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

Hearing my words, he looked at me with some delight: "Oh! Marcus! You know painting too?! Are Monet and Picasso the masters from your area?" He put his hands in his pockets, striking a pose of elegance, "This is my masterpiece!"

It seems my expression was still too vague.

As the saying goes, a painting that only slightly resembles the subject is like Monet's Impressionism; a painting that doesn't resemble it at all is like Picasso's Abstract Expressionism...

"Hmm... Boss's painting skills are truly amazing! I wonder where the inspiration for this painting came from?" I expressed my thoughts subtly.

But Jeff treated me like a close friend and enthusiastically introduced me to his inspiration for painting.

"This is a sailboat I bought when I was young, imitating the style of ancient sailors, and I traveled to many places with my friends."

"On our last voyage, we went to the open sea to search for an ancient floating island. Legend has it that whenever there is underwater volcanic activity, a floating island that has sunk to the bottom of the sea will rise to the surface, and there are many strange architectural ruins on it."

"We drifted in that sea for more than a month and finally encountered the island during a storm. However, due to the lack of fresh water and nutrients, many of us developed delusions, and afterwards everyone's description of the island was different."

"Some people saw a muddy underwater hill, the soil a dark green with patches and stripes of gold or iridescence; some said it was a basalt rock formation with huge claws on its front and back feet and long, narrow wings on its back; others said it was an indescribable creature with a soft head and countless tentacles, a fat body covered in scales, lurking on the seabed..."

"But what I saw was a strange city destroyed in ancient times, with many towering towers and suspension bridges. Although these enormous and exquisite buildings varied in style and state of preservation, they were all extremely magnificent."

"No one remembers what happened after that. In the end, our ship was completely destroyed in the storm, and we could only struggle to survive on floating planks. A few of us made it back to shore alive..."

Jeff subconsciously rubbed his stomach and muttered with displeasure, "After that, I get stomach aches whenever I'm stressed or the weather is bad. It's probably a lingering effect from spending two days and two nights in the sea."

I asked in surprise, "Boss, you actually had something so dangerous happen to you? Does Karen know about it?"

Jeff, clearly not wanting to answer directly, began to ramble on about unrelated things: "I don't know why, but although I've forgotten the details of that day's voyage, I remember this scene vividly, and it often appears in my dreams... and every time I think of it, certain details come to mind, becoming even more lifelike... I always draw the scenes from my dreams as a record..."

His voice grew softer and softer, as if he were talking in a dream. Tears welled up in his eyes, and the sound of raging wind and rain filled his ears. His body was soaked with the salty smell of the sea. The boiling world churned and spun, threatening to swallow him whole and merge him into one.

In his final moments of lucidity, he glimpsed a wondrous sight he would never forget...

Unconsciously, Jeff smeared his palm with paint and carelessly mixed the colors of the entire palette together, casually rubbing out a dark and indistinct shadow on the canvas.

That incongruous shadow made the sea, the island, and the buildings seem like mere illusions existing in this fleeting world.

What we call reality is nothing more than the crawling chaos in the sky behind us...

Chapter 128 Sincerity and kindness cannot be faked.

"Boss! Boss!"

I woke up Jeff, who seemed to be sleepwalking.

How can this unscrupulous businessman be daydreaming in broad daylight? What's the meaning of hiding here pretending to be an artsy young man?

"Oh, Marcus, what are you here to buy?"

Jeff snapped out of his reverie, his sly smile returning. Meanwhile, he expertly removed the canvas from the easel and hid it under the counter.

I walked to the middle of the house, pointed to the seeds in the center of the table, and asked Jeff, "How many potato seeds like these do you have left? I'll buy them all."

Jeff squinted and asked casually, "Oh, sir, are you referring to our potato seeds? Those are special seeds I bought here, and there are only ten bags left."

Nonsense!

This table is clearly full of seeds, how could only potatoes have been sold out!

Also, what are these special seeds? They're all packaged exactly the same!

How did you notice anything unusual?!

I immediately sensed something was wrong and tentatively asked, "Boss, do you mean... the price of these seeds is going to go up?"

Boss Jeff nodded vigorously: "That's right! A bag of potato seeds is 2000g. How many bags do you want, sir?"

"..." The original potato seeds were only 150g per packet, which was more than enough for me. But now they're telling me there are only ten packets left, each costing 2,000 yuan, and buying them all would cost a total of 20,000 yuan—just enough to drain me of all my money.

To say there's no problem inside... only a fool would believe that!

I thought back and realized that only Zach and Dart knew that I had just shipped out my goods and made a fortune, maybe with the addition of Sebala and Dick, but those two were sworn enemies with the unscrupulous Jeff, so it was impossible for them to share the news amicably.

Between Zack and Boss Dart, only Zack knew for certain that I had 20,000 yuan! After all, when Zack went to see Boss Dart last night, he was carrying 30,000 yuan and intended to give it all to me.

Therefore, from the time I started collecting money this morning until now, only Zack knows the exact amount I have!

"Boss, did you hear something from Zack?"

Jeff's smile widened, and he rubbed his hands together like a restless fly: "Haha, Zack came to deliver this morning and told me you've grown a lot of potatoes..."

His smile quickly faded, and he finally revealed his purpose: "If I remember correctly, that bag of potato seeds was bought from me, right?"

Jeff's smile immediately returned, turning into a business-like, insincere smile: "Thanks to you, Marcus, I didn't know this batch of potatoes had such a high yield."

Hmm, so that's the reason.

My guess was right. This unscrupulous businessman had heard about Zack's situation and specifically set up a trap for me. But what I didn't expect was that he would mistakenly believe that the high-yield, high-quality, and fast-growing potatoes I grew were because I used his seeds.

No wonder he guessed wrong. No matter how you look at it, my packet of seeds was Thomas the Tank Engine... The mayor's generous donation to me, and the harvest of these potatoes was inevitably related to it.

but……

You've got it completely wrong!

This potato has absolutely nothing to do with you!

"Boss, actually, this potato is grown using my special technique. It has nothing to do with the seeds. Give me any seeds and I can grow it." I tried to explain and reveal the truth to him.

But the kind reminder only earned Jeff's smile, as if to say, "Keep making things up, I'm listening."

He began to recount a seemingly unrelated anecdote: "This morning, Baqir also came to the store. You know, he's a botany professor in town, very interested in special crops, and he already bought a bag of potato seeds to take home and study. I wonder if he'll come back to buy more; I don't have many seeds left."

Jeff's evasive words were basically telling me, "Keep making things up, I'm not going to believe you anyway. If you don't buy it, other customers will already have their eyes on it, so don't blame me if you can't buy it then."

Basil!

The professor claimed that he came to the town to study special plants out of interest, so it's normal for him to be interested when he heard about a potato that could yield 10,000 jin per mu in a week.

However, this unscrupulous merchant saw a business opportunity and used the exorbitant price of the seeds as leverage to blackmail me.

"Boss, I'm serious... Why won't you believe me?" I looked at him helplessly, trying my best to show sincerity in my eyes.

But Jeff, the shop owner, said with displeasure, "Sir, although my shop doesn't have many customers, I'm still quite busy. If you're not buying anything, please leave."

"Boss, this is blatant price gouging!"

"The shop is honest and fair to all, young and old."

It's like everyone, young and old, fell into the pit!

I remembered Karen's words when she begged me not to be angry with her father, and that's when I finally realized how infuriating this unscrupulous businessman was. If she hadn't told me beforehand, I probably would have exploded on the spot.

"Hey boss, could you give me a discount and throw in some freebies this time? I've bought so much stuff, I'm broke."

I deliberately showed off the tears in my clothes and trouser legs, which were caused by an accidental fall I took this morning while hiking.

Boss Jeff frowned as he looked at the mud-stained clothes, and then frowned again. He probably sensed that I didn't have much profit to offer and that I couldn't afford to drain my resources. So he asked, "Marcus, what else do you want to buy? A discount is out of the question, but I'll give you a special price because we're neighbors in town."

I walked around the field and saw that where the yellow wool backpack used to be, it had now been replaced with a navy blue canvas backpack.

"Boss, I still want this backpack, but I don't have enough money... Maybe I shouldn't buy the seeds..."

Sure enough, when this was mentioned, a crack appeared on Jeff's fake smile, and he froze for a second. He expected me to haggle, but he didn't expect me to plan to buy something else from his own shady shop.

This is a very rare thing!

He always approached business with the attitude of "once in a lifetime"—treating every transaction as if it were the last chance to rip people off!

In this situation, there are simply no repeat customers.

But today, it seems like not only are we not selling seeds, but we're even losing money on backpacks that we could have sold?

"Okay, Marcus, I'll give you a discount. How much are you willing to pay?"

"100."

"No, it has to be at least 2000. Look, this price tag is 3000!"

"Boss, if I had that much money, would I need to haggle? 200 at most."

"1500, no less than that."

"Boss, I've spent all my money on seeds. Aren't you making a lot of profit today? I'll put up 300. I'll go hungry this week."

Jeff gritted his teeth, seething with anger. He was lowering his price by 500 at a time, while I was raising it by 100—it was completely unfair. Was it because he really ran out of money?

"Sigh, even if I suffer a huge loss today, take the 1000 yuan. If you try to bargain again, I won't sell it." After thinking for a long time, Boss Jeff finally made up his mind. Anyway, he'd already made money from the potato seeds, so he'd consider this backpack as capital for a long-term strategy, and he'd make up for the loss from the potatoes!

"Boss! Sell it to me for 1000 yuan, it's a deal!" I looked at him excitedly, quickly took my backpack to the counter, and slapped a 1000 yuan bill on the table.

"I really can't do anything with you... Fine, those seeds will cost 20000 yuan in total." Boss Jeff looked pained but secretly delighted, relieved that the money was finally in his hands...

"Boss, I'm not buying the seeds anymore," I suddenly said.

"Huh???" Boss Jeff stared at me in disbelief, as if he hadn't realized what I had said.

I slung my backpack over my shoulder, walked to the door, picked up my umbrella, and left with my last words.

"Boss, there's something you might not understand in the city..."

"Potatoes can be cut into pieces and planted..."

Chapter 129 The hardest pests to kill are

In Boss Dart's tavern.

"Hahaha! Thank you so much, Marcus, for bringing me two pieces of good news in one day!"

Sebala laughed exaggeratedly, and I could see his back teeth through his smile. But his happiness was genuine.

He was drinking and listening to the drizzle in the tavern, and a sense of melancholy was creeping into his mind. But when I arrived, I brought him two pieces of good news.

First, Gray came out of his room, not only taking a walk on Mount Mads but also continuing his research on forging. This was great news for him, as he was worried that his grandson had developed depression.

I interpret his happiness as follows: after all, his grandson isn't a bamboo rat, so he can't be caught and used as a snack with drinks under the pretext of depression, autism, good looks, or not eating. It's best if he's healthy.

The second happy thing for Sebala Warren was that Jeff, that big swindler, had finally been tricked!

"You have no idea! That bastard Jeff keeps raising prices every day, even trying to steal money from an old man like me. He's utterly heartless!" Sebala roared indignantly, then gulped down a glass of wine down his black hole-like throat.

Mr. Dart glanced at him dismissively and said, "You old drunkard aren't much better. Didn't Joan trick Jeff when he came to town? Why weren't you this happy then?"

Sebala got even angrier upon hearing this: "Don't mention that little bastard Hoan to me! I heard he tricked Jeff and I even bought him drinks, and he took advantage of the drinking to steal all my treasured minerals!"

...Old man, I'm not trying to criticize you, but you clearly have a lot of yourself to blame for this! You can even fool a big swindler like Boss Jeff, don't you know what kind of person he is?