Leon, no longer resisting the idea of joining the Egg Festival’s big egg hunt, watched as construction crews set up temporary shelves, tables, and chairs all over town. Turning to Lewis, he asked,
“Are all Pelican Town festivals this elaborate?”
“Of course,” Lewis replied. “Every festival brings in a large number of tourists. It’s a great chance to promote Pelican Town and give the local economy a boost.”
“Will the budget for this event even break even?” Leon asked, thinking of the town’s financial state.
“Absolutely. Don’t be fooled by how much is being prepared. Most of it is sponsored. For example, these construction crews are provided by Joja Corporation free of charge, as are the eggs.” Lewis grinned with satisfaction.
“Joja wouldn’t miss such a perfect publicity opportunity. All I had to do was agree to let them hang a ‘Sponsored by Joja’ banner at the festival, and it saved us a ton of money.”
“Not a bad fat sheep to shear,” Leon teased with a smile.
“Exactly. Otherwise, I’d never have been able to put on such a big event,” Lewis admitted, nodding in agreent.
“But I think Joja isn’t just promoting themselves at the festival. They’re also showing off their wealth and influence. The day before yesterday, while talking about sponsorship with Morris, he brought up the idea of converting the old Community Center into a Joja logistics warehouse.”
“Was that a condition for the sponsorship?” Leon asked.
“No, he just ntioned it,” Lewis replied.
“Then pretend you never heard it. We’ll take the bait, but not the hook. I have my own plans for the Community Center,” Leon said, relieved, giving Lewis a reassuring pat.
“Trust , Lewis. Give so ti, and I’ll give you a surprise.”
“Of course I trust you, Leon. The mont I heard you’d taken the initiative to repair the bus, I knew you already saw yourself as part of Pelican Town.” Lewis smiled warmly.
Then, leaning closer, he lowered his voice. “By the way, you did an amazing job restoring the Community Center’s vault room. I’ve already started storing so important docunts in the vault’s safe. Well done, kid.”
Leon only smiled without replying.
It didn’t surprise him that Lewis had discovered the restored vault—this wasn’t a ga, and before restoration, no one would set foot inside the old Community Center. What mattered more was that Lewis hadn’t made it public. That alone spoke volus. Clearly, the old mayor was hiding a few things… or knew quite a bit.
Seeing that Leon didn’t want to pursue the topic, Lewis tactfully dropped it and went back to directing Joja’s construction crews.
Leon, after watching for a while, quietly left and returned to Red Star Farm.
After lunch, he took his fishing rod to the Coal Forest and fished until the sun began to set.
When he got back to the farm, he tossed the afternoon’s catch—a few Smallmouth Bass and assorted trash—into the shipping box, then started preparing dinner.
He had just finished slicing so beef tenderloin, ready to pan-sear it into steak to pair with homade stead buns, when he noticed an uninvited guest in the kitchen.
“So, you’re planning to freeload a al from again?”
Seeing the reflection of long, shiny purple hair in the pot lid, Leon sighed and grumbled.
“Hehe, well, I know your cooking is delicious,” Abigail said without the slightest hint of sha. She plopped herself onto a stool, swinging her legs as she asked, “So, what’s for dinner tonight?”
“Dieting. Not eating,” Leon replied with a straight face.
“Oh, please. You think I didn’t see you prepping steak? I’ll have mine dium-well,” Abigail retorted, sticking out her tongue.
“I only do well-done,” Leon said flatly.
“That’s fine. A bit tough, but my teeth can handle it. You’re the chef, so you make the call,” Abigail replied without a care.
Leon sighed. With Abigail this stubborn, there was no way to drive her out. He gave in and began marinating another piece of beef tenderloin to prepare two steaks—otherwise, one would never be enough.
As the aroma of steak sizzling in butter filled the kitchen, Abigail swallowed hard and leaned closer, eyes fixed on the pan. “How much longer?”
“Almost done. But tell , you’re not just here to freeload dinner, are you?” Leon probed, curious about her real reason for coming.
“I heard you’re joining the Egg Festival egg hunt?” Abigail asked instead of answering.
“Mm.” Leon nodded. “Don’t tell you’re here to ask for egg locations.”
“I thought about it, but since you’re also a participant, you wouldn’t be involved in hiding them. So, no point asking,” Abigail said.
“You already knew that before you ca, yet you still showed up. So, what’s your idea? Out with it,” Leon pressed.
“You’re great in every way, except you overthink everything,” Abigail complained, pouting. Still, she didn’t forget to answer.
“Since we’re both contestants, we could be rivals—or partners. I prefer the latter. I want to team up with you.”
“You an, we find eggs together but count them under one person’s total?” Leon tested.
“Exactly. But they’ll count under my na. In exchange, I’ll take the honor, you take the prize. Deal?” Abigail proposed.
“Is that even allowed?” Leon asked. If it broke the rules, he’d reject her without hesitation. Competing with kids was one thing—cheating was another. If caught, it would be more than a little embarrassing.
“Of course. Everyone knows it’s allowed. Vincent even set the precedent. The first year he and Jas joined, Vincent handed all his eggs to Jas, and she won the championship. Since then, it’s been an accepted tactic.”
Abigail’s voice carried a note of resentnt. “If not for that little trick, I could have kept my championship title.”
“No wonder you only want the honor,” Leon realized. So this was all about settling an old score.
As for Vincent’s move… Leon had to respect it.
For soone so young to instinctively master such a smooth, unorthodox way to win a girl’s favor—his future was surely bright.
When Leon was his age, he was still out in the fields catching shrimp and eels with his friends. Forget winning girls over—playing with girls at all was considered shaful back then, a sign of being soft. He had no idea it was the perfect ti to nurture childhood sweethearts.
The comparison made Leon sigh once again. Stardew Valley really was full of hidden talents—even the kids had ga.
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