There can't be a Harvest Moon in the RimWorld.

Beneath that imposing appearance, it's hard to imagine that he possesses such logic, able to tell a complex and chaotic story in a way that is both simple and profound, captivating the reader.

We all listened in silence, forgetting even our usual banter.

"Hey, Sebala, where did you hear this story?"

After a long silence, Mr. Dart finally couldn't help but ask him a question, and took away the empty wine glass in front of him.

Sebala let out a satisfied burp, slumped back in his chair, and said, "I heard it from my friend. What's wrong? Do you have any doubts about what old Sebala says?"

Mr. Dick, somewhat sobered up by what he'd said, then asked, "May I ask who your friend is?"

“Hehe, my friend is amazing,” Sebala said proudly. “He’s the editor-in-chief of the West Metropolis Daily and he investigated the entire highway disappearance incident.”

"What?! Rod really is missing!" Dart and Dick exclaimed in unison.

"Who said Rhodes is missing?" Sebala asked, puzzled.

"Didn't you say Rod was missing? Trapped on the highway?" I was also confused, since the person in the story was Poppy's father.

Sebala also looked confused: "But my friend said he was interviewing Rod."

What?

The scene instantly descended into a state of utter bewilderment for all four.

No one could figure out what the other person meant. Sebala told a story about Mr. Rod's accident on the East-West Highway, and then mentioned that his friend had interviewed him...

After thinking for a moment, I said, "Gentlemen, listen to me. We may have encountered Li Xiaoyao's wooden sword paradox."

Boss Dart asked, puzzled, "What is this 'Li Xiaoyao's Wooden Sword Paradox'? Marcus, is this a story from your hometown?"

“Oh, boss, you’re the kind of guy who pays attention to details. You know what I mean.” I began to explain, “Li Xiaoyao is a sixteen-year-old boy who wants to become a knight-errant. He has a wooden sword in his hand. One day, he traveled back ten years, when he was six years old, and gave the sword to the six-year-old boy.”

I briefly introduced the background setting, and then asked, "Gentlemen, how many wooden swords does the sixteen-year-old Li Xiaoyao have?"

Mr. Dick said dismissively, "He only has one wooden sword. If he gives it to someone else, he won't have a wooden sword anymore. It's that simple."

"Okay, how many wooden swords does he have at the age of six?"

Mr. Dart also said, "He had a wooden sword when he was six years old. Marcus, just say what you want to say."

"Hahaha." Seeing that they had fallen into the trap, I pressed on, "If 6-year-old Li Xiaoyao has one, and 16-year-old Li Xiaoyao also has one, does that mean they only have this one in common?"

"So here's the question: if 15-year-old Li Xiaoyao traveled through time and met 7-year-old Li Xiaoyao, would they then have two wooden swords?"

"In a continuous timeline, that is, in Li Xiaoyao's timeline, there should be only one wooden sword. However, during the period between the time traveler's age of 6 and the time traveler's age of 16, two wooden swords appear when they meet."

"At this point, the same wooden sword appeared in two forms at different times. And the culprit behind all this was his time travel."

After a moment of deep thought, Mr. Dart roughly guessed what I meant.

"You mean, because Rod traveled through time, he might exist both in the story's time vortex and in the editor's interview at the same time?"

I shoveled a mouthful of rice into my mouth and mumbled, "That's roughly the gist of it. I feel that Mr. Rhodes isn't facing a simple time issue, so everything is distributed non-linearly on his timeline. Due to the varying speed of the time vortex, he might return even before the problem occurred..."

"So, the situation would arise where 7-year-old Li Xiaoyao meets 15-year-old Li Xiaoyao. The 7-year-old Li Xiaoyao is the one who has already obtained the wooden sword, and he is now experiencing the time vortex event. The 15-year-old Li Xiaoyao is the one who hasn't given away the wooden sword yet, and he is now experiencing the time vortex event before he has encountered it."

"Does this explain his appearance?"

Sebala was already confused by my rambling, or maybe he was drunk, because he slumped in his seat and started snoring.

Mr. Dick ordered another drink: "Marcus, what you said makes some sense, doesn't it?"

This petty man was still as sharp-tongued as ever, but no one present seemed to have any ill feelings about it; after all, this was practically Dick's incurable disease.

After stubbornly insisting on his point, he continued with a sigh, "I never imagined Rhodes would have so many misfortunes..."

Boss Dart nodded and said, "Rhodes has always had this kind of constitution, he's probably used to it by now."

Something didn't feel right to me. Could it be that I'm not alone in having this 100% "killed around every corner" constitution? Are there people even more unlucky than me?

"Gentlemen, has something happened to Mr. Rhodes? From what you're saying, this isn't the first time something like this has happened?"

Boss Dart suddenly burst into laughter, saying with a hint of sarcasm, "I didn't expect you to have such a vivid imagination, Marcus, that you believed the drunken ramblings of that old drunkard Sebala so readily."

He poured me a glass of wine and pushed it in front of me: "We've known him for a long time before we accepted his mysterious constitution. I don't know if Rod is unlucky or lucky, but wherever he is, there are always some inexplicable events that happen."

Boss Dick chimed in, "It's not just that. Whenever rumors start circulating about some mysterious event in a place, Rod will inevitably stumble upon the same thing by accident. Fortunately, he always manages to escape unscathed, at most a little embarrassed in the process. Over time, he's gotten used to it."

And there's this strange constitution!

Could it be that he has the constitution of a combination of Kuroko's charcoal and Shinigami, causing death wherever he goes, without missing a single episode?

And the people around him...

"Then aren't the people around Mr. Rhodes having a very hard time?"

Mr. Dick chuckled: "Of course, when we first arrived on the island, he gave us quite a hard time, thankfully..."

Before Mr. Dick could finish speaking, Mr. Dart interrupted him, "Dick, if you keep talking nonsense, I won't pour you any more drinks."

"Okay, okay, I won't say anything more, alright? It's just something from before, pour the wine, pour the wine..."

Boss Dart, probably worried that I might hold a grudge, turned to me and said, "Don't worry about Hammarcus. We're not hiding anything from you. That's all in the past. Rod specifically told us not to let anyone else know. He also said that the more people who know, the harder it will be to handle things. We're not entirely sure, but it's better to do as he says."

"It's alright, I believe Mr. Rod is not a bad person. Someone who has been working tirelessly for over a decade to treat his family's illnesses can't be the kind of person who does things that shouldn't be done. Boss, don't worry."

At this moment, a thin middle-aged man walked in from outside the tavern, silently laid out nine large coins on the table, and said to the counter, "Warm two bowls of wine and a plate of fennel beans."

Mr. Lu Xun? So you've traveled through time too?

Chapter 73 Tavern Gathering

The above is actually a hallucination of mine.

In reality, a slightly thin man entered, wearing an outdoor sports straw hat and clothes suitable for outdoor activities, with a large bag on his back, looking travel-worn.

Such a description doesn't reveal anything wrong, but this middle-aged man exudes an overwhelming sense of poverty, a mixture of scholarly air and the stinginess of the poor, which has unconsciously enveloped him.

That's why the image of Kong Yiji drinking appeared before my eyes.

The man rummaged in his pocket for a long time before finally pulling out a few crumpled banknotes, which he carefully flattened and placed on the table.

Please note this wording.

Lu Xun used the word "排" (pái, meaning "arranged") to depict Kong Yiji's pretentious attitude despite being penniless. The "排" I'm describing, however, stems from the fact that the man before me genuinely values ​​these few banknotes.

Just from this action, I knew that this man must have never seen money before.

"Boss, give me a meal and a glass of water. Here's nine hundred yuan."

The man sat down without a second thought, his stomach growling loudly.

I couldn't stand it any longer and said to the owner of Dart, "Boss, please put this gentleman's meal on my tab, and I'll settle all the money I owe you before today."

The man finally snapped out of his reverie, looked at me with gratitude, and exclaimed, "Thank you! The people in this town are so generous!"

Then, looking puzzled, he asked Mr. Dart, "Boss, have I seen this young man before?"

Mr. Dart looked helpless and said, "How could you possibly know him... He's only been here a few days. You've been here for over a year, and you still don't know anyone in town?"

The thin, middle-aged man looked at me apologetically and said, "I'm sorry, I've never been very good at recognizing people. What's your name?"

Is there another oddball in this town? I'm starting to wonder if this town is some kind of offshoot of a mental hospital. Why are all the residents acting so strangely?

"Hello sir, my name is Marcus, and I run the Mineral Town Ranch. May I ask your name?"

The man sat there repeating my name over and over, and stared at me for a long time, probably trying to memorize my appearance and name.

"My name is Bakir. I'm currently staying in town temporarily. I'm a botanist. It's nice to meet you. Thank you for treating me to dinner," the man who called himself Bakir said cheerfully, still with a natural air about him.

Boss Dart, who seemed quite familiar with him, said, "Basil, you're out of food again today? Is your wife Anna abusing you?"

Baqir frowned slightly, looking a bit annoyed, and said, "No, it's just that I stayed up too late studying plants today. I'd probably get scolded if I went home for dinner, so I'll just eat here with you, boss."

"Isn't starving you and not feeding you considered abuse?" I couldn't help but exclaim.

Unexpectedly, this remark resonated with Mr. Dick.

"Not having food is nothing, not giving us alcohol is truly cruel!"

"Shut up!" Boss Dart interrupted Boss Dick's shameless remarks without any mercy. What right does a drunkard who drinks all the wine in his own house, then sells it to others and buys it back at a high price to drink himself have to complain about his wife?

"Bakir, you should really put some order on your wife. Not only does she not feed you, but she's also spending all your salary on shopping, hasn't she?"

Basil, who was being scolded by Boss Dart, seemed completely oblivious, just chuckling and saying, "Someone like her who claims she'd die without a shopping mall is already doing me a disservice by being willing to live with me in this small town for over a year. It would be too cruel to deny her even the desire for TV shopping. Anyway, I don't really need to spend any money..."

Boss Dart looked at Baqir helplessly: "You spoil her too much. You're so poor you don't even have money for food."

"It's not her fault. I've been doing research since I graduated from university, and I've only ever received a basic salary. After buying her things, I didn't have much money left, so my allowance naturally decreased."

"...As long as you're happy."

Mr. Dart had no way to deal with the man, so he turned around and went to the kitchen to cook.

Only then did I continue, "Mr. Baqir, were you a university professor before? Why did you come here to do research?"

Baqir said, "I'm not very good at recognizing people, but I'm very familiar with plants. I wasn't happy at university, so I came out to study plants everywhere. The plants on Mount Mads are really more abundant than I expected!"

The man enthusiastically introduced me to the moonflower, catnip, and tricolor he had been researching recently, and then went on and on about a new discovery.

"...You know, Marcus, there's a magical plant here that blooms in autumn, and the same seed can randomly produce two different flowers: blue and red. I call it the Magical Grass. Once I discover its secret, I'm sure I'll win a big prize! Otherwise, I'm not leaving..."

"Um... Mr. Baqir, I greatly admire your knowledge and will definitely visit you another day to learn from you. How about... we have dinner first?"

Fortunately, the owner appeared just in time with the food, which allowed me to escape his verbal barrage and shift his attention to the food.

"Phew, boss, this is really lively tonight!"

I couldn't help but say to Mr. Dart, "I never imagined that there would actually be such a group of men who didn't want to go home at night, chatting and laughing here."

"Of course, Marcus. There are usually even more people than today. By the way, have you struck it rich? You're so generous to pay the bill? I was thinking you could default on it until next year."

Mr. Dart expressed his bewilderment at my generosity, so I had to explain.

"It's Zack. I commissioned him to ship a batch of goods. A big client took a liking to it and paid me 30,000 yuan upfront. That's how I made a fortune."

Congratulations!

Mr. Dart was genuinely happy for me. Being able to turn a profit ahead of schedule, he knew, was a great start for me.

"Haha, thank you, boss! I'll leave this 10,000 yuan with you. I'll have to rely on you for the next meal." I took out ten 1,000-yuan bills from my pocket and stuffed them into Boss Dart's hand.

“You don’t need so much. Your meals over the next few days will only cost a few thousand dollars.” Boss Dart insisted on not accepting the money.

"It's alright, just consider it my deposit with the boss for the meal. Also, give everyone here a glass of wine, is that enough?"