novelcrest Chapter 305 Rome Stories February 23 New Share
Chapter 305 Rome Stories February 23 New Share
“So, do you still have any questions you want to ask?” Linus glanced at Leon, his expression tinged with impatience.
“If you’ve got something to ask, hurry up and ask it. Once you’re done, go do whatever you want. I still plan to enjoy the spring sunshine. Give it a little while longer, and the sun will start heating up.”
“Of course I do. On the farm, does every step of the planting process need to be done by hand? If you skip even one step, could it cause high-quality crops to drop sharply in yield or even fail to appear?” Leon quickly tossed out his question.
“You’re wondering if using that water pump for irrigation will affect the yield of high-quality crops this season, right?” Linus shot back.
“You knew? Uh… I mean, sure, we’re extraordinary individuals, but you could at least leave ordinary folks a little privacy. At your age, prying like that feels a bit inappropriate,” Leon said, unable to hold back after Linus so cleanly exposed his concern.
Linus snorted, his beard practically bristling as he barked, “Prying? My ass! That little girl tested the pump down at the lakeshore below the slope. I’m not blind, you know. I could see it. And she fitted a high-pressure nozzle—obviously not meant for watering flowers. Anyone with half a brain could tell it was made for you.”
“My bad, my bad. I was being narrow-minded. Don’t be mad, old man.” Leon hurried to apologize, realizing he’d overlooked that part.
Linus rolled his eyes but didn’t keep dwelling on it. Instead, he continued the topic at hand.
“If it’s just watering, there’s no problem. This thing is no different from a sprinkler. Your grandfather used sprinklers before, and that never affected the yield of high-quality crops. You can use it without worry.”
“Well, that’s an unexpected bit of good news.” Leon breathed a sigh of relief, then stood to bid Linus farewell.He still had plenty of questions, but none of them were urgent. He decided not to bother the old man further—otherwise, the next time he needed help, he might be greeted not with a smile but with a shoe to the face.
Watching Leon leave, Linus let out a long breath, closed his eyes, and lay back down beside his open-topped shelter, continuing to bask in the warmth of the spring sun.
…
Leaving the northern foothills, Leon got back on his bike and returned to Pelican Town. But after glancing around, he found nowhere in particular he wanted to go. After thinking for a moment, he decided to head to the bus stop.
Since the Calico Desert bus had been repaired, he hadn’t had a chance to ride it yet. With nothing else to do, he figured he might as well take a trip to Calico Desert for fun.
Deciding on the spot, he pedaled to the bus stop. At the timetable beside the shelter, he noticed that in addition to routes to Zuzu City and Granpton, there was now a new line to Calico Desert.
As the departure point, the Calico Desert bus ran on a fixed schedule—three trips daily at 9 a.m., 12 noon, and 5 p.m.
The fixed departure time was exactly one hour before arrival. Upon reaching Calico Desert, the bus would immediately return to Stardew Valley. So if you wanted to return, you had to be at the Calico Desert bus stop by 10 a.m., 1 p.m., or 6 p.m. Miss it, and your only option was to stay overnight at the Oasis Store.
It was currently 8:50 a.m., and the bus was parked right there in the lot. He could easily catch the first run of the day.
“Hey, Pam, how much for a ticket?”
Spotting the bus labeled for the Calico Desert line and seeing it only a third full, Leon asked the driver-slash-ticket-seller Pam.
“Good morning, Leon. No charge for you,” Pam said with a smile.
One of the front-row passengers looked over in surprise, then asked, “Then why did you charge me 10G? Are you saying you only charge us out-of-towners?”
Before Leon could reply, Pam shot back, “That’s my boss! He’s also an investor in the Calico Desert bus line. Are you?”
“Uh… right. Sorry.” The passenger clammed up instantly.
“What do you mean by ‘boss’?” Leon asked. Sure, he’d repaired the bus, but he didn’t remember becoming Pam’s boss.
“Didn’t Lewis tell you? Since you fixed the bus, you were given a share in the reinstated Calico Desert route—fifty percent, jointly owned with Pelican Town. Every month, after deducting maintenance, fuel, and my wages, half of the remaining ticket income goes straight to you.”
“Nope, he didn’t mention that.” Leon was caught off guard. He’d fixed the bus as a bonus for completing the Community Center bundles, mainly for his own convenience in reaching Calico Desert. The thought of profit-sharing had never crossed his mind.
Lewis had actually taken the initiative to assign him a share and a cut of the profits. If not for this conversation with Pam, Leon wouldn’t have found out until Lewis handed him the dividend.
Leon didn’t really care about the money. Lewis probably saw it as a gesture of thanks. Still, making such an arrangement without telling him left Leon feeling a bit helpless.
Since he was heading to Calico Desert now, Leon decided to discuss it with Lewis after he returned to Stardew Valley.
As for the free ticket, Leon still took 10G from his pocket and dropped it into the fare box beside Pam’s seat. Seeing her puzzled look, he explained, “Sure, I own half—but the other half belongs to Pelican Town, right?”
“Fair enough. I’ll respect your choice.” Pam didn’t try to return the money.
Leon then picked a window seat and settled in to wait for departure.
While waiting, he glanced around at the other passengers. He didn’t recognize a single face—clearly, they weren’t locals.
But if they were tourists, it puzzled him why they’d be heading to Calico Desert so early. Based on his last visit, Leon couldn’t think of anything there that would draw visitors at this hour.
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