novelraw Chapter 55: The Traveling Merchant
Chapter 55: The Traveling Merchant
Thinking of this, Leon couldn’t help but smile. Perhaps this was also a wonderful kind of experience, wasn’t it? Still, knowing Mr. Qi, it was unlikely he’d do something like that. With his mischievous, fun-loving personality, he’d probably just sit back and watch Leon get up to outrageous antics with a grin.
Shaking off the thought, Leon took a pack of pasta from the fridge and boiled it. Since there weren’t any proper ingredients for authentic pasta sauce, he used scallion oil made from fried leeks to toss the noodles. It was the kind of sacrilege that could make an Italian faint, yet the result was surprisingly delicious. Leon was rather impressed.
Life on the farm was just that simple. Apart from daily labor and preparing three meals, Leon mostly spent the rest of his time wandering outside, keeping an eye out for ways to make money. On the farm itself, aside from an old television, there wasn’t much in the way of entertainment.
So, after catching some local news and tomorrow’s weather forecast—and seeing it would be another sunny day—Leon went to bed early.
Early to bed and early to rise makes for a healthy body. The next morning, Leon woke full of energy. He dressed, washed up, grabbed his watering can, and headed out.
As usual, he watered all the crops. Several plants had already sprouted tender new leaves, most of them parsnips—the earliest to mature—already bearing five or six true leaves.
Their rapid growth in such a short time left Leon wondering whether the soil in Stardew Valley was just that fertile, or if plants in this world simply grew at such an astonishing rate.
Either way, it was a good thing. This meant he could sell mature crops sooner and perhaps add some variety to his currently simple menu.
After watering, Leon fried a few eggs, made a small pot of porridge, ate his fill, and washed the dishes. That was when he noticed the mailbox was slightly ajar—meaning he had mail.
“Dear new farm owner,I am a traveling merchant from the Gotro Empire. Upon hearing that this farm had a new master, I couldn’t wait to send you this letter. Today, I will park my wagon in the clearing beside the largest tree in the Coal Forest, northwest of your southern border.
On my wagon, you’ll find goods from the Gotro Empire and other islands across the Gem Sea. The prices are favorable, and you may find treasures rare in the Fanjier Republic. I look forward to your visit.”
That was the only letter in the box. The sender wasn’t a town resident, but a traveling merchant.
After reading it, Leon returned to his cabin, grabbed all his savings, and took out his bicycle. He rode south toward the forest.
The traveling merchant was easy to find. He hadn’t gone deep into the woods, and Leon remembered the big tree he’d mentioned—too prominent to miss in the entire Coal Forest.
After passing the tree, Leon spotted a massive box wagon over three meters tall and five meters long parked in the clearing.
As he rode closer, he saw that beneath its teal arched roof, the wagon’s purple-patterned body stood on unevenly sized wheels that still managed to keep it level.
On the left side, a window had been opened. A young man with center-parted hair matching the teal roof waved warmly at Leon. But Leon’s attention was fixed elsewhere—on the large, fat purple pig hitched to the wagon.
This pig was nearly the size of a bear, with glasses perched above its eyes. Since it wasn’t needed for hauling at the moment, it lay sprawled on the ground like a mountain of meat.
“Haha, everyone who sees him for the first time gets drawn to him. But sorry, he’s my partner and driver, and he’s not for sale,” the merchant said cheerfully.
“Even if you did sell him, I doubt I could afford it.” Leon thought about how the pig could not only pull the wagon but swim across the sea—an outrageous talent—and knew it was far beyond his means.
“But I’m sure you can afford my other goods. Care to take a look?” The merchant continued, then pressed something inside the wagon. From the window outward, the walls of the wagon unfolded, revealing neatly displayed goods of all kinds.
Leon glanced over them. There was indeed a wide variety, with no duplicates—from fish and crops to furniture, paintings, seeds, and fertilizers.
“Do you have red cabbage?” Most of it wasn’t what Leon needed right now, and some items were unfamiliar—too small in display for him to identify—so he asked directly.
“Not in this batch,” the merchant replied honestly.
“What about next time?” Leon asked.
“I can’t say. I never plan my stock in advance. Whatever I find or buy on the road is what I sell,” the merchant explained.
“Then could I commission you to bring me a red cabbage?”
Leon asked because red cabbage was the only Community Center offering crop that couldn’t be obtained in the first year. To grow it, you had to wait until the second year when Pierre would finally stock its seeds.
Leon had checked Pierre’s General Store inventory before; red cabbage seeds were definitely not listed.
“Of course. The customer is always right, isn’t that so?” The merchant nodded enthusiastically. “But I’ll need a hundred gold upfront as a deposit, plus an extra two hundred for the labor fee.”
“Three hundred before even seeing the goods? That’s a bit steep.” Leon thought about how, back when he was in Joja Corporation management, his monthly salary was only two thousand. In comparison, this down payment was no small amount.
“It is a little pricey, but I’d have to go out of my way to find the red cabbage you want. That takes time and comes with certain risks,” the merchant explained.
Leon thought for a moment, then shook his head. “Maybe next time. My funds are a bit tight right now. I’ll order it when I’m better off.”
“Haha, all right,” the merchant said without the slightest sign of irritation. He even chuckled warmly. “No need to rush, my friend. Who knows? Next time we meet, I might already have the red cabbage you’re after. That way, you’ll get what you want without spending extra—wouldn’t that be even better?”