It's dinner time. I'm preparing the usual meal for me and Grandpa. We're eating frozen food because neither of us is good at cooking. I'm not interested in learning because I believe in focusing on one specialty.
I have to excel at one thing; the world needs specialists, not someone who can do everything. Being good at everything just makes you a generalist—average.
What kind of work does a 10-year-old like me do? Well, considering my previous job was in finance, I'll stick to my specialty. I've gone back in time, I have a plan to get rich by taking advantage of the upcoming Great Recession.
One advantage, though: I'm too young to get a loan!
"I'm home, Masamune!"
"Oh! Welcome back, Gramps!"
"It smells good! Haha! It's nice having a grandson around the house."
"Haha, really funny. Anyway, tonight's karaage and miso soup."
In this old Japanese house, we sit at the same low table on the tatami floor. But I can feel the mood is off.
"Masamune, I forgot to tell you—your father gave me a lot of money. I'm planning to put it in a deposit for you to use when you're an adult."
Did he give Gramps child support after kicking me out of the family?
"Can I ask how much he gave you?"
Gramps paused, trying to recall, "…he gave me a check for 1 million USD. Don't worry, Grandpa won't touch a cent of your money. Just relax, you've gone through a lot. I'll still provide proper meals and education for you."
That's a lot of money. But I frown. It feels like my new father just wants me to stay quiet about being his son.
"I'm sorry, Masamune. Grandpa doesn't have the same influence or power as your father's family. It's not my place to say this, but I hope you understand your mother's situation too. I know you're smart enough to understand this. Even though she wanted to leave your father, if she did, neither of you would be able to see your little sister anymore. At least this way, your mother and sister can visit you without any problems."
Hearing this, I recall some painful memories from Masamune's past.
I sigh, "I understand how the adult world works. Don't worry about it."
I continue eating, and I can sense Grandpa smiling at me. Suddenly, I get curious about something.
"Gramps, what did you do for work?"
He hummed before smiling, "I build race cars."
Raising my eyebrow, I laugh, "Really? What kind of cars?"
He laughed, "Nothing serious. I only worked on the aerodynamic parts of Honda F1 cars."
I stop eating and look at him in surprise. "You're not joking, right?!"
"Look at this brat! Of course not. Though, Grandpa has a little problem right now."
That's it! I know what I need to do. I don't have to worry about my age to get a loan—I can connect with wealthy people through Grandpa. I mean, I could use that million dollars for stocks, but that alone won't be enough.
"Masamune, since you're excited, isn't it about time you went back to school?"
"No. School won't be a problem!"
Grandpa looked at me, bewildered.
"You brat! Not attending school is a big problem! How long do you plan to shut yourself in this house?"
"Wait! Listen, listen. I'll go to school later, I promise."
"Oh?" He stroked his jaw, raising an eyebrow at my half-hearted promise. "Well, as long as you've promised, I suppose that's fine."
"I'm serious. Anyway, can I tag along to your workplace?"
He laughed. "You're interested in my work now? Fine, fine. But Grandpa has to ask for permission first. It might take a while."
"That's fine," I said, my face turning serious. Grandpa paused as I continued, "Actually, Grandpa, could you listen to me for a moment?"
Seeing how I asked, Gramps set down his chopsticks and straightened his back.
"Is this something important?"
"Yes..." I nodded. "Over the past month, I've been getting into finance, studying it a lot. It might sound odd to others, but I believe you'll understand. In a few months, I think the world will be shaken by a great recession."
His eyes widened.
"Masamune, can you explain more?"
"You've probably noticed that two years ago, the property market became uncontrollable, and just last year, prices started to rise too high."
This world seems so similar to my old one. In 2006, housing began to decline, and by the following year, the bubble burst. Then issues with subprime mortgages led to the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the global financial crisis.
"About your concerns earlier, Grandpa, I know this season has been rough for Honda, right? Can I make a guess?"
It might sound rude, but I have to take the risk to convince him, especially if I want access to that million dollars now. He looked at me calmly and nodded, so I continued, "Did Honda decide to scrap next season's car and put everything into developing the 2009 car?"
My question seemed to shake him. Of course, I had done some quick research, and while there were a few differences, like Google being more popular just this year. It felt like I had just regressed to the past rather than being born into a completely different world.
"That's correct. But how does my grandson know such classified information?"
"From no one. I just thought it made sense to focus on the car for the 2009 season, especially with the new regulations coming into play. But, Grandpa, like I said earlier, with the great recession ahead, it's likely that Honda will withdraw from competition after 2008."
Grandpa seemed deep in thought. He looked at me, but it felt like he wasn't really seeing me. I should stop here.
"That's impressive, Masamune. I didn't know you had such talent before. Thank you. I'll consider this matter seriously. We might need more time to see if your saying come true."
Of course, he wouldn't take my words at face value. As he said, time would tell. And from his reaction, it seemed like Grandpa wasn't just designing the aero parts—he might be making key decisions at Honda.
"So, do you want to see what I've been working on?" he asked, picking up his bowl of miso soup.
"Yes. But it's fine if it's not possible for me to visit. I don't want to disturb your work."
"No, it's alright. I'll show you later. Actually, Grandpa wanted to tell you something—we'll have to move out of this house."
"We're moving?"
"Yes..." He said with a smirk. "I thought my grandson wasn't excited about race cars, but it seems I was wrong. Anyhow, Masamune, I think you should start learning English—"
As I finished my meal, I looked at him and said in english, "That won't be a problem, Gramps. So, where are we going?"
He seemed a little surprised, then burst into laughter. "You keep surprising me, you brat! You even got your mother's accent down. Well, we're going to—"