch, you ride Sanbao, and we’ll sell a few more trees while it’s still dark.”

Yan Yu nodded excitedly, enjoying being lifted high by her father.

The two of them, along with the ox, quickly vanished into the night.

Li Xuemei kept glancing around anxiously.

After a while, father and daughter returned, looking rather pleased.

Of course!

Since everyone had just arrived and wasn’t familiar with the surroundings, Yan Yu could freely sell trees.

If she hadn’t deliberately chosen ones that were struggling for space or growing poorly, she could have sold even more.

But one shouldn’t be too greedy.

For now, they had plenty.

Seeing the four-digit balance, Yan Yu confidently bought Bamboo Slip One and Hand-Copied Book Two.

Why not Hand-Copied Book One? Ahem… she was too excited and accidentally clicked the wrong one…

With twenty minutes left, the Free Market icon blinked again.