The two sisters didn’t try to stop Leon, and Leah was still busy promoting her paintings. That made it easy for Leon to part ways with them and head down to the big dining table in the plaza, where Gus was bustling about.
“These egg dishes on the tables—are they free to eat?” Leon asked, spotting the wide array of egg-based dishes spread out before him.
“You need to buy al tickets from . But for you, of course, you can eat as much as you like,” Gus replied with a warm smile.
“Then give a few al tickets. I’m not short on cash,” Leon said without hesitation, turning down the chance to mooch. After all, Gus was being polite, and Leon couldn’t just take advantage—paynt was only fair.
“That works, but you only need one ticket. An adult ticket is 20G, and with it, you can eat here all day,” Gus explained.
“Oh, so it’s buffet-style? But at such a low price, what if soone with a huge appetite cos along?” Leon handed over the 20G that Leah had given him earlier, receiving a ticket printed with a Starfruit image. He asked the question with genuine curiosity.
“Doesn’t matter. Eat as much as they want,” Gus said with a grin. “I’m not doing this to make money. This is for the visitors coming to Pelican Town—can’t have them walking around hungry. My saloon’s closed during the festival anyway.”
“That’s just like you, Gus,” Leon said, patting Gus on the shoulder and giving him a thumbs-up. At 20G for an entire day, even the average person could easily eat their fill. Gus truly had no interest in turning a profit here.
Leon suspected that children probably ate for free—sothing Gus would absolutely do. Sure enough, as if to prove him right, little Vincent ca bounding up to the egg buffet table, greeted Gus, grabbed an olet, and happily dug in.
Gus never even ntioned paynt.
“Oh, right, Gus—about that tea egg I told you about. Did you make it?”
Leon had no rush to grab food for himself and rembered the tea egg recipe he had shared with Gus a couple of days ago.
But since he didn’t see any on the table, he had to ask.
“Heh, of course. Right here,” Gus said with a mysterious smile. He pulled a large tal bucket from under the table and opened it. A fragrant wave of spices and tea leaves hit Leon’s nose.
The familiar scent instantly transported Leon back to mornings at a street-side breakfast stall, waiting for both his bus and the vendor to finish packing his order.
“Try one. See if it’s different from the tea eggs you know,” Gus urged, handing Leon a disposable glove.
Leon didn’t hesitate. He slipped on the glove, deftly peeled away the hot shell, and revealed the tea-stained egg, its surface patterned with darker cracks. He popped it into his mouth.
It tasted almost exactly like he rembered—only a touch sweeter, but not enough to make a big difference.
“How is it?” Gus asked. Since this recipe ca from Leon, Gus valued his opinion.
“Very good. Pretty much the sa as the tea eggs I know,” Leon confird.
“That’s good. I was worried,” Gus said with a relieved sigh before placing the bucket of tea eggs on the table.
“You didn’t try them yourself?” Leon asked, curious that Gus had waited for his approval before serving them.
“Of course I did. I nearly got sick of them—I went through eight rounds of adjustnts before settling on this. I like the taste myself, but I wasn’t sure if others would accept them. After all, when you peel one open, you don’t see the familiar white egg white—it’s brown.”
“The taste is what matters, isn’t it?” Leon reassured him.
To boost Gus’s confidence, Leon took another tea egg, peeled it, and popped it in his mouth. He even called Vincent over to try one. The boy was shy but listened to Leon and gave the “coffee egg” a cautious bite.
One bite was all it took—Vincent beca a fan. He even grabbed a peeled tea egg and dashed over to Jas, who had just arrived at the plaza with Marnie and a young man, to tell her how great it was.
“Good things never stay hidden, right?” Leon said with a grin, watching Marnie’s group buy two tickets and sit down to enjoy the tea eggs.
“It’s your recipe that’s great,” Gus replied, not forgetting to credit Leon for introducing him to this thod of boiling eggs with spices and tea.
“If I made them myself, they probably wouldn’t taste as good as yours,” Leon said seriously. “And I wouldn’t even have all the ingredients without you.”
“Hahaha, well, if you ever think of sothing you want to eat, just tell . I’ll make it for you—might even learn a few new tricks from you,” Gus said, laughing heartily.
“Of course. That’s a win-win,” Leon replied without hesitation.
After all, none of the cooking thods he knew were secrets worth hoarding. If he could get them to catch on in Stardew Valley, Leon would be thrilled—he could enjoy ready-made Chinese food without having to cook everything himself.
As they chatted, more and more people began filling the plaza. Gus’s egg buffet attracted a wave of guests who had skipped breakfast, and the tea eggs quickly caught the eye of the curious. Most who tried them gave them glowing reviews.
Leon ate his fill too. Besides the tea eggs, he enjoyed Gus’s olets and egg pudding. The pudding, though caral-flavored rather than what he was used to, was delicious.
Just as Leon was about to wander off to see more of the festival, he noticed Abigail standing by the table, glaring at him with a look full of resentnt—like a vengeful spirit.
“What’s wrong? I don’t recall offending you,” Leon asked blankly, eting her gaze.
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