novelraw Chapter 191
Chapter 191
Lewis greeted Leon warmly, stepping forward to give him a big hug.
“I didn’t expect your first batch of parsnips to have already matured and been shipped out. This is such a pleasant surprise—especially since there were actually two gold-star quality parsnips in the batch! That’s truly uplifting news.”
Leon wriggled free from Lewis’s embrace, deadpanning, “They were sent out days ago.”
“Well, I’ve just been so busy that I didn’t notice.” Lewis scratched his beard awkwardly, then, still smiling, ushered Leon inside. He reached over to the coffee table, picked up an envelope, and held it in front of Leon.
“This is a letter from the governor. The gist of it is that he’s pleased to see Red Star Farm brimming with life again. Oh, and here’s the reward money from the governor.”
After carefully putting away the letter, Lewis pulled out 500G in bills and handed them to Leon. “This is the governor’s personal congratulatory gift, as encouragement.”
Leon beamed and accepted the money. “Then please thank the governor for his kindness on my behalf.”
“Of course. But I think you’d better thank him in person. When the summer festival starts, the governor will personally visit Pelican Town. You’ll have a chance to speak face to face.”
“There’s still a long way till summer,” Leon muttered.
“Not really. Time flies,” Lewis reassured him.After that, Lewis began brewing tea. The tea set was exquisite, and when the cup was placed in front of Leon, he realized it was black tea, carrying a pleasant aroma.
“So, what brings you here so early in the morning?”
Once the tea was ready, Lewis sat across from Leon and asked.
“I wanted to ask about the shipment payments. This time the payment is a bit slow in coming, and my farm’s cash flow is about to break,” Leon complained.
He still had enough money for now, but without such an excuse, he worried Lewis might drag things out—even though that was unlikely.
“I’ll push them for you. But you can’t really blame the distributors. Lately you’ve been shipping goods every day, and their plan was to settle accounts on weekends.” Lewis explained.
“Can’t they just settle each transaction separately?” Leon asked.
“They couldn’t before, but now they can,” Lewis replied.
“Because Red Star Farm’s value has been proven?” Leon guessed.
“Exactly. Talking with you is easy—I don’t even have to explain, and you get my point.” Lewis smiled approvingly. “I’ll negotiate with the merchants to see if we can get you paid the very next day after delivery.”
“Thanks, Lewis.” Leon nodded, then asked, “The last time we met, you said you wanted to see me. Don’t tell me it was just to talk about the governor’s letter?”
“Well, it is something worth celebrating, isn’t it? But since you’re here, I’ll also tell you about Pelican Town’s new event.”
Lewis stood, leading Leon over to a small office area inside the house. There, a machine stood—something like a fruit slot machine. Its icons kept rolling, displaying all sorts of images, and Leon could spot some nice items among them.
For example, saplings for fruit trees not sold at Pierre’s General Store, as well as some flashy-looking seeds and furniture designs.
“This is an idea from a friend of mine. He thought life in Pelican Town was a bit too plain, so he wanted to add some fun.”
As he spoke, Lewis took a red lottery ticket from a box behind the machine and showed it to Leon.
“This is the ticket that starts the machine. Put it in here, and the machine will start once, giving you a random prize. The prizes cover all kinds of things.”
“Can you tell me how to get a ticket?” Leon asked, even though he’d already heard from Gus. Still, better to ask Lewis to avoid awkwardness.
Lewis readily explained. “Of course—it’s me who distributes them. But there’s a limit. I only give them as a reward to the person who completes the most community requests in a month. Three tickets at a time.”
“That’s the only way to get them?” Leon pressed.
“Not entirely. Sometimes, important requests will also have tickets as a bonus reward.” Lewis went on, “For example, public requests—those are usually issued by me, listing problems or threats in Pelican Town and seeking solutions. For such requests, I might add tickets along with the regular payment.”
At this point, Lewis hesitated. “But I worry this might go against the original purpose of the community board. It’s meant to encourage people to interact more, to build a sense of belonging by helping each other. If everyone just aims for tickets and treats it like a job, the whole thing could become too utilitarian.”
“Whether there are tickets or not, the residents’ requests will still be there, right? You’re not saying without tickets, no one would help?” Leon countered.
“That’s true.” Lewis paused, then handed the ticket to Leon.
“Go on, take one and try. You’ve earned the governor’s praise, and that’s brought attention to Pelican Town. Think of this as my personal reward.”
“Your friend won’t be upset about you giving me a ticket like this?” Leon asked cautiously, not taking it right away.
“Of course not. This is meant to boost Pelican Town’s vitality and unity, and you’ve earned it.” Lewis firmly pushed the ticket into Leon’s hand.
“Besides, I’m curious to see what you’ll win. There are so many prizes in here, but I haven’t given out a single ticket yet, so someone needs to test whether it even works.”
“Can I try it next time?” Leon suggested. Today his luck felt average, and he wanted to wait for a better day.
“Oh, come on, just use it now. Keeping it won’t do any good, and I really want to see if this thing works,” Lewis urged.
“Fine.” Leon sighed, and despite himself, his curiosity won out. He slid the ticket into the machine.
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